Wendy was furiously typing away and with her glasses on, she had the most serious expression any of her colleagues have ever seen. She refused to have lunch with the rest to focus on all the work she had on hand and she would not allow herself to stop halfway. All her friends were surprised and her colleagues were also taken aback, Wendy rarely skips lunch. Even when she wasn’t hungry, she would never skip lunch because it is a break time from work since work is never-ending anyway, according to her. So, it was understandable why nobody dared to approach Wendy while she had such a serious expression on. She was focusing until she heard a tap on the top of her cubicle, she looked up with a sharp expression on her face. 

“What? I am busy.” 

“Yes, I can see that, Wendy. But what you are not seeing is that everyone has left for the welcome dinner for Irene except you.” 

“WHAT?! What time is it now?” 

“It is eight, the rest left early for the dinner. Can’t miss a free dinner, I’m leaving now too.” 

“Shoot. Okay okay, I’ll finish up. You can go on ahead without me.” 

“Alright, see you later then, Wen!” 

“Hey! Save a seat for me! Near Irene!” 

Her colleague did not turn back at her comment but did a small wave to bid Wendy goodbye. Wendy’s face fell, she cannot believe that she had been working for the whole day while the rest are free enough to leave on time or earlier. Yeri had left earlier when Seulgi and Irene came down to pick her up to head to the nearby restaurant together that the Media and Finance department have jointly booked for the welcome dinner. Since Irene used to work as an intern in Finance, they thought it would be a good idea to come together to gather for her welcome party.  

Wendy shook her head and scrunched her eyebrows closer to each other to be even more focused on her task at hand. Nothing is going to stop her from being there at the party, especially not this stupid job.  

- 

At the dinner party, the restaurant has lined all the tables together to form a really big rectangle to accommodate to the large group of working adults. The wooden tables and chairs were looking a little worn out, they looked like they have not been changed since the establishment of the restaurant. When Irene stepped into the restaurant, party poppers went off in the distant and it startled her. Before she even knew what was going on, she was escorted to the middle of the rectangle where she was forced to sit beside her mentor on one side and have Yeri not acted quickly and dragged Seulgi closely behind her. The creepy old supervisor of Irene was going to take the next empty seat beside Irene. 

Throughout the dinner, Irene had been texting Wendy about her progress and if she was about to make her way over. She was feeling a little upset after getting zero response from the girl, she looked towards Seulgi and Yeri who were enjoying the delicious food in front of them. This was their third round and Irene was amazed at their ability to eat, everyone else has already moved on to drinking after the first course. They said that because it was free, they had to order as much as they can and to eat meals worth a whole weekend to save money. Irene shook her head at their unrealistic stuffing endeavours.  

While she was watching them eat happily, she had not even taken a single bite out of her own plate that was served up more than an hour ago. Her mind was not even in the restaurant but was on her very warm-hearted friend who has not responded to her texts and it was really worrying her how the girl has not eaten since morning. She had made sure to leave a sandwich on her way out to the restaurant but the girl did not even budge.  

Irene frowned at the image of a Wendy who was buried in her work and not even sparing a thought for herself. Irene was frowning and blankly staring at Seulgi who was munching on her rice happily, after realizing that Irene has not made a sound for the past fifteen minutes. She nudged Yeri who was beside her and was slurping on her own bowl of noodles happily. They both looked at Irene with concern but it seems Irene was too deep in thought to notice their questioning stares, the duo looked at each other and back at Irene. Seulgi decided to speak up after seeing how Irene’s face was filled with worries and they don’t seem to be going away any sooner. 

“Irene, what’s wr-” 

BANG 

All three of them simultaneously jumped at the loud sound, they slowly turned to look to the left of Irene to see a very much drunk Bogum who had slammed the empty bottle of soju on the wooden table. His head was drooped and his white shirt that was once tucked in were now loosely hanging from his trouser pants, he looked like a wreck and smelled of too much alcohol too. Irene instinctively inched away from him and stuck closer to Seulgi who had also inched towards Yeri who was trying to push her away to see what was going on. The whole restaurant went silent as though they were all holding their breath, anticipating his next move.  

“Ughhh ahhh... Vixen! H-how dare she leave me at a time like this. Stupid b*tch.” 

Bogum was slurring his words of insults at a female and everyone here knows he has a fiancée and they were going to be wed in the next two years. Before anyone could stop him, he grabbed Irene by her collar and pulled her in.  

