While walking in the school's hallway, Wendy suddenly grinned happily on Irene.

"Ring ring, tonight is our chance!" Wendy told Irene.
"Chance to go out?" Irene asked.

Wendy nods excitedly.

"Mom won't be home tonight since she needs to go somewhere as the queen", said Wendy.
"That's great. Let's do it tonight, then. It would sure be safe without her in the house", said Irene.

After classes that day, Wendy ran into Irene once again in the palace.

"I see you more often these days. Don't you feel annoyed?" Wendy asked Irene.
"I am delighted instead, your highness", said Irene.
"Stop with the sweet-talk. No need to do that. It's only the two of us here anyway."
"Should I say I'm annoyed, then?" Irene starts talking informally.

Wendy looks away and says, "If that's what you feel deep inside, then okay."

Seeing her cute expression, Irene laughed and messed Wendy's hair.

"I'm not annoyed at all. I'm actually very thankful everytime you see me in the palace since you make my works easier for me by helping me", said Irene.

Wendy looks at her like an innocent pup and asks, "Are you sure?"

Irene nods with a smile.

"Thank you, your highness" Irene bows gracefully.

"I'm really excited about tonight. City lights... I'll finally get to see it." Wendy smiles.
"Don't be too excited. When a person gets too excited about something, it doesn't happen at all or something wrong happens in the middle of it. You sure won't like that to happen, won't you?"
"Of course! But what else could go wrong now that mom won't be home the whole night?" Wendy confidently said.
"Who knows?"
"Can you just say yes?"
"No", Irene shortly answered.
"Stop filling yourself up with negativity Ms. Bae."
"I thought we agreed not to talk formally when it's just the two of us?"
"Just wanted to say that. Bae Joohyun is seriously a wonderful name. Sorry you had to hide it for us." Wendy apologized.
"Hush, someone might hear us." Irene warned her.
"Oh, yeah, sorry."

That night, Wendy was so excited that she even bought some chips for them to eat while seeing the night lights.
Irene was already getting ready when suddenly, her phone beeped.

"Since mom won't be with us, can we have some hot choco as planned last time?" Seulgi suddenly texted Irene.

"What should I do? Wendy is waiting and I promised her this but I also can't say no to Seulgi for some reasons. Seriously, what should I do now?" Irene bites her thumb.

"Are you ready?" Wendy suddenly came in.
"You shocked me! Okay, let's go. Just wait for me outside", said Irene.

She took her phone and replied to Seulgi, "Let's do it around midnight, can we? I still got something to do now, I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I'll wait." Seulgi replied.

"Uh, saved!" Irene felt relieved.

As planned, she took Wendy to a place where she could see loads of night lights; a building's rooftop.
Wendy was so mesmerized, she wasn't able to say even just a word.

"Did you like it?" Irene asked.
"As expected..." Wendy turns to Irene with a bright smile on her face.
"I loved it!"

Her bright smile made Irene smile too.

"Quick, have a seat. I bought some chips for us to eat while watching the stars and night lights", said Wendy.

Irene checks the time.

"The thing is..." Irene bites her lip
"I still got something to do so we need to go back", said Irene.
"Can't you just do it tomorrow? We don't have classes tomorrow anyway."

Irene shakes her head and says, "I'm afraid not."

Wendy smiles weakly and nods.

"Okay, you can go now."
"How about you?"
"I can go back by myself."
"Okay, take care. Bye." Irene leaves.

On her way back home, she felt really bad about leaving Wendy behind because of her reaction when she told her she had to go.

"I want to go back but how about Seulgi?" Irene covers her face with her palm.

"I'm really so stupid."

She came back home and as planned, Seulgi and her went out.

When Wendy came back, she checked Seulgi's and Irene's room and found non of them inside.

"I knew she would go and see her." Wendy smiles.

"What...." Wendy touches her cheek.
"What is this?" She looks at the mirror.
"Am I-- crying? But why am I--" Wendy holds her aching chest.
"Why did I-- Why did I even think she'd be as excited as me?" She sobs.

The next day, they headed to the palace together early in the morning.

"Why was Wendy so silent?" Irene wondered.
"Her eyes looked swollen too. Did I make her cry when I left her?" Irene feels really guilty about it.

She waited for Wendy the whole day but she didn't see her at all.

"Ms. Bae", Mrs. Gazel calls her.
"Yes, Mrs. Gazel?" Irene stands up in shock.
"Princess Seulgi is asking for you."
"I'll be there, Mrs. Gazel." Irene's guilt was replaced with excitement right away.

"I'm here, your highness." Irene bows.

Happily, Seulgi came to her, running.

"I missed you." She whispered into her ear.

Hearing her words, Irene wasn't able to help herself from smiling. Seulgi pulled her away from the door to make sure no one would hear them from outside.

"Thank you, Irene. I wish we could spend more time like that together in the future." Seulgi smiles.
"You're always welcome. As long as we have the chance to, we can do it. And if we fail to, don't worry, because we can still call each other and send each other messages. We have each other's number, remember?" Irene smiles.
"We never called each other though."
"Should we do it every night, then?" Irene asked.
"If it's fine with you--" Seulgi shyly said.
"Of course, it is." Irene answered.

Seulgi smiles sweetly and says, "Let's do it, then."

Since that night, Seulgi and Irene have been calling each other every night secretly. They even hid under their pillows to make sure no one would hear them.


[AFTER 2 DAYS]

Irene ran onto Wendy at the palace so she wanted to greet her but Wendy suddenly walked away.

"Is she avoiding me? She also didn't talk to me the whole day at school and she was surprisingly silent. Is she still mad about what I did last time?" Irene wondered.

