A/N: This chapter took place earlier in their relationship, before chapter one.

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It had been exactly one hundred days since they began dating and Wendy had opened her eyes with a silly smile every morning since. Which was a change, since mornings were usually too bright, even with her curtains all drawn closed, and she had never been one of those early birds. Like the woman on a mission that she was, her hand automatically reached out to her fully charged phone, sitting on the nightstand. Wendy groaned, partly because of her stiff body waking up, but mostly because of what was on her screen.

[Joohyun]: Morning Seungwan. Good luck with today’s presentation. You’ll do well, don't worry.

[Joohyun]: Oh. Sixty-seven, by the way. 

The messages brought a smile to her face, as always, and also a weird mix of awe and fondness. Because Irene somehow turned a mundane albeit corny act into something else.

The whole thing started with a simple routine of sending her girlfriend morning messages, in the hope they would brighten her day (because Irene had made her the happiest woman alive since they were together, so it was only fair). The responses she got were mostly accompanied by the signature rolling eyes emoji, which was very deserved since her good mornings were always accompanied by the cheesiest of cheesy pick-up lines in the history of pick-up lines (or so she had been told by the lovely Bae Joohyun). Then things took a different turn when she woke up one morning and found that Irene had sent a message first. The text was simple, the flirtatious one-liner was clumsy, and with it, the whole thing became a competition of who’s able to send the text first. And Irene never played around when it came to winning or losing.

Wendy remembered one particular time when she stayed the night over at Irene’s apartment and they both had stayed up until the wee hours. They were both sound asleep, opting to snuggle each other instead of using the extra blanket in the closet for warmth until an alarm blared early, too early on a Sunday morning. Barely conscious, all she recalled doing was mumbling her annoyance in the gibberish language — first for the horrendous noise, then for the loss of her human heater when Irene took a moment with her phone— before she was enveloped back to serenity as Irene cooed and lulled her to sleep in her embrace. She pieced the puzzle altogether later after they finished their breakfast slash early lunch. 

They were sitting on the sofa in Irene’s living room. Irene was scrolling through Netflix's movie list, one hand on the remote, and the other one was interlaced with the other woman’s hand whose owner was checking her phone. 

“Is this what that alarm was for?”

Irene glanced at Wendy’s phone screen that was shoved to her line of sight before she threw a smirk at Wendy and simply shrugged. At the pure offence written on Wendy’s face, Irene’s smile broke into a grin. “What?” she asked nonchalantly.

“This isn’t — you can’t do this!”

“What is it exactly that I can’t do?”

“The alarm!” Wendy exclaimed. Her raised eyebrows and her wide eyes showed the gravity of the matter however it did the opposite effect since Irene snickered instead. “I’m serious. That’s cheating!”

Irene gasped at the accusation. “What do you mean? I know for a fact that you have five alarms blaring every ten minutes each morning.”

“Yes, five alarms, on weekdays, simply to get up so I can go to work like all sad adults do. But you, oh, you use them for a dirty trick and take a sneaky advantage of your poor girlfriend!”

Irene laughed at her outburst, and Wendy hated how the simple act warmed her ears and itched her arms to pull her girlfriend into a bone-crushing hug. “Well, I used them to wake myself up too,” Irene insisted and Wendy was having none of it.

“Oh, come on — ”

“It’s not my fault that texting you is always the first thing on my mind. Or, as you would say it, you,” Irene softly bopped her nose with her index finger, for whatever reason, “are what I think about first every morning.”

Wendy shook her head hard, first to remove the tingle on her nose, and second, to stop the stupid wacky smile that threatened to break on her face. Once she regained her senses and her composure back, somewhat, she proceeded to glare at Irene. 

“Really? Are you sure? Because you should read out loud what you sent me this morning!” 

She shoved her phone again to the older woman’s face. Irene scanned the screen for a little while before she broke into another fit of laughter, looking at the eloquently typed message: "dskfjlsd”. 

