Wendy stepped up to the front porch of Irene Bae's house. She was nervous to see her crush again.

Cuz this time, she had baked cookies for Irene as a gift of some sort. But WEndy had made sure to bake up three dozen so that there would be enough for the rest of the book club. It would look hella wierd if she only gave the cookies to Irene.

Wait, what am I going to say?

But it was already too late because the door opened and Wendy was blessed to be greeted by the goddess herself. 

"Hey, Wendy, how are you?" Irene stepped aside to let her in.

"I'm alright. And yourself?" Wendy replied.

"I'm good. Glad to be back home."

"That's good to hear." Wendy glanced down at her container of cookies and held them to Irene. "These are for you and the others."

Irene's eyes widened and she took the container. She peeled back the foil and the scent of freshly baked cookies leaked out. "Thank you Wendy. These look great."

Wendy followed her into the back room where the others were already set up for book club. Irene announced the generous gift Wendy had brought for them, and everyone gushed over her for being a 'sweetheart'.

"What's the occasion?" Sehun asked whne everyone quieted down.

. Wendy wished she had asked Seulgi about what to say before exiting that car. "Uh...just wanted to thank you all for...welcoming me into your group," she improvised and smiled after, hoping that everyone including SEhun would buy it.

"We're glad you're here too," Seohyun said. "Shall we get started, Irene?"

"Yes."

Book club went by faster than usual. Wendy was actually enjoying it now. She had only one more game left so she might not have to keep missing sessions - well, except for finals week. Wendy wondered if Irene might cancel a meeting due to the final exam schedule. That time of year was so busy before the break. 

After the session, Seulgi happened to arrive early because she wanted to hear the tea so Wendy was among the first to leave. Irene walked her to the door and waved her off. When Wendy took a glance back, Sehun was standing behind Irene, and she had the most pessimistic thought that Sehun and Irene could be easily mistaken for a couple.

"SO! How'd it go?" Seulgi asked excitedly.

"Unfortunately for you, nothing happened. Irene just looked surprised is all. There wasn't time to talk much since it's a group meeting."

"Did she try them?"

"Not in front of me."

"Damn. That would have been perfect. She could have seen that you are the perfect wife. You're the best cook, baker, physically fit, nice, funny, smart - you are the whole package!"

"Seul, that's not--"

"I can see it now: Irene comes back from work to find her wife, you, cooking in the kitchen for her," Seulgi went on and on with her love story drama floating above her head like a cartoon.

WEndy would have smacked her upside the head, but Seulgi was driving and hse didn't want to get them into an accident.

Besides, that wasn't going to happen. Joy had said that Irene didn't seem to be interested in relationships after her last one.

If anything, the baked goods were just a cute little gesture in Irene's mind. Nothing more.

"Her baking's pretty good," Sehun commented while he helped Irene clean up the place after the session. 

"It was nice of her," Irene replied. "Take some home with you. I won't be able to finish it all."

"Nah, I'm good. Share some with your sister." He pushed in the last chair and followed Irene to the kitchen, where she was storing the cookies. "How was the conference last week?"

"It was fine. I met other professors and esteemed writers. I gave a small presentation about literature in academia."

Sehun seemed impressed. "I'm sure they appreciated your words."

Irene gave him a small smile. "Ok, well, I'm feeling a bit tired. You should head home too."

"Yes, yes." He started heading to the door. "Can I ask you something?" he asked just as Irene opened the door for him to leave.

"What is it?"

Sehun seemed to hesitate and he wrung his hands together before stuffing them into his pockets. "Irene, are you...would you be open to dating again?" he said nervously. 

Irene did not react to the inquiry but only raised an eyebrow. "Sehun, we've been over this already. I do not want to be in a relationship right now. I would prefer to keep our relationship as friends."

He looked a little hurt, but he nodded. "I understand. I'm really sorry, it's just...I really like you."

"I know. You chose to continue coming to book club," Irene told him. "You said so yourself that you didn't want things to turn sour just because of unrequited feelings."

"I did," he confirmed. 

A car rumbled and parked in front of Irene's house. It was Joy, and Irene felt relieved that her sister conveniently came back to interrupt this serious conversation. She didn't know what else to tell Sehun.

"Your sister's back," he said and claered his throat. "Uh, I'll see you next week, Irene. Have a good weekend."

"What was going on between you two? 'Joy asked when they were safely inside the house.

Irene glanced at her, wondering if she could trust her sibling's maturity to talk about this. "He tried to ask me to date him."

"I'm not surprised, unnie," Joy told her. "I've seen how he goes all goo-goo eyes at you when you're not looking. What did you tell him?"

"I told him no as firmly as I could. This is the second time he's asked me." (first time is not documented in the story, just implied).

"Did you tell him about your past?" Joy asked.

"What? No. It wasn't necessary."

Joy pursed her lips. "I guess not. But why do you still let him see you every week? He's going to want you still."

Irene sighed. "I know, but we didn't want to ruin the dynamic in teh club. We're all supposed to be friends." She shook her head. "I should be able to handle this. I'm a grown adult."

"I know, unnie. You're trying to be nice and not let your friendship with him turn bad. But maybe you should give it a break so that you don't have to see each other."

This was probably the most sound advice seh had ever heard from Joy's mouth. "When did you get so wise?" Irene joked.

Joy shrugged. "I may be a free soul, but I still have ethics and a brain."

They grinned at each other and for the first time since they started living together, Irene actually was glad that Joy was here.

--

Irene returned to her office early because she needed to attend a departmental meeting before her first lecture. 

She opened the door and stepped on a piece of paper.

 What the...

A folded piece of stock paper lay under her heels, and she bent to pick it up.

I found you. You are mine.

Irene had almost forgotten about the first threat note. This one was written in calligraphy pen, and she tore up the note quickly and tossed it in the bin. She looked around her office to see if anything was amiss or suspicious.

Someone hiding?

 She peeked behind the door, but there was nothing there.

Nothing here.

Only me.

ANd a meeting I need to attend.