That very night, Irene knocked at Wendy's room before going to sleep.

"Wendy?" Irene calls her.

Wendy didn't say a word.

"Hey, let's talk, can we? I really won't be able to sleep well if you stay this way."

"Why won't she even be able to sleep well just because of unimportant me?" Wendy shakes her head.

"I know you're still up and you can hear me, so I'll say this even if you don't want to open up the door for me."

Wendy listens.

"I'm sorry for leaving you behind as if you were unwanted. The truth is, Seulgi asked me to have hot choco with her that night. I didn't really know what to say so I agreed to go with her even if we had plans. That was very bad of me, I know. I hope you'll forgive me for that already", said Irene.

Wendy opens the door and sees Irene looking sincere and sad at the same time.

"It's okay. At least now you already told me why you left me. That's enough." Wendy smiles.
"But don't you dare do that again, okay?" Wendy reminded her.

Irene nods continuesly.

"I'll be a better friend this time", Irene smiles.
"Okay, go to sleep now." Wendy pinches Irene's nose.
"Good night!" She closes her door again.

Irene smiles and holds her chest.

"Now the heavy feeling's gone. Great job, Joohyun." She told herself.


-------------------------------------

Wendy sees Irene doing something with Mrs. Gazel.
She came close to see what it is and to know if Irene's doing well.

"Good afternoon, your highness." Mrs. Gazel bows as soon as she notice Wendy.
"Good afternoon, your highness" Irene does the same.
"Good afternoon. I see you two are busy here", said Wendy.
"I'm teaching her how to do things she could help on for her majesty's upcoming birthday", said mrs. Gazel.
"I see. Go on. I'll just watch since I've got nothing else to do", said Wendy.

As the princess commanded, they continued with their lessons.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Gazel. The queen is asking for you."
"I'll be there", said Mrs. Gazel.

"Just keep practicing. Show me your finished works when I'm back."
"Yes, Mrs. Gazel." Irene nods.

Wendy sits down beside Irene.
Without saying a word, she took a ribbon and tried to tie it the way Irene was.
Silently, Irene watched Wendy.

"How do I even.." Wendy tilts her head with her brow raised.

Irene chuckled and said, "You're doing it totally the wrong way. Let me teach you."

Irene went behind her and held her hand from behind to guide her thoroughly. Thinking Irene was technically hugging her, Wendy wasn't able to help herself from smiling.

"There! Easy, isn't it?" Irene asked.
"It's done?" Wendy looks at at ribbon on her hand.
"Oh, wow! It's beautiful!" Wendy gets amazed.
"You didn't even know it was already done. Were you doing it with your eyes closed?" Irene raises her eyebrow.

Wendy just chuckled and told Irene to help her do it again. She ignored her question because actually, she wasn't closing her eyes but looking at Irene at the mirror near them.

"Do you get it now?" Irene asked.
"I guess so..." Wendy answered.

Irene sits down in front of Wendy and continues her work.

Wendy pretends to do it while looking at Irene, still.
Irene felt it and looked at her.

"Why?" Irene asked.
"Why so cold?" Wendy chuckled.

Irene keeps silent.

"I just think you're beautiful."

Wendy's words that came out out of nowhere made Irene blush madly. Not wanting Wendy to see it, Irene looked down but it was already too late.

"Are you blushing?" Wendy lifts Irene's head up to see her face clearly. Seeing how shy she looks, Wendy felt really pleased for an unknown reason. She found her so cute, she wanted to pinch her cheeks.

"Joohyun?"

Suddenly, Seulgi came. An enough reason for Wendy to take her hand off Irene's face. Irene stood up and asked right away, "Do you need anything, your highness?"
"A maid told me I could find you here. I thought you were left alone by Mrs. Gazel that's why I came", said Seulgi.
"Princess Seungwan is here with me but you can also join us if you want to. I can teach you how to do this." Irene shows Seulgi the ribbon she made.
"It's just us three so I think talking informally is fine. What do you think?" Wendy asked Seulgi.

She answers with a single nod.

"Are you done with your homework?" Seulgi asked Wendy.
"Uhm--" Wendy smiles awkwardly while rubbing her nape.
"You better do it now", said Seulgi.
"Would you like me to help you?" Irene asked.
"You will? Yay!" Wendy claps like a kid, making Irene smile with her cuteness.
"I'll be going for now, princess Seulgi. I'll be back as soon as I can." Irene bows before leaving with Wendy.

"She said she'll teach me how to do it..." Seulgi looks down with her eyes filled with sadness.


---------------------------

"What made you want to help me suddenly?" Wendy asked.
"Actually I haven't done mine too and I think it would be better to do it now instead of doing it later at home. Mrs. Gazel won't be able to say I'm slacking off if I'm helping you, right?"
"Clever idea. But I thought you were here to really help me. That was disappointing."
"Well, I will, so it's not a lie or something."
"Really..." Wendy mumbles.
"What?" Irene asked.
"Didn't say anything", Wendy lied.

While doing their homework, Wendy sighed and said, "I really don't get it. Can you teach me how to do this?"
"That's simple. Good thing I'm done with my homework. I'll help you, like what I said earlier." Irene keeps her book.

She explained everything to Wendy slowly. Little did she know, Wendy actually knows how to do things properly. She was just pretending just to get her attention and see if she's really willing to help like what she said earlier.

"Do you get it now?" Irene asked.
"Oh, yes!" Wendy laughs awkwardly.
"That's good. I'll be leaving now. I still need to continue with what I was doing earlier. See you later, Wendy!" Irene smiles.

Wendy puts her pen down and holds her chest.

"What is this pain I'm feeling everytime she chooses to see Seulgi more than me?" Wendy asks herself.


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