a/n: was supposed to post this five hours ago but i fell asleep xD but here ya go ^^ yay for getting featured! :DD enjoy~

 

---

 

“Hey, have you heard of the Revel-LOVE Dating Agency?”

“Of course! Who haven't? Those girls are seriously legends.”

“You think they can help me get together with Jinhyuk-oppa?”

“I don’t know. I heard they’re difficult to find and they’re services? Oh, it’s super expensive.”

Joohyun toned down the loud chatter behind her as she rearranged her pens, eyes darting to the door every time somebody enters; jolting and messing up everything she has arranged. Yet each time, she’d be slumping in disappointment. The class would be starting in a few minutes yet Wendy Son still hadn’t showed up.

She chewing her nails anxiously as her mind started to come up with ridiculous scenarios. Did the girl arrive home safely last night? Is she feeling unwell? Is she alright? Did something happen to her last night? She had insisted that the girl sleep over her apartment but Wendy graciously declined, saying that she needed to clear her head.

“You can clear my head at my place.” she remembered saying.

The light chuckle that came with Wendy’s reply still rang melodically in her ears, “You don’t know what you’re talking about, sunbae.”

Giving in to the itch, she whipped out her phone and began to type.

 

To: Son Seungwan

Where are you? Music class is about to start

 

Sent.

The professor entered and ordered them to copy what he was going to write. Joohyun held on to her phone, sending another message.

 

To: Son Seungwan

Prof’s here. Are you going to skip class?

 

Sent.

Buzz.

Joohyun flinched and quickly unlocked her phone.

 

From: Son Seungwan

Morning, sunbae ^^

Yeah, I think I’m going to skip today.

I don’t really feel like going to school...hehe

 

Joohyun sagged in relief. At least the girl was okay. She sent a quick ‘rest well’ and shortly received a cheerful ‘aye!’ in reply. Finally achieving peace of mind, she opened her notebook and started to write. However, the two girls behind her were still going on with their chitchat. Joohyun grit her teeth in annoyance and tried to tune them out.

“Yeah but did you know? I heard the Stupid Cupids turned Eric Nam down just recently.”

“What? Why?”

“He asked them to help him in courting Wendy Son, they say. But they turned him down.”

Joohyun’s ears perked and the lead of her pencil broke. 

Eric. She tried to match the name with a face but couldn’t which wasn’t surprising since she never cared about other people or listen to gossip.

(Except, of course, if she’s interested in the people involved)

“Oh, wow. I knew he had a thing on her when they performed that duet last year! But well, Wendy’s pretty famous. She must’ve been banned from the Stupid Cupid’s list. Like Irene-sunbae.” the girl whispered her name, knowing she sat right in front of them.

“You have a point but that’s not the reason why.” her friend paused and continued in a more hushed tone, “The reason why they turned him down is because Wendy Son’s already interested with someone else!”

“Now that's some tea. How did they know that?”

“What do you mean how? We’re talking about the Stupid Cupids here! Of course they know everything!”

Joohyun put down her pen and slumped on her seat, still in shock by the information she just acquired. Wendy Son was already interested with someone? Bull. She can’t be, can she? She would’ve told Joohyun about it if it’s true. If Wendy Son didn’t mind sharing her problems with her, then she wouldn’t have minded telling her that she liked someone. Yes, those girls must’ve gotten it all wrong. Gossip is never accurate after all.

And just who are these Stupid Cupid fellows? How did they hold such information? Were they some sort of a frat? Joohyun’s head swam in confusion. Kids these days sure are weird.

Let’s answer one question at a time…

 

***

 

From: Lovely Joohyun-sunbae

Do you like someone?

 

Wendy choked on her coffee.

“Whoa, unnie, are you okay?” Yeri patted her back as she coughed violently, “Seulgi-unnie, a glass of water, quick! She’s dying!”

“Got it!” Seulgi delivered the water and Yeri all but shoved the glass into Wendy’s mouth which only made things worse. Wendy ended up spewing everything on Yeri’s face.

“Ew, unnie!” Yeri whined, shoving the older girl away, “You are so gross!”

“Some friend you are after I gave you a gift,” Wendy grumbled, wiping her lips.

“Giving me a car doesn’t change anything.” Yeri stuck out her tongue and went to the couch to rummage her bag for a spare shirt.