“See, you can’t! Of course you can’t when all you send me is a keyboard smash!”

“It’s your fault,” Irene replied in between her giggles. “You were whining and kept pulling me back to you that I could barely type.”

Wendy still didn’t give in. “A keyboard smash! You didn’t think of me, you wanted to win. And how are you thinking of me when I was sleeping right next to you? I can’t believe you still text me when we were in the same room. Together!”

Her argument was then halted. Her pouty lips were drowned with seas of kisses and her cold shoulders were warmed by powerful snuggles. As if they weren’t distracting enough, Irene then added to her bribe as she chose to play a Tarantino’s movie instead one of their typical romcom movies as they cuddled the day away on their sofa.

The points she made were moot anyway as the next morning, when Wendy, in her apartment, managed to wake up on her third alarm, her lock screen was already showing messages from Irene.

[Joohyun]: Good morning to the first person I think about every day.

[Joohyun]: Hey, look! Apparently, you can type a fully comprehensive text when your girlfriend doesn’t entice you with her lethal moves back to bed.

The texts were all sent exactly at six am. So was the next day’s set. And the one on the day after. Irene would never concede, and Wendy would never win but then again, she’d never experienced losses as sweet before. Especially those that made her smile for countless mornings. Hyperbolically, of course, because Irene counted. She also reminded her endlessly. Wendy had lost sixty-seven times so she had been a smiling loser for sixty-seven mornings.

She didn’t mull on her defeat for long, not that she ever did, especially when it was their one-hundredth day dating and she had much to think about. Wendy had booked them two five-course meals for dinner to celebrate, complete with a celebratory cake and what was a giant box of flowers waiting at the restaurant for her girlfriend. If only it was the weekend, she would go all out on a full day in an attempt to please Irene. But it was only Wednesday, and Wendy had an important meeting to attend at the office, so she couldn’t take a half day off to prepare something grand.

Wendy then replied to Irene's texts, as well as made sure that the other woman had the evening free to go out with her. Wendy had asked Irene about it last weekend, as well as yesterday on their phone call, but it won’t hurt to make sure. Irene perhaps could already guess that she was planning something, and Wendy could only hope Irene would be okay with just a simple dinner. 

Because, if she could, she would give Irene the world as a gift for their hundredth day. But even then, it still wouldn’t be enough.

 

[•••••]

 

Her day was going on as planned until Wendy got a phone call on her lunch break. She was munching her convenience store sandwich in her shared office. She didn’t even bother trying to listen to whatever Chanyeol had been spouting for the past twenty minutes. Her thoughts were occupied by the surprise date she planned for Irene and the presentation she needed to do after lunch. Then, her phone rang and her eyebrows furrowed as she read the caller ID.

It was from Seulgi’s mom, who immediately thanked her for taking care of her daughter. Before Wendy could even half understand the situation she was in, Wendy had somehow promised the older woman on the other end that she would visit Ansan soon and spend a weekend there. So, as soon as that puzzling phone call ended, Wendy immediately looked for the one and only person who could be responsible for whatever that was. Her answer came immediately after Seulgi picked up her phone.

“So, you’ve been sick since Monday.” Wendy easily connected the dots once Seulgi answered her call with a ghastly voice. Her initial confusion turned to worry instead. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I can — ” Seulgi sentence’s was halted by a timely cough, adding irony to her next words. “I can take care of myself! I mean, you only found out because of my mom. And my mom only asked you because I mentioned your name, so she doesn’t nag me.”

Despite Seulgi’s insistent assurances that she didn’t need to do anything, Wendy got off the call with an unsettled mind. Her resolve was firm when Seulgi’s mother texted her a full recipe of Seulgi’s favourite chicken congee.

The dial tone only rang twice before Irene picked up the call.

“I see,” Irene replied after Wendy filled her in on Seulgi’s condition. “I’ll leave work early this afternoon and visit Seulgi. Have you had lunch, Seungwan-ah?” 

