Irene Bae was the most beautiful woman Park Bogum had ever seen in his entire life.

(Well, there was his mother but he never considered her a woman woman)

The first time he saw her was during his freshman year. All the girl did was pass by and Bogum was instantly swept off his feet.

(So was everyone in about, like, a hundred meter radius)

The moment he saw her, he told himself that he would definitely make her his. Definitely. No matter what it takes.

“Dude,” he nudged his close senior, Song Joongki, while his eyes trailed after the girl, “Who is she?”

“Who—Oh.” Joongki chuckled, seeing who he was referring to, “Don’t even think about it, man,”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t even think of courting her. Hell, you shouldn’t even dare to flirt with her,”

“Why not?” Bogum asked, confused, “Have you seen her? She’s, like, the prettiest girl ever. How do you expect me to stay still after seeing such beauty? Wait, is she taken? Does she have her eyes on someone?”

Joongki laughed, shaking his head, “No,”

“Then what’s the problem?”

Joongki laughed harder, “The problem is,” he said, “She has her eyes on no one. With a face like that, it’s obvious that she’ll get a bunch of confessions. She turned them all down, yes she did. Last year, the entire male population of this school was a heartbroken mess. After that, no one dared to come up and ask her out again. She can be a little…too blunt,”

At that moment, he made a silent vow with himself that he will take that girl, no matter how impossible everyone thought it was.

And now, here he was, sitting across the girl of his dreams in the school cafeteria, eating lunch.

Bogum couldn’t help but smile gloatingly at the disbelieving looks thrown their way and the hushed whispers that came after. Such reaction wasn’t a surprise. He was turning the impossible possible, after all.

He stared at the girl across him and could only sigh dreamily at the realization that Irene Bae was just that beautiful. The mere thought of making her his made him giddy. They were spending more and more time together now. Revel-LOVE dating agency was just powerful. He made the right choice.

“Are you not going to eat, Park Bogum-ssi?” the question snapped him out of his fantasies, causing him to clear his throat in embarrassment and pick up his utensils.

“Well, I—”

“Don’t you dare pull out a ‘I’m full just by looking at you eat’ because that is just uncomfortable and creepy,” came the snarky reprimand in his ear.

“Language, Kim Yerim,”

“You’re such a mother, Wendy-unnie. I’m graduating soon! I’m allowed to ing say at least this much,”

“Kim Yerim!”

“What? Taeyeon-unnie says it all the time!”

Bogum tried to tune down the loud bickering and focus on swallowing his food without choking, because with the words being said from the earpiece, the possibility was high. Sometimes, the Stupid Cupids were just a loud bunch of distraction. Frankly, their far-fetched conversations often ruin the ambiance of his entire moment with Irene Bae.

“Sunbae,” he said, remembering what he needed to tell her, “Are you free this afternoon? I have something to show you, if you’re not busy…”

He nervously fiddled with his fingers, peeking at Irene Bae to gauge her reaction and take a peek at her thoughts but as usual, the girl’s face was as stoic as stone. Those dark, dark brown eyes so critical and calculating it was as if she computed the value of the pros and cons to saying ‘yes’ to Bogum’s invite.

Finally, pursed lips parted and she spoke.

“Where do you plan on going?”

Bogum perked up, “Oh, just at the Han River. It’ll just be for a while, I promise. I can pick you up, if you like,”

The well-oiled gears in Irene Bae’s head were again starting to move, agreeing with one decision. It was pretty obvious that she was thinking. The hard part was, Bogum couldn’t tell what.

A small sigh passed through parted lips and slumping shoulders, “We should just go right after class.”

Bogum blinked, “You’re going?”

Irene Bae lifted a delicate shoulder, “I have nothing to do so why not? We’re friends.” she then stood, tray in hand. Bogum hadn’t noticed that she had finished eating already. “I’ll go first. I have classes,”

“Wait!” Bogum blurted before anyone could stop him, “I’ll walk you to your next class,”

She gently shook her head, “Finish your food, Park Bogum-ssi. I’ll see you later,” she sashayed her way out of the cafeteria, leaving an awestruck Bogum alone with jaw loose and disbelief framing his eyes.

Is it a date? It must be a date! It is a date! he giddily thought.

 “Good job, Gummy Boy.”

 In his ear was a slow clap followed by a familiar voice that he had started to cling on to like a life buoy to avoid sinking and continue on swimming toward the end goal that is Irene Bae.

