It was very rare for Wendy to cause trouble, but she screwed up big time. She was sweating buckets as she fidgeted around in Irene’s office, wishing she could just deteriorate in the spot so Irene wouldn’t have a chance to go berserk on her.

She received a text message from Yeri informing her that she had been negligent today.

 

Unnie, you forgot to do the stuff I sent you this morning.

From Yeri

 

Wendy had submitted the final report to Irene and she wanted to rip it out of her hand and run back.

 

Can you do it for me real quick? I’m busy at Miss Bae’s office.

From Wendy

 

Okay but good luck.
I’ll delivery it when it’s done.

From Yeri

 

Wendy probably did deserve to get beaten by Irene. She watched Irene’s eyes shift through one end of the paper to the other, showing her attention for details. She hoped she would take forever to read and Yeri would bolt up here in the speed of light, then maybe she would be spared from Irene’s rage. But that hope went crashing down as her anxiety increased when Irene flipped to the next page.

WHAT?! Is she even reading it? That page took me 3 hours to do.

Wendy knew she’s going to have a taste of Irene’s wrath sooner or later. She felt a droplet of sweat running down her neck as she began to anticipate how her self-esteem was going to smack square in the face by Irene’s bat. Her insides weren’t settling at all.

“Well done” Irene gathered the papers together, startling Wendy how she was already finished.

Her uneasiness turned into confusion and then converted into skepticism as she squinted with suspicion.

“What?”

“Something wrong?”

“Yea. The report isn’t finished. How did you approve that?”

This time Irene’s face turned sour and gave her an accusatory look. She knew she said something wrong.

“So you think it’s funny to hand something incomplete and mock me?” Irene looked like she was threatening her life.

“No no! I didn’t mean it that way. I was told just now that I forgot something and I was going to tell you.” Wendy waved her hands in panic trying to backtrack what she said, but it was too late.

Irene snorted and smacked the papers on the desk which made Wendy jolt in fear.

“So what are you going to do? Finish it or you’re going to keep laughing at my face? Because I…”

At the very last minute, Wendy received a blessing when they heard the door creaked open and another set of papers being dropped by the entrance without seeing who the delivery person was.

I love you so much Yeri.

Wendy rushed to get the papers and handed it to Irene with a deep bow.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you in any way. I had completely forgotten about this and Yeri helped me finish it.”

Irene’s face didn’t soften, she snatched the papers away.

“Go back now.” Irene ordered with hints of anger.

Wendy immediately obeyed and gave another 3 extra bows. One as a form of apology, two as ‘don’t fire me yet’, three as ‘I swear I’m a good girl’, and left as quickly as she could.

Just when she opened the door…

“Meeting is at 5pm tomorrow. I’m picking you up.”

Wendy’s mind was going to blow on the spot. Just when she hoped she could avoid her, the announcement brought her back to reality. She didn’t want to be near Irene for a while after she agitated her.

 

--

 

Amber greeted Seulgi and Joy as she opened the door for them.

“Wendy! You got guests!” She yelled in the empty space, hoping Wendy would pick it up.

“Yeah, I’ll be there in a minute.” Wendy’s spoke through the bathroom doors. Amber turned back to the guests and saw a new face.

“Oh, I haven’t met you before. I’m Amber.”

“I’m Joy.” They exchanged bows. Amber shifted her backpack onto her shoulder.

“Alright have fun ladies, I’m off to somewhere now.” Amber waved at them and took off.

Just then, Wendy exited the washroom and drying her hair with a towel.

“Make yourself comfortable.”

Wendy invited them to have a relaxing dinner at her place. She was going to cook something for a well deserve night after they finished their hectic work. Originally, it was hers and Seulgi’s tradition to celebrate the month end somewhere together. Now that Joy and Yeri were in the picture, she invited them as well. Too bad Yeri had plans as she told her. After they ate her delicious Korean soup, they sat lazily around her couch. What better ways to celebrate the night when you can gather your friends during off hours to rip apart your coworkers?

