“Excuse me,”

Wendy looked up from her notes, regarding the unknown girl with a tilt of her head and an automatic kind smile but not without her eyes doing a quick scan, taking note of the girl’s youthful appearance. Probably a freshman. 

“Yes? How may I help you?”

The girl smiled and Wendy thought she was pretty, the way her eyes crinkled up into crescents and her lips parting into a wide, toothy smile that brandished a neat row of pearly whites, full cheeks pushing up. She could feel herself smiling along to such pure innocence.

“You’re Wendy Son, aren’t you?”

Wendy blinked, sitting a little straighter, “That’s me.”

She thought her eyes were playing tricks on her but the angelic smile on the other girl’s face had turned less innocent and a bit more scheming.

“You’re from Canada?”

“Yes, but—”

“Is it true that your GPA was 3.9?” the girl pushed, the glint in her eyes looking more and more dangerous Wendy started to wonder if talking to her was a good idea.

Wendy started to feel uncomfortable, “Well, yeah but why—”

“So it’s true that you’re, like, really really smart then?”

“Um, I actually don’t think—”

“I also heard your family’s rich? Like, filthy rich? I heard you’re some third-generation chaebol or something?”

Wendy winced. She particularly didn’t like people talking about that part of her life. This girl was being a bit too probing and a lot strange, starting up an impromptu interview all of a sudden. Who’s this brat, anyway?

“I’m sorry but who are you?” she finally managed to ask, still trying to smile with much difficulty at the girl who only had a victorious grin plastered on her face, like she had been waiting for that question the whole time.

With a flip of her hair and a lopsided smirk, she introduced herself.

“My name’s Park Sooyoung, preferably Joy. Freshman, psychology major. Nice to meet you,” she said the last part in English, chicly flicking a wrist to offer a handshake. “And I, have an offer to give you,”

***

“So, unnie, have you thought about it?”

“Yes,”

“So you’re going to come with us?”

“No,”

Park Sooyoung, or more widely known as Joy, had been bothering Wendy nonstop since their first meeting and Wendy had been rejecting her offer for just as long too.

“Ah, unnie!” Joy whined, stomping her feet.

“Hey!” Wendy hissed, holding the girl’s limbs down, “Stop it! You’re going to get us kicked out of here,” she shot an apologetic smile at the librarian, who had been giving them the evil eye for quite a while now. Wendy was there to study, damn it. She had a long quiz in an hour but Joy made it difficult to focus.

The younger girl pouted, “But why don’t you want to join in? It’s going to be fun!”

Wendy sighed, closing her book. She won’t be able to study anything with this little problem bugging her around. She looked at Joy, choosing to quickly deal with her first before returning to her reading.

“Why do you want me in, anyway? I’m not even good in that kind of stuff.”

Joy shrugged, “I told you, we need your money,” she bluntly said, “All the equipments and a bunch of other stuff is very expensive.”

Ah, how refreshingly honest.

Wendy massaged her temple with her thumb, feeling a headache coming up, “Okay and I told you, I can be a sponsor or something. I’ll agree to that much but I won’t be joining you in your shenanigans.”

“But we also need your brains and your acting skills are decent. Plus, you’re a social butterfly! Everybody loves you and knows you! We also need that.”

“But I don’t know them.”

“It doesn’t matter! People warms up to you real fast. That’s what we need,” Joy said, “Come on, unnie! Please?”

Wendy sighed, not knowing how to deal with the girl anymore. She doesn’t even remember when she gave her permission to comfortably call her ‘unnie’. Hell, she probably didn’t.

Juggling academics and extra-curricular activities was difficult enough. Her current schedule was already tight. She didn’t need another responsibility put in her full plate.

“How did you even get all that information about me?”

Joy’s smile was slow and smug, “Well, I happen to know someone talented to find out more than enough about you which can easily leak out. If we want it to, that is,” she said, smile growing, “Like your huge- crush on Taeyeon-sunbae, for example,”

Wendy choked. She coughed violently, earning another glare from the librarian but she couldn’t care less.

“W-What are you talking about? I can’t – I didn’t – I don’t have a crush on her!”

“Uh-huh,”

“I really don’t! How did you even come up with that, anyway? Taeyeon-unnie is pretty and kind and all but I don’t like her that way!”

