The MAMA Awards, or just MAMA, originally created in 1999, had become the biggest award show in Asia, held in Seoul and other Asian nations’ cities every year. Every celebrity, every artist who was famous enough would attend it, from actresses to singers, and it had gained a lot of attention from the media over the years.

Each year, the organizers would hold an annual press conference to present the hosts, discuss their theme for the year and answer some of the fans burning questions about the event. This time, it would be no different, and Irene and Wendy found a way into the conference by getting very fake journalists IDs, thanks to Wendy's supreme photoshop skills.

Unlike other years, in which many people, huge celebrities, hosted the award show, this time only one person would host it and the chosen one was Korea’s most loved solo singer-songwriter at that moment: Rosé or Chaeyoung Park, who, despite being quite young, was the hottest name in the music industry. 

Praised for her voice, her looks, and known from her love for fashion, she would make a great addition to Joohyun’s plan, but unknowingly, of course. She wouldn’t be their mark or the target for the moment, but their clueless link to access the jewelry.

The press conference had already begun by the time Wendy cautiously observed the singer sat by one large table, alongside her manager, Jisoo Kim, and the official show organizers, all smiles as she answered every single question made by the boring journalists.

Rosé was even prettier in person, remarkable red hair, dressed in full elegance in a white dazzling dress, and Wendy found herself wondering how she did it, how she had the patience and elegance to answer all those awful questions. It felt unbearable.

Irene, on the other hand, looked quite bored but was just as focused on the singer as Wendy, maybe even a little bit more. She was waiting for someone to drop the million-dollar question, so that they could understand exactly how they would make Rosé a part of the plan.

“Rosé, what are you wearing for the occasion?” One journalist asked, taking notes. That was it, what they needed to know.

“Hm, clothes? A dress probably.”

Wendy chuckled, she liked that girl already.

“Yes, but which one exactly?”

“I don’t know.”

“The designer, I mean.”

“I don’t know.” Rosé answered truthfully, but had a mischievous smile on her face. “But don’t worry, when I decide which one, you’ll be the very first person I tell.”

A cartoonish light bulb moment happened as Wendy exchanged a few glances with Irene: they needed a fashion designer, one that would dress Rosé and would convince her to wear the most expensive jewelry ever known by men, Tiffany & Co.’s necklace called 'the Majestic'.

Seungwan drove them back to their now official headquarters: her place. They had reorganized the house the day before, so that it had more free space, after they told Seulgi about the plan, still not having decided which role she would have. But, undoubtedly, she was a great addition to their team.

Both women rushed through the door once they arrived, already considering a few designer names that they could convince to help them. They found Seulgi painting a beautiful landscape peacefully, with her blonde hair up in a bun, wearing nothing but a black bath robe, so concentrated that she didn’t even flinch by the sudden noise they had made.

“Oh, you guys are back.” She commented, while reaching out for her brush. “How was it?”

“Shouldn’t you be working?” Seungwan asked, rather intrigued by her friend’s presence. “And it was fine, we have a lot of work ahead.”

“I could ask you the same.” Seulgi said, waving hello to Joohyun who was already browsing, searching for a designer, using Seungwan’s laptop. “I start my shift at two.”

“It’s my day off.” Seungwan said, appreciating the flawless painting before them. “Looks beautiful but just so you know, it’s a quarter to two.”

“What!?” Seulgi shouted, looking at her phone. “Oh, ! It’s in the other part of the town and I still have to dress up.”

“Don’t worry, I can drive you there but you’ll be late anyway”

“Oh, but at least my boss won’t have enough time to fire me then. You’re a real lifesaver!” Seulgi said, kissing both of Seungwan cheeks in an exaggerated manner. “I’ll be right back!”

Irene amusedly watched the scene, but kept on looking for a designer at the same time. She decided to look up what kind of clothing style Rosé liked, to find a designer who would match with her, but also she had to find someone who was desperate enough to like to participate in their plan. It was going to be a long day.

“Hey, I’ll drop Seulgi off at work, do you need something?”

“All fashion magazines you can find in the way. Oh, and some tea and a coffee.”

“I thought you hated coffee.” Wendy mumbled and Irene finally looked up, taking her eyes off the laptop screen for a split second.

“I do, the coffee is for you. It’s going to be a long day, Wannie.”

