www(.)youtube.com/watch?v=69mJfm0MZKU
www(.)youtube.com/watch?v=jEy6MGu3bIA

;)

Wendy had planted herself on her couch, writing furiously in her journal. She had the TV for background noise as she exercised every greasy and overly-romantic bone in her body. She wanted to ask Joohyun to be her girlfriend, but she couldn’t mess it up or disappoint her. Joohyun deserved the best, and Seungwan was determined to deliver.

She had trashed at least 3 fully-written pages in her journal, fingers carding her hair in frustration. Her phone had been going off constantly for the short hour that she had been home, and she decided to take a break and finally check who had been blowing up her phone. To no surprise, it was the Perfect Thots groupchat.

S(atan)ooyoung

HEY

HEY

SEUNGWEENIE

HOW WAS YOUR DATE

HEY

Yerimmie

WHAT SHE SAID 
WAN 
DON’T LEAVE US HANGING, YOU ASSWIPE

Slug

hey calm down guys :(

maybe she’s just sleepy

Yerimmie

or maybe she’s getting railed

S(atan)ooyoung

KKSJKJSJK 
BABE 
I DIDN’T NEED THAT MENTAL IMAGE

Me

you guys are gross

Slug

:D hey Wan!!!

so how was it?

S(atan)ooyoung

KJDSKJKD WAN

HOW WAS SHE

DID YOU GET LAID

Me

you’re disgusting, sooyoung.

slug, it went great!! except for the end, that is

Yerimmie

oh , is Irene a pillow princess?

S(atan)ooyoung

KJDSKJKD

Me

WILL YOU STOP BEING VULGAR

it’s not that. she just... we had a great night, and I’m head over heels for her.

Iijust didn’t have the nerve to kiss her goodnight...

Slug

aww that’s so cute!

it’s okay Wan, I didn’t kiss Sunmi until our third date :3

Yerimmie

LMAOOOOO WE DON’T CALL YOU SEUNGWEENIE FOR NOTHING

S(atan)ooyoung

Wan you’re a ing idiot!!! she definitely wanted to kiss you. jesus christ she almost jumped you in the middle of the shop

Me

...I know

that’s why I need your guys’ help.

Slug

AAAH DO I SMELL A GRAND ROMANTIC GESTURE?

Yerimmie

tbh it’s prob just u

when was the last time you showered?

S(atan)ooyoung

YERI JSKJSKSJ

Wendy sighed loudly and switched conversations. She opened the one titled “Princess” and began typing.

Me

hi princess! I just wanted to say thank you again for the wonderful night..

I miss you already.

but on a more serious note, can you come into the shop tomorrow night? I wanna check and make sure that your tattoo is healing alright.

is 6 okay?

Wendy regretted sending so many messages at once, but her brain was working faster than her fingers. She had finally thought of the perfect idea. She pulled out her schedule for tomorrow, and called all of her clients, leaving apologetic voicemails. She offered them all a discount, and begged them to forgive her for cancelling on them so late at night, and so last minute.

As she finished calling the last customer, a notification popped up at the top of her screen, from none other than Irene.

Princess

I miss you too.. i’m glad you enjoyed it :)

and yeah, I can come in then.

I’m gonna go to bed... you tired me out haha

goodnight and sweet dreams baby

Me

you too, princess

Wendy grinned widely at her phone. Her heart swelled at the sight of the word ‘baby.’ She hadn’t even heard Joohyun say it in person, but Wendy was just as affected regardless.

If everything went according to plan, Wendy knew Irene would be swept right off of her feet. The shop would be closed to the public all day tomorrow, and Wendy recruited her friends to decorate the store. Wendy was currently making a list of what she would need: streamers, fairy lights, and her guitar.

Wendy was sure not to leave anything out, and she smiled inwardly thinking about Joohyun’s reaction. She closed her journal, placed it on the nightstand, and crawled under her covers, feebly hoping that she would dream about Joohyun.

…

Wendy had woken up early to practice. She pulled out her guitar and sat down on her bed. She plucked a few strings tentatively, she was rustier than she thought. Wendy placed her laptop in front of her, a tab opened to the sheet music for “Honey” by Kehlani.

She sat and practiced, making mistake after mistake, but she refused to give up so easily. It had been about an hour before she had nearly mastered the song, still tripping up on a few parts, though. Seungwan had taken a break to call Joy, who was in charge of getting the decorations.

“Yeah?” Joy said, some rustling in the background interrupting her. She seemed distracted.

“Uh, yeah Sooyoung you’re gonna get that stuff I sent you right… Please. And don’t forget to send me pictures okay-”

Wendy was interrupted by a loud scream on Joy’s end.

“ YERI I TOLD YOU NOT TO PUT THE STOVE ON THAT HIGH!”

Wendy was somewhat worried, but burst into laughter when she overheard the rest of their conversation.

