"Oh yeah? What do you need?"

Wendy twirled her hair around her fingers, feeling a sense of childish joy well up in her chest as she spoke to Jennie.

"Nothing much, just need you to bust into Evidence again, that's all."

There was laughing so loud from the other end of the phone that even Irene could hear it.

"Let me know when you want to meet, then we can work out the kinks."

Wendy nodded, the radiant smile on her lips ever present, keeping Irene a little on edge. 

"Okay then, meet me tonight, back at the spot we used to meet.

Irene stared Wendy down.

"Jennie Kim?" 

Wendy nodded, putting her phone down from a rather fun conversation she just had. 

"An old pal, a real old pal." Wendy laughed, sitting down next to Irene and resting her head on her hand, looking further into the abyss of grey walls in the Datahouse. She purposely avoided Irene's gaze, knowing that she was boring holes into her skull. She could feel it.

"I've never seen you so... lively," Irene said, twiddling her fingers. 

Wendy turned to Irene, who was puffing her cheeks, looking down at her hands. Wendy could feel her heart going softer and softer for this side of Irene. This Irene was very different from the strong, confident, and flirty Irene she couldn't stand when she first met. She liked this Irene much more. 

"You jealous?" Wendy said, her spirits extremely high after speaking to Jennie, enjoying seeing Irene's ears turn the slightest tinge of red.

"What if I said I was?"

Now Irene was smiling from seeing Wendy flustered yet again. 

"Touche."

The two sat in a comfortable silence for a bit, Wendy just sending some extra details to Jennie about where they were going to meet while Irene watched her, happy to just observe Wendy for as long as she could. 

"What are you looking at?" 

Irene laughed, leaning forward and closing the gap between her and Wendy. She put her lips right up to Wendy's ear, giving it a sly nibble with her lips.

"The person I want to spend the rest of my life with."

Irene could almost feel the heat radiating from Wendy, seeing the color of her ear redden even more. 

"...Same here." 

Wendy turned to look at Irene, and the two stared at each other, eyes locked onto one another. 

"You're beautiful." 

Wendy's mind was rushing, her heart was pounding. She was so close to Irene, so close that she could see the hints of dark circles hidden under layers of makeup.

"I- I..." Wendy stuttered, unable to bring herself to say anymore. The words couldn't slip out from . 

"I think you're flustered." Irene smiled, placing a chaste kiss on Wendy's forehead, before leaning back and continuing to work on her laptop. 

Wendy sat still, looking at Irene, who was perfectly calm, acting as if nothing had happened. Wendy frowned, but she knew that's who Irene was.  She could hide her emotions forever behind that confident facade she had built up. She knew because she was the exact same way. Hiding behind a mask.

"Want to grab some lunch?" 

***

"Nothing beats a home-cooked meal." 

Wendy set down the last few plates on the table. Irene had a lot of ingredients it turned out. She spent so much time here in the cafe that she pretty much lived here, so Taeyeon had taken it upon herself to cook up meals for Irene herself. 

Wendy had prepared several dishes, this meal having more meat than usual. With Yerim, Wendy would have prepared more vegetables, but Irene needed more meat on her bones.

"I'm going to be fat." Irene grinned, grabbing a piece of pork and putting in .

"My god, I think I need you as a chef." 

"Well, I am out of a job."

Irene and Wendy shared a laugh.

The food was emptied very quickly, except for one plate, the one filled with chicken, because Irene hated fried chicken. 

"And coffee actually." Irene said, sipping on some water. 

Wendy was intrigued.

"Yet you opened a cafe?" Wendy said, puzzled, but also finding humor in Irene's ironic career choice.

The woman shrugged her shoulders.

"I may hate it, but everyone else in New York seems to love it. It's a good source of income, I've made some very good cash off coffee. Mostly thanks to Taeyeon of course."

Wendy nodded, finding herself getting lost in Irene's voice. 

"So... why don't you tell me something about yourself then? Since you already know so much about me."

Irene laughed. 

"Well, I don't have a blog for you to read, so I apologize for that." 

Wendy smiled, just sitting back in her chair, comfortable, not saying a word. She wanted Irene to do all the talking. 

So Irene did all the talking. 

"I'm... not exactly normal. I mean, I'm helping some detective who left her job solve the most mysterious case in America simply because I feel like it." Irene chuckled. "I enjoy it, doing what I'm doing with you right now. Having someone else I can talk to every day, besides Taeyeon and random customers that I speak to only when I'm bored."

Wendy nodded, now leaning forward, her head on the knuckles of her hands.

"I haven't really felt this kind of connection with someone before. I don't have much family, parents left me a long time ago, and I only have a sister who I can't exactly say I'm close to. I hate her actually, so never bring her up please." Irene let out a bitter laugh. "Maybe that's why I was so attracted to you. Another orphan, someone else who was missing affection all her life. We're lonely, Wendy, you and I." 

The two women smiled. 

"Yes, yes we are." Wendy said. 

Irene gently rested her hand on Wendy's own. 

"Let's fill up the gap that we both have in our lives." 

Wendy and Irene looked into each others' eyes.

"Okay."