This would be it. This would be the time for Wendy to confess.

Wendy had those thoughts as the Valedictorian of the university graduating cohort, named Irene, gave her speech. The year two university student was there for her elder sister’s graduation but her attention was largely on the speaker instead.

The Valedictorian was charming and as much as Wendy’s attention was glued to Irene, she could not help but also notice that the others around her were gawking at the speaker. Wendy felt a mixture of emotions, of both pride and jealousy as Irene continued to capture people’s attention with her speech which was both wise and humorous. However, Wendy was pretty certain that even if the Valedictorian’s speech were without those two qualities, she could easily command people’s attention because… she was Irene.

Irene Bae Joohyun, had caught Wendy’s attention just as easily since eight years ago when the younger girl had first seen the senior in Middle School and their story began from there.

8 years ago…

They were in a similar setting, except that Irene had been the Head Prefect in Middle School giving her welcome speech for the fresh Middle Schoolers. Back then, Wendy was thirteen and was still known as Seungwan, with her geeky, round spectacles resting atop her nose and pigtails and Irene was known only as Bae Joohyun, who still looked as charming as ever.

Joohyun had been sporting a ponytail as she was giving her speech on the stage before a lone standing microphone which was adjusted to match the tiny Head Prefect’s height. Seungwan was completely spellbound as words spilled out smoothly from those cupid shaped lips of the Head Prefect’s.  What was most enrapturing about Joohyun however, was her set of dazzling eyes which was further complimented by artfully arched eyebrows.

Since then, Seungwan realised that her eyes were riveted on Joohyun whenever she spoke and that her heart would flutter along with it. Later, Seungwan learnt that such feelings were known as having a crush on someone. By the end of the first year, Seungwan had been made a Prefect too and it was the first time that Joohyun had spoken to her.

“Congratulations, may you guys find your duties enjoyable. Do us proud and try not to get into trouble yourselves,” Joohyun had said with a little wink as she pinned the shiny Prefect badges on each and every one of their collars.

Seungwan had been so shy she could not even meet Joohyun’s eyes when it was her turn. Fortunately or unfortunately, it was the blush across Seungwan’s cheek that made Joohyun linger on her a little longer.

“Are you already nervous? Seung… Wan…?” Joohyun giggled as she read Seungwan’s ironed-on nametag.

Seungwan felt as if her heart had been caught in during that interaction and shook her head profusely.

Joohyun then again, “I was only kidding, have fun, Seungwan.”

Before Seungwan knew it, the Head Prefect had deftly pinned on the badge for her and was moving on to the next person. Seungwan’s heart had never raced faster in her life during that moment.

Yet, this marked their first and only conversation in Middle School because, being two years younger than Joohyun was, Seungwan had only spent a year in the same Middle School as Joohyun before the girl graduated and moved on to High School. Seungwan had been fourteen when Joohyun graduated. Despite having expected her moments admiring Joohyun from afar to be short-lived, Seungwan could not help but feel upset. At least… she has had conversation with Joohyun once. She would engrave that memory in her mind and revisit it from time to time.

5 years ago…

Then, it was the same in High School. Seungwan was sixteen and it was a complete coincidence that Seungwan had ended up in the same High School as Joohyun. Seungwan’s jaws had literally fallen when she had spotted Joohyun amongst the leaders of the School Councillors. She must be dreaming, Seungwan told herself but it had hurt when she pinched her cheeks. She smiled, because the pain was totally worth it.

Another one year with Joohyun!

Seungwan had cheered mentally in school and aloud at home, prompting her family members to wonder if the youngest daughter of the household had gone bonkers from studying too hard. All their worries grew each day as Seungwan returned from school as happy as a lark for the next week. Joohyun had recognised her.

“Seungwan?”

Seungwan had been reading silently on a couch in the library and had not expected anyone to approach her, especially not on the second day of school, especially not by Joohyun.

Seungwan’s expression must have been amusing because Joohyun broke out into peals of laughter before clearing and gave a polite smile instead.

“You are Seungwan aren’t you? The adorable little Prefect from Middle School. Do you remember me?”

‘Of course I do, you are Joohyun, the charming Head Prefect and my crush’ was what Seungwan had almost blurted out. Almost.

