Circus- Kim Taeyeon

The walk to the room took longer than Irene thought. Wendy seemed to be on a mission, speeding down the hall with passion. It didn’t take long for her to snap back to Irene with a glare.

“Is there a reason why you have decided to infiltrate my club, Irene? Another milkshake bath? Or maybe just an internal takedown?” Wendy was pacing around the stage while Irene was at the piano bench. She saw Wendy walking back and forth and could offer nothing better than an intense gaze. Here was this girl, truly magnificent in her eyes and all she had given her was enough stories to talk a therapist’s ears off. “Irene? Irene, why are you crying?” 

And as if the moment couldn’t get more humiliating, Irene’s tearful gaze was now staring into the deep pools of Wendy Son’s eyes. All she heard was the pulsing of her own heartbeat and the thoughts of potential answers. It seemed though that only one thing could come to mind. 

“I, I uhm, I’m sorry Wendy.”  

A look of hesitancy came across Wendy’s face, one that included a significant pout that held Irene’s attention before Wendy broke the silence. “Sorry for what exactly?” 

“This past year, the milkshake smoothie thing, I just, I’m not great with new feel-people.” 

“Feel people?” 

“Yes, uhm, people who look like you.” Wendy’s eyebrows raised at that, prompting Irene to panic once again.  “No like, I mean. Do you see?! I just, I am sorry for it all. You have my word that I won’t be the source of any conflict anymore!” 

The look of fierce determination allowed Wendy to relax and let out a slightly shaky laugh. “Oh Irene,” she replied as she stood up from kneeling, “I don’t think that is at all possible for us.” 

“Wha-” 

“Let’s get the song choice out yes? I know you have a preference for ballads. You hum them enough in History.” 

“I do?” This was news to her. History was her first class and usually put her in the best mood. Did sitting behind Wendy have anything to do with that? Maybe, but why focus on the logistics. 

“Well, you have a distinct hum, and I am basically a karaoke machine.”

“Oh really? Any song?” Irene asked with a nervous gulp.

“Any song!” Wendy said with a vigorous head nod. 

“I don’t know…” 

“How about the one you sang Monday?” Wendy asked her. 

Monday, Monday… that was four days ago! Why was she humming Monday? 

“It was uhh,” Wendy cleared as she spoke, “Circus?” 

And with that simple statement, Irene felt her cheeks turn deep red. She remembered why she was so into the song. It was in her super-secret playlist, the one she listened to on her way to school and in the halls STRICTLY with headphones. “Oh.” In the end, that was the best she could do, a simple oh and an exit strategy. 

“You stopped humming it but it was stuck in my head and I love that song too. It reminds me of how one emotion can really catapult a whole journey, turning it into something fantastical and scary and intense all at the same time. Do you know what I mean?” Wendy’s face had a look full of wonder, eyes bright, and a wide smile. Irene was stunned silent, but she still felt her face draw up a smile. 

“Yeah… I know what you mean Wendy.” It was the feelings Irene had felt for a while staring at the excited face before her. “I… I hope this means you forgive me, Wendy.”   

Wendy gave her a small smile and a slight nod. “I think I can manage to do that Irene.” 

~~~

It seemed that the awkward moment in the auditorium was all Irene and Wendy needed to really rise above the awkwardness they were both plagued with. Scoring Wendy’s number was one feat, getting the courage to text her was a whole different one. So when a text that same night from an unknown person rolled in, Irene was over the moon.

UNKNOWN

Irene? It’s Wendy! Just making sure I have the right number… unless the real Irene gave me a fake number and this is some random person then I am sorry and you can delete this.

IRENE

Is this something that this Irene person would do? 

Irene waited for a reply with a small smile. Part of becoming friends was to play innocent pranks right?

WENDY

That depends. Princess Irene Bae totally would. Harmlessly Cute Irene from the auditorium was a real baby about how she treated me

Irene let out a gasp before reading the message again. Ignoring the dig in the beginning and focusing on the cute part was enough to give her a bit of heart attack. 

IRENE 

Did she treat you badly? What a shame… I can exchange words with her if you’d like

Though you accidentally called her cute… 

WENDY

No accident :) 

When she isn’t trying to scare me into avoiding her she is very… 

Cute :D

Irene could feel her face heat up  a bit at the response. Surely Wendy knew it was her… she wouldn’t just talk to a random person like this… 

IRENE

You know it is Irene right? 

Evil Ice Princess Irene with all her icy glory? 

WENDY

Totally. Though Evil Ice Princess is a bit much… 

You are more of an angry rabbit. :o

That bites

Bites poor innocent Wendys who are just talking to cheerleaders on their first day :( 

IRENE

You have quite the sense of humor on you Son. 

I apologize for biting then. 

WENDY

How about you pick up some coffee before we meet in the auditorium tomorrow??

And maybe tell me how you solve those history problems so quickly

IRENE

You have A’s 

I’m sure you get by just fine.

WENDY

Ah yes 

But you are smarter than I 

I must learn your wisdom :D

IRENE

Haha, if I must. 

Goodnight Wendy. 

I’ll meet you tomorrow at 10? 

Please leave your coffee order below.

WENDY

Goodnight! 

Oh wow it IS late

You distracted me! 

10 is great! 

Whatever they have on special would be fine! 

