Days passed and the next thing Joohyun knew, she’s sitting in yet another posh restaurant, waiting for the dreaded blind date to arrive so they can get this over and done with.

She takes a selfie and another picture of the empty seat across and sent it to Wendy with the caption ‘Wish you were here instead’. They had been quite the text mates since that dinner in Joohyun’s apartment. Sometimes, there would even be late night calls or random video chats.

Wendy often drops by La Rouge at lunch, bringing a whole arsenal of homemade lunchboxes for her and the entire corps that tasted divine. After her performances, Wendy would pick her up and they would grab coffee or she would just drive her home. Joohyun honestly finds that a little troublesome because she’d end up leaving her own car behind and commute the next morning but she still goes along anyway.

They have grown remarkably close and Joohyun can’t remember the last time she warmed up to someone this quick. Those days were probably the best days of her life. They just clicked—their tastes and humour just matched. She can’t remember the last time she ever laughed that hard with someone.

Buzz.

 

Whoa!（☆∀☆)  So pretty!
How dare he make the goddess wait (๑•̀д•́๑)

Nah, I’m just too early haha

 

Send pics if he’s hot ¬‿¬
skskskskkss
waIT
thAT WASN’T ME THAT WAS SOOYOUNG

Hahaha
you’re together?

She dropped by
she suddenly decided she’s coordinating my outfit for tomorrow (◔_◔)
so if I show up in a sackcloth, you know who to blame

you’d look wonderful in sackcloth
Oh, right. The presscon
you must be busy then

I’m never too busy for you ☆( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Joohyun half-chuckles, half-grimaces at the greasy reply that she’s grown to become accustomed to and is about to type her reply when somebody clears their throat. She looks up and sees a man before her; tall, handsome, clean-cut, and impeccable with slicked back hair and a crisp suit—the personification of a man and woman’s daydream.

It must be him, the dreaded date.

“Hi.” he greeted, voice a wonderful baritone. “Bae Joohyun, right?”

Joohyun smiles politely and nods, watching the man take a seat. He clears his throat awkwardly. “Sorry for making you wait.”

“No, you’re in time. I’m just too early.” Now, they should eat and after that it’ll all be over. “We should order.”

He agrees. When the waiter leaves with their orders, they lapse into an awkward silence. Joohyun takes a sip of water, glancing at her watch and cursing the slow ticking of the hands.

“I’m Jung Jaehyun.” he breaks the ice. “My mom set me up into this and I believe yours did too.”

Joohyun just nods.

“Okay, great. So I won’t beat around the bush. We both don’t want this and that’s cool.” Jaehyun says and Joohyun looks at him in mild surprise. “I’m interested in someone, someone my parents won’t approve of.”

Joohyun slowly nods, still not catching up with this bizarre turn of events.

He nods too, glad they’re on the same page. “Well, just tell your mom I’m a messy eater.”

“Tell your mom I’m too clumsy.”

“Deal.”

“Deal.”

Well, that’s a relief. This won’t be as terrible as she assumed. Her phone buzzed on the table. It’s a message from Wendy.

pst
You’re not replying is he there now
or was that text too much o.o

Joohyun purses her lips, trying not to smile.

Hey
yeah, he arrived

Oh.
But why are you texting me?

Er…it’s kind of weird
I’ll tell you later

Is he hot

Yes, Sooyoung, he is

I sent that tho
But I see
So you think he's hot huh (≖_≖ )
 

 

"Do you also have someone?”

Joohyun jolts in surprise. She looks at her date with wide eyes. “Sorry?”

“Do you also have your eyes on someone?” Jaehyun repeats.

“Oh. Uh…”

“Is it the person you’re texting?” he smiles when Joohyun just blankly stares at him, showing dimples that would’ve driven anyone crazy. Fortunately, she stayed sane. “I’m sorry, but I was watching you and it’s pretty obvious.”

“Well,” Joohyun tucks a lock of hair behind her ear, unsure if she should talk about this with her supposed date. But he started it so it must be fine. “It’s a tiny crush.” she admits, feeling weird about saying it aloud.

“Ah, I remember when my attraction was only that: a tiny crush.” a reminiscing look settled on his face, “Then you can’t stop thinking about them even in the strangest times like in the shower or at the breakfast table. You start moving closer to them, like a magnet. Then you suddenly share your stories, you can’t stop smiling, you laugh at their lame jokes even when it’s not funny, everything reminds you of them—when that happens, you’re in deep.”

Joohyun chuckles and shakes her head a bit, not quite believing she can become that crazy about someone. “I’ll watch out for that.”

“They must be really lucky.”

She thinks about Wendy—beautiful, talented, smart, thoughtful, and kind—and finds herself shaking her head. “I’m luckier.”

 

***

 

“You’d look fantastic in this, unnie.”

