For the three fluff enthusiasts in the WR fandom: fanystaengoo, tinytushy and wenshyun, this is for you – after all the threats and tough love you had kindly given me (just kidding).

 

Heads up: I love all of the people being portrayed here, no hate intended to any of them at all. Most people will be OOC here as I took one prominent trait (that I know) from these characters and run along with it. Oh, Irene eats chicken here. Loves it even. If you’re not into that, best to run :/

 

 

Irene was restless.

 

She was aware that she had a successful career and a life many would kill to have, and she was grateful for it, but there was something haunting her lately. It was probably because most of the people her age (her closest group of friends in particular, aka the purple gang) had already settled down; some with kids of their own or in a stable relationship of some sort.

 

If she was to be honest, her loneliness most likely stemmed due to having none of her friends hang out with her anymore rather than her lack of romantic partnership. There was another bitter pill to swallow, namely that the topics they talked about greatly differed these days. While her friends would discuss romance and childcare, she would be stuck telling stories about her members. She had been told often too many times that she talked a lot about Wendy, and Irene decided that had to change. Life should not just revolve around her members - she should put herself out there more.

 

After all was said and done, her mind was probably still not in the right place when she announced in their dorm that she would be going on dates with people - people her age specifically, those who would be ready to settle down, just like her.

 

Irene was not surprised to see bewildered looks and agape mouths met this announcement.

 

“But I thought…” Seulgi’s voice trailed off as she looked questioningly at Wendy, who just shook her head and bit her lip, before sighing in resignation.

 

“Okay, unnie. We can help you with this. Where would you like to start?”

 

“Wendy unnie, are you sure about this?”

 

Joy protested and Irene blinked as Wendy and Joy exchanged looks, communicating through their eyes alone. Wendy’s face was expressive, as usual but Irene could not make head or tails of what was transpiring before her. If Joy’s constant frown was any indication, probably nothing good.

 

So, she sat and waited with Seulgi and Yeri, staring at the silent match of words in front of them like it was a game of tennis. Finally, Joy threw her hands in the air, giving in to whatever argument Wendy had made.

 

“Fine. Just for the record, if anything goes wrong, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

 

Irene solemnly nodded, respecting Joy’s opinion. “Thanks, Sooyoung ah. Now, let’s get down to business. Do any of you know any 91-liners that I can date?”

 

Seulgi choked on her own saliva by Irene’s bold question while Wendy and Joy were lost in thoughts, mentally running through the list of 91-liners they knew.

 

Meanwhile, Yeri was not in such peril as she sported one of her infamous mischievous grins.

 

“I have an idea.”

 

Suho Kim Junmyeon (EXO - 1991.05.22)

 

“This is a bad idea.”

 

Suho remarked as he opened the chicken delivery package that Irene had ordered about half an hour ago. They had pulled chairs together in the middle of the practice room, placing their food on two chairs designated as their makeshift table. It was a dire start to Irene’s series of first dates.

 

“It’s Yerim’s, were you expecting something else?”

 

Both sighed at the same time. Despite Irene’s vehement protest, Yeri was hell-bent on having Irene went on a date with Suho (she had honestly forgotten that Suho was the same age as her and was technically single) while they figured out a list of other suitors for her.

 

“Think of it as a warmup, unnie! You haven’t been on a date for so long, what better way to start again than going on a date with your best friend?”

 

In normal circumstances, Yeri might have made a good point but the way things were right now, they could not go out of the company in case the tabloid spotted them. Not that they minded, since they were both aware they had no feelings for each other; but explaining and denying their relationship status shall it get out would be too much of a hassle, so they decided to meet at the practice room after one of EXO’s practices.

 

Irene took out her phone with one hand while her other hand manoeuvred a pair of chopsticks, stealing her favourite parts of the chicken before Suho could get them. Suho grumbled as he settled with the remaining parts of the chicken that Irene had deemed unbecoming of her palate and chewed quietly as Irene scrolled her phone, ignoring him completely.