Thank the heavens Seungwan had managed to keep shut and nodded instead.

“You are still so shy!” Joohyun exclaimed and covered upon realising that they were in the library, “sorry, I must have sounded too enthusiastic. It is okay to be shy, I mean… I was once really shy too…”

Seungwan wanted to ask why but had not cooperated and was still jammed shut.

“Hopefully, I did not freak you out too much, if you need anything, you can always come to me, you are double my junior now,” Joohyun said then she looked around the library, as if looking for seats.

It was then that Seungwan had realised Joohyun had a book in her hand too, and it was one that she had read before.

“N-Norwegian Wood,” Seungwan had blurted out.

Joohyun stopped looking around and instead turned her attention back to Seungwan then looked at the book she was holding. “You’ve read this before?”

Seungwan nodded her head urgently, glad that at least the motor neurons in her neck were still working. The next thing that Seungwan saw was the widest smile that she had seen on Joohyun’s face as she claimed the couch opposite of Seungwan and set the book down on the table between them.

“Finally… I finally found someone who has read this book as well,” Joohyun began speaking animatedly. “This will be my third time reading this book! Did you like it?”

Seungwan liked it, she liked it even more after knowing Joohyun liked it as well.

“I-I-I liked it…” Seungwan spoke for the first time and she saw Joohyun’s eyes widen a little and they started sharing their thoughts about the books. They had surprised each other upon realising their shared so many similar views and were also able to appreciate one another’s opposing views just as readily.

Seungwan felt as though she had ascended to heaven. Joohyun and books, two of the things that she loved the most in this world. It struck Seungwan then that her feelings for Joohyun had been upgraded from crush to love. She loved Joohyun’s thoughts, she loved Joohyun’s confidence and above all, she loved Joohyun’s smiles.

From then on, Seungwan had miraculously become sort of an acquaintance of Joohyun’s. Sort of. Because after the first two weeks of school, things became slightly more hectic for the both of them. Over the rest of the year, they had only bumped into each other in the library and stayed to talk four or five times. Out of which perhaps only one was successful because each time, Seungwan still felt as nervous as the first time and mentally chided herself for being such a wreck.

The inevitable came as Joohyun graduated and Seungwan was once again left to complete High School without Joohyun. This time round, it became slightly more emotional for Seungwan. Which was why, Seungwan made it an effort to find out which University Joohyun had gone to and aimed to enrol into it as well.

Four years ago…

As expected of Joohyun, she had been offered a place at one of the top universities in South Korea, Seoul National University. Unsurprisingly, it was also where Seungwan’s elder sister, with her stellar grades, had gone to. This essentially made Joohyun and Seungwan’s elder sister, Taeyeon, batch mates and they were taking the same course.

To Seungwan’s horror or blessing, Joohyun and Taeyeon became very close friends. This meant that Seungwan saw Joohyun almost every other day at her own house.

The first time Joohyun came over, Seungwan had returned home and was caught unguarded when she saw Joohyun sitting on their sofa. Joohyun had wiggled her fingers playfully at Seungwan whose face and ears had gone as red as a tomato. Taeyeon introduced them briefly and later added fuel to the situation by stating the obvious.

“Joohyun, this is my younger sister, Seungwan, the one that I have been telling you about. Seungwan, this is my newfound friend, Joohyun. Oh, why has our Seungwan gone so red?”

To which Joohyun laughed and Seungwan scuttled back to her bedroom like a mouse after saying “Hi” to Joohyun. Her heart had pounded in her chest and she could feel her blood pulsing in her veins. This quickening of the pace of her heart beat had lasted almost throughout Joohyun’s stay in their house. Seungwan had peeked out from her room from time to time to check whether Joohyun was gone yet. Seungwan later knew that Joohyun was gone when she had bumped right into Taeyeon when she peeked her head out again.

Taeyeon had an all-knowing smirk on her face and her arms crossed across her chest. “So… I heard from Joohyun that you guys had known each other since Middle School?”

Seungwan was never one to stutter before her sister but circumstance had made her do so. “S-S-Sort of.”

