Irene was nervous, to say the least. How could she not be? She has been racking her brain ever since the night she last talked to Wendy and her thoughts have become both so clear yet so confusing all at once.

Amongst the few things that were quite clear to her now, one of them was the reason why she has been standing as still as a wall for the past few minutes. Irene is sure she must look like a complete idiot, but luckily for her, no one was around except for the girl who was sitting down near the lake waiting for her.

After one last mini mental pep talk, Irene makes her way to sit next to her.

"Hi," she starts casually with a smile as she takes her seat. 

"Hey!" Bona greets cheerfully. "Long time no see, huh?"

"It's only been a few days," Irene playfully rolls her eyes.

"You've been counting?" Bona jokes back and soon enough, the awkward atmosphere that Irene expected ceases to appear.

"So…" Irene trails, pulling her knees towards her chest.

"So…," both girls look towards the lake.

The Ravenclaw takes a deep breath, "I, um- I made up my mind and I am completely sure of it."

"I'm glad to hear that," Bona says supportively. "So, what's the verdict, Miss Bae?"

"We can't," Irene reveals. "I really do like you, Bona, but I've just been so conflicted these past few weeks. Whenever I am with you, I have a blast and there isn't a second where I'm bored." Irene takes a deep breath, "But then, there'd be times where my mind would just trail to her and my mind… my mind still trails back to her. I'm not over her as much as I used to believe nor is it as easy and it simply wouldn't be fair to you if I'm not completely sorted out."

Irene can only watch as Bona processes her words. 

Then, the other girl meets her eyes with a warm smile, "Thank you for being honest. It's not easy to fully realize and act upon what you really feel."

"I- Yeah," Irene agrees with slight shock. She hesitates before asking, "So, you're not disappointed?"

"I mean, maybe a little bit, but that's better than potentially being stringed along, don't you think?"

"I'm so sorry, Bona and I would never string-"

Bona places her hand on top of hers, "Irene, don't be. I was the one who asked you to think about it in the first place, so I was prepared for whatever outcome. And I know you would never string me along and this already proves it."

"Are you sure you'll be fine?" Irene still asks in concern.

"I'll be fine on one condition," Bona answers.

"Anything."

"Promise me that we'll still be friends. Like I said before, I was your friend first before anything else and I think it would really to lose a friend like you. And I'm sure if you do a few weird things, I'll get over ya. Could you maybe pick your nose and eat-"

"Ewww!" Irene nudges her with a laugh and Bona quickly joins in.

"Kidding! Kidding!" The Slytherin throws her hands up in surrender. "So, do we have a deal?"

"Of course, we can still be friends," Irene embraces Bona.

"Then, that settles it," they both smile when they separate. "We stay friends and hey, for all we know, it might just be the wrong place and the wrong time."

Irene shares a sympathetic smile before resting her head on the girl's shoulder as they take in the serene lake, sitting in a comfortable silence for a while.

"So," Bona pipes up. "Are you going to try and win her back?"

The question hits Irene hard as it reminds her of her overarching dilemma. It was that one question, in some way shape or form, that has been haunting her ever since she lost her. 

Hearing no response from Irene, Bona panics, "Crap, I'm sorry- I didn't mean it in like a jealous way! More like a 'wanting the best for you' way-"

Now it was Irene's turn to calm the other down as she lifted her head off Bona's shoulder, "Hey, I know, I know! It's just that I've been asking myself that same question and I still haven't made up my mind yet."

"Gotcha," Bona relaxes. "I don't know what I was thinking. It was too soon of me to ask-"

"And I mean, even if I try, I'm sure there's something going on between her and Sejeong and believe me, I am no homewrecker," Irene suddenly babbles.

"But nothing is going on between them?" Bona asks, confused.

"Ah come on, the two are seen together almost all the time."

"Irene, we're talking about Sejeong here. If they were dating, you know damn well she would make sure that everyone knew."

Oh. Bona had a point. 

"Well, even then, the last time we talked it didn't exactly end well. It didn't even seem like she wanted to try to get back together with me. Actually, I don't think she wants anything to do with me at all. I mean, I get it, it was just fight after fight and- Oh my gosh, what I am doing?! I'm dumping my ex drama on you when that is like the last thing you need. I'm sorry," Irene groans as her head falls into her hands in embarrassment.

"It's all good," the other girl chuckles as they settle again. "But if you don't mind, can I just say one thing about that?"

