Wendy looks down to see a young child she has never seen before pulling at her shirt. The little girl then stretches both her arms up and Wendy lifts her up. Instinctively, she hugs the kid and the latter rests her head on her shoulder. Weird as it seems, she feels a notch in and tears in her eyes. She knows. She just surely knows that this kid is hers.

This vivid dream continues on with a cry from the other room. She cradles the child closer as she takes slow steps. The crying stops and she fears that a high-pitched warning sound would accompany it. But instead, a woman’s voice hums with a lullaby.

Wendy is still cradling the young girl when they arrive at a lavender-filled room. Looking around, she sees a woman by the window with a newborn tucked in her arms. The sunlight makes it difficult for Wendy to see her features, except for long hair and pretty lips. Wendy smiles at the sight of her girlfriend before she calls out her name.

Ro-

Irene looks up at Wendy and beams a smile. She looks down at the baby boy in her arms.

Look, baby. Your mommy Wendy is here now.

Her alarm blears and wakes her up on a dreaded workday. She grabs a pillow to cover her face and scream.

“What the hell was that?”

---

Minhyuk lifts up his head after accidentally dozing off. He didn’t mean to sleep through Yeri’s school play, but it’s a Saturday morning and he just wants to rest all day. Even his mother was out of it. She and Aunt Wendy prepped Yeri with her costume and make-up in silence.

His older sister nudged her much harder this time and he clutches at where his could be broken ribs are. Jisoo points at the stage and he turns to see his younger sister making her entrance. He yawns but Jisoo hits his arm this time, making their mother turn and look pointedly at them. He leans back and just sighs.

If he were being honest, he’d say Yeri really has potential. But she needs more training if she wants to go beyond school performances. Regardless, his sister is still one of the best actresses in this play.

Aunt Wendy is smiling as Yeri speaks her lines with confidence. Minhyuk scoffs, for confidence has never been an issue with her. As much as he wants to leave now and rest, he admits his sister’s performance brought his interest enough to pay attention.

The car ride was noisy enough with Yeri and Mina competing for their family friend’s attention. When the two girls had calmed down enough to play ‘I Spy’ together, Aunt Wendy turns and whispers to him.

“How did you impress Sowon? Not the pick-up lines, I hope? I saw you two at Yeri’s party.”

Minhyuk coughs and looks if anybody else is listening. His face feels hot and he worries the two women in front would notice. But, it seems like they each have their minds elsewhere. Jisoo is staring out the window, bobbing her head now and then from the music playing on her earphones. He sighs in relief.

His mother, he knows, is focused on driving. She has always been a responsible driver but she’s never been this quiet before. She doesn't even glance at them through the rearview mirror. Not even Yeri and Mina’s bickering could make her look.

He turns to the other adult in the car to answer her question but it seems her attention is caught by something else as well. Aunt Wendy is boring holes at the back of his mother’s head with a frown on her face.

“Pinch me.” He tells Jisoo while walking to the restaurant.

“What?” Jisoo looks at Minhyuk as if he was crazy.

“They're acting weird and I feel like I’m just dreaming.” He reasons, taking a glance at their mother who was leading the way, hand in hand with Mina. Yeri walks a few steps behind them with Aunt Wendy.

“Ouch!” He clutches his arm while his older sister just looks at him with a smug expression.

“What? You told me to pinch you!” Jisoo chuckles playfully for a few seconds, before turning serious. “I’ve noticed, by the way. They just keep ignoring each other.”

“Exactly! They both act normally with us but they can’t even look at one another. What’s going on?” Minhyuk wonders. But Jisoo just shakes her head, without any idea, and it’s soon forgotten when their stomachs grumble of hunger.

Mina brings out her sketchpad and crayons as they wait for their orders. She flips through the pages and shows Aunt Wendy her drawings of mostly Elsa and Anna.

“Can you draw me, too?” Aunt Wendy is leaning forward to meet Mina’s eye level. It’s not like she needed to. Mina was glad to do so. His youngest sister tries to draw with the most detail, even matching the colors despite the limited shades of her crayons. When it came to drawing her lips, Mina looks conflicted. She picks out four crayons and hands them to their mother. Minhyuk understands that crayons can be confusing. Some crayons look just the same as others and she couldn’t read yet.

“Mommy, which one is red orange?”

Irene picks up the similar looking crayons in her hand and squints her eyes to read the labels. She hands one to Mina and drops the others on the table. As the youngest continues her drawing, Irene turns to Wendy and reaches to wipe her lips. The latter chuckles slightly in embarrassment before their mother excuses herself in that moment for the lavatory.

He looks at Jisoo, who also watched the weird scene happen in front of them.

“Lipstick smudge,” she whispers with an expressionless face. He still doesn’t understand what happened.

---

It’s concerning how impulsive she’s been lately.

She wakes up early today, and the first thing she thinks of is that she needs to go grocery shopping. She doesn’t. But she gets dressed and drives anyway.

But since she skipped breakfast for her sudden errand, she’s now incredibly hungry. She reasons, that’s what leads her to her best friend’s front door.

“Irene! Come in!” Solar greets her. After they hug, Irene looks around the house. She can see Sowon in the next room playing a game on her computer. There are two maids preparing lunch and pouring juice into glasses.

“I was wondering if we could eat lunch outside?” She had things – questions and thoughts that are way too personal for this kind of environment. Solar raises an eyebrow at her.

“How serious is this talk?”

Irene laughs. “I’m just really craving for steak from the restaurant we used to go to.”

Solar laughs too, unconvinced. She’s always seen through her alibis.

“A restaurant with privacy, too. Juicy. Let’s go!”

Irene shakes her head. She’s sleepy and tired and terribly bothered. It’s been days since the incident with Wendy, where her impulsiveness manifested itself at the worst possible moment. But more than embarrassment, Irene just doesn’t understand what it meant. And even though they decided to forget about it, Irene just… can’t.

“You’re weirdly invested in me and Eric. Do you want us to get back together? ‘Cause that’s not happening.” Solar chuckles. Irene can’t help but smile back at her friend. She’s always been bubbly but recently, she’s been acting more put-together and satisfied amidst down times in her life.

Thinking about it now, Irene knows that the famous couple is best apart. It’s not that she hates Eric. Not at all. They were both great people but they were far too different to be compatible.

“No. Sorry, it’s just that I thought you were a match in the beginning. But seeing you now, and knowing you have found another partner, I just wonder how one finds a great love a second time.”

Irene’s voice gets softer as she speaks. She feels bad and frustrated for having these questions at her age. Solar reaches to tap her arm in comfort.

“Did you meet someone or…?” Solar keeps her voice low, observing her best friend’s reaction.

Irene pulls away and sits back straight. She clasps her hands on her lap to stop them from shaking. She whispers her secret.

“I kissed Wendy… and I don’t understand why I’m sad she stopped me.”

To Solar’s credit, she didn’t look as surprised as Irene was with herself. She waits as her friend ke