Wendy turned to Seulgi, “Seul, mind if I crash your place tonight? The chairman and his wife are in Korea so…”

Seulgi dropped her bag and gaped at her. By the couch, Yeri’s head turned so fast Wendy worried she might’ve gotten a whiplash.

“They’re here?! Since when?!”

“Two days ago. I only found out last night.”

“Unnie…” Yeri fixed her with a worried gaze she couldn’t quite meet so she looked at Seulgi instead who, as expected, was already smiling down at her. She liked Seulgi’s smiles. They never fail to comfort her and always make her think everything’s alright.

“Of course. You can sleep over my place anytime for as long as you like.”

After giving her friend a grateful smile, Wendy turned her attention to the little problem flashing on the screen of her device. Reading and rereading it again and again to make sure she wasn’t seeing things.

‘Do you like someone?’

What the hell. Who gave this girl such ideas?

Choosing to ignore the message, Wendy put her phone face down on top of the piano.

“Oh? Wendy-unnie? What are you doing here? Don’t you have music with the cabbage? What happened to monitoring?”

She turned and saw Joy entering the HQ, carrying her books and a cup of coffee. The tall girl dumped her things on the couch and approached the monitors that showed Room 241 where Irene Bae was currently having her class. Joy turned to look at her, raising a brow. Well?

Wendy sighed, “Actually, about that…Yerm, Seul, can you come here for a sec? I have something to tell you.”

Joy, Yeri, and Seulgi exchanged looks before the two walked over, settling on their usual places.

“What’s up, Wan?” Seulgi asked.

Wendy took a deep breath, “I’m planning to withdraw from this operation.”

Silence.

No gasps, no rising of brows or even widening of eyes. The girls showed no surprise as though they were already expecting it to happen. Wendy was the one who ended up shocked. She had expected a huge riot about it or at least a few questions.

She had not even a wink of sleep and it wasn’t because she stayed in her car the entire night, parked in the middle of nowhere. She critically thought about things again and again, trying to rationalize her irrational feelings and finding logical solutions for it and so far, getting out of the operation seemed to be the best option.

She would tell the agency that she wanted an out and with that, she would slowly slip herself away from Irene Bae. She should’ve done it earlier. If she stayed and helped them in gathering information, she would be obligated to stick beside Irene Bae and she wouldn’t have that as it would only make matters more complicated and difficult than it already is. It’s easier to uproot a tiny sapling than tear down a fully grown tree.

She planned to steer clear of the older girl until she and Park Bogum gets together. Hopefully, by then, Wendy would have gotten rid of her feelings and everything would be back to normal.

Don’t let them win, Seungwan.

Wendy could only helplessly chuckle. In the end, she still couldn’t defeat them. She’s losing again. Under different circumstances, she would have spat at their faces but now Bae Joohyun was at stake and Wendy couldn’t risk her. She couldn’t just gamble her safety for the sake of proving a point.

A hand on her shoulder wrenched her back to reality and she looked up, seeing Seulgi’s smiling face beaming at her. “It’s okay, Wan-ah. We understand.”

She looked at Yeri and the girl shrugged, “Whatever. As long as you bring food here every now and then, I’m fine.”

Joy had turned back to the monitors, “Yeah. I’m with Squirtle on that,”

Wendy gaped at her friends. They sure were acting weird. When did these kids become so calm?

“…you’re not going to ask me why?”

Joy shot her a look over her shoulder, “We don’t need to ask.” she said.

And Wendy got an eerie feeling they already knew why.

 

***

 

“Irene-sunbae!”

Joohyun looked up and saw Park Bogum approaching her with a huge smile. She pushed herself off the wall and stood straight. Picking up the guy after his classes after the accident and having to put up with his presence had become part of Joohyun’s schedule. It was troublesome but she’s got debts to pay, unfortunately.

“Did you wait for long?”

Joohyun shook her head despite having stood there for ten long minutes (Ten minutes is considered long in her book especially if it’s spent standing around doing nothing).

“Have you had lunch?”

Joohyun shook her head again, finding it unnecessary to talk. This had been her attitude around the guy nowadays. She felt bad about it but it just wasn’t in her personality to play pretend.

“Let’s eat together then?” Park Bogum offered, “Do you want to eat out? I know a—”

“The cafeteria would be fine.” Joohyun interrupted. The guy shrugged and they started to walk along the hallway. She glanced at him. He seemed to be walking with no difficulties now. “Is your leg getting better?”

As though on cue, Park Bogum started to limp. Joohyun raised her brows in suspicion.

