Wendy grimaced, looking at the mirror as she lifted her hair and looked at her split ends. They were about to do a surprise anniversary stage and she wanted to look good for it. It was her grand return, after all - as some fans dubbed it. 

 

It’s been a while since she had her hair done. It was hard for her to get her hair styled after her horror fall - every little move of her head meant a wince on the blonde (who now sported hair in the beggar zone) so she begged off from getting it trimmed for the past eight months. 

 

So the moment the excruciating pains left her hamster cheeks, the first thing she did was go to her favorite, trusted stylist's salon. Unfortunately though, when she got to it, she found that it was closed down - only left in the building was a note explaining that they did not want to open out of fear that their stylists contract the virus so they decided to shut down (after all, haircutting involved a lot of heavy contact.) The main vocallist would never dare have it touched by anyone else she didn’t trust at this point.  

 

“Hyuuuuuuun,” she groaned, looking in disbelief at her split ends. 

 

The brunette shufflled to her side and looked at Wendy’s reflection in the mirror, the blonde's mouth etched into a scowl as she stared at her split ends. 

 

“I don’t think I can show up like this!” The blonde exclaimed. 

 

Irene sighed, putting her hips on her shoulders. “Wan, you look fine."  

 

“Of course you’d say that,” Wendy chuckled and rolled her eyes. 

 

Irene looked at Wendy hairs for a bit, and in a eureka moment, dashed out of their dorm bathroom. A minute later, the leader walked back, scissors, a comb, and a light, wooden stool in hand. 

 

“Sit.” She said. The younger tried to open in protest but sighed, hopping onto the wooden seat and looked at the mirror - there was no way arguing with Irene like this. 

 

“Y-y-y-ou sure about this?” Wendy said. 

 

“Trust me,” Irene said, leaving a peck on the blonde’s cheek, and scanned Wendy’s uneven hair strands.

 

“Not too short okay?” 

 

“Okay.” 

 

Wendy inhaled, and exhaled each and every time Irene snipped her hair - it’s not that she didn’t trust her girlfriend; it’s just that she wanted things to be perfect for her grand return. She didn't want to mess things up. Not now, not ever.

 

Snip, sigh. Snip, sigh. SNIP. 

 

Wendy felt her soul come out of her body as she saw Irene's eyes widening from the mirror. “Unnie??”  

 

“Uh,” the leader's mouth gaped open like a fish, her eyes widening at how Wendy's hair length came uneven when it came to the middle portion - the locks on Wendy's sides fell on her shoulders, just as how she would want it; but the hairs in the middle portion stopped short of the base of her neck. Oh no. Irene had her shares of styling mishaps, and felt embarassed each time. The leader sighed, befuddled over how in hell she was able to cut it that short

 

The vocalist tilted her head, and saw what Irene did, letting out an audible groan, loud enough for Yeri to storm out of her room with earphones on. 

 

Yeri was the first to peek, “For the seventy-sixth time, stop fu— OH MY GOD” 

 

The maknae’s groan turned into guffaw, as she saw what Irene had done. And in a few seconds, Yeri cackled hard enough to catch Joy and Seulgi’s attention. 

 

Joy and Seulgi immediately ran to the bathroom to see Yeri at wit’s end, laughing and holding on to a towel rack to keep her off the floor. Seulgi and Joy tried to stifle laughter, but failed eventually, the three laughed in unison. Seulgi even had to pull lots of tissue paper to wipe her tears from all the laughing. 

 

“H-h-h-how bad is it?” Wendy stutters, obviously nervous with Yeri’s laughter. She knew Yeri wouldn’t laugh that way if it wasn’t that bad. 

 

Irene in a shaky laughter retorts: “Ehe. It’s not that bad,” she gazes at the base of Wendy’s neck, trying not to panic. "We can... even it out." 

 

But deep down Irene's mind stops: Oh God Wendy just said she trusted me and I do this. I’m dead. 

 

Yeri, Joy, and Seulgi scooted over to give them some space, peering by the bathroom door as they looked at how Irene pursed her lips, scissors dangled on her left hand and her right hand placed on her hip, until…. 

 

“Ah!” Irene jumped, dropping the comb and scissors by the bathroom sink and rushing into the kitchen. 

 

Wendy sighed as she heard the clink of some pots and pans, her soul leaving her body once more as Irene returned with a bowl. Yeri, Joy, and Seulgi whipped out their phones and start recording, smugs on their faces. 

 

“YAH DON’T UPLOAD THAT!” 

 

Irene fits the bowl on Wendy’s head, wanting to make sure that the hairs this time are even from the bottom.  “Trust me, if Seulgi and I can pull off this kind of hair at a music show with a wig, so could you.” 

 

Wendy sighed and pouted. We’re already here anyway. 

 

Some 20 minutes later, Irene finally got satisfied with her work. She grinned and lifted the bowl off Wendy’s hair, now black, with a few blonde streaks left over.  Wendy jumped for a bit, and looked at her reflection at the mirror. She tries holding her locks, gasping at how short her hair is. 

 

The frown eventually turned into a grin, as she saw Irene smug at how proud she was of her work. “I like it!” Wendy pulled Irene into a vice-grip hug. “Thank you.” She pecks at the elder’s cheek. “Really I appreciate this.” 

 

“Well, you look cute, Seungwan-ah. I could get used to it, too.” 

 

They languish in each other’s arms until Joy fake coughs. “We’re still here, you know.” 

 

The couple grips away from each other. 

 

— 

 

After sweeping off the cut hair strands, Wendy and Irene eventually joined Joy, Yeri, and Seulgi, who were watching television in the living room. Wendy puts out her phone, tilting her head side-to-side as she tried to appreciate her girlfriend’s handiwork. 

 

“We could do a Naughty challenge later too,” Yeri receommended. “I want to try the tutting!” 

 

“Me too!” Joy said. “Maybe Wendy unnie can join in last, we could surprise the fans.” 

 

Seulgi, munching on a can of Pringles, turned to face Wendy and Irene, who was being extra clingy to the bob-haired woman. “Why’d you have Irene unnie cut your hair anyways? 

 

Wendy answered with a frown. “My stylist-unnie’s parlor closed down and I don’t want anyone else touching my hair except people I trust,” she looked at Irene, who grinned from ear to ear (much to the disdain of the members, who mumbled “get a room”)  

 

Yeri raised an eyebrow, puzzled. "Huh? Herin and I were at the mall and we saw your stylist unnie's salon there. They didn't close down. They just moved locations." 

 

Wendy and Irene stare blankly at each other. 

 

-- 

 

END.