Episode 4: THE CHANGE

“Since when did you two get chummy with one another?” Joy asks on a one fine day while munching her food down as any famish human being would; not leaving a single grain in her bowl.

“Pardon?”

“I mean during the past few months I’ve noticed you’ve been clingy to Wendy. Care to share your thoughts?”

“W-what? Why would you be curious about it?”

“Well, first off, you hate people touching you like seriously; your gaze would kill someone. Second, you’re Irene Bae.”

“And?”

“You don’t approach people. People approach you. Duh. Even back in our junior high, you ain’t that open and being all chummy with all the girls in your class”

“Well Seungwan is an exception.” Irene pouts.

Joy raises her fork, pointing at her directly, “That’s exactly what I’m saying. You’re not that kind of person Irene. It took me years to get to know you and Wendy’s been into your life within a few months. Did something happen without me knowing?”

Irene heaves a sigh, starting to explain to Joy every pieces of fragments of memories left in her from that fateful day to the point how she has warmed up to Wendy. In the first month after the close incidence, the school authority decides to keep the case low, making sure not a single soul knows of it and it gave Irene a sense of anxiety whenever men comes up and talk to her, as she’s wary and cautious of their movement. Even Joy her best friend has been busy with her own personnel matters and she wouldn’t want to worry her too much. Realising Irene’s been suffering from this, Wendy stayed by her side, talking her out of it, whispering words of encouragement, patting her shoulders to ease her mind and sometimes when she’s coming over the Wendy’s apartment, she’ll sing her a lullaby to sleep.

 
Whenever men pass by, Irene’s meter of anxiety rises up to its peak, and she can’t help but to feel restless and it’s not helping that her gorgeous looks happen to attract some college boys to try their luck in asking her out while she was on her way back home. Luckily Wendy happens to be in the area found her in such a paranoid state of mind; she politely calls out to Irene, excusing themselves from the boys and rush back to their residential area. Since then, Wendy would naturally walks her home since their route is the same and it was then it became a habit for Irene to lean herself onto Wendy, sometimes just holding hand in hand, finger interlocking with one another while they were walking home. And Irene appreciates her gestures, not that she’ll spit out all the details to Joy but she roughly outlines the story out for Joy to get the whole picture.

“Unnie you’re an idiot.”

“Usually I’ll insult you back but I’ll hold back for today since it’s my fault.”

“Oh wow, you’re smart to know that yourself. I mean you could have talk this to Seulgi, Yeri or . . .me. We’re friends and you think we don’t matter to you?” For once, Irene could see Joy looked hurt a little, though she’s aware that Joy won’t take it to heart but it still hurts that she didn’t confine this to her. 

“Joy you know that’s not my every intention to do that. I wouldn’t want to worry you. . .and the others too. You would do the same if you were in my position.”
 

Joy sighs restlessly, her eyes solely focus on her food for a while silently giving her a nod. “Okay, but next time, do tell me okay or I’ll be worried and I’ll probably regret for not helping you at all.” 

“Okay I promise.” Irene smiles softly just right up to her cheeks till her dimples are presence a little.

“You’re okay now?”

“What of?”

“Your anxiety.”

“Oh, I’m fine now. Wendy’s been a great help!”

“Yeah, she sure looks like cute hamster. Haha.”

“Not available for you though.”

“What? No fair. Wendy’s not your property hun, don’t hog her up like that!”

Irene chuckles at Joy’s overreacted actions, adding a dramatic tone as a better effect to it too. “By the way, have you considered about my proposal the other day?”

“Oh that? I’m okay with it. Living a quiet life suits me more it think.”

Joy stares at her while protruding her lips, “Okay, but think about it okay? You can even earn a hefty sum if you work as a part-time job and I think it suits you too. You can even ask Wendy! I’m sure she’ll be enthusiastic to encourage you to go.” 
 

Irene raises her eyebrow but soon crack into a smile. “Haha. Yeah. I can imagine it too.”

“She’s like your number one fan. I wouldn’t go though the extra miles to buy you milk puddings when I’m free, cooking your favourite food, or when I think something’s cute, I’ll think of you haha.”

“Stop it Joy! You make it sound like Wendy’s so devoted for me.” Though on the back of her mind, Irene’s painfully aware of Wendy’s admiration for her.

Joy narrows her eyes, ‘Like seriously? You’re playing dumb now?’ was just evidently plastered on her face. “Well, if you’re not bothered by it I guess its fine. But seriously, what did you do to have a friend like Wendy? She cooks for you, buys stuff for you. . . ”

“Huh? She did made some for you too!”

“That’s not the same and you know that. Her centre of attention is you because she’ll ask your preference first before me.”

