Week 20, Sunday.

Embers still burn in the pit of Irene’s stomach as she steps off the aircraft bridge, although her tears have long dried up. The scent of Incheon mixed with plane fuel seeps through the minuscule gaps in the glass walls, but Irene decides that it is much better than the stench of stale food in the aeroplane. Her phone buzzes with a dry welcoming message from her network service provider, reminding her of text and call charges.

She weaves her way past the passport checks at Immigration, trying her best to smile and hide her pinkish eyes when the officer warmly welcomes her home. When she reaches the designated baggage reclaim belt, she loads her luggage on a trolley and rolls it right out into a waiting area where families would usually anticipate the return of their relatives and friends. Her own family, however, is stuck in Daegu, and she had expressively insisted that her ageing parents stay home, rather than catch an hours-long train just to pick her up at the airport.

Not that the area is filled with people anyway, which she thinks a fair point considering that her plane landed at midnight. The airport is so quiet that the squeaks of her shoes on the tiled floor echo throughout the building. As she is about to walk through the doors that separate her and the taxi stand, she hears a chime from the ceiling, announcing the start of a public notice.

What she hears is beyond her expectations. “Irene? Joohyun? Can you hear me?” Her eyes widen, unbelieving. There’s absolutely no way that she’d be here, it doesn’t make the least bit of sense. “If you can hear me, Irene, come out here quick.”

Another voice, this time unfamiliar, adds in Korean, “She’s been waiting here for some time now, Miss Bae, so I think it’s best you find her quickly.”

But where? Irene thinks to herself, still trying to process the fact that she may or may not have just heard her girlfriend’s voice on the intercom. “Concentrate, concentrate.” Irene covers her face with a hand the way Yeri had taught her to and whispers the words with her eyes squeezed shut. “Okay, she said ‘come out here quick’. Out. Where is ‘out’?”

Then she looks up, where her nebulous reflection glitters in the glass doors.

Oh.

Edging close to the doors, she lets the trolley filled with luggage roll out first, watching it stop next to a pair of denim-clad legs. “Seriously?” Irene hears a light chuckle from the other side of the doorframe. She raises her gaze to meet the girl on the other side of the glass panel, arms crossed and leaning on her trolley.

And what a sight Wendy is, with her long caramel hair swept to one side to expose one side of her neck, so fair and smooth and inviting. An oversized tee hangs on her slim frame which Irene swears has grown even smaller, if that was even possible, skinny jeans that clutch at her skin, Converse sneakers that were given to her as a surprise gift not too long ago by Irene herself. Irene smiles at the familiar circular spectacles Wendy sports, reminded of when they studied together in the library.

At that moment, Irene wants nothing more but to touch the girl before her.

So, taking a deep breath to calm herself down, she extends her right foot into the Korea that is waiting outside. The first step goes well, so she takes a second. And then a third, a fourth, until she’s running straight into the arms of her lover. Wendy doesn’t hesitate to capture Irene’s lips with her own, gently scraping her teeth against Irene’s bottom lip as they kiss and kiss again, passionate fire burning on a wintry night.

Irene doesn’t even care that this is Korea, where what they’re doing now is taboo and people might spot them. She doesn’t care, because it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter because it’s Wendy, and Wendy is all she’ll ever need.

When their lips finally part, taking in breaths of chilly air, Wendy with her moonlit hair, Wendy with the brilliantly loving shine in her eyes, Wendy with the faint lipstick mark left by the girl in her arms, smiles a great smile reaching past her eyes.

“Surprise.”

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this short has ended! something about wenrene living together happily ever after, like a fairytale story~
i might write other stories about rv, i'm thinking of starting one for mmm, but i'll take a short break for now

also preparing for nanowrimo!! if i do manage to complete the 50k words by the end of nov, i might release it to some of y'all for feedback :>