Sooyoung presents Wendy a dress. Behind her, the closet is a mess. Doesn’t matter. It’s Wendy’s anyway.

The shorter girl’s face immediately scrunches upon seeing it. “It’s a press conference, Sooyoung. Not a fashion show.”

“Huh.” she looks at the dress and tosses it back into the closet. She rummages through the clothes again. Wendy’s eyes are on her. She can feel it heavily burning on her back. The girl always had a keen 6^th sense, unlike a certain someone. But Sooyoung ignores it as best as she can.

“Sooyoung.”

Welp. There it is.

She immediately picks up the nearest cute shirt, “What about this?” she picks up a pair of pants and holds them up. “Not bad, right?”

“Sooyoung.”

“No? Hm.” she tosses the outfit aside and goes through the clothes again. She brings together a blazer and a tee, “What about this?”

“Soo—”

“Still no good? I think it looks great though.” she’s about to reach for another shirt but a hand grabbed her arm.

“Sooyoung.”

She sees the look in her eyes and didn’t like it. She’s not ready to be confronted yet. She tries to shrug her off, “I think you have a message from Joohyun-unnie.”

It worked. Wendy let go of her and immediately goes to check her phone on her nightstand only to frown. “There’s nothing.”

Sooyoung grins, “What is this? I’ve never seen you so interested in a person’s text before.”

Wendy just rolls her eyes and tosses the device on her bed. “You should’ve seen me when I was waiting for the response to my job application.”

“I did. You basically jumped at your phone every time it made a sound.”

Wendy snorts at the memory. Sooyoung looks at her and notices some of her original brightness coming back, like a bit of the load on her shoulders was lifted up. A tiny bit, but a much needed progress.

She should’ve known that the short silence isn’t advantageous for her. Wendy soon wears that concerned face once more and gently holds her wrist. “Come. Sit with me.”

Defeated, Sooyoung lets herself be led to sit on the bed. Everything has been going well, though. When she showed up in Wendy’s doorstep, the girl had been pretty surprised but she wasn’t suspicious of anything yet. She was too distracted and focused on texting Joohyun but the girl suddenly stopped replying. Maybe the guy is hot. She should ask for pictures later.

But who is she kidding? Hot or not, they’re all the same.

She had gone out to that dinner with Sungjae earlier that night. It was cool. The guy’s nice. He’s attentive and an overall gentleman. But he doesn’t know she prefers her pizza without crust, doesn’t know about her undying love for dogs, doesn’t understand her habit of spacing out. Of course, it’s not his fault. But Sooyoung couldn’t help but look for that that in people—that certain, borderline telepathic connection. He doesn’t get her—nobody gets her like—

Nobody gets her like Seulgi.

“What’s wrong?” Wendy finally speaks, holding her hand between hers, a reminder that she’ll hold on no matter what happens. Sooyoung is always grateful for that.

“Nothing.”

“Liar.” Wendy says, frowning. She scoots closer, tilting her head so Sooyoung would meet her gaze. “What’s the matter, Sooyoung-ah?”

Sooyoung averts her eyes. “I’m fine, unnie.”

“No, you’re not.” Wendy counters. “Come on. You know you can always tell your unnie.”

Sooyoung forces a smile. “It’s nothing, really.” she says. “It’s just…I keep looking for something that I already left behind.”

Understanding morphs on Wendy’s face. The older girl moves closer and wraps her in her arms. Sooyoung automatically sinks into the embrace, absorbing the comfort that she yearns.

She tries to laugh to lighten the tension. “What are you doing, unnie?”

Wendy holds her tighter, palm rubbing soothing circles on her back. “You look like you need a hug.”

Sooyoung wraps her arms around her tiny frame too, relishing in the warmth that she’s always ready to offer. No questions, no words needed. A wave of appreciation washes over her and she hugs her tighter, like her life depended on it.

Lord, how would she stay sane without Wendy?

“I love you, unnie.” she blurts out.

She feels Wendy smile, and then a kiss on her cheek. “Love you too.”

Her chest warms and she feels a little better. “I’m such a terrible person.”

“No, you’re not.”

Sooyoung buries her face deeper into Wendy’s hair and shakes her head.  “I’m the worst.”

“You’re not.” Wendy repeats firmly. “Don’t say that.”

“You don’t get it. The number of hearts I’ve broken…”

“You broke only one.” Wendy reminds her, and it brings a pang to her chest. “After all this time, it’s still her, isn’t it?”

Sooyoung instantly knows who she’s talking about but can be given eternity yet she still won’t be able to figure out the answer.

“I don’t know, unnie.” she whispers truthfully, “I don’t know.”

 

***

 

Wendy didn’t show up to the press conference wearing sackcloth, fortunately.

Sooyoung finalized her clothes last night and decided on a pastel coral pink pantsuit. Apparently she was serious about coordinating her outfit and it wasn’t a complete lame excuse to crash her place (Wendy buys none of it).