And that gives Irene a prolong silence. She never noticed because it was like a daily routine for them and receiving Wendy’s affection is one of them. Her presence leaves a calming effect on her and for some unknown rationality that’s been inhibited; she welcomes Wendy with open arms, which is quite unusual given for her aloof nature. She adores Yeri, treats Seulgi like a cute bear she is and being Joy’s ranked top3 list of her favourite es but her nature leads her to aloof sometimes as she enjoys the silence more than anything.

However she can’t pinpoint Wendy as whom to her. In less than a year, she has; without realising this herself, let Son Wendy slithering though the holes of her walls unexpectedly. 

“Well the bells are going to ring soon.  We should head to class now.” Irene nods her head in response, still pondering on Joy’s words. What was it that made her letting Wendy into her life?

“Oh Baechu!” Wendy exclaims in excitement, running towards Irene while extending her arms, skilfully slipping them into Irene’s waist to give her the usual back hug. “Wendy! Are you done hugging! People are watching! It’s embarrassing!”

“What? Why should you care? Hugs are not illegal!” Wendy pouts.

“Yah you’re forgetting me I see?”

Wendy finally notices Joy behind her back and she offers her signature trade smile. “Hello to you too Joy~” 

Irene continues on conversing with Joy while ignoring the fact that Wendy is still hugging her tightly in her embrace, carefully listening to their conversation from behind as she rests her chin on Irene’s shoulders. Whenever Irene moves to throw the trash into the garbage bin, Wendy follows the suit, holding onto her arm, because Wendy doesn’t dare to do any gestures that’ll make the young Bae uncomfortable as she moves. It was always like that. Every time its recess period, when Wendy’s free from any chore of the day or homework, she dashes to Irene’s side while she’s eating her food. She never knew when it started, but it was up to a point she discovered that Bae Irene’s flesh is squishy and tender like tofu during that one time when they were in the biology lab while sitting next to Irene as she was bored, plus hugging her is a bonus!

Wendy was a hugger since day one but there’s a catch to it. She only hugs to those whom she feels comfortable with because Irene notices that if someone else initiates a hug on Wendy, she’ll lightly pat on her friends shoulders, shifting herself to create a tiny gap between them as she seems awkward in that manner. Wendy was always hugging Seulgi and Yeri and often times with Joy since they’re in the same class. But she never hugs Irene because Irene makes it clear she hates hugs and the little hamster is always doing things so intimately that make her stare at her in disbelief.

So it wasn’t easy at first. Wendy first analyses Irene’s reaction towards hugs and she’s well aware that Bae Irene hates hugs and I repeat she despises people to the core for touching her, even her close friends. But somehow it never slips into Wendy’s dictionary to just give up so she took it slowly, step by step, hugging her for a little while, beaming in excitement when she sees Irene in her sight as she calls Irene’s name at the top of her lungs which often lead Irene to scold Wendy for that. On top of that, she always cooks food for Irene whenever she’s having her free time. Over the course of time, Irene slowly doesn’t seem to mind Wendy’s presence for hugging her anymore and lets her do whatever she wants because seeing Wendy’s sincere nature and care for her with her eyes seemingly looking at her with adoration, hence, she gives up since there’s no hope in saving Wendy from salvation when it comes to hugs. Wendy is just being Wendy.

“Wendy, you should go back to your seat now.” Irene said softly.

“But I wanna hug longer~ Besides, the teacher’s not here yet.”

“She’s on her way now.” Joy point her index finger and Wendy follow the suit as she finally sees Madam Gint walking her way to their class. Wendy pouts. She savours the hug between her and Irene and she finally returns to her seat as the lesson is about to begin.

“It looks heavy. Should I carry them for you?”

She crocks her eyebrow, staring at the latter’s hand extending out to grab the box filled with files and books she has collected earlier from the staff room. “No its okay Seung-” 
 

“Too late! I got it! Let’s go Baechu-shi! The faster we finish this, the faster we can watch the movie!” Wendy squeals in excitement. 

Irene slowly shakes her head, tittering slightly upon seeing an excited hamster bouncing giddily over the hall ways when no one’s looking as she follows the suit. “Yah Seungwan! Don’t run in the hallways!”

Wendy dashes into the classroom. She stacks the papers up, then passing them to Irene to finalise the papers as she compiles them into separate files before putting them neatly at the very end of the classroom. Upon accomplishing their task, Wendy sprints up to her seat to grab her bag and patiently waiting for Irene at the doorway entrance into their class; putting the ear buds on as she listen her favourite music on play.

Irene smiles at her cute little hamster friend who has been waiting for her for quite a while. Just she has packed her bag, signalling Seungwan that she has finally done, out of the blue, a shadow appears before her in a blink of an eye. Irene nearly has to gasp her lungs of air out as her heart pounds erratically with the sudden surprise. As far as she’s concern, Wendy is the only person in the classroom apart from her. 

“Oh sorry for frightening you!”

“. . . Oh its. . . alright. And you are?”

“Ah! I’m Sehun! Noona! Actually, I . . . um wanted to em . . .tell you something. . .”