"Go for it," Irene puffs out, readily open to any advice.

"People who care for one another still get into fights. It's a normal thing to do. Now, sure, there are limits to how far such things can go on for and if you think you hit that limit, then that's fine. But remember, fights aren't the end all be-all. Don't just focus on the fact that you fought. Think about why you fought, then decide whether or not you want to grow from it both individually and together."

When Irene stays quiet this time around, Bona doesn’t continue any further. Instead, the Slytherin wraps one arm around her shoulders and opts to give a comforting squeeze–signaling that everything will be okay no matter what she decides.

----- A Week or So Later -----

When it comes to the trio of Irene, Joy and Jennie, one wouldn't exactly say they are a loud bunch. They are typically a calm and collected group which is one reason why much of the student body respects them. But with any set of best friends, loudness is expected when certain news gets dropped.

This is something Irene should've remembered when she decided to randomly share a thought in the dead of night, eyes glued to the ceiling.

"YOU'RE WHAT?!?" Joy instantly sits up on her bed while Jennie groggily does the same action.

"I'm sorry, but did you just say what I think I heard?" Jennie asks for clarification due to her tiredness.

"Yeah," Irene confirms.

Jennie’s eyes go wide, now appearing more awake than ever, then turns to Joy with a gasp, "WHAT?!?!"

Before Irene could realize what was happening, she feels two people hop onto her bed and tug on her arms to make her sit up, "What the?! What are you guys-"

"It's a school night, Rene. A school night. I have an early class and you have the audacity to just casually say, 'I'm going to win Wendy back,' as if there'd be no consequences?!?" Joy shakes Irene's shoulders.

"We need an explanation, stat!" Jennie presses on. 

"Fine! Fine! Can you guys just quiet down first? You're gonna wake up the whole school at this point," Irene tells them.

"You started it," Joy mumbles, making Jennie give her a light smack on the arm.

"Don't mind her. Go on, Rene."

“Well… how should I say this?” Irene's eyes fall as she picks at her blanket. “I had to make sure that love wouldn't be the only reason why I wanted her back."

Joy looks at her oddly, "But isn't love the only reason you really need?"

"I guess it can be, but I've since realized that it goes deeper than that–that love is both so simple and yet so complicated. Sure, I could just tell myself that I love her and that would be all the inspiration I need," Irene takes a deep breath. "But that might not be enough for Wendy."

Her best friends seem to be catching on as they nod in encouragement for her to continue. 

"It would be naive of me to think that if I declare my love to her, then that will make all of our problems go away because it won’t. And it wouldn’t do us any better if we tried to ignore it either because pain clearly lingers, you know? So, for the sake of my sanity, I finally took the time to really reflect on why and how we fell apart.”

For days after her talk with Bona, she took the girl’s words to heart and aimed to grow. To try and learn from what happened as well as figure out what she needed to do to make sure that something like this wouldn’t happen again. While it would be simple enough to blame everything on Wendy and claim that she herself had no fault, Irene somehow manages to pull herself out of that mindset because that would be too easy and nothing about her and Wendy has ever really been easy.

So, she thought about not only her perspective, but also tried to gain a better understanding of Wendy’s perspective again too. She replayed their conversations probably more times than necessary and maybe even over-analyzed every little thing, but that has all led up to this moment of clarity.

Irene wipes her face as she chuckles at herself in irony, "Turns out I was just scared."

"Scared?" Joy reiterates.

"Can you believe it?" Irene laughs some more. "I put both myself and Wendy through all of this- this frustration and hurt just because I couldn't accept the fact that I was completely terrified about how much influence she has on me. I mean, I should’ve known! I even admitted to you guys about how just one word from her shattered me!"

"So, I was scared of that. And then pair that with the fear of possibly getting her back only to lose her all over again, so I came up with excuses. I told myself that all she does is lie, all she cares about is her own image and that everything is on her hands. When in reality, I'm just as much to blame. I made mistakes too. It's not fair for me to say that she walked out on us first because, when in reality, I did the moment I apparated out of her room that night without talking it out. She had every right to be mad at me just as I was to her."

"Now, it's my turn to make things right." Irene catches her breath, "And , maybe it's way too late and I'm just being a huge idiot, but love makes you do stupid things."

