"Unnies, you've got to see this." Yeri beckons with a big grin on her face, her cheeks a bit red with little tiny giggles that she attempts to keep from escaping her lips. Irene, Seulgi, and Joy draw their attention from their phones, leaning over to Yeri's side of the couch, trying to catch sight of what she'd called them for.

"Wendy unnie's trending." 

"Woah, what's it about?" Seulgi asks, glancing at Wendy who pays no mind, that being something off-character since she usually gushes every time she trends.

"I don't see Wendy's name?" Irene raises a brow, reaching over to scroll through the trends list on Yeri's open twitter.

"Unnie, look." The youngest points at the third trending slot, Joy squinting her eyes to see.

"'I'm straight,''" She reads out loud, a soft chuckle escaping her lips on accident, covering to stop herself. Wendy doesn’t look too pleased, a massive pout forming on her lips, sorrowful and petty, crossing her arms as if that makes her look more intimidating.

"Why's that trending?"

"Apparently, during Wendy unnie's Reddit recap today, she answered a question and said she was straight. Wendy unnie. Straight."

Seulgi reaches over to press the slot, transporting Yeri's Twitter page on the trending topic’s top posts. The very clip that started her fans' ecstasy lay at the very top, proving her very guilty of uttering such words. 

"I can't believe I heard 'I'm' and 'Straight' in the same sentence from Wendy's mouth. I must be having a nightmare, lmao.'" Irene reads from the tweet, not even able to contain a laugh herself. 

"I can't believe they got it trending." Wendy huffs, more peeved to see even Irene snicker at it. "Is it that hard to believe that I'm straight?"

"Yes." Yeri confirms without missing a beat, "Wendy twitter is having a pure just hearing you say it."

"The audacity- don't I exude straight vibes?"

"Uh, you exude spaghetti vibes."

"Spaghetti vibes?"

"Y'know… straight 'til you're wet."

Wendy stares at Yeri in shock, not really knowing what to say to that. Seulgi bites her lower lip, not wanting to worsen Wendy's mood, patting her on the back as the blonde curls into a bowl, pressing her body against Seulgi's for more comfort. 

"Oh c'mon, is it that bad?"

"It's the fact that people find it hilarious that makes it bad."

"It's not hilarious it's…" Seulgi pauses, asking for help with her eyes for a comforting end to her statement from the other girls, all of whom shrug their shoulders - they did find this humoring. For some reason, they can't lie this time. 

"... Amusing." She finishes with a sense of doubt at her own words.

"Why is it even amusing? Just because I compliment girls more than guys doesn't mean I'm into girls,"

The other four nod in agreement, although they still can't completely wrap their head around why they find it quite funny. For a reason that they can't fully explain, they agreed with the sentiment that Wendy publicly admitting she was straight was kind of… silly and unreal. Wendy can accept hearing a few comments about it here and there, but having it trending was a leap beyond comfort - and it isn't necessarily comforting for even her roomies to laugh at her.

"It isn't funny." Wendy deadpans.

Irene lets out a small sigh, smiling as she walks over to Wendy's other side before plopping herself down. "It's not funny," Irene raises her hands, rubbing Wendy's back soothingly to help comfort the irritated girl.

"You can say on stream later that you don't feel comfortable about people tweeting stuff like that. Or you can tweet about it. Whichever one you pick, we'll support you." With her warm, low tone, Irene calms the raging fire inside Wendy with a few words. Irene's had that effect on her since she'd moved in.

She stops curling against Seulgi, instead pressing herself against Irene, wrapping her arms around her waist.

"... I still don't get it. Do I really exude spaghetti vibes?" Wendy frowns, her stomach now against the couch, chin on Irene's thigh looking up at her with the biggest puppy eyes; Irene chuckles, running a hand through Wendy's hair, their eye contact a silent conversation of the two of them, the slight sparks that Wendy ignores just barely there. 

"You exude adorable vibes." The blonde snorts, hitting Irene's waist from the side, a smile now replacing her frown. 

