Wendy woke up in a cold sweat. She was incredibly nervous about this morning, which was extremely out of character for her.

She took a shower and picked out her best clothes. She decided on a tighter, more body hugging striped shirt that wouldn’t get in the way of her tattooing, and a pair of white slacks to match. She left her hair down today, and put in her contacts. She looked at herself in the mirror, and hoped she looked decent.

She wanted to look good for Irene, but she wanted her tattoo to be better. After she finished getting dressed, she edited some of her doodles one final time, and looked at the time on her phone. It was only 9 a.m., but she figured she would leave early anyway.

...

The drive to Perfect Ten was only 10 minutes, and Wendy walked to the back door, about to unlock it when she realized it was already open. Typically her friends arrive later than her, so she reached into her purse and reached for the pepper spray she always keeps handy. She gingerly opened the backdoor and prepared herself, expecting the worst.

She doesn’t see anything physically disturbed, but notices that one of the 3 rooms in her vicinity is open. It’s Wendy’s office, and the lights are on.

She hears some noises, so she sneaks to where she can peek into the ajar door frame. Her heart is pounding in her ears. She’s terrified, but she would risk anything for Perfect Ten, so she takes a quick look inside.

Joy is sitting in Wendy’s office chair, and Yeri is straddling her lap, both women too busy making out to notice that Wendy had spotted them.

“WHAT THE !” Wendy screeched, startling the two women.

Yeri immediately hopped off of Joy’s lap, and both women looked frazzled. There was a long and awkward pause, until Joy and Yeri both started cackling, that is.

“Wannie I’m surprised you finally found out!” Joy said, pulling Yeri to sit on her lap. Yeri had also joined in on the laughter.

Wendy’s face was 3 different shades of crimson; embarrassment, anger, and fright painting her face.

“GET OUT OF MY CHAIR YOU HEATHENS!! I’M SO DISGUSTED. LEAVE MY OFFICE RIGHT NOW!” Wendy continued to shriek, physically assaulting Joy and Yeri in the process.

Joy picked up Yeri bridal style and awkwardly stumbled out of the room, laughing and kissing Yeri’s forehead on the way out.

“I HATE YOU GUYS BUT YOU’RE REALLY CUTE TOGETHER!” Wendy shouted as she slammed her door shut. It was only 9:40, so she sat in the only untainted chair in the room and tried to destress a bit. She was already confused about her situation with Irene but now what was going on with Yeri and Joy? After the initial shock was over, she opened her door, fully prepared to interrogate the two women. Except, she could only see Joy. Wendy assumed that Yeri must have left to get coffee from the cafe down the street, as she usually did in the mornings.

“Hey Wan!” Joy said, sitting at her station and filing her nails, to Wendy’s disgust.

“I hope you’re clean all of that up later. This has to be sterile you idiot! I don’t even wanna know why you’re filing your nails…” Wendy trailed off.

“Ah don’t worry grandma, I’ll clean it in a sec. And don’t worry, we aren’t that far along yet Wen.” Joy smirks, looking up from her nails to wink at her.

“Well what’s going on with you guys then? Are you guys.. together?” Wendy presses, somewhat hesitant.

Joy frowns. “Ah, I mean no? As of right now we haven’t labelled anything… but I... nevermind.” She finished, shaking her head dejectedly.

Wendy tried to read the look on Joy’s face. Sadness? Anger? Whatever it was, it wasn’t happy. Joy was typically very bubbly and playful, but recently she’d been more malicious in her teasing, and Wendy had definitely noticed.

“Joy. Projecting much?”

“Hmm? What do you mean by that, hag?” Joy snapped, filing her nails a bit harder than before. Wendy had obviously touched a sensitive point.

“When you went up on stage and ‘congratulated’ me for being in love? Teasing me for having a crush on Irene? I know you probably would have done that anyway, but… it seems a little more personal than normal, Sooyoung.” Wendy said, pausing to examine the Joy’s reaction. The younger woman sat stone faced and rigid.

“And it all makes sense now, after what I just walked in on.” she added.

Joy stopped filing her nails and her knuckles went white around the nail file.

“Yeah and so WHAT, Seungwan! It’s none of your ing business.”

“You made it my business when you brought it into the workplace, and even more literally when you brought it into my OFFICE.” Wendy seethed.

Joy stood up from her chair. She looked as if she was going to fire back, but she just dropped her head, defeated. “Seungwan I don’t know what to do..” She had started sobbing, her shoulders bobbing with every breath.

