Wendy stops the small van her father gave her before moving off to university. She turns to the right of her to look at the other person in her car, Irene.

 

She doesn’t know how long Irene has been staring at her with that smile on her face, but it makes her happy. “We’re here,” Wendy says, opening her car door.

 

“Thanks for bringing me here,” Irene says for what must be the tenth time. She was thanking Wendy for taking her to this special place since the moment she joined her in the car. “This place is really special to me.”

 

“You still haven’t told me why it’s so special to you,” Wendy says, opening the van’s trunk. Irene helps her take out some sleeping bags and a fishing rod. 

 

“I came here a lot with my mother before she died,” Irene explains. “My father and I moved away after she died so I never got to see this place again, but here I am now.”

 

“I’m sorry about your mother,” Wendy says, although she’s known about her mother’s death for a while now.

 

“You say that every time I bring her up,” Irene says.

 

“It hurts to lose someone you love,” Wendy says.

 

The two girls drove two hours to get out of their dorm and to Irene’s hometown. She used to live on a farm and Wendy knows how special her hometown is to her. The special place they’re at now is a dock for a small pond.

 

Wendy has heard of this place before, but she’s never actually gone out of her way to visit it. She’s glad that she can enjoy it with someone she cares about.

 

Irene insisted that they arrive when the sun was just beginning to set so they could experience unreal beauty, and she was right. Wendy is taken aback by how beautiful the water looks with the pinkness from the sky reflecting over it.

 

The two of them make their way to the edge of the dock, dipping their feet in the water as they toss their sleeping bags behind them. Wendy holds her fishing rod. “Shall we begin?”

 

“I would like that,” Irene says. 

“I don’t know how to fish,” Wendy lies. “You have to teach me.”

 

Irene smiles and rolls her eyes. “It’s not that difficult. I’ll help you once you get a bite. It might be difficult to pull it up then.”

 

“You realize I do know how to fish,” Wendy says. “I just wanted an excuse for you to touch my hands.”

 

Irene turns red and smacks Wendy softly, looking away, leaving Wendy to erupt with laughter. “You still get flustered.”

 

“I wouldn’t be flustered if you’d stop flirting with me like that,” Irene says. “But don’t. I like it.”

 

Wendy gives Irene a proud smile as the two of them begin to fish. It’s not long before Irene gets a bite on her hook. It’s a big fish, too. Wendy helps Irene bring it out of the water. “It’s a big one.”

 

“Looks like we have our dinner,” Irene says.

 

They set the fish aside and now it’s time to admire the beauty of the sun setting in front of them. Wendy has always loved the orange colour the sunset reveals from the sky, so she’s completely absorbed.

 

Irene, on the other hand, is focusing completely on the girl next to her. She’s been fascinated with Wendy since the moment she first saw her. With the way her eyes sparkled as she stared at the sunlight and the way she laughs and smiles, Irene is convinced that God must have spent some extra time on her.

 

Wendy notices Irene staring at her and she turns pink. “Why are you staring at me? There’s a sunset right in front of you.”

 

Irene didn’t think it was possible for her smile to grow any larger, but it did. “There’s a prettier sunset right beside me.”

 

Wendy’s eyes widen as she tries to smile. She’s clearly embarrassed, causing Irene to laugh. “I love you.”

 

“What?” Wendy asks.

Irene leans in slightly and places her lips on Wendy’s, moving her hand from her side to on top of Wendy’s hand. She interlocks their fingers. She pulls away after a bit, resting her head on her shoulder. “I love you.”

 

Even though she can’t see Wendy, Irene’s sure that she’s smiling. Wendy leans her head on Irene’s, too, as they watch the sunset. 

 

Wendy walks back to the van and takes out the tiny grill that she’d taken from her father before coming on this trip. She puts the fish on and begins to cook it so the two girls can enjoy dinner. After they finish eating, Irene returns to her original position where her head is resting on Wendy’s shoulder.

 

“You know, this was always my dream when I was younger,” Irene says.

