Wendy

"But you can't keep acting this way, Stephanie." Sunny claimed, her eyebrows furrowed with worry as she looked at her younger friend, sad to see that the redhead kept holding herself back from following her desires.

"You don't understand." She sighed, bringing her hand to her cheek, slowly nuzzling against her own palm as she tried to hide her falling tears. "She's my friend. I don't want to ruin this."

Sunny placed a reassuring hand on top of her shoulder.

"You won't. You will make it better."

Stephanie knew that her blonde friend was right, but she couldn't find the courage to do what she expected her to do. She rubbed her eyes and let out another long sigh.

"I'll do it." She whispered, not really sure of what she was saying. "I'll confess to Jessica. I'll tell her that I love he

Knock knock.

I turned my gaze away from the screen, quite frustated because I was about to reach the of the story and turned to the door.

"Come in!" I hit my own head with my palm when I realized that I had used nglish again. "Come in."

The door opened and my flatmate popped her head into the room.

"Hey." She greeted me with a grin full of white teeth. I smiled at her as well, though I knew that I would face one more hardship when she began to talk in her usual faster pace. And I was right.

Irene began to speak at such a pace that I couldn't help but furrow my eyebrows as I stared at her lips, trying to catch her words.

"Can you please talk slowlier?" I politely said, which is something I repeat a lot of times. She realized and she nodded her head, resuming what she was saying.

"My boyfriend is coming over" That was everything I caught before she began to ramble at that quick pace. I managed to catch some more words, but I still don't even know what she was trying to tell me as the words I caught were 'fridge', 'couch' and her boyfriend's name, which I know that it's Bogum because she won't stop writing it in all her notebooks.

From what I sensed, Irene was quite nervous, but overall, excited that her boyfriend was coming over.

So I couldn't help but mirror her smile with my own.

She pointed at her one piece as she talked, swinging it a little with her hips as she tried to show me the dress. I nodded my head when she paused for me to answer. "It looks good on you."

She gave me a wide smile and she ran up to me to hug me, even though I was still sitting in front of the desk. I chuckled and I patted her back.

Koreans are really fond of skinship, aren't they?

She said some few words more and she left the room, waving her hand at me before she closed the door. I guessed that she would like some privacy for her home date, so I decided to get dressed and go somewhere else. I got dressed and I brushed my hair, not sure on where I was heading. I put my laptop inside my bag and I hung it from my shoulders. 

I said goodbye to Irene, who perkily waved her hand at me before resuming her cleaning tasks.

My relationship with my flatmate isn't really bad, but I wouldn't say that we communicate much. She tried talking English once, though. She came into my room with a glass filled with water and she pointed at it, merely saying 'Water'. It was a nice try and it made me laugh.

Oh, and besides, her name isn't Irene. It's Joo Hyun. But I kept messing up the pronunciation, so she looked up for some English name I could use for her. 

She's really nice and friendly and even though there's this miscommunication, I know she tries her best to have a good relationship with me. 

She's one of the few friends I have here in Korea, apart from Seulgi and Tiffany. It's hard to get friends when I can't really communicate myself with them. I shouldn't get so nervous about my Korean skills. That would let me talk much more with people, but I really can't help myself.

As I reached the nearest Starbucks, I began to wonder what would be Seulgi doing.

I smiled as I thought about my new friend. Seulgi is really nice and polite, but also really warm and friendly. She takes time to explain me, slow, her voice soft and smooth. She makes me feel alright about my Korean.

I ordered the least disgusting drink from the menu. I'm not quite fond of Starbucks, but it's the only place where I can order in English. I took the cappuccino when they called my order and I sat at one of those comfy armchairs, taking the laptop out of the bag.

I'm quite fond of writing ever since I learnt how to write. I remember my first story being about a fairy called Reina,who wanted to become the world's best piano player. It amuses me a lot to think about that story, because I never figured out how a tiny fairy could play the piano.

