Irene found it hard to process what Mr. Son said back then. Even at the airport and on the plane; she couldn’t comprehend. His words sounded so sure and yet she could still sense the doubt looming in his voice.

 

‘So whatever you’re doing to make her eyes sparkle, please continue to do so.’

 

Irene saw hints of reluctance in his eyes as he spoke. It was like something was still trying to hold him back from uttering the words that would give Wendy joyous relief.

 

Irene could tell his words had been the result of overthinking, stress, and his hidden love for his daughter. He chose his words carefully and made sure no word came out the wrong way, acting as if a bomb would be set off if it did so.

 

Public image, or his daughter’s happiness?

 

What made him change his mind? As far as she knew, he found homouality unsettling,  disgusting, abominable. He couldn’t tolerate it at all; to the point he forced his daughter out of her home country due to the misunderstanding that she was being ‘influenced’ by western culture.

 

Maybe seeing his 23 year old daughter alive, well, and still very much beautiful made him realize something. Could you really be stuck in a ‘phase’ for 7 years? Did it make sense to force a perplexed sixteen year old out of her birth country?

 

“What’s got you thinking?” Wendy’s voice cracked through Irene’s thoughts. Irene leaned and rested her head on Wendy’s shoulder, tired of thinking about anything that happened in Canada.

 

“Just...things,” came the jet lagged reply.

 

“Well you’re oddly specific today,” Wendy replied in a chuckle. She brought up her hand to brush locks of hair behind Irene’s ear.

 

“Don’t think too much. Rest. We’ll need it for Korea.”

 

And Irene found comfort in the proximity as she drifted off to sleep.

 

-

 

Solar quietly stood in front of her car and waited for a certain two people while holding up a sign made out of white cardboard. Vehicles and pedestrians passed by her, but there were no signs of them anywhere.

 

‘Where the hell are they?’

 

Solar let her eyes wander the building, until the color red caught her eye. She barely recognized Wendy, resulting in her having to look twice before calling out,

 

“Irene! Wendy!” she waved her hand back and forth frantically.

 

Irene searched for the source of the familiar voice, her eyes landing on unfamiliar people before on an excited woman, who jumped up and down to get their attention. With a grin on her face, Irene led Wendy towards a relieved Solar.

 

“God, I am going to die an early death if you keep on making me leave work, Bae.”

 

Irene mocked a scoff before pulling Solar into a tight hug.

 

“I missed you too, Sol.”

 

Solar lightly chuckled and returned the hug. She had to admit, she missed Irene too. Wendy took Irene’s luggage and walked towards the car.

 

“Well, I think a certain group of girls are waiting for us back at the shop. Shall we go?”

 

-

 

Thoughts of missing Korea quickly disappeared from Wendy when she saw 2 police cars parked in front of the shop as Solar’s car pulled into the parking lot.

 

The problem was that the police cars were the only cars parked.

 

What did they do?

 

Irene and Wendy scrambled out of the car as soon as Solar parked, wondering what the hell the four girls did. Solar decided to stay in the car, fearing for the worst. Muffled screaming and yelling could be heard through the glass door that was surprisingly still intact.

 

Wendy pushed open the door and stormed in only to be greeted by strangled screaming created by different voices.

 

Her eyes widened as she saw an officer spin around and around in an attempt to get Joy off his back. Seulgi was also there, holding onto the officer’s arms in an attempt to handcuff him.

 

Yeri and Wheein ran over everything, hoping to escape the other enraged officer who was chasing them.

 

“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!”

 

Seulgi clutched the handcuffs and looked at Wendy in shock. She didn’t expect her to be back so soon. What happened?

 

Joy loosened her grip on the officer’s neck and unwrapped her legs around his waist to get off his back when she saw a fuming Wendy. Yeri and Wheein, who were running away from the other officer, paused in their running positions.

 

Everything became dead silent. Even the glass cup that was threatening to fall off the edge of a table halted.

 

“H-hey! You’re back! Haha,” Joy let a nervous chuckle escape her lips as she rubbed her nape with her hand.

 

Irene stood beside Wendy and observed the state the bakery was in. The horrible, horrible stench of rotten eggs mixed in with frosting, coffee, and condiments lingered in her nostrils. She was surprised she hadn’t thrown up yet.

 

It was a mess. Baking utensils, mashed cupcakes, frosting, coffee spills, and what seemed to be a dead cat decorated the floor. The tables were either flipped over or ravaged to the point of no repair. Pringles chips and cans were sprawled all over the floor, making it evident that someone tried to sell Pringles.

