Wendy's POV

"Come on, Irene. You know I didn't mean it that way. I didn't understand you clearly." I explained while I went after her in the hallway.

She halted to look back at me and glared once more.

"Stop following me!" She walked away, even faster this time.

So I stopped walking towards her, and as expected, she suddenly halted for the second time.

"You're really not going to follow me!?" She looked so mad that her eyebrows met for the first time— today.

Well, I do a lot, so I get to see that expression on her face almost every day. "Almost every day" since I don't on her birthday.

I laughed and ran to her to give her a hug. Although she might appear as if she's not fond of these kinds of things, she actually likes cozy hugs.

"Calm down, sis! Alright, alright, I'm sorry okay? Tell me about that big news of yours, hmm?" I said as I held back my laughter to annoy her to her limits.

"You don't seem interested."

"I am."

She looked at me with doubt, but what can I do? I am interested. I just like teasing her.

I sat down on the bench nearby and posed as if I was more than excited to listen to her. And like a charm, it worked.

"Okay, so here's the big news!" She started with a glint in her eyes. "Ji Eun said ASEUL Entertainment is holding an audition next week! We have waited for this for a year now. You'll audition with me, right?!"

My eyes widened when I heard the news from her. I couldn't help but smile and raise my palm to give her a high five. "I sure am!"

After our class, we decided to head back home earlier than usual to practice for our performance.

It's not our first audition. We have been through these a lot before but failed countless times. We always ended up cheering ourselves up by believing that we didn't pass because our opponents were too dedicated to their dream careers and not because we were not capable and talented.

Irene's POV

While we were practicing, Wendy suddenly asked me a disturbing question that made me stop dancing almost in an instant.

"Irene, we always audition together, and I love that idea but... how would things end up if only one of us gets accepted as a trainee?"

I looked at her intently, trying to figure out what was on her mind as I sat beside her. She always does the teasing but initiates these kinds of conversations as well.

"Why'd you ask?"

She looked down and started avoiding my gaze. "Well, I was just wondering. We blew a lot of auditions together, so what if we won't be able to succeed together?"

Now her voice is even sadder. I hate it when she brings up parting ways and failing, but it got me thinking as well. "You know that won't happen. And if it does, I think we'll be just fine. You know what they say. People who ride the same bus don't always get off together..." I said with hesitation.

"But they have the same goal. And that is to reach their destinations," she continued.

She lifted her head and finally looked me in the eye. Looking back at her, she must have realized how her question suddenly changed the mood, so I stood up immediately and offered her a hand.

"You know our friendship is more than how it seems. So, let's continue practicing, shall we?"

She smiled back at me and reached out for my hand. We continued practicing until the end of the day.

We practiced over and over again for more than a week, unmindful that there were only three days left before the audition.