 

The silence would last for about 10 minutes before Irene felt a kick to her leg. She looked up from her phone, glaring at the culprit who was eating his meal like nothing had happened.

 

“What do you want?”

 

“I thought this is supposed to be a date, so why are you on your phone?”

 

Irene snorted, annoyed by Suho’s antics. “Forget it. Let’s just get this over with so that you can chase after Sehun or something.”

 

Suho’s jaw dropped and he frantically looked around, heaving a relieved sigh once he confirmed that they were the only people in the room. He lowered his voice and hissed at Irene.

 

“I did not tell you about my drunken escapade just for you to make fun of me.”

 

Irene smirked, amused as she recalled the revelation from a very red and panicked Suho a few months back. It had been a roller-coaster ride for him since then, based on the texts he bombarded in their chatroom. It was a series of unfortunate events about him trying to avoid the youngest member of EXO yet always finding themselves stuck in the same room somehow, alone.

 

“Making fun of you? I’m cheering for you. You go, sugar dad, man cougar, I’ll be cheering for you.”

 

“You’re saying this as if I’m the only one here who got it bad for a 94-liner.” Suho grumbled. Luckily for him, Irene missed his complaint as Wendy chose that very moment to step in the practice room carrying a guitar behind her back.

 

“Oh, am I interrupting something?”

 

“Wannie! Of course not. Are you here to practice for your duet with Seulgi? Come and join us, we ordered too much chicken for two people.”

 

Wendy looked like she was going to refuse the offer, but she changed her mind as quick, pulling a chair beside Irene while throwing a tight smile to Suho. The man wanted to point out that if Irene intended for this to be a first date practice, she was doing a horrible job at it by inviting Wendy to sit with them but wisely, he shut his mouth.

 

Suho knew better than to mess with Irene when it came to Wendy.

 

“How’s the date going?”

 

Wendy mumbled incomprehensibly, mouth full of chicken. Suho raised his eyebrows as he watched Irene happily set some chicken cuts on Wendy’s plate, the very same ones she had painstakingly saved for herself moments ago.

 

“This is a pretty poor excuse of a date, if you ask me.”

 

Irene stage-whispered, to which Suho rolled his eyes. As if he was the one scrolling through his phone while eating and inviting someone else to join them but again, he chose to keep mum and opt to finish his food instead so that he could leave the two alone.

 

“Suho likes someone else! How can we go on dates together?”

 

Irene laughed her trademark dolphin laugh, amused that Suho agreed to go on a date with her although he liked someone else. Wendy chuckled along but she abruptly stopped when she heard Suho’s whisper,

 

“I’m not the only one in this date who likes someone else.”

 

Suho was staring straight at Wendy with a knowing smile, as Irene continued laughing, oblivious to it all.

 

Solar Kim Yongsun (Mamamoo - 1991.02.21)

 

Irene loved Seulgi, she really did. They had known each other for over a decade now and while Irene had learned to trust her more than anyone else at this point, sometimes Seulgi's momentary lapse of judgement slipped her mind and it always happened in the most inconvenient of times.

 

Today started well enough. Seulgi had casually informed her last night that she would be meeting Solar later this afternoon and while she was initially shocked by the last-minute notice, there was still ample time for her to prepare for the date, so she did.

 

They had agreed to meet at a famous cafe in Seongnam. It would not make the list of the most discreet meeting places, but Seulgi had informed her that Solar enjoyed eating good food and the cafe served one of the most delicious tteokbokki she had ever known. Being a tteokbokki lover herself, it did not take much to convince Irene.

 

Irene was a little anxious since she knew Solar and herself could be a little slow in warming up to new people - and oh my god what if it turned awkward? Irene was not sure she could stand that.

 

Thankfully, they did not have to converse much, not when the service was fast and they got their food almost as soon as they finished exchanging pleasantries. Solar seemed like she was looking for someone when she first arrived, but all was forgotten as soon as a bowl of steaming tteokbokki was placed before her.

