Going to work wasn’t the same anymore.

Wendy was perplexed whether Irene’s random affections were casual or not. Some days it was just a playful wink and other days it was a poke at the side to get her attention (really childish). It went as far as Irene tucking strands of hair behind her ears. That was because she got caught in a wind storm outside and her hair did a 180 on her. Irene made her feel different waves of chills through her veins. However, every time she looked into Irene’s eyes, they remained unchanged as if this was normal.

Wendy hated to be the one that seemed dense, but because Irene was a girl made it difficult to figure out if she had any romantic interest in her. Maybe it’s her personality to be expressive? It frustrated her more as she couldn’t pinpoint a clear answer as to why. Wendy was the type that needed clear evidences.

She wondered if Irene was aware that her actions might come off flirtatious. She hoped she’s the oblivious type because if she knew what she was doing, it meant she had some motives. Wendy wasn’t sure what to do with that.

"What are you staring in space for?" Seulgi's voice stopped her train of thoughts. Wendy came back to realization and found herself staring at her cubicle wall filled with random pinned notes.

"Oh, nothing..."

"Hmm."

An argument broke the dull silence of the entire floor and halted their work. They heard a loud commotion happening across the room sounding more like vicious feud than just a simple disagreement. It wasn’t the first time that a fight had taken place at the office, but to their dismay, one of the loud voice belonged to Joy’s.

Wendy, Seulgi and Yeri wandered over to the scene where it was the two girls standing in the middle of the room and surrounded by other curious coworkers.

Joy had her arms crossed and the other shorter girl (the one that constantly talked on the phone) was shouting at her with an angry look on her face. It honestly looked like a small Chihuahua was barking at something she shouldn’t have provoked.

“How rude of you to come up to me and say that I can’t do my job. You’re just a junior.” The short girl spewed, incensed by her confrontation.

Joy seemed unfazed by the resentful comment. Her tone of voice was raised but it sounded more sarcastic rather than angry. “And what exactly is your title here? Gossip Girl?”

“A senior to you! Who do you think you are? Some ing diva? Do you think I’m some sort of pushover? ”

“As a professional worker, I think your work ethnics are a lot like Taylor Swift’s relationship. You have the skill to make people hate you.”

“Do you love being a ? You really have no respect. Was that how you were raised?”

“Oh and your parents must be proud. That your other siblings didn’t end up being a disappointment.”

“Don’t you look down on me! I work hard here and I won’t let some worthless junior talk down on me.”

“Is that what you said during your interview when you lied to them?”

Joy’s words were as sharp as a knife, slicing through the girl’s tough barrier and her pride if they might add. The girls weren’t worried about Joy losing the fight both verbally and physically, but they stood behind her in case things got out of hand. Who knows if the short girl studied some sort of martial arts and had some moves underneath her sleeves?

The exchanging insults between the girls visually looked more like an American reality show. Some of the bystanders were enjoying the scene, including Yeri for some reason, cheering for Joy who was clearly dominating.

 “How did you get in here with that personality of yours?” The girl pointed her fingers accusatory at Joy.

“If you check yours, maybe your ex wouldn’t have left in the first place.”

Krystal finally stepped in acting as a mediator.

“Okay you’re making this so unnecessary.” She turned to the girl. “Look, just do the stuff she’s been asking you for days.”

The girl must’ve been too enraged for her to notice that she’s talking back at Krystal. “Are you here to back up your friend as well? Because you are all ganging up on one person.”

Before Krystal could get upset, “Wasn’t that something you enjoyed last night?” Joy was not able to let the joke pass by, even during inappropriate times.

That received a harsh shove as Joy was pushed back and knocked into Wendy. Wendy was pushed into the corner of the table which gave her a scratched line on her arm.

“Ahh” The long scratch line left a stinging pain on her forearm.

Finally the boss came in to end it for once.

“Get your stuff and leave.” Irene instructed the short girl starkly and authority pointed her thumb towards the exit door. The girl’s jaw dropped like she couldn’t believe it was happening to her. Everyone looked at Irene and froze, recognizing the peak of the chaos. It’s been a while since Wendy saw the scary version of Miss Bae, but she was oddly glad she appeared.

