To make up for the heart breaking update that was last nights update. We have a happier one todaaaaay!

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Often times after a life altering event people change, they have to learn to do things differently. Conversations change, mannerisms differ, language is altered and everyone does their best to grow closer. Joy hadn’t ever told Wendy but she hadn’t felt especially close to Wendy’s friends. She felt like they were mutual acquaintances, Wendy and Katy texted each other. In fact one time she opened Wendy’s phone to see a photo of Katy with a dark green on her forehead, to which Wendy replied with, OH MY GOD! UR A DICKHEAD! to which Katy replied with. Girl you don’t even know. The hulk? Detachable . The more you know, you know? 

Joy didn’t have that with Seulgi or Irene. She didn’t even have Seulgi’s number. Joy always saw funny things she just knew! Seulgi would laugh at. But the only time Irene and Joy texted was when Irene texted Joy a warning. Like on a date, Joy, hoping to catch up on some y time took Wendy to her house knowing no one was home. Just for Irene to text Joy 10 times, and then call three times before Joy finally picked up. Her only line being. 

“It’s almost midnight Joy. Return my friend” and then they were hung up. Joy couldn’t figure out if Irene didn’t like her, or she was just so old she didn’t text often. Whatever it was it bothered her. Wendy could tell. While Joy never brought it up to her, Wendy could see it in her actions. When Irene picked up her phone, Joy’s hands would flinch. As if waiting for a message, and then she would deflate. Wendy didn’t understand the need for Irene to love her, but it just was what it was. 

Then Joy decided to call Irene all on her own and Wendy thought she might just die from fear and heartbreak. Because of all the first times to call someone, you chose the time you’re heading into a gunfight to be the right time? If Wendy’s world hadn’t been such a mess she would have had words for Joy. But she didn’t have time, because Joy was alive. And Irene still had the love of her life. 

Seulgi would have horrible night terrors, and it seemed she no longer found comfort in Irene or Wendy. And it scared Irene, she just never told anyone. But it scared Wendy even more, because it seemed the only person who could comfort Seulgi, was Joy. 

She woke up often, having Joy sleepover to satiate a fear that Joy would suddenly disappear. She would wake, Joy gone and in her place fear would find Wendy, she would run out, and always find Joy and seulgi huddled together on the couch. 

Wendy wanted Joy to get closer to her friends, but this wasn’t how she imagined it. A couple months later, when things had settled for the most part. Wendy and Joy would have their first real fight. Joy had been suspended from her job, because albeit brave to run headfirst into the line of fire to save lives, it’s also against protocol. Joy was served a lengthy suspension, but it was paid so she knew nobody was really mad at her. But she had to be punished either way. 

Wendy and Katy were not happy that Joy was going back. Wendy now knew the extent that Joy was willing to go to for lives, and Katy couldn’t get the memory of her friend driving away out of her head. The thought of Joy going back and being reckless terrified them. Over text they spoke honestly about it. Aggressively. And just like before, Joy had picked up Wendy’s phone to give it to her, thinking she would see a stupid dickhead photo. Only to see a message from Katy. 

I know she loves her job. And I love having joy around she’s my best friend. Like my platonic soul mate. But I couldn’t lose joy. And what she did was so ing stupid. She could have gotten herself and everyone killed. She shouldn’t come back. I tried telling my captain and he didn’t listen. They think blind heroism is some beautiful thing. It’s not. It’s stupid. It’s not heroism or bravery. It’s blind stupidity. 

Joy was reeling. She didn’t even know Katy knew what heroism was. Joy asked Wendy about it. And for the first time since they met, Wendy was upfront and honest. No shy ticks or stutters. Just brute, blunt honesty. 

“I don’t want you to go back. Neither of us do.”

“But why?”

“Because Joy. You ignored everyone and drove into the line of fire to save three people!”

“She is your ing friend Wendy.”

“You think I don’t know that? You think I wasn’t scared of losing her? I absolutely love and adore Seulgi. But that is her ing job. To be in the line of fire. That is what Seulgi is trained for. To do exactly what she was doing. Your job is to put ing bandaids on boo-boos and drive old people to the ing hospital. Not Rambo your way into a scene to save people. She is my friend Joy. Not my girlfriend! Not the woman I choose to spend my time and life with. She is not the woman I have with. She is not the woman I want to wake up next to. So yeah. I don’t want you to go back. Because you’re ing stupid and I refuse to lose you because you confuse bravery with stupidity!” 