“Y-Yeah. It’s, um, getting better.  Thankfully.”

Joohyun decided to shrug it off. Maybe she saw wrong.

They arrived at the cafeteria and Park Bogum graciously offered to get Joohyun’s food for her as well. She pointed out that he won’t be able to carry two trays with his injured arm and ended up getting her own food herself.

“What are you doing, sunbae? Are you not going to eat?” Park Bogum asked her as soon as they returned to their table. Joohyun had placed her tray down and instantly took out a notebook, flipping through the pages.

“I’m eating. I just need to do this for a sec…” she mindlessly replied, taking out her phone and taking a picture of her notes, planning to send it to Wendy since the girl missed music class. Knowing how grade-conscious the girl was, she wagered she can just send her pictures of her notes for the girl to study especially since the exams are fast approaching.

“What’s that for?”

“Wendy.”

“Ah, Wendy.” Park Bogum nodded, “You’re really close, aren’t you?”

“Mm-hm. But not close enough.” Joohyun finished snapping the last of it and proceeded to send the pictures. She checked if the younger girl had replied to her previous text only to find that she haven’t. Sighing, she set her phone aside and started to eat. Suddenly, an idea popped in her head.

“Say, are you close with Wendy?”

He thought about it and shrugged, “Wendy and I…we’re okay, I guess? I mean, she’s cool and we regularly meet up for practices so I think we’re at least…friends?”

“Does she happen to show interest on someone?”

He blinked twice, adjusted his specs and rubbed his ear, “I…I’m not sure…”

“Don’t you know anything about it?” Joohyun pressed, “I’ll treat you ice cream this afternoon if you give me information. Just the two of us.” she felt cruel for taking advantage of the guy’s feelings for her but what can she do? It was part of the Liking Bae Joohyun Package. You get to be taken advantage of.

The guy looked torn and kept on rubbing his ear. Eventually, he shook his head, “I’m sorry, sunbae. I really don’t know.”

Joohyun didn’t try to hide her disappointment. “I see. Too bad then.” she frowned and resumed eating.

Park Bogum began to talk. Oh, the guy loved to talk. Joohyun mostly tunes out his voice and nods randomly, his words not really registering in her brain. He talks too much that Joohyun found herself suddenly missing Wendy Son. The girl could talk whole day non-stop but at least listening to her was interesting. Her voice sounds nice and her expressions ran a hundred-mile per hour. Just observing her brows wiggle was entertaining.

As she zoned out, a familiar figure entering the cafeteria caught her eye. She sat up and narrowed her eyes. Is that…it is.

Joohyun stood abruptly, chair loudly scraping against the floor. Ignoring Park Bogum’s calls, she marched to the girl wearing a very familiar sweater and sweatpants. Her back was on her but she could recognize that shade of purple everywhere.

“Seungwan.” she grabbed her shoulder and whirled her around to face her. The girl looked shell-shocked Joohyun was almost worried her eyeballs might jump out.

“J-J-J-Joohyun-sunbae!” Wendy Son stammered terribly and backed it up with a nervous laugh, “H-Hi!”

“You’re here. Why didn’t you tell me? You’re not replying to my messages too.” Joohyun asked, eyes scanning the girl and thankfully, other than the prominent dark circles around her eyes, Wendy Son didn’t look much different. Joohyun had worried the girl might have gotten sick or that the girl’s parents might have gotten their hands on her. Seeing her up and well, Joohyun visibly sagged in relief.

Oh how she wanted to give her a hug.

“But I replied?” the discreet way Wendy Son stepped back away from her and her touch didn’t go unnoticed by Joohyun.

Feeling stubborn and annoyed, Joohyun obnoxiously took a step closer, “Yes but what about my last message?”

“I, uh, didn’t receive anything after that ‘rest well’ message though…” Wendy Son stepped back. She took out her phone and checked, “Oh, you sent me pictures of your notes. Thanks!”

Joohyun frowned, “I’m sure I sent it though…”

“Maybe there was a mistake, sunbae.”

Joohyun bought it. She was terrible with handling gadgets. Maybe something went wrong. “You’re still wearing my sweater. You didn’t go home last night?”

Wendy shook her head, “They were home. I stayed in the car.”

Joohyun assumed ‘they’ stood for the girl’s parents and nodded in understanding. After hearing Wendy Son’s story, seeing parts of her that were not visible to others, seeing parts of her that’s broken and hurt, Joohyun’s instinct to pull the girl into her arms and protect her from the world grew even stronger, though she had no idea how she’d do that.