With a glance around the room, everyone finally turned around and dismissed to avoid the cold glares. In the middle of the shuffling and departing crowd, Irene whispered something in Seulgi’s ear and nodded. Then Irene turned around and disappeared after the crowd leaving Wendy slightly curious.

Seulgi took Wendy’s hand and dragged her into the break room. She retrieved the first aid kit from the shelves and examined Wendy’s cut. A bit of blood oozed out.

“You must feel special that Miss Bae pays attention to you this much.” Seulgi focused on gently washing the cut and applied a cream on the scratch line.

“Is this what she asked you to do?”

“Yes. It’s so sweet of her.”

“Don’t. I don’t want to hear it.” Wendy cut her off. Seulgi fan the applied cream to dry before finding a band aid.

“Where’s Joy anyways?” Wendy asked.

“Probably with Yeri or getting scolded.”

“Shouldn’t you be with her instead?”

“I’m not worried about her. She’ll be fine.”

Wendy gave a confused raise of eyebrow, but didn’t dwell on it. “I didn’t think Joy was that savage.”

“She had lots of practice in high school.”

 "Really? I know she likes to gossip, but she seems pretty tame to start a fight." Which reminded Wendy that she got slightly pissed off that they didn’t tell her about Yeri’s secret sibling, but she got over it quickly.

"Well, I guess she matured a bit but she hated less than half the people in our school."

"That's still a lot of kids."

“If she went on the show Unpretty Rapstar, she probably wouldn’t win with her rap skill but she’ll make anyone do a walk of shame.” After the fight, she didn’t doubt it.

Wendy wondered how Joy and Seulgi became best friends. Maybe she wasn't supposed to know and that opposite really did attract.

Seulgi finally stuck multiple band aids over the cut lines.

“Thank you.”

“Let’s go find that giant.”

They returned finding Joy too relaxed after the fight as she was laughing about something with Yeri. It seemed like no one really had an opinion about it and returned to normal. Wendy ran her fingers over the freshly stuck band aids. It had Seulgi’s touch underneath it, but she could feel Irene’s as well.

 

---

 

Wendy was lazy to cook so she and Amber went out to the restaurant for dinner. Amber used the tong to flip the meat as it sizzled on the grill in the center of the table while Wendy was scrolling through her phone, trying to find something.

“Here look. Should I buy this?” Wendy showed Amber the phone screen. Amber took the phone and her eyes focused on the item in the screen.

“Another coat? What happen to the trench coat you always wear?”

“I wore that too much, it’s getting worn down.”

“It looks nice. Woah! Look at the price.” Amber exaggerated. Well with a price like that, anyone would be shocked.

“I know, but it looks so nice when Girl Generation wears it.” Wendy pouted.

“They’re worn by celebrities for a reason. That cost almost half our rent.”

“Okay fine, I won’t get it.” Wendy gave up on it and tucked her phone away.

“You seem interested in fashion lately. Is there anyone you’re trying to impress?”

Amber was a great observer. Wendy had been seen wearing skirts or dresses that outline her femininity often. Wendy couldn’t explain where the interest came from, or more like she didn’t want to know.

“No…”

“Eyy, you’re lying”

“I’m really not!”

Amber didn’t push on it and brushed it off. She continued to flip the meat on the grill and changed the topic.

“Guess what?”

“What?”

“Victoria is flying back tomorrow from China.”

“Really?! Oh my god, I haven’t seen her in forever!” Wendy clenched her hands in excitement. Victoria was Amber’s close friend and she developed a bond with her.

“Right? She’s only here for a week though. I’m picking her up from the airport. Want to come?”

“Of course!”

“Alright we’ll pick her up, just you and me.” Amber winked.

 

When Seulgi and Wendy exited the building after finishing work, they heard a loud car honk blare throughout the street causing them to flinch. Wendy spotted Amber through her rolled down window inside her car parked by the sidewalk. They both smiled at each other. When Amber saw Seulgi, she got out of the car to greet her. They exchanged a brief conversation about their days and Seulgi gave them a hug before leaving.

“I’ll see you tomorrow Seulgi.” Wendy smiled.

