Kiss Me- Ed Sheeren

Irene stood outside of the buses waiting for the rest of her team to file in. Her day had gotten as sour as it could’ve after Joy’s intrusive dance, and now she had a week to really rethink her plan to get Wendy. She would just have to come up with a way to get Joy distracted… maybe extra practices and more responsibilities… 

Irene sighed as she finally approached their heavily pregnant cheer coach. “I think we are just missing a handful of girls right?”

“Ahh yes, funny enough your councils are the ones running behind… I mean they had to get those two girls ready for a week filled with hard routines and conditioning.”

“They recruited two new girls? And I wasn’t informed?”

“Well,” the coach began, “You were missing in action. These two can do the splits and are athletic… kind of. But splits Irene! That's already more than Seulgi!” 

“Seulgi choreographs a majority of our routines! That’s- Ugh honestly it's fine. We needed two people we can mold anyway.” 

“Oh! Here they come!” 

And so Irene looked over to where the Coach pointed and her eyes widened at the two people walking over to the buses. Joy and Seulgi flanked Wendy and Yeri,  all but Joy looking cautious. 

“What on earth are you up to,” Irene asked through clenched teeth. 

“We needed two new cheerleaders and I found them,” Joy replied with a smirk. “Problem?” 

Irene groaned as she shook her head, “No.” She looked over to meet Wendy’s eyes before looking away sharply. “Take your seats, we are about to leave.” The girls moved forward as Irene checked them off the list she had in her hands. She looked up when she felt a presence beside her. 

“Irene-” 

“The buses are boarding Miss Son, you can talk to your captain later,” the Coach said. Irene could see Wendy’s dejected look as she walked away from them but made no move to catch up with her. “Are you going in the first bus then?” the Coach asked. 

She looked over to the bus that her friends had gone into before looking to the one in the back. “Maybe I should go keep an eye on our junior coach? In case they take over after you leave?”

“Don’t worry about my replacement they will not be our J.C. but if you want to take bus two by all means Miss Bae. I will see you at the camp.”

Irene marched over to the second bus and took a seat towards the front, plucking her earphones from her bag and closing her eyes. Her week was about to get a lot harder. 

~~~

“Welcome to Cheer Camp!” exclaimed Seulgi as she hopped off the first bus. Irene could see Wendy and Yeri look around hesitantly at the entrance. Joy all but shoved the two to the floor just to toss her bags to one of the counselors and strut to the front. “Ignore her, she likes to act like this in the beginning, by the last nights she is singing songs and making smores with the rest of us!” 

Irene could see Wendy and Yeri smile in acknowledgement before they turned to see Irene leaning by the bus. Before they could approach her, Jennie and Nayeon stepped in front of them. 

“Any reason you ditched us for the kiddie bus Irene?” Jennie asked with confusion. Irene could feel her eyes drift to the girl just behind Jennie before giving the whole group a cold stare. 

“Not that it is any of your concern but I am trying to make sure the Junior Coach can handle the change that will happen once our Coach has to leave. We don’t even sit together for the ride so why does it matter?” 

“Don’t feed us those lies Irene,” Joy said, emerging next to the girls who were all looking at her. “I have good money on you avoiding this little shortcake here.” Irene saw Joy lean her elbow on Wendy’s shoulder trying to evoke a reaction. Irene took a breath and rolled her eyes. 

“I am not avoiding anyone Joy,” Irene said before looking to see the two owners of the camp coming to greet them. “Show time everyone!”

They headed through to see a woman and man wearing big smiles and clipboards, decked out in Cheer Camp shorts and shirts. They came to stop just before them and waved. “Why hello there Mighty Bears! Always a pleasure to have you all back at Cheer Camp! Especially since I heard that you won a regional award this past year! Congrats!” The group cheered loudly in accordance with the main coaches before them. “Alright, now as most of you know I am Coach Kwon joined by Coach Jo Kwon, no relation! We are pleased to have you girls here for the week and are even more excited to personally train and teach some of the classes that will be offered!” 

The group around her cheered as Irene snuck a peek to see just how excited her two newest members were. She could tell Yeri seemed genuinely interested in what was to come, but she took notice of Wendy hiding herself further behind Seulgi’s taller frame. She looked nervous and concerned that someone was going to spot her but who would even-

“WENDY?!” Irene snapped her head to see that the person in question was none other than Coach Kwon, who seemed to be beaming at the site of the shy brunette with bangs. “What are you doing here? In workout clothes no less! And with the school...cheer...team.” Irene could tell that all the wheels were turning in Coach Kwon’s head before she scooped Wendy up in a giant hug. “OH MY GOSH MY DAUGHTER IS A CHEERLEADER!” 

“Daughter?!” It seemed that the entire team was able to convey the internal scream pegging Irene in that very moment. As they saw Coach Kwon nearly suffocate Wendy with her hug, the rest of the team looked at Irene, who could feel the color draining from her face. Of all the roadblocks to Wendy’s affection that she could have faced, meeting Wendy’s mother while they weren’t speaking was not what she anticipated. 