"Tsk, you flirt."

Joy rolls her eyes at the two, leaning her cheek against Yeri's shoulder, having the same look of disgust directed at Wendy and Irene. "See this is why you two," Joy raises two fingers, one each for the two unnies, "Are being shipped relentlessly."

"Yeah true, why would you suddenly say something like that you sound like a character from a fanfiction." Yeri makes a gagging noise, turning her torso to Joy, making the older one pull back a little as Yeri imitates with a mocking tone, "Do I really exude spaghetti vibes?"

"You exude adorable vibes~" Joy plays along, the two gagging at their own little skit; Seulgi laughs at the duo.

"This is why you two are being shipped. You both are literal spawns of Satan," Wendy retorts, fixing her posture, now burying her face against Irene's chest. "It's because we can," Joy fires back, pulling Yeri closer. 

Irene notices Seulgi alone with no one to hug, and Joy notices this too, making the two of them reach out for Seulgi's arm at the same time, Seulgi bursting out laughing as she's stretched in a game of human tug of war. "Don't worry unnie, we'll find a sixth member eventually."

"I don't need to be shipped with anyone~ Though, we do need to invite more people. This house had been beginning to feel really big ever since Jeongyeon and Jihyo moved out."

"True. I heard you were scouting four girls unnie?"

"Yeah," Irene confirms, letting Seulgi go then wrapping her arms around Wendy's small frail frame. "I've contacted them for an interview.. only three have responded right now."

"What's their names?"

"Rosé, Jisoo and Saeron. They've been rising on Twitch recently and I've been keeping a keen eye on them."

“I hope they join…This house needs more brain cells, I’m tired of being the only source of it here.” Seulgi rolls her eyes at that, throwing the pillow she had been cuddling at Yeri's face. 

“Ow!”

Joy laughs, patting Yeri’s head.

“Wait, isn’t Saeron coming by tomorrow after our shoot?”

“She is?!” Yeri practically screams, hurriedly standing up, making her lose her footing and falling down with a loud grunt. She groans, before trying to properly regain her posture. “I haven’t cleaned my room yet! It's filled with her posters in there! Why didn’t you say that earlier unnie!?” The youngest makes a beeline back to her room, her voice fading away with murmurs of disarray along with it.

“What’s up with her?”

“She’s always been a fan of Saeron. She freaked out when I asked her to join Red Velvet,” Irene replies to Joy, who is now moving towards Seulgi to wrap her arms around her, compensating for the sudden loss of warmth. 

Wendy yawns, taking one last look at her phone to check the time. “It’s already 11 PM. I’m gonna hit the hay.”

“Sure. We’ll see you tomorrow. Good night.”

Wendy uses her hand to support her back as she rises, Irene delivering a quick peck to her forehead. “See you tomorrow, Spaghetti.” 

“Stop~” The redness that rushes to Wendy’s ears is almost immediate, slapping Irene’s shoulder before she starts walking to the stairs to her room. 

“See you guys tomorrow.” She bids in a final farewell, the other three in the living space waving back. “Sleep well~”

Once out of sight, Irene nuzzles her face against the couch. “She’s totally gay for you, unnie.” Joy suddenly says, making Irene perk up.

“Oh shut up, no she’s not,” She denies.

“I don’t know unnie, the way she reacted when you called her adorable and when you kissed her forehead said otherwise,” Seulgi adds on, putting her fingers in-between Joy’s, their hands interlocked in a gentle yet tight hold. 

“She was very adamant about being straight. We have to respect that.”

“Sure, but I know a gay- girl when I see one.”

“Did you even hear what I just said-”

“My point is, no one in this world is fully straight. Some girls are straight until they meet certain people.”

"Sure sure, Park Sooyoung," Irene chuckles, reaching for her phone on the coffee table, stretching her back as she stands up with the intent of retreating to her room. "Someone's uality is their business. Unless she tells me otherwise, with full consent and knowledge, my affection will be fully platonic."

