- 20 - Read Me Like A Book

The Transfer (RV Version)

During the feast and after she left early to lie down on her bed, only one thing ran through her mind.

Find someone before Wendy.

Granted, Irene knew that Wendy was already talking to Sejeong based on what she saw today, but it’s not like the two were already dating or official. It would be too soon for them to get together already so Irene knew she had time. The problem was that Irene couldn’t just choose some random person. It had to be someone Irene knew would rile Wendy up and maybe if Irene was lucky, she might end up liking that person way more than she had with Wendy.

In terms of someone that Wendy would find annoying, it didn't take long for Irene to think of a name. Even though Irene knew the person would be effective, it was honestly the last person Irene wanted to try to date let alone talk to.

As she tries to come up with other people, Joy and Jennie return from the Welcome Back Feast.

"Hey, Rene! Missed ya at dinner," Joy says first as she plops on her bed.

"She's lying. As soon as you left, the first thing she said was 'More food for me!'" Jennie reveals, causing Joy to toss a pillow at her.

Irene just chuckles at her friends as they go back and forth in arguing and then realizes to take this opportunity to get their help.

"I… I have a question for you two," Irene begins and the two other Slytherins pause their bickering. "I hope I don't regret asking this, but can you both try and set me up with someone?"

"What?!" The pillow Joy was levitating drops onto the ground.

Jennie is stunned still, "As in… to date?"

"Um, kinda?" Irene affirms.

Joy and Jennie share a look before moving to sit next to Irene.

"Are you serious? You’ve never asked for our help on this type of thing before," Joy asks warringly.

"And Rene, it's only been a week since…," Jennie cautions.

"I know," Irene tries to sound strong. "But I need this. I'm not saying I'm trying to get into a new relationship right away. I just want to get back out there and talk to people. Like go on dates here and there and hey, maybe I'll get lucky and find someone that sticks. Find someone who actually wants me like I want them."

Joy and Jennie share another pointed look at each other after hearing Irene's last sentence; a hint at what happened between Irene and Wendy.

"Okay," Jennie agrees.

"You can count on us!" Joy adds and the three best friends share a hug.

-----

Candidate 1: Baekhyun Byun

Joy is the first to bring someone up the next day. She had met Gryffindor Baekhyun Byun in her Herbology lesson and felt like he could meet Irene’s standard of physical attractiveness. But to be honest, that was really about it. Joy never really talked to the guy, but due to his looks, she thought Irene might want to give him a try.

“So, your friend Joy told me that you’re open to dating these days?” Baekhyun speaks first as the two are sitting next to each other on a bench in the courtyard.

“Is that why you’re here?” Irene banters with a flirtatious smile.

The boy sits up straight, flattening his robes with a smirk that was quite charming, “Of course. With someone as beautiful as you, I’d regret not taking my shot.” 

And that’s how Irene got back into the dating scene. Granted, Irene thought his choice of words weren’t the best, but at least he had confidence and was good-looking, two factors that Irene often looked for in people. After a bit of small talk, the two decide to go get dinner together and it fails to go unnoticed by the other students that they pass by. It’s not everyday that Irene Bae heads inside the Great Hall with someone other than her friends. Even with Wendy, the two would typically have to meet in the dining area rather than go in together due to conflicting schedules. And so, all eyes turned and the voices hushed as the girl and boy stood side by side at the entrance.

Perfect, Irene thought. It was clear that practically everyone’s attention had shifted to them and so there was no doubt that Wendy would eventually hear about the two of them if she wasn’t already amongst the crowd.

There’s a pause between the two when they look at each other, silently debating which friend group to sit with. Irene’s about to lead them towards her own, but feels a light grip on her hand. The touch startles her.

“I want to introduce you to my friends,” Baekhyun explains then leads her towards the other side of the Hall before Irene could even say anything. She just nods in response, not wanting to cause a scene of objection considering that many eyes were already on them. Just the fact that their hands were touching had already led to another round of conversations.

Turns out, Irene deciding to follow Baekhyun’s lead was actually a blessing in disguise. When she looked up after taking a seat, she was taken off guard at who she saw but was soon quickly pleased when met with a puzzling look on Wendy’s face across from her.

Irene looks away before the two could make proper eye contact and hides a smirk knowing that she had for sure caught Wendy's attention. 

"Hey guys, I'm sure you already know her, but this is Irene," Baekhyun introduces her to his friends and even wraps his arm around her. The weight of his arm felt heavy and Irene had the annoyed urge to shake it off, but she realizes how she could use this to her advantage. Surely, Wendy would start to regret her actions once she sees Irene with someone else in the same position the two were often in whenever they spent time together in public. 

And so, she scoots closer to Baekhyun (to his personal delight) and Irene gets excited and guesses in glee at what kind of facial expression Wendy must be exuding at the moment. 

