A high pitched, annoying tone rang through Irene’s apartment at 9:30am. The snoozing girl stirred from her slumber, still in her clothes from the night before, with a slight groan. Irene snoozed her alarm and face planted her bed once more, thinking back to the night before, replaying it’s events in her head.

The party.

Wendy.

Walking with Wendy.

Wendy kissing her on the cheek.

Irene sending Wendy a goodnight text.

At that last one Irene’s head snapped up. She suddenly grabbed her phone to see if Wendy ever replied to her after she effectively passed out on her bed. She unlocked her phone and saw she had unread messages and 2 missed calls. Uh oh.

Irene filtered through each text one by one, noting the sender of them was getting a bit...erratic…

From: Seulgi (01:13)

Did you make it home okay? Did anything happen?

From Seulgi (01:14)

Helloooooooooooooooooooooooooooo?

From: Seulgi (01:16)

I swear if you’re asleep after you decided to go outside and have fun for the first time in 405968 years WITHOUT TELLING ME ANYTHING

Missed Call From: Seulgi (01:29)

Missed Call From: Seulgi (01:31)

From: Seulgi (01:32)

Have you been kidnapped? Are you okay? Reply with our safe word “Pineapples” if you’re okay

From: Seulgi (01:34)

Oh my God, Irene Bae Joohyun, I swear if you’ve fallen for some chick and then gone and got your kidnapped I’m gonna …. Do something. Please text me in the morning and let me know you’re okay?

From: Seulgi (08:39)

Okay, I’m sorry for spamming you last night, but like...spill,,,,,,

From: Seulgi (08:46)

Okay you’re usually up by now so I can only conclude you’re DEAD AND NOW I GOTTA FIND ME A NEW BEST FRIEND UGH THE EFFORT

Irene is giggling at her phone as she reads the emotional journey Seulgi clearly went on while she was out last night. She did feel bad for ignoring her while hanging out with Wendy, but not that bad. She must’ve been so tired when she got back and texted Wendy that she missed the messages from Seulgi. She decided to put the poor girl out of her misery.

To: Seulgi (09:42)

Pineapples.

It takes 30 seconds before Irene’s phone starts buzzing and she sees the caller ID. She rolls her eyes and moves to answer the phone. She closes her eyes as she does so, as if preparing for impact.

“WELL, WELL, WELL...LOOK WHO’S ALIVE AND WELL...NOT THAT I WOULD HAVE KNOWN NOOOoooooOOOOOOOooooooOOOOO,” the voice of Seulgi echoes through the house and Irene holds the phone at arms length, trying her best not to be deafened by the voice of her best friend.

Irene lets the girl finish her dramatics before replying, “Good morning to you too, Seul.”

“Oh don’t gimme all that, I was worried sick about you last night,” she could practically hear the girl pouting on the other end of the phone, “and I missed all the hot goss about what went down. I have a right mind to just ignore you like you ignored me.” Seulgi ended her sentence with a little huff to emphasise her point.

“I mean if you don’t wanna know what happened last night that meant I missed your texts… that’s fine by me…” Irene mused with a slight smirk.

“No no no no no no, come on ‘Rene that’s not faiiiiiiiir,” Seulgi said through the line.

Irene rolled her eyes again. She quickly filled Seulgi in on last night’s events and despite the other girl having a lot to say on the situation, Irene had to cut her off since she had work in an hour.

~~

Irene sits in the back on her lunch break staring at the wall. Words cannot describe how bored she’s been at work and the lack of a certain someone’s presence hasn’t helped either. Irene hates to admit it but the firey red head coming in for coffee was one of the best parts of her day.

Irene is pulled out of her thoughts by her phone buzzing in her lap. She lifts up her phone to see a text. A text from Wendy.

From: Wendy (13:07)

Hey! Sorry I didn’t reply, I kinda read your message then fell straight asleep and forgot to reply, my bad. But if you must know, I slept like a baby.

From: Wendy (13:08)

Anyways...was just messaging to ask if you wanted to do something later? I’ve had class all day today but I wanted to see you :(

Idk if you’re working or busy but hmu if you wanna hang, I’m free allllllllll evening!

Irene read the message. Then she read it again. And, just to make sure, read it a third time. The facts were clear. The truth couldn’t be denied. Wendy wanted to see her again.

In any other situation Irene would have jumped at seeing Wendy, but she had to think about it. Wendy wanting to meet after last night might mean she wants to talk about what happened, and what if she said it was a mistake? What if Wendy ran off last night because she instantly regretted what she did? Irene didn’t think she was ready to hear that yet. But she also really wanted to hang out with Wendy. Wendy wanted to see her and she wanted to see Wendy.

Oh, who am I kidding? Irene thought.

To: Wendy (13:14)

Sure! I get off at 5, meet at the coffee shop?

From: Wendy (13:15)

See you then <3

Irene did a double take at the heart emoji and then decided not to dwell on it.

Everyone sends people heart emojis. It doesn’t mean anything, don’t get your hopes up, she thought.

Irene worked through the rest of her shift with little to no interruption, working in the week will always have its perks.

Around ten minutes before Irene’s shift was due to end, the bell above the coffee shop door jingled as the door swung open. Irene looked up and saw Wendy wiping her feet on the welcome mat of the shop. Irene smiled to herself and started to get to work on Wendy’s usual coffee order before the red head even approached the counter. A minute or two later, Irene heard a familiar voice,

“Hey you!” Wendy said, leaning over the counter to see Irene, “I know you’re still working so don’t worry, I know I’m a little early. I’ll just grab a ca-”

“Caramel Macchiato?” Irene said, placing the drink in front of Wendy timidly.

Wendy looked surprised at Irene having her order already prepped for her, she gave Irene a cheeky smirk,

“I mean, I guess I’ll have to force myself to have this now,” she makes a face, “I was kinda hoping to mix it up a bit today.”

Irene’s eyes widen, “O-oh, w-well I mean, I can, I can remake your order. I-it’s just this is what you normally have a-and I thought...”

“Relaaaaax, I’m just messing with you,” Wendy takes a sip of the coffee while sliding over a bill, “ahh, just how I like it.” She shoots Irene a wink, “I’m gonna go sit in the usual spot, come find me when you’re ready to make a move. Don’t rush on my part