When Wendy came back, forty five minutes later, she found Irene in the exact same position on the floor, stressfully looking through various sites. She put the total of fifteen different fashion magazines, five different newspapers mentioning the awards and Rosé, two cans of white tea and a three large cups of coffee on the table before she sat right next to Irene.

“How’s the research going so far?” Seungwan asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

“Not as easy as I thought it would be. Did you bring my tea?”

“Yes, ma’am!” Wendy teased, but gave her the tea anyway.

“The only thing I found out is that her manager, Jisoo Kim, needs to approve anything Rosé does first.”

That seemed to light up something in Wendy’s brain. She reached out to pick the magazines and flipped through one of them, the latest edition of Vogue to be exact, finding one article she had read while she was stuck in traffic. It mentioned the unexpected friendship between Jisoo Kim, one of Korea’s most successful businesswoman, and the Thai Fashion designer Lalisa Manoban.

Lalisa had been known at first from being a very famous backup dancer in one of South Korea’s most prestigious entertainment companies, but her love for photography and fashion design soon made her switch careers. And, in no time, she became a fashion designer.

She became very famous overnight, when some of the artists for the said company started using her clothes. Unfortunately, that didn’t go well for her, because when the CEO found out she was dressing his artists and not paying the company’s rights accordingly, he made a point in suing her, leaving Lalisa with a debt of a three hundred million won.

“Take a look!” Wendy said, while showing Irene the article. “Unnie, I think we found the one we’ve been looking for.”

Later that day, they saw an ad stating that Lalisa would be holding a runway event for her new collection launch, in a quite desperate attempt to regain some of her clients back and get money, to start paying her huge debt. Owing money was awfully bad, but owing money to one of Korea’s biggest company was tragic.

The event would happen the next day and Wendy managed to get some tickets to it on the internet, as many seats were still available, and Irene was almost speechless at how Wendy pretty much had solved their first problem in a matter of minutes. Amazing.

They decided to go through some scenarios of what could possibly happen on the event, but they sort of knew convincing Lalisa was not going to be a real issue as the girl was in need of fast money. So Wendy concluded it was better to call it a day, and have some pizza.

When Seulgi got home, that is, to Seungwan’s place (as she had later decided to claim one of the spare rooms as her own), a few hours later, she found Joohyun fast asleep in the couch while Wendy was busy washing the dishes in the kitchen. It felt very familiar and she smiled at the scene.

“Goodnight, Wan-ah!” Seulgi said, while grabbing a slice of very cold pizza. “Your Canadian influence is making me fat.”

“Oh, please, you’ll never be fat. Now stop complaining and help me finish the dishes.”

They finished cleaning up quickly, while whining about doing the dishes and playfully complaining about each other. Joohyun happily observed as she had woken up when she heard Seulgi, so she sleepy waited by the kitchen’s door until Seungwan noticed her presence.

“Someone’s awake.”

Seulgi looked at Joohyun, then looked at Seungwan. Those two had a very awkward but good tension between them, but she wasn’t feeling like being the third wheel at all, not after a long day at work. So, instead of watching them flirt endlessly, she excused herself and went upstairs to have her beauty sleep.

The other two watched as Seulgi left them alone. Wendy giggled at how the older one was blinking very slowly, steading herself by leaning onto the doorframe. It was very cute and they shared a tired smile before the younger one decided to speak up.

“You must be tired, you should go to bed.”

“I don’t wanna be alone”. Joohyun whispered, one hand reaching out. ”Come sleep with me.”

Wendy woke up to the sound of her alarm the next day. She quickly turned it off, by tapping mindlessly her phone in the dark, only then realizing that Joohyun was holding onto her tightly, a firm grip on her waist while still sleeping soundlessly. 

She had missed this sort of intimacy they shared. Having Joohyun back in her life was almost like a blessing even if it meant a bit of chaos back in her life as she had to put up with the woman’s crazy businesses. Not that she didn’t enjoy it.

“Oh my god, I’ve turned myself into a masochist.” Wendy mumbled to herself, while carefully getting out of bed, trying to not wake the other woman up.

She took a quick shower and dressed up for work. Wendy was still a waitress but she had kindly asked her boss to let her work in the morning shift, which meant she had to wake up at four in the morning so that she could still manage to have some time to help Joohyun go to that fashion event later that day.

The things she would for Irene...

Seungwan took one last glance at Irene, who was still sleeping peacefully in her queen sized bed, before she closed the door, mentally preparing herself for the long day she had ahead of her. 