-----

Although Irene has now started what Jennie dubbed ‘Operation: Win Wendy Back,’ she didn’t exactly have a plan laid out. For starters, Irene wasn’t even confident that Wendy would even talk to her. Ever since their last conversation, Wendy has been proactively avoiding Irene which will only make this harder. On top of that, Irene isn’t exactly a… ‘chaser’ and that’s primarily because, well, she was always the one being chased. The effort Irene would have to put in for this type of stuff was usually miniscule, so of course the girl is clueless on what she should be doing now and later on.

She tries to not to think too hard about it and comes to the conclusion that she should at least try to test the waters on how close she could get to Wendy without the girl scurrying away. And what better way to do that than going back to her original seat in Transfiguration class.

With the help of a little bribery, Irene manages to create a scheme in which she and the person who she originally swapped seats with to get away from Wendy would be the last two to enter the classroom. That way, Wendy would have no choice but to sit with Irene since the rest of the chairs would be occupied.

“Seriously, thank you for this!”

“Oh- no problem! I mean, you are doing me a favor too, so yeah!” her classmate says awkwardly with a chuckle. “Alright, well, see ya inside!”

Irene takes a peek into the classroom as the other student heads in and just as she suspected, the only open seat left is the one next to Wendy. Seeing this, Irene starts to feel nervous. It’s now just dawning on her that she has no clue what to do after she sits down. Will Wendy try to force her way into switching with another student? Should Irene try to make small talk? She doesn’t know and suddenly, regret starts bubbling inside of her. Irene thinks about ditching class altogether, but then a voice calls out.

“Miss Bae, will you be joining us or not?” the professor announces in front of the whole class, making her cheeks tint red in embarrassment.

Irene quietly nods and quickly takes her seat. “Hi,” she instinctively mutters as if she completely forgot who she was talking to and after a second of processing, her eyes widen. Irene keeps her eyes ahead, however, and she can’t tell if she should be grateful or sad that Wendy didn’t say anything in response.

In fact, Wendy doesn’t really do anything at all for the rest of class. The Ravenclaw simply kept to herself the entire time–only focusing on the professor and their assigned book. By the end, Irene was about to say something before Wendy could leave, but stopped herself. She didn’t want to risk anything just yet because on the bright side, Wendy didn’t look bothered by her presence for the first time in a while.

So, Irene keeps up this plan for the next few days with the same thing happening more or less each time. She would appear to be late, would say a rushed “Hi” to Wendy and then the two would appear to have a peaceful truce. Soon enough, Irene gains the courage to slip in a “See ya,” just as Wendy starts walking away.

To Irene’s surprise, that actually makes Wendy stop in her tracks and Irene can feel her heartbeat increase at the sight.

Wendy turns around to face her, “What game are you playing at, Bae?”

“N-Nothing! None, I swear!” Irene freezes. 

Then, with a sigh, Wendy's shoulders drop while Irene’s remains tense. Without another word, the Ravenclaw walks away just as she has done before.

Well, that could’ve gone worse, Irene thinks with the slightest ounce of hope.

--

After some more uncontested hi’s and see ya’s, the Slytherin decides to take another step in her ‘Operation.’ It was now time to try and test Wendy’s avoidance outside of the classroom. But, of course, this was easier said than done because Hogwarts is pretty freaking huge and it’s not exactly easy to find one specific girl amongst the crowd.

“Please, please, please,” Irene begs.

“As much as I want you guys back together, there’s no way she would agree to do this.”

“Aw c’mon, Jennie! You know darn well that Jisoo would do anything you ask,” Irene still tries to convince her friend. “I mean, what’s the harm in having her and Wendy hang out for a bit? She would only have to stay for a little bit and then once she leaves Wendy’s alone, I can make my move.”

“Oh I don’t know, maybe because Jisoo never asks people to hang out- like ever.” 

“But they’re still friends, right? And they’re in the same house! So, it shouldn’t seem that weird.”

“Rene…,” Jennie trails.

“Just this once, Jennie, I swear! I thought the person who dubbed this as an operation would at least want to help.”

“Omo- fine! Fine! But only because desperation seriously doesn’t suit you.”

And so a few days later, after some convincing from Jennie, Jisoo begrudgingly tells Irene when and where she and Wendy will be so that Irene could unsuspiciously swoop in later. The only ‘catch’ (although, it really isn’t one) is that Jisoo has no plans of quickly leaving her fellow Ravenclaw alone–stating that she doesn’t like the idea of ingenuine hang-outs and wants to enjoy it for as long as she wants. Thus, resulting with Irene currently hiding behind a wall for nearly an hour at this point. 