“He tried to dance in front of me, what kind of move is that?” Joy scrunched her face as she remembered weirdo number two, as she would call it, tried to flirt with her.

“What kind of dance?” Seulgi asked.

“Like how you see an ajusshi dance and humps the air. I was suffering from embarrassment.”

Wendy and Seulgi laughed at her expense.

“That definitely sounds like Yugyeom.”

Joy adverted to Wendy.

“So Wendy, what tricks did you use to grab the boss’s attention?” Wendy grumbled under her breath.

“We’ve been through this, she just likes that I get the job done.”

“Yeah so did I, Seulgi, Yeri and the other seven people out of the whole office and we weren’t sent on a Disney cruise.”

“You do realize that is my job.” Wendy sipped on her tea. “And how am I supposed to know if she likes me or not?”

“Maybe you’re her type?” Seulgi assumed.

“No offense, but that whole thing is all nonsense.” Joy interjected, not believing in love at first sight.

“Then what do you think?”

“I’ve got two theories.” Joy raised two fingers. Wendy and Seulgi looked at each other, not sure what would come out of her sharp mouth.

“One, Miss Bae is thirsty and Wendy is the next easy target.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Feeling a bit offended.

“I mean, granted, she may not like y girls like myself” They shook their heads in disapproval. “But have you taken a good look at Hara or Taeyong?”

It wasn’t the most pleasant thing to hear but Wendy understood what Joy meant. People would drop their jaws at how gorgeous Hara was or swoon by Taeyong’s handsomeness. Wendy knew herself that she wasn’t striking or the best looking person in the room. So nothing Joy had said stung her.

“So I’m not an Elsa.”

“No, but you are the next cutest fluff of ball.” Joy tried to put it in a nice way.

“Joy just dissed you.” Seulgi patted Wendy on the back.

“Thanks, I think I’ve already noticed.” Wendy rolled her eyes. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Ah, you see Wendy, sometimes people just want a relationship. They just want a simple easy partner to please them. So why have to try so hard going after those pretty faces when you can take what’s there beside you.”

“I still don’t get it.”

“You’re easy to approach.”

“You could’ve said that in the first place!”

Joy shrugged at Wendy’s outburst, continuing her explanation.

“Two, Wendy is a natural flirt and she somehow charms Miss Bae”

“That’s definitely not it.” Seulgi shook her head knowing that Wendy wasn’t anywhere close to being flirtatious.

“Hey! I can be a player if I wanted to.” Wendy defended.

“I don’t think that’s something to be aspired to…”

“Has she ever felt you up?” Sometimes Joy should hear what she was saying. Half the things that came out of were shocking.

“What?! Of course not, not anywhere inappropriately! That’s workplace ual harassment!”

“Then what are you and Miss Bae?” Joy pressed on.

“Ugh… an employee and a boss?”

“No, I meant your relationship.”

“Business relationship.”

“Seems a lot more if she wants to drink with you.” Seulgi wriggled her eyebrow.

“What’s wrong with that? You can drink with your coworkers.”

“Wait, she wants to drink with you?” Joy raised her eyebrow. “That’s normal with your coworkers, but with the boss… it sounds like she wants to kidnap you.”

“What? Where did you get that from?”

“She wants to whisk you away for herself.”

“…I’m done with you two.”

 

---

 

The meeting went normal as usual. Irene didn’t seem to be disappointed in her like last time so it was a great relief for Wendy. However, Irene once whispered something into her ears and it made her heart beat a little faster at the closeness. Other than that, things went smoothly and they shook hands with the other parties, ending the night.

“What are you doing tonight?” Irene turned to her. Wendy gulped, not sure where this was heading.

“Go home. Cook dinner.” She flatly tried to sound like she was the most uninteresting human being.

“Ah, would you like to join for dinner with me instead?”