Now Wendy sits on a platform, facing the blinding flashes of the cameras and trying not to blink at each of them. She can never understand how celebrities can keep their eyes open with these rapid firing lights.

She and her main cast sit in a single file, listening to the MC. She’s going on about how they just saw the trailer, how watching it gave her the chills, and how she’s looking forward to seeing the film.

Wendy’s hands are clammy. She hates press conferences. It makes her feel like she’s back in college, defending her thesis. She stressed over it last night so she’s probably over prepared. But still, she’s nervous as hell. She hopes it won’t show in the photos. The girls would never let her hear the end of it.

“First of all, I have a question for our pretty director, angelic PD-nim, Wendy Son.”

She playfully shoots the woman a glare, though her dislike for the famous nickname is true and deep. Can people please stop calling her that?

“You managed to cast these brilliant actresses. How did you cast them and how do you feel about this line-up?”

Okay. That’s on number 15 of her ‘Questions They Might Ask’ list. “It’s a great honour to work with these great actresses. First of all, Lee Sunbin-ssi. Even when we were writing the script, I already knew that she’d be great to play the role of Minyoung. And Shin Doyeon-ssi, she’s a really pure and innocent person so the role of Jooyeon really suits her well.” she smoothly recites, nailing even the punctuations.

“Everybody knows of your close friendship with Hallyu Star, Joy. Why didn’t you cast her for this movie?”

“I did, actually.” Wendy reveals. “I offered her a role but she declined.”

“What role did you offer? Minyoung? Jooyeon?”

“No, I asked her to be the corpse.”

The hall burst into laughter. The MC went on, asking questions to the cast and Wendy is able to finally sit back and breathe. They take a short break, watching a short video that documented the film’s production.

“Director Son,” the MC calls, making Wendy perk, “I heard you worked really hard to get the right props, the transitions in production design, and changes in colour based on the characters’ emotions. You really focused on a lot of things for this film but what aspect did you focus on the most?”

Ha. Question number 47. “Well, the characters’ narrative and emotions keep changing and changing that you’ll think this film has many different stories. To be in harmony with those changes, we went all out with the costume, aesthetic, space, and photography to make the viewers wonder about the ending toward the denouement and finally provide them with an unexpected finale. The cast and crew put all of our effort into this film.”

The woman moves on once more to interview the actresses. Wendy discreetly glances at her watch. When will this end?

“Director Son,” she goes back to her again. “You’re widely known as one of the youngest, successful, and most attractive directors. Everyone is amazed at how such a bubbly, young woman like you would produce the most mysterious and darkest films. So, the question is, and always will be, can we expect you to direct a romance someday?”

Wendy laughs along with everybody. This has become some sort of an inside joke. Like a ritual, in each press conference she goes to no matter which film, she’d always be asked the question: will you make a romance please?

“Yeah, sure you can.” she answers, “But you’ll be disappointed because it will never happen.”

The crowd lets out their disappointment in a collective ‘aww’.

The MC moved on and the event went smoothly. Wendy’s nerves soon calmed down and she answers all the questions with ease. She had, after all, written up the divine book of every possible questions one might get in a press conference and memorized every single one of them.

Soon, it’s already the photo session and after that, everything’s over. Wendy lingered for a while, socializing and greeting reporters she recognized and even answering some questions for them. The poor actresses still have to deal with a whole bunch of interviews. Luckily for her, she doesn’t have such an obligation.

She stays in the waiting room backstage, scrolling through her phone. As soon as she opens her phone, it spasms like crazy. Sooyoung had posted a picture of her in the press conference in her Instagram with the caption: Our Wan-PD looking chique ლ(▀̿̿Ĺ̯̿̿▀̿ლ) #thankstowho #thankstoME♥ #yourwelcomewendynators

Messages poured in the group chat. They were going crazy over snapshots of articles.

“Angelic PD Wendy Son’s idol-like beauty steals attention once more”
“Director Wendy Son is stunning in pink for ’s press conference”
WE LOVE OUR NATION’S PD-NIM (๛ ˘ ³˘)۶
it’s pastel coral pink, smh -_- get ur facts straight

Ogoogooggoogoogoo ♥♥♥ UWUUUU

WIGS SNATCHEDT
WIGS FLYING

Shut up yall
-_-

SKSKKSKSAHAHAHAH

hhhhHHHHHhHAHHAHAHAHAHA

KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

Glad that making fun of me makes you so happy =3=

 

“It’s one of our small delights in life.”

Wendy turned so fast at the voice she felt something crack and gasps. “Kang Seulgi!” she exclaims, beaming as if they haven’t seen each other just a few nights ago.  

“Surprise?” Seulgi lifts the bouquet of sunflowers. Thankfully, it isn’t as huge as the one she got for Joohyun. Why the hell did Wendy even buy such a gigantic one anyway?

