Drip, drip, drip. It’s Irene’s never-ending sweat as she ran another lap inside their school’s track field, Wendy calmly running on her side, no single sign of exhaustion on her visage.

Irene bit her lip and clenched her hands into tight balls as she run as fast as she could. Attempting to contain her bursting anger to no avail as she erupted like a volcano.

“How the heck is this related to archery?!” Irene shouted sharply, sweat trickling down her eyes, stinging her vision.

“It’s not, but I noticed you needed to gain more stamina and endurance to maintain a good play and body posture,” Wendy explained, taking a glance over Irene’s poor running figure. “And as I’ve mentioned before, this is my training specialty, Bae.”

“Now, stop yapping and run,” she sternly commanded to Irene’s slowing pace, not acutely aware of the deathly glare that’s been piercing holes on her head.

By the predictions, Irene wasn’t expecting Wendy to be like a beast when it came to practice. Or body training to be more specific. She wasn’t even prepared when the girl smiled widely at her, taking it first as a good sign. Which wasn’t the case, by the way. Taking her coach’s advice of practicing with Wendy after careful consideration had led a confused Irene to the track field as Wendy practically dragged her along without much of a choice.

“Here is your first step to a new you,” Wendy announced, hands gesturing to the expanse of the track field. Her eyes gleaming at the humungous area, it’s vastness so wide that it would be impossible to find a needle in it.

“What are we doing here?” Irene questioned, brows furrowing with puzzlement, seemingly finding it difficult to fit the piece of track field in her supposedly archery practice with the best archer.

A gigantic grin spread across Wendy’s face, and her eyes lit up with full conviction as she locked eyes with Irene. “If you want to play like me in archery, then you gotta learn with my own body training specialty.”

This was a scam! Irene just got scammed by no other than Wendy Son. She’s been running like forever and she felt like she’s about to die any second in this field. Taking a quick glance on Wendy, her foot stumbled on each other, halting her to a stop as she kissed the ground.

How great. Making out with the floor was definitely how Irene predicted her day would be together with Wendy. Not!

“Ohmygoshareyouokay?” Wendy rapped, her hands helping out Irene. Her knees scraping the ground to face her.

“Do I look okay, Son?” Irene sarcastically replied, earning a covered laugh from Wendy with how her appearance was similar to a white bunny who was covered with dirt. For Irene’s case, her face was indeed veiled with peppers of dusts and a busted lip. “Hey, stop laughing!”

Wendy reached out her pocket, wiping Irene’s face with her handkerchief. “I’m really sorry, Bae. I wasn’t expecting you to be this bad when we only did two and a half lap.”

“You still look pretty though,” she added playfully with a wink.

Irene pursed her lips and glowered her laser eyes on Wendy, not hiding her contempt. “This isn’t the time to flatter me with your lies when your so-called body training specialty made me a total wreck.”

“Hey, it’s your fault for checking me out when you’re running,” Wendy argued back with another wink, earning a groaned of exasperation from Irene.

“You’re the one who’s doing that, not me,” Irene’s jaw tightened, countering back her denial. “And I only checked if you were slacking off when I’m almost on the verge of dying.”

Wendy’s lips twitched, her eyes glinting as she chuckled. “Sure, you do.” Her eyes observed Irene’s swollen and bleeding lips, dabbing it carefully to clean and lessen the pain. “Or maybe you’re just really bad at running that you ended up facepalming on the ground when you’ve never stumbled with any rocks.” She tilted her head, realizing something as her eyes mirrored on Irene’s own. “Which reminds me of stupid horror movie characters.”

“Are you calling me stupid, Son?” Irene incredulously hissed, stopping Wendy’s hand that’s dabbing on her side lips as she inched closer to her new scam body trainer.

An invisible rocketing silence of tension unfolded over them, with Wendy freezing on Irene’s counterattack. As if time itself had frozen both of the girl, their eyes glued on each other, no one wanting to back out from the intensity of the stare.