Nowadays I'm writing a story about two female characters who meet at work. Jessica, the oldest, is Stephanie's boss, but nevertheless, their friendship blooms and Stephanie soon finds herself falling for Jessica.It's the first time I'm writing something lesbian themed, but it was worth a try. I never really think too much about what people would think if they found out what I write. 

I opened the laptop and once the wifi connected - I had been there plenty of times already so it was automatic- my eyebrows raised at the sight of a new e-mail from my other friend in the city - Tiffany.

In my first day in Seoul's National University, I was so lost that I must have looked like a abandoned puppy, because this senior - which I have to remind myself to call 'unnie'- came to me and offered her help. She's a teacher assistant for some subject in Literature Major. She was born in California so she speaks English with me.

She has been really helpful ever since and we e-mail each other from time to time, as she checks up on me to make sure if I'm okay. She was the one who suggested me to put the ad at the bulletin board.

My last e-mail was on Wednesday evening, when I told her about my meeting with Seulgi.

Hi Wen!

I'm glad that everything went even better than expected. That Seulgi girl sounds so nice! I'm so happy that someone finally answered to your add! I would love to meet her as well, I think we would get along ^^ 

hey, I hope I'm not disturbing you by asking you this, but hm, do you perhaps know someone who is looking for renting an apartment? I'm moving in with my bf because it's not that the rent was high, but it's not something I can deal on my own. I'm leaving in two months and the man who rents it is so nice that I don't want to leave him down. 

I know that Joohyun and you are fine living together but I had to make sure just in case you knew someone, hehe.

hope you're fine Wendy! why don't we go and grab a coffee this week? so we can catch up!

xoxo

- Tiff

I bit on my lower lip as I gave it a thought. I didn't know anyone who was looking for an apartment to rent - not in my class or anywhere.

I shrugged and I answered her. As I was writing my e-mail, I couldn't help but take a peak of what I had writen on Wednesday, smiling at the words I had used to describe my meeting with Seulgi.

She's really gentle, you know? She listens really well. It's kind of cute, because she nods slightly when I'm talking. She blinks three times when I have finished talking and she looks for a way to answer me without sounding too complicated. And she explain things to me. Really, Tiffany, thank you for suggesting the language exchange!

I must confess that I have a thing for gestures. There's something in the way people make their expressions that call my attention. That must be the main reason why I became a writer. I don't even know if calling myself a writer is okay - I just have a lot of stories that have life in my mind, therefor, I must write.

So it was easy to me to talk about Seulgi's kind gestures, to spot the gentleness in all her cute being with a simple nod of her head as she listened to me.

For once, I found myself being glad that my overly descriptive writing didn't disgust Tiffany. I guess it must be because she's a literature major, just like me. It's nice that she doesn't judge me.

Just like Seulgi didn't judge me. I seriously think that I found a really good friend when I found her. I don't want to put my hopes too high, but she's really wonderful. I can really see myself spending valuable time with her.

I went back into writing after checking that I had successfully sent her the e-mail, making sure to keep the magic aura of the of my story.

Stephanie loved Jessica and she knew she wanted to confess to her.

Now it was time for a little bit of tension.

Stephanie looked at her in the eyes and she wondered if she could go any longer without being with her. Not as her friend anymore, but as her lover.

Oh my, I was really stuck with that part. 

This scene was really important because it was the time when Stephanie met Jessica right after her meeting with Sunny, where she decided that she wanted to confess. It's the scene I had been waiting so long to write, but now that I reached it, I wasn't sure on how to continue.

I banged my head against the table in frustration.

But I had to stop as I was taken back to reality when Irene opened the door and quickly pulled me into an embrace. At fist I thought she had sensed that I was frustrated, but when I heard her sobbing I knew that it had nothing to do with me. But then, again, she was talking so fast that I couldn't catch her words, no matter how hard I tried. 

I concentrated all myself in trying to catch her words, but it was hard because she was talking to me while her face was on my neck.

"What's wrong?" I muttered, not sure if she was listening. 

She pulled away and from the look she was giving me, I knew it was something that pained her.

And then it fell together. Her boyfriend coming over.

He had broken up with her.

How dare him!? 

She had been so happy about him coming over and now...