Discreetly, he replied through a smile.

“Thanks, Olaf,”

***

As planned, Bogum fetched Irene Bae from her last class, even ditching his afternoon classes just to go to the Revel-LOVE HQ and do a little makeover of warm sweaters, fluffy hair, an earpiece, a pair of glasses, and little too many sprays of Downy.

(With the fragrance flying about, he felt like he just got out of a washing machine. He wasn’t fond of wearing the scent. It made his nose itch. But for Irene Bae, he would gladly spray it on every day.)

“What are you going to show me?” Irene Bae asked as he parked, head already turned to watch the sun setting.

Bogum smiled and unbuckled their seatbelts, “Come on. The view is better outside.” 

They settled on the back of his pick-up truck where he had already laid down blankets and pillows and an icebox filled with drinks.  He took out a soda and handed Irene Bae one, the girl muttering a thanks and receiving the drink without even tearing her eyes off the lilac skies.

Bogum was sure the view was wonderful but he kept his eyes on her. This view was more than majestic.

“You really like looking at the sky, don’t you, sunbae?”

Irene Bae hummed, “Is this what you wanted to show me?”

“It’s one of the things I wanted to show you,”

She finally looked at him, “There’s more?”

He grinned, “There’s more,”

Irene Bae sighed and shook her head, turning to the sky once again, “Whatever. Just take me back before eight. I still have to study.”

“Now, Gummy Boy,”

“Sunbae, if you don’t mind,” he rummaged through his bag and took out a book, “Can you help me out with this? We have a musical coming up and we haven’t had the chance to practice…”

With knitted brows, Irene Bae took the book and studied it with careful fingers and critical eyes. It was a script. She opened it, leafed through a few pages before stopping.

“Wendy Son’s with you?” she asked.

Bogum sat a little straighter at the tone, “Ah, yes. She’s my leading lady,”

A raised brow, “Your leading lady?”

Bogum gulped, “Er, yes?”

The girl then rapidly flipped the pages and stopped at one point.

“There’s a kissing scene?”

“Oh, great.” Wendy Son’s voice spoke in his ear, “I am so dead,”

“Y-Yeah. We’re doing a musical of Romeo and Juliet, after all…” he flinched when she threw him a glare. He felt like he did something wrong and fought the urge to apologize. “I-I mean, it’s only necessary once in our script and it’s just a peck. Not a big deal. Just lip-touching. I—”

“Just lip-touching?”

“Don’t worry about it. She can be a bit…protective of her friends, I believe.” Wendy Son told him, grimace apparent in her voice, “Just tell her we won’t do it,”

“We won’t do it,” he blurted out, “We’re not going to do it for real,”

That seemed to appease the girl. Her tense shoulders relaxed and the fire in her eyes died down. Slowly, a lot calmer, she went back to leafing through the pages.

“Which part do you want to practice?”

“Move closer under the pretense of scanning the book,” this time, Joy Park coached him, “We made you bring one copy of the script for a reason,”

He obeyed her command, scooting a little closer, enough for lavender scented air to enter his lungs. He helped her flip the pages, their fingers brushing from time to time and he felt like exploding at the contact. His ears must be glowing bright red now.

A hand tapped his and he froze.

“Wait, how about we practice the kissing scene instead?”

Bogum nearly choked. In his earpiece, someone had coughed violently.

“E-Excuse me?”

“Practice the kissing scene with me,” Irene Bae repeated as though it was the most casual thing to suggest, “But you got to promise me one thing,”

“Ah, of course. There’s got to be a catch,” Squirtle said, “Our Cabbage won’t just play kissy faces with our Gummy Boy just like that.”

“What is it?” he asked.

“I don’t want you to practice this with anybody else except me,”

What?

Bogum blinked. Although the script reading was planned, the play was actually a real thing. How is he going to do it in the final performance if he wasn’t going to practice it with Wendy? Practicing with Irene Bae was nice and would be helpful but it was just different if it was the actress herself.

“Hmm, I don’t know if she’s jealous or if she’s just being overprotective,” Seulgi mused.

“Go for it.” Joy coached, “She won’t know if you do practice it with Wendy-unnie, anyway.”

Bogum waited for the opinion of Wendy herself but it remained static. The girl wasn’t going to say anything about the matter. Finally, he sighed and nodded.

“Okay…let’s-I’ll do that.”

Irene Bae crossed her arms and gave him a critical look, “If I ever find out that you didn’t keep your word, I’ll be very disappointed and I’d stop talking to you forever.”

