“Tell me Wendy.” Seulgi was still on the topic of her being so close to Irene and not telling her, who had been openly showing that she loved the actress.

“I mean we don’t meet up that often and when we finally did, you ask for Irene? Wow Seul, I might start to think you just want to meet Irene through me. What do you think of me Seul...” Wendy fake wept.

“N-no… Alright fine. I’ll let you off the hook… But I still want to know!” Seulgi insisted.

"You are choosing to ignore my rant?" Wendy scoffed, faking a hurt expression that made Seulgi a little guilty even when the latter knew it was fake as well.

"Wendy..." The diehard fan whined. 

.

Wendy was already staying in the trimage when Irene moved in. Back when Irene was 18, she had already bought the place and was moving in my herself. Wendy was coming home from school that day and saw the actress stumbling around with bags and boxes in her hands. She thought it was weird that she didn’t contact the help of the movers but immediately understood when she saw the old guy.

What struck Wendy was how kindhearted Irene was. She lived up to the expectation the media had set for her. Whenever the old man tries to help Irene even with the lightest of things, she would refuse and tell him to rest.

“Hey, I can help.” The compassionate Canadian migrant hummed as she jogged towards the actress.

“Thank you but I don’t really-“
 

“It’s fine, Ms. Bae~” Wendy hummed and picked up one of the boxes, heading towards the lift.

Irene took a look at the truck containing massive amounts of things before looking back at the schoolgirl with a sigh. She smiled appreciatively and thanked her.

“Um… Thank you…”
 

“Wendy, Ms Bae.” Wendy hummed.

“Thank you, Wendy. You can just leave the boxes outside my house.

Wendy was the one making trips up and down while Irene received them and pushed her into her home. Every time Wendy would come up, she would greet the actress and make small talk with her. Though that, Irene learnt that The Canadian migrant lived a few floors down in the same tower.

“Hey, Ms. Bae, These are the last of your boxes. The uncle told me that he was going off first because he felt bad if you were to go down to send him off.” Wendy reported.

“Eh? And I was about to give him a tip too…” Irene pouted.

“You’re kindhearted Ms. Bae.” Wendy hummed.

“Looking at him reminds me of how my parents worked hard in their business to support me. He probably working to support himself or his family as well.” Irene explained.

“Wow… I met some celebs here that were different from what they are on screen, but I can’t believe you are so compassionate even off camera, Ms Bae. You are turely amazing.” Wendy complimented and earned a giggle from the latter.

“And I am surprised that you are not one of those crazy fans.” Irene said.

“Oh god, I pride myself in my sanity, Ms. Bae.” Wendy laughed.

Hearing Wendy call her Ms. Bae for the umpteen time made her feel old. She was just 18 and Wendy was only a 3 years younger. Irene called out to her before the school girl left.

“Instead of ‘Ms. Bae’, just call me unnie.”

“Y-y-you sure about that?” Wendy uttered, her conscience conflicted.

“I’m only 3 years older. Unnie will do.” Irene hummed.

“S-sure… umm… Have a nice day, U-unnie!” Wendy blurted, making Irene laugh.

“You have a good day too~.”

.

“URGHHHHHH!!!!! You are so LUCKY!!” Seulgi ran her fingers through her hair. How she wished that she was Wendy right there and then. Seulgi was also curious as to how Wendy even managed to be any bit normal when the girl herself was a fan of Irene. 

Wendy simply chuckled, she lost some interest in Irene already. "I beg to differ." 
 

"What do you mean?! It's Irene freaking Bae we are talking about. She's a goddes; a talent; a master at her craft; BAE-phroditie; a-" Seulgi was interupted by Wendy who leaned over and pinched close. 

"I get it, Seul." Wendy exhaled.

Seugi knew she should stop with the fan-girling but she just wanted to add in that one more feature for the great Irene Bae.

"She's untouchable." Seulgi cooed. 