 

“Nobody is leaving here until I am informed about what happened,” Wendy seethed, her face almost turning as red as her hair.

 

She got only silence as a response, infuriating her even more.

 

“I SAID, NO ONE IS LEAVING HERE, UNTIL--,”

 

“Okay, Seungwan, here’s the thing. First of all, we have to replace our bakery cat. Wheein accidentally strangled it to death. Second of all…,” Joy trailed off, trying to find words to come up with. She brushed her hair out of her face before pointing an accusing finger at Seulgi.

 

“MONOLIDS STARTED IT!”

 

A loud dramatic gasp escaped Seulgi’s lips.

 

“I ING STARTED IT?! YOU’RE THE WHO WANTED TO PROVE  A GODDAMNED POINT AND STARTED ALL OF THIS!”

 

And the incomprehensive squabbling of the four girls ensued, with the cops awkwardly standing still in their place.

 

“OH MY GOD SHUT IT!” Wendy screamed, her hair and head moving along with her words in exaggerated movements.

 

The squabbling suddenly stopped and all the people in the building stared at the enraged red-head.

 

“WHAT ARE THE COPS DOING HERE?!” she exclaimed and waited for an answer.

 

“Oh! The cops? No, they’re not here to arrest us. They were here to play indoor hockey with us!” Yeri explained in a mocked excited manner and picked up a baseball bat, slinging it over her shoulder to let it rest there.

 

She hoped to God Wendy wouldn’t murder them right there on the spot. What would happen if she found out how this mess all started? Death? Unemployment?

 

Wendy looked at Yeri in disbelief after hearing the blatant lie.

 

“That’s a baseball bat!”

 

One of the officers cleared his throat after hearing all the aggressive screaming.

 

“We were called to come here after a passerby called us. They informed that they heard screaming, glass breaking, and smell of fire coming from the bakery. We cannot have adults attacking each other during a public service; therefore, they are under arrest.”

 

Wendy scrutinized him and walked closer. She found him strangely familiar.

 

“Uncle?”

 

“Ah yes, Seungwan. I decided to put work before family while I’m working so I deeply apologize. It’s nice to see you,” the officer replied and strained a smile.

 

How could he smile when there was a stabbing pain in his back?

 

“Uncle, can you let these girls go? I promise it won’t happen again. You know me, don’t you? I’m responsible. I can handle things,” Wendy attempted to convince her dear uncle.

 

He contemplated for a minute before letting a deep sigh escape his lips.

 

“I’ll let them go. Only because you’re my brother’s daughter though...and because there’s this stabbing pain in my back. Let’s go, Park.”

The girls sighed in relief as soon as the officers stepped out of the building. They immediately tensed up again when they realized they were still dealing with an angry Wendy and Irene.
 

“Explain the cat! WE DON’T HAVE A BAKERY CAT!” Wendy demanded.

 

“We don’t?” Yeri spoke up.

 

“Wait, that cat’s not dead, it’s still breathing.”

 

Everyone watched as the orange majestic cat suddenly came back to life and started its paws like nothing happened.

 

“Wait that cat’s not dead? I thought I killed it,” Wheein stated.

 

“You mean to tell me you meant to kill the cat?!” Joy questioned in disbelief.

 

“It scratched me!”

 

“SO?!”

 

Wheein snorted and looked at the serene cat with murderous intent.

 

“I’m gonna kill that cat.”

 

“No you’re not.”

 

“Yes I am.”

 

Wendy groaned in frustration. She didn’t care about an explanation at this point.

 

“NO ONE IS GOING TO MURDER THE CAT! I need to see this place clean by the time I come back! And I hope to God you guys are able to bring the customers back. GOT IT?!”

 

“Got it,” the girls replied out of sink.

 

Wheein was the last to answer, her eyes still focused on the peaceful feline.

 

Wendy grabbed Irene’s hand and stormed out of the bakery when she felt a headache coming on. She grabbed her phone out of her pocket and dialed in a number.

 

“Hello! How’s it going Seungwan?” came the loud ecstatic voice from the other line.

 

“Hello? Mrs. Kang? Can you come to the bakery and check if the girls are actually cleaning?”

 

“Oh I would be more than glad to! See ya!”

 

“Thank you, Mrs. Kang. I appreciate it.”

 

Wendy hung up and shoved her phone back into her pocket.

 

“Are you okay?” Irene asked as she interlocked her fingers with Wendy’s.

 

“Are we okay? You’re jetlagged too, so let’s take care of that first,” Wendy answered as they made their way back into Solar’s car.

 

“Sol. take me to my house.”

 

“What am I? Your uber driver? Fine, I’ll take you there.”