Bogum’s brows shot up. Was she serious? What if she was? She won’t be talking to me anymore? All those efforts…

“I’ll only practice it with you, I swear!” he blurted out.

“Not even with Wendy Son?”

“Not even with Wendy Son!”

A satisfied look settled on Irene Bae’s face as she nodded, “Good. Should we start now then?”

He gulped, flustered ears burning. The thought of practicing a kissing scene with the Irene Bae sounded too good to be true. Moreover, the girl was actually the one to suggest it.

“I…uh…wait a sec…” he took a deep, calming breath, wiping his clammy palms on his lap, “O-Okay. It’s…It’s around here somewhere,” his trembling hands fumbled with the script until pale, cold ones stopped his with a fleeting touch and calmly turned the papers to the right page.

“Seriously. How can you not know your way around your own script?” Irene Bae chided playfully, mirth in her eyes.

Bogum could only stare and sigh dreamily.

“Should we start?”

“Y-Yeah… I already memorized it so you can hold the script…”

“Okay.”

He cleared his throat and took Irene Bae’s hand, hoping his palms weren’t as clammy as they felt. “Your hand is like a holy place that my hand is unworthy to visit. If you’re offended by the touch of my hand, my two lips are standing here like blushing pilgrims, ready to make things better with a kiss,”

“Good pilgrim, you don’t give your hand enough credit. By holding my hand you show polite devotion.” Irene Bae read, “After all, pilgrims touch the hands of statues of saints. Holding one palm against another is like a kiss.”

Bogum didn’t know if the girl was nervous or was just a terrible actress. “Don’t saints and pilgrims have lips too?”

“Yes, pilgrim—they have lips that they’re supposed to pray with.”

He almost smiled at the sarcasm. It was the most natural line the girl had said. “Well then, saint, let lips do what hands do. I’m praying for you to kiss me. Please grant my prayer so my faith doesn’t turn to despair.”

“Saints don’t move, even when they grant prayers.”

“Then don’t move while I act out my prayer.”

He leaned closer, about to capture the sweet, supple lips of the saint but Irene Bae turned her head slightly to the side at the last moment and Bogum abruptly stopped just a centimeter from the corner of her lips.

Right. Fake kiss.

“Now my sin has been taken from my lips by yours,”

He withdrew a bit, the distance still close enough for the tips of their noses to bump and tried to hold his breath without dying. If he continued breathing, he’d be intoxicated by Irene Bae’s scent.

She looked at him with wide, innocent eyes, “Then do my lips now have the sin they took from yours?”

He smiled, “Sin from my lips? You encourage crime with your sweetness. Give me my sin back.”

Bogum held his breath in anticipation as Irene Bae inched closer and closer. His racing heart echoed with the roar of the blood in his ears and soon it was all he could hear and she was all he could see. His eyelids fluttered close, lips parting as he waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Slowly, he opened his eyes and saw Irene Bae’s face so close his vision blurred. He could feel her there; her breath, her warmth, her presence, her scent. He took it as hesitance and decided that he had to make a move like a man, completely forgetting about the script they were playing along with. He was about to close the gap when a firm palm touched his shoulder.

“Up until here,”

And she was moving away well out of his personal space. Bogum released the breath he was holding, staring wide-eyed at the seemingly unperturbed Irene Bae.

“What?” she asked, feeling the gaze on her.

Bogum shook his head and diverted his eyes. He still felt disoriented. And disappointed. He’d probably dream of that moment for weeks. And wallow in regret for weeks, battering himself for what he should have done, what he shouldn’t have done.

“So, what else were you planning to show me?” Irene Bae’s voice brought him out of his thoughts, “It’s getting dark,”

Bogum perked up, “Oh. Right. I, uh, have something here for you…” ” he reached for a bag and fumbled inside before taking out lunchboxes “Sunbae, you must be hungry, right?”

She eyed the boxes, “Is that..?”

Bogum grinned, nudging her to scoot and shift her position so he could put the lunchboxes between them, “I don’t know which dish you would like so I just tried my best in making what I can,” he said as he laid the food down, opening the lids and revealing mouth-watering dishes inside, “I hope it’s enough,” he added sheepishly.

Irene Bae stared at the food laid out in front of her, “Did you cook all of this?”

He rubbed his nape bashfully, “Well…yeah, I did.”

He didn’t.