Wendy ran through all sorts of scenarios, debating whether it was a good idea or not to accept the invitation. After her friends suspected too much from her, she wasn’t in the mood for it. She remembered Joy’s word, but then she shook it out of her head.

It’s just dinner. Calm down.

“Sure.” She better not regret this.

Irene took her to a foreign restaurant, a little too fancy where Wendy would normally go but she half expected it. After ordering, Irene brought out the familiar wine bottle and asked the waitress to open it for them.

“It looks like you actually waited for this moment.” Wendy tried to lighten up the room. It worked because Irene showed her adorable smile.

“Hmm, well I had other liquors in my house. I just labelled this one for you.” Irene lightly humoured back.

“I guess I should be flattered.”

“Yes you should.” The waitress came back and poured wine into two glasses. Wendy took a sip and slightly winced at the alcohol, she wasn’t used to it. She could hear Irene giggled.

“I guess you really don’t drink.”

“Not really.” Wendy put the drink down.

“More for me then.” She jokingly poured a bit more in her glass.

“Careful. You might have to crash over at my place.”

“Is that an invitation?”

Wendy paused for a second. She realized that it sounded like they’re in the flirting territory and that’s not what she signed up for.

“Well the couch is free.”

“No thanks, I like my own bed.” Irene took another sip. “Did your sister like the wine at least?”

“She did, she said it was also her favourite.”

“Good. She must be a fabulous person.”

“Are you calling yourself fabulous?”

“Aren’t I?” Irene’s eye twinkled. Wendy was astonished to see the playful side of Irene. Everyone from the office knew Irene to be cold and strict, but she liked this side of her a lot.

“Of course. You are the boss after all.”

Irene crooked her lips as she ran her fingers through her hair. Wendy was dazzled by every action she did. 

“I’m just playing. You did well today.” She could never get used to her compliments, she was resisting a stupid grin that was about to break out.

“Thank you. I think everyone should look up to you. You are everything I wished to be.” Wendy was not shy with giving compliments either. Irene was pretty much the synonym of perfect. She was beautiful, rich and successful and that was pretty much everything. She could imagine people kissing the ground wherever she walked.

“Are you sugaring me up?”

“No! I really meant what I’ve said.”

Irene traced the rim of the wine glass in circles. “You’re very sweet Wendy.”

A blush creep up her face, her cheeks shaded in pink. Finding the opportunity, she took the chance to confess her guilt that still made her feel queasy. “I apologized for what I’ve said yesterday. I didn’t mean to make you feel offended.”

“It’s okay, everyone makes mistake.” Then Irene smirked. “But I was thinking of giving you double amount of work.” Wendy’s jaws dropped, but close them right back again.

“I-I will do them if you tell me to!” Feeling determined to be a good employee almost made her shout over the table which made Irene laughed.

“Relax. I was joking.”

 Wendy playfully glared at her before she took another sip of her drink.

Their food came in and they began eating, enjoying their meal. Irene had great taste; she would’ve named this as her favourite restaurant only if the dishes fit under her budget. However, it became silent between them and she didn’t like it at all.

“You should sing again so this can turn into a theatre dinner.” Wendy had a grin on her face.

“Hah. As if, that’s going to cost you.”

“I was very surprised. I had no idea you sing.”

“Why? You don’t sing?”

Actually, it was Wendy’s dream to become a singer. Her parents told her that she was too smart to be an idol so she settled for her second choice and work at a business office.

“A bit…”

“Oh so how much do I have to pay you to sing?”

“My service is not available.” She shook her head cutely.

Irene raised her eyebrow amusingly and resumed eating. Wendy was feeling a bit light headed, not drunk but alcohol did affect her. Aside from the way her body was reacting, her woman intuition cannot tell if Irene liked her and this was actually a date. Or maybe she heard enough nonsense from people that she had taken it the wrong way.

 Ahh forget it. I’m having dinner with a pretty woman. Just gonna enjoy it.