Jealously, perhaps? Maybe even anger? Irene holds in her laughter at the possible sight of Wendy being completely pissed off.

Not wanting to waste a second longer, she finally takes a glance at Wendy and in an instant, Irene's teeth clench and her skirt crumples within her fists. 

SHE'S NOT EVEN LOOKING?! When did she stop looking?!? She just went back to talking to her friends- SEJEONG?! WHEN DID SHE GET THERE?!?!

Irene does her best to keep her irritation at bay and not have it appear on her face. She tries to keep Wendy and Sejeong from affecting her any further and decides to give more attention to Baekhyun and his friends.

She doesn't bother to look at Wendy again for the rest of the meal. Irene realizes that there's no point in routinely checking if Wendy's looking at her because she comes to the conclusion that no matter how hard Wendy may try, stealing a glance at Irene is simply inevitable.

Right? 

-----

Long story short, Baekhyun only lasts a week. 

While Irene thought her level of self-love was high, it turns out that Baekhyun loved himself even more.

At first, Irene enjoyed the fact that he practically showed her off any chance he could get. He introduced her to many people (despite the whole school already knowing who she is) and showered her with compliments during these times. Whenever they were together, he made people pay attention to her if they weren't already. It wasn't super overt or in your face, but he'd make it so that whatever they were doing, it would make some curious to see what was going on.

However, she soon realized that everything he was doing was really for himself. When introducing and complimenting her in front of other people, the way he spoke sounded more like he was boasting about himself. 

For example, him saying, "She has a good sense of humor," would turn into meaning that he was a funny guy. Or him saying, "She's so cute when she blushes," would lead into how charming he was. 

What would start around her, eventually ended around him.

Now, Irene could have tolerated it… if only he shared that same amount of engagement with her whenever the two were alone.

But all he would talk about was himself. Sure, he would ask questions to learn more about Irene, but they typically revolved around whatever he had interest in. Hell, the guy wouldn't even open a door and let her go in first.

And so, he didn't last long.

Irene let him down gently when she declined to go on an actual date with him. By then, Irene was smart enough to say that it was 'because of her and not him' or else he probably wouldn't have taken their parting so well.

Yet, his narcissistic tendencies weren't even the worst thing about her time with him. It was the fact that Wendy continued to show absolutely no reaction at all just as she did when Irene and Baekhyun were first seen together in the Great Hall. 

Did she ever even care about me? The Slytherin can't help but think.

“Do you mind if I sit here?” Irene hears while she does her homework. Just like any other day after her charms lesson, she was sitting in the courtyard, nose stuffed into her charms book. Her mind was too locked in to really care about who was talking to her and so she assumed that it was just another random student hoping to be her friend or trying to date her.

“Go for it,” she says casually without raising her head.

“Oh wow. And here I was thinking that you hated me.”

The grip Irene has on her pencil tightens when she finally takes notice of the arrogance in the person’s tone.

She keeps her head down as she speaks sharply, “Go away, Son.”

“Aww,” Wendy pretends to whine. “Well too bad, you already said yes so deal with it.” 

When Wendy sits next to her, she drops her pencil and looks at the Ravenclaw. “Don’t you think I have already dealt with enough of all your bull?”

“Hmm, I’d say no considering that you’re still talking to me instead of running away like you normally do.”

“I don’t run away!” Irene replies hastily.

“You literally turn on your heels whenever we make eye contact. The only time you didn’t was whenever you were with….,” Wendy taps her chin as she comically thinks. “What’s his name?…..,” the Ravenclaw trails.

She wasn’t even curious enough to find out his name?!?

Getting fed up, Irene huffs, “His name is Baekhyun.”

“Ah! Baekhyun,” Wendy realizes. “Yeah, that guy. You only stuck around when he was with you. Speaking of him, where’s he at?”

“Why? Are you getting jealous?” Irene crosses her arms as she raises an eyebrow with a smirk.

Gotcha, Irene thinks with satisfaction. Wendy may have hidden it well, but clearly the fact that Wendy even brought him up meant that she had at least paid enough attention to notice that Irene and Baekhyun had spent time together more than once. And now by asking Irene about where he is, this must mean that Wendy realized to take this as an opportunity to win Irene back. 

In a few seconds, Wendy will fall to her knees, admit her mistakes and embarrassingly beg for Irene to take her back-

“Nope,” Wendy ends with a pop. “Dude’s a loser. I mean I never really met him, but heard that all he likes to do is talk about himself whenever he could. What a shame. I never…”

Irene couldn’t believe what she was hearing and what she heard next damn near made her lose it.

“I never thought that you’d fall so far that Baekhyun is the guy you decide to talk to after me,” Wendy clutches her chest, as if to show that she feels bad for Irene. That she pities her. 

“Oh… how the mighty have fallen,” Wendy fails to hide a grin that makes Irene want to do something to wipe it right off. Before she even had the chance, the Ravenclaw is already standing back up to leave.

