The second soccer game came and passed with yet another win that they barely scraped by with. It was sheer luck then. The enemy team had made a critical error in their strategy and left an open window for Wendy's teammates to steal the ball and make the last goal that would put them a point above the opponent.

Wendy's body had been running on full adrenaline by then, and her body naturally moved to aid her teammates, their minds tied together as one in that moment.

When it was over, her ears and mind finally cleared up and she could hear the roaring of the crowd all around her.

Wendy found herself back on Irene's front porch. This was about the fourth week by now (?). It had been almost a month since she joined the book club, and she was beginning to feel a little more comfortable now. Give it a year, and she might feel more at ease - if she continued to join, that is.

Irene greeted with a smile as usual, but this time it seemed to be less of a courteous social smile. The smile seemed to meet her eyes, and the way she looked at Wendy was -

"How have you been?" Irene asked.

"I'm alright," the younger replied. "You?"

"I'm alright as well, I suppose."

Wendy wondered if that was supposed to be some sort of friendly jab, but decided not to think too much of it.

"How was the game?" Irene asked suddenly as they walked together to the living room, which wasn't that far off anyway.

The younger girl wondered how the latter knew that she had a game. Wendy hadn't mentioend it to anyone at the previous book club session. But then she remembered that they were both from the same university so Irene must have a calendar of events of the school term. "We won," she replied. "Barely."

"It's still a win. Congrats."

The other book club members greeted Wendy with smiles, and even Sehun seemed to be a little more friendly than the first time they met. Then, the discussion started with Sehun and Hani at odds as usual, and Irene having to steer the conversation away from anymore debates. Seohyun would jump in with her realistic and practical views. It seemed to feel familiar.

And she forgot about the real purpose of her being there in that moment.

--

Irene slung her small gym bag over her shoulder and headed to the recreation center at the university. It was mid-afternoon and her brain was completely fried from teaching. She'd unfortunately had a difficult student trying to evade thier imminent doom of not acing her class. Another was giving her crappy excuses about missing class more than was allowed. Also, she had a million papers to read and that could get pretty dull.

Now Irene wasn't a hard core workout girl, but she still tried to get in some miles on the treadmill and do some body conditioning.

Actually, she hadn't done much working out and the idea didn't really spring up until Wendy mentioned that crazy crossfit class. Irene knew she would not enjoy such intense training like that.

The most exercise Irene had had all year was walking around the hilly campus. Luckily, she didn't gain weight that easily and she still retained a lean shape so no one would ever know that she was more of a sleep freak these days.

It's my old age, she told herslef.

Irene headed over to a treadmill far from the other people to avoid talking to anyone. She wasn't going to stick around long anyway. She plugged into her iphone tracks and chose a steady pace on the machine.

Well, she was pretty out of shape after five minutes, but she kept going for a little longer. Some people were walking on the treadmill so she didn't feel too bad.

Today was a wierd day. Wendy didn't feel like doing anything evne though she had so many things to do. She just couldn't focus and the stress was adding up. She had a game coming up, but she also had a paper due and a large mass of assignments that needed to be finished. Then there was a proposal for a research project she had to do, and she was hopelessly behind-ish. UNless, I start now, she thought glumly.

The game was on Friday and she was going to miss book club. She hadn't even started reading the book anyway so at least the game would save her .

Ah, speaking of that. She had to email Irene about her absence.

Better do that first, she decided.

Hey Irene,

I won't be able to come to book club this week due to the soccer game.

See you next week,

Wendy.

Hi Wendy, it's fine. My family is coming to visit so there won't be a meeting this week. Good luck on your game!

-Irene

--

"Oh, my Hyunnie!" Mrs. Bae gushed the moment Irene opened the door. She hugged her eldest daughter tightly and continued to say stuff that mothers say when their daughters are too old to be cooed at like kids.

"It's good to see you, mom," Irene said.

Her father chuckled and joined the hug.

Irene hadn't seen them since the summertime so it wasn't that long ago, but it felt a while since her days were so busy. She lived alone too so that probably added to the feeling of lost time. Just work and the daily things were taking up her life. And book club of course.

"HEY!" she recognized the voice of her obnoxiously crazy sister, Sooyoung, or affectionately known as Joy because of the 'joy' she could bring to people other than Irene. Her siste always seemed to bring disasters when it was just the two of them alone together.

So they had cuddely reunion and Irene finally was able to let them in for dinenr, which she had prepared alone.

Her parents and sister were surprised and impressed. Irene was also impressed because she had never cooked large meals since she was usually on her own. The book club didnt' count because her friends brought something to eat too.

"How have you been?" she asked her family.

Fortuantenly, they were all doing well. Her father was still working and her mother was taking care of the granparents. Joy just flew back from the states, where she had been studying abroad for the last couple years. She was dressed like someone from the big city of LA, which didn't mean anything really. Joy looked so much different now compared to two years ago. She was also Wendy's age, but way taller and certianly not interested in sports. Irene's sister was studying fashion design and aspiring to become a model. An idol maybe?

Irene had no interest for that kind of stuff. While it seemed glamorous, there were other elements involved that just didn't sit well with her.