Irene Bae was still staring at the food in disbelief. Bogum smiled to himself and handed utensils to her. She muttered her thanks and started to eat, munching carefully. He watched, biting his lip to seem nervous though he was actually confident with the taste. He was so confident he wouldn’t be surprised if Irene Bae started to tear up because it was so delicious.

“How is it?” he asked.

“It tastes…amazing,” she replied, looking like she couldn’t believe Bogum could cook anything like it, “I didn’t know you can cook,”

He smiled, “Glad you like it,”

Ah, as expected. Olaf is the best.

After eating in silence (because Wendy’s cooking was so good neither of them wanted to talk), Bogum dragged Irene Bae off the car and to the shore. The view was nice and the breeze was refreshing and the girl beside him was beautiful. It was perfect. 

“What are you doing?”

Bogum didn’t answer and continued to pick up stones. When he was satisfied with the number, he returned to Irene Bae’s side and presented them to her.

“Ta-da!”

Irene Bae gave them a look, “What are you going to do with those?”

He grinned, “Watch. This is going to be really pretty.” he took out a couple of glow sticks, tore it open and started to pour the glowing liquid over the stones. After that, he took one and threw it to the water, the stone skipping and leaving patters of glowing green on the water.

He turned to Irene Bae, “It’s really pretty, isn’t it?”

She nodded but her brows were knitted with concern, “That isn’t polluting, right?”

He shrugged, “It should be fine. You wanna give it a try?” he handed her a purple-dipped stone.

She tossed it, the stone skipping farther than Bogum’s, leaving a pretty trail of luminescent purple.

“I surpassed yours,” Irene Bae smugly said, looking all proud of herself with a gloating smirk and jutted chin.

Bogum chuckled. Cute, he thought.

“No, you didn’t,” he teased, going along with the plan: provoke the competitive bunny.

“Yes, I did.”

“No, no. Mine skipped, like, five times,”

“Yours skipped three times, Park Bogum-ssi. Mine skipped five,”

“How about we throw another one and see for ourselves?” Bogum suggested, enjoying the display of differing expressions on Irene Bae’s usually stoic face.

She narrowed her eyes, “Are you formally challenging me, Park Bogum-ssi?”

He met her gaze, “Yes, I am formally challenging you,”

Irene Bae huffed and picked up a purple stone, “I am so going to beat you,”

Bogum laughed, “We’ll see,”

“Watch me. I don’t play losing games, Park Bogum-ssi,” she tossed the stone. It skipped five times.

“You should stop playing now then. You’re going to lose,” he replied, tossing a stone of his own. It also skipped five times.

Irene Bae was leaning over to pick up another stone when she gave him a look bordering cocky and smug

“Wanna bet?”

And Bogum knew from the fire in her eyes that he was so going to lose.

***

Park Bogum had slowly replaced Wendy Son’s spot in Joohyun’s day to day life.

The Canadian girl had been spending less and less time with Joohyun. The only time they spent together was a few hours in the music room to work on their project and an hour in music class. Wendy Son doesn’t even eat lunch with her anymore. She could hardly even see the younger girl, much to her frustration.

Park Bogum, however…the guy appeared everywhere like an annoying fungi.

Instead of eating lunch with Wendy Son, Joohyun found herself stuck with Park Bogum. When she walked around the campus to get to her next class, the guy would magically pop beside her and walk along very much like how Wendy Son used to suddenly appear but with the girl, it didn’t seem as creepy as Park Bogum’s sudden appearances.

She would never admit this out loud–no, not even to herself; she was missing Wendy Son’s presence.

The one week the purple-haired girl followed her made Joohyun used to having her around and Wendy Son’s presence was actually a lot more comfortable than Park Bogum’s. At least she knew the younger girl didn’t harbor any romantic feelings of some sort towards her.

(She wish she did)

Hell, she didn’t even hear Wendy Son utter a single comment about her appearance, which was a refreshing change.

(She wish she did)

The thing was, every time she saw Wendy Son around the campus and actually approaches her (what an honor. Bae Joohyun never approaches first), the girl would only give her a smile, a short greeting and small talk before going off, claiming that she was busy.

Joohyun hated it.

So the last day of their practice, Joohyun decided to confront the younger girl.

“Hey,” she sat beside the wheezing, panting, Wendy Son during their break. Joohyun had taught her the dance two days prior. Contrary to her claim, Wendy Son turned out to be better than expected. Maybe it was her humongous brain capacity but the girl learned the steps fast for someone who has never danced before.