Wendy runs up to her, accepting the flowers and giving her friend a hug. “Yerim didn’t tell you to deliver this, did she?”

“That’s from the three of us. You did well today.”

“Then will you treat me lunch? There’s an awesome hotpot restaurant across the street.”

Seulgi shrugged, “Sure thing.”

“Oh yeah!”

With their arms looped around each other, they make their way out. Having her friend there with her after such a stressful ordeal gives her enormous energy. She feels like she’s gulped down a dozen espressos.

“You seem brighter nowadays.” Seulgi comments.

Wendy doesn’t even realize she’s grinning. “Do I? I’ve always been bright.”

“No, I mean…it’s just, you seem better.”

“Better? You speak as if I had cancer.”

“Exactly.”

The conversation brings her back to a similar one, long ago. Instantly, she knows what Seulgi means. She laughs it off. “It’s just the job. Everything’s finally finished, Seul! Freedom!”

Seulgi looks sceptic. “Maybe.” she allows.

Seeing her reminds Wendy of Sooyoung, however. She never really fully understood why they actually broke up despite being their mutual close friend. Sooyoung likes to act tough and so she never talks about it. Seulgi…well, she used to burst into tears every time Wendy tried to ask so she decided to stop trying, opting to let Seulgi tell her when she’s ready. She never did.

Yerim doesn’t know much either but she knows more than Wendy does. Apparently, the break up was mutual. Either Sooyoung broke up with Seulgi and the latter agreed or it’s the other way around. It doesn’t make any sense. They both look like they were forced.

They arrive at the restaurant and place their orders. As soon as the waiter leaves, Seulgi speaks, “Seungwan-ah.”

“Yeah?”

“I sold them.”

“What?”

“I sold them.” Seulgi repeats. “The sculptures.”

“What?” Wendy exclaims. Those statues were top-notch. Even Sooyoung herself isn’t that pretty. Maybe it’s because that’s how Seulgi sees her through her eyes. “Why?”

Seulgi shrugs. “I sold it to a fan. They said they’d put it in an exhibit for her birthday next year. I just thought, you know, a first step to moving on.” she says. “It’s…she seems to have no trouble moving forward and I just can’t stay stuck in the same place.”

Wendy wants to pull her hair out and scream. No! That’s not true at all! If only you saw her last night! Don’t move on yet!

Instead, she reins herself in and takes a deep, calming breath. “Okay. But don’t you think you guys should talk it out again? Like actual, mature adults?”

Seulgi’s shaking her head before she’s even done. “It’s been a year, Seungwan. There’s nothing to talk about.”

There’s a lot to talk about! Like how you two are obviously not over each other! “Seul,” she tries to talk sense to her again. She wants to tell her what happened with Sooyoung last night but that’s not for her to say. Besides, the ‘I don’t know’ wasn’t quite reassuring. But still, better than a straight up ‘no’. “You should think about this—”

“I’m done thinking about it.” Seulgi firmly says. “I’ve been thinking about it for a year. That’s enough thinking. It’s time to move on.”

“Seul…” Wendy sighs in defeat, having no idea how to fix it. “Are you sure you won’t regret this?”

“No.” she admits. “I’m not. But isn’t that just how it is? We can never be sure if we’ll regret the decisions we make.”

Wendy covers her hand on the table with hers. “Seul, I just want you to be happy.”

Seulgi smiles weakly. “I’m trying, Seungwan. I really am.”

 

***

 

37 heads have ce, 46 have turned twice, all in all, they have received 83 looks and it haven’t even been ten minutes since they sat in La Rouge’s lounge. And yes, she has been counting.

Yerim squirms, uncomfortable with the attention. Well, of course, being a natural superstar that she is, she’s used to getting double takes but not in this crazy scale that’s definitely because of her companion.

“Can you remind me why you’re here again?”

Sooyoung doesn’t miss a beat. “To bless the world with my beauty.”

She gives the actress a dirty look. The girl hadn’t even bothered putting on a mask or a cap. She’s just there, having the audacity to sit like she own the place with those freakish long legs sprawled

“I swear to god, if somebody asks me to take a picture for them one more time I’m going to leak that drunk video of you giving yourself an arm hickey thinking it was a hot chick.”

Sooyoung gasps, outraged. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Oh, I would.” Yerim promised. “Seriously. Why are you here? Aren’t you busy?”

“I don’t have a schedule today.” Sooyoung says, looping her arm around Yerim’s neck and pulled her close despite her protests. “Is it so wrong to spend time with my precious little squirt?”

Yerim gives up and just sat there with her head on Sooyoung’s shoulder and the girl’s arm around her neck. “I sense an underlying agenda.”

“Well, okay, I also want to meet Joohyun-unnie.”

“Why?”

