“Joohyun-ah, you remember Uncle Yunho’s son?”

Irene was instantly disinterested because she knew where this conversation was going. “The one who’s a big shot lawyer?”

Her mother’s smile grew. “Exactly! I’m so relieved that you still remember him.”

“What about him?”

This time, her father answered. “You know that Uncle Yunho is like my own brother and our families are already familiar with one another. So, I was thinking...”

Her parents exchanged glances that Irene didn’t miss.

“Would you like to meet him, Joohyun-ah? Just to know each other a little better,” the tone in her mother’s voice was cautious.

“You two had only met as kids before he went to study abroad. Maybe meeting him now would be a good idea.”

Irene knew that she had to play her role as the obedient daughter. She put down the chopsticks, put up a smile, and said, “Sure.”

+ + +

“No, Seulgi. I’m not going on another blind date, especially if that blind date got something to do with you and your scheming girlfriend.” Wendy swatted Seulgi’s hand that was trying to snatch her tuna sandwich.

“Listen, Wannie,” Seulgi managed to take Wendy’s half-eaten cookie. “She’s different from Joy’s model friends. This is an unnie that Joy really likes and she has never set her up with anyone. She’s that protective of her.”

“Then why me? Why now?”

Seulgi took a sip of her cola. “She doesn’t want to go on a blind date with the son of a family friend. She didn’t exactly ask for Joy’s help, but Joy got the underlying message.”

“Your girlfriend isn’t only a model, but also a mind reader now?”

Seulgi huffed. “Trust me, Joy knows what she’s doing.”

“So this is, like, a fake blind date?”

The photographer showed her lethal eyesmile. “Not necessarily. Just think of it as Joy and me finally introducing our best friends to each other. Who knows, maybe you two would hit it off.”

Wendy scoffed, absolutely sceptical. “Sure.”

+ + +

The lights in Irene’s house were off, save for the one near the front door and her parents’ bedroom—a telltale sign that her parents were still awake, waiting for her arrival.

Wendy turned off the radio and let out a huge sigh of relief. She was surprised that this date went much better than what she had imagined.

“I hope your parents are okay with this because we know this wasn’t the kind of date that they had in mind.”

“Why? Because I chose to go with you?” Irene chuckled. “I'm 28, Wendy. They just want me to go on dates, period.”

Wendy smiled and shook her head.

“Anyway, thanks for today. I had a great time,” Irene said while unbuckling the seat belt.

“So did I,” Wendy’s brain was still thinking about the possibility of a second date, but had an idea of its own. “Wanna do this again sometime?”

The smile on Irene’s lovely lips chased Wendy’s doubts away. “I would love to.”

+ + +

Irene said that she would go in after finishing her ice cream sandwich. Wendy suddenly wanted to buy several more just to make Irene stay in the car a tad bit longer.

They continued eating in silence and took the last bite almost at the same time.

Irene grabbed a wet wipe that Wendy held out for her. “Thanks.” She swiftly wiped her fingers and said, “You really are different, huh?”

"What do you mean?" Wendy frowned.

"This is our seventh date and you still haven't tried to kiss me. Other people would've taken the initiative faster." Irene rolled her eyes. "A lot faster."

Wendy shrugged. "Hey, I'm not sure if that's what you want. You could be someone who only wants to be kissed on her wedding day and of course I won't judge you for it if that really is the case."

"So you're sweet, polite, cute, funny, and extremely considerate." Irene squinted. "You must have a flaw somewhere."

"Oh, I have many flaws alright." Wendy chucked the wet wipe to the bin. "You're just lucky that you haven't seen them yet."

+ + +

Joy leaned on Irene’s bedroom door. “Going to see Wendy Unnie?”

“Yeah,” Irene didn’t know why she was so giddy. It was like the smile wouldn’t leave her face. “I promised to treat her boba and I found this great boba place that I’m sure she’ll like.”

“Well, I guess it’s official, then. Congratulations, unnies. Now I can proudly add ‘matchmaker’ to my resume.”

Irene stopped putting stuff in her handbag. “What the heck are you talking about?”