The hours passed in a blink of an eye and before Wendy could notice, it was past lunch time. Much to her surprise, Joohyun was already waiting for her inside the restaurant, texting probably Seulgi nonstop while she waited to pick her up.

They would head out to Lalisa’s event and Irene had dressed up quite nicely for the occasion, wearing a thick black wool coat and very tight leather pants, with her hair up. She had brought some clothes for Wendy as well, so that she could change into more appropriate outfit, instead of her normal work attire.

Wendy smiled at her, heading out to one of the bathroom’s stalls, and quickly changed into Irene’s chosen outfit for her: a button up shirt, some equally tight pants, an overall coat, and high heels, all courtesy of the leader’s shoplifting spree at Burberry. Unbelievable!

“Are you crazy? How am I supposed to walk out from work wearing Burberry?” Wendy whispered once she got out of the bathroom, being met by Irene’s very appreciative eyes. “People are gonna suspect.”

“Just tell them you have a very hot, rich girlfriend that likes to spoil you.”

Wendy groaned and Irene smiled, grabbing her hand while pulling them both out of the restaurant. Living with Joohyun had its perks, but being her partner in crime was something else and, sometimes, she wondered if the older one had always been like that or if prison had changed her.

Well, she had definitely become greasier, but maybe that was just Wendy’s fault.

They arrived at the event just in time. The models were all dressed up in what looked like a fashion show that came out of a flight to the Bahamas, as flowery patterns were all over the place on each outfit which mainly consisted of flight attendants suits. A literal mess.

Irene glanced at Wendy to see if she hated it just as much as everyone else, which she did as she frowned at the models on the runaway. Soon, whispers filled the horrifying emptiness of that place and they could spot Lalisa running backstage, on the verge of tears.

“It’s like a flight to the Bahamas, except the niceness of it and the peanuts.” Wendy commented and Irene had to agree, it looked really bad.

“Come on, we have to find her.”

They both ran backstage fairly easy, passing effortlessly through security and Lisa’s staff, who were all too preoccupied with the event itself. It felt ridiculous, but they had left their boss, the mastermind behind every outfit, alone, sobbing dramatically while drowning herself in a giant Nutella jar, in one of the place’s corners.

“Congratulations!” Wendy cheered awfully louder and Lalisa looked up at them, make up smeared.

“Who are you?”

“Big fans.” Irene answered and Wendy nodded. “That was just...”

“Gorgeous.” Wendy completed while bopping her head in agreement.

“No, it wasn’t.” Lisa said, sniffing a bit. “It was a disaster!”

That caught both women out of guard, but Wendy quickly responded.

“I think maybe you’re being too hard on yourself.”

Lalisa took a good look at them, in silence. She moved her bangs out of the way, Nutella almost touching her perfectly cut fringe and then got her phone out her pink blazer, tapping her code on the screen as if to prove a point.

“Have you guys seen this? It’s a post by a fashion blogger.”

Wendy looked at Irene, sitting right next Lalisa on the floor, to see the post. Lalisa’s hands were partly covered in Nutella, but she didn’t mind as she scrolled through the entire post, reading the headline out loud.

“Lalisa Manoban’s new collection is like taking a trip to you grandma’s closet: just as outdated and musty. She should’ve stayed as a backup dancer, because that’s clearly where she truly belongs, in the background.”

“That’s very cruel, but it’s not the truth.” Wendy reasoned.

“How did I get here?” Lisa asked.

“You switched careers and basically stole some artists so that they could wear your signed outfits without their company’s authorization.” Irene answered, even though it had felt more like a rhetorical question.

“I’m ugly, my outfits .” Lalisa whined, while crying again. “I owe so much money and then I’ll go to prison. I’ll be really, really poor.”

Wendy side hugged the girl, tapping her in a weird way of showing some empathy. Irene squatted down, getting on eye level with both of them, while she helped the designer wipe away her tears.

“Not necessarily.” Irene said as she offered another tissue to the girl.

“What if we could make all of this go away and even get your passport back?” Wendy offered, while smiling sympathetically which came out borderline creepy.

“How?” Lalisa asked and stopped crying in the same second.

“Dress Rosé for the MAMA Awards.” Irene implied as if it was the simplest thing ever.

“Are you crazy?” Lalisa squealed. “No, hang on, are you guys journalists?”

“Oh, hell no.” Both women answered in unison which automatically brought a smile to Lisa’s face.

“I’m in.”