Sooyoung shrugs and Yerim feels like she’s on a rocking boat. “Nothing. I just want to see her, that’s all.”

Yerim narrows her eyes at her.

“Okay, I also have something to check.”

“What’s that?”

Yerim’s phone buzzed before Sooyoung can answer. Contact name baechu-unnie has sent a message.

 

Lunch break
Where are you?

At the lounge in the lobby
Syoung unnie tagged along btw

Just her?

Uh, yeah?
Why? Should there be someone else

No no nvm
I’m coming down in ten

Don’t
You’re in that same practice room, right?
We’re going there

Huh
Why

Syoung unnie needs to see them hot ballet babes
might help her move on

 

“Ack!” Yerim chokes, slapping Sooyoung’s arm tightening around her neck.

“I’m doing that well enough without seeing them hot ballet babes, thank you very much.” Sooyoung finally lets her go and she breaks into a coughing fit.

“Are you trying to kill me?”

“For the past seven years, yes.”

“Then you have to try harder than that.”

They head to the third floor practice room I—the same place where Yerim first found Joohyun. It’s a good thing she stuck her head in the half-open door back then. If she didn’t, she wouldn’t have met Joohyun and Yerim wouldn’t have one more person to pamper her. In other words, it would’ve .

Ballet dancers walk out of the room in groups. Yerim not-so-discreetly elbows Sooyoung, suggestively wriggling her brows. The tall girl elbows her back, not-so-softly. Yerim lets out a pained oof.

Inside the room, Joohyun is on that metal bar thing—what did she call it? Ah. Barre—stretching her leg in a way Yerim never imagined was possible.

“Yo, unnie.”

Joohyun flinches so hard she almost tumbled off and broke a leg. Clutching her chest, she straightens and smiles at them, a little breathless. “Oh, hi.”

“Hey, unnie. Long time no see.” Sooyoung says.

“Yeah,” Joohyun says half-heartedly, her eyes shifting behind them, head tilting a little—like she’s expecting someone else. Yerim’s lips curls to a smirk. This unnie haven’t really been discreet about her interest to her other unnie. She would ask Yerim questions after questions regarding her, thinking she’s being subtle when really, it’s everything but smooth. She’s about to call her out for it but Sooyoung cuts her to the chase.

“Looking for someone?” the tall girl asks innocently but the glint in her eyes suggests otherwise. Two and two pieced itself together. I also have something to check.

Hmm…

Joohyun laughs awkwardly, “No, no. It’s nothing.” she focuses on Yerim, fixing her collar that Sooyoung messed up while trying to choke her. “Did you sleep alright?”

She tries not to blush. Joohyun had always been so motherly but with Sooyoung watching, Yerim can’t help but feel embarrassed. She has that -eating grin on her face and Yerim just knows she’d be teasing her to the ends of hell.

“Yeah, well…” she mumbled, her shrug ending her sentence.

“What about your project?”

“It’s done.” Yerim chirps excitedly. “Do you wanna see?”

Joohyun chuckles at her enthusiasm. She ruffles her hair. “Of course. But first, lunch.”

“Yup!” Sooyoung chimes in. “I know just the place.” she winks.

Sooyoung brings them to a familiar café. It’s a place they frequent often because it’s near Wendy’s workplace and because the food and interior is very Instagramable. Yerim feels like something is up but she can’t be sure yet so she keeps an eye on Sooyoung, prepared to defend her precious Joohyun-unnie from the devil.

“We go to this place a lot, Seungwan-unnie and I.” Sooyoung starts talking and Yerim is bewildered. They all go to this place a lot.

“Seungwan?” Joohyun asks, a little confused.

A look of surprise falls on Sooyoung’s face and Yerim detects the presence of Joy, the actress. “Oh, didn’t Wendy-unnie tell you? It’s her Korean name.”

Joohyun looks on with no change of expression as Sooyoung continues spouting crap with a shrug in her tone, “Granted, she only lets special people call her that so it’s not a surprise she hasn’t told you yet. Our Seungwan-unnie is a very private person.”

“I see.”

Yerim notices how Sooyoung seems to observe Joohyun closely and the latter’s expression is becoming tight. It’s like Sooyoung is doing it in purpose to tick her off and—oh.

Oh.

Well, she’s prepared to protect Joohyun from the devil, yes, but it so happened she’s also one. So.

She sits back; sipping her tea and watching the fun unfold.

Sooyoung had whipped out her phone. She’s now showing them her selfies with Wendy and Yerim grimaces. “Not in front of my salad, unnie.”

Those were selfies Yerim doesn’t want to see for more than once because they’re greasy and gross. Seulgi was Sooyoung’s girlfriend but Wendy is her wife. With every swipe, Joohyun’s face darkens.

“You’re really close.” Joohyun comments neutrally.