“Mm-hmm,”

“Really! I don’t! I—”

“If you’re just going to chat, then why don’t you just talk outside?” a stern voice interrupted. Both of them looked up and saw the librarian looming over them, a nasty scowl on her face, “Get out, the two of you. Now.”

“Great,” Wendy grumbled as soon as the librarian had stalked off, giving Joy a glare.

The younger girl laughed, “It’s alright. I’ll leave,” she stood, “Just contact me if ever your mind changes, unnie. You know where to find me,” she winked and left the library.

Wendy huffed, muffling her groan in her palms. What if it wasn’t just her crush on her senior that the younger girl knew? What if there’s so much more? With Joy holding so much on her, she didn’t have much of a choice, did she?

***

Of course, Wendy found herself standing in front of the old music room door, contemplating about her life decisions and how she was going to deal with everything once she entered the room. She looked up at the signage, wincing at how it was worn and almost completely torn off. The golden prints that were once elegant fading, making it look like it said ‘SIC ROOM’ instead of ‘MUSIC ROOM’.

Knowing who’s inside, Wendy thought it was quite appropriate.

Taking a deep breath for the nth time, she finally made up her mind, fingers wrapping around the cold brass knob.

Okay. Here goes.

She slowly opened the door, ignoring the unsettling feeling the creaking sound gave her and promptly froze on the spot.

Why is it so dark?

“Wendy-unnie, you came,”

She jumped out of her skin, squinting at the pitch black, “J-Joy?”

Suddenly, another girl appeared from the shadows, pulling her into the darkness and kicking the door close, making Wendy yelp.

“W-W-What’s this?”

“Turn on the lights, Yerim. You’re freaking the snowman out,”

Wendy was too shaken by everything to wonder how Joy knew her nickname and who this Yerim was.

“You’re closer to the switch, unnie. You turn it on,” said a sardonic voice.

Joy’s grumbles about who’s older and who’s boss carried through the silent air before brightness replaced the dark. Wendy had to squint at the sudden bright light. The room looked like the current music room except that the only instrument found was the grand piano situated in the center.

“So this is how you look like up close. You do look like a snowman.” the girl standing in front of her said, blank eyes scanning her face. She was a pretty little thing, with long dark hair braided to pig-tails and wide but expressionless eyes. What caught Wendy’s attention, however, was what she wore.

“You’re a high school student,” she pointed out, eyes fixated on the uniform.

The girl twirled the lollipop in , stepping back, “Yeah. So what? Got a problem with that, Olaf?”

Wendy looked at Joy who was perched on top of the piano, “Are you sure this is legal?”

Joy smiled, “I’m pretty sure it’s not,” she replied, sounding gratingly cheerful.

Wendy groaned and Joy chuckled, hopping off the instrument, “This little brat is Kim Yerim. You can call her Yerim or Yeri. Whichever. I prefer calling her a little rascal, though.” she patted the girl’s shoulder, the latter raising a hand in greeting.

“Oh, uh, I’m Wendy Son—”

“Son Seungwan, twenty-one years old. Born in Seoul, South Korea on February 21, 1994. 160 centimeters, 40  kilograms,”

Wendy’s jaw fell, “How..?”

Yeri gave her first smile, filled with mirth and cheekiness while Joy merely rolled her eyes. “When will you ever learn how to be normal?” the latter complained.

“Maybe when you do,”

Joy pushed her gloating face away, “Excuse her. She likes to show off during first meetings,” she told Wendy.

“Uh, yeah, okay,” the older girl was still stunned, staring at Yeri, “So, she’s the, uh, talented friend?” she looked at Joy.

The girl made a face, “Yeah, she’s that,” she walked away to a random table and started to rummage through its drawers.

“So,” Yeri spoke, walking over to the nearest chair and sat, “You’re joining us?”

“Well, I don’t have much of a choice,” Wendy replied, “I don’t know what you guys will do with my information if I don’t join in and Joy made it clear that she won’t be keeping it secret,”

Yeri laughed, “I see that you got blackmailed into this as well,”

Wendy raised her brows, “As well? You mean, you were tricked too?”

Yeri shrugged and picked up a book on top of the piano, plopping down on a chair. Upon seeing the cover, Wendy raised her brows. Why, it was Harry Potter. In English. She moved to sit on the chair adjacent to Yeri’s.

“You speak English?”