Wendy raised her brow. Her facial expression showed that she was feeling a little disbelief and seemed to be questioning what Seulgi said. Is she really, now? Wendy thought to herself. Living here for so long, Wendy knew things that Seulgi did not. But she didn't want to ruin (the perfect) Irene Bae for Seulgi.

“Well, enough of that. Did you manage to return your friend the wallet?” Wendy asked as she got up to grab the snacks.

“Yea. But when I saw her in school, she was still cold towards me…” Seulgi pouted. Joohyun could be a little confusing sometimes. She honestly thought that their rather enjoyabe dinner session had made them a tad bit closer.

“Huh.” Wendy said in surprise. This Bae Joohyun was rather intriguing. “She’s one tough one to be friends with.”

Wendy passed Seulgi her favorite pringles in original taste.

“Thanks. I guess she is... I need your help about it, Wan.”

Wendy was more surprised that Seulgi came to her for friendship issues. After all, it was Seulgi who made the effort to be friends with her. The thought of the bubbly and friendly girl not being able to carry a casual conversation with someone else just blows Wendy's mind. In addition, it was not very Seulgi-like to persistantly befriend someone who already showed disinterest. Wendy became very curious. “Why are you so interested in her?”

Seulgi honestly didn’t know but when Wendy continued to ask more about Joohyun, Seulgi explained.'Quiet, innocent, soft spoken, a little tempremental but cute' was how Seulgi summarised Joohyun.

“That's a very broad mix... So, you like a challenge? She seems like someone that is hard to please.” Wendy scoffed.

“Well… I don’t know how else you can put it.” Seulgi uttered.

Wendy cackled. "Don't tell me it's love."

"N-No!" Seulgi denied. "How can I love someone I just met?! Life's not disney. I'm just interested in- Wannie, you know what? If you saw her, how pretty she is, you'd be wondering 'how can she not have friends?' as well." 

.

[Seoul Forest Trimage - Irene's/Joohyun's home] 

Irene placed her bag on the countertop before plopping herself down onto the sofa. That was really close, if Seulgi realized that Irene Bae stayed on the 40^th floor, Joohyun would get the other end of the excitement.

Irene thought about that incident. How seulgi shifted uncomfortably, how she kept fiddling her fingers and how red her face got when they were in the lift together. It was a whole new side of the confident girl she saw in school. Irene found herself smiling to herself. She looked cute.

Irene hummed as she reached for the TV remote to put on a song and gave herself a break before having to get to her homework. Her mind was filled with thoughts of Seulgi, and it made her kind of happy. But those thoughts faded when Irene linked Seulgi to her entertainment company - the same company that was working their idol to overdrive. Irene let out a sigh and it helped her feel a little more relaxed from her long meeting.

The meeting this time was about her next drama and possibly a movie gig. Both of which would not only clash with each other but also with her mid-terms as well. In addition to that, the company was also planning to have auditions for their next batch of trainees. Irene, along with 4 other trainers were assigned the task of being judges.

“Pardon me Mr. Lee, but Irene would be having a test the following Monday. If the Auditions are on the whole of Saturday and Sunday, I’m afraid that she might have no time to study for it.” Moonbyul raised.

The CEO thought about it, But the plans were already too solidified to be moved. He looked over to Irene to get her opinion but being the people pleaser, she assured that she would be able to manage. This earned a frown from Moonbyul. She knew Irene was going to burn out.

Irene could still remember her manager’s worried expression as she dropped her home just now. She didn’t mean to make byuli worry; she just wanted to be seen as competent by her boss. He had high expectations from her and so does she herself.

Irene heaved a sigh again and went to pour herself a cup of wine. She really does wonder why was she working so hard. She thought maybe she should've stayed in Daegu to help out with her family restaurant instead of having to deal with celeb life. Call it selfish but wealthy people have their own stresses and worries too. She felt people were ignorant when Irene see them comment things like 'they do not have to worry for the rest of their life', 'they can find anyone' or things like 'It doesn't matter because they are rich.'. That stigma was so flawed. 

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A/N: Double release of chapters 5 and 6~ Enjoy~