Wendy wondered how Irene could always have an answer to her worries. It had been like that even before the two of them got together. Once, her parents came back to Seoul as her mother needed to do her routine health check-up. Wendy had promised to accompany them, but a work emergency came up that weekend and she had to go to the office to resolve everything. But then, as she sped through the hospital’s corridor, guilt and worry added to every step she took, Wendy arrived at a sight she was sure would stay forever with her. There she was, Bae Joohyun, seated next to her quiet father, as the two of them visibly struggled to carry on a conversation to fill the silence. By the looks on their faces, Wendy wasn’t even sure who was even more relieved by her presence that Wendy was finally with them.

Of course, later Irene would downplay the whole thing, insisting both her remembering things that Wendy said as passing remarks and coming to the hospital without being asked as expected of her. 

“Anyone else would’ve done the same,” Irene nonchalantly replied when Wendy brought the topic up.

At that moment, Wendy knew whoever got to spend a lifetime with Irene would live a life full of warmth. 

(At the same moment, Wendy’s heart wished that it would be her.)

“You’re gonna do the presentation after this, right?” Irene’s usual tone laced her voice even through a call. Collected, and ever so gentle. “Good luck Seungwan. I know you’ll do well, so don’t worry.”

And later, after Wendy went through all her slides, and as her manager smiled in satisfaction and Chanyeol flashed a quick thumb up, all she could hear was Irene’s words.

 

[•••••]

 

When Seulgi had said that she was, quote and quote, getting better, her words were meant to be misleading in nature. Because everything about Seulgi’s condition was worse. When Wendy arrived at her friend’s place, Seulgi was busy pouring out all her stomach contents down onto her porcelain toilet. Irene was kneeling next to her, holding back the poor girl’s hair so it wouldn’t get in the way.

Later, Wendy learned from Irene that not only had her friend thrown up everything she ate, but Seulgi was also running a high fever that wouldn’t go down even after she drank the countertop medicine that was lying around the house. At that point, Wendy was already adamant to bring her friend to the hospital, and Seulgi’s protests didn’t budge her resolve. If anything, Seulgi’s hoarse whines only convinced Seungwan that she should call an ambulance instead.

“Seungwan,” Irene called softly. Her hand reached for Wendy’s shoulder, and at the soft touch, the seconds moved slower and Wendy could breathe a little easier. “I think we can wait a little bit longer. She just needs to eat food that is easier to digest.”

Seulgi’s eyes gleamed after Irene’s words, and she immediately wore her best puppy eyes look. Even on skin paler than ghosts, the sight still did wonder to Wendy’s resolution. Irene squeezed her shoulder gently, and her remaining determination to ship Seulgi to the hospital bed diminished.

“You think so?” Wendy asked, still worried. It didn’t take long, not that it ever does, and Wendy sighed as she relented. “Yeah, you’re right. Let me look around the kitchen. Maybe I can fix up a simple soup real quick.”

Wendy then remembered the recipe Seulgi’s mom had sent her this noon. Her eyes quickly scanned the ingredient list, adding them to her mental list. She opened the cupboards and they were emptily bared the instant meals tucked in the corner of the compartment. Not that it was much of a surprise that Seulgi’s pantry wasn’t stocked with necessities. So Irene had to make an impromptu trip to the grocery store and get all the required items. 

The recipe didn’t require much work, and Wendy almost felt like she was in Seulgi's mom's shoes when Seulgi gulped down the bowl with much gusto. The girl sitting opposite her almost looked healthy, and Wendy would’ve mistaken the tears on Seulgi’s eyes as a form of deep appreciation if she didn’t witness her friend burn her tongue a minute ago as she was too eager to put the chicken congee inside .

The night went on relatively smoother. Her mother’s chicken congee seemed to not upset Seulgi’s stomach, and the new medicine that Wendy bought at the grocery stores worked better than the previous one Irene had found in one of Seulgi’s drawers.

“Her fever is going down.”

Wendy was washing the dishes when Irene went out with the news, and the words lifted the invisible weight on Seungwan’s shoulders. 