“Yeah. Have fun.” Seulgi waved at both of them and headed to the bus stop. When Seulgi left, Amber teasingly poked Wendy’s cheeks.

“You look so cute in that work outfit.”

Wendy pushed the hand away. “Stop. I’m not cute.”

“Fine, but you’re the most perfect girl I’ve ever met.” She knew Amber didn’t mean it in a romantic way, but she wanted to argue with that remark when she met someone even more perfect.

Suddenly she felt a dark energy stabbing her back. Naturally, she turned around to see Irene from a distance staring at her. Irene didn’t show any reaction when they made eye contact, her face still carried a poker face. From the gaze alone, she felt like she got caught in something Irene wasn’t supposed to see. Something resembling to guilt was residing inside her stomach.

Yeri appeared behind Irene and waved at Wendy when she spotted her.

“Bye Wendy-unnie! Let’s buy that – Woah Irene-unnie, where are you rushing off to?”

Irene ignored her and sped walked to the side, heading toward the parking lot. Yeri quickly trailed behind her and waved at Wendy again.

“Let’s go, ROOMMATE!” Wendy shouted at the last word as her eyes lingered on Irene’s back, hoping she heard it. Amber looked at her puzzled.

“You okay?”

She had no idea what she was doing either. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

 

---

 

Irene sort of stopped all the flirty gestures all together. That bothered Wendy and the yearning for Irene’s affection bothered her even more. She felt like she was going crazy. What person actually missed getting poke by their boss?

This should be good news actually. She could finally get over Irene and move on. However, things were starting to get a little awkward between them. When meetings were done, usually Irene would make eye contact with a smile and maybe initiate a small talk. Now Irene just walked straight out of the door without taking a glance at Wendy. There no real explanation for Irene’s sudden change of behaviour.

Maybe except for one…

She must’ve thought Amber and Wendy were a couple.

So Irene did like her.

NO.ING.WAY.

The realization hit like a truck.

WAIT…WHY?

Baffled at the discovery, millions of thoughts flooded into her head questioning to how it was possible. What quality of Wendy did Irene like?

 Hold on…Hold on. She didn’t want to jump into conclusion so quickly. What if there’re other factors that cause her to emit such a distant presence? She didn’t know Irene all that well. Her initial incredulous face softened as well as her hyperventilating heart.

For now, she pretended she was okay from the cold treatment.

I’m fine…I’m fine….I’m fine

“You look like you haven’t slept for ages.” Joy said and then held her face between her hands.

Wendy blinked before feeling the heavy bags underneath her eyes. “Yeah…I just have trouble sleeping lately.”

“Oh really? Me too. I started meditating before sleeping and it helps a lot. You should try it too.”

“Does it? Maybe I’ll try it tonight.” Perhaps that’s what she needed, to clear her mind from everything.

Joy started rubbing her cheeks and then lightly pinched them, finding them amusing to play with.

“Did I ever tell you that your cheeks are the cutest things ever?” Wendy scrunched her nose toward her in response.

“Hey. Stop touching my Wendy.” Yeri pushed Joy aside and wrapped her arms around Wendy possessively.

“Yah, I got to her first.”

“But she’s mine.” Yeri held tighter. Wendy watched the two girls quarrel back and forth, they seem to go on forever fighting over her like she was a teddy bear. When she turned to the side, she coincidently made eye contact with Irene. In response, Irene quickly turned away and continued walking.

I’m fine…I’m fine….

Work was starting to pile up as deadline was nearing and she managed to prevent another mental breakdown. This time, she didn’t need to deal with mountainous stacks of workload that would exhaust her. As horrible and pleasant (?) the truth sounded, the boss kind of cleaned up the unproductive workers. There was no denying that it made Wendy’s life a little less stressful. Things were going according to schedule.

It’s been almost a week since she actually talked to Irene other than business talk. She was getting used to sticking back to strict business with Irene, but it left a bittersweet feeling.

After the abbreviated meeting, Wendy did a double take on Irene as she noticed her face seemed…kinda dark? Irene ignore her again as she walked out looking straight ahead. As usual, Wendy tried to shrug it off.