At this point, Irene hates to admit it but she’s getting impatient; unconsciously clenching her teeth with the sight of people who are not being straight or being forward and instead the prolong the talk which wasted the precious time. “What is it? Is it something important? My friend is waiting for me.” She frowns. Her intuition is telling her right now that this Sehun guy has a crush on her, seeing his face is constantly flushing like a tomato with extra hot chilli. 

“. . . Friend? But I didn’t see anyone. . .” Irene raises her eyebrow; her head shifting to where Seungwan was standing earlier on was nowhere in sight. She sighs. 

“Look, um Sehun, if it’s not something important, I have to go home now.” She offers a fake smile, keeping her tone down as she tries to be nice as possible from crumbling the poor boy’s heart. Just as she plans to leave,Sehun immediately grabs onto her wrist in an instant. “Wait!”

Irene inner turmoil begins to run haywire and it was really in a bad way, replying spontaneously on the act, “Don’t touch me.” She slips her hand down forcefully, keeping her distance away from him. 

Sehun bows his head apologetically. “I’m really sorry noona.” His words bore sincerity which makes Irene a little guilty a little. 

“Okay let’s hear it.”

“What?”

“What did you want to tell me earlier?” Irene huffs her chest, sliding her fingers to keep her side hairs tuck at her ear.

“Actually, I was planning to invite you to the summer camp during the holidays.” Irene narrows her eyes, gazing at him suspiciously.

“You can bring your friends too! But it’s only limited to one person the couch said. Half of the fee is sponsor by the school so athlete students are invited to attend the summer camp.”

Oh right. She’s also a member in the track field team. She did hear from Seulgi there will be a summer camp going on but it was never confirmed. “Oh I see. Is there anything else?”

“Yes! Would you like to go to the Kim Taeyeon concert this weekend? Y-you can bring your friends too since we have extra tickets. ”

Honestly, Irene would have rejected his offer right on the bat and she would rather stay at home and laze around on her golden week but she did remember that Wendy told her that she wanted to experience what’s it like to hang out with Korean friends and she never stopped gushing about Kim Taeyeon’s album solo hits. She nods her head in agreement. 

WENDY’S POV
“SON SEUNGWAN.”

My whole body shivers upon hearing my name being called. I set aside my earplugs into my bag pack, smiling upon seeing Irene finally walking out from the hall ways. “Baechu!” I exclaims. 

“You might wanna explain to me why did you even left me there alone?” She narrows her eyes as if there’s a tint sense of betrayal in her eyes. I’m really well aware that Irene is pissed off. Why you ask? Because she never call me on my full name. This much I can tell her distaste for my action earlier.

I made an uneasy laughs while twirling my thumbs frantically. “Mianhe. I just thought I would be . . . you know a distraction?”

“Since when did I thought of you like that?”

“okay I’m sorry I left you there. I thought you were discussing something important.” I pout.

Irene chuckle a little, patting my shoulders as she said, “Well, you might as well make up for it.”

“Anything you want princess Baechu~”

“Omo. . .Butter Seungwan is back.”

“well that’s a part of me you can erase Baechu. Hehe.”

As both of us start to walk hand in hand, with me offering my hands as I interlocks my fingers tightly with Irene’s and Irene surprisingly allows me to do so as there’s no on watchful eyes are on us and it gives her a peace of mind. “So, what did you two talk? Did he bother you?” I asked out of curiosity. 

Irene shakes her head. “No, he just informed me about the upcoming summer camp and also invited me to Kim Taeyeon’s concert.” And Irene definitely emphasised the word ‘Kim Taeyeon’ which catches my attention in a matter of seconds. 

“SERIOULSY!?” And for some reason, Irene seems to be bursting into laughter and I can’t but to think her smile is so precious like a piece of gem that will always shines in the darkness. For once, I realise how cute Bae Joohyun is and I could understand the boys’ sentiment for liking Bae Joohyun. She’s a perfect definition of a magnet, while her cold personality yet her warm yet soothing presence draws others in naturally.  And it all depends weather they’re in for the thorns or for the buds of the rose.

“What’s so funny?” I asked, slightly puzzled and I’m really catching on with her own made-up jokes.

“Haha, your eyerbrows. . .They can lift way up here. . .hahah it hilarious cuz no one has an expressive expression as you Seungwan.”

“Yah~ unnie. . .Hajima~ This is so embarrassing. . .”

Just as Irene finally catches her breath, she slips her hands into her pockets the passes the tickets to me. “Here. Meet me at my apartment at 9 a.m. sharp. I know you’re a diehard fan of your Kim Taeyeon.”

“Aw thanks Baechu! I’ll make extra carrot cakes for you for dessert!” I bounce enthusiastically with the one and only Kim Taeyeon tickets in my hands. Holy cow! I can’t believe I’m going to her concert and it’s like the front row of the seat! Can this day get any greater?   

Okay. When she