You may have to go back and read the story again for things to make sense again cuz i did lol. who knows how this'll turn out 

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Irene felt uneasy in her own skin around Wendy lately. After the events that unfolded leading to Wendy being hospitalized, she wasn't sure how to make anything better. She wasn't sure how to help Wendy get better.

Why did she even care? All the time she's said she wanted Wendy out, and that she didnt' care about her.

Lately, Irene was trying too hard to be more amicable. She was unused to letting down her cold steel walls. It was the only thing that protected her in the world after Suho left her and ever since she lead her company. Her cold persona was her key to success. It kept her safe from other people and possible deception.

Besides, she didn't need anyone.

But she wasn't sure why she was even letting this get too far off the rails.

Irene was used to Wendy being around her now. She hadn't even thought about wanting her to leave. The house was less empty, and she didn't have to feel so alone anymore. 

She tried to remember what she was like before now. She was definitely more friendly and not a tyrannical . But she didn't see herself that way anymore. That Irene was not going to survive in this world she was in. 

Irene didn't know how to act around Wendy. Sometimes, she wanted to say something nice but instead stumbled and unsure how to talk like a normal person wihtout scaring her. She wanted Wendy to feel comfortable around her. It was an unsaid decision, but Wendy was going to be staying here awhile. The only problem was Wendy not being very keen on talking to Irene. Well, maybe it was Irene's attitude as well.

The girl was too afraid to even look Irene in the eyes. And she barely uttered more than two or three words at a time.

---

When Jisoo walked into work, she knew Jennie’s doing had done its job. Some of her coworkers were chatting about the latest media gossip which was Wendy being under Irene’s wing. Some sources were even bold enough to suggest they were in a relationship. All for that buzz.

“Hey Jisoo, did you hear?” One of her coworkers, Sehun, called her over.

“What?” She decided to pretend she hadn’t heard it yet. Her identity as Jennie’s cousin was a secret from the rest so she wound’t get bombarded with requests for signatures and such.

“Take a loud of this. That girl Irene brought in is Wendy from Blackpink.”

“Huh….I guess there is an uncanny resemblance.”

“I know right? I thought she looked familiar.”

Wendy knew something was up the moment her feet touched the floor of the work building. She knew people were staring at her more than usual. She could hear them talking in hushed voices, and look at each other.

“Is that really her?”

“Hmm now that I think of it, it does look like Wendy.”

“Hush, Ms. Bae is coming!”

Irene didn’t seem to pay any mind, probably ignoring it. They continued on up to the office as usual, and Wendy wondered just what it was that were making people become more skeptical of her identity. She didn’t have much time to think about it because the moment Irene was at her desk, she was already giving Wendy something to do.

And knowing Irene, it was best not to be distracted or risk getting a sharp tongue.

Although, Irene seemed to be letting up on her lately.

The older woman was barking at her less, and being more weird. Yesterday, Irene actually tucked Wendy in like some child. IT was wierd felt weird, and Wendy wondered if it had to do with her dead daughter.

Is she thinking of me like a replacement? But I’m old…

Wendy didn’t say anything because she didn’t want to test her luck. She just let it happen and tried to sleep first so she wouldn’t have to be in the awkwardness anymore.

The younger girl was broken from her thoughts when from her peripherals, Irene’s hand came at her and fluffed up her collar — or seemingly so. “I’ll have to iron it next time. It’s been sitting around in the closet.”

Irene finally left the office for her usual meetings after having given Wendy the task for the day. Wendy wondered if it was actually helping with anything or if Irene was just making her do something just for the sake of doing. Regardless, she wouldn’t dare disobey the woman.

Irene knew she should have seen this coming from a mile away. It was only a matter of time. Lucky for her, the news app was one of the main widgets on her phone so she saw it pretty much at the time of the leak.

This was going to be the talk of all time in the office. Irene liked to have her privacy, and keep up her reputation for being the type of person she was. The whole deal with Wendy was not going to change any of that. Besides, who said she would have to justify anything to anyone?

It wasn’t even her fault. Her stupid brother did this to her, and for some reason she allowed it to happen.

This meeting was her personal team, not the little office cubicle grunts, but the ones that help her make everything happen. She knew they were going to have questions and she needed them to be the ones to help her set the tone going forward.

“Nothing has changed,” Irene said. “Proceed like normal. Besides, none of you ever acted any different when it hadn’t been confirmed who she was. Also, if you value your job and good faith from me, you’ll want to get going on those deadlines, which are actually pushed to the end of today.”

Basically, she wasn’t giving them any room to question her and what was going on. Even Irene didn’t know why she let this go for longer than it should have.

—

The weekend found Wendy spending some more time with Irene’s mother. It was kind of a breath of air. Wendy felt less tense around Mrs. Bae, but in the sense that she wasn’t going to get chewed out.

She really felt like a helpless child. Like the way they were treating her was as if she couldn’t function without them. They were being too nice, but also it was kind of humiliating.

But where else would I go?

Wendy had been spacing out most of the day, and barely even paid attention to what Mrs. Bae was telling her. If Irene’s mother noticed, she was probably giving her a pass and just letting her be.

She’d heard about the scandal news that had gone around. Irene hadn’t said anything of it yet to her, but she was sure that it must have cost her some trouble.

'Something on your mind?” Mrs. Bae said.

Wendy hesitated to give what was taking up her attention and she took in a breath but said nothing. She didn’t even know how to phrase it.

“If you’re worried about Irene, don’t be. She’s perfectly capable of handling troubles with work.”

“You look like , CEO Bae,” Joy commented when Irene fell into the seat beside her at the bar.

“Why thank you, Park Sooyoung,” Irene retorted.

“So…what’s this whole thing with that Blackpink girl?” Joy lazily chewed on a straw and leaned back.

Irene was pulling up a cigarette and flicking the lighter. “Just a bunch of noise.” She lit the end and took a long inhale of the stuff. “Is that all we’re gonna talk about?”

“Nawww, just haven’t seen you for a while. You good?” Joy leaned forward, “I was joking last time, but you seriously haven’t smoked this much before.”

Irene shrugged and waved the bartender over. “I can do what I want.”

“YEah, but Yeri? I’m pretty sure the smoke isn’t doing any wonders for her.”

“I only smoke in the studio,” Irene replied nonchalantly, not wanting to think about her dead daughter. “How’s your auditions going?”

That seemed to turn the tide of the conversation in her favor. Joy shared the latest updates and callbacks, and dramas she wanted. It sounded like fun stuff, to pretend to be someone you weren’t and get paid for it.

Hmmmm, unfortunate that Wendy couldn’t keep up with her thing as an idol, Irene mused. Technically, Wendy was playing a persona on stage.

“Soooo, when can I meet her?”

“Hm?”

“Wendy.”

“Dunno,” Irene said absently and laid down the tab. “Talk to you later.”

Irene took a long drive to the cemetery after her hangout with her friend. She brought fresh flowers and carefully placed them by the grave stone.

The truth still hurt so much. And she had yet to tell Joy the truth about her daughter.

With Wendy in her life and how things were going, it was so easy to pretend like it was all ok.

Like it was making up for what she didn’t do…although that was questionable given how she treated Wendy.

I'm ed up.