“I see that you’re talkative,” she leafed through the book, “I’m interested in learning it,”

Wendy studied her, judging if she’s serious or not before nodding, “That’s cool,” she pursed her lips, “If you want, I can teach you,”

“That’s cute but no thanks,” Yeri said in English, surprising Wendy. The girl’s pronunciation was good. “I’d like to learn it on my own,” she switched back to Korean, “It’s more fun that way, don’t you think?”

Their small conversation was interrupted when Joy sauntered over, bringing papers and a pen. Joy handed them to Wendy who looked at her questioningly.

“What’s this?”

Joy rolled her eyes, “Why don’t you try reading?”

Wendy eyed her suspiciously before reading the contents of the paper. Her brows shot up. It was a contract.

“I didn’t expect you to actually have this kind of things,” she said, leafing through the pages.

“Please excuse her. Sooyoung-unnie watches too many dramas,” Yeri quipped and grunted when Joy kicked her shin.

“Just shut up and read that properly before you regret getting involved with all these.”

Wendy looked at it and read.

DATING AGENCY AGREEMENT

This agreement is made this {date} day of {month}, {year}, between a dating agency henceforth known as “Agency,” and Wendy Son Seungwan, a prospective employee henceforth known as “Employee.”

Agreement is made to establish a relationship between Agency and Employee.

Agency agrees:

• to protect any personal information about Employee
• to keep Employee’s employment in the agency classified
• to allow Employee to quit if {he/she} wants to
• to decline all clients seeking to target Employee
• to pay Employee with lots of love

Wendy raised her brows at the last one, “’Agency agrees to pay Employee with lots of love’.” she read in a deadpanned tone, “Is this thing for real?”

“Hey, don’t mock your salary. It’s priceless,” Joy retorted.

Wendy rolled her eyes and continued reading.

Employee agrees:

• to acknowledge that {he/she} is a representative of Agency, and is expected to act accordingly while on any operation
• to maintain confidentiality about any information related to Agency
• to inform Agency if {he/she} will be late, is unable to attend work, intends to quit, etc.
• to provide financial support to the Agency
• to not fall in love with any of the clients or any of the targets whilst working

Failure to abide to the Agreement would cause a penalty ranging from granting three wishes to expulsion depending on the severity of the offense.

Wendy tapped her chin, contemplating. The conditions were more normal than she expected. She had initially readied herself to face extreme consequences upon joining in, though granting three wishes as a penalty was a bit disturbing and unusual.

Keeping the whole thing a secret was something she could do. She was planning on keeping silent about it anyway. Condition number three doesn’t worry her either, as she was almost always never late nor absent. Providing financial support to the agency was easy. Being a meticulous and frugal person, she had tons of extra cash to spend and if things go awry, she could always pull some strings. It was the primary reason why she was scouted anyway, as Joy had ever so refreshingly honestly told her. The last one was a piece of cake.

Wendy would never fall in love with someone she knew was already intended for somebody else, especially if she was one of the people making the relationship between the two happen. That was, like, common sense.

“Your conditions sound easier than I expected,”

Joy scoffed and gave her a look, “Don’t be so confident, Son. You won’t know but it might bite you in the ,”

Wendy shrugged, “Okay, I’m in,”

The grin on Joy’s face almost made her want to back out. Yeri handed her a pen and cocked her head to the side, urging her to sign. Joy’s was already fixated (as she was the “founder” of the whole thing), the other spot waiting for her to put down hers.

Well, what could go wrong?

She wrote down her signature and officially closed the deal.

From that moment on, she was officially a member of the Revel-LOVE Dating Agency.

“Now, that was easy, right?” Joy grinned victoriously at the papers before tucking them somewhere in the drawer. She returned with another paper and surprisingly, a bible.

Wendy cocked a brow. Now what is she trying to do, exorcize me? “I thought you ran a satanic cult here?”

Joy glared at her, “Shut up. Now, the only thing you need is a Pledge of Honor,” Joy said, handing the bible to Yeri. Wendy was surprised they weren’t allergic to it.

“A Pledge of Honor?” she echoed, feeling more and more absurd, “You even have that? Is there even anything honorable in what we’re doing?”

“Making people happy is very honorable. Now, put your left palm on the bible and raise your right hand and repeat after me,” Joy lifted her paper and read, “I, Park Sooyoung,”

Wendy rolled her eyes but did it anyway, feeling a bit funny as she repeated after Joy, “I, Wendy Son Seungwan,”

“Solemnly swear that I am up to no good,”

Wendy turned to Yeri with a raised brow, “Did you write this?”