“Hey, am I *hiccup* useless? Huh?!” 

Irene was flustered and frightened, she did not know how to respond to his question so she tried to pry his hand away. But it seems Bogum had really drank out of his mind, his strength was too overwhelming and Irene was brought closed to tears by how helpless and defenseless she was against him. Seulgi tried to yank his hand away while Yeri held onto Irene’s waist to stop him from pulling her any further.  

“I- Sunbae, please. Stop.” 

Irene whimpered when his grasp tightened, everyone around the table was in shock and tried to pull Bogum back but it was futile. An angry man is not easy to calm, especially not one who was drunk out of his wits.  

“You! So, even *hiccup* you think I’m useless? Is *hiccup* money all you girls care about? B*tch.” 

“Hey! Let her go! Yeri! Pull harder!” 

Irene was so closed to him that all she could smell was the alcohol that was coming out of his mouth with every word he spoke. Irene closed her eyes when Bogum shook her by her collar, everyone was shouting at him to calm down and to wake up but to no avail.  

Splash, BANG 

Irene felt her collar being yanked free and a shadow has loomed over the light that was shining into her eyes beneath her eyelids. She opened her eyes to see Wendy’s back and she seems really angry with her huffing breaths that reached even her shoulders. 

“W-Wendy?” 

“Park Bogum, please show some respect. Don’t disgrace yourself in a public place and in front of all these seniors at work.” 

Bogum was rooted to the spot, the splash of ice-cold water has woken him up a fair bit and soon realised the situation that he had caused from his drunken stupor. He looked up at Wendy then looked back down at a cowering Irene behind her. He felt really embarrassed and sat back up before fixing his attire. Everybody looked at Wendy who had entered the restaurant to this scene unfolding in front of her just two minutes ago. She stormed towards the commotion in a few big strides and yanked the poor girl away from Bogum’s grip. She was now staring down at Bogum who had maintained a flustered disposition since Wendy’s intervention.  

“Apologise.” 

“W-what?” 

“I said, apologise.” 

“Ah, yes. Sorry everyone, I had too much to drink earlier and I-” 

“No, to her.” 

Wendy gestured towards Irene who was still hiding behind her, Bogum did not look at her while he was apologising and was only addressing the other colleagues instead. That made Wendy’s blood boil but she had to keep her own composure for the sake of her friend’s future in this company.  

Bogum looked back up at Wendy with hateful eyes before sitting to face Irene.  

“Ahem, I am really sorry for what I said and did earlier, Irene. I am just going through some tough times right now, please understand me.” 

Yeri who has held her silence rebutted softly. 

“Bet the engagements off.” 

Wendy turned back to stare at Yeri who only raised both her hands at her own defense. The other colleagues who had been trying hard to restrain Bogum earlier had all escorted him to sit at another table while Wendy takes his seat beside Irene. She sat down and had a waitress take her order before looking back at her friends. Seulgi and Yeri had resume their food fest from before the commotion while complaining about how the food has already turned cold. But Irene still hasn’t touched any of her dish, she was just staring blankly at them with her hands rested on the table before her chopsticks.  

Wendy hesitated but still rest one of her hands on top of Irene’s, it startled her at first but she looked over to see Wendy gently smiling at her. Her smile comforted Irene a little and she returned a small smile, still unable to shake off the scare she got from earlier. She was about to retract her hand away from Wendy’s when she heard a growl. She grabbed onto her hand and pulled her in towards herself. Wendy was caught off guard and was suddenly in close proximity to Irene, she tried to pull herself back but Irene would not let her.  

“You! Do you have any idea how worried I was over you? Work, work, work. That’s all you did the whole day. Did you even eat that sandwich I left on your desk? Now you have the audacity to growl in my presence?” 

“But Irene-” 

“No excuses, I’ve sent you countless text messages and you didn’t even respond to a single one. I, well we waited for you for over an hour. Do you have any idea how worried we were over what might have happened to you?” 

“Ai wasmf.” (I wasn’t) 

“Seulgi, don’t talk with your mouth full.” 

Irene chided Seulgi for number one, exposing her and number two for speaking with full, seriously every few seconds and Irene has to remind her to swallow before speaking. 

Wendy chuckled and held Irene’s hand with both of her hands. 

“I’m sorry for worrying you and you are right. I should have responded to those text messages, for that I apologise. But I did eat the sandwich you gave me, thank you.” 

“T-then why did your stomach just growl? Are you lying to me?” 