If Joy hadn’t been so angry she might’ve found Wendy’s attitude shocking. Maybe even attractive. But the fact that Wendy was standing up for herself didn’t click. Instead only her words did. And Joy just fired back. “You think my job is putting bandaids on boo-boos? Is that what you ing said to me! Did you see your ing friend? I kept her alive Wendy. I administered first aid. I stopped the bleeding! I kept her alive until we got to the hospital. And then guess what! I went right back to the scene and you know what else I did? I shocked a man three times before his heart ing started again. I put a blanket over a ing child because there was no way I could save him. I cleaned the blood off a woman to see if it was hers or her husbands. And to top it all off, I saved your best friends life. Maybe I am stupid. But I’m not a selfish like you and Katy. I gave a . My job is to save lives. And that’s it. It doesn’t matter where the I do it. Just that I do it. So You! I would do it again.” 

No one had ever spoken to Wendy like that. No one had ever gotten angry at Wendy like that. Any and all confidence she had flew out the window as Joy yelled back. She quickly went from attack mode to defense mode when it was clear Joy was trying to find a way out. 

“What are you doing?” Wendy choked out while Joy looked around for her shoes and keys. 

“Getting the away from you”.

“Joy. Joy stop”.

“Leave me alone Wendy.”  Seulgi and Irene has walked into the apartment just as Joy had started yelling again. 

“Hey. Hey what’s going on here?” Irene asked, eyes narrowed at Joy who was breathing wildly and still flipping cushions over for her keys. 

“Nothing. Mind your business Irene”. Joy snapped. 

“Hey! You don’t talk to her like that!” Seulgi said, dropping her bags and getting in Joy’s face. 

“Oh off. You’re the reason all of this is even happening. You should’ve just died so I didn’t try to be a good person and try to save your stupid ” everyone in the room shared a collective gasp at Joy’s words. “What! It’s true right. Because all I do is put bandaids on right Wendy? And all Seulgi does is go into the line of fire right? That’s her job ain’t it?” 

Joy turned to Irene. “I shoulda let your girlfriend die.” Forgetting her keys. Joy just pushed passed Seulgi and out the front door. Wendy went to follow but Seulgi had stopped her. 

“Leave her Wendy. She’s mad. She’s just trying to hurt everyone around her. Just leave her be.”

“She’s gonna get herself hurt Seulgi. I can’t just leave her out there”.

“She’s going to be fine. She’s a big girl. The only person whose going to get hurt is you. Leave her be.”

Wendy just wiped her tears, hands clenching. “. This is such a mess” she groaned. 

“What even happened?” Irene questioned. Putting the cushions back on the couch. 

“I. I got mad. I didn’t mean what I was saying. I just. I’m so scared.”

“Scared of what?” Seulgi asked? Taking a deep breath to control the anger that hit her. 

Wendy threw her hands up in defeat and just spoke honestly. Feelings she kept to herself for months finally making their way to the surface. “Of losing her Seulgi. We’re fighting because shes going back to work and I don’t want her to. I don’t want her risking her life for others Seulgi. I’m sorry. I’m sorry if what I’m saying is hurtful. I love you. I love you and Irene so much it’s almost kind of weird. But I love her more. Okay? I didn’t want you to die. I would have never been able to get over it. But I would die if I lost joy. Do you understand that? The absolute fear that I had? Because you are trained for this Seulgi. You’re trained to be in the line of fire. You wear clothing meant to protect yourself. You live your life knowing it could end. Irene lives her life knowing she might lose you. I don’t. I don’t live my life like I might lose the love of my life. You literally have a gun safe in your room, you patrol the house at night like some war Veteran because you know how the world works. And that’s how you protect everyone. Joy sleeps through car accidents downstairs. She opens the door without even asking who it is. That’s how different you guys are!” Seulgi took another shaky breath. 

“You’re mad she saved me?”