“Yes, well, Seungwan-unnie and I,” Sooyoung says, insisting on using the name ‘Seungwan’ more than she usually does. “We’ve been together since—”

“High school, yes.” Joohyun supplies. “She told me about that. Also, that one time when you got too drunk during the end-of-school party you made out with a tree in front of the entire class. Your company must be paying your classmates well for their silence.”

Sooyoung turns red at the unexpected blow. Yerim bursts into laughter and the actress shoots her a glare. She still has a copy of that video in her phone and in her hard drive and in her laptop and in her memory cards and in her flash drives and in all possible storage. Oh, boy that was hilarious.

Joohyun has a self-satisfied smirk now. “We had a good time laughing over your epic past.”

“Did she tell you anything else?” Sooyoung demands, now riled up. Oh, how easily her temper flares.

“Not going to tell you.” Joohyun playfully says in the exact same annoying way Wendy says it all the time.

“This is unbelievable. I can’t believe she’d tattle on me like that.” Sooyoung fumes. “This is totally not like her. She’s more considerate than this.”

“She is.”

Joohyun’s soft voice makes them pause. They look at her, at the tiny smile on her face as she cuts up her fish fillet, and then briefly exchanges glances.

Something falls on Sooyoung’s face and Yerim knows the battle of wit is over. For now. The girl sits back and sips her coffee. “I heard you went on a date.”

“Yes, I took photos for you.”

Sooyoung laughs. “You really did that?”

“Of course. You asked.”

Sooyoung shakes her head at her innocence. “That means he’s hot then. Let me see!”

Yerim watches them, heads together with Sooyoung letting out ‘ooh’s and ‘ahh’s, and feels affection in her chest that she would never admit aloud. She mentally pats herself on the back. She did well, letting these people meet. 

 

***

 

Wendy have been to La Rouge so often that the security guards and staff already recognizes her. Hell, she’s in first name basis with everyone already.

Tonight, she brings baggies of cookies for everyone which she baked earlier in the day, having nothing to do with her life anymore. Baking is a nice distraction.  It’s exhausting and exhaustion lets her meet sleep a little sooner than later.

Finally, she’s going to pay the dinner she owes Joohyun. It’s long overdue and that pressures Wendy even more. For some reason, she feels like she should take her out on a candlelit dinner on a yacht or something—as if she has to impress.

Which doesn’t make any sense. They’re friends. Why would she need to impress her?

Joohyun then rolls up to the lobby in a large black t-shirt and blue jeans, with her hair up in a messy bun. If Wendy didn’t know any better, she’d think she’s a college student who just pulled an all-nighter cramming for the exams.

She looks tired. Wendy wonders if she should just move the dinner back, maybe this weekend when Joohyun is vacant.

Their eyes lock. Joohyun smiles and it brightens up her face and oh, wow, her smile. It’s so infectious Wendy’s own lips lifts upward without permission.

“Hi, you.” Joohyun greets.

“Do you really not want to be an actress?” Wendy blurts out because priorities.

Joohyun’s smile turns cheeky. “We talked about this in detail already, Director Son.”

Wendy remembers what she’s referring to and also remembers that they talked nothing about those details but chatted for hours about the best way to clean the kitchen so insects would stay out.

Joohyun links their arms as they head to the exit. “So, where to tonight?”

“The dinner I owe you,” Wendy starts, “I’m thinking maybe if I can pay it back tonight? If you’re not too tired?”

Joohyun lightly bumps her shoulder to hers. “Never too tired for you. You still have to pay for the interest too.”

“And…what is the mode of payment?”

“Hmm…” Joohyun hums, pretending to think about it. “More dates?”

Wendy almost trips. Fortunately, Joohyun’s quick to balance her and is just as fast to laugh. The girl tightens her hold on her arm then, holding her closer.

Dates, huh? Well, yeah. That’s what this is, right? A friendly dinner date. More dates would be just like going on multiple fun outings with a girl friend, like, a girl who’s a friend. Okay. Wendy can do that.

Unless she means date fruits. Wendy would be so totally up for that too.

The night breeze greets them as they step out to the night. She feels Joohyun shiver so she promptly untangles their arms, opens one side of her jacket, and pulls her in a side-hug so they can share.

“Better?” Wendy asks, turning to look at her only to find her face a little too close her vision blurred. Uhh…

Joohyun quickly looks away before mumbling. “Yeah. Thanks.”

Wendy drives to the place Sooyoung told her about. She’s not sure if she should trust her suggestion but the tall girl just won’t shut up about it as soon as Wendy slipped that she’s taking Joohyun out to dinner.

“Where are we going?”  

“There’s a place Sooyoung insists I should visit with you.”

“Sooyoung, huh?”

Wendy glances at her, not missing the odd tone that sounds both bitter and amused. “Yeah. Why?”

“Nothing. We had lunch earlier today with Yerim.”