“That’s good. Is she asleep?” Wendy asked as Irene joined her, wordlessly taking the dishes beside her. Irene hummed, wiping dry the utensils Wendy had washed and neatly arranged them in the drawer. The two of them began to work in a silent tandem, only the sound of the flowing water from the tap surrounded the room. 

That was one of the things Wendy noticed a bit longer after their friendship began, that Irene always made an effort to accommodate others. At first, she simply thought that she and Irene matched exceptionally well. It was always easy to be around Irene, well, if you counted out the palpating heart and the constant need to remind yourself that you have to breathe because if not, you’d die. But doing tasks with Irene, as mundane as washing the dishes, had always been easy. Irene was almost like a mind reader, always knowing what Wendy needed, always doing what would help Wendy best. Later, she realised that Irene knew all these, even the tiny details, only because the older girl observed and took notes. Like that time with her parents and the hospital. Irene always listened.

They finished the house chore in no time. Wendy wiped her hands dry, and when she finished, she turned next to her and found Irene, watching her with the soft eyes that always made Wendy feel like a giddy teenager.

“Hey,” Irene said softly after their eyes met.

“Hi.”

“Tired?”

Wendy shook her head. “Not more than usual. It must be worse for you. You’ve been taking care of Seulgi since this afternoon.”

“Well, all I did was make sure she could throw up comfortably if that's even a thing. Making three trips between her bedroom and bathroom weren’t exactly physically demanding tasks.”

Of course, it was the usual Irene’s fashion that she’d downplay the great help she had given. Before Seungwan could stop swooning at Irene’s nonchalant modesty, Irene steered the conversation into a different topic.

“You must be hungry. How about dinner?”

“Oh. Yeah, that’d be great. I bought enough ingredients to make Seulgi’s mom chicken congee for us too, but that girl basically took down the whole pot. If only I hadn’t seen with my own eyes that she was throwing up earlier, I wouldn’t even believe that someone who could eat three bowls of congee could be sick.”

Irene laughed. Wendy liked making Irene laugh.

“So, we don’t have anything else to eat,” Wendy continued. “Well, except the instant noodles in the cupboard. Or, we can order in? If that’s what you want?”

Irene shrugged. “I don’t mind instant noodles. Are you okay with it?”

Wendy was already opening the upper cupboard. “Well, apparently she has all kinds of ramyeon. But she has no salt in her apartment. I mean, who would’ve guessed, right? No wonder that girl almost died. She didn’t even—”

“Seungwan.”

“Hmm?”

“Let me cook the ramyeon”

Wendy turned her head back to Irene. “Huh? It’s fine. It won’t take long. They’re instant noodles for a reason.”

Irene didn’t back down easily. She took the two packages of ramyeon from Wendy’s hand. “You’ve cooked earlier. Sit down on the sofa and rest. I’ll do this one.”

“But it’s easy,” Wendy protested.

“Yeah, it is. That’s why you should let me do it. I know you’re a better cook than I am, but I think I’ll manage to cook instant noodles just fine.”

Wendy didn’t even have a chance to refute. Irene already had a pot in her hand, and a moment later, Wendy was already banned from the kitchen area. She told Irene to let her know when Irene needed any help, and the only replies were an affectionate eye roll and a light push away from the counters.

After getting kicked out, Wendy followed Irene’s words and sat on Seulgi’s comfortable sofa. She leaned back, resting her eyes for a moment when she remembered the dinner event she’d planned. She took out her phone, scrolling past the notifications that confirmed the cancellations she’d made to the restaurant and the flower shop earlier when she was on the way to buy ingredients for Seulgi’s meal. They were kind enough to not charge Wendy with any fee, but it wasn’t enough to not sour Wendy’s mood. She took a glance at her girlfriend in the kitchen, only her back facing her, oblivious of the guilt that started to seep into Wendy as she was reminded of the failed plans to celebrate a milestone in their relationship.