Taeyeon sputtered into laughter and had to hold onto her sides to prevent herself from falling over. “Why? Were you entranced by Joohyun’s beauty? Like the rest?”

Seungwan first shook her head, then nodded, “p-perhaps? I don’t know.”

Pinching Seungwan’s right cheek, Taeyeon cooed, “my baby sister is so adorable, no wonder Joohyun noticed her as well. Well, anyway, don’t mind Joohyun’s presence, I will be bringing her home more often for projects and whatnot. Get used to her being in our house. She is a really good project mate.”

Seungwan inwardly groaned. Has she been lumped together with “the rest” with her inadequate response. Seungwan did not know which is better, her elder sister’s ignorance at her discomforts or that she was just “the rest” who could not withstand the allure of Joohyun’s charms.  

The second time Joohyun came over to their house things were the same. Seungwan had scampered back to her room, except this time, Taeyeon had held her by the scruff of her neck and guided her out to the living room after they were done discussing their project.

Then, she saw Taeyeon’s purpose in doing so because laid before them was a deck of tarot cards. Taeyeon and Joohyun must have wanted Seungwan there to be tested on. The three of them later burst out laughing as they read out each other’s ridiculous fates.

The final straw came when Joohyun had picked a card that read that she had already met the person of her dreams and would have a wonderful wedding celebration.

“Joohyun, you have already met the person of your dreams, maybe it is that sleazeball from our Ethics class who had just confessed to you…” Taeyeon teased then followed up with a, “a wonderful wedding celebration… Joohyun… you will probably get your dreams of a thousand balloons released in the air and with just as many butterflies dancing amongst it during your wedding.”

“No way! I would rather die than be with him but I would gladly take the thousand balloons… I will do away with the butterflies but I would appreciate love notes attached to each of them,” Irene had said, almost dreamily and in a dramatic way.

Taeyeon had rolled over in laughter and Irene too was laughing so hard she was bent over. Only Wendy had blushed obscenely and was thankful that the two had not noticed. A thousand balloons with love notes attached to each of them…

It appeared apparent that they still needed much practicing and the trio later gave up as they knew their readings would only became more nonsensical.

The two best friends then headed to the kitchen to try out a recipe. It was this second time of meeting at their house that Seungwan realised that despite Joohyun’s disciplined nature, she could still be up for spontaneity as well. That was not all because Seungwan also found out that Joohyun was a really great cook.

Summer times were the worst because Joohyun would be clad in her swimwear as Taeyeon and her paddled their feet in their swimming pool. Joohyun had matured so much, back when Seungwan was mainly attracted by her thoughts, confidence and smiles, she was beginning to realise that Joohyun’s assets were rather enticing as well. Especially in that god damn swim suit which accentuated the curves in her body and revealed the length of her milky white arms and legs.

Once, Seungwan was forced to join them at the pool. The girl thought her heart might leap out of as Taeyeon had asked Seungwan to teach Joohyun how to swim. Seungwan was a bad swimmer herself but Taeyeon had insisted.

Seungwan had failed terribly with Joohyun clinging to Seungwan ninety percent of the time and Seungwan’s heart almost exploding each time they were in close contact with one another. Not to mention that Joohyun and herself ended up drinking in mouthfuls of water from the pool.  

Then one other Summer night, as they were having a poolside party with more of their university friends, Taeyeon had revealed that Seungwan had only just overcome her fear of water because she had almost drowned when she had flipped upside down in a swimming tube and nobody went to save her because they thought she was doing synchronisation swimming. Seungwan almost wanted to dig a hole and bury herself six feet underground as her embarrassing past was revealed to her sister’s group of friends, and to Joohyun.

Seungwan never hated her sister so intensely but all her hatred dissipated when Joohyun had lifted a hand to pat Seungwan’s head as she laughed heartedly. Seungwan did not need to dig a hole now because the ground beneath her had disappeared by itself, along with Seungwan’s soul.

“You’re so adorable, Seungwan,” Joohyun had said and she continued Seungwan’s silky hair.

Seungwan’s mouth had opened and closed several times but no words came out.

However, it seemed as though Joohyun was not the only one who shared the same sentiment as Taeyeon’s other university friends chimed in on that same thought as well.