Wendy loses her grip on the steering wheel for a second. “You had lunch with whom?” she asks, feeling the blood drain from her face.

“Yerim and Sooyoung.”

Oh, great. When those names are used in one sentence, it usually doesn’t end well. “How did it go?” she asks, trying to sound casual and not at all nervous wreck that she actually is. Lord knows what those little devils said behind her back.  “They didn’t terrorize you or anything, right?”

Joohyun laughs. “Sooyoung did, sort of.” she says, “Unfortunately for her, I don’t get scared off easily. But I know she meant well.”

Wendy can’t see how terrorizing can mean well but she knows better than to question.

“We really bonded over stories like the first time you tried to drive and crashed into a brick wall trying to avoid a cat crossing the street.”

“Oh my god, I knew it.”

Joohyun bursts into laughter; high pitched dolphin-like chortles that she really likes hearing and her lips curve up unconsciously once more.

“Please tell me that’s the only story they told you.”

“Not going to tell you,” Joohyun says cheekily, sticking out her tongue.

Wendy chuckles and shakes her head. Embarrassing stories are fine. As long as they didn’t show her the—

“They showed me videos too.”

“What?!”

“Wendy, eyes on the road.”

She obeyed, eyes wide as plates. “Please. Whatever you saw, keep it to yourself.”

Joohyun giggled. “You’re cute when you’re drunk.”

“Unnie—”

“You also look good as a clown.”

“I swear to God, if you say one more word I might crash this car straight into a brick wall just like the first time.”

Joohyun throws her head back laughing. Well, glad someone’s having fun. “Okay, okay, I’ll stop.”

They manage to arrive to their destination safely without Wendy crashing into neither a cat nor a wall. As expected, the lights are dim in the lobby. She feels Joohyun step closer, clinging on her arm as she looks around suspiciously.

 “We’ll have the ‘Chef’s Surprise’, please.” Wendy says to the staff, just as Sooyoung instructed, though she has no idea what a ‘Chef’s Surprise’ is.

Before they start to dine, their phones are taken and shut away in a locker. They’re then guided into a completely pitch black dining room. A hand grabs Wendy’s in the dark.

“What the hell is this?” Joohyun asks, moving so close to her she’s basically glued to her side as they manoeuvred through the darkness.

“Sooyoung’s idea of a fun dinner.” Wendy answers.

“I don’t like Sooyoung’s ideas.”

“Me neither.”

“I hate the dark.”

“It’s going to be fine.” Wendy squeezes her hand in a reassuring, I’m here.

On Joohyun’s insistence, they sit side by side. The girl refuses to let go of her hand and Wendy chuckles at her predicament. Joohyun pinches her side in response.

Le Noir doesn’t disappoint. The place is really dark. Wendy’s sense of sight is completely disabled. Without the distractions she becomes hyperaware of Joohyun’s warm body stuck next to her and can’t think of anything else other than her wonderful scent of lavender and vanilla.

She starts feeling nervous, heart picking up pace. Okay, maybe this isn’t a great idea.

And when she gets nervous, she gets chatty. “Don’t you wonder if it’s true that without your sense of sight, the food’s flavours and aromas come in a stronger, more nuanced way? If it is, then I think the blind are winning at life. When it comes to food, that is. I mean—”

Something touches the corner of her lips, almost completely missing it, and she flinches at the contact.

“You’re rambling again. Relax.” Joohyun’s velvet voice tells her and she sounds so frighteningly near, warm breath hitting her cheek.

Wendy sits very still, not daring to turn and cause a little accident. Her heart does a little BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. “Was that a finger? Please tell me that was a finger.” she asks as soon as said suspected-finger leaves her face.

Joohyun laughs. “Yes, that was a finger.” she starts playing with Wendy’s fingers and all of her sensory receptors goes wild. She starts tickling her palm and goosebumps shoots up to her arm.

Wendy swallows and wonders if she can feel around their table to see if there’s a glass of water there and decides against it since the possibility of spilling said water is higher than actually drinking it.

She feels Joohyun shift. A weight leans down on her shoulder and she instinctively turns, nose tickled by vanilla scented hair. The fingers lacing and unlacing with hers and prickling her palm doesn’t stop and it’s driving her crazy. What the hell is happening here?

God, somebody give her a flashlight.

“I watched your press conference.” Joohyun says, her quiet voice piercing the silence making the hairs on the back of Wendy’s neck stand like she’s listening to ASMR. “You did really well. You were awesome back there.”

Wendy turns to her, nose bumping and lips grazing vanilla scented scalp. “You already texted me that.”

Joohyun moves and Wendy feels something that’s so much like a nose touch her lips. “I wanted to tell you that in person.”