“Uh... that you two are girlfriends?” Joy said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“You’re insane.”

“And you’re daft.” Joy continued, “How many dates you guys have gone to so far?”

Irene tried to put a number on it, but much to her surprise, she couldn’t.

“See, you’ve lost count.” Joy smirked, knowing full well that she got the upper hand. “When was the last time you went on a date with someone that’s not Wendy Unnie?”

Irene didn’t even make a sound.

“In case you’re wondering, Seulgi had asked Wendy Unnie about this earlier and apparently she’s just as daft as you are. Maybe you two were really made for each other, who knew?”

Joy was being too cocky, but Irene knew she couldn’t blame her. She would probably do the same thing if the role was reversed. She would love to kick Joy’s cockiness down a notch, but now she was too busy thinking about how she and Wendy might actually be exclusive. Thus confirming one of the worst things that could happen to her: admitting that Joy was indeed right.

+ + +

Wendy made a stop at a nearby coffee shop because she needed her caffeine fix. Irene surprised herself by acknowledging that she didn’t mind a little detour as long as it was with Wendy.

Irene was absentmindedly looking at the pastries, unaware of the fondness in Wendy’s gaze that was reserved for her. Wendy only turned away after the barista greeted her. “Hi, can I get a regular iced green tea latte for Joohyun–“ Wendy stopped herself, half hoping that Irene didn’t catch her slip up.

But Irene did—and the pastries were instantly forgotten.

Wendy stuttered. “I-I...” She glanced at the barista who was still scribbling the cup and obviously didn’t care about anything else. “Would that be okay?”

They were still on English name basis, so Wendy was understandably scared about crossing a line. She only hoped that Irene wouldn’t mind, but she definitely didn’t expect Irene to stand beside her and intertwine their fingers together.

“Of course, as long as your large iced Americano is addressed to ‘Seungwan’.” Irene gave her a little wink and all Wendy could think about was: oh my poor whipped heart.

+ + +

“Okay, we’re here.” Wendy stopped the car in front of Irene’s house. “You know, sometimes I think about how funny our routine is."

Irene didn’t respond. Even though Wendy thought it was kind of weird, she took it as a sign that she was simply listening and waiting for her to continue. So she went on. “We’ve been together for three years and most of our dates ended with me dropping you off at your childhood home. It’s like we’re two teenagers on prom night,” Wendy grinned. “And I don’t know why, but like most of those teenagers, I’m feeling especially giddy tonight. Isn’t that weird? Do you think maybe it’s–“

“Can I be honest with you?” Irene cut in.

Wendy quickly replayed tonight’s events in her head. She met Yeri, Irene’s cousin who was studying in the UK, and the three of them had a lovely dinner. Wendy especially enjoyed how the cousins bantered like they meet on daily basis, exchanging wits without missing a beat. Yeri had to leave earlier because she was meeting a group of her high school friends. And when they went back to their table, Irene said that Yeri approved of her, which made Wendy breathe a little easier.

After dinner, they went to a convenience store nearby to buy ice cream, but this time they opted to enjoy the treat in the store instead of eating it in the car like they usually did. Wendy was sure that nothing went wrong, everything went smoothly like it was supposed to be. She wondered what Irene was about to say, so she answered with a nod.

"We promised to always be honest with each other and honestly,” Irene turned to face her. “I want you to go home with me, to our place, and not just dropping me off. That's what I want, Seungwan. That's how I want to spend my future and I want to spend it with you and nobody else." She took out a ring from her purse. "I've been carrying this for weeks, which is a challenge in itself because you know that I'm prone to losing things. But even as I pondered about the right way to do this, the one thing that I have always been absolutely sure of is that I never want to lose you."

Irene held out the ring, along with the heart that she wore on her sleeve.

"Son Seungwan,” Irene took a deep breath. “Will you marry me and kiss me on my wedding day?”

Wendy's laughter became one with her tears. And even in this state of euphoria, she knew that there was only one correct answer to Irene's question. “Yes. Yes, I will, Bae Joohyun.”