It was really sad.

I sighed and patted her shoulder in understanding.

She kept sobbing with her head covered in my chest for a while, until I said the magic words that, although they were in English, they worked their magic anyway.

"Ice cream?"

Irene nodded and pulled on my hand.

It was my first time in this ice cream store. I wonder why I didn't come here earlier - all of the flavours are written in English. The store looks friendly and it's pirate themed, which is quite conflicting because pirates are never known for being friendly.

I picked a table with Irene and I left her there after she told me her order. She had stopped crying and she was looking slightly better, but still miserable. Poor girl. Seeing her like that broke my heart a little.

When I reached the bar I realized that I had seen the waitress before, but I wasn't sure why. When she turned to look at me, she seemed to know me as well. She pointed at me with her index finger and a small grin began to cross her face.

"You're the unnie from the other day! Seulgi unnie's friend."

Oh, she knows Seulgi. I nodded my head, not sure on when had I seen her with Seulgi.

She seemed to notice since she flashed a knowing smile.

"I'm a part time waitress at Don't U Wait No More." 

My eyes widened a little and I raised my eyebrows.

"Wow" I simply stated at first, not sure of what to say. "I didn't expect you here."

"It's fine. People say that I'm everywhere."

The way she laughed was so melodious that she was like Christmass in the body of a little woman with a charming smile. She wasn't shorter than me - usually nobody is shorter than me - but she did look younger. Her hair was blonde, but most likely not her natural colour.

"Oh, Seulgi unnie came earlier by the way." She got on her tiptoes and looked around the store, her eyebrows raising at the sight. "And she's still here, in fact."

I turned around and there she was, gentle Seulgi, seemingly drawing something on a sketchpad with a bar of charcoal. A smile crossed my lips as soon as I saw her. 

"Why don't you go and greet her?" The waitress encouraged me. "I think she will apreciate it. She seems so lost in her thoughts."

I looked back at the waitress and she had a small smile on her face as she said that. That dreamy smile was enough for me to want to try. But first, I ordered the ice creams - chocolate with extra chocolate for Irene, and strawberry for me.

With the waitress working on the orders, I decided to walk over Seulgi, who was so deep into her thoughts as she sketched something. When I reached her, it seemed like the figure of a woman wearing a long dress.

"Hi, Seulgi" I greeted her in her own language.

Seulgi jumped a bit on the spot and covered what she was drawing with her hands.

"Wendy!" She exclaimed, clearly shocked to see me. "Hi! How are you?"

She closed her sketchpad before I could even ask her about the drawing. 

"I'm fine, thanks. And you? Why are you here?" I asked her with genuine curiosity.

She rubbed the back of her neck, oblivious that her fingers were stained with charchoal and she was now staining her neck.

"I kind of needed some sugar. I have quite a sweet tooth."

Her accent is so sweet. She clearly sounds Asian and that makes it much more lovely.

I chuckled at her words.

"So do I." I answered, Seulgi giggling at my words. She looked at me, like wanting to say something, but not earning the courage to do so. I guessed that she wanted to know why I was here. "My flatmate Irene was feeling down so I brought her over to have some ice cream."

Seulgi nodded her head in understanding. She's so gentle. She makes me want to squish her cheeks with my hands.

"I hope she feels better afterwards."

I nodded and I looked over to see Irene, who was playing with a napkin. I wondered if ice cream would be enough to help her, but it's the best I could do considering that we don't really understand each other.

I turned my attention back to Seulgi and I decided to ask her about the sketchpad. "What were you drawing?"

She shook her head quite a lot of times. "Nothing important, really." Before I could insist, she embarrasedly said. "It's not so good."

I pouted slightly. I was hoping to see what she could draw.

She seemed to know what was going through my mind since she gave me an answer to my question.

"If you want, I can show you my paintings someday."

I must have looked like a happy puppy, since she laughed at the expression I did.

"I'd love that, Seulgi."

Author's Note 

Hi there! What a time to be alive. Seuldy for all of us! *-*

I hope all of you are fine. I love you all and keep safe!