Wendy browsed the school library in the hopes of finding the title that she was supposed to read for the new club she'd joined. She searched the online record and unfortunately didn't find it so she would have to go to the bookstore instead.

Frick. She was hoping not to spend more money on anything else unless it was necessary. But wasn't this necessary?

It would not be worth it if Irene turned out to be dating someone else, she thought miserably as she headed out.

It had been a while since she last went to a bookstore to actually buy a physical copy. The only time she ever bought a book these days was for class and not for leisure ready, especially not a book club.

Finally, she found the title in a section for mature readers (I don't know what they call nonual adult books). It was about 200 pages in length, and didn't seem too much of a difficult read as opposed to the type of literature required in college courses.

Within minutes, she had a new book in hand and heading back to her unit planning her day to fit in trying to read this new addition of material.

Seulgi was already home and playing Red Dead Redemption II so she hardly noticed Wendy's return.

"Thought you had an exam," Wendy said aloud.

"I'm taking a break!" Seulgi replied. "What's in the bag?" she asked hoping it was food.

"The book for the book club."

"You really are taking this seriously."

Wendy wanted to point out that the whole thing started when Seulgi snooped around and came up with the idea, and then forcefully brought Wendy to Irene's house and left her there. She decided against it because arguing was not going to help anyone, and it wasn't all that bad of a plan - as long as it had been PLANNED instead of grabbing a book, throwing Wendy onto the curb, and booking it out of there.

Anyway, she shook it off. "I'll make dinner tonight."

"Sweet!"

As Wendy usually did anyway.

--

"YOU MISSED THAT TWICE, WENDY!" the coach barked when the soccer ball whizzed past her feet.

Wendy grimaced as she was about to hear the worst from her coach, but all the coach did was call for a break, mcuh to her teammates' glee. She expected to get an earful, but the coach didn't say anything to her.

Oh no, she thought. What if I''m getting replaced because of today?

Her scholarship to the school was based on her skill as a soccer player and this was the only thing keeping her financially in college. She flopped onto the floor and the captain approached her after having just spoken with the coach.

They had a small talk about school being stressful, and how it was important to keep up her strength and health for not only herself but also the team.

Wendy agreed with everything she said, and managed to keep her focus for the rest of the practice.

"Good," the coach said approvingly when she intercepted the ball midair with her body, which literally knocked the wind from her, but she did not let that stop her as she was on a roll.

So, the practice ended on a good note.

The damn book club was interrupting her peace that it was getting into her daily life. She didn't know why the book club stressed her out, but maybe it had to do with irene Bae, and how Wendy did not want to embarass herself again.

Speaking of book club, she had to be there tonight after practice. ON A FRIDAY NIGHT!

Wendy returned home and showered, changed into jeans and a shirt and threw a hoodie on top. Then, she pulled her hair back into a ponytail and did some last minute review of notes she took on the book, which she then slipped into the back while eating a light dinner before heading out to the club.

the book club, of course.

So Seulgi waved her off with an unlucky 'good luck', and she blasted off into the distance leaving Wendy out on the street again.

But this time she was prepared.

Wendy marched up to the front porch and rang the doorbell without a second thought.

It took a few minutes before Irene answered the door, and that's when she realized where she was and what she was doing. Irene looked so nice tonight. The woman was dressed in a loose fitting button up tucked into black jeans - it was so simple, but looked so good. Irene wore her hair down some dark locks draped over her shoulder as if she were taking a picture.

AH, don't dream now! She screamed at herself and returned Irene's greeting.

Everyone was already here except her. Wendy wondered if she should be coming early too. "Am I late?" she asked nervously.

"Ah, no. They just come early to eat at my place after work," Irene replied. "You can come too, if you like," she added quickly as if Wendy might be hurt that she was the oddball still.

"No no! It's fine," Wendy exclaimed. "I have soccer practice so there wouldn't be time for me to...get ready," she finished quickly to avoid unnecessary details.

The rest of the club greeted her, no other new people except herself. Sehun gave her a curt smile while Taeyeon and Hani seemed to warm up to her fast.

"Are you hungry?" Irene asked. "Something to drink?"

"No thanks." She was too nervous to ingest anything.

"Ok, we'll get started soon. I look forward to what you have to say about the book." Irene smiled and went to talk with Seohyun and Sehun a little.

About ten minutes later, they were sitting in a circle again, but this time she ended up next to Hani, not that it mattered. It was probably better than sitting next to Irene, but then Wendy realized that she could clearly see Irene, and IRene  could clearly see her.

STOP STARING.

Wendy quickly averted her eyes to her book  cover.

"My favorite part was the pivotal scene when Fatima turns out to be the last soul," Seohyun continued. "All this time, she had been completing the mystery of the rune cycles to awaken the last soul, but in fact she had discovered herself through those codes."

