Wendy had the wierdest dream ever the night before Monday. SHe was in the middle of a soccer game, but instead of fighting over a ball, it was infinite dodge ball.

She and her teammates were in a two row formation, dodging and using their feet to fire the soccer balls over the midline. Wendy narrowly dodged a well aimed ball, but another one came flying at her face. There wouldn't. be time to escape that one and she shut her eyes waiting for the blow.

But when she opened her eyes, she was in a kitchen - Irene's kitchen. And they were baking cookies together. It was just like those stereotypical high school romance movies, but Wendy couldn't help herself to just fall into the embrace of the dream.

She placed the cookies into the oven, and she could smell the sweetness in the air.

Suddenly, Irene's arms were around her from behind, and she began to say some wierd things.

It was very strange because her dream brain had made up these lame lines. 

"Let's dig deeper shall we?" Irene said.

Wendy gasped when Irene kissed her cheek lightly. "Irene?"

"Don't you sense...foreshadowing?" Irene whispered huskily. "Maybe...the of the story of approaching. And the resolution is...us."

Wat.

The warmth was so close and it was almost about to happen. They were going to kiss... but then she was teleported back to her home, where Seulgi was dancing on the table and screaming WENRENE at her, while shaking maracas. 

"WENDY!"

The girl woke up in a daze. "Wha?"

"Wake up!" Seulgi shook her. "You're gonna be late!"

Crap! Wendy had overselpt her alarm thanks to that crazy dream. 

--

Thanks to Seulgi's mad driving skills - it must be all that Mario Kart - Wendy actually got to class one second before it began. It was a lecture class so she didn't have to be worried about being too prepared.

There was still an afternoon class later so Wendy decided to go study up a little at the library and then grab lunch with Seulgi before then.

The library was pretty active this morning, and she did have some trouble finding a place to study. Exams were coming up soon.

Unfortunately, there wwas no place to sit so Wendy had to find somewhere else. She remembered that there was a studying center in the humanities building and decided to try there before giving up and studying outside. 

It must have been too good to be true. There was a whole empty table that she could occupy for herself for now, and it was pretty quiet. There was some tutoring going on and someone making copies at the copy machine, but it wasn't disruptive at all. She signed in at the front desk and swiped her ID for verification (just to see who's coming and going), and then settled at the table.

Wendy pulled out her laptop and books and began to complete her assignments. She checked over her calendar and realized how much time had passed. Turned out she was still a little behind in her things including final projects and papers.

. Where did the time go?

Book club, that's what, her mind told her.

Too late now. She tried to focus and try to get more things done today. Better start now than never.

After a couple hours, Seulgi texted her to let her know where they would meet for lunch. Her friend had already gotten something for her to eat. Wendy did lots of the cooking at home since SEulgi almost burned down the whole building while trying to make fried eggs one time. So Seulgi would pay if they ate out , usualy without telling Wendy to avoid fighting over who should pay for it.

I'll be there in ten minutes, she shot a quick text back and began packing her things.

As she swung her bakcpack over her shoulder, her breath caught in whne she spotted Irene standing by the copy machines.

What was she doing here?

Wendy's heart beat faster at the sight of Irene. There was something about Irene in dark blaze, dress shirt, and fitted dark jeans, and heels that made Wendy feel even more attracted to her. Did she always dress like this for work?

She was so kind, and beautiful...

Ah! No time to think about that now! Wendy quickly regained her composure hoping to escape before the woman caught sight of her. Right now, IRene was engrossed in studying the pages of a book while letting the copy machine run. She was so focused, Wendy was sure she could get away fast.

Besides, it would be questionable to other staff how they knew each other. WEndy wasn't sure if it would be considered appropriate for them to interact outside since they didn't quite have a student-teacher relationship, but she didn't want to put Irene's career in danger.

She could wait if she had to. Yet, that also made her wonder if joining the book club was not the wisest idea. Student-teacher relationships were against the law, and would cause problems for the both of them, especially Irene. Wendy thought about consulting Seulgi about this, but was pretty sure her friend would be useless in thinking about the repercussions because - after all, this plan had been done in the name of Irene Bae.

Because Wendy was not good at playing stealth in the normal world, she failed to remember that the door squeaked every time it was opened, and the floor boards under her feet weren't quite stable. On top of that, she had turned to look behind her instinctively to see if she had disturbed anyone, and...

inevitably made eye contact with Irene, who was surprised to see her but still smiled.

All Wendy could do was awkwardly smile back and leave without a word.

Wait a minute, Wendy began to panic as she left the building. She had totally forgotten that the place she had gone to happened to be where Irene's office was located. 

