She needs to find Wendy, her friend who is now tricked into befriending a snake, someone who's been using her for comfort. Wendy doesn't need more friends. She has Yeri, she has Joy, she has some best friend named Seulgi, and to stress, just recently, she has her. It might have taken the younger some time to accept what they can't be, but Joohyun knows enough time has passed for them to become what they should be. 

Friends. 

Growing up, Joohyun has always found it difficult to gain herself friends. There's always that touch of doubt that gnaws at the root of her mind whenever someone approaches her and talks to her. What if they take advantage of her? What if they're fake? What if they're only there to cause her more harm than good? 

Could she be blamed when life has given her enough reasons to second-guess? All her life she's been given unnecessary attention swarmed with nothing but empty praises and pretentious smiles; received boundless amounts of hate fuelled by people's own issues of insecurity. 

It's better this way though, because over time the home in her heart has been built around an empire of heavy walls with doors locked and rooms filled with mazes. 'Til now, only a few solved her puzzles and obtained the key to see through her. Only a few resided in the home she hid. She made sure to keep those people. To care enough about those people. Because others never get that deep, they only come and go. So she intends for the select few to stay. 

While two of them arrived forcibly, breaking walls after walls after walls, one of them came knocking. Softly, almost unheard, almost unnoticed, so it took time. 

But now, that someone made a home in her heart. Now that someone grew herself a garden full of flowers that every once in a while blooms in her chest. Now that someone strolls the campus' paths, laughing side by side a walking embodiment of deceit. Now that someone is in front of her, waiting for her to speak. 

"Seungwan." 

Wendy's earlier cheery disposition was replaced with a stiff halt of action. She opened but no words made it past her tongue. She was frozen, rooted in the pavement that she stands on. Her mind is running a thousand miles per hour, figuring out if what she has heard was right. 

"Irene-ssi." The orange-haired temptress offered her a courteous bow that Joohyun returns with a blank look. She reverted her gaze to the still gaping woman beside Sana. 

"Were you done with your meet-up?" Joohyun used her index finger to touch the tip of Wend—Seungwan's chin and pushed it upwards for her to close . She waited, but still, Seungwan was immobile like an inanimate object. 

"Ah, yes, we were from the cafe. I was about to drop her off to her apartment." Joohyun didn't want to hear this woman speak but she didn't have a choice given that Seungwan was still staring at her with an indiscernible look on her face. With as much civility her voice could muster, she talked back, "Really? Let me give you one less thing to worry about then. I'll drop her off myself. I have important matters to discuss with her as well." 

"Oh, is that so?" Sana pouted, a little defeated for she wanted to chat with Seungwan a little longer. Thinking that her friend would be with Joohyun on her way home, however, improved her mood. She could about it later. 

"Okay! Thank you so much, Irene-ssi." Sana brightly thanked the eldest then proceeded to shake her frozen friend lightly. "Wannie, Irene-ssi will be taking you home. Don't miss me too much, 'kay? The Japanese ended with a smile that seems too sweet for the already sweet girl. 

Before she could hug Seungwan, a hand promptly yanked the girl's body away from Sana. "Sorry, we're kind of in a hurry." Joohyun admitted, moving in precise urgency. Sana reckoned that Joohyun must have been an actress in her past life for her to hide her irritation this well and mask it with the pretense of having an affair with utmost importance. 

Sana could only smile seeing the two walk off before she went on her own merry way. 

---

Seungwan was deep in her thoughts. Joohyun shouldn't really be too shocked about this because this always happens. What's disturbing for this time, however, was how Seungwan was too deep in her thoughts. They've already arrived at the girl's apartment and not even her smashing the door close affected the girl. She didn't even flinch when Joohyun went to get her a glass of water and forcefully placed it in front of the small table in Seungwan's couch. 

Is calling her Seungwan really that much of a mind-boggling occurrence?

She remembers this face. How Seungwan transitioned from blissful to frozen earlier reminded her of the first time she bit back to Seungwan's flirty remarks. 

They were at the club's office and she was giving Seungwan ideas for their club's plans. She was shooting word after word and suggestion after suggestion when she was cut off by Seungwan. 

"Why aren't you a part of this club?" It now made sense why the younger girl looked like she was not listening at all. She's been thinking of that the whole time I was talking?

"What do you mean?" Joohyun asked the singer while leaning forward to place her elbows on the table. 

"You spend lots of time here," argued the club president. 

"I like spending time here. Why do I have to be part of the club?" 

"So you don't, you know... look like the club's second lady or something." Wendy hesitated for a bit, lips tugged upwards after finishing her sentence. She knows it will hit Joohyun's competitive nature. Her statement caused the older to knit her brows and feel it in full offense. "Second lady? Me? I don't like being second."

"I'm the club's president, not Bogum." The brown-haired girl pointed to herself using her thumb. 

"So?" Joohyun didn't understand the connection, her face still colored in displeasure when she saw Wendy wrapped in an easy smile then chuckling. 

"You're second lady 'til you find your worth. You can hit me up anytime," Wendy smirked with a greasy wink.

This greasy little—

The wink and the line was a blow Joohyun didn't see coming. She was just tracing their exchange and how it ended to where they were when Wendy added, saying, "Just kidding." 

The girl was still beaming with confidence in Jo