She just wanted a peaceful life.

"What about you?" her mother asked.

"Busy as usual," Irene replied. "But i'm good." She told them about her book cub so they wouldn't think she was antisocial. Otherwise, despite their good intentions, they might suggest she hang out with old buddies from long ago back in teh high school days. Irene didn't want to revisit that though. Those friends weren't people she would mix well with anymore. They were all already married, enjoying children, pregnant, or in the process of giving a birth.

She knew that the question might come up again.

"Met anyone yet?" her mother asked.

"The friends in my book club," Irene offered. "I don't have much time other than that. I'm in the process of getting a full time teaching position right now."

"You're so focused," her father complimented. "I have always admired that in you. It must be one of my best qualities."

Leave it to her father to claim credit, but irene felt a little satisfied that at least it was to his liking. As long as father would support her deciison, then it woudl be ok for a little longer.

As much as she loved her parents, she felt a little irritable that they were still intent on having her settle down.

"Unnie is too focused to have time for a husband," Joy said casually. "I mean, she pores endlessly over books. She would probably marry a novel instead."

No one laughed and Irene gave her a scathing look. "Says the one who kissed someone other than her date at prom," she countered.

Joy luaghed. "It was a fricking dare! Besides, I don't do that stuff anymore. I'm mature now."

The air got awkward though. See, Joy had gone to prom night in high school with a guy named Lee Hyun-Woo, but ended up kissing a girl in the after party during a game of truth or dare. He got pretty mad because the kiss went longer than ten seconds.

Also Joy got in trouble for kisssing a girl because of...social things.

Anyway, Irene wasn't one to think that now. She was having some sort of confusino over her feelings about Wendy, and it would be hypocrisy to delve further into that dusty old memory.

Besides, Joy reunited with that Hyun Woo guy through a dating site and they were stable for a year now. But Irene wondered if it was going to last. Joy was like the wind, fleeting and always on the move.

Her family were staying over for the night, so Irene gave her beddroom to them because it was the nicest. Joy had the other room, which was a bakc up office when Ireen wasn't at school. Irene chose to sleep on the couch, which actually wasn't so bad.

She wondered if Wendy's game went well, and what she might have done after. Perhaps she was tired. Athletic events seemed intense and Irene knew she wouldn't be able to handle the tough competition. But a softspoken young girl like Wendy was pushing through those issues.

Irene remembered thier first meet, how shy Wendy had been.

She still was, and Irene wondered what it woudl be like to know Wendy - like Seulgi. What was Wendy really like? Was she maybe more vocal with close friends? Or maybe she was still shy.

What kinds of things did Wendy do outside of school and soccer?

Oh my god...Irene bured her face in her pillow.

Man, Joy had it easy. She had someone to rebound to without shame.

This is what pressure feels like, the wrong kind.

Her parents would never approve of Wendy. First of all, they were the same . And second, Wendy was significantly younger than her. Irene would just look like she was preying on younger girls, or maybe they might think Wendy was using her for money.

Obviously, there was a conflict of power as well as Irene's family and job at stake.

Besides, who knew if Wendy felt the same?

If anything, Wendy probably just saw her as the president of book club and nothing more.

---

They lost the game.

And Wendy also got kicked in the face after getting tripped by one of the opponents.

So now she was in the hospital to get her nose back in the correct place. There had been a lot of blood and Wendy was more fascinated - in her state of shock - at how much blood was in her body.

So now she was home with Seulgi. Her nose kind of patched up but now throbbing with pain. Her face was a little bruised and she was holding an ice pack to where it hurt most while her friend got some water for her to drink.

"That was a rough one," Seulgi patted her hsoulder sympathetically. "How you feelin?"

"Bad. But at least my teeth didn't get knocked out."

"Well, on the bright side. You might get a little attention from Irene when she sees you again."

"Yeah, right." Wendy rolled her eyes, althought that didn't seem bad.

The next day, her face was still in pain and she looked unsightly. The inflammation was pretty obvious and Wendy got another ice pack to help with it for a little. She was glad ti was the weekend, but it was hard to concentrate while dealing with pain.

I've got to focus.

She went through a list of all the things that may have gone wrong at the game. If she had done something else maybee they could have caught up. After she got hurt in the game, another teammate took her place. They almost made it, but lost by a couple points.

But she couldn't focus and decided to be useless and lie on her bed.

She checked her email. Nothing but ads.

And the last thing was the email to Irene, whose fmaily had coem over.

Wendy hadn't seen her family since the first week of summer because she needed to work and practice for soccer. The coach made sure they stayed in shape all year long. She sighed. They were good parents, but they hadn't really taken much interst in her endeavors. Sports wasn't really a thing for them, but at least they let her do as she wanted since the scholarship covered her tuition at university.

They didn't hate each other. It was just differences.

Besides, Seulgi's family were more welcoming. So that made up for it.

--

A/N: hey! For this sotyr I just made Joy the same age as Wendy, not sure if that works out? Thanks for reading and leaving your feedback.

LEt me know what you want to see next/ Maybe jealous bae moments if they meet?