~~~

The morning air was cooler than Irene anticipated. She had worn thinner clothing in the hopes of a warmer day, but the dark clouds above her seemed to have other plans. The coffee shop was not somewhere that Irene frequented, but the inviting warmth was enough to reassure her that this place wouldn’t be too bad. 

“Hello! What may I get you today?” Irene looked away from the menu to the guy manning the register. He seemed nice enough, a wide smile, friendly tone. 

“May I get a hot chocolate and whatever coffee you have as a special?” 

“Of course! I’ll get you our best fall flavor! Anything else I can grab you? Maybe some chocolate croissants?” 

“That sounds great,” Irene said softly. She could feel the edges of her lips hint at a smile. “Thank you…” she squinted to get a good look at his nametag. “Sungjae.” 

“My pleasure! I’ll have them right out!” 

Irene nodded as she paid for the food before heading to the end of the coffee bar. It wasn’t until she zipped up her wallet that she felt someone behind her. 

“Boo.” someone whispered into her ear. 

“Ahh!” Irene gasped before peering over her shoulder. She saw Yeri and Seulgi grinning like fools behind her and she rolled her eyes. “Just what do the two of you think you are doing?”

“Spying on the barista,” Yeri mentioned calmly. Irene looked from Sungjae to the two girls with a raised brow.  “Oh no no, not for us.” 

“We are watching him to see if he interacts with a certain friend of ours.” Seulgi said with a smile. “Like will he flirt with random people…” 

“Pass them his number.” 

“Make eyes at the cute ones.” 

“Right…” Irene said looking between the two. “Well. I think  your test subject has finished my drinks. So I’ll be going.” Irene swiftly collected her treats and walked out of the shop before hearing feet running after her.

“Wait where are you going!” Irene heard Yeri ask. She looked beside her at the two girls and frowned. 

“I am going to work on the music assignment with my partner.” Irene grunted. She could see Seulgi lean over her to give Yeri a mischievous look. 

“Oh, and who might that be?” Seulgi asked, bumping Irene’s shoulder. 

“Are you going to dump coffee on her?” Yeri asked seriously. Irene looked at her with a glare before quickening her steps.

“No I am not. I apologized for my actions Yeri.” 

“And? What good will that do? I'm trying to ensure you don’t mess with her again.”

Irene whipped to Yeri and gave her an icy glare. “I can assure you that I am not going to do anything to hurt her.” Irene glanced at Seulgi’s nervous face before snapping her eyes back to Yeri. “I promise you.” 

Yeri seemed to hold her gaze before giving her a slight nod. “Fine. But only because no one as nice as Seulgi could be friends with a psychopath.” Irene rolled her eyes and met Seulgi’s wide grin. She laughed before parting from the two girls and made her way to the school. 

Sitting on the front steps was a bundled up Wendy who waved her over when they finally locked eyes. “Irene!” 

Irene handed Wendy her coffee and pastry, immediately missing the extra warmth the coffee provided. Her slight shivers were met with a worried glance from Wendy. 

“Are you okay? Cold?” Wendy asked her. Wendy gave her a look of concern that left Irene flustered. She was barely able to comprehend what her surroundings were before she felt Wendy shrug off her jacket and wrap it around Irene’s shoulders. “There! The auditorium is pretty chilly too.” 

“Oh,” Irene replied quietly. “Th-Thank you.”

“Of course!” Wendy said with a smile. 

The walk inside was silent, the murmurs of other students present for weekend activities filling in the quiet atmosphere. Making their way into the room dissolved some of the tense air between the two. 

“I was able to split the parts for the song,” Irene said softly. Wendy looked over to her from her place at the piano. She leaned in to take the sheet music from Irene and made quick work of looking over the line distribution that Irene handled. 

“Wow this is very well done,” Wendy complimented. Her eyebrows were meeting her hairline, eyes wide open as they shifted from the sheet to a blushing Irene. 

“I had some help with the basics…” Irene muttered. 

“Well…” Wendy said with a cheery tone. “Let’s get down to it.” 

And so began the most heart racing and panicked song sessions of Irene’s life. It was one thing to hum the songs she made in her playlist about… it was an entirely different thing to sing the song with the object of inspiration of said secret playlist. The highlight of Irene’s embarrassment being the end of their final practice, as she held onto Wendy’s hand as Irene sang the last notes of the song. She held Wendy’s eye contact, feeling everything she had been repressing since the summer before pouring out of her eyes. It seemed that time didn’t matter at that point, like life was nothing more than-

“Irene,” Wendy whispered, interrupting her inner rant. 

“Yes?”

“Why are we still holding hands?” Irene froze in that moment and looked down to see Wendy’s relaxed hand in her iron grip.  

“I am so