“I WANTED TO BE A GOOD GIRLFRIEND AND MAKE YOU PANCAKES, OKAY?”

A pause.

“YOU COULD HAVE JUST ASKED ME FOR HELP YOU IMBECILE.” Joy screeched, and Wendy was in stitches, her sides sore from laughing.

Wendy heard Sooyoung slam the phone down, and Joy’s voice had quieted to a barely audible din in the background. Wendy, still in the midst of her laughing fit, put her phone on speaker and placed it on the bed, waiting for Joy’s response.

After a few more minutes, Wendy was alarmed to hear a sudden and loud outburst from Joy.

“Sorry Wan, I’m back. My girlfriend is just INCOMPETENT. Still love her though.” And it was evident that Joy was speaking loudly enough for Yeri to overhear. “Anyway.. yes you idiot I’m gonna go get the decorations now… and some burn ointment for Yeri too I guess.” Joy said.

“Make sure you send pictures pleaseeee.” Wendy said.

“Will do, boss. Good luck you lovesick idiot!” Joy said, and hung up.

Wendy smiled, she truly did love her friends, even if they were annoying most of the time. She picked up her guitar again, and returned to practicing.

Wendy finished fine-tuning the last chords of the song, finally happy with her progress. She had sung the song before, but this would be the first time she had played guitar as accompaniment.

She still had a few hours to spare, so Wendy had decided to get dressed a little earlier than she had originally anticipated. From the back of her closet, she pulled the piece de resistance of her small clothing collection: her prized white suit. She hadn’t found an occasion special enough to wear it, until tonight of course.

…

It was 4 p.m. when Wendy and her friends had arrived at Perfect Ten to start setting up for Irene. Wendy was beginning to get nervous, and her friends noticed.

They all had been giving her pep talks throughout their decorating process, complimenting her effort and telling her she would be fine. Wendy could only nod feebly at the encouragement, which was entirely out of character for Joy and Yeri. At one point, Joy had even pulled her aside to talk to her.

“Hey Wan, I know you’re nervous, but how could she NOT love this? You put in so much effort, and as much as I call you Seungweenie, you can’t chicken out now. You told me to go for what I wanted, and it worked out. Now it’s your time to shine Wannie.” Joy said, a sincere and calm smile spreading on her face.

“Thanks, Sooyoung. I love you.” Wendy said, wrapping her into a crushing hug.

“Maybe if you let go of me I’ll say I love you too.” Joy said, thrashing in her grasp.

Wendy reluctantly let go and pushed her towards Yeri, who was busy hanging up the streamers and lights. “Why don’t you go tell her that?” Joy rolled her eyes and smacked the side of Wendy’s arm noisily before walking away.

Wendy walked up to the stage, where a single wooden stool was placed. Sunmi and Seulgi were chatting together, and the rest of Sunmi’s small band was awkwardly huddled in the back of the shop.

“Hey Sun! Thanks again for doing this… it means so much to me.” Wendy said, smiling earnestly.

“Of course! And you said you wanted me to play this right?” Sunmi said, pointing to the small slip of paper that Wendy had hastily scribbled her song request onto.

She nodded. “Yep! Thank you so much.” She repeated.

Seulgi beamed at Wendy. “Oh Wan… I’m so happy for you. Irene is gonna love this!”

Wendy rubbed the back of her neck, laughing meekly. “Yeah I really hope so.”

…

It was 5:45, and Wendy had gathered everyone together. She was wringing her hands nervously as she addressed them.

“All of you need to get the hell out, minus Sunmi and her girls, so I can be on stage, guitar in hand, waiting for Irene.” she paused and turned to face Sunmi, “Then, when I’m done, Sun you and the band will go on stage and play that song I handed you.. And we’ll see how it goes from there. Thank you all so much. I appreciate it more than you know.”

“Oh we KNOW, Wan. You’re too soft for your own good sometimes.” Yeri interrupted.

Wendy blew a kiss at Yeri jokingly, which earned her a dirty look from Joy. The latter pretended to swipe the kiss out of midair, earning a cackle from Yeri and Joy’s face lit up, obviously pleased.

“Ok now get out! Goodbye! Love you guys.” Wendy said, pushing them all out of the backdoor hurriedly.

There was a chorus of mixed “Love you too!”’s and “Shut up Wendy!”’s as they all exited the shop. Wendy had ushered Sunmi’s band into her office, reiterating the plan. They all nodded, and gave her their best wishes.

Now it was just Wendy, and the dimly lit shop. It looked like a slightly more elegant high school prom, with streamers staggered at different heights around the shop. The fairy lights on the stage gave the whole room a romantic aura, and Seungwan thanked her lucky stars that she had friends with such great taste.