“No Seulgi. I’m not mad she saved you. I’m mad she charged in all alone, ready to die. It could have been a bunch of kids and I’d be upset Seulgi.” Irene kept silent. She understood completely. She knew exactly what Wendy was saying. Because she felt the same. While Wendy was mad Joy did what she did. Irene was secretly so thankful. To her, Joy was her hero. She even stopped calling to tell Joy it was getting late. She started packing Joy a lunch when she spent the night. She covered Joy and seulgi on the couch when tough nights hit. 

Seulgi walked up to Wendy and pulled her into the tightest hug she could muster. She was angry. But her mom always told her. Sometimes to fight a battle, you fight it with love. “I’m not mad at you Wendy. I understand what you’re saying. You’re happy she saved me. But you’re mad with how she did it. But. In this business. The business of saving lives, opportunities strike. And while we may not like the circumstances. We have to do what we doin you. Me. Irene. We all took an oath when we joined the justice system. An oath to serve and protect. I swore to uphold the system. To protect those who cannot protect themselves. If I was walking down the street and saw a man with a gun aimed at children. I would jump right in. Irene would be mad. But I protect people Wendy. It doesn’t matter whether I’m on duty or not. And you’re right I’m trained for this. And you’re also right when you say Wendy isn’t. But you don’t need training to be someone who protects. Yes. It was stupid of Joy to run in the way she did. But she only did what she was trained to. And that’s to save lives baby girl. That’s what she does. The circumstances may have been horrible, but all Joy saw was lives in need of protecting. And she saw that she had the ability to protect. She only did what she was taught to. I know you’re scared and mad. Talk to her honestly, but nicely. Because. I really, really love joy. She saved my life you know?”

“I don’t want to lose her”, Wendy choked out. Gripping the back of seulgi’s shirt. 

“She could be a grocery store clerk and you could lose her Wendy. Life is unpredictable. We go about everyday certain we’ll make it home, most times we do. And then one day we don’t. That’s what life is. Unpredictable but beautiful. Don’t let this ruin a good thing. Joy talks about you in her sleep. You know that right? And even after saving my life, Joy still takes care of me. Don’t lose her. Talk to her”.

That night Wendy showed up at Joy’s house. Her mother let her in, wendy did her best to ignore the glare on the woman’s face. “Is um. Joy here?”

“Her room”, Mrs. Garcia said. Glare still in place. 

“Thank you. “ Wendy mumbled and nearly sprinted to Joy’s room. Joy was asleep when Wendy got to her, obvious signs of Joy’s crying everywhere. Wendy climbed over her, lifting Joy’s blanket and sliding in against her. Joy stirred as Wendy traced her features with her fingers. 

“What are you doing Wendy?” Joy asked, eyes still closed. 

“I just wanted to see you. I’m sorry for what I said. I didn’t mean it”.

Joy sighed, eyes opening and locking with Wendy’s own. “Yes you did.”

Wendy groaned, tucking her head underneath Joy’s. She spoke into her chest. “Okay. I meant it. But I didn’t mean how I said it. I just love you so much joy. I don’t want to lose you. I’m not mad you saved Seulgi. I’m not even mad. I’m just scared. You went head first into a gunfight Joy. The fear of you doing it again and not getting so lucky scared me Joy. I can’t lose you.”

Joy sighed, wrapping an arm around Wendy. She kissed her hair. “When I got home after everything. My mom was so angry she slapped me. And then two hot seconds later she was hugging me so tight I thought I might die. And then she wouldn’t stop checking on me. For the first time, I saw my dad cry. I woke up to his creepy staring at me and crying. Katy didn’t talk to me until I showed up with bags of French bread. I understand why everyone is upset. I understand why everyone was scared. But I don’t think in terms of what people will feel about me. I think about everyone else. I only want to help people. Sometimes I forget that if something happens to me, a lot of people will be lost. I’m sorry I scared you and everyone. But I’m not sorry for what I did baby.”

“I understand. Let’s just sleep. I missed you”.

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“When are we going to tell your parents babe?” I find it funny how afraid of her own mother Joy is. Like her mom is going to just shoot her on sight. 

“Um well amor. I was thinking we should do the proposal again.”

“Like. You want to pretend like you didn’t propose and do it again for your mom?” Joy nodded like I had just understood quantum physics. “What the hell why?”