Yeri merely shrugged. Joy hit Wendy with her copy, “You should repeat after me!”

Ah, whatever let’s just get through this, Wendy sighed and repeated the same words.

“I solemnly swear that I would do everything in my power to help the clients in achieving their goal despite my relationship with them or their targets.”

“I solemnly swear that I would do everything in my power to help the clients in achieving their goal despite my relationship with them or their targets.”

“I pledge that I will use my skills and knowledge to its full potential and not hold back.”

“I pledge that I will use my skills and knowledge to its full potential and not hold back.”

“I will not let any information such as the employees’ identities outside the agency. It will be a secret I will guard with my life.”

“I will not let any information such as the employees’ identities outside the agency. It will be a secret I will guard with my li—hey, wait a minute. ‘A secret I will guard with my life’?”

Joy glared at her, “It will be a secret I will guard with.my.life,” she repeated forcefully.

Wendy sighed in resignation, “Fine. It will be a secret I will guard with my life,”

“Lastly, I will not fall in love with a client and most definitely not with the agency’s target, making things so ing complicated for everyone because that would be annoying.”

“Lastly, I will not fall in love with a client and most definitely not with the agency’s target, making things…are you sure we’re allowed to swear when doing this?”

“Swearing is honorable,” Joy said with a nod but Wendy was pretty sure it wasn’t, “Go on. Finish it.”

Wendy sighed, “Lastly, I will not fall in love with a client and most definitely not with the agency’s target, making things so ing complicated for everyone because that would be annoying.”

 “And that’s it.” she turned to Yeri, “Did you record all of that?” The younger girl gave a thumbs-up. Joy smiled at Wendy and offered a hand, “Welcome to Revel-LOVE Dating Agency, Miss Wendy Son Seungwan,”

Wendy couldn’t help but smile back as she shook the hand. She admits it wasn’t that bad. Her silly imaginations had consisted quite extreme stuff after all. Unlike what she had expected, no blood was spilled and no soul was sold to the devil. What a relief.

“Now to celebrate your employment, I’ll give you your first mission,” Joy winked, yanking off the fabric that covered a glass board. On the board, a single picture was pasted.

Wendy gasped.

“Kang Seulgi?”

Yeri stood and began pacing, “Kang Seulgi, twenty-one years old. Born in Ansan, South Korea on February 10, 1994. 162 centimeters, 42 kilograms,” she recited, “Based on what I’ve heard and seen, this unnie is apparently really good at computers. Isn’t that right, Olaf-unnie?”

Wendy gulped. This little girl does know everything. “I-uh, I’m not sure,”

Yeri raised a brow, “You guys are pretty close, aren’t you? Always around each other wherever and whenever…” she stuck more photos on the board; pictures of her and Seulgi doing all sorts of things from eating lunch to walking around the mall, “…aren’t you?”

As shaken as Wendy was, she willed herself to remain silent. It was a secret nobody knows except for her and Seulgi after all.

Beside Yeri, Joy picked up the recorder from the piano and pushed a button. Wendy’s voice filled the room.

“I pledge that I will use my skills and knowledge to its full potential and not hold back.”

“People say that you have an amazing photographic memory or something like that. I suppose it doesn’t include auditory? A pity, really.” the tall girl shook her head, clicking her tongue.

Yeri started laughing, “I suppose it really doesn’t include auditory. How can you not be sure, Olaf-unnie?” she took the recorder from the other girl and started to fiddle with it. When she finished, she gave Wendy a sly look, “You were the one who told me about it, remember?”

Wendy’s eyes widened. How..? When..? She rummaged her brain but found no recollection of telling anyone about it.

“I would never—!”

“Our Ddeulgi is really re-ally great with computers. She can break into anything anywhere! She may seem like a dumb bear but hacking is her specialty! It’s a secret though. You mustn’t tell anyone!”

Ah.

That voice does sound like hers.

Wendy massaged her temples. Her head was starting to ache. “Wait, I don’t…how did you even…”

Yeri smiled and crossed her arms, “How did you think I was able to gather this much information in such a short period of time?”

“Um, by making a deal with the devil..?”

