Author's Note: I changed the format of the story and will go back and forth from Wendy's perspective to Irene's and vice versa.

 

 

Wendy woke to the sound of a glass bottle rolling across the floor. 

 

She shot her head up with her hair matted to her face as she adjusted her vision to take in an old weather broadcast on her laptop. She smirked when she observed the flawless image of Bae Irene walking across the screen from left to right describing an upcoming rainstorm from a few months back.

 

She fell asleep with her laptop on the whole night again. She shrugged as she carried the laptop to her study desk and hooked it up to the cord near the outlet.

 

"If Seojeong expects to check her emails today well she is out of luck," Wendy thought. "But isn't that what the student center is for."

 

Speaking of her best friend, she was less than 15 minutes away so Wendy needed to hop in the shower and apply make-up before she arrives.

 

"Would it sound foolish to think the unattainable Bae Irene was checking me out?," Wendy pondered as she went to her closet to lay out the outfit she ironed last night. "Yeah maybe I should keep quiet, I will sound crazy, and besides I was the only one who saw it."

 

She sighed as she shut the door to the bathroom.

 

 

The alarm beeped at 3:15am as a pair of bloodshot eyes slowly opened.

 

Irene spent the night trapped in a restless sleep for she never had an experience like she did during yesterday's broadcast.

 

A gentle, warm set of brown eyes seem to follow her every movement whenever the class of interns were close by.

 

What frightened Irene was that she didn't shy away when she accidentally made direct contact with the inviting gaze. It was as if she was welcoming the attention. The attention she should be use to after years of strangers proclaiming their undying love for her. Whether to her face or behind a keyboard.

 

But a female? 

 

If she was being honest she never looked at another woman in a romantic way. But her family would disagree as they still about her female friend in high school who always wore purple. How Irene would intentionally leave her gym uniform at home so she had an excuse to borrow clothes from her classmate.

 

"You have to admit that sounds a little gay," her younger cousin Yeri remarked at one of the family gatherings. Irene laughed it off not considering whether she had been attracted to her friend.

 

"Was I....," she asked herself. She brushed off the topic as she selected a sweater, jeans, and Vans to wear to the studio. Every anchor had their own dressing room and stylist who chose their hairstyle, make-up, and outfit for the taping. 

 

As the warm water hit her face, she shut her eyes and ran her fingers through her hair. She applied the shampoo and lightly massaged her scalp as the water covered her back. She had her eyes shut as she envisioned the blonde intern entering the shower and running her hands along her waist to her arms and finally her legs. While doing that the blonde was decorating Irene's neck with fluttering kisses.

 

Irene's breathing increased and she released a low moan before she was awaken from her fantasy when a bar of soap hit the shower floor with a thud. 

 

Irene jumped and retracted her hands from her most sensitive area. Her eyes grew wide from the realization that here she was ing to an image of a woman, no young girl, she only met yesterday.

 

"I really am a ert," Irene chuckled as she quickly finished up and exited the shower. A fluffy purple bath towel was hanging on the towel rod nearby. As she was drying herself off with her eyes closed, her mind went back to the image of the intern taking one last look at her before the elevator doors closed.

 

"C'mon I need to snap out of it," Irene scolded herself. "It is highly unprofessional and she barely knows me and I don't know her. She is probably like the rest of them who are obsessed with the image on the news. Yeah that explains it." 

 

Irene blow-dried her hair, brushed her teeth, got dressed, and grabbed a piece of fruit and thermal with hot tea before exiting her penthouse suite.

 

She beeped the unlock button on her keys and opened the door to her silver 2019 Lexus ES. She adjusted the seat and sat for a second to let the car warm up. Her finger was pressing the button to change radio stations but stopped when she came across a melancholy sounding song.

 

I got a girl crush

Hate to admit it but

I got a hard rush and ain't slowing down

I got it real bad

Want everything she has

That smile and midnight laugh 

She's giving you now

 

I wanna taste her lips

 

WHAM!

 

Irene quickly turned off the radio while clenching her hand to her chest. Her heart was beating rapidly and she was inhaling and exhaling as sweat formed on her forehead.

 

The image of the blonde intern came to mind as the song played which threw Irene into a panic.

 

"Why do I keep seeing her?," Irene wondered becoming frustrated at how ridiculous she was acting.

 

"Maybe it is the lack of sleep," she reasoned as she put her car into drive and headed into the direction of the news studio.

 

 

"Well that ," Seojeong fussed as she looked at Wendy's laptop battery on 5% and charging.

 

Wendy was standing a few feet away in the bathroom straightening her hair.

 

"You can always use my Wi-Fi for your phone," Wendy suggested holding a strand of hair in her hand.

 

"Yeah I suppose you are right," Seojeong cracked a weak smile. She was hoping to snoop into her friend's recent Google search. She found it humorous how here Wendy was face-to-face with the object of her affection and still she came home to her tiny apartment to stare at pictures and watch videos of Bae Irene.

 

A look of disgust crossed Seojeong's face and she withdrew her hands and wiped them on her jeans.

 

"What if she es to Irene's voice or picture every night," Seojeong thought but didn't dare ask. "I am touching the keyboard not knowing what covered it last night."

 

"Ewwww!," She shrieked.

 

Wendy ran out of the bathroom with wide eyes, "What happened?! Why are you screaming?!"

 

Seojeong waved her hands in Wendy's face and explained, "Nothing! Nevermind! It is stupid! Let's just forget it!"