“You really think that highly of yourself, huh?” Irene finally responds, making Wendy stop in her tracks. “That you were so great to me that I couldn’t possibly find someone better than you?”

Wendy turns around and approaches Irene until they’re face-to-face.

“Oh, I don’t think that, Bae. I know that. And you know why? Because you made it a little too obvious that you only talked to the guy to make me jealous. Even now, instead of walking away like you normally do, you kept our conversation going just to find out if I was a teeny tiny bit envious of Baekhyun, right?” Wendy smirks as she starts to walk away again. “So, why get jealous when I know you’re not really into them at all?”

Irene stands with anger bubbling inside her as the feeling of getting caught red-handed swarms her body. She wants to talk back, say that she liked him, but she knew that would be a lie. 

“W-Well, I’m not jealous of all the girls that you’re around either!”

“Careful, Bae. For a second, it sounded like you can’t keep your eyes off me.”

At a loss for words, she can only watch Wendy walk away casually with her hands in her pockets as if their conversation was nothing but normal.

-----

After her infuriating conversation with Wendy, Irene realized that she needed to completely change her game plan. Instead of prioritizing making Wendy jealous, she needs to prioritize herself and her own feelings. If she’s interested in someone, she needs to pursue them genuinely and if she just so happens to make Wendy jealous, then that would simply be a plus.

Now, did Wendy’s notion that ‘if Irene actually liked someone, then she would probably get jealous’ play a role in Irene deciding to prioritize her own feelings instead? Maybe.

But at the same time, the conversation really made Irene reflect on the amount of energy that she has continued to waste on trying to make the Ravenclaw jealous so now she wanted to focus more on herself. On her happiness and if that includes being in a new relationship, then so be it.

And before she knew it, Jennie introduces Irene to her.


A/N: Who is this mysterious person Jennie introduces??

Anyways, Ms. Bae is back in the dating scene and I wonder how it'll go from here. And as referenced in the title, it seems Wendy can still "read" Irene like a book considering that she wasn't the tiniest bit jealous (or was she? Hm...) when she saw Baekhyun and Irene because she could tell that Irene didn't really like the guy at all. Either way, tensions still seem to be rising...

Now I'll admit, this chapter is a bit like a filler hence its somewhat shortness, however things will start ramping up in the next few chapters. This also means that the end is near, but how near I can't say.

Per usual, thank you for reading, let me know what you thought and are y'all hyped for Feel My Rhythm and Bloom?! The teaser pics!!! Also, I don't normally condone violence but can we all go jump SM for not releasing album details yet -_-

P.S. Peep that cover by yours truly ;)

- S (rv_twice5 on twitter)

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rv_twice5
IT'S FEATURED!!
Million thanks to everyone for the congratulations and it warms my heart knowing how much love this fic has received. I started this over a year ago and never imagined this to happen. Thank you and I hope to see you all when this story comes to an end <3

- S

Comments

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SEEKER_
#1
Chapter 29: With a beauty like Bae Irene's it's hard to missed her in a sea of people. I remember Hermione and durmstrang guy on HP. I'm guessing that Sehun holds higher position in their school now after Wendy left? Can't wait for Wendy to become jealous tho i know her and Rene are moving forward. The feeling is still there so yeah I'll just see your next update hehe
toffee_zeyer
#2
Chapter 29: Hello there, author! Thank you for your continued updates despite of your busy (most probably) life. The story is becoming even more interesting so I'll keep on waiting for your next update :)
rvlv_bless #3
istg wenrene authors are too nice lol. Even the most recent popular fics from y'all never really put particular other member in the same group to be the loser/ bad guy and Wendy/Seungwan was often being used as one in other ship fics 😭😭 Y'all really mind your own business huh
mklarisse_ #4
Chapter 29: Phmygosh i missed this story 😭😭 so refreshing thank u for the update!!! Cant wait to see wan's reaction when she meets sehun n rosie again
bigboy123
114 streak #5
Chapter 29: Yay update~ thank you~ 😄

incoming drama 😅
WluvsBaetokki #6
Chapter 29: OMO! welcome back author-nim!!!
Justified
#7
Chapter 29: I think when U put them all in the same place see what it will happen next
juhyuneeeee
70 streak #8
Chapter 29: Chapter 29: Chapter 29: idk what to feel anymore 😬😬😬
morlpz
#9
Chapter 29: i think it’s good to have rosie back imo cause wendy can finally have closure, rosie pretty much traumatized her relationships and made her feel unwanted. they don’t have to get together but maybe even having a talk would be good cause wendy seems like she could have some support and encouragement. sehun though i couldn’t care less about him 😭
liljung
#10
Chapter 29: putting sehun, rosie and sana???? in the mixxxx after wenrene downfall lmao you're sadistic 😭