Though she wanted a big, warm hug, Joohyun settled for grabbing her hand. “You want to grab ice cream with me later? I’m craving ice cream and I have something to ask you so—”

“N-No!” much to Joohyun’s surprise, Wendy Son flinched and yanked her hand out of her hold. “I-I mean, I’m sorry sunbae but I don’t really have time to spare nowadays.” she bowed, “Please excuse me. I have to go.”

Joohyun couldn’t find her voice. She stared at Wendy Son’s retreating back until she could no longer see her then she looked at her rejected hand and tried to point out the nasty feeling stirring in her chest, settling in the pit of her stomach, growing and poisoning her organs.

Sighing, she closed her fist and let her hand fall back down to her side, trying to ignore the tingles left by Wendy Son’s touch as she dejectedly returned to their table and pretended her heart didn’t crack a little.

Ah, she sniffed, how annoying.

 

***

 

Wendy Son was avoiding her.

The girl wasn’t too discreet about it. Whenever their eyes met along the hallway or in the midst of the crowd, the purple-haired girl had ever so obviously flinched, averted her gaze, and frantically rushed away just when Joohyun had lifted a hand to greet her. When she did manage to talk to the girl however, she always seemed to find ways to escape.

Some days Wendy Son would sputter out lies.

“Wendy—” she had tried to approach her only to be cut off.

“Oh! Joohyun-sunbae! Hey! I’m sorry I’m late for my next class. I’ll catch you later, ‘kay?” Wendy Son all but scampered away before she can even think.

Joohyun wouldn’t have thought much about it if she didn’t memorize the girl’s schedule and know that she was done with her classes for the day.

Other days, she would pretend to receive a call from someone.

“Wendy-ssi. Can we talk?”

“Um, actually…” the girl would trail off and make a show of taking out her phone, frowning, and pressing the device to her ear, “Hello? Oh, hey. No, I’m free now. You want to meet? Okay, okay. No problem. Bye.” she would look at Joohyun apologetically then, “Sorry about that, sunbae. You were saying?”

Again, Joohyun would have believed if the girl didn’t stupidly hold the phone upside down.

Sometimes, Wendy Son even came up with the most ridiculous excuses.

“Wendy-ssi, can you spare a minute?”

“I’m sorry, sunbae. I’m in a hurry right now. I just got a call that, um, Sophia lost her battle with cancer passed away and I can’t miss her funeral. “ she would ramble.

“Sophia? Who’s that?”

“My goldfish.”

Eventually, after a week of trying to approach Wendy Son only to be obviously evaded from, Joohyun had finally stopped pestering her. No, it’s not like she’s giving up. She had simply put her pursuit on hold. Exams were fast approaching and she can’t bear to worry about the tests and Wendy Son at the same time. She’ll try to keep the purple-haired girl off her mind so she’ll have enough space to store lessons in.

Unfortunately, that didn’t work quite well.

Try as she might but Wendy Son seemed to have rooted in her brain already. She couldn’t simply shake her off. Sometimes there would be flashes of her smiles; other times whispers of her voice. Joohyun would find herself staring at her phone instead of her notes, hands itching to send a text instead of highlighting important terminologies.

Questions filled her mind such as: Why is she avoiding me? Is everything okay? Are we okay? Did I do something wrong? She doesn’t hate me now, does she? Does she really like someone?  Who is it?

Joohyun was definitely distracted as hell. She was also frustrated. The questions in her head were begging to be answered and she didn’t like backing down. She knew that she won’t be able to achieve peace of mind unless she got her answers.

In the practice room, Joohyun poured her pent up frustration and confusion through dance. She glared daggers at herself in the mirror and let her body move freely with the music, letting out how irritated and exasperated she felt through strong, bold moves. The loud bass filled her ears, making her blood pump.

One, two, three, four. Five , six, seven—

“Ouch!”

With a loud yelp, Joohyun crumpled to the floor in pain. She cupped her throbbing knee and cursed. It was a blinding, searing pain like never before. Tears of frustration clouded her eyes. She cursed again.

She struggled to get up and pressed her palms against her eyes to push back tears. She’s not going to let herself curl up on the floor and cry. No, she won’t. She’ll gather herself up just as she always had.