 

Wendy cocked her eyebrow before she whispered "okay" and slowly turned to return to the bathroom.

 

Seojeong crossed her arms and peeked out the window to observe the neighborhood commute to work and school.

 

"Hey Wan, how was your first day at Seoul News Now? Is it everything you thought it would be or more?"

 

Wendy's throat grew dry and she was caught off guard. 

 

"It was okay if I am being honest I mean our guide gave us a tour and we watched the morning and afternoon taping before heading back to school."

 

Seojeong smirked as she concluded that Wendy was playing it cool but she knows better. She was probably fangirling and melted into a puddle of goo at the sight of Bae Irene.

 

"So did the tour guide do introductions with the news cast?"

 

Wendy put on her pea coat and slung her tote bag over her shoulder.

 

"This sounds unbelievable but our tour guide didn't bother to do introductions," she chuckled. "How strange I mean we have to work side by side for 2 months but whatever."

 

She shrugged off the last statement before retrieving her keys from the table by the door.

 

Seojeong saw right through Wendy's nonchalant act when a look of disappointment appeared. It only lasted for a second but there was no mistaking it that Wendy hoped to meet her crush.

 

She spent Sunday night picking and rejecting a total of 8 outfits under Seojeong's supervision to impress the news staff. It was only later that Seojeong found out Wendy was only looking for a certain someone's approval.

 

Seojeong followed her friend out the door and wrapped her arm around her shoulder as she leaned closer.

 

"Don't worry today is the day to really "wow" the news station."

 

She felt like she accomplished something meaningful when Wendy cracked a smile.

 

"Yeah you are right, today will be different."

 

Seojeong shook her head, "No not different but better."

 

Wendy's mood improved as she repeated "Yeah better."

 

The two friends headed into the direction of the broadcasting building.

 

 

The stylists were putting the finishing touches on Jennie's outfit when Kai came stalking in wearing dark shades.

 

Eunhyuk walked up to him and said, "Rough night playboy?"

 

Kai sneered at him and said, "What is the point of being a celebrity if you can't reap the benefits? You got to live a little before all the glitter turns to dust."

 

Kai blew an imaginary cloud from his hand which left Eunhyuk speechless.

 

"Okay Miley Cyrus," Eunhyuk remarked as he went back to rehearsing his lines.

 

The stylists were tweaking the adjustments to the dress they selected for Irene when Kai plopped down in the chair next to the ladies.

 

Jennie rolled her eyes as she avoided the chair to her left where Kai sat.

 

Kai lowered his shades and asked, "What's with the attitude? Remember we work right next to each other so we have to get along."

 

Jennie was focused on her reflection in the mirror not sparing him a glance.

 

"How late did you stay out last night because your eyes are bloodshot?"

 

Kai drew back as he didn't expect Jennie to call out his eyes that were feeling heavy and itching to close.

 

Kai caught the attention of Irene who was listening in.

 

"My eyes look just like Irene's!," Kai exclaimed pointing in her direction.

 

Jennie turned to her right to face her friend and studied her face suspiciously.

 

"Yeah her eyes are bloodshot too but yours are worse," Jennie proclaimed leaning back in the chair to file her nails.

 

Irene wanted to slap Kai so bad for drawing attention to her in order to cover his own .

 

"What a little...," Irene thought but it was cut off by the presence of the CEO again. 

 

Twice in one week, it must be serious.

 

"CAN I HAVE EVERYONE'S ATTENTION!," his big voice echoed throughout the room. "Okay so I received a phone call from the student advisor at Seoul University. I was notified that the current class of interns were behaving in a disruptive matter."

 

Irene gulped once the words hit her ears. She was worried that the blonde intern would be punished along with the giddy girls and talkative boys.

 

Eunhyuk snickered in the corner but the CEO directed a stern look that made him tense up.

 

"Anyways," the CEO continued slowly turning away from Eunhyuk. "Inform me of any further unprofessional behavior as it is my goal to make this news studio a beacon for top notch reporting."

 

He held his fist in the air and walked toward the door.

 

"BEACON OF TOP NOTCH REPORTING!," mocked Eunhyuk after the CEO was out of sight.

 

Jennie laughed as she applied lip balm to her lips.

 

"Surrreeee top notch reporting, Haha! I believe a month ago I was assigned to survey people on the streets as to who wore the best evening gowns for the awards season."

 

Irene chuckled as she recalled how livid Jennie was after taping that segment even threatening to quit.

 

Kai added, "Just view it as you expanded your resume and now you can work at one of those tabloid shows."

 

Jennie threw a make-up brush but Kai caught it while laughing.

 

Eunhyuk joked, "Now you two cut it out! The interns will arrive soon and I am almost certain one of them is a spy for one of those gossip sites."

 

Kai and Jennie laughed it off.

 

"Well I hate to tell you this buddy but your name is circulating the web too."

 

Eunhyuk had a clueless expression on his face until Kai continued.

 

"Seriously you didn't see the fansite claiming that Irene was dating you and Jin at the same time?"

 

Jennie slapped his arm when he stood to be at eye level with his male colleague.

 

Irene flicked her hair and responded, "The fansite was reported and no longer exists so there is nothing to worry about besides it was nothing but lies."

 

It was the first time the news staff observed Eunhyuk speechless.

 

The colleagues halted their conversation when Il-hoon entered the room with the group of interns.

 

 

Wendy reported to the audio room so the student advisor could take roll call.

 

From the moment she shut the door there seem t