 

“What was?” Wendy asks. “Tell me about your dreams.”

 

Irene laughs. “Watching the sunset here with the person I’m in love with. Just getting completely absorbed into each other, hands interlocked, wanting to be with each other forever. Share a kiss. Fall asleep watching the stars together.”

 

“Is that why you insisted only I come here with you?” Wendy asks. 

 

“Partly,” Irene says. “The other part is because I feel like you’re the only one who knows me more than I know myself, you know?”

 

“Sure,” Wendy says. 

 

“But yeah, that’s my dream,” Irene sighs. “It’s been my dream since I started coming here with my mother.”

 

“I’ll make it come true,” Wendy whispers, sending a shock through Irene’s body. Irene lifts her head and Wendy pulls her closer, kissing her.

 

Irene’s hand makes its way up to Wendy’s neck and Wendy’s hand trails up Irene’s back to her face. The two girls hadn’t shared a kiss as deep as this before. Most of their relationship had been soft skinship and pecking each other on the lips whenever they had the chance, but nothing like this. Both of the girls’ stomachs were completely twisted. Wendy could feel Irene’s heartbeat through her chest.

 

Irene eventually began to slowly push Wendy onto her back till the point where she was completely on top of her.

 

“Agh- my back-” Wendy manages to squeak out.

 

Irene giggles and rolls off of her to her side. “Sorry.”

 

“It’s fine,” Wendy says. “I could barely feel it.”

 

The sun had almost fully set now, and the stars were beginning to fade in with the night sky. Irene stretches behind her and brings their sleeping bags to the front. “We should get in now. The sun’s almost all the way down.”

 

Wendy nods. “Okay.”

 

The two quickly fit themselves in their sleeping bags. They would have shared a sleeping bag but it was too small to fit them both. They often had sleepovers back in the city and Irene deeply missed the feeling of Wendy’s arms wrapped around her in case she got cold during the night.

 

Irene places her head on Wendy’s chest as she admires the stars that were now fully visible. “We can’t see these in the city.”

 

“Yeah, it’s really beautiful,” Wendy says, running her hand through Irene’s hair. “I can’t believe you got to enjoy this all the time when you used to live here.”

 

“I found more beautiful things to stare at,” Irene says, making Wendy chuckle.

 

The two take in the beautiful sights the night sky has to offer, glancing at each other every now and then. Irene likes it when Wendy runs her hand through her hair. It makes her feel safe.

 

Wendy likes it when Irene lies on her so she can wrap her arms around her. She never wants to let go of Irene. “You know, you’re my first.”

 

“What?” Irene asks, lifting her head so she can look at Wendy.

 

“When I was younger, my parents always fought,” Wendy says, her eyes drifting away from Irene so she can find somewhere else to look. “My mother ended up leaving us, so it was just me and my dad. I’d always dreamt about loving someone with all my heart but after I saw what happened with my parents I was scared. So I made a promise to myself, I promised that I wouldn’t love anyone unless I knew that I would spend the rest of my life with them. My dad made me promise that to him before I left for university, too.”

“Then you met me,” Irene smiles.

 

Wendy nods. “I wasn’t actually going to go to the library that day. I was supposed to meet up with Joy and Yeri, but Seulgi ended up convincing me that I should study with her. She must have noticed me staring at you because she called you over and said she had to go.”

 

“So I’m your first?” Irene smiles to herself. “I feel bad to tell you I’ve had others now.”

 

“Don’t feel bad,” Wendy says. “You shouldn’t feel bad. I just made a stupid promise.”

 

“It wasn’t stupid,” Irene says, putting her head back down. “It makes sense. You were just scared of getting your heart broken. I’ve been there a few times, it . Curse you, Jennie Kim.”

 

Wendy laughs. “I love you, Irene.”

 

“I know,” Irene says softly.

 

Neither of them knows how long it is before they both fall asleep, Wendy’s arms wrapped tightly around Irene’s like usual. Irene remembers thinking of one thing before completely falling asleep.

 

Thank you for making my dream come true.