Wincing and groaning, she managed to drag herself to the couch. Good thing she had prepared for such emergencies, though it had been a while since her knee acted up. She treated her injury with an ice pack from their mini-fridge and compressed it with an elastic bandage. She slumped on her seat, sighing and feeling miserable.

She has to perform for dance as their practical test and she won’t be able to do any good if her knee gets worse. Tears welled up again as she felt frustrated and angry at herself, at Wendy Son, at her knee, at her stupid accident six years ago.

Swallowing the growing lump in , Joohyun refused to succumb to self-pity and stood, ignoring her throbbing knee and walked out of the building, trying her best not to limp. She decided it would be best to walk around and get some fresh air to clear her head and maybe walking around would help her knee too.

It was when she strolled around the park that she saw Wendy Son. Though her back was at her, there was no mistaking that petite figure and those purple locks. Without thinking, Joohyun approached her, settled herself on the space next to her, and sighed in contentment as she rested her head on the girl’s shoulder which flinched at contact.

“J-Joohyun-sunbae?”

Joohyun didn’t bother looking up. She put her hand on Wendy Son’s arm. Her muscles were tense. “I know you’re avoiding me but,” she paused, closing her eyes, “Please let me stay like this for a while.” she continued in a softer voice.

“I’m not avoiding you…” Wendy Son weakly argued.

“You are.” Joohyun’s voice came out hoarse. She sniffed.

Wendy Son grew tense, “Joohyun-sunbae? What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

She was about to turn and check when Joohyun squeezed her arm.

“Don’t look. Please.” she asked as she closed her eyes, letting tears freely flow down her cheeks without a sound.

 

 

With a sigh, Wendy turned to look at Irene Bae--all she could see was the top of her head anyway.  She had no idea if the girl had fallen asleep or if she’s still crying. It was pretty obvious with the quiet sniffs and the teardrops on Wendy’s arm.

As worried and surprised as she was, she held back from questioning the older girl. Knowing Irene Bae, the girl most probably didn’t want her prodding and would probably shake her off if she tries to. Right now, Irene Bae needs comfort and Wendy’s willing to lend her shoulder, though it really isn’t her shoulder the other girl should be leaning on.

But still. Irene Bae offered her comfort when she needed it most. Messy feelings aside, it was only right she do the same. She took a deep breath and opened her clenched fists. She carefully shifted and took the older girl into her arms, leaning her chin on top of her head and fighting the urge to plant a kiss.

Irene Bae didn’t shake nor did she make a sound but she put her arms around Wendy’s waist, tightly closed fists crumpling the material of her shirt. Wendy knew for sure that the girl was crying because her shoulder and neck where she nuzzled was starting to feel damp.

She pulled her closer, her own chest aching. “You don’t need to hold back, sunbae,” she softly told her, “It’s just me.”

On cue, Irene Bae’s shoulders started to quake and muffled cries reached Wendy’s ears. Without thinking, she held her tight and turned her head, pressing her lips gingerly on the girl’s temple. One last time.

She quickly pulled away and with another sigh—shakier this time—Wendy carefully got her phone out of her pocket and typed a message, each letter getting harder and harder to tap the more she typed.

 

To: Gorgeous

The cabbage’s feeling down. She’s with me.

Please tell Gummy Boy to take her away.

 

Sent.

 

***

 

Wendy thought she was doing a good job in avoiding Irene Bae and she felt quite proud of that feat.

She veered away from buildings and hallways that she knew the girl might use. She entered music class with her friends so she wouldn’t have to sit beside her. She stayed away from streets heading to the older girl’s favorite coffee shop. Whenever she happened to see her approaching, she’d be long gone hiding under a table or running away to the opposite direction before the other girl could even notice.

She felt like the freaking ninja of the generation.

Physically, avoiding Irene Bae was not a huge challenge. Mentally though, it was another matter altogether.

No matter how well she evaded her, the girl still manages to appear in her mind and she couldn’t exactly escape her own head. That would be messy.

Wendy tried to busy herself with work. She buried her nose deep into books and wrote thousands of unfinished compositions. She moved out of their main residence and went to hiding in one of the suites in the one of the apartment buildings her sister owned, praying that Seunghee meant it when she said she’d be on her side. So far, no uptight secretaries had come to take her away.

She arranged and rearranged the furniture, cleaned until everything was sparkling, did her laundry, watched and re-watched dramas and movies, and baked enough pastry to feed the entire nation.