"But by that point she had already been completely filled with the demon's spirit after defeating each guardian from the temples," Sehun interjected. "So she realizes herself but too late. SHe had to sacrifice herself."

Sounds like a high school book, Wendy mused.

What if IRene did it because she thinks I can't handle advanced books?!

"Wendy, what did you think about the book?" Irene asked.

"Um..." Wendy flipped to the back of her book where she had kept her index card of notes, but found that it was gone! Goddammit! She panicked and froze for a moment trying to gather her thoughts and remember something that had caught her interest.

Seh thought the book seemed like one of those video game storylines that Seulgi had played recently - Shadow of the Colossus maybe?

Otherwise she thought it was an average, an easy read. but the problem was her anxiety often got in the way so she would forget things on the fly or think she was wrong and try to come up with something else.

"Didja read the wrong book again?" Sehun asked, sounding either amused or annoyed.

"No no!" Wendy replied quickly. "I...um...I thought it was interesting that..." She quickly flipped throuhg the pages and pretended to find the part she found interesting.

I let him die, it said. I let my comrade fall so that I could kill the drake lord with my last arrow.

Finally, the large demon lay dead before my feet and used the ring circlet to unlock the dungeon where the flame rune rested. Power surged in my as I touched the ancient accessory, and....

"Her ambition caused her to use her friends," she finished. "In...not good ways, though."

Wendy cringed inwardly, realizing how dumb she sounded. Why couldn't I remember anything? she thought to herself so sadly. She had planned what she wanted to say all for nothing.

"Well, then I suppose that is a flaw in her character," Irene concluded. "She truly is the last soul."

The book club went on and the others shared their academic thoughts on what Wendy thought was a book for young teens. But she shouldn't think like that since she could hardly make words tonight.

Finally, it was over and they were helping Irene put away the chairs and food.

Wendy felt bad that she didn't really contribute to the discussion and finally remembered the things she did want to say, but it as too late. She hoped she didn't look like an idiot, but that's what they probably thought of her now.

She felt really out of place here.

Maybe this really was a bad idea.

"Wendy, next week we're reading Post War 2080," Irene said.

She nodded in response and Irene walked them to the door. The other women left first, leaving Sehun and Wendy behind with Irene. For some reason, Seulgi was not here and Wendy wondered what the hold up might be other than chicken or a puppy.

"Do you need a ride home?" Irene asked.

"No thanks, I'll be ok," Wendy replied.

--

"HOw'd it go this time?" Seulgi asked once she arrivedto take her back home. It turned out that she had gone to play retro games at an arcade store for a little too long.

"Well, I forgot what I wanted to say because my index card fell out of my book," Wendy said.

"Ah, I was wondering what this was." Seulgi pulled out a familiar blue index card and handed it back. "Still going back next week?"

"Probably."

--

"Did you chose that book because of the girl?" Sehun asked once Wendy had left.

"No, of course not," Irene replied. "I wanted to try something new for a change. Besides, it's still considered mature (A/N: not ual) what with the themes involved."

"We don't usually read that stuff," he pointed out.

Irene shrugged. "We don't always have to read serious things."

"Alright, well, the girl seems awfully anxious don't you think?" he continued. "She could barely form a sentence over the easy read."

"Maybe she has social anxiety."

"Then why did she even bother?" Sehun stopped himself, "Urgh, sorry. I'm sounding like an . But we're a friend group, how the hell did she get wind of us?"

"Mutual friends," Irene said. "What matters is that she is committing, and she still gave her opinion today."

"I suppose so."

"Well, I'm tired. I'll see you next week," Irene stepped back inside. "Drive safely Sehun."

"Night."

Irene shut the doors and closed the curtains securely. Then, she stripped of her clothes and took a nice hot shower before getting ready for bed.

She remembered the look of fear in Wendy's face, the expression she was so much familiar with everytime a quiet nervous studnet had to stand up and give a presentation. It was normal. And she had to admit that it was kind of cute...

Whoooaaa...Irene her side and buried her face in her pillow.

What is happening to me?

It must be motherly instinct, she concluded. It's ok to be concerned about someone...right? Even if they only met for two days, seven days apart?

Maybe Wendy felt out of place among adults. And, the girl did say that she had been recommended by someone who knew one of Irene's friends so that was not suspicious at all. Irene decided she would ask Taeyeon because that was apparently who gave the contact info.

Sehun was being careful about the new member, but he might be being too harsh on Wendy, she thought. He seemed awfully picky on her.

IN all honesty, she did pick the book because of Wendy, but only because she didn't want the girl to think it was a boring book club that ready boring books only.

WAIT BUT BOOKS WERE NEVER BORING - in Irene's opinion, with some excpetions of course. The badly written ones.

"I need to sleep," Irene said aloud after glancing at the clock. It was late, and she had to grade some assignments this weekend.

She really hoped Wendy would come back next week.

--