“Well. I never really told her I was gonna propose. And! I know she won’t like the way I did it.”

“Why? It was sweet and quirky. And we had amazing afterwards. My toes cramped from curling. I think that’s a pretty amazing proposal if you ask me.”

Joy sputtered on her coffee, “Whoa there. Confident huh. That was pretty loud”. I just shrugged. What can I say. I’m engaged! I’m a new woman. The world is in new shades. Is that blue! Nosireee! It’s turquoise! “I know you liked it. But I want it to be perfect for my mother too.”

“Yeah but. You’re marrying me not your mother.”

“Yeah but she’s really gonna wanna be involved.”

“Babe, you really gotta cut the umbilical cord. Like. When we get married you know you can’t do everything twice. We can’t have our first kid twice to appease your mother”. Joy’s mouth dropped. 

“I know that babe. But while we can. We should.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“Mhm! But you love me. So, what do you say?”

“Only if you explain to me why you’re so hellbent on this.”

“I already told you amor. My mom is gonna be upset about how I did it.”

“So. In the future think she’s gonna get upset about which side of the bed we have on, on our honeymoon?” Joy’s head snapped up. She looked at the coffee. 

“What the hell is in this coffee?” 

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“Wait a minute. She wants to propose again for her mom? Is joy having with her mom? Is this like a weird adoptee thing. Why does she care?” Irene asked, I was retelling she the events over my day while enjoying a mean salad that Seulgi had made. 

“I think it’s a Puerto Rican thing actually”, Seulgi piped up while sitting down.

“How So?”

“Guzman, from work. He had two weddings. His wife is Jewish. His mom was so mad he literally had two wedding. One in a Catholic Church and one for the Jewish side. He also said that he had to give his mom a key because she threw a fit. She just enters their house and wakes him up to clean dishes”.

I just stared. “Are you serious?” Seulgi nodded, sipping her water. “Absolutely not. She can have a key, but just entering whenever she wants? No. No. Nope. Absolutely not. Puerto Rican or not, you can’t just barge in. And two weddings? What the hell. I refuse.”

“Then you should put your foot down now. And tell her you won’t be doing two proposals”.

“Or! She can do the second proposal. Just after this. Tell Joy no more. She has to be more independent.”

“I’ll tell her when she gets here. She wants to do it tonight.” Right on queue in came joy. Smile on her cute face. 

“Mi amor. I missed you.” I rolled my eyes, and smiled at my pansy of a fiancé. 

“Hello Joy”, Joy grinned. Bending down to give me a kiss. 

“Hey guys!” Joy smiled. High fiving Seulgi and putting her hand up to Irene, who just stared at it. “Um okkkay!” Joy yelled, high fiving herself. 

“You look so nervous babe”, Joy turned to me. Face serious. 

“Because I am.”

“Again. Who are you proposing to?”

Joy rolled her eyes and pulled me. “Now. Escuche bien señorita.”

“I don’t speak Spanish.”

“Hush Wendy. You understood that. Anyway. Listen. In need you to cry right away. And jump into my arms when I propose. Like in monster in law with Jennifer Lopez. No hesitation. Just react!” 

“Why do I have to do that?”

“Because if you don’t her family is gonna think you’re not into it. And once a matriarch doesn’t like you, nobody in the family will.” Seulgi said, blue cheese dressing on her lips. 

“Exactly!” Joy said, pointing at Seulgi. 

“See she gets it!”

“So this is like a Puerto Rican thing?”

Seulgi shook her head. “No. It’s a family hierarchy thing. Like, for us Koreans. It’s usually the grand parents. If they don’t like you, the parents won’t either. In Puerto Rican culture it’s all the woman. They have things called doñas. They’re the grandmothers and aunts and moms. So! If a grandmother doesn’t like you then it’s gonna move to the mom. And then you’re ed.” Joy nodded her head impressed. 

“Exactly! Good job my little ninja”. 

“Whatever. So. When are we going?”

“Right now. I already went to my mom and set up the scene. Now all we need is us.” I just sighed. 

“Well. Let’s get engaged pt2!” I yelled. 

“That’s the spirit!”

“That was sarcasm joy.”

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Translations:

Escuche bien señorita: listen well little lady/ pay attention miss