Ok, so no one told Irene that she would be having a roommate so soon. 

In fact, no one told her that her sister, Joy, would be living with her for who knows how long. 

What the hell happened?

Well, apparently Joy had been living with Hyunwoo after returning from studying abroad. But they had gotten into a fight and Joy decided to leave him. However, she forgot to remember that she didn’t have any other place to go and ended up driving back to their parents’ home. 

Joy’s college was too far from their parent’s home and Irene’s place was the next best option. 

“Please,” Joy gave her best puppy eyes. “You won’t let your dear little sis go homeless!”

Irene wasnt’t heartless but she did like her privacy. She had gotten used to living alone and deciding what she wanted to do around the house. Accommodating another person would mean giving up her space—personal and literal. 

Irene agreed to let her stay but with the condition that Joy would have to follow her rules. 

Yep, that was going to be difficult. Joy was a person who enjoyed her social life and nighttime was the best time for finding excitement. Yeah, that meant curfew. 

“We’re adults now!” Joy spluttered. 

“This is my home. You can’t do whatever you want,” Irene persisted. “I have a schedule to follow.” She had to wake up early to prepare for her lectures and finish up any paperwork and grading. Sometimes there were meetings to attend in the early morning. 

Joy grudgingly agreed to the conditions but Irene wondered if there might be some fallout in the end. 

Besides, knowing Joy and Hyunwoo’s relationship, they would probably kiss and make up quickly. 

—

Wendy’s teammates were sympathetic when they all convened for practice again. She had a nose splint to protect her injury and make sure the bone and cartilage were healing correctly. It was kind of bulky and made Wendy feel self-conscious. She would have to keep it on for a few weeks. 

The doctor also recommended she buy a face guard, which was like goggles that covered the eyes and nose, so she could still practice. 

It was actually pretty useful and it really did the job. A soccer ball came flying at her and bounced off the face guard. 

She would most likely have to play her games with it on but hey, it was better than sitting on the sidelines. 

After practice, she changed back into casual clothing and headed to the library to pick up a book for class. 

Unfortunately, she found that the book happened to be on one of the higher shelves again. There weren’t any stools around and she certainly wasn’t going to carry one around the library. She stood on tip toe and raised her hand up high to calculate the jump height for the target. 

As she prepared the jump, a voice startled her and she doubled back. 

“Need help?”

A tall girl wearing interesting edgy clothing stood in the aisle. Before Wendy had a chance to reply the girl already picked out the book and handed it to her. 

“Thanks.”

“No problem.” The tall girl smiled. 

Wendy turned away and flipped through the book to make sure it was what she needed and went to check it out at the front. 

As she headed out of the library, she nearly crashed into Irene who was just as surprised to see her. 

“Hey Wendy!” Irene smiled brightly but fell with concern. “What happened

The younger girl was more shocked to see the book club president outside of club grounds. She wasn’t expecting to run into her at all and hadn’t even planned what she was gonna say. 

It also didn’t help that Irene looked great at all times of the day.

“Just an injury at the game,” she replied and tried to be cool about it. 

Irene frowned. “Wendy, you can be very vague a lot of the time.”

What?

Wendy felt her blood run cold. Did I make her annoyed?

“Ah well, ir really isn’t anything serious,” Wendy continued nervously. “I didn’t get a concussion or anything. Just a broken nose! Hehehe!” She was more nervous that the older woman was actually watching her and making eye contact. 

More than she could ever dream ~

Irene looked more horrified than reassured but she did not say anything more about it. “Are you going home?” She asked instead. 

“Yeah, I’m making dinner tonight.”

“Ah, I should let you go then,” Irene replied. “You will be at book club?” 

Wendy nodded even though she had painful amounts of homework to finish.

Just then, a strong breeze blew through the trees on the walk and sent leaves falling over them. 

Over Wendy mainly. 

She spluttered and shook her head as the leaves cascaded over her. This must be some message from hell that she should stop having a crush on Irene. 

As she dusted herself off, she realized that Irene was also helping to dust off the plant debris in her hair and shoulders. 

The IRENE BAE. PROFESSOR BOOK CLUB PRESIDENT LEADER IRENE BAE WAS TOUCHING HER! 

“You ok?” She barely heard Irene through her shock. 

Then, there was magic all around her. Time stood still when Irene’s thumb gently brushed against her cheek as she tucked back Wendy’s hair. 

The younger girl locked gazes with Irene’s soft brown eyes and her heart began to pick up the pace. 

This was probably the most contact she had ever had with Irene outside of book club. Was this a step forward?

Was this even allowed?

That broke through the crystal fog of dreamland and Wendy had to return to reality. 

“Y-yeah...Uh, I gotta go.” Wendy felt her cheeks warming up and began walking away before the conversation even ended.  

Irene simply waved at her with a smile and continued to walk into the library. 

Wendy couldn't help but turn around for a moment just as Irene disappeared behind the sliding doors. She glanced up at the trees for a moment just to see if Seulgi has been up there to rattle the branches for that specific scene. Hah, who am I kidding? Wendy thought when there was no sign of that crazy girl. She can't even do one pull up. 
 

With that, Wendy returned home and found Seulgi actually studying for once. Usually her friend would be playing Red Dead or Overwatch around this time. Wendy was sure her friend could have been a streamer for a living, but decided that it was probably for the better. Who knows what kind of people are roaming the net?

After dinner, Wendy retired to her room to study but her mind began to wander back to the day's events.

she and Irene had been standing so close. Irene was even initiating a sort of contact that definitely would not be appropriate between a teacher and student.

Im not her student though, Wendy told herself. So it's ok...right?

distracted, she went onto the internet to ask Giggle, but the answers were very discouraging. Forbidden, illegal, punishable....etc. Wendy regretted everything thinking of finding answers that already confirmed her misgivings.

Now she was unsure if this whole book club thing was as good an idea as Seulgi assured her it would be. 
 

--

heyo! How you doin? Sorry for the delay. Got a bit busy and hit with writer's block. Hope the chapter was alright.

i think jealous Bae will come later since it's still early in their book club friendship. Thanks so much for your feedback. Please let me know what you want to see next. I might have some wenjoy moments begin next chap!

thank you for your support! Stay safe!