Day 4

It was odd, Irene somehow knew that she was in a dream and for once, she was afraid to wake up from this beautiful dream. Her lover was trailing a slender finger across the left side of her cheek, tracing her left cheekbone and pausing at the apex of her nose before travelling southwards to do the same to the left side of . Their eyes had been connected with one another the entire time, lost in each other’s eyes.

“Perfect symmetry,” her lover mouthed. “You are a work of art, Joohyun, do you know that? Like the best architecture in my world.”

Her lover had liked calling her Joohyun, her birth name, no matter how many times Irene had tried to correct her. Irene choked out a laugh, held her lover by her wrist, and asked smugly. “And what are you going to do with this architecture?”

“Cherish it.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Irene trusted that look in her lover’s eyes. That trustworthy look.

“You are an art too, do you know that?”

Her lover raised a brow and Irene could not help but press a kiss to her lover’s lips, giggling after.

“Aren’t you going to ask me what I am going to do with you?” Irene teased.

Her lover feigned contemplation as she put a finger to her chin. “Well… let me think… you are going to make a digital art of me and frame it up again?”

Her lover later gestured to a row of said artwork hung across the length of their room wall.

Irene giggled but shook her head and replied with a naughty grin. “I am going to make a three-dimensional render of you and make you do nasty things.”

Her lover had frowned and bopped her lightly on the nose. Irene loved it whenever her lover does that to her. It was her lover’s way of displaying love to her. 

“I got to get back to work… sleep first,” her lover had told her gently.

However, Irene held onto her lover’s sleeves. “Let me stay up with you.”

Her lover had removed her hand gently and scrunched up her nose. “I have an important project due. Be a good girl and go to sleep. Okay?”

Irene shook her head and saw the crease of her lover’s brows.

Her lover had shaken her head too and swept Irene off her feet easily, carrying her in a bridal style as she made her way for their bedroom. Lowering the protesting girl, her lover gave her a stern glance as she tucked her into bed, kissed her temple and her heels to leave from where they came in.

Irene’s eyes widened in panic as she recalled this being a dream and her lover would not be coming back to her like she would if it were a reality.

Please… please don’t let this dream end, Irene begged but alas she could not stop it from ending.   

It was a beautiful dream but with a sad ending. Like the day before, Irene had woken up to her travel slash room mate looking at her, the same look of concern on her face.

“You were dreaming. You were talking in your sleep,” Wendy stated.

Irene in a deep breath as she nodded. Then she shut her eyes and put her arm over it.

“Are you often plagued by bad dreams?” Wendy questioned.

Nodding her head, Irene wanted to turn away and hide her pathetic self from her travel mate but had decided otherwise. Wendy had already seen her at her worst and turning away would only compound the girl’s worries.

“I will be fine,” Irene promised the girl.

It was 4 am in the morning and the girls had gotten up early to prepare for their excursion to the safari. Wendy had booked a private-hire car to take them to the safari and during the travel journey, Irene had nodded off multiple times and found herself pillowed on Wendy’s shoulders once. When she was awake, Wendy would narrate to her other people’s experience at the Safari to mentally prep the girl of what was to come for them. The drive took around four and a half hours and they were in the safari by around 10 am.

There were security checks before they entered the Park and they were being guided to an olive-green jeep that could have sat around eight people, including the driver and a vice-driver. From the way the jeep’s tyres were clean but with its body still streaked with dirt and bearing several scratches, Irene could tell that the jeep was heavily used but had been washed, albeit not too thoroughly, overnight.

Irene understood that they would usually wait for other tourists to arrive to fill in the vehicle however, Wendy had by some miraculous means, managed to arrange to have the guides, who were also their drivers, take only the two of them. They were briefed on the safety instructions by the guides and Wendy had kindly translated everything to Irene. As they climbed into the vehicle, Irene was beginning to feel a little scared and it was only the light squeeze from Wendy’s hand that calmed her slightly, but not for long.

Immediately after they set out from their starting point, they spotted a large leopard watching their jeep. Its eyes had followed their jeep but did not seem too interested in them. Yet, Irene still felt her blood freeze in her veins as she imagined all sorts of catastrophic things that could happen should the leopard give chase to them.

The tour guide then explained a plethora of things that they should expect to see, and Irene shuddered as Wendy translated them for her. It was not just the sight of animals that startled Irene, every bump that the vehicle went over had also managed to unsettle her. Wendy’s hand in her own was the only thing that helped to comfort her a little. Irene hated herself for being such wimp.

From a distance, they heard what sounded like a tiger’s roar and the guides’ eyes lit up in tandem. Irene understood from Wendy who in turn learnt from the guides that they were in for a treat as they would likely be able to witness tigers contesting each other. Irene began muttering prayers under her breath and much to her annoyance, found Wendy sniggering. Amidst her fear, Irene managed to throw a glare at her travel partner.

“Sorry, but you are just so cute when you do that,” Wendy said.