 

-

 

Wendy plopped down on the couch with a relieved sigh. Irene sat down just beside Wendy’s head and yawned.

 

“I’m tired,” Wendy muttered with her eyelids closed.

 

“Then rest,” Irene said before smiling.

 

She carefully slid her hand under Wendy’s head and lifted it before scooting closer so she could rest it on her lap. Irene brushed Wendy’s bangs to the side to expose her forehead and smiled, until she saw tears slowly slide down from the red-head’s closed eyes.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

Irene started panicking when Wendy’s lips started quivering and her eyebrows furrowed.

 

“B-babe, what’s wrong?”

 

“I..I thought I didn’t care about my dad’s opinion, but in the end, he stayed stubborn, didn’t he? That old fart,” Wendy replied, her voice breaking and quivering.

 

Irene quietly sighed and contemplated on whether she should tell Wendy or not. Maybe Mr. Son would tell her sooner or later. He will, right?

 

“Hey...it’s okay,” Irene said gently, sliding Wendy’s hair back before leaning down to give her a light kiss on the forehead.

 

“He’ll come through. Even if he doesn’t, that won’t stop us, right? He can’t force you to do anything. You’re not that lost sixteen year old anymore.”

 

Wendy sniffed as Irene wiped the tears away. Irene’s words were comforting, even if it wasn’t much. Maybe it wasn’t the words; maybe it was the person the words were coming from.

 

“You’re right. I shouldn’t cry so much,” Wendy responded with a chuckle.

 

“It’s okay to cry, Wan-ah. I don’t like seeing you cry, even if you do still look beautiful while doing so, but everyone needs to let some tears out once in a while.”

 

Wendy sighed.

 

“I can never understand how you think I’m so beautiful. I’m a mess.”

 

“Yah, stop talking about my girlfriend,” Irene said sternly, eliciting a loud laugh from the other girl.

 

“Okay, okay. Fine.”

 

Irene continued to play with Wendy’s hair, running her fingers through the many strands of red gently as she hummed a familiar tune. Wendy, with her eyes closed and a thin smile on her face, could only feel enticed to fall asleep to Irene’s humming.

 

“You remember the song?”

 

Irene could only scoff at the question.

 

“Of course I remember. It wasn’t that long ago. Plus, you wrote it yourself. What would it make me if I don’t remember it?”

 

“Well-.”

 

“Hey, go to sleep~! You’re jetlagged and tired. Rest.”

 

Wendy complied, nearly falling asleep to Irene’s light humming before another question popped into her head.

 

“Hyun.”

 

“Hm?”

 

“Why’d you fall in love with me? What do you find so beautiful about me?”

 

Irene lightly gasped and stared down at Wendy in disbelief.

 

“Please tell me you’re not asking this question right now.”

 

When a few seconds of silence passed, Irene knew Wendy was being serious about her question. Irene leaned down and gave the other girl a light kiss on the forehead.

 

“Your exposed forehead.”

 

She then went down further and gave Wendy another peck on the bridge of her nose.

 

“Your nose.”

 

Then Wendy’s lips.

 

“Your lips.”

 

“Kissing me sideways feels kinda awkward,” Wendy interrupted with a toothy grin.

 

“And your stupid toothy grin,” Irene groaned, still Wendy’s hair.

 

“I don’t know, Wannie. Before I met you I thought I had standards. I thought that if I meet someone that fits the standards, then I would fall for them and maybe marry them. Meeting you taught me a lot of things.”

 

Wendy closed her eyes, listening to Irene’s soothing and gentle voice.

 

“And I guess the things I found beautiful before don’t really quite compare to you. You’re just...beautiful and amazing, in a perplexed way. That’s what I find beautiful about you. You can be stupidly nice, you’re passionate, you’re mysterious, you’re everything someone like me could ask for.”

 

Irene didn’t want to sound cheesy, but she meant what she said. Every word.

 

“You’re not really in love with someone if they fit your standards, or if they’re your type. No one chooses who they fall in love with. It just happens, whether you like it or not. Something as trivial as standards don’t matter when you don’t have control over emotions and feelings. That’s what I learned after meeting you. That’s why I’m in love with you.”

 

She observed Wendy’s face that showed curiosity, beauty, and gratitude all at the same time. She knew exactly why she fell in love with this girl; she just couldn’t explain how so deeply she fell in.

 

A feeling of warmth spread throughout Wendy as the corners of her lips tugged up into a soft smile. Irene had a way with words that always made her believe; believe that she was worth it and definitely not disgusting.

 

“I love you,” Wendy mumbled tiredly, but sincerely.