Wendy, immediately wracked with guilt for losing her temper, enveloped the taller girl into a hug. Joy convulsed with every sob, holding onto Wendy tightly. Wendy caressed the back of her head, her hair softly until Joy had somewhat composed herself.

Wendy pulled away first when she felt Joy calm down, and placed both hands on the sides of Joy’s arms, rubbing up and down.

“Sooyoung?”

“I don’t know Seungwan… I don’t know what to do…” she said, her voice wavering.

“Well can you explain to me what happened first?”

“I.. we both..” she sighed. “I don’t know how it happened Wendy. She was at my apartment one night a few months ago. We were watching a movie, and she held my hand and… we started kissing.” she paused to gauge Wendy’s reaction.

Wendy nodded, signaling Joy to keep going.

“And like a month ago I realized I had feelings for her. I don’t know if she feels the same way, because she’s been very secretive about everything and whenever I compliment her or try to be ‘girlfriend-like’ she shuts down. It , but I can't stop myself, Seungwan.”

“Joy. We both know how emotionally crippled Yerim can be. Can you even remember the last time she told anyone around here she loved them? Yeri is in her own world sometimes, but it’s not like she would just kiss anyone, Sooyoung. She’s always with you, always texting you, and how much do you wanna bet she’s ordering your coffee right now?” Wendy replied.

“But what if she doesn’t like me Wan? What then?” Joy said, averting eye contact with Wendy.

“I honestly think you’re overthinking things, Sooyoung. I’ll go into my office, under the pretense of being ‘scarred’ from what I saw you guys doing, and you can talk to her?” Wendy offered.

Joy paused to consider what she had said.

“Please just try. It hurts me to see you so upset.”

“Okay Wan, you’re right. I’ll try…” Joy said, “I shouldn’t have snapped at you, I’m sorry.”

Wendy nodded. “It’s okay, I’m sorry too.” She punched Joy’s arm gently. “Go get ‘em tiger!”

Joy scoffed. “Ew! Wan you ruined such a nice moment. Now LEAVE! She should be coming back any second now and I still have to give myself a pep talk. Shoo!”

Wendy rolled her eyes and sat back down in her office. It was 9:50, and she hoped both Yeri and Irene would hurry already. She was getting impatient, purely because of how anxious she was growing as every minute passed.

She flipped through the designs in her journal one last time, reviewing her favorites and the ones she thought Irene might like. She really hoped that Joohyun would pick her favorite design, but Wendy was grateful that Irene had chosen her and her artwork regardless.

The alarm on her phone started ringing. It was 10:00 a.m..

Wendy sat up from her chair, and grabbed the keys to the front door. On her walk out of her office, she noticed that Yeri and Joy were nowhere to be seen, and a drink tray (with only two coffees) was left on the front counter with a note.

“Hey Seungwan, me and Yeri went to go talk at the cafe for a bit. Wish me luck… and enjoy the coffee. -Joy a.k.a. Boo Boo the Fool”

Wendy snorted and stashed the note in her pocket. She knew that when they were happily together she could throw this in their faces, for the sheer sentimentality of course.

She unlocked the door and noticed a rather posh looking car outside. That was odd. It definitely didn’t belong to anyone she knew. Unless Seulgi had got a new car and parked in the customer lot, that is. But Tuesdays were Seulgi’s days off, so that was completely out of the question.

Wendy squinted to try and look into the car, but the door opened and none other than Bae Joohyun stepped out, fluttering her fingers at Wendy. Even the way she waved was expensive looking.

Wendy beamed at her and waved like an idiot. She couldn’t help it. She may have been feeling anxious before, but nothing could compare to how she felt when she saw Joohyun.

“Hiiiii Joohyun!” she yelled, continuing to wave excitedly.

Irene bent down to get her purse in the passenger seat, and when she heard Wendy, she started giggling and waving back just as enthusiastically.

Wendy waited for Irene to walk up to her, and took the time to appreciate Irene’s choice of clothes. She looked comfortable again, but still just as gorgeous. She had her hair in a high ponytail, and she wore a plain white t-shirt with black athletic shorts. Wendy was shocked at Irene’s beauty, but she managed to compose herself before Irene approached her.

“Good morning princess! Ready for your tattoo?” Wendy asked.

Joohyun smiled widely, and replied “Ah yeah I am! A bit nervous though.” She admitted.

Wendy ushered her in, and the bells on the door chimed as they walked in together.