True to the guides’ words, they found two tigers in the midst of a fight. It seemed to have went on for quite some time because by the time they saw it, one tiger already had the other belly-up beneath it, and holding its defeated opponent in a choke hold. Irene urged Wendy who in turn urged the Guide to drive on. Irene was scared to death and she must have looked deathly pale, because Wendy had that look of concern on her face again and had wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“Do you want to eat or drink something? I have food and drinks in my backpack,” Wendy offered and without waiting for Irene’s reply, took out a bottle and two granola bars.

Wendy was caring to the point that Irene was beginning to hope that she would be less so. Everything that Wendy did was so reminiscent of her lover and it only made Irene fall harder for her fellow traveller. Every touch they shared, every look of worry Wendy gave her, it merely accentuated Irene’s feelings for her. No, Irene was not ready to acknowledge her feelings, no, not now.

Irene took the bar of snack swiftly, so quickly it was almost like as if she was snatching it from her travel-mate. Wendy seemed slightly surprised but tried to appear unfazed at Irene’s sudden odd behaviour. Shrugging, Wendy looked away. A sudden loud roar reverberated through the terrain startling Irene so badly she thought her heart would stop. At the same time, Irene felt herself entirely cocooned in Wendy’s arm. It was that gesture that made Irene temporary cast away all fears as she hugged Wendy’s arms in return.

“Don’t be afraid, I am here for you,” Wendy said jovially, trying to liven up the atmosphere for Irene and it worked.

Irene felt an indescribable amount of warmth spreading across her chest and her cheeks at Wendy’s words. Their guides laughed as they slowly reversed the jeep, putting in some distance between them and the fighting animals. In the meantime, they explained something to Wendy in English and Wendy smiled as she nodded.

“They said that usually the defeated Tiger would not retaliate but it seems that this one wanted to prove himself again,” Wendy translated for Irene.

Wendy continued explaining minor details as they continued touring in the Jeep and Irene could not help but find Wendy to be the most attractive person right there and then, being able to shuttle so quickly between the use of English and Korean, even slipping in some simple Hindi phrases. Soon after, Irene realised she was staring at Wendy’s lips the entire time she explained. Wendy must have noticed too because in that space of time when Irene had looked back up into Wendy’s eyes, her heart froze once more.

Irene casted her gaze away suddenly, unable to take the intensity of emotions that was being transmitted between them. W-Wendy… I think I might really have fallen for you.

Just then the sound of another Jeep catching up on them reached Irene’s ears and she whipped around, finding a Jeep full of tourists, Korean tourists. Irene gave them a courteous smile. 

They had an early dinner before the sunset at the camping site together with the rest of the tourists. It was quite an experience and Wendy, as per usual, always took care of Irene’s needs before anything else. Irene did not know when it had started but she had allowed Wendy to feed her. The guides had warned them to not take out any pungent-smelling food if they had brought it with them because it might attract wild animals. At that, Irene’s eyes went wide with panic and started peering around anxiously. It was not until Wendy had firm her hold on Irene’s hands that Irene was able to calm a little.

The remainder of the trip was a lot more peaceful. The most exciting thing they saw later was of a herd of deer crossing the river. Irene had been a lot happier about seeing them than the tigers.   

After the long day’s trip, both Wendy and Irene were dead-beaten. The two girls showered in their separate hotel rooms before they reunited in Wendy’s room. Irene had never felt so accomplished in a long time and she was glad that it was Wendy who had emboldened her to explore.

Still occupied with her thoughts, Irene had entered her travel mate’s room mindlessly and later realised that Wendy was still in her bathrobe. Irene’s eyes had widened almost to the size of dinner saucers and felt her heart leap up and caught in .

“I-I-I am sorry! I should have knocked!” Irene immediately turned away.

Wendy however seemed to not be too bothered as she gave a hearty chuckle. “It is okay, I have already worn inner-wears. So you don’t really have to look away.”

Irene shook her head insistently and heard another husky chuckle from her travel mate. She curled her fingers to make a fist. Does Wendy truly not know how seductive she looked right at that moment?

“Seriously… I plan to keep my bathrobe on until my hair has dried. By the way, I ordered a bottle of red wine for us but if you are not feeling up to it, then I can have it myself. Thought it might be a nice idea to surf some channels and have something to drink.”

Half an hour later, Irene was serving herself her fifth glass and was semi-pillowed on Wendy’s chest. Wendy regretted buying another bottle at Irene’s request. Luckily, she had also ordered for some finger snacks for them to have or else, Irene would likely be having a hard time the next morning.

They had picked a comedy film to watch, or rather, only Irene was watching the film whilst Wendy was watching Irene with a great deal of concern reflected on her face.

“What?” Irene had turned to Wendy and asked when she caught the girl staring at her.

Irene must have not known that the alcohol had gotten to her and that the colour of her cheeks was vivid. It made her so beautifully adorable that Wendy was almost tempted to kiss her.