Wendy threw her head back and did a hearty laugh while Irene looked at her in utter confusion as though Wendy has absolutely lost it.  

“It wasn’t me. From the looks of your plate, I would say, are you hungry? Irene-sshi?” 

Irene huffed from the anger that grew from her own embarrassment, she whipped her hands away from Wendy’s and crossed her arms. She scowled at Wendy, her nose slightly crinkled from the gesture and Wendy found Irene’s little fit strangely adorable. She was grateful that even through the shock Irene had just went through, she still managed to find the strength to be worried over her.  

“I was just worried about you and you laughed at me.” 

Irene continued scowling at Wendy while Wendy tried to stifle her own laughter that was slowly spreading across her chest, infecting her with some sort of a happy virus. Before Wendy had a chance to coax Irene, Wendy’s orders came. The server served up a few dishes; from beansprout soup, to kimchi soup with rice cakes, seafood pancake and some other smaller dish. Seulgi stared at it like a wolf that was eyeing her prey while Yeri was just following every single dish that was making its way on Wendy’s table. Irene, too was looking at all the food and the smell had made water.  

As the servers were placing the plates of food on the table, they were also clearing away the food that were left on Irene’s table. The food was still edible even though it was already cooled, Irene looked at them in contemplation as they were being placed on the waiter’s tray. Wendy followed Irene’s concerned gaze to see what she was looking at before smiling to herself. 

“Hi, sorry but is it possible to pack those to go?” 

The waiter looked at all the food before nodding at Wendy’s request. Irene looked at Wendy in surprise as though the girl has some sort of mind-reading skill. Wendy merely returned a smile and shrugged her shoulders. 

“It can be breakfast or lunch tomorrow, saves money.” 

Irene was looking at the spread of food on the table, it was an incredible amount of food for just one person. Was Wendy really that hungry? 

“Are you really going to be able to finish all that?” 

“I ordered for the both of us to share. There’s two bowls of rice in case you haven’t noticed.” 

Irene looked down at her own table and sure enough, there was a bowl of rice placed in front of her. Irene was touched at Wendy’s thoughtfulness and was about to give her thanks when she sees two pairs of chopsticks coming from her right. Irene looked to see both Seulgi and Yeri eyeing the food with hunger in their eyes. They were both too focused on their target to notice Wendy’s pair of chopsticks coming at them. Their chopsticks were both swatted away by Wendy’s before they even had a chance to pick up anything. 

“You guys already have a ton of food. Eat your own.” 

“But free food always tastes better!” 

“Yeah! I haven’t tried this yet. Just a bite.” 

“No! I know how much you guys can eat, now back off.” 

As Irene witness the small squabble that was occurring right in front of her, she suddenly felt safer and more at ease. Slowly, the feeling of hunger was familiar to Irene again and she picked up her own pair of chopsticks.  

“You guys can continue bickering, I’m going to dig in.” 

Wendy looked at Irene as she picked up a piece of rice cake to stuff into and smiled endearingly when Irene struggled to keep the piping hot rice cake in while huffing to cool it down. Wendy was relieved to see that Irene still had an appetite despite what happened earlier, the four of them ended up sharing the food on the table as the night goes on. The older colleagues were starting off their karaoke sessions and there were another group of younger colleagues who were having rounds of drinking games, all of them avoided speaking about what happened earlier. The whole restaurant was soon filled with different noises and sounds coming from restless adults and rowdy young people.  

It was starting to look like a very small club with the music blaring and colourful karaoke lights spreading across the whole of the restaurant, some had even started showing off some moves in the empty space between the tables and the small television with the music video showing. Though they had a good relationship with the other colleagues, they were not particularly into any activities that they were participating in. So, they kept to themselves and started playing their own little games instead.  

“Alright, Wendy unnie. Truth, or dare?” 

“Seriously, why are we doing this again.” 

“You say that because you keep losing. Now pick one!” 

“Fine, fine.” 

Wendy picked up a poker card that was facing down on the table, one of the cards is the ace of hearts for truth and the other is the ace of spades for dare. She sighed for the umpteen time and showed everyone the ace of spades that she had unfortunately picked up again. She had to play along with both Seulgi and Yeri’s antics even though Seulgi had her own fair share of loss while Irene has surprisingly stayed untouched. They had all dubbed her as the king of games for not losing a single round.  

“Now, I dare you to pay for my rent!” 

“What?! Why is that even counted as a punishment? Where did all your money even go to, Yerim-ah. I remembered that we just got our paychecks last week and isn’t our rent already due?!” 