 

Irene softly smiled at Wendy.

 

“I love you too.”

 

-

 

After going through much hardship(and having to restrain Wheein from murdering the poor cat), the girls finally managed to clean up the bakery and replace the broken tables. Not without the ‘professional’ help of Mrs. Kang, of course.

 

Wendy really didn’t want to but she felt obligated to help the girls, even if they were the ones who made the mess.

 

“Now that we’ve finally fixed everything!” Yeri shouted in excitement.

 

“Now that we’ve fixed everything what?” Joy asked tiredly as she sat down.

 

“I dunno. I didn’t think that far,” Yeri’s excited tone faltered.

 

They were glad to have Wendy and Irene back to control things and bring the customers back. If the customers didn’t come back, there was no telling what Wendy would do. After all, she shed tears and sweat just to open up the bakery.

 

“Listen up people!” Wendy shouted to get everyone’s attention. She stood on top of a table and sighed at the sight of the four other staring girls.

 

“Since summer is finally here, what do you guys say we go for a little trip? Close the bakery down for a while,” Wendy suggested and waited for the excited clamoring of the four girls to ensue.

 

“A trip?! Can we go to Jeju island?! Or or-.”

 

“No no! Can’t we go somewhere like Bora Bora?! Or or-.”

 

“Can’t we go somewhere less expensive?” Wheein asked insecurely, receiving stares from the three other girls.

 

“Don’t worry, Wheein. We have you covered,” Joy said and rested her elbow on Wheein’s shoulder.

 

“No, guys. We’re going on a road trip. That way we can visit lots of places,” Irene explained.

 

She was excited at the thought of a road trip with all the girls.

 

“Hey, it may not sound exciting, but we could go stargazing! And have bonfires, sing, do whatever we want at every stop. Take a little break and bond, yeah?” Wendy tried to convince.

 

It was Irene’s idea at first; to do something simple instead of boarding planes and swimming all day.

 

“We’ll be fine with anything, right, Seul?” Joy asked and looked at Seulgi, who was munching loudly on Pringles chips.

 

“Yeah, whatever.”

 

Wendy widely grinned and clasped her hands together.

 

“Alright then! Let’s get the bakery open!”

 

-

 

Irene kept an eye on every customer that ordered from Wendy, just in case they tried anything funny.

 

“Hello, what would you like today?”

 

Ireen could see Wendy grin widely at the boy, who had a smug smile on his face.

 

“Well, I’d like a little something that’s not on the menu.”

 

Wendy’s grin slightly faltered.

 

“What do you mean by that?”

 

The guy chuckled and flirtatiously leaned against the counter.

 

“Well, I-,” he was interrupted when a donut was thrown at his temple.

 

He looked back at the table where the customers sit, looking past Irene who was suspiciously sipping on her cup of coffee alone at a table. Her mop that was leaning against the table fell over, making her seem even more suspicious.

 

“I’ll just get a medium bag of your Caramel Stuffed Cookie Bears and a medium Yerim’s Blood mocha. Extra red velvet foam,” he said, feeling self conscious of the frosting on the side of his head.

 

“Would you also like to order the cookies and mocha to go?” Wendy questioned, although she felt the urge to burst into laughter at Irene’s antics.

 

“Yes.”

 

The customers had gotten used to the bickering and the unusual names of the goods. New customers would always make the mistake of flirting with Seulgi while Mrs. Kang was around and then nearly getting hit in the face with a flip flop.

 

“Mom, I understand why you’re defending me, but do you have to go that far to keep them away?” Seulgi whined.

 

“Hey, shut it. I don’t want you to go through a failed abortion like I did,” Mrs. Kang unknowingly confessed and dramatically wiped a nonexistent tear on her eye away with a finger.

 

“FOR THE LAST TIME YOU WITCH AM I ONE OR NOT?!”

 

“HOW DARE YOU CALL YOUR MOTHER A WITCH?!”

 

The employees sighed as the two family members bickered. When will it all end?

 

-

 

Ahreum sat at a table and breathed in the sweet scent of the bakery cafe. After seeing how excited her younger sister was to go to the bakery, Ahreum decided to follow and see what the fuss was about.

 

The atmosphere of seemed nice, calming, and the custom food and drinks tasted great. The employees were also gorgeous, no doubt(although she had to hide her face occasionally because of a certain girl with red hair), but Ahreum didn’t expect Kim Yerim to be one of them.

 

‘Didn’t she say Yeri’s a high schooler? hm…”

 

She observed Somi’s attitude around Yeri carefully and came to a conclusion.

