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Book Club Chronicles

Wendy shouldered on an olive green jacket over her black tee, and fixed her hair up into a ponytail. Her hair was getting a bit long, she noticed and she tousled her bangs which were beginning to cover her eyes like curtains. 

She felt a little giddy and anxious. After the encounter outside the library, she wasn’t sure how she would face Irene again. That scene kept replaying in her dreams and it was so good but also too misleading. 

Irene might just have been being “friendly” since they were in book club together. 

Also, she might have been reading too much into it. 

Did Irene remember it too? Or maybe it was just something in passing in her day. The older woman was probably too busy to think much of it anyway...or me for that matter, she thought glumly. 

Now that Wendy was thinking about it, the whole crush on Irene and possible relationship in the future seemed too far fetched. It seemed like one of those high school kids-infatuated-with-their-teacher type of love, which was usually all in fleeting. Time would pass and they would ditch the idea and move on. 

It’s infatuation, Wendy told herself. Maybe I will feel differently later. 

Just that mere thought made her feel down in the dumps, and she wondered whether or not to skip. 

It would be best not to fuel her romantic interest and fantasies in Irene...

But the idea was short lived as Seulgi burst into the room to haul her into the car and drive her away to Irene’s house. 

Wendy dragged her feet up the steps with half a mind to just beat it out of there and make a legitimate excuse about assignments piling up. But just before she had the chance to even make her move, the door swung open and she was face to face with the same tall girl from the library. 

“Oh hey!” The tall girl exclaimed. “You’re that girl!”

“Uh hey,” Wendy waves awkwardly. 

“What brings you here? You know my sis?” The tall girl asked. 

“Yeah. I’m in her book club,” Wendy replied. She didn’t know Irene had a sister. 

“Joy, are you still there?” Wendy heard Irene from the back. “You’re letting in the cold!”

The tall girl, Joy, let Wendy in and shut the door. “So what’s your name?”

“Wendy.”

“Awww, it’s cute just like you!” Joy gushed. “I’m Sooyoung but you can call me Joy cuz I’m a bundle of joy!”

Wendy laughed awkwardly. “It’s nice to meet you.” 

At that moment a shadow looked over them the shadow of death itself and Wendy’s breath caught in when she saw Irene. God why did she always look so stunning? Her hair was down and she was wearing glasses. Damn, the woman looked great in anything! 

“Ah, you’ve met Joy!” Irene exclaimed. 

“Actually we met already!” Joy corrected her. “I helped this little cutie in the library the other day. She’s so small!”

Wendy felt a little awkward and uncomfortable that this Joy person who she hardly knew was calling her “cutie” and such. Also she would have felt a little flamed about being called short, but since this was Irene’s sister she let it off the hook. Besides, Wendy was just as tall as Irene when the woman wasn’t wearing heels.

When she snuck a quick glance at Irene, she noticed the woman’s face seemed to be a little dark but definitely serious. 

“Well, I gotta go!” Joy said quickly. “See ya, unnie! Bye Wendy!”

With that, the girl had flounced away like the wind leaving Irene and Wendy standing by the door together. They exchanged the usual formal greetings with a little small talk because Wendy didn’t know what else to say to a professor. 

The other girl members fussed over her injury and nose splint when she entered, but she assured them everything was just fine.

“How long does the season go for?” Irene asked because she didn’t know anything about university sports. 

“It ends early November. And then starts again next year.”

Irene seemed thoughtful but didn’t express anything. 

“How long do you have to kept that in?” Sehun asked regarding the nose splint. 

“Few weeks,” Wendy replied. “But it’s fine.”

Finally, they got started and they discussed the book to the fullest detail while sharing their favorite moments. Sehun and Hani got in a heated debate as usual.

 

At the end, they cleaned and Joy happened to return at the same time. The other adults did not stick around as usual although Sehun was the last to leave. He was talking to Irene about something in the kitchen, but Wendy couldn’t make out anything because Joy was animatedly talking to her about something. She hadn’t been paying attention even though she made her best effort to try. 

What was Sehun telling Irene? 

Were they dating?

Was he asking her out?

Maybe they made plans for dinner?

Oh my god. Wendy had an internal mental breakdown. Why am I feeding my fantasies if she’s not even interested?

But you don’t know that, another voice said. 

“Hey, Wendy?” Joy seemed a little concerned. “You ok?”

“Uh yeah. Sorry. What was that?” wendy broke from her racing thoughts. 

“I asked for your number. Maybe we can hang out sometime.”

Usually Wendy would say no, but she had been caught off guard and automatically said yes. A few seconds later, she had Joy’s number on her phone and already being asked about her schedule. 

“I see you’re getting along,” Irene suddenly appeared. She was wiping her hands on a towel and Wendy suddenly had a vision of Irene being a mother cooking for Sehun’s children. 

STAP! she screamed at her brain. 

“I should really get going,” Wendy said. “Thanks for tonight.”

Irene walked her to the front and Wendy’s arm accidentally brushed against hers in passing as she went outside. 

“Good luck on your games,” Irene told her. “See you next week?”

Wendy nodded. “See you next week.”

 

Irene had a hard time falling asleep that night. 

She felt bothered about something. And it definitely had nothing to do with Wendy and Joy. 

Ok...it did. 

She couldn’t believe Joy had the audacity to ask for Wendy’s number. They had only met once—twice apparently. 

Irene had questioned her sister why she never mentioned meeting Wendy at the library, but Joy merely shrugged stating it wasn’t important at the time.

she should be glad her sister was making friends here so quickly, right?

Furthermore, Sehun was acting weird again. He was being too close for her liking. He didn’t even help her in the kitchen, not that he had to, but she was doing all the cleaning while he just lounged.

Anyway, it was more disappointing knowing that Joy could easily interact with Wendy since they were the same age. 

There was a line between Irene and Wendy: Professor and student. And Irene was also way older. 

I’m not that old though...she tried to be reasonable. 

They were almost a decade apart. 

Irene buried her face in her pillow, trying not to feel these emotions. 

Why did you have to come into my life Wendy Son?

 

Heya! Hope this chapter was ok. Thanks for your feedback and also your support! 

I’m trying to update consistently but it’s a bit hard to come up with stuff quickly. 

 

It’s gonna be a journey now lol. Let me know what you want to see next!

Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!
hawkleap
for ch. 37~``

Comments

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bedofnails
#1
Chapter 43: Patiently waiting for their next date😊
Lina_99
#2
I Missed this story
Hoping for an update soon author-nim
Narutinho1 #3
Chapter 42: Wow this story is good, thank you autornim ... but i really need to know what happened next
Miyuki115
#4
Chapter 43: Thank you for the long awaited update. Their first date made my heart flutter!
xzonkedx
#5
Chapter 32: Awww. They are longing for each other but just keep denying.
Lina_99
#6
Chapter 43: Can't wait for the next chapter
Yoyonjin
#7
Chapter 43: Finally author-nim comeback
I'm happy to read this again and crying :")
Can't wait for the next chapter 💙
CorLeonisAuream #8
Chapter 43: Love your story so much!! After seen the update a decided to reread the whole thing, still love it so much!!
Can't wait to read whatever comes next!!
🙌🙌
Joanajade
#9
Chapter 43: Love this story
Baechu_1343
#10
Chapter 43: Welcome back author!! thanks for the update.

I hope their interactions will improve along the way. They're still awkward... Mainly Wendy LoL