Or not, Wendy couldn’t erase the image of Irene’s face from this morning and her nurturing instinct was kicking in. She decided to make a trip to her office because her conscious thoughts just won’t shut up. As she opened the doors, she saw Irene looked up at her and back down at her paperwork with a frown.

“Is there something you need Wendy?” Irene kept her eyes on the papers in her hand.

“Umm… is…um.” Wendy stammered and hesitated.

“What is it?”

“Can I give you a head massage again?” Wendy blurted.

Irene looked back up with her eyes widen in surprised. “What?”

“You just look down today, I thought you weren’t feeling well.” It was the only thing that Wendy could think of without looking completely suspicious of the reason why she came to see Irene.

“Thank you, but I’m okay.”

Wendy’s heart dropped from the rejection. Well this was embarrassing. She was going to take her leave until she heard her sigh.

“Please I really insist.”

Irene gave in and dropped the papers on her desk. “Okay…”

Wendy went around Irene’s desk and became uncertain, not sure how she was going to do this. Irene spun her chair so she was facing Wendy and watched her. All of the sudden, the fluttering feeling came back when they locked eyes. Trying to push the feelings away, her hand automatically went to the sides of her head almost like they’re magnets. Her fingers were doing circular motions on her temple which seemed to do something as Irene finally closed her eyes. She was hovering over her until she felt the strain on her back from uncomfortable position. She tried to straighten out by stepping closer until their legs touched.

“Is this working?”

“Yes.”

After what seemed to be forever, Wendy stopped and forcefully drew back her hands. Before she could fully let go, Irene quickly caught her left hand and pinned them onto her cheeks, letting her feel the softness of her skin again. Irene opened her eyes and Wendy saw the intensity in them. They were beautiful, she thought, riveting by the deepness of her iris. She almost lost herself while she was so caught in the moment, hearing heartbeats inside her ears.

She unconsciously held her breath when Irene began to caress the outside of her hand gently. This was the new intimacy she’d encountered and it felt too overwhelming. The butterflies came in and she was having the panic feeling again. Her hands began to sweat and desperate to retract her hand.

Let go of my hand woman. I’m going to die here.

Irene probably sensed the discomfort and dropped her hand. She played it off coolly and gave a forced smile.

“People don’t need to go to the massage place anymore. They can just go to you and get a free service.”

Trying to shove down the blush, Wendy didn’t want to hold onto the tension either and went along with the joke. “Perhaps I should open up a shop so I can make some side cash.”

“Maybe. At least you got a customer waiting in line for you.”

Wendy smiled imagining Irene waiting outside the door, first in line, something quite silly. At least, she was happy for the fact that Irene was opening up to her again.

“I can make you my VIP.”

 “That sounds very special. I’m flattered.”

“That’s because you’re special to me.” Wendy widened her eyes and regretted after those words left . It was a small confession and Irene wasn’t supposed to know about her true feelings. Wait… the comment could go either way like a friendly compliment or romantic. She hoped Irene was dense enough to interpret it as the former. However, the blank face and silence in the room only confirmed that Irene wasn’t dense, she heard every word.

Ah .

Wendy dreaded the after, fearing what Irene might reply to them. Before Irene could say anything, Wendy retreated as fast as she could.

“Sorry, I’ve been here too long. Ha ha… I better go back.” Wendy fled out the doors escaping her like a plague.

 

---

 

Another rumour sprung up about Wendy again. Wendy deduced that her coworkers had a lot of free time or just simply avoiding their work to come up with nonsense again. Somehow someone caught her hugging Jackson and now everyone knew about it.

The reason she was hugging him? It was something that friends did, she didn’t see anything wrong with it.

The next few days, she wasn’t surprised that someone had asked her about Jackson. This time she didn’t even bother denying it and presented a very vague answer. “Maybe, maybe not. You ask him.”

She didn’t really want to sound rude but by keeping quiet about the new rumours might make everyone intrigued and forget about hers and Miss Bae’s. To be honest, she felt a little pressured around Irene inside the office where other third parties could watch. She tried to pay no minds to them.

“Why don’t you actually try dating Jackson? He’s seems datable.” Seulgi asked.

“Um…why don’t you? I haven’t seen you been interested in dating at all.”

"Well... I haven’t really found one that makes me want to date..."