At the dining table, when Irene had finished cooking their meal, Wendy made sure to not appear beaten in front of Irene.

“So, how was your presentation? Did it go as planned?”

Pretending to be okay in front of Irene was infinitely harder when she had to talk, but Wendy gave her best effort. She told her that it went smoothly and that her supervisor was impressed with her ideas that he asked Wendy to work on the follow-up right away so that they could present the proposal to other departments at the next monthly meeting.

Irene was elated at the news. “That’s great! You’ve worked so hard for that presentation. You deserve all that praise, Seungwan-ah.”

Wendy scratched the nape of her neck. “Oh, well, I mean, it wasn’t entirely me. You know Chanyeol helped a lot, and you, you were there on every of my late night work, staying on the phone to make sure I didn’t fall asleep.”

Irene stared at her, the smile was replaced by a resolute look, the one she always wore when she wanted Wendy to listen. “You deserve the praises, Seungwan. You’ve worked hard for it, and your supervisor is right. You did an excellent job.”

Wendy knew better than to argue with Irene when the older girl used that tone. Instead, she smiled sheepishly and muttered ‘I guess I did do well’ that made Irene’s bright smile return instantly.

Then, it went back to washing the dishes. Or rather, who.

“But you cooked!” Wendy protested.

“It was only ramyeon.”

“A great ramyeon,” Wendy interjected. “Plus, you were the one who made the rule. The one who cooks is forbidden to do any dish washing.”

Irene groaned. “Making instant noodles isn’t really cooking.”

“There’s a pot. There’s fire. There’s a pot on a fire. That’s cooking as far as I care. If we need to discuss this any further, I won’t let you help with putting away the dishes. So, will you let me wash two bowls and a pot now please?”

Irene relented on that fight, and they fell back into that comfortable rhythm. Wendy’s mind wondered for a moment, as it always did everytime she was doing day-to-day tasks with Irene, at what point in their relationship would they stop bickering about who was washing the dishes. Would it stop after they started living together, and then, would they instead argue because nobody would wash the dishes instead? Wendy was pretty confident that she would be fine with washing all the dirty dishes that the two might have in the future but, then again, the future was never exactly set in stone. For all Wendy knew, their relationship might not even reach the living together part.

Not when she was a lousy girlfriend who didn’t get her partner anything for their hundredth day.

Wendy’s dampened mood hadn’t improved when they finished washing the dishes. And her emotion must’ve slipped through, because Irene caught on it and dragged the both of them to the sofa.

“Do you not feel well?” Irene asked, the back palm of her hand touched on Wendy’s forehead to check on her temperature. “Probably Seulgi’s illness is contagious.”

“I’m fine, Joohyun. Really,” Wendy grinned as wide as she could. It must’ve looked rather eerie than reassuring. 

“Your temperature is fine, I think,” Irene muttered, still not entirely convinced that Wendy didn’t catch whatever that made Seulgi sick. “But, to be safe, I should be the one that stays the night here, then.”

“No! I thought we agreed that I should be the one who stayed. I am the one with the driving licence! I mean, in case Seulgi needs professional help then I can drive her to the hospital.”

“Well, a driving licence won’t be much help if you’re sick too.”

“It’s more efficient, then. I can drive the both of us to the hospital!”

Irene frowned. It was clear that she wasn’t impressed by Wendy’s faulty logic, but Wendy continued on before the older girl could argue.

“We agreed on this, Hyun.” Wendy used the nickname she knew Irene couldn’t win against. “You stay with Seulgi for the afternoon, and I stay overnight. And I’m fine. All healthy. Really. I can run a marathon tonight if you want me to.” Irene raised an eyebrow. “Well, not a real marathon, you know me. Maybe a kiddy marathon for kids where they only need to run one full lap and then you’d get a lemonade as a reward. The point is, I’m fine. Cross my heart, I promise.”

Irene stayed mum for a moment, contemplating Wendy’s words before she let out a soft sigh. Wendy knew Irene had already given in at that point.