Seulgi and Joy smile in silence, the yawning plague that Wendy started spreading to Irene; Seulgi's lips twitch to follow suit after seeing the oldest, stopping herself as she recalls forgetting to brush her teeth this afternoon - and if she does let the horrid smell of her breath escape, Joy would have to face it. Seulgi is too considerate to let her go through that.

"Consent is y unnie, but you both make it hard to not ship you too, and that's coming from someone who knows you both personally. Not just some weirdo on the internet."

"I agree. Can you imagine though? A new headline, 'Top streamer Renebaebae comes out to be dating top streamer TodayisWendy! Power couple confirmed?'" The two titter as Irene rolls her eyes for the hundredth time, waving as she starts going upstairs as well. Joy stops, "Oh wait, no. Wendy unnie is no top, it should be bottom-" The two explode into laughter again.

"I'm gonna see you dorks tomorrow. Goodnight."

"Goodnight unnie!"

Irene's small smile stays with her as she walks step by step, the final hallway that greets her a drag as every tread is heavier than the last. She just had to choose the room at the very back - granted, she wasn't able to since she let the other four pick the rooms and chose whatever one was left, but still. 

She stands in front of her room, palm meeting the doorknob before she twists it and enters. The comforting look of her bed makes her eyeballs suddenly sleepier immediately. She has the urge to just jump in, but the conservative in her makes her walk over to her monitor, the sleeping screen coming to life as she moves the mouse. 

Following the end of her stream earlier today, Irene kept her monitor on to let it download her comfort game of all time - The Sims 4. After getting a new PC, she'd wanted to do it but was only able to do so today. Her mood brightens even more, before exiting Steam. She opens Google, the only open tab being Twitter, and seeing Wendy's tag overtaking the number two spot with more than 47.1k tweets. 

"People really freaked out about that, huh?" Irene mutters in a lazy tone, voice now raspy and low. Truth be told, Irene didn't consider Wendy to be someone straight as well - the topic never appeared in conversation, and it isn't really something she should stick her nose into too. But it'd be a lie if Irene never thought about holding Wendy's hand in a non-platonic way, or giving her a peck and not grinning with a friendly undertone after. 

She doesn't know why, but she felt a part of her sink as well after seeing Wendy's clip. Irene shakes her head, not really carrying the mental capacity to think about it right now. Her hand reaches over for the water on her desk, drinking it all down before finally closing the tab and turning the computer off. She plops on top of her bed, cheek hitting her pillow. Irene's eyes are glued to the digital alarm clock that sat on top of her bedside table, vision darkening as she slowly falls into dreamland - a destination that she doesn't arrive at.

Knock knock!

Irene's closing eyes open wide, sighing before getting up to greet whoever is calling. She opens the door, surprise filling her to see Wendy there, her hair curly and messy, kind of like how when someone is trying to sleep but can't, so they keep twisting and turning as if that'd help.

"Hey, Uhm, I hope I didn't disturb you. But uh, I can't really… sleep." Wendy nervously explains, fiddling with her fingers. Her heart bangs inside her chest, stomach turning to see the slight redness in Irene's eyes. "I was hoping to hang for a bit.. but it seems like you already fell asleep, so I'll just-"

Irene doesn't let her finish her sentence, smiling gently before pulling her inside. "C'mon, you big spaghetti baby." 

Wendy shakes her head, "Stop~ I'm not a spaghetti baby." 

"Whatever you say… spaghetti baby." 

"Ugh." Wendy groans, but she smiles, standing in front of Irene's bed as the oldest lays down on the other side, glancing at Wendy before patting the free space beside her. "Come, I'll cuddle you, spaghetti baby."

"Fine, but you better big spoon me."

"Of course."

Wendy's smile widens before she settles herself besides Irene with haste, burying her face in her chest. "You're actually kind of warm."

"As I've been told."

Wendy raises a brow, "And who told you that?"