“That’s completely normal! Most people are, and besides, you’ll have me right there so hopefully you won’t be too worried.” Wendy replied. Irene nodded, but was silent as they walked towards Wendy’s station.

“Sit here, if you would.” Wendy said, and patted her tattoo bench. “I’m gonna grab my journal quickly and we can discuss designs, does that sound alright?”

“Yeah, sounds good.” Irene said, a hesitant smile on her face.

Wendy walked to her office, and grabbed her journal. When she returned, Irene was staring fixedly at the tattoo gun, her face whiter than before.

Wendy sat down and rolled her chair closer to Irene. She handed Irene the journal, the pages open to the various designs she had drafted the night before. Irene grabbed it tentatively, and her other hand reached for Wendy’s, squeezing tightly.

“S-Seungwan am I gonna be okay?”

Wendy squeezed her hand tighter. “I think you’ll be absolutely fine, princess. I’ll be here to talk you through this and explain everything, and the second you’re in pain or even slightly uncomfortable, I’ll stop.” Wendy made eye contact with Irene, her eyes just as sparkling as the night they first met.

“I can do this as long as you’ll help me. I’ll be okay.” Irene replied, reassuring both herself and Seungwan. She withdrew her hand from Wendy’s and pointed at a design in the journal.

“I like this one.” she said, pointing to Wendy’s favorite sketch: the one she had specifically designed with Irene in mind.

Wendy was delighted, and it showed on her face. “Really? Awesome… that was my favorite design, and I actually sketched it based on my first impression of you: soft looking, but ultimately sharp, strong and demanding of attention. That reference you sent me was astounding, Joohyun.” Wendy admitted, cheeks flaring pink at her own subtle confession.

Irene blushed deeply at the compliment, astonished that Wendy had put that much thought into it. “Thank you.” she replied softly.

“So did you decide where you wanted the tattoo, exactly?”

Irene began to roll up her shorts on her left thigh. “If you could do it here, I’d like that.” she said, pointing to an area on her upper thigh that neared her hips.

“And you want it in red too? Like the drawing?”

“Yes, you have a wonderful eye.” Irene replied.

Wendy beamed at the remark. She rolled over to her desk to ready her materials and put on gloves. She triple checked that everything was sterile, and grabbed the razor and soap first.

“Okay princess, look at me?”

Irene complied and looked at Wendy, a nervous smile on her face.

“I’m just gonna make sure that the surface I’m working on is as clean and smooth as possible, so I just have to shave this area quickly, alright?”

Irene nodded, putting her head back in the headrest and staring up at the ceiling once again. Wendy quickly shaved the area (not that she needed to, because Irene’s skin was soft and smooth anyway) and lightly tapped the outside of her thigh to let Irene know she was finished.

“Alright! Now I’m just gonna clean this up with some rubbing alcohol, and then I’ll explain everything I’m doing before I begin.” Wendy cooed.

Irene nodded, and once the area was clean, Wendy began to talk again.

“Okay so I’ve just printed out this design onto the transfer paper, and I’m gonna put it on your thigh, kinda like a stencil. It works like a temporary tattoo, so I have to wet it for it to transfer properly. The water might be cold though, sorry about that.” she stated.

Irene winced slightly at the cold water, but relaxed under Wendy’s touch.

“You’re really good at this, sweetheart.” Irene said. Wendy blushed and continued to clean Irene’s upper thigh, trying not to think about how much the nickname affected her.

“It is my job, after all.” Wendy said. “Alright I’m finished cleaning this, so I’m gonna switch to a new pair of gloves and then we’ll get started.” she said, removing her gloves with a flourish.

Wendy stood up and walked to the trash can, throwing the gloves away. She was about to put on a new pair, but she was interrupted by Irene’s voice.

“Wait, please.” Irene said, her voice soft. “Can you come here for a minute?”

Wendy walked over to where Irene was laying on the tattoo bench. “Yes?” Wendy tried to mask the anything-but-professional concern in her voice, to no avail.

Irene raised her hand out to Wendy, and Wendy slipped her hand into Irene’s. Irene brought their intertwined hands to her lips, and kissed the back of Wendy’s hand gently.

“Thank you, Seungwannie.”

“O-of course Joohyun.” Wendy replied, and briskly walked over to her desk. She reluctantly washed her hands, put on some new gloves, and walked back over to Irene. Wendy snapped her gloves for emphasis and sat down in her rolling chair.

“Are you ready?”