“Promise me you’d call if anything happens?”

Wendy grinned, all victorious. “Yes. I promise.” Irene’s shoulders slumped down as she leaned back on the sofa. “And you know that if we could, I would love it if the both of us stay the night here, together. But it’s impossible to fit two sleeping grown adults here, even as criminally comfortable as this sofa is. Unless we’re risking severe back pain tomorrow. And I don’t want your back to hurt.”

Irene snorted before laughing as Wendy continued her ridiculous rambling. God, Wendy loved making Irene laugh.

“Fine. You stay the night.”

Wendy grinned as she nodded.

“But make sure to get some sleep. Don’t stay up the whole night, okay? Seulgi will be fine.”

“Yes ma’am,” Wendy said. “I promise I’ll do well.”

Irene smiled. The edges of her smile crooked in the typical Irene’s way that Wendy had always adored. “Oh, I know. You always do well.”

Her expression faltered for a split second, so Wendy stood up and quickly came up with a distraction.

“The night is still early enough. Do you want to watch a movie before you go? Seulgi has a lot of physical copies of movies in her study. I always ask her why she wouldn’t use Netflix or the internet like the rest of us but she insisted on having physical copies. I swear she’s sentimental in the most endearing way. Anyway, we can take a look and find something to watch–”

“Wait! Seungwan!”

Wendy stopped at her track, her hand already at the handle of Seulgi’s study. “Huh? Oh, Seulgi always showed me her collection, so I’m sure she’s fine with us watching something of hers. But you’re right. Maybe I should ask her first. I wonder if she’s deep asleep in her room. Waking her up for a short while wouldn’t hurt, right? I’ll just—”

Irene walked towards her, her hand that was holding her wrist tugged lightly and demanded her attention so Wendy turned to face Irene, all confused.

“Can you…” Irene paused, looking unsure, which was a rare look on Irene. “Can you sit on that sofa and wait for me? Just for a bit?”

Wendy didn’t understand any of it, but it was Irene. And she would do whatever Irene asked her in a heartbeat. So she went back to the living room and sat on the sofa. Irene, instead, opened the door of Seulgi’s study before disappearing inside the room. Before she could process what was going on, Irene came back out, carrying a big bouquet of flowers and other smaller stuff hidden behind the bouquet.

Peonies. Even from afar Wendy knew the flowers to be peonies, her favourite flower. She didn’t remember ever telling that to Irene.

“This is for you,” Irene said when she finally walked over to Wendy, bashfully as her eyes were glued down to the floor instead of Wendy. 

Wendy took the flowers, still too stunned to talk. She stared at the flowers in her hand. Despite being her favourite, Wendy had never held peonies before. It was always behind the glasses of a flower shop, or at a phone screen when someone searched on the web after she told them that peony was her favourite flower.

Before her shock wore off, Irene already handed her another gift. It was in a tiny box. 

“This is also for you,” Irene said, finally looking at Wendy’s eyes. “It’s a necklace. I, uh– Can I put it on you?”

Wendy nodded. She didn’t trust her voice enough to not falter.

Irene opened the box, and she carefully lifted up the necklace inside. Wendy realised her vision was getting blurrier, but even then, she knew that it was the most beautiful necklace she had ever seen. But the big bouquet got in the way of Irene trying to put it on Wendy. If she wasn’t out of her wit, she would’ve teased Irene for getting the biggest bouquet at the shop before she put down the flowers gently on the sofa. Wendy forced herself to not flinch as Irene put the necklace on her, even as Irene’s cold fingers brushed one side of neck.

Irene then walked back, taking a look at her work, seemingly pleased. “Beautiful,” Irene muttered, mostly to herself.

“Me? Or the necklace?” Wendy playfully asked, her voice cracked a bit at the beginning.

Irene snorted. “You, of course. But I’d say the necklace is not bad.”

“Well, I say the necklace is excellent,” Wendy said. “You see, my girlfriend has an immaculate taste. And she was the one who picked this one for me.”