Joy came in from behind and made her statement loud and clear. "She’s not allowed to date anyone unless I approved of them."  

Wendy’s eyes shifted between the two slightly suspecting something. "Why does she need your approval to date?"

She anticipated a snarky comment that might sound comical from Joy’s cynical attitude, but she was met with Joy's rare sincere instead.

"Seulgi's the type that can break easily. She can cry over something small and as much as I about it, I don't want her to experience that in a relationship."

She was touched by the speech and Seulgi smiled before Joy changed back into her wittiness.

"So whoever wants to get near Seulgi, I have to assess them before I allow anything."

"I am 23, you know?" Seulgi whined.

"Who still cries over kdramas. Seriously, who cries about some corny story line?"

"Apparently a lot since it's the most popular drama of the year."

“Seriously, how realistic is it for a person to ‘save the world’ by solving a freaking math problem?”

“Oh you’re talking about that one? Yeah… that one is a little…. I’m talking about the one about a long distance couple.”

"The endings are always so predictable. The male and female protagonist always ends up together."

"I agree with you." A new voice triggered the sides of their ears and they turned to see Tiffany flashed her famous eye smile.

"Tiffany?" Wendy was surprised, but not as much as Seulgi and Joy.

"Ommo! Aren't you the one that plays the tragic girl in the new drama?" Seulgi's jaw dropped and Joy clearly recognized her as her eyes widen.

"Yup" Tiffany turned back to Wendy.

"Hi! I'm not bothering you right?"  Hearing Tiffany's energetic voice was a refresher compare to their boring office atmosphere.

"No, but what are you doing here?"

"To get lunch with you baby girl. I told you that I'd come."

"Oh yeah, you should've messaged me earlier."

"Nah. I wanted to see if you were doing your work properly."

"Unnie..."

"So when's your lunch break?"

Wendy looked at the time. "Um, we could go now if you like."

"Wait wait!" Joy waved at them to stop them before they left them in the middle of star struck.

"You two are friends?"

"Well no, she's my sister." Wendy nonchalantly said.

"What!? How come you never told us Tiffany was your sister?" Joy and Seulgi’s eyes drifted back and forth between them trying to catch any resemblance.

Wendy didn’t tell them simply because considering how rumours were spreading like wild fire, she’s afraid someone might eavesdrop on them and then she’d have to deal with random encounter with her coworkers asking about Tiffany. Also, people didn’t ask if she had a sister anyways. Now that Tiffany was here, that went down the drain.

"I didn’t want to brag."

"Oh? Are you keeping me in the closet Wendy?" Tiffany momentarily gave her a suspicious look.

"No. No one really asked."

Seulgi finally snapped out of it. "Ah it's nice to meet you Tiffany"

"Nice to meet you too." Tiffany greeted back. "I think I saw your boss on the way here."

"Wait, how do you know?"

"Oh, I can so tell by the way she dressed and walk. It's like she won't let you escape with her eyes."

They were fascinated with Tiffany's observatory and at the same time, agreed with her.

"I didn't know you had such a hot boss."

"The boss also has a thing for our Wendy here." Joy teased with a devious look on her face.

"Oh? You didn't tell me about this. I'm heartbroken that you're keeping secrets from me." Tiffany slapped her hand on her chest pretending she was struck by the news.

"It’s just rumours..."

Surprisingly Tiffany took Wendy's side.

"Good because you don't know how sketchy it is to be dating your boss."

"That’s what I said" she sent glares to the both girls.

"Although I'm not that surprised if you did." Tiffany continued.

"Okay stop." Wendy cut Tiffany off before she can embarrass her.

"You're too cute that's why everyone likes you." Tiffany pinched Wendy's cheeks and she whined in response. "I'm hungry. Let's go eat." She took Wendy's arm not before she waved goodbye to the others. "Bye, Wendy's friends. It was nice meeting you."

Wendy followed Tiffany out and her heart tumbled when she saw Irene's eyes fixed on her from the other end of the room. She knew she was going to be questioned later on, but for now she stared back before the elevator doors covered their view.

 

--

 

“Unnie what do I do? I kinda do have a crush on the boss.” Wendy covered her face like she had confessed something incriminating.