Irene smirks, resting her chin on top of Wendy's scalp. 

"This girl I'm cuddling that's a total spaghetti baby who won't admit that she's a spaghetti baby." 

The laugh that results in her tiny flirt brings a swell to Irene's heart, mirroring the same wide stupid grin on Wendy's face. The blonde's once frigid frame relaxes as she listens to the stable beating inside Irene. It's a sound that calms her.

"Thanks, unnie." Wendy mutters after a beat of silence, her voice low and quiet.

"For what?"

"For letting me in. I know I can be a pain in the , but really. Thanks."

"You're going soft on me, Son?" 

A beat.

"Yeah. Yeah I am. You make me feel mushy and appreciated." 

Irene chuckles, "Are you sure you're straight, ma'am? If I didn't know any better, I would've thought that was some sort of confession."

"I am! I guess there's just something about you."

"I hope you mean that in a good way."

"I do."

The heat that creeps up at the back of Irene's neck starts spreading to her ears, the dim lighting of the room making Wendy unable to see her, to Irene's relief. What's up with Wendy? Whenever they (friendly) flirt, Wendy would always back out. What's up with this sudden confidence?

A sudden tightness suddenly overtakes Irene's chest, biting her lip as she ponders if she should let the words she's keeping by the tip of her tongue out. "Wendy,"

"Hm?" The blonde responds. Irene's heartbeat accelerates, something she's sure Wendy is hearing with the way she's holding her so close. 

"H- Hypothetically, if you were to date a guy and then suddenly not like them anymore, how likely would it be for you to date a girl?"

"What's with that?" Wendy laughs at the sudden question. "That's so random,"

"Ha, yeah… nevermind then." Irene wants to dig herself into a hole and never come out; Why did she say that?

Wendy makes a silent humming noise, before opening . "I think it'd be very unlikely. Unless I develop some sort of spark with them. I can't really control who I fall for, so if I suddenly like a girl, then I fall for a girl." She pulls back a little, booping Irene's nose with a finger. "If I end up dating a girl, you can all clown me. I'll accept any sort of clowning."

Irene snickers, "You promise? We won't hold back." 

"Uh-huh. If you didn't hear me, I said very big ifs just then. If." Wendy emphasizes. The playful undertone is keeping Irene from falling into severe embarrassment.

"Your turn. Hypothetically, unnie, how likely would it be for you to date a girl? Or wait, no, scratch that." She backtracks, shaking her head slightly as her eyes gleam in vibrant yet silent curiosity. "Hypothetically, how likely would it be for you to date me?"

Irene is sure her heart stopped beating upon hearing those words. Now that's just weird - what kind of straight girl would ask someone that? Is it just her, or did it suddenly get very hot in here? How should she respond? Seriously or lightheartedly? More importantly, how would Wendy react to both? 

Imagining it now, if she truthfully provides an honest answer, would Wendy freak out or worse, ignore her then treat her differently? Irene doesn't want that. 'Very likely' is stuck in but she doesn't let it out, even if she may choke on her feelings. 

"... Very unlikely." 

There's a pause after her words, and Irene panics as it ensues. Did she say something wrong?

Wendy doesn't know why she feels something ache inside her after hearing that. "Why?"

"Well, we're just friends. It'd be weird to date friends, so…" 

"... I see." 

The atmosphere between them is suddenly quieter, in a less cheerful way. Irene wants to ask if something's wrong, but after giving every ounce of her courage into asking such silly questions, she decides to just zip and try to sleep. Wendy seems to have the same intention as well. She buries her face against Irene's chest once more, still wanting to be close to her without making eye contact. It feels weird to talk right now.

It's silent from there; their slight bantering over as they try to let eachother have more rest, especially since they streamed for more than 3 hours earlier. It's a courtesy thing, totally not because they're both getting timid and running out of words.

The night ends with Irene visiting dreamland first, and Wendy following suit after listening to the beautiful piece that is Irene's heart beat.