Wendy thought she was about to combust as two pairs of eyes were directed at her now. Moping in misery for the past few months had not prepared her to face this situation, not in the least bit. Wendy was so certain that her relationship with Irene was over. Over. Yet, now Irene was right before her, Wendy was not dreaming, not at all. However, Wendy was becoming more and more self-conscious as time passed by. She wondered what would Irene make of her scandal, her dishevelled appearance, and worse, Joy in her apartment. Wendy gulped as her heart rate picked up at all these thoughts.

Joy was not helping the situation as she had retrieved the wine bottle from the cellar and resumed drinking, behaving as if she this was her own place. Wendy usually would not have minded however the situation was different now that Irene was here and was fuming.

“Wendy, you did not tell me that Irene was coming. If I had known earlier, I wouldn’t have had to come for you last night.”

Wendy winced and saw Irene’s nostrils flared slightly. The CEO looked as if she wanted to murder someone, perhaps the two of them.

Wendy urged to open to say something to clear up this misunderstanding but her body would not cooperate.

“Am I supposed to infer what has happened or is it already laid out before my eyes?” Irene said coldly.

It was then that Wendy realised what Irene was referring to. The clothes that Joy was wearing, they were articles from her wardrobe and Irene could tell easily because she had been through every single piece of thing in her apartment back when they were together. Every single one. Some were even picked out by Irene herself. For example, the outfit Joy was wearing right now and Wendy screamed internally for not having realised sooner.

“N-No… this is not what you think-” Wendy tried to explain.

Joy had interjected, “Wendy, your CEO is not blind to not have noticed our relationship. Irene, you don’t believe in Wendy’s scandal with Chanyeol do you? Which relationship is real and which isn’t, you should be able to distinguish right?”

Wendy blinked in confusion and that coy smile on Joy confused her even more. Wendy could not understand what her friend was trying to do.

Irene’s lips were taut and her eyes were as hard as onyx as they bore into Joy’s own. “No, I do not believe in that scandal but what are you insinuating? That your relationship with Wendy’s is?”

Wendy’s heart lurched. Irene had always been blunt and her words were dagger-like and Wendy missed that side of Irene. However, now, she was not placed in a predicament whereby she could enjoy Irene’s display of feistiness.

A corner of Joy’s lips lifted and Wendy knew that look of mischief all too well. Casting a warning glare in Joy’s direction, Wendy was desperate to urge her friend to not aggravate Irene any further but it was too late.

“Perhaps… if Wendy laying in my arms last night could be counted.”

Irene had visibly gone stiff. Wendy held her breath but could not refute because she could not remember if that could have been the truth or not, she had been too drunk and if she had denied it too hastily, she would be lying.

The atmosphere grew tenser.

“Believe me, Irene. Wendy is in good hands with me. Even though we cannot come out to the public, I would never allow Wendy to be insulted by anyone, especially not by my family members.

Both Irene and Wendy draw a sharp breath as memories flooded their minds.

**

Wendy’s head was throbbing, yet she could not rest, not when she was invited to perform at an important private dinner. Which and whose company’s private event, Wendy did not probe her manager about it. She was running a slight fever that day and all she wanted was for this event to be over and done with so she could return home, hopefully to the sight of Irene already waiting for her. The thought of seeing the CEO put a smile to her face and she found her much-needed strength.  

Never would she imagined herself to be blown away by the situation when she realised that this was  an event for the Chairman of the Bae organisation, parent company of B.M entertainment, Irene’s grandfather. Wendy’s pulse thrummed as she read and reread the words on the various banners put up across the ballroom during her rehearsal. Then she froze as Irene entered the still-empty ballroom. Confusion was written all over the heiress face and Wendy realised that Irene had only arrived early to survey the settings and must not have known about this arrangement as well. Irene made her way towards her as if entranced before she stopped herself as she snapped back to awareness. Wiping off any look of personal affection that might have been on her face, Irene regained her composure and strode towards her.

“Hello Wendy,” Irene held out a hand and greeted her.

Wendy put on a practiced smile and received Irene’s hand. “Good to meet you, Ms Bae.”

The corner of Irene’s mouth twitched but she maintained her smile. Irene then threw her head about before returning her gaze to Wendy. “Believe you are the only non-B.M artiste that we have invited to perform for today’s dinner. We will be looking forward to your performance later and hope you will enjoy the banquet as well. My family is a fan of yours, including myself.”

Wendy listed her head and gave a slight shrug. “That is an honour to hear, Ms Bae. Will be sure to give my best later.” It was later that Wendy realised that all performers were esteemed guests of the family as well and would be dining with them, when it was not their turn to perform.

Irene had her fist clenched the entire way back to a vacant holding room after she broke off from the short performance that Wendy and herself had put up earlier. If she had not arrived earlier to check on the banquet setup, she was certain that they would be even more ill-prepared to face one another. She laughed at the absurdity of this situation; of how they have fallen to the ploy of her malicious cousin who had suddenly showed enthusiasm in preparing for this birthday banquet for their grandfather. 

Irene knew that Kyunghwan, her eldest male cousin had long since bore a grudge when Irene was picked to be groomed as the successor of the Bae organisation and has been finding every means possible to topple Irene from her position. Past few weeks, Irene had the nagging feeling that she was being watched and she spotted the same silver-coloured car on multiple occasions. Now she was certain that her sixth sense had be