But still, Irene Bae managed to worm her way into her busy mind, strutting around like she owned the place. Writing compositions had especially been counterproductive as Irene Bae would always seep into her writings, thus the rising pile of crumpled paper around her room. Wendy didn’t mind. At least it’s a mess she could actually clean up.

Wendy also kept herself cooped up in the library. It was a vast place with a lot of hiding places. Plus, she needed to study up for the upcoming exams. The chances of Irene Bae going to the library wasn’t that high and if the girl ever does, Wendy had settled deep into the secluded part of the library, seated on the floor between huge bookshelves. Irene Bae wouldn’t ever find her there.

Her plan was flawless. Now, if only she could ban the older girl in her head…

She ruffled her hair and pushed her spectacles up, rereading the paragraph for the nth time now. Nothing registered in her so-called brilliant brain. Korean had never been so difficult to understand but she worried about lots of things at once: her parents’ plan of marrying her off, her sister’s sincerity, her future, and Irene Bae’s breakdown more than anything else.

She never thought she’d see Irene Bae cry in this lifetime. The girl’s tears worried her immensely. The broken glass that is Irene Bae’s eyes had gained another crack, breaking down completely and letting out the dam of tears bottled up inside and all Wendy wanted to do was patch up the pieces together again.

But the thing is, she’s afraid of hurting herself in the process.

Such a coward, she scoffed.

Park Bogum never arrived to take Irene Bae away that day and Wendy had to stay with the girl all throughout. She even drove her home right after. The ride had been quiet but she knew the both of them had unanswered questions dying to get out of their lips but not knowing how.

Wendy had asked Joy about their client’s absence as soon as she returned to the university. The tall girl simply said that she did not receive any message. The excuse sounded oddly similar to hers. As if Joy was saying it on purpose. Wendy could bet on her car she was.

She groaned. Her mind went off course again. Giving up, she put down the book and leaned her head back against the bookshelf and closed her eyes.

“Having a hard time?”

She groaned again. Great, now she’s starting to hallucinate.

“I’m disappointed. I thought you’d run away as soon as you hear my voice. That would have been entertaining.”

Wendy’s eyes snapped wide open, her blood turning cold. She refused to move, to look behind her and confirm her horrifying suspicions. No way. No freaking way.

Slowly, she got up and picked up her things. The library must be haunted. She should get away from there. Right.

But the hand that encircled her wrist as she stood felt very much real and very much alive and also very much familiar. Wendy grimaced, stifling a curse. So much for having a flawless plan. The vine she watched a while ago aptly replayed in her head: And at this moment she knew, she.ed.up.

With a deep breath, Wendy decided to face the music. She straightened up and plastered a smile before turning around and meeting Irene Bae’s vastly amused eyes.

“Joohyun-sunbae! Hi. Didn’t see notice you there. Ha-ha.” Wendy mentally winced. Natural. How natural.

“Uh-huh.” the older girl’s expression obviously said that she didn’t believe any of the bull she spluttered. “What are you doing here? No one ever goes here. Unless they’re hiding. Were you hiding?”

Wendy was quick to shake her head and at the same time, yank her wrist from Irene Bae’s grip. The girl held on tight.

“Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Totally not.” she denied and made a show of glancing at her wrist only to wince; she wasn’t wearing a watch. “Look at the time! I need to go now, sunbae. My next class is in fifteen minutes. Bye!” she forcefully got her wrist out of Irene Bae’s hold and rushed off. She heard footsteps following her behind. Muttering a curse under her breath, she quickened her pace. Irene Bae kept up without any problem. Damn.

“No you don’t. You don’t have a class in two hours.”

Wendy was now speed walking her way through bookshelves, hoping to shake her pursuer off, “You think so?”

“I know so. I know your schedule, Seungwan-ah.”

Wendy almost tripped at the sound of her name, “I changed my schedule though?”

“But you didn’t?”

Wendy was about to retort when she realized that she was going the wrong way. Instead of moving to the exit, she had stupidly raced her way deeper into the library. She couldn’t just turn around now. Not with Irene Bae hot on her tail. Some of the lights were turned off, giving the place a dim lighting. Her heart raced. She broke into a little run. She felt like one of those heroines in murder films right as they walk into the killer’s trap.

“Seungwan, stop running away from me.”

“I’m not running away from you.”

“You so are,”

Sighing, Wendy abruptly stopped and turned to face Irene Bae, “Look, I think you’re mad because you think I’ve been avoiding you but I really am not. I still talk to you every now and then, don’t I? If I ever ignored you then I’m sorry but I didn’t mean it. I must’ve been out of it because of stress. Exams are coming after all.” she stepped back and bowed her head, “Then, see you around, sunbae.”