Still gripping Wendy’s hand, Irene’s eyes took a note on her sweaty visage, some stray hair from her simple ponytail hairstyle sticking on her reddened neck. Her bangs needed some fixer upper on how it stuck on her forehead. Nonetheless, Irene couldn’t hide the fact that Wendy was truly blessed with her strikingly alluring beauty. She inched a bit, trying to intimidate her. “Do you think I’m stupid like those horror movie characters, Son?” she repeated, her left eyebrow quirking as she noticed Wendy squirming.

Wendy’s counterresponse led Irene’s mind flickering back a few pages on a wild Saturday night, wherein she let loose herself on the beat of music and some booze. Getting carried in the way of how Wendy looked so good basking in the luminescence of the full moon. Of how those specks of red tints from drinking a lot made Wendy’s physiognomy lascivious to the point where Irene couldn’t even conceal her salaciousness. Snapping back to reality, her grip from Wendy loosened up, eventually letting her go.

Wendy’s eyes flicked over Irene’s crimson lips, unconsciously her own. Her eyes tentatively viewed her countenance, gulping in the process. “O-of course not.” Regaining back her confidence to the sudden charge, she inched closer to her opponent. Only two inches apart, she spoke playfully, “You’re not stupid. You just really at running, Bae.”

Wendy’s jest on Irene’s lack of stamina and apparently balance should’ve made her nape’s hair rise up from anger. It should’ve made her veins pop up. should’ve opened up a witty or snarky retort to bring Wendy back to her place.

Nevertheless, Irene’s body began to be conscious of the oozing warmth coming from the other party, a sense of magnetic pull propelling her to taste those plump and sweet lips to wipe away the smugness on her face. To make her underneath her with a shiver, while she’s on the top. With just one more move, she knew that she couldn’t back down anymore from her clearheaded doing without any alcohol to blame. Just a few more centimeters—

“And who do we see here? Oh, there’s my perfect casting, full of chemistry!”

With the unexpected presence of another person, both heads turned simultaneously to the familiar voice. Too fast that Irene’s lips only grazed on Wendy’s warm breath as open lightly with a small gasped of surprise.

“Lia!” Wendy greeted Amelia first, turning to look back on Irene. She hastily brushed off any dirt on her jogging pants and shirt, helping her stand up. “Can you stand up properly?” she mumbled on Irene’s ear, one hand on her waist to help her balance.

“I thought I was getting crazy — hallucinating my perfect main cast acting lovingly in the middle of the field.” Amelia shook her head with disbelief, alongside her giggle. “I’m glad I’m not though. Or you might need to put me in an Asylum.” She shivered and laughed on her last statement.

Amelia was a scam too, Irene noted as the once angelic human she met the first time was absolutely, terrifically different when she’s inside the theater. Taking her crown as the president and director of the club, Amelia knew her place and played the role perfectly as she assimilated various works with different people. Fully charging Irene by giving her the script with eyes filled with b expectations. “Here’s the script, you should read it first and analyze your own character. Wendy’s got a busy schedule for today so she won’t be coming. I expect a lot with your main role, Irene.”

Leaving Irene with thoughts on how was Wendy juggling everything on her side and how they’d act on the actual practice session. Lia only gave her a knowing smile after asking her the question that’s been bugging in her mind. “There’s no need to worry ‘bout that matter, I’ll keep each character on their best form till the show’s over.”

Getting back to the field, the two friends chatted for a minute before Wendy poured her full attention back on Irene. “We need to get you to the nurse to treat some scratches on your arms,” she whispered, sending shivers down Irene’s spine.

“What happened to you Irene? Getting cozied up with your co-star?” Amelia teased, wiggling her eyebrows, a suggestive look plastered on her face.

Irene got rid of Wendy’s hand, not able to do so as the girl glared at her, for the first time, and tightened her hold. “Stay still, I think you might’ve sprained your left foot during your fall.” She regarded Lia’s presence. “Sorry Lia, but we really need to go to the clinic. I’ll talk to you later, ‘kay?”

Lia nodded her head with understanding. “Don’t