 

Then another.

 

And another.

 

By Solar's fourth bowl of tteokbokki, Irene was half-convinced that Solar was doing this on purpose to avoid talking to her if not for the face of genuine ecstacy Solar was sporting.

 

Determined to make the most of her first (real) date, Irene wiped with a napkin and cleared , failing to realize that more familiar faces had walked in the cafe.

 

"Thank you for coming to this date."

 

Solar choked on a fishcake and in panic, Irene shoved more tteokbokki in , leaving Solar to fend for herself as she patted her chest and took a huge gulp of drink. When she could breathe again, she asked in a strangled voice.

 

“This is a date?”

 

Solar’s looked up, bewildered when suddenly Moonbyul pulled a chair beside her, face disgruntled as she wrapped an arm around Solar's frame. Irene swallowed her food, heavy feelings of dread settled in her chest as her mind frantically tried to come up with an explanation on why she was on a date with someone else’s girlfriend.

 

Before Irene could navigate herself out of the situation, someone eased in the seat beside hers and she almost gave herself a whiplash when she turned to see Wendy by her side, grinning at the couple in front of them.

 

“Yes, Solar unnie. Double date. You and Moonbyul unnie with Irene unnie and I.”

 

Wendy sent an apologetic look to Irene, but she did not mind Wendy’s appearance at all. Instead, she slid her hand along Wendy’s arm under the table and gave it an appreciative squeeze.

 

Moonbyul was apprehensive at first but no one could stay guarded long with the bubbliness that was Wendy Son Seungwan. Before long, they were all chatting and laughing together, events from early on forgotten completely. Solar was on her fifth bowl of tteokbokki and Moonbyul seemed like she was on a mission to bother Solar with her greasy lines every 5 minutes or so, which reminded Irene of Wendy since the woman would do the same to her as well, especially in moments she could not retaliate without being unprofessional. Sometime during the double date, Wendy found the time to subtly whisper to her that the couple before them was actually dating and Irene was mortified to think that she was on a ‘date’ with someone else’s girlfriend.

 

If it was not for Wendy, she would probably have gone home and beat Seulgi’s but somehow, all was well Wendy was here and Seulgi narrowly missed her death sentence.

Choi Minho (SHINee - 1991.12.09)

 

Irene could own up the next date as her own idea but honestly, it was more fun to blame Yeri because she was being weirdly encouraging about the whole thing. Not that it was a surprise, since she was close to Choi Minho and he was like her own mischievous brother partner-in-crime sometimes.

 

Plans were made and the universe aligned and that was how Irene ended up wearing an enormous hat, huge sunglasses and a scarf that covered half her face as she went on a freaking hike with the athletic man. It was dark when they started hiking but now the sun is high up in the sky and they were close to the peak and Irene thought she was dying. It did not help that Minho tried to strike up a conversation with her in every other step they took. He sure talked a lot.

 

“Hey hey Irene, have you heard that people ship us together?”

 

“I don’t,” Irene huffed, the air having out of her lungs, “really care.”

 

She took another step forward, almost stumbling back if it was not for Minho holding out his hand, steadying her frame.

 

“Whoa, careful there. Can’t let you get hurt here or else-” Minho stopped mid-sentence and Irene squinted her eyes in suspicion (not that the man could see from her dark sunglasses). “Anyway, wanna take a break? We should reach another rest area soon and you can take off your whole, uh, disguise there since there won’t be a lot of people this high up.”

 

In better days, Irene would probably have launched a lecture on Minho about how they should always be careful since they never knew which prying eyes and quick fingers would sell their pictures to tabloids but at the moment, that was probably the best idea she had ever heard that day.

 

The track to the resting point was more even and Irene used the time to catch her breath during the walk, evaluating her current date at the background sound of her heavy breaths and deep gulps.

 

Minho was an okay guy - even if he talked too much about himself. But that was hardly a fair observation when she could barely let out a word while they were trekking through the rough terrain purposely chosen by Minho because he ‘liked the challenge’. The naive Irene had agreed then, only because she did not know the horror waiting for her.