The problem with the dance practices, however, was seeing Wendy Son clad in those…those clothes.

Joohyun wasn’t sure why. It really shouldn’t bother her. She had seen other girls in the dance department wear less with better bodies. But Wendy Son…the sight of her even in just a white t-shirt and sweatpants was enough to make her gulp.

Today, however, Wendy Son decided not to look like just yummy but a ten-course, five star delicious hot meal with her white Nike crop top that revealed her toned midriffs (it never dawned on Joohyun that the girl worked out), purple hair pulled up to a messy bun which exposed a slender, very smooth, milky neck, and shorts that showcased thick, yummy thighs and perfectly hugged her .

Oh god, that .

“Hey,” Wendy Son breathed out, passing her a bottle of water. Joohyun gulped it down. “What’s up,”

Joohyun tried to recall what she originally meant to do. “Why are you avoiding me?” she cut straight to the chase, as usual.

Wendy Son almost spat out the water she was drinking, “W-What are you talking about? I’m not avoiding you! I’m here now, aren’t I?”

But her evading eyes said otherwise. Joohyun had to sigh. The girl was a terrible liar.

“Come on. Tell me.” she nudged her with her elbow, “I won’t be mad,”

The younger girl snorted, “You’re already mad,”

“Maybe.” Joohyun chuckled, elbowing her again, “Come on, answer me.”

Wendy Son lapsed into silence, contemplating on what to say. Finally, she sighed and looked at Joohyun.

“I’m not avoiding you, sunbae. I have no reason to,” she said, “School’s just really busy right now, you know? With the midterms coming and all… Plus, we have that musical coming up too. So it’s a bit hectic nowadays…”

“That musical.” Joohyun said, remembering something, “How come I never knew about it?”

Wendy Son looked constipated, “I…uh…forgot?”

Joohyun wasn’t impressed. “I heard you’re the main actress, Miss Juliet?”

“Well, yes…”

“I heard you’re going to have a kissing scene?”

Wendy Son winced, “Look, let me explain. It’s not—”

“Have you practiced it with Park Bogum-ssi?”

The purple-haired girl shook her head, “No…he doesn’t want to,”

Joohyun hummed and nodded in satisfaction. At least Park Bogum kept his word. She turned to say something else but staring into those green eyes, she started to wonder when the younger had started switching round spectacles for contacts, completely forgetting what she was supposed to get so riled up about.

Focusing was had never been a choice around Wendy Son.

How annoying.

“You wear contacts?” she found herself asking.

Her spontaneous question caught Wendy Son off guard, “Oh, uh, these?” she blinked rapidly, “Um, yeah. I do wear them when glasses are too much of a hassle.”

“It’s my first time seeing you wear one,”

“Yeah, well, er…yeah,” she stumbled over her words and Joohyun had no idea why but she didn’t mind. A stammering Wendy Son was an entertaining sight.

“It’s green,” Joohyun pointed out, leaning even closer, “A really bright shade of green,”

Wendy Son started to babble, “Yeah, it’s, uh, green. But I used to wear blue a lot back then. I tried out green this time though. You know, for a change or something like that. But, uh, I don’t really know if it suits me so I, er—”

“Pretty,” Joohyun softly cut her off, “You look pretty in any color. You look pretty in glasses too,”

The younger girl still continued to blabber, “Uh, thanks. They say I look like my dad when I wear glasses and—”

“You’re beautiful, Seungwan-ah,”

Joohyun swears she had no idea what came into her that made her blurt that out. The red that painted Wendy Son’s cheeks was a form of compensation for her though. It was reassuring to know that she wasn’t the only one flustered.

“Uh, thanks?”

She let herself smile at the dumbfounded expression on Wendy Son’s expressive face and quickly stood to brush off the awkwardness that entailed her little comment.

“I’m not letting you off for avoiding me though,” she said as she walked to the lockers.

That thawed the frozen girl, “But—! But I wasn’t!”

“Whatever. You’re still paying for lunch,” Joohyun looked at her over her shoulder, “We’re eating lunch together, today. Got it?”

“Um, actually I—”

“You’re eating lunch with me today,” Joohyun repeated firmly, giving the purple-haired girl a glare.

Wendy Son visibly gulped.

“Of course.”

A giggle accidentally escaped Joohyun’s lips which she quickly hid behind a dainty hand.

“Now that’s a good girl,”