Oh my god, what if she thinks I'm stalking her?

Wendy decided that she would have to find a different back up place to study next time.

--

Irene returned home late after a particularly long day in her office. She had tried to finish as much grading as possible there so she wouldn't be tempted to fall back asleep at home. 

She tossed her things aside and went straight to the shower before relaxing into bed. 

Home really was a luxury when you spent most of your time out. She washed her hair thoroughly, massaging her scalp iwth her fingers while the steaming hot water cascaded down her body.

Irene wondered if Wendy still had soccer practice of if she was home yet. She seemed like a busy student whatwith sports and academics and book club. HOpefully Wendy did quit that crossfit class. It didnt' seem to be feasible with her schedule now.

Urgh, she shook her head, stop thinking about Wendy. She's a kid compared to you!

She probably doesn't even think about you like that, Irene told herself. 

No no no! The woman didn't know what had come over her. She wasn't one for relationships nor did she think she was relationship/girlfriend quality. 

Furthermore, Irene never considered dating girls before. She had always been straight.

Besides, she'd had a very bad experience in her prior relationship that had ended a few years ago. Her boyfriend didn't like her working so much and having financial freedom. He wanted her to stay home, have kids with him, be a housewife, take care of him and the kids, clean the house, not interact with anyone else, and basically just become an isolated shell of a human. 

That side of him did not come out until he proposed to her. After years of dating (since college), she thought she had known him well enough, but the moment their engagement was to begin, he became a different person. He never consulted her for anything. She had to do what he wanted without question.

At first, Irene had been afraid to stand her ground because she didn't want him to get angry. But soon, it was getting too much. She had hardly been able to talk to her friends or family because he was always watching. So when he wasn't home, she would have to make quick calls and delete her history so he wouldn't insist to find out if she lied to him or not about contacting people. It was family for goodness sake.

She had to leave the relationship whether it was on bad terms or not.

It was very difficult. He said lots of bitter things to her to make her feel bad, but it was now or never. The night before Christmas, she left him in Incheon and embarked on a journey back home to Daegu before moving to Seoul, where she currently lived.

Those were tough times, but they helped her get stronger to become the strong woman she is now.

A strong woman who could protect herself and fight for her honor, and unafraid to speak up when needed.

She sighed when she finsihed her shower and stepped out to wrap herself in a warm towel. Irene carefully wiped off a a section of the fogged up mirror and took a good look at herself, a woman who made it and was enjoying a successful career (so far) as a university professor.

She was independent. 

And had the freedom she wanted and needed. She could see her friends and family whenever she wanted, and she didn't have to thikn twice before doing something.

Although, she did get questions from family and family friends about whne she was going to finally settled down and have kids with someone. They had been understanding about her decision before after the break-up but it seemed that time was supposed to erase those scars.

Irene had recovered, but she didn't want to be in a relationship. There wasn't anyone so far who she would want to be with, and she didn't want kids either.

She liked kids, but she didn't see herself having any. 

Hpefully, it wouldn't come across as selfish, but she would rather prefer life with a significant other and that's that. At least for now. Maybe her midn would change later, but she didn't think so.

What kind of work would Wendy find as a sports medicine major? she wondered.

Well...the girl played soccer well so she could be an ace soccer coach. She might even go pro or something. Sports were important, and Wendy would be a good role model for girls in sports.

As she got dressed, her brain decided to go crazy with future ideas. She and Wendy could hang out more once the girl graduated from that uni and never went back. They would still see each other at book club, and maybe grab a coffee or something?

"Oh my god. Why are you planning as if you will ask her out?!" she demanded to herself. 

She remembered seeing Wendy exit the study center and that timid smile made her feel aquishy inside.

 NO. Gotta stop. This isn't right. She's just someone from book club. She's a student. 

But then Irene recalled the times when she would catch Wendy staring at her or acting so nervous she might jump out of her shoes. 

The woman flopped onto her bed and buried her face in her hands. Stop fantasizing. This is so bad. She didn't want to confirm that hse might be thinking/crushing on Wendy. This was never supposed to happen.

IN her jumbled mind, she saw Wendy's bright smile, which was too bright like the sun. FRuck. "I just think she's a cute kid," she told herself. "Like the mother I'm going to be never."

--

yooo! Thanks for sticking around. It's been great. So..this is a relationship, and I was wondering what you guys think the should be. I'll probably average it out. obviously it's not gonna be like 12+, but I don't want to make you guys uncomfortable. Wendy is supposed to be 20. and Irene = ?.

Thanks so much for your feedback. See you soon. I don't think I can update tomorrow. Getting a little writer's block again. Let me know what you would like to see! Thaaaaaaank!  <3