Wendy turned to leave, feeling a bit lighter after having taken care of her Irene Bae Matters. She had cleared up the issue and would now peacefully live, hopefully. However, the older girl had other ideas.

A hand caught her wrist once again and everything else happened in a blur. The next thing she knew, she was pushed against a bookshelf, both of her wrists pinned against the oak. The impact made her back sting. She gasped in surprise and before her brain can process what was happening, soft lips went crashing against hers.

Wendy’s eyes almost popped out of its sockets. Her system went override, trying to make sense of all the sudden sensations spreading around her body. Her heart raced and stumbled, her mind reeling and stuttering.

Irene Bae was kissing her.

Oh good lord.

Her lips tasted like cherries and felt like warm clouds, as soft as she can ever imagine. Wendy’s knees buckled and she would have melted down if not for the tight grip around her wrists pinning her against the shelf. The kiss was the softest thing that happened to her. She could feel that Irene Bae was being as careful as she can be, holding back yet the girl delivered her sincerity so clearly Wendy got goosebumps. Electricity pumped through her veins and butterflies fluttered in her stomach, blissful and content as though saying finally in their own way.

Soon, they ran out of air. Irene Bae slowly pulled away and Wendy’s eyes that had unknowingly closed fluttered open. Both were panting, cheeks flushing, nose touching.

Then Irene Bae started to ramble uncontrollably, mint breath fanning Wendy’s sensitive lips that still tingled from the kiss.

“I was used to being alone yet you came and messed everything up. Do you know how irritating your smile is? I mean, why do you always smile like you’re the freaking sun is that, like, your job?” she said, looking genuinely disgruntled, “You made me tolerate your annoyingness and then you’re suddenly gone. You can’t do that. You can’t just decide to disappear from my life just like that. Not when I’m already riding this damn big rolling snowball of no return. I meant it when I told you to stay away from me and this is the reason why.” she sounded raw and vulnerable and frustrated, far from her usual cool.

Wendy gaped at her, taken aback by the sudden outburst. Irene Bae was baring her heart for her to see in her own rough way but Wendy didn’t want to take a look. She was afraid of what she might see inside, though her anticipating heart betrayed her logic. A dead weight settled in the pit of her stomach while butterflies flew around it without a care. Until now, she still refused to believe the blatant truth.

“No. Sunbae, please don’t—”

Wendy looked into Irene Bae’s eyes and automatically stopped. The warm pools of chocolate brown held a look so intense it was almost threatening.

“I’m not looking for just friendship with you, Seungwan.”

Tears clouded her eyes. The weight in her gut felt heavier yet at the same time, the butterflies went wild. Her brain and her heart clashed, fighting over control.

was closing up and her voice cracked when she asked a question she already had an answer to and hoped she was wrong. “…Why?”

“Because I fell for you.”

Everything came crashing down and rocketing up. It felt terrible; like how the butterflies in her stomach often made her feel constipated. Her tear ducts exploded when all she wanted to do was smile. Warm, fresh tears streamed down her cheeks as she vehemently shook her head even when she badly wanted to nod. She bit her lip, afraid that it might open and blurt out something foolish. She tasted remnants of cherry.

Irene Bae, clearly bewildered by her tears, let go of one of her wrists to try and wipe away her tears. “…Why are you crying?”

Wendy flinched away from her touch, “Don’t.” with a heavy heart, she pushed her away. The look in Irene Bae’s eyes made her regret.

Those eyes didn’t reflect broken glass anymore. Her poor excuse of a façade was gone and Wendy could see the raw and vulnerable Bae Joohyun, looking at her with confusion, fear, and a lot of liquid hurt pooling in her eyes. Wendy clenched her fists, pushing down the urge of pulling the older girl into her embrace.

She wanted to hold her and give her comfort. She wanted to kiss her senseless and tell her that she felt the same. She wanted to do all those things yet she knew how severe the consequences may be.  She had learned it the hard way.

“Seungwan—”

With a sad smile that accentuated the agony in her eyes, Wendy brushed past the stunned girl before she could even finish speaking.

“You’re not supposed to fall for me, unnie.” she said and ran to the exit, swallowing words left unsaid with cheeks wet with tears and a heart void of the love it insisted it deserved to have.