[ Final ]

Irene usually doesn’t have any secrets, especially when it comes to her friend Wendy.

They’ve known each other ever since they were kids. Irene practically grew up taking care of the younger girl who she sees as her adorable younger sister. Irene remembers those moments too well. She remembers carrying toddler Wendy with her small frail arms and singing her a lullaby she heard from her mom. She remembered when Wendy was in third grade and how the girl always drops by her classroom to give her a pack of cupcakes she baked the other day. Wendy, in her memories, is a caring girl. And Wendy really is. She’s always sweet and adorable and nice that everyone coos at the sight of her.

But Irene does have one secret kept from her childhood friend.

And it’s a secret she swears she’ll keep to her grave simply because Wendy doesn’t feel the same way about her. She loves Wendy, for goodness sake!

And that’s pretty much how this story started.

----

“Dad, can you please stop hammering the furniture down. I’m studying.” Irene huffed from her room while reading through her Psychology book. Next door was the nonstop bangs Irene could hear because apparently, her dad’s cabinet is wobbly.

“Sorry, Hyun-ah! I’d be finished in a bit!” Her dad screamed back, still doing his thing.

“DAD!!! It’s NOISY!”

“JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE!”

And obviously, Irene had enough of it. She stood up and marched to her parent’s room with a huge scowl on her face before banging the door open and glaring at her dad who is still trying his best with his wardrobe.

“Dad, just buy a new cabinet, will you?” She muttered exasperatedly. “It’s about time anyway!”

“No way, Hyun. I made this as a gift to your mom on our marriage. It’s kind of unstable right now and probably the first ever thing I’ve ever made unstable so I am gonna fix this as much as I can.”

 Now that got Irene scoffing.

“Please, dad! I am the first unstable thing you’ve ever created! That cabinet only earns second place!” An obvious-but-adorable frown came into Irene’s face that got Mr. Bae chuckling. “Stop laughing at me! You know what? Never mind! I’ll just study in Wendy’s place. I’m sleeping over on her house tonight! Have fun hammering whatever—“

Irene slammed the door and gathered her stuff before going to her best friend’s apartment. Talk about a total emotional teenager, Irene really is, although she was already 24.

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“Hyunnie, when you said you’re crashing at my place because you’re gonna study, I didn’t think you’d be just staring at my dog from two meters away.” Wendy mumbled, sparing her best friend a glance before going back on her Biology book. The other girl was just lazily lying on her bed, staring at the cute puppy on the corner of the room that was playing with a stuff toy.

“Studying is just a contraction of student dying in my vocabulary. It’s a Saturday night and I’m not planning to die yet. Maybe tomorrow.”

“Irene, we’ve talked about this—“

“Hush... And it’s Irene unnie to you.” Irene threw a pillow on her best friend’s face. “By the way, did you ever wonder what your pet thinks about you?”

“That’s weird.” Wendy mumbles, putting the pillow away. “Why would you even ask, unnie?”

“Well for once, I think it hates me.”

“That’s silly. Hubby won’t hate you! He’s a sweet puppy!”

“To you! I swear, it hates me. It glares at me whenever you’re not looking! Look! It’s doing it again!”

Wendy turned to look at her puppy but like a sly pet, the puppy’s eyes quickly changed into something big and adorable that got Wendy cooing in sight. Irene was just beyond flabbergasted. That pet was just a devil’s reincarnate, she was sure of that.

“Oh come on, Irene! Just look at it! Isn’t it soooo cute!?” The puppy then ran to its master’s arms with Wendy kissing it. “You’re just too weird.”

“I swear it was glaring at me a few moments ago!”

“Impossible!”

“It’s not! He hates me!” Irene pouted. “Fine, you can have that puppy all you want. I hate you.”

That got Wendy chuckling. In all honesty, the 20 year old couldn’t believe that Irene was four years older than her. Especially when she acts totally like a baby. Carefully putting his puppy on its makeshift bed on the floor, she then gingerly hugged her bunny of a best friend and chuckled.

“What to do? I’m pretty sure I adore my bunny unnie more than my puppy though.”

A blush started forming on Irene’s cheeks. Cute. Wendy thought.

“You’re only saying that to appease me.” Irene looked away with folded arms.

Wendy flicked her forehead. “Stop acting like a kid, unnie! Go change now, you stink. I won’t let you sleep on my bed if you won’t.”

“Aish, you said you adore me more than your puppy! You don’t even change his clothes every day or give him a shower.”

“That’s because it’s a puppy and it doesn’t need it!”

“Whatever!”

-----

Irene especially likes it whenever she gets the chance to sleep next to Wendy. The girl’s warmth is the best part.

Maybe that’s also a huge factor of Irene’s huge infatuation on the younger girl, although she wouldn’t dare say it out loud. Wendy was basically her ideal type. Not that Irene actually has one but if she does, it’ll probably be Wendy (and not someone like Wendy, her ideal type basically is Wendy).

And that night was one of the nights that she especially likes. Wendy was clinging on her arm and even snoring lightly. Like a cute squirrel. Although she’s not sure if squirrels snore. Or if they were ever cute.

Wendy is a very cute squirrel.

“Y-you’re not asleep yet?” Wendy mumbled with her hoarse voice, her eyes peeking open and still half-asleep.

“How can I sleep with your snores?” Irene whispered back as a joke, earning a soft giggle from the younger girl.

Slowly, Wendy pulled her closer and wrap