“Nothing? Just wanted to warn you to go slower…” Wendy said and helped Irene tug a loose lock of hair behind her ears.  

Irene froze and stared into Wendy’s eyes. There was a quality of sorrowfulness in Irene’s eyes, an indescribable one, and all Wendy wished she could do was to take away the sadness that was in them.

Leaning in, Irene seemed to have wanted to say something but prevented herself from doing so. Instead, she took her glass and drained its contents.

As she poured the next glass, Wendy stopped her by her wrist.

“Let me do it for you,” Wendy said as she took over the bottle from the slightly tipsy girl.

Irene pouted when Wendy had only poured a little for her and held the bottle away.

“That is not even a quarter of the glass!” Irene whined loudly.

“I will refill for you twenty minutes later,” Wendy said unyieldingly.

Irene folded her arms across her chest like an angry child and shuffled away from Wendy.  

“Fifteen,” Irene negotiated and Wendy gave in.

Another half an hour later, Irene had nestled close to Wendy and was slapping her thighs from time to time at funny scenes.

Irene was definitely tipsy but not too drunk…

That was a good thing because Wendy knew the girl would be able to sleep like a baby that night. True to her expectations, Irene had fallen asleep on Wendy’s bed within the next half an hour, even before the show ended.  

Day 5

It was midday by the time Irene woke up. The previous day’s activity and all that red wine she had drunk had made her sleep so soundly. Wendy had called for breakfast service and had a piece of bread in as she worked on her laptop. The sight of it brought a smile to Irene’s face and the elder girl swore she could watch the girl for the entire day. Watch the girl the entire day…The thought of it brought back memories to her once more.

“Until when are you going to go to sleep and stop staring at me?” Her lover asked.

Pouting, Irene feigned a surprise and returned, “you could feel it?”

“Of course, you were shooting lasers from your eyes,” her lover said and Irene giggled

Then with a half scowl, her lover shut the lid of her laptop and she sat herself down right beside Irene, smoothing her hair tenderly. “Sleep, love.”

The pout returned to Irene’s face as she shook her head adamantly. Her lover then did what she usually does; scooting nearer towards her and putting an arm around Irene’s shoulders, cradling and rocking her to sleep. It was as effective as it usually were and Irene soon felt her eyes growing heavy. 

“Stop working so hard…” Irene coaxed her lover.

“I am working hard for you, for us. If this goes well, I would be able to build a better world for you,” her lover replied.

The pout returned to Irene’s face but this time round, her lover had made the pout vanish by pressing her own lips to hers.

Irene felt so blissful and so loved… she wished such affections from her lover would last forever… but alas forever was too preposterous a wish.

Irene snapped back to reality when her travel mate had spoken.

“You are awake?”

“Y-Yea… Are you working?”

A sheepish look entered Wendy’s face and she supplemented it with an embarrassed nod. “Sorry, something cropped up with a project I was working on so I needed to give my inputs but I am done now!”

Irene nodded understandingly. Wendy then skipped over to her bed with her laptop in hand and Irene found her eyes following. Wendy later redirected her gaze to her laptop screen which showed multiple Google images of hot air balloons, white and colourful alike, floating across the landscape. When Irene looked up at Wendy, the girl had an excited smile on her face.

“What do you think about overcoming another fear today?”

Irene felt a shiver pass through her body. She had just confessed to Wendy right before their trip to the safari about the number of phobias she had, one was of animals and the other was none other than acrophobia, the fear of heights.

“I-I am not too sure…” Irene said shakily but when Wendy had selected an image of the hot air balloon floating above the Taj Mahal, she was tempted to try the activity out.

“Air Safari!” Wendy announced it proudly and then continued in a more teasing tone, “I can hold you again tightly if you are scared.”

Irene tutted and slapped Wendy’s arms playfully. “You took enough advantage of me yesterday, I won’t let you have the chance to do so today.”

“Oh ho? Me taking advantage of you? Who was the one who kept clinging on to me and squealing into my ears?” Wendy countered.

Irene slapped Wendy’s arm again and added a naughty pinch as well which got Wendy squeaking and rubbing the spot.

“Anyway… it’s good to see you become livelier. I thought you looked a little too depressed for this trip,” Wendy stated suddenly. 

“Yea… thank you, you really brightened my mood.” Irene spoke honestly and feel her cheeks heating up, feeling nervous about Wendy’s reactions.

“So… do you want to try this out?” Wendy asked again, pointing to her laptop screen.

Knowing that she might regret her decision later, Irene nodded with much dread.

The hot air balloon was large enough to accommodate them, two other couples, a photographer and a guide. Wendy and Irene had a corner to themselves.

Despite Wendy’s reassuring presence and the allure of the scenic view, Irene was not brave enough to open her eyes. She had even crept behind Wendy and pressed her body against her travel mate shamelessly when the balloon had swayed while it made its ascent. Their frequent touches must not