 

Throughout the hike, she learned that Minho had picked up smoking while he was shooting one of his films and then made a painstaking effort to quit. She also had to listen to funny stories about his friends, criticism about SM’s business plan and even his workout routine. The last one Irene could have really done without.

 

As they approached the rest stop, Irene was relieved to see the place was mostly surrounded by old people who were stretching or working on Tai Chi routine. There was also a family with a few young kids who seemed preoccupied and she was convinced that it would be fairly safe for her to take her disguise kit off when her eyes stopped on the back of a figure with a baby blue sweater who was chatting with her companion, another woman that Irene knew too well.

 

Irene quickened her steps and as she got closer to the figure in blue, she was practically jumping in her arms while calling out her name.

 

“Wendy!”

 

Wendy turned around, surprised but as always, was ready to catch Irene. They - along with the other woman Wendy was with, Yoojin, one of their backup dancers - laughed when the shock from Irene’s sudden entrance settled. Irene had completely forgotten about Minho as she fussed over Wendy, checking the woman thoroughly as Wendy helped to take off her brimmed hat, sunglasses and scarf.

“You were still in the house when I left, how did you get here faster than me?”

 

“Well, Yoojin and I used the paved road and it was easier to get up here. We had actually reached the peak but we didn’t see you so we figured it would be best to come down again and wait for you so that we can go up together.”

 

Wendy smiled and Irene beamed, equal part pleased and equal part touched by Wendy’s thoughtfulness. Only then she belatedly realized that there were other people around them. Ignoring Minho’s presence completely (he was trailing behind Irene and was greeting Yoojin), Irene addressed Yojin’s presence with a little animosity in her voice.

 

“Wait, why are you here as well?”

 

“I’m on a hiking date with Wendy unnie.”

 

Yoojin chirped happily and Irene felt dark clouds surrounded her as she narrowed her gaze at the much younger dancer. Do they really need six backup dancers for their concert? Surely, they could manage with just five of them, six was quite aplenty. They could not afford having someone who was so...distracting in their team. Red Velvet would be in great trouble if Wendy’s focus was compromised. Whatever she was going to do, it would be for the betterment of the whole team. Irene could barely register Wendy’s panicked voice as she entertained her vicious thoughts.

 

“No! It’s not a date! We’re here together because I was worried about you because you rarely hike, so I invited Yoojin to come along with me since the rest of the kids would rather jump off this hill than climbing it and that’s why it’s just me and Yoojin!”

 

Wendy barely took a breath while she spoke and even Minho, the representative rapper of SHINee was nodding to himself, impressed by Wendy’s ability. Irene eyed Wendy and Yoojin suspiciously, trying to determine who was telling the truth.

 

It did not take too long for her to find her answer as she looped her arms around Wendy and dragged her away from the other two.

 

“Well, it’s been nice of you to wait for me so let’s go to the top together now! Come on, Wendy. There’s no need to wait for them, they’ll just slow us down.”

 

“Wa-wait unnie, what about your disguise? And weren’t you tired a moment ago? Shouldn’t you catch your breath first?”

 

Irene would deny all of Wendy’s protest, but the duo left behind would not get to hear it since Irene was intent on keeping a safe gap between them for reasons known only to herself.

 

Watching everything unfold before them, Minho and Yoojin stared as the re-energized Irene disappeared with Wendy, amused by the turn of events. Minho turned around to Yoojin and asked her the question that had been on his mind for a while now.

 

“She hasn’t realized it yet huh?”

 

Yoojin shrugged, slowly making her way up again. “Not yet but at this rate, it seems like Wendy-ssi will have to suffer a bit longer.”

 

Park Chorong (Apink - 1991.03.03)

 

Joy was the one who came through for Irene’s next date. Although she was still hesitant about the whole thing, she did make some complicated arrangement that Irene could not really understand but the gist of it was that she contacted Hayoung, who was eager to help out and basically volunteered her shy leader as Irene’s next date.