 

It was as clear as day. Somi totally had a crush on Yeri. Ahreum had to admit that it was pretty fun seeing her sister so shaken up. Her and Yeri would make such an odd couple.

 

“Your birthday’s next month?! Why didn’t you tell me?!” Ahreum could hear Yeri panic behind the cash register while Somi stood in front.

 

“Just come to my party. I’m not asking for much, Hobbit.”

 

Ahreum raised an eyebrow.

 

‘They even came up with nicknames for each other. They’re that close, huh?’

 

She would have to whip up a plan. It seemed like Somi had had a crush on Yeri for months.

 

“Did someone order a medium Minted Hobbit Breath smoothie?!” Wendy’s voice pierced through the temporarily peaceful cafe full of overlapped voices.

 

“Oh , that’s me,” Ahreum cursed under her breath. How would she avoid Wendy now?

 

She slowly stood and and cautiously walked over to the counter, her purse covering her face.

 

“Thanks,” Ahreum said quietly and accepted the warm cup into her hands.

 

“Ahreum, I know that’s you.”

 

Wendy’s statement startled Ahreum, who nearly dropped her drink. She put down her purse and adjusted the strap.

 

“Ahem. It is nice seeing you again, Wendy. I must go now bye.”

 

Ahreum rushed back to her seat and avoided eye contact with Wendy at all costs. She had never felt so intimidated by an ex before, even though she knew Wendy was as intimidating as a kitten.

 

Regret washed over her when Wendy decided to walk over.

 

‘Oh my God why didn’t I get out of here when I had the chance?!’

 

Wendy took a seat parallel to Ahreum’s with a smile. Ahreum had never felt so awkward in her life if it wasn’t for the sudden change of atmosphere.

 

“Ahreum.”

 

“Y-yes?”

 

Ahreum never really got to look at Wendy closely when she visited Canada. Wendy changed, matured, but her height and kind eyes still remained the same.

 

With milky perfect skin, a defined nose bridge, succulent rosy lips, light brown eyes that exuded warmth and kindness, the girl was still as gorgeous as ever.

 

However, Ahreum chose not to be distracted by Wendy’s beautiful features.

 

“Why’d you do it?”

 

The question startled Ahreum. These questions always overwhelmed her(maybe because of the amount of words that would have to be spent and the guilt that followed along.)

 

“I… Why did I do what, Wan-Wendy?”

 

Wendy heaved a sigh and looked at Ahreum straight in the eyes.

 

“You used me.”

 

Ahreum went silent at the statement. Did Wendy really have to use that word?

 

Use.

 

Ahreum didn’t exactly ‘use’ Wendy-or so she thought.

 

Teenagers are young, curious, and full of energy; except some of them always have more curiosity than others. Ahreum was one of those confused troublemakers who felt the need to disturb anything they found mysterious.

 

uality.

 

Fifteen year old Ahreum wanted to explore. And that’s exactly did, except, she didn’t realize she would use other people to do so.

 

Wendy was bright, talented, full of joy, beautiful, but very kind. What do people to do kind people? They take advantage of their kindness.

 

And that’s exactly what Ahreum did. She did her little experiments on Wendy; kissing her to see whether she would like kissing a girl, touching her to see whether she would like touching a girl, being with her to see whether she would like being with a girl.

 

Then once Ahreum reached a conclusion, she left. She left a very tired, fragile, and empty Wendy, who then for a reason unbeknownst to Ahreum, left Canada to move to Korea.

 

Wendy could never catch a break. Hurt after hurt. Tears after tears.

 

Of course Ahreum felt guilty after hearing about what happened to Wendy. The hurt she inflicted on Wendy never really crossed her mind until she found she wasn’t the only person who hurt Wendy.

 

Ahreum realized she never really gave Wendy a proper apology or explanation and she lived with that guilt for years,

 

“..I’m sorry. I didn’t realize the gravity of what I did back then.”

 

Wendy’s expression softened up at the apology.

 

“It’s okay. It was 7 years ago after all. Plus, you led me towards Irene. I can’t hold a grudge against you,” she replied before standing up, letting the chair make a scraping sound against the floor as she did.

 

“Good luck, Ahreum.”

 

Wendy then walked away smiling,  with Ahreum’s apology in mind.

 

Irene eyed Wendy suspiciously as she walked over.

 

“What did you guys talk about?” Irene asked.

 

“Oh, just saying some goodbyes. Don’t worry,” Wendy replied and placed a small kiss on the corner of Irene’s lips.

 

“The bakery’s closing soon. The girls are coming over to my place, so be there too, alright?”

 

Irene scoffed and looked forward to s