Irene’s smile turned into a wide grin. “Is that so? Well,” she said, wearing her best sly look but she only looked endearing to Wendy. “Well, there is still one more thing your girlfriend wants to give you.”

It was an envelope.

“That’s a letter. But, read it later. Okay?”

Wendy brushed her thumb on the envelope. The paper was soft. There was nothing written on it, not even her name.

“Seungwan.”

Irene held her other hand that wasn’t holding the letter, and when Wendy looked up, Irene was staring at her typical soft eyes. The tears that Wendy had managed to hold back earlier returned as her eyes welled up.

Irene smiled in Wendy’s favourite way, crooked on the edges, and beautiful. 

“Happy a hundredth day, Son Seungwan.”

Wendy tried to blink away the tears, which helped but she was sure her eyes were still glassy. “You…” She cleared . “You counted?”

Irene’s smirk was gentler than usual. “Seungwan, I counted my winning score for our morning text competition. Of course I know when our hundredth day is.”

 “You’re only winning because you’re cheating.”

Irene gasped. “How does setting up an alarm every morning count as cheating?”

Wendy laughed, knowing she would always lose on this topic. 

“Thank you,” she said, rubbing circles on their laced hands. “Thank you for the peonies. Thank you for the necklace. Thank you for the letter. Thank you for counting.” The burn in flared stronger. Instead, she took a step forward, reducing the gap between them. “Thank you for making my past hundred days full of warmth. Thank you for choosing me, although I lack a lot. Thank you, Joohyun.”

Her last words were barely above a whisper, although she was sure Irene could hear them all when they were so close. But the thousand apologies that were in were on the brink to turn into words, and Wendy didn’t want to apologise. Not to Joohyun. Not on their hundredth day. Not ever.

So, Wendy distracted herself.

She leaned in and kissed Irene on the lips. It was soft, she could feel her lower lips trembling as it met Irene’s, and Irene didn’t respond immediately, seemingly caught off guard by Wendy’s sudden act. But then Irene moved, her hand holding the back of Wendy’s waist, pulling them closer.

And for a while, the distraction worked. Because every time Irene kissed her, Wendy would never be able to think about anything else other than the kiss. How Irene’s mouth was gentle, yet insistent, pressing against hers. How she would first feel Irene on her lips, and then everywhere, as Irene’s hands would moved, tightening in the fabric of her clothes, her other one would travel from her waist to the nape of her neck, making the little hairs there stood, and ended up on Wendy’s cheek, giving them the softest caress she ever felt. 

Because even when she kissed, Irene was still irrevocably Joohyun. She paid attention to the tiniest details, noting to heart every little move that Wendy liked, and Wendy would feel those victorious smiles in their kisses every time Irene’s tongue traced the seam of her lips, or when she pressed her thumb on that spot into the dip of Seungwan’s collarbone.

But then Irene stopped. She felt something warm and wet on her cheek around where Irene’s thumb was and Wendy knew she had let a tear fall. She also knew that Irene must be looking at her with inquisitive eyes. So, she rested her head against the tip of Irene’s shoulder, hiding her face from Irene.

“Seungwan,” Irene called after a while. “Look at me, please?”

Wendy shook her head, adamant at burying her head on Irene’s shoulder.

“Did I…” Irene’s words trailed off. “What’s the matter? Do you not like the necklace?”

Wendy almost laughed if she wasn’t that upset. She shook her head again, still refusing to look up because if she did, Wendy was certain she’d bawl like a baby into Irene’s arms.

“Then, is it the flowers? Were they the wrong gifts? Did I give them at a weird timing? I mean, you were about to enter Seulgi’s study and I didn’t know what to do. I have never done an event like this before, so please tell me what I did wrong, so I can fix it.”

Wendy’s head jerked up at Irene’s words and she saw how some glimmers on Irene’s eyes faded as soon as she saw Wendy’s red eyes. 

“You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s me. I messed up.”