 

Keyword: shy.

 

Irene understood all too well how it felt to be an introvert, heck, even she herself was one and it was hard for her to meet new people but Chorong? Chorong was a whole new level of recluse. She barely talked to Irene and agreed to go on every ride she suggested, even if at the end of some of them her knees were shaking so hard, she could barely walk.

 

They had their lunch at one of the many overpriced restaurants located strategically in the theme park and Irene was starting to feel suffocated by the heavy silence hanging between them. Unable to hold back any longer, she blurted out the one thing that had been in her mind since they went on their first ride of the day.

 

“Chorong-ssi, if you don’t mind me asking something…”

 

Chorong tilted her head while sipping the strawberry milkshake she had ordered. Her round eyes and cheeks reminded Irene so much of someone else, but she shook her head slightly. She could not get distracted, not now.

 

“Hayoung told you that this is a date, right? From the way you’re acting, it doesn’t seem like you’re interested in the date.”

 

Irene was not expecting Chorong to jump out of her seat, flustered as she bowed and apologized profusely. Her voice went several pitches higher as she explained herself, or attempted to. Irene caught something along the lines of ‘plan’, ‘jealous’ and ‘oblivious’ but for the love of everything holy, she could not make head nor tail of Chorong’s explanation.

 

Irene nodded, absent-minded when she noticed that there was some dust stuck on Chorong’s hair. She reached out and brushed it off, and her action did not break Chorong out of her sudden tirade. Out of nowhere, a sudden chill ran down her spine and Irene shivered, looking around only to look straight into the piercing glare of an Apink member, Jung Eunji. Irene gulped when she saw Eunji marched to where they were. It was obvious that Eunji did not ‘accidentally’ show up; she must had been lingering around them for some time now and only appeared when Irene got too bold.

 

For a moment, she thought that she had snatched somebody’s girlfriend again but then she saw the clueless look that Chorong had on her face - although the blush she had was also very telling.

 

“Eunji? What are you doing here? I thought you have a recording at the company today.”

 

“Yeah, that got postponed.”

 

That was a light comment, but the way Eunji’s eyes twitched told Irene that there might be more to the story.

 

“Anyway! I heard that you’re here so I’m here as well! Remember the space drop ride you wanted to try? It’s open now! Let’s go, unnie.”

 

“Ah…” Chorong looked apologetic. “Irene-ssi here is afraid of height, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

 

“It’s okay, Chorong-ssi. Please go on ahead. I’m feeling a bit light-headed after the previous ride anyway...but I should be fine after sitting down for a bit.”

 

Irene hurriedly added when Chorong opened , ready to protest but upon Irene’s assurance and Eunji’s insistent pull, she gave in and promised that she would see Irene again after the ride was over.

 

She sat at a bench underneath a tree, getting lost in her thoughts. It would not be for long though, as she got startled when someone sidled close to her. Her apprehension quickly turned to joy as she realized it was Wendy, and Irene did not wait a second more before linking their arms together and resting her head on Wendy’s shoulder.

 

“How did you know where to find me?”

 

“Eunji texted me, saying that I should just take you home since she would not let you spend any more time with Chorong unnie and I quote, ‘for as long as she has unholy intent’. She really skipped out of the studio when she heard that Chorong unnie is having a date with you today...her producer is gonna yell her head off.”

 

Irene giggled, feeling Wendy’s body shook along with her. “Those two really like each other, huh? I wonder why Chorong hasn't noticed that her feelings are reciprocated. She’s pretty dense huh?”

 

There was a prolonged silence that stirred up unsettled feelings within Irene. But before she could nudge Wendy about it, she heard a soft reply.

 

“Yeah. She’s pretty dense. I guess it’s harder to discern the feelings of people closest to us.”

 

Lay Zhang Yixing (EXO - 1991.10.07)

 

Hands down, this would probably be the depressing date Irene had been on so far.

 

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