Silence hangs heavily, augmenting the loud, erratic thumping of her heart. Chaotic thoughts jumbles in her mind like an annoying traffic jam, bumper to bumper, honking like crazy. What the hell is this? Why is she being so freaking nervous? Why is neither of them moving away? What does it mean?

No, Joohyun’s just a terribly clingy person by nature and she’s afraid of the dark. That’s all this is.

The waiter then arrives with their food, breaking the tension. Joohyun finally sits properly but she still refuses to let go of Wendy’s hand or give her space. They spent the next five minutes giggling as they practiced picking up utensils, dropping them a couple of times.

“What did you order?” Joohyun asks as they blindly poke around the shared plate.

“It’s called ‘Chef’s Surprise’ which is exactly what it is—a surprise. I let them know about your nutritional diet and that you can’t eat chicken so—ouch! That’s my hand you’re stabbing!”

Joohyun’s high-pitched laughter pierces the stillness and the darkness seems a little brighter. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry!”

They eat clumsily, meal filled with laughter as they pierce what they think is a slice of steak and brings it to their mouth only to find that nothing is attached to their fork. Every bite is a surprise; it would be meat, then it would be carbonara sauce from the pasta she failed to fork, then it would be a chunk of potato—there’s no guessing what comes next. Most of the time, Wendy just picks up the food with her hand. No one’s looking anyway.

“Say ‘ah’,” Joohyun suddenly says.

“That’s not a good idea, unnie.”

“Say ‘ah’,” Joohyun insists, “And keep saying it so I know where your mouth is.”

“Unnie, I’m wearing a white shirt.”

“I’ll do your laundry.”

Okay, she’s sold. “Alright, deal.”

“Cool, now say ‘ah’.”

“Aaaaaaa—ow! Are you trying to feed my nostrils?”

Joohyun laughs. “Let me help you wipe that.”

Something course rubs against her face, on the opposite side of the actual stain, and it smells suspiciously like mayonnaise. “I think that’s a lettuce.”

They’re a mess trying to feed each other and failing each time. When Wendy accidentally poked Joohyun’s eye with what she guessed was a grape, they finally stopped fooling around.

At the end of the meal, the waiter gives them a paper and a marker each to draw something in the dark and possibly make a complete Picasso worthy work of art.

“What are you drawing?” Joohyun asks.

Wendy shrugs, “I’m not sure.” she says despite being aware that her hand is trying to draw a ballerina doing a pirouette. “What about you?”

“Not going to tell you.”

“Are you officially stealing that line from me?”

Joohyun chuckles, “Nah, you do it best.”

Wendy finishes her drawing and is about to put in her signature when she gets an idea. She hesitates, wavering, before scrawling the words down and hoping it would be incoherent in the light.

When they leave, the lights are and they squint at the sudden brightness. A scene of carnage lay on their table; napkins are everywhere, pieces of the salad left a trail to where they sat, and sauce is smeared and spilled everywhere.

Wendy and Joohyun locks eyes and bursts into laughter.

They’re a complete mess; paints of carbonara sauce and salad dressing on faces of white canvas and clothes stained with streaks and spots. They came out of the pitch-black three-course meal looking like a Kandinsky painting.

The drive to Joohyun’s place is quiet. They had rolled down the windows so the mixed smell of steak, carbonara, and salad doesn’t stick. Wendy glances at Joohyun looking out the window, winds blowing her hair back.

“Unnie,” Wendy calls as she makes the final turn before reaching Joohyun’s building.

“Hm?”

“Next week’s already premiere night…” she trails off to focus on parking and continues after, “And I was wondering if you’d like to come? If you’re not too busy that is. Or tired. I mean, I completely understand if—”

A finger on her lips silences her, like it had earlier, and Wendy involuntarily inhales sharply. “I’d love to go.” Joohyun says, “But only if my seat’s right next to yours.”

“Uhh, sure.”

Joohyun smiles and retracts her hand. “Well. This is me.” she unbuckles her seatbelt, “Thanks for tonight.”

Wendy beams. “My pleasure.”

Joohyun unlocks the door, her hand on the knob, but she stays seated and just freezes there. “What’s wrong? Did you forget something?” Wendy asks.

And then—as quick as a blink of an eye—Joohyun turns and the next thing she knew, she’s broken into her comfort zone, lavender and vanilla dizzying, and soft lips are pressed against her cheek.

Is this a kess—

Kise—

Kez—

Keis—

Kees—

“I had fun tonight.” Joohyun mutters against her skin before pulling away and hops out of the car as soon as possible like she’s stolen something.

And maybe she has.

She’s stolen her sleep. Wendy sure won’t be able to sleep tonight.

After spacing out for a whole 5 minutes, she takes out a paper from her jeans pocket and unfolds it—her souvenir masterpiece from Le Noir: an unrecognizable figure that’s supposed to be a ballerina. In the space of one corner is her messy handwriting, expressing messier thoughts.

You make me feel weird.