Irene’s eyebrows furrowed, but she said nothing. Instead, she waited for Wendy to go on.

 “It’s our hundredth day and I have no gift. I prepared nothing, and now I have a huge bouquet of my favourite flower, a stunning necklace, which I know must’ve cost a fortune. Everyone knows what brand it is from the colour of the box. And I have a letter, meaning I will cry as soon as I read them because your letters always make me cry, in a good way, of course. And…” Seungwan swallowed. “And you have nothing. Because I didn’t get you anything. Because I… messed up. I messed up.”

Her grip on Irene’s letter on her left hand tightened, and Wendy knew the ripple would stay.

Yet, Irene’s touch was gentle. “Look at me, please?” Irene held one of Wendy’s cheeks, softly nudging her face upward so their eyes would meet. 

“You didn’t mess up. Seungwan, you didn’t mess up. Can I ask you something?” After Wendy nodded, she continued, “Do my gifts make you happy?”

Wendy nodded again.

“Then I’m happy. See? That’s all I want. More than any flower or any necklace. And you have already given me the best hundredth day gift.”

The wrinkles on Wendy’s forehead deepened. “What did I…”

Irene smiled, coyly. “A kiss.”

Wendy groaned. “That’s not a gift! If anything, it’s a terrible gift.”

Irene laughed. “It’s not! It was a very good kiss, mind you. I enjoyed it a lot.”

 “You shouldn’t let people repay your gifts with kisses, Joohyun. They’re bad people. They’ll just take advantage of your kindness.”

“Not you. Never you.”

Wendy rolled her eyes, although she knew her cheeks were blushing profusely that they felt like burning.

“And Seungwan,” Irene continued, “I know if Seulgi wasn’t sick, I’d be somewhere with a circus or a string quartet, and you would be on your knees reciting love poems.”

Wendy pouted. “I don’t go that extreme.”

Irene hummed. “So, tell me. What was waiting for me if we didn’t have to be here?”

Wendy didn’t even need to ask Irene how she knew. Because it was Irene. Of course Irene knew.

“A dinner reservation and a box of flowers,” Wendy muttered defeatedly.

“You mean a giant box of flowers?”

Wendy pouted. “I couldn’t take any day off today and plan better things. A giant box of flowers was the least I could give you.”

Irene chuckled before leaning in, giving Wendy’s pouty lips a soft peck.

“There are no better things,” Irene said, their foreheads resting against each other. “Everything with you are good things, Seungwan. And I’m sure I’d enjoyed the dinner, and loved the flowers. Because you reserved the best restaurant in this town and picked the most beautiful flowers. And I’d be happy. But I’m happy now, too. So, very much.”

“Really?”

Irene kissed her again.

“Really. I promise. Cross my heart.”

Wendy chuckled. For the first time that night, her body finally felt light, and Wendy wasn’t running from Irene’s eyes anymore.

“Okay. But, can I take you on a date? On Saturday? I’ll pick you up from your apartment.”

Irene smiled. “Of course. Do I need to prepare for a string quartet then?”

Wendy grinned. “Maybe.”

Irene laughed. And Wendy’s heart soared at the sight of Irene laughing. She wished years later, if Irene let Wendy stay by her side, Irene would still find Wendy’s jokes funny enough to laugh at them.

“Well, it’s not a string quartet now,” Wendy continued, “but I can offer you my kisses. Would you like them? I’ve been told they’re very good.”

“Oh really?”

“Uh-huh. She even said she enjoyed them a lot.”

Irene smirked.

“So, maybe, we can put this lovely flower on the dining table over there and then watch a movie while we sit on the sofa and occasionally make out? Or, you know, just turn on the tv and let it be because we won’t be watching them as we’ll be too busy making out?”

Irene put her hand on Wendy’s waist, pulling her closer. “You think Seulgi won’t mind?”

“Eh,” Wendy shrugged. “She kinda owed us her life anyway. I’m sure this is a fair price to pay.”