~~~

“Alright everyone room assignments! Now I know that you are all excited to get into your rooms and stuff but remember that we rise at 7 and are all in the mess hall at 15 after! As far as lights out, anything past midnight can result in a demerit and we all know that means cleaning the showers!” Coach Jo Kwon was giving them the tour of the camp, while also prolonging the dread of room assignments. Irene stuck to the front, making sure the team was in line and not causing too much chatter, and maybe look out for Wendy who had gone off with Coach Kwon as soon as the tour started. “Now the list is up at the main circle, you can also find your classes for the week in your bunks, remember that you and your roommate are meant to cohabitate and coexist in harmony so your classes are done in teams! Dismissed! Except you Captain, I need to have a word.” 

The team dispersed quickly to get their rooms, leaving Joy, Yeri, Nayeon, Seulgi and Jennie to straggle behind to see if Irene was about to be reprimanded for her behavior towards Coach Kwon’s daughter. “Did I do something Coach?” 

“Not all,” Jo Kwon smiles at her. “Yuri told me she wanted you to bunk with her daughter so that you could make sure she gets the hang of the environment here quickly. Seems like she is trying to ensure that Miss Son stays on your team.” 

“Oh,” Irene said with an immense amount of panic, “I- I mean Miss Kim is also new! And younger! Perhaps she and I would be a better-”

“No, no,” Jo Kwon said laughing. “Miss Kim has been placed with Miss Kang and Miss Park, they are sharing a triple. You and Miss Son will be sharing a double, Yuri’s orders. Cabin 5. We will be serving brunch in twenty minutes so make sure you and Miss Son aren’t tardy Captain!”  

“Irene.” Irene heard a voice coming from the path that led down to her cabin. Wendy stood before her, a sorry expression still plastered on her face. “Can we please talk now?” 

Irene could feel her panic set in, she knew that she had to talk about everything. She just wasn’t sure if this was the time. “We have to get to the hall before Seulgi takes all the good waffles. Follow me.” She kept up her speed as she got to the hall in record time, Wendy was basically jogging to keep up, and even though Irene disguised herself in the crowd, she could still see the sad look on Wendy’s face when she finally made it through those doors.

~~~

Irene was panicking. It had been two days that she got to camp with the rest of the girls and life was already messing with her. First, she and Wendy get paired for their room assignment. And on any normal day, Irene would relay she had the fantasy of having Wendy Son in a room with her under the moonlight more times than she can count… but not when she was avoiding the girl! She has basically resorted to coming back into the room and falling asleep when everyone else is distracted and then leaving at dawn to begin camp conditioning. She had seen her impromptu roommate all of four hours since they arrived, three of them being during mess hall. 

Second, was the fact that her friends kept finding ways to make her fall into potential traps. She has seen them around the adorable girl more and more and that meant that they were on her list of people to avoid. 

Lastly, Coach Kwon gained a particular interest in her since the start of the camp, and a big part of her is hoping that it has nothing to do with her wanting to wrap her daughter in her arms and kiss her senseless. And so here was the fearless Irene, essentially gazing up at the stars, perched on top of the roof of her cabin hiding from the world. 

“You know, you shouldn’t be here.” 

Irene looked behind her to see Coach Kwon crawling over to join her. 

“Coach! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to break the rules. I’ll head back in.” 

“Nonsense, take a seat, Irene. I have it on a reliable source that you enjoy cheesy nights like this.” Irene blushed at Coach Kwon’s words knowing fully who she was referring too.”Do you mind if I talk to you for a bit?”

“Of course you can Coach Kwon.” 

Coach Kwon looked at her with a big smile, “So I heard you have made quite the impact on my daughter Miss Bae.” Irene could feel herself blush and panic at Coach Kwon’s words. “Don’t have a panic attack kid, I know you aren’t a bad person… maybe just emotionally backtracked. You know, the mean antics, nervousness, and avoidance that you have been doing with my daughter kind of give the impression that you have a big ole crush on her…”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Funny enough Irene, you remind me of an awful lot of my wife.” 

“I do?”