For the rest of the night, Wendy’s doubt turned into something that resembled a genuine interest.

They spent on learning a bit more about each other, well it was more like she learned 3 to 4 facts about Irene and she practically read her own biography out loud. She should’ve stopped at the second glass of wine; failing to find the voice within herself to shut up. She divulged almost her entire childhood to Irene and she was listening to all of it, almost too attentively.

She really couldn’t stop when it felt so nice having Irene’s full attention on her. Her laughs were melodic to her ears and her eyes looked at her like she was the most fascinating human in the planet.

Irene dropped her home when the sky had already turned dark. Wendy reached for Irene’s hand without hesitation, squeezing lightly and smiled. She didn’t know when holding her boss’s hands started become casual, but as long as Irene didn’t mind she didn’t either.

“I had fun. Thanks for the dinner.”

Irene smile fondly and squeezed back affectionately.

“Remember to pull your hair back.” Her smile turned mischievous.

“I’m not drunk! Whatever, see you whenever. Bye” Wendy exited the car.

She couldn’t describe her own feelings right now, mainly because alcohol won’t let her mind process them into words, but her smile was beaming throughout the night.

 

---

 

“Okay spill it, how did you get on the food email?” Joy kept pestering Seulgi.

“I can’t tell. It’s part of my vow.”

“Do I have to torture you so I can force you?” Joy threatened. Things would’ve been much easier if Seulgi didn’t always have to be such a prude. She couldn’t remember a time where Seulgi had done anything reckless even during her ‘rebellious’ phase. Although, she did pull her out of trouble countless of times when they were in school together.

“I put my hand on their bible, I sworn to it with my life.” Seulgi placed a hand on top of her chest, only to have Joy rolled her eyes.

“Whenever I run into the break room, all the good food is gone. Do you know how depress I feel?”

“As much as I love you Joy, I can’t just put you on the email even if I wanted to.”

“Okay, then who is the leader of this organization?” Joy was determined to get to the bottom of this yet annoyed at Seulgi stubbornness.

“Sorry, if I say it then they’ll kick me out. You just have to find him yourself.”

Unknowingly, Seulgi just spilled the gender of this person and it saved Joy half the time trying to figure out who the person was.

“Fine. Here I thought you were a kind hearted girl, but I guess that was a lie.”

“I’m not falling for that again.”

“Hmp. Well you’re going to help me anyways.” Joy dragged Seulgi out of her seat and stood by the hallway in the views of their half working and slacking coworkers.

“Give me a hint.”

“Hmmm.” Seulgi was deep in her thoughts while Joy tapped her foot patiently waiting.

“He’s tall.”

“That’s basically most of the guys here.” Joy wanted to smack Seulgi.

“Sorry, that’s all I can say.” Seulgi was determined to keep her lips sealed. So Joy pulled Seulgi and randomly pointed at some of her coworkers.

“Okay tell me if I’m right. It’s him with the gray shirt.”

“Nope.” Seulgi shook her head. Joy pointed to the next person.

“The guy with thick glasses.”

“No.”

“The guy with bad odour smell”

Seulgi paused for a second before agreeing with her.

“Hell no.”

“The guy who still wears Hello Kitty’s socks and got jumped for it in high school.”

“No. Wait, what?” Seulgi scrunched her face in confusion. How did Joy even know about that?

“Okay, it’s the guy who got divorced and has to pay for child support when he hasn’t met the kid yet.”

“Oh my god, NO!”

Joy paused for a moment, holding her chin as she pondered. “Then it’s definitely Shindong.”

Seulgi shook her head.

“Just because he frowns when he looks at his scale doesn’t mean it’s him.”

“He just looks like he’d be the expert in the food department.”

“No Joy, I’m not telling you.”

 

Joy spent the whole week monitoring Seulgi, checking Seulgi whenever she left her seat. Whether it’d be a visit to the washroom, coffee refills or the next door cubicle, she followed Seulgi.