Wendy pulled up a single chair in the center of the shop, facing the stage, for Joohyun to sit in. Wendy walked back to the stage, grabbed her guitar, and sat on the stool. She fiddled with the sleeves of her shirt nervously to pass time. She heard a car door shut outside, and her back went erect. She made last minute cosmetic adjustments to herself, and positioned her guitar in her lap.

As the figure nearing the door got closer, Wendy’s heart rate increased rapidly, and she felt the heat quickly rising on her cheeks.

Joohyun, seemingly confused, knocked on the door a few times, before gingerly opening it.

She had noiselessly gasped the second she had walked inside, and her hand immediately rose to cover her open mouth.

Wendy smiled from on stage, and gestured for Irene to sit in the chair in the middle of the shop.

Irene sat in the chair, and Wendy couldn’t help but notice how her eyes twinkled under the soft lighting in the shop, and from the the tears pooling in her eyes.

Wendy winked at her, and began strumming on her guitar.

I like my girls just like I like my honey; sweet

A little selfish

I like my women like I like my money; green

A little jealous

'Cause I'm a beautiful wreck

A colorful mess, but I'm funny

Oh, I'm a heartbreak vet

With a stone-cold neck, yeah, I'm charming

She never broke eye contact with Irene, who was openly sobbing once Wendy had started singing. Despite the tears running down her cheeks she was smiling widely, and swaying to Wendy’s guitar playing.

All the pretty girls in the world

But I'm in this space with you

Colored out the lines

I came to find, my fire was fate with you

Heartache would stay with you

Fly great escapes with you

Wendy had put her heart and soul into singing the rest of the song, and hoped Joohyun could see how seriously she meant the lyrics. The second she finished the last chord, she put her guitar down on the stage, and walked over to Joohyun, who had stood up from her chair.

Wendy opened her arms, and Joohyun slipped into her warm embrace. She was still crying, and Wendy kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back as she calmed down. Irene clung onto her tightly, refusing to let go.

When Wendy felt her sobs slow, she pulled Irene away from her, and wiped the remaining tears on her face with the pad of her thumb. Irene inhaled sharply, still breathless from crying, as she looked at Seungwan fondly. Wendy couldn’t help but notice that even after weeping her eyes out, Joohyun looked effortlessly gorgeous.

“So.. how’s your tattoo healing then?” Wendy said, a playful smirk on her face.

Irene grinned, of course Wendy had to crack a joke.

“It’s doing well.” she joked along, running her fingers through Seungwan’s hair.

Sunmi and her band had begun to walk out of the backroom, and prepared their instruments. A slow and calming version of “Just The Two Of Us” by Grover Washington Jr. had started playing.

“Baby there’s more?” Irene said, her eyes wide.

The corners of Wendy’s lips twitched up. “Yes… if you’ll dance with me that is.” she said, putting her hands around Irene’s waist.

Irene responded by lacing her fingers around the back of Wendy’s neck and smiling at her.

Wendy pulled Irene closer to her, and mirrored her smile. They danced together quietly, letting the music speak for them.

I see the crystal raindrops fall

And the beauty of it all

Is when the sun comes shining through

To make those rainbows in my mind

When I think of you sometime

And I want to spend some time with you

As the first verse came to a close, Wendy broke eye contact with Irene to quickly glance at her lips, asking quiet permission. Irene squinted her eyes into an eye smile, and moved her hands so that they were on either side of Wendy’s face. She fluttered her eyes closed and began to lean in.

Wendy’s heart was pounding as she closed her eyes and leaned into Joohyun.

Their lips met. The kiss was tentative at first, but Wendy’s lips felt electric. She deepened the kiss, making up for lost time.

Just the two of us

We can make it if we try

Just the two of us

Just the two of us

Building castles in the sky

Just the two of us

You and I

Joohyun pulled away from the kiss first, and giggled as Wendy pouted. She kissed Wendy lightly, and pulled the younger woman into her embrace and held her until the song had finished.

Irene took Wendy’s face in her hands, looking at her affectionately.

“Joohyun… will you be my girlfriend? Just the two of us… That’s all I’ll ever need.” Wendy says quietly.

Joohyun smiled brightly and nodded, catching Wendy’s lips with her own as Sunmi had begun playing an encore of the song. The two women kissed for the duration of the song, but they were frequently interrupted by each other’s giddy smiles.

Wendy had never felt so full of affection and adoration. Irene’s velvet lips on hers felt like the start of something new, and Wendy couldn’t deny how lightheaded kissing Joohyun made her feel. She felt like a teenager again, falling in love for the first time.

But this was much different. This was Bae Joohyun, one of a kind. The drunken woman that walked into her tattoo parlor and changed her life. The one that giggled at her stupid jokes. The one that kissed her like it was her last day on Earth. And most importantly, the woman that Wendy knew she would love endlessly.

an; the next chapter is the epilogue! :)