Tiffany scrunched her face in confusion. “Um. I don’t really see the problem with it.”

“But you just said it sounds sketchy.”

“That’s what other people might think, but don’t let them get to you.” Tiffany dismissed like it was nothing and continued to finish her salad.

“It’s too pressuring.”

“You’re making this sound like it’s serious. Are you actually thinking of dating her?”

“No! I don’t know…”

“Wow baby girl, you’re going big! Well whatever it is, I support you.” Tiffany gave her a thumbs up.

“How am I supposed to date my own boss? It’s weird that she’s writing my pay check and reading my reports. That’s almost like teacher-student relationship. It’s just seems wrong.”

“Hey they exist. So it’s not impossible.”

“I don’t know…”

“You know, if she likes you back, why not go for it? I’m not saying this because I’m a big er for romance but love really does have its magical touch. People make excuses to cover their insecurities – lack of trust, commitment, or honesty – to end whatever they have, but that’s why it’s so hard to find love these days.”

The wise words almost made Wendy believe that Tiffany had experience every aspect in life. At least it was enough for her to entrust her secrets with her sister and enlist her mentoring.

Tiffany took a sip of her ice tea. “When you really, like really love each other, then there’s not much to worry. You two will work it out, but it’ll be a shame if you don’t try.”

 “But…but…” Wendy was trying to find excuses to argue back. Tiffany knew how stubborn Wendy could be so she made a quick decision to convince her.

“You know what, we’re going to see what your love life looks like.”

Wendy read the sign displayed in simple font text ‘Tarot Card Reading’ on top of the doors where Tiffany dragged her. Wendy grumbled under her breath, not wanting to go inside. It wasn’t like she didn’t believe in them, but rather she didn’t want to hung up about the supposedly future because what the card showed her. Also, it’s kinda tacky.

They entered the place where it oddly looked like a standard office room. She had expected some dark mystery atmosphere filled with ornaments resembling to the ones in the movie. The elder lady who sat across them placed a deck of interesting looking cards in front of her.

“What would you like to know about?” The elder’s voice was incredibly soothing, nothing like the creepy low voice of a granny.

“About her love life.” Tiffany answered.

With a couple shuffle of cards and selection, the woman read the cards that were displayed in front. Wendy futilely attempted to decipher them.

“Your career and love overlap each other.” The woman began. Wendy gulped and felt nervous at the pit of her stomach, already discerned where this was going. The woman grabbed the card at the end and slid it in front of her.

 “May I ask if you’re pregnant?” Tiffany stifled a laugh.

“No no no. of course not.”

“Interesting. This card says that there is a female in your life, someone you will care for dearly and take care of.”

Ookay… Irene was the first to pop into her head.

The woman slid another card in front of her.

“This would be your obstacle, the struggle that will challenge you and prevent you from reaching your outcome.”

Wendy looked at the picture of the card, not understanding what it could mean.

“It’s important for you to separate your career and love since yours intertwine together. You need to have a balance between both as well. Think of it like a plastic bag. If you put too much in one bag, the bag will have its duration limits and eventually tear. Instead, you want to have another bag where you can split them and it’ll hold them both.”

Wendy nodded. It made sense.

The woman dragged another card beside the other two cards and continued.

“This card shows your strength that helps to overcome your obstacle. You are the type of person that has a lot of metal strength which means that you don’t tend to give up. You also have a lot of energy within which can lead to being adventurous and your willingness to try something new”

The woman hit onto her right on, reading her like a novel inside out. She could feel the shivers in her veins. She looked at Tiffany and she wore a proud smile on her face.

“So if you continue your hard work and manage your relationship inside your work life, you will find a female in your life that you will love. Also, you need to relax and let go of whatever you’re resisting inside. It will cause too much stress for you.”

Rather than getting her future read, the elder woman gave her advices instead. It wasn’t real evidences, but it was enough for Wendy to finally admit defeated. She’s stuck with having a huge fat crush on her boss.

TBC

---

A/N: Hello. Thanks for the comments, they entertain me.

This fic actually doesn't have much of a story line, it's more like a writing practice. I'm dying to end this fic though so I can start a new one.

Anyways enjoy!