“Son Wendy.”

Seungwan can tell the soloist is trembling with burning rage, juxtaposed by the sharp, icy bite to the way Joohyun calls her name.

“Uh, h-hi, Joo— Irene,” Seungwan gulps nervously, offering a guilty grin and a timid wave.

Joohyun wordlessly flicks the remaining aloe vera cubes off her ruined T-shirt. Seulgi’s eyes dart between her best friend and the soloist, wondering how the situation could possibly be contained.

“How old are you that you’re still running around like a child?”

“I’m twen—”

“It was a rhetorical question, because I don’t care,” Joohyun fixes the manager with an intense, unblinking glare, “Don’t try to smartass your way out of this.”

Seungwan sighs in defeat, “Fine… I’m really sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going this time.”

“This time? You were like that last time too.”

“Uh, to be fair, that was y—”

“What did I say about being a smartass?”

Seungwan purses her lips shut immediately.

“I can’t believe La Rouge thought it was a good idea to make you my manager. Or even a manager at all,” the soloist grounds out, “Am I always going to have to worry about accidents with you around? The fact that I still have to deal with you on my day off really…”

Ouch, okay that kinda hurt. Seungwan smiles even wider so she won’t betray the fact that she’d felt the sting of Joohyun’s words.

How dare she smile when she— The soloist almost feels like Wendy is stirring the bubbling cauldron full of Joohyun’s boiling anger without a care.

“Be honest with me,” Joohyun folds her arms, her voice almost turning into a snarl, “This is you trying to get back at me for the coffee incident, right?”

At this point, Seulgi really wants to step in and defend her best friend. But she knows Seungwan like the back of her hand, and it’s moments like this that she knows she needs to give the blonde space to handle the situation on her own. Still, she can’t help but feel indignant about the accusations flying from the person whom she’d called an “angel” several minutes ago.

“What?! No!” Seungwan raises her hands, waving them as though she can dispel Joohyun’s conspiracy theory just like that, “That’s not it at all!”

The soloist doesn’t look convinced.

Seungwan’s hands fall to her sides as she sighs, “Look, I’m not trying to get revenge, okay? Here, I’ll prove it!”

The manager takes out her wallet, “I’ll buy you a new top to replace what I ruined, okay?”

“Of course you’ll have to replace my shirt, did you think I was gonna just let you walk away without some sort of reparation?”

Geez, who even uses the word “reparation” anymore? Seungwan grumbles inwardly. Only an oldie like Bae Joohyun.

“And you better not use the company card,” Joohyun adds, “This isn’t a cost for La Rouge to cover since it’s your mistake.”

Seungwan freezes.

Damn it. I guess I can’t claim after all.

Noticing Wendy’s drop in confidence, Joohyun praises herself for her smart thinking.

For once, Seungwan feels incredibly tempted to slap the victorious smile off the soloist’s face. Okay, calm down, Son Seungwan. She’s trying to get under your skin. The manager takes in a deep breath, willing her annoyance to disappear so she can respond rationally to Joohyun. Don’t let her. Don’t give her the satisfaction.

“No, of course not, it’s only fair,” Seungwan finally has the strength to acquiesce peacefully to the soloist. She takes out a credit card, waving it in Joohyun’s face, “Here’s the company card. I’m handing it over to Seulgi here so you’ll know I’m using my own money.”

Seulgi takes the card from her hesitantly, her eyes filled with many questions, but they all dissolve in the face of the blonde’s sudden determination. Joohyun peers over at the card in Seulgi’s hand, and nods in approval. It is indeed the company card. But there’s something strange and off-putting about how quickly Wendy bounces back from her wrecked plan. But she’d hate to admit that her manager is somehow able to throw her off every single time.

“It better not be some cheap replacement, Son Wendy,” the soloist narrows her eyes at the manager, “This shirt cost me at least 80,000 won.”

Wendy’s jaw drops. 80,000 won for a simple white T-shirt?!

Now that’s the reaction I’m talking about. Joohyun does an internal fist-pump. Eat that, Son Wendy.

“How can that,” Wendy gestures to the soloist’s top, “Cost 80,000?!”

“Are you saying I’m lying, Son Wendy?”

“N-No!” Seungwan protests, “I’m just saying 80,000 won for a basic T-shirt like yours is daylight robbery! You can get a T-shirt like that for like, a quarter of the price! You’re literally being robbed, Irene!”

Seulgi, noticing Joohyun’s reddening face, struggles hard between facepalming and laughing herself to tears. Her best friend truly is a dumb . Wani, Wani, Wani…You’re better off picking up the shovel yourself and digging your own grave now.

“Did you just…call my shirt…basic?” Joohyun grounds out slowly, her anger threatening to explode, “You really know nothing about being my manager, huh?!”

Realising her mistake, Seungwan starts to apologise profusely, “Okay, okay, I’m sorry, it’s not basic and I promise I’ll replace it with something of a similar price tag! I’m really sorry, Seulgi, but could you stay with Irene while I go grab it?”

Seulgi waves her off, “Don’t worry your dumb little . I’ll stay.”

The manager starts towards the escalator, but several seconds later, she turns around and runs back to them.

“What now, Son Wendy? Trying to cheat the system again?”

“No, I—” Seungwan shrugs off her jacket, “I realised wearing a wet T-shirt is bound to make you cold, so!”

The manager throws the jacket around the soloist’s shoulders, “This should keep you warm while you wait!”

Before Joohyun can object, the blonde darts back off, leaving behind her best friend and her charge. After entering the inner section of the mall and being clearly out of earshot, Seungwan pulls out her phone and searches her contact list. She taps on a name and puts her phone to ear, biting her bottom lip anxiously. Please pick up, please pick up!

“Hello? Wendy?”

“Hey Krys, so about that favour… Can I call it in today?”

Outside, silence reigns between Seulgi and Joohyun for a minute or two, until the former decides she can properly talk to the soloist now that Seungwan isn’t around.

“It was me, y’know? I made her run,” Seulgi speaks up, “So if you want to blame somebody, you can blame me.”

“I’m not going to blame you. No one can make an adult run.”

Seulgi hums, “Hmm, she did say you’re pretty stubborn.”

“She what?” Joohyun whips her head around to face her manager’s friend.

“We were chatting about her new job, so,” Seulgi shrugs, “Naturally we talked about you.”

“Well, if she isn’t happy with the whole arrangement, she can always go manage someone else,” the soloist retorts.

“Quite the contrary actually. She really wants to get to know you better, she just…she doesn’t know how.”

Joohyun pauses her fuming to take in Seulgi’s words.

Wendy wants to get to know me better?

She feels a strange, mysterious wave wash away her anger. She fiddles unconsciously with the foreign fabric sitting on her shoulders that seemingly retained some of the blonde manager’s warmth.

“What was your name again?”

“Seulgi.”

“Cool. I’m Irene.”

“Yeah, I know,” Seulgi answers coolly, “Anyway, since Wendy isn’t here, I just wanna say a couple of things.”

“Sure.”

“Wendy hates fighting. She’d run away from every conflict if she could. So I hope you’ll take that into consideration now that you’re essentially co-workers.”

“That’s not very convincing given how she confronted a staff member during a team meeting and got him fired.”

“Don’t get me wrong, Irene-ssi. Wendy may not like fights, but that doesn’t make her a weak person unable to stand up for what’s right. She chooses her battles well, and you known damn well that that confrontation was no petty fight,” Seulgi replies sternly, “She’s fighting to change the culture in your company so you are treated right. So that artists, prese