“Awh… Taeyeon, Seungwan is really cute, like you,” a female whose name was Tiffany said.

If Seungwan had not been too overwhelmed by the chorus of unfounded compliments for her, she would have realised two things; that her elder sister was blushing at Tiffany’s words and that Joohyun had become quieter as the others showered attention on Seungwan.  

It was only on hindsight that Seungwan realised that Joohyun had become more muted towards the end of the pool party and Seungwan wondered if she might have done something to upset the elder girl. Seungwan truly prayed she had not.

To avoid staying at home too often and revealing her feelings for her senior, Seungwan began joining school clubs and unintentionally made several foreign friends who were all very fluent in English. Seungwan enjoyed it, she enjoyed picking up and polishing a new language. Not long later, Seungwan acquired an English name for herself, Wendy.

Wendy remembered the uneasy smile on Joohyun’s face when she had first heard about her name and when Joohyun found out about the friends that Wendy had made. Joohyun had cautioned her to be more careful and upon seeing Joohyun’s worried expression, Wendy had nearly quitted the club. However, Wendy did not because she knew that she should learn to manage things by herself.

Joohyun’s concerns were not unfounded as Wendy soon faced confessions from a few of the males in her school clubs. Naturally, Wendy had rejected all of them but some of them were more persistent than the others to the point whereby Taeyeon had stepped in to help her. Joohyun also did not seem too pleased upon hearing Wendy getting approached by some of these persistent males. It made Wendy wonder if Joohyun had been in similar situations before which was why the senior was so protective about Wendy.

Wendy later found out that Joohyun had given herself an English name. For whatever reasons, Wendy did not know. Irene was Joohyun’s English name. It sounded really beautiful but Wendy very much preferred Joohyun. ‘Lovely Joohyun’, this was what Wendy had conjured as Joohyun’s pet name but had not dared to say it out loud.

Joohyun went on exchange to a European country for a semester together with Taeyeon and that was the loneliest period of time Wendy has ever experienced. It was as if a part of her had died. Before, Wendy had hoped to see Joohyun lesser for fear of exposing her own feelings, now, Wendy wanted nothing more than to see Joohyun and hear her voice again. It was like an addiction, and Wendy had been addicted to Joohyun for a very long period of time.

When Taeyeon and Joohyun finally came back, she thanked the heavens for it but she would have thanked the heavens more if they had made her heart calmer around Joohyun.

Two years ago…

Wendy was nineteen and her entrance exam grades came out. She had performed so well that she could practically enrol into any place she wanted to, even to the Ivy Leagues. Taeyeon was slightly jealous and displayed her jealousy in the form of showering embarrassing kisses before Seungwan’s High School mates.

Seoul National University had been Wendy’s first choice because of Joohyun back then but considering the frequency at which she is already seeing Joohyun in their own house, Wendy had second thoughts. It was truly not healthy for her heart to be beating that fast so frequently and for prolonged periods of time. However, if she were to choose to study overseas, that would mean that she would not be seeing Joohyun anymore. Wendy was reminded of how miserable she felt during the time when Joohyun and Taeyeon had gone on exchange.

Alas, Wendy still chose Seoul National University, the lesser of two evils.  

Wendy did not know whether to laugh or cry as her sister had dictated her to spend any pockets of time she had in school with Joohyun and herself. It was near madness, seeing Joohyun in her house and in school every day. Wendy was pretty certain she should start going for regular health check-ups for her heart.

Joohyun had become more abundant with her touches with Wendy and Wendy did not know how to react at all, often going rigid and causing her sister to snicker at her. Too much, it was all too much for Wendy to handle, being so close to the person she loves and not being able to reveal her true feelings of love for that person. It was pure torture.

It was also a wonder to Wendy how Taeyeon and Joohyun had remained such close friends for so long and taken almost every single module with each other. They had shared all the gossips with each other, most of the time, not even minding Wendy’s presence. Sometimes, they would even try to involve Wendy in their discussions.

“Hey Wendy, you know who Seulgi is?” Taeyeon had asked Wendy suddenly that day.

Of course Wendy knew, Seulgi was one of the most popular fresh year student because she was an extremely good dancer and was p