Joy hid behind the wall as she examined Seulgi talking to Sungjae about ice cream.

How innocent… I wonder if she likes him.

They’ve been talking for a while until Yeri blocked her view.

“Who are you stalking?”

“Shhh… I’m trying to find the leader of the food email.” Joy whispered and pushed Yeri out of the way.

“Oh my god! Me too! Seulgi wouldn’t say a word.”

“Shut up! You’re being too loud.”

Somehow, it ended up with two girls behind the wall with their heads poked out as if there was nothing suspicious about it. They wondered how someone could drag on about ice cream for such a long period of time. Maybe Sungjae was also part of the secret group. They would have to check with him afterwards.

“What are you two doing?” They turned their heads and saw Irene standing behind them with arms crossed. They both swallowed nervously.

Ahh… just when we’re one step closer.

“Just looking out for a friend Miss Bae.” Joy’s face remained neutral, trying to suppress her embarrassment.

Irene shook her head in disapproval.

“Yeri, to my office now.”

Yeri frowned.

 

---

 

“You can’t be playing around Yeri. If you’re going to help me run the company one day, I can’t have you looking like a bouncing teenager.”

Yeri propped her head from the arm rest and stared at Irene.

“It’s so boring, I’m already done my work.”

Irene looked at her sister and then thought for a minute.

“How about you move up and help manage the marketing team. Sounds fun?”

“Not like there’s anything else to do.” Yeri played with the ends of her hair.

“Good. Starting next week I’ll let them know.”

“Oh? Then who’s going to do Wendy’s old job?”

“Joy will.”

Yeri shrugged and then an idea came to her head.

“So everyone’s been talking about you and Wendy.”

“What about us?”

“You like her?”

“She’s a good employee. Why?”

Yeri kept watch of Irene’s body language, but Irene succeed in hiding her emotions. It’s always been like that since they were kids.

“Just a good employee?” She raised her eyebrow.

“Yeah, what are you trying to say?”

“I’m saying that it seems very scandalous between you two.” Yeri’s lip twisted into a mischievous smile.

Then a phone ring saved her. Irene picked it up and waved her hand to shoo her off before Yeri could interrogate her further. Feeling dissatisfied at the interruption, Yeri grumbled before she returned back to her seat. Whatever, she can always bother Irene when they’re at home.

Her face brightened up when she saw Seulgi making her way back to her desk. She skipped to her.

“Seulgi unnie!”

“Hey kiddo.”

“Let’s go for lunch!” Yeri’s eyes sparkled. She wasn’t going to change her buoyant personality just yet.

 

---

 

Wendy was baffled when she saw Irene sleeping on the couch, the same couch where she was caught the other day.

Maybe this was Irene’s sleeping spot and she had naively taken over it last time. Truthfully Wendy wasn’t going to sleep at work again. She thought it would be funny to catch someone slacking off so she opened the door curiously.

Now she felt like she totally violated Irene’s personal time. She probably didn’t recover from her shock as she stood frozen at the door. She stared at Irene’s peaceful face, mesmerized by her beauty.

“How long are you planning to look at me?”

Wendy felt her face flushed deep red. Irene opened her eyes to look at her.

She was going to leave, but she saw Irene patting the spot beside her. She must’ve thought Wendy wanted to nap.

“Come”

She wanted to say no, but her body had already moved and lay beside Irene. The couch was not meant for two people to sleep so she had to shift sideways, facing away from her. Feeling the silence, she closed her eyes and relaxed into her position.

Five minutes later, she sat up slowly trying not to disturb Irene. She looked at her and noticed her faced was slightly scrunched up and eyebrows furrowed.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Just a headache.”

She was worried about Irene now. She couldn’t leave like that.

“Do you need anything?”

“No, I’m fine.”

She was clearly not. She stared at Irene contemplating what to do. Irene must’ve been stressed out, especially since she had millions of responsibilities as a boss. She wondered when did Irene ever felt at ease.