“I may or may not have ordered new copies of games and a new computer. It is a maybe, no one would ever know the real answer, not even you.” 

“I have the keys to your house, Yerim.” 

“Darn! Then fine, I guess you can just kiss whoever is in this restaurant then. Whatever, I tried to spice up the game with unique punishments and none of you appreciate that.” 

“I appreciate you, Yerim-ah.” 

Seulgi said while hanging an arm over Yeri’s shoulder with her coat tied around her head as her punishment from earlier, she looked ridiculous. 

“What? You’ve had too much to drink, Yeri and you too, Seul.” 

As Wendy said that she met eyes with Irene and the both of them were suddenly frightened by their own thoughts and before things could get awkward, Wendy smiled it off before looking back at Yeri and Seulgi who both had a slight flush on their faces. They were both slurring at each other about wanting to join the others for some drinking games. Before Wendy could grab the two of them, they were already making their way to join the others. Wendy, not wanting to leave Irene alone in an environment full of drunken, let them be and sat back down beside Irene. Irene could tell that Wendy was concerned about the two who were already tipsy from their mini games earlier as a small frown was starting to form between Wendy’s brows. Irene smiled and lifted her finger to touch Wendy between her brows and upon feeling Irene’s cold finger, Wendy’s frown dissipated and was replaced with a curious expression.  

“Don’t frown, it doesn’t look good on you. I know you’re worried about them, but it is rare to have fun like this right?” 

“That is true, I know they don’t get to play like this often. But they still shouldn’t be drinking this much, it is not good for them. But it is not like they do this often too, like you said.” 

Wendy frowned again after thinking about how crazy the two of them can get and although she wanted to let them be and have fun, she can’t help but feel worried about them too. Before the frown could deepen, she felt a familiar touch between her brows again. Wendy stopped frowning and sighed before looking at her two friends who were cheering on an unlucky fellow who had to drink a whole bottle of beer by himself.  

“That’s okay, we will go get them after a while before they make a mess out of themselves. How does that sound to you?” 

Wendy looked at Irene who had a really soft smile on her face, Wendy was taken aback at how Irene could seem to understand how she felt and was willing to help her out so she would feel better. She was used to dealing with her own turmoil by debating with herself internally. Although she confides in Seulgi and occasionally, Yeri, but because she does not want to burden others with them, she just keeps these thoughts to herself. She was surprised to see that Irene noticed her ongoing inner conflicts and was not afraid to speak up about it on her behalf. A strange feeling surged in her and it reminded her of the moment they shared earlier after Yeri suggested that she kissed someone as a punishment. She shook her head in an attempt to forget about it, she blamed the alcohol for making her feel all weird. 

“Is that a no?” 

“Ah, no! I mean, yes! No to your no. But yes, to your suggestion. Yes, let’s get them after a while. Thank you.” 

Irene let out a soft laughter at Wendy’s blunder and stopped to smile and nod at Wendy. Wendy stopped breathing for a bit, she did not know what had got into her as she was pulled in by the melodic yet husky voice that was lined with the amount of alcohol they had consumed earlier. The smile that has even reached Irene’s eyes at the end of that chuckle was suddenly so enchanting with Irene’s cheeks slightly flushed and her hair slightly tousled. She found it so adorable and was unaware of the fact that she was staring right into Irene’s sparkling eyes as she was mesmerized by the smile earlier. Irene who noticed that Wendy had stopped responding, started waving her hand in front of Wendy to catch her attention again. 

Wendy blinked back and cleared before laughing together with Irene, it was that weird warm feeling again and she had a bad feeling that this is only the start of something she would not be able to control. It could also be the amount of alcohol she had earlier. She was feeling all weird since earlier on, it must be the alcohol, or at least she hopes it was the latter. When they stopped laughing, Wendy looked at Irene and smiled, suddenly she wishes that things would always stay this harmonious between them. 

A/N:

Can you guys smell it? Something is stirring in the air, there shoud be developments in the story soon, please look forward to that. 

Also, Happy Lunar New Year everybody! Hope everyone had a great one :] This chapter took longer than I've wanted and I'm really sorry for that, it is also shorter than the previous chapter. But still, thank you to everyone who took the time to read it and comment on it, they mean the world to me. So, thank you and seems like I am just in time for Seulgi's birthday! Happy Seulgi Day!! Happy birthday to our bear Seulgi!