Yeri tapped her chin, “Hm. I never considered that. My old pal down there is a busy person, you know. But maybe next time I’ll take your suggestion.”

 “…Please don’t say such things with a straight face…”

The girl grinned, “I’m sorry to disappoint you but I just use methods like this,” she took out some sort of a necklace from her pocket and showed it to Wendy, the pendant dangling down and swaying side to side, “It’s pretty normal, don’t ‘cha think?”

Wendy pursed her lips. Eyes trying not to follow the pendulum, she turned to Joy, “Why? What do you want from Seulgi? Is she a target? A client?”

Joy grinned that Cheshire grin that makes the hairs on the back of Wendy’s neck stand.

“A prospective employee,”

***

“Wan, are you sure you’re not forcing me to join a satanic cult?” were the first words that came out of Seulgi’s lips when they arrived at the music room and had a first look at the dark interior. It didn’t help that the Satanic Duo had decided to buy scented candles and light them up.

Wendy couldn’t blame her friend. The place did look like the headquarters of some satanic cult.

“No, no,” Wendy wheeled her in, “Trust me, it’s something much weirder,”

“Am I supposed to be reassured by that?”

Wendy successfully took her in and the door behind them automatically closed but not without an eerie creak and an ominous BANG. Seriously, how do they make this place seem so dramatic?

“For a dating agency, this place sure is dreary,” she mumbled under her breath.

Seulgi, however, gaped, “So this is how satanic cults are like? So cool…”

Wendy could only sigh. She should just get it over and done with.

“Joy-ah, Yerim-ah. Please come out. I know you’re in there somewhere,”

Beside her, Seulgi innocently blinked around, grinning, “Wendy, I never knew you had imaginary friends but that’s cool—”

“Oho, Olaf-unnie, you’re back!”

“And you brought the young maiden with you. Excellent.”

Two figures stepped out of the dark, the candlelight casting shadows on their faces. Unfortunately, Yeri chose to wear a hoodie that day and Joy just had to wear a white dress with her long black hair untied.

“Wan..?” Seulgi whispered, “Are they your friends or should I start taking them down? I go for the one on the right while you take the one on the left, what do you say?”

“You’ve never thrown a punch before and I’m a wimp. We won’t stand a chance. Even if we do, they’ll be dragging us to hell with them,” Wendy whispered back before sighing and turning to the two, “Can you please turn on the lights around here? You’re always scaring people off.”

A scoff, “Not our fault people are such chickens,” said Yeri but a second later, the lights flickered on and the two dark figures turned out to be a normal teenager wearing an oversized hoodie and a typical college girl in a casual white dress.

Seulgi released a breath, “They’re…okay?”

Joy raised a brow, “Okay? Okay? Girl, we’re not just okay. We’re beautiful. At least I am.”

Seulgi grinned, eyes disappearing, “You are pretty. The little girl too!” she turned to Wendy, “What do they need from us? They seem pretty young. Are they freshmen? Need help in getting used to university life? I’ll be willing to help!”

Ah, how awfully bright.

“We need you to sit here just in the middle of the candles and drop some of your blood and chant ‘abambaraboombambaraboom hey’ six times. It’s for our science project,” Yeri deadpanned.

Seulgi being Seulgi smiled and actually walked over, “Oh, sure thing!”

Wendy immediately held her back by the collar, “Seul, they’re only kidding,” she sighed, wondering why her friend had to be such a naïve being, “The big-headed one is Park Sooyoung but she prefers being called Joy, ironically. The little girl’s Kim Yerim. She’s a high school student,”

Seulgi bowed with the wide smile still plastered, “Nice to meet you! I’m—”

“Kang Seulgi, twenty-one years old. Born in Ansan, South Korea on February 10, 1994. 162 centimeters,42  kilograms,”

The bear looked awed, even clapping, “Wow! How did you know that? Are you a psychic?”

Yeri shot Joy an is-this-unnie-for-real look which the latter replied with a shrug. “Kang Seulgi-sunbae,” Joy started, approaching them, “We do need your help in something.”

Seulgi perked up, “What is it?”

“We’re establishing a dating agency. It’s about getting people together, making them happy and helping them live their fantasies.” Joy explained, words picked specifically to catch Seulgi’s attention, “Are you…willing to lend a hand?”

Wendy tried to warn her, “Seul—”

“Of course!” her friend beamed.

Sigh. Oh well.