“Can I give you a head massage? My mom always does it to me when I have a headache and it makes me feel better.”

“Sure.”

Wendy didn’t know why she offered, but it was too late to back out now. She hesitantly reached for the sides of her head, slowly touching her silky hair and her soft skin. Her fingers tingled at the warmth radiating from her head. Her thumbs gently massage her side temples, trying to untie the knots in her brain. Then she added pressure when she rubbed the back of her head. 

After a couple minutes, she saw Irene’s face started to relax and fell asleep. Wendy smiled as she succeeded in finding her cure, but then frowned when she found herself not being able to pull away. Her hands were attached to Irene’s warmth and she didn’t want to let go. Her hands stopped moving and fingers lingered at the side of her head.

The innocent look on Irene’s face made her want to hold her forever, completely drawn by her peacefulness. She couldn’t believe what she was witnessing, someone who was fierce and remarkable was now so gentle in her current state. She found herself wanting to be closer to Irene, a newly found feeling that triggered out of nowhere.

She made a mistake at looking at Irene’s lips, they were extremely captivating. Unconsciously, her right hand slid down to cup her cheeks.

How easy would it be to kiss…WOAH

She retreat her hands when she realized that she had crossed the line. She stood up and thought it was best for her to leave. Quietly exiting and returned to her seat while scolding at herself for acting upon instinct.

Her hands were still sensitive, remembering the touch of her hair and skin.

 

--

 

Ever since the incident happened, she was seeing Irene awfully more often, whether it’d be a business meeting, assigning new tasks, or even a patrol walk. Wendy was having a harder time resisting her lips from moving upwards whenever she was in her line of sight.

She didn’t know when it happened, but she found herself admiring the charismatic boss, in a way where Irene could just look at her and her heart would flutter. It was even worst when she smiled or laughed. It didn’t even have to be directed at her and she would adore at the sight (since Irene’s always wore that stone cold face everywhere). Also, she didn’t know how anyone could make a frown look so cute. She was fangirling.

What happen to being just friends?

She’s aware what these feelings might evolve into. She’s always monitoring her feelings, making sure it didn’t grow. Nothing good would happen if she had a crush on her boss. The worst case would be having her heart break and her ego beaten to death.

The most she could allow herself to be with Irene was just friends, if Irene liked her then just good friends. Even if there was a possibility of Irene liking her more than friends, she didn’t think she could handle being in a relationship with someone so superior and beyond her league.

Irene stood not too far from her and she was distracted by her presence. She was talking to Krystal about something, probably a project they were working on. It really didn’t help that Irene was so attractive. She hypnotized and lured you into her trap. Her soft features were too eye pleasing and the way she smiles just sparkled everywhere…

Wendy slapped her cheeks.

What’s wrong with you!?

She shouted at her heart. She tried to distract herself away from thinking and looking at Irene.

Maybe my hormones are acting up.

Her mind was desperate to wire itself away from Irene when she noticed that she was walking closer to her cubicle. It wasn’t working that well as her brain became more alerted so she shut her eyes closed and waited for Irene to disappear.

After keeping her eyes closed for a minute, her mind relaxed and cleared her thoughts with some breathing exercises. Presumably that was enough time for Irene to walk pass her, she opened her eyes to a blank looking screen. She propped her head on the table until…

“BOO!”

“AAAHHHHH!”

Wendy jumped back into her seat. She turned around to see Yeri and Irene beside her. Yeri smiled in victory and the side of Irene’s lips crooked.

Goddammit

Just when she succeeded, they just had to ruin it for her. What was Irene still doing here? She thought she already left. And she didn’t bother with Yeri since the girl is just a devil whenever she wanted to be. Wendy turned her back trying to give them a cold shoulder.

“Cute…”

That’s was definitely Irene’s voice and it made her heart raced. Why did she have to make it difficult for her?

No you stop being so beautiful.

 

TBC

---

Thanks for the comments. I had a blast reading them lol.