Every once and a while, Irene tries to take a sly peek at whatever the hell Jisoo and Wendy were doing as they sat down on a hallway bench. They were talking for the most part, but Irene nearly interrupted when the two began to playfully wrestle each other (must've been an ego thing). Thankfully, a professor separated them before she could blow her cover.

Eventually, Irene finally heard the signal and practically rolled her eyes at how loud and a bit robotic it sounded.

"Oooh crap, it's already 5? Jennie is going to kill me if I'm late again."

She hears the two Ravenclaw's say their parting goodbyes. Irene begins to mentally prepare herself when she suddenly hears Wendy, "Oh hey, where are ya heading? I might be going that way too."

"Oh- uh," Jisoo hesitates. "Just to the Great Hall. Jennie's waiting for me at the entrance."

"Well what do ya know! I was literally going down there to eat."

Irene can hear two sets of footsteps heading her way.

No, no, no, no… she needs to stay put! This wasn't part of the plan! Think Irene! Think! I GOT IT!

“Well, Jennie and I- OOPHH !” Jisoo falters a step back.

“Oh! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to run into you- Jisoo!” Irene acts after physically bumping into the Ravenclaw on ‘accident.’ Irene does her best to seem natural, but boy, the face Jisoo was making at her right now made her want to run and hide.

Through clenched teeth, Jisoo does her best to go along with the impromptu scenario, “Don’t sweat it. Look, I got to go. See ya, Wendy!”

“Y-Yeah, see ya,” Wendy replies in quick surprise at the situation as they are now left alone. Once Jisoo turns the corner, Irene doesn’t wait to say something to Wendy as she didn’t want to risk the girl leaving faster than Irene would hope.

“Hey,” she ends up saying with a small wave. Hey? Hey?! Hiding for a whole hour just to say ‘Hey’!? And the wave was so stupid!

“Uh… hey? I- um gotta go,” Wendy says, catching Irene off guard–so much so that the next thing she notices is that she was now facing Wendy’s back as she walked away.

Hey? Hey?! I love ‘Hey’s!

-----

After their lessons, the trio of best friends decided to spend some time together in an empty classroom. They chat away on just about anything and then Irene asks a question that she’s been dying to ask.

“So, Joy,” Irene smirks with a suggestive tone. “Any news that you would like to share with Jennie and I?”

“... No?” Joy quirks an eyebrow.

“Oh really?” Jennie asks and Joy shakes her head.

“Nothing about a certain someone whose name starts with… Oh I don’t know, a Seul?”

“Ends with a gi?” Jennie finishes.

The taller girl playfully rolls her eyes when suddenly, she springs out of her seat with a huge smile, “SHE SAID YES!”

Right then, Irene and Jennie rush out of their chairs to give Joy a big hug and they jump around in circles in celebration. They yelled out whoops and hollers without a care yet were able to catch a few knocks on the door frame and someone clearing their throat, making them freeze in embarrassment.

“What the hell are you guys doing?” Jisoo asks them first as she leans against the door frame before Seulgi, who was standing next to her adds, “And can I join in?”

“You can join anything you want!” Joy replies as she goes to hug her girlfriend. Jennie goes up to Jisoo as well and they drag them into the classroom and restart their conversations.

As time went on, Irene can't help but notice that she was now the 5th wheel. She understood how Joy must've felt back then. The thought of how their dynamic would be if she was still with Wendy crossed her mind and it all felt bittersweet.

"So Bae, any updates with Wen-" Jisoo stops when Jennie gives her a nudge. "Sorry- how is the 'Operation' (Jennie nods her head in satisfaction) going? Any success after I left?" 

Irene sits up excitedly, "I said 'Hey' and then she said 'Hey' back!"

Joy and Jennie let out impressed oohs.

"That's it? I did all of that just for a 'Hey'?" Jisoo asks.

"I know it's small but! Then she added that she had to go!"

Her best friends gasp at the reveal. “That’s way better than last time!” One of them encourages her.

"Well hey! You gotta appreciate the small victories too," Seulgi supports, although she had no clue what they were all talking about or at least who .

"I get that, but at the rate that this is going, Irene will still be single by the time we graduate. There's only so much time left that you'd be able to see her as often."

Irene's shoulders drop. Jisoo gave her a reality check because it has already been quite some time and the only thing she's really gotten out of it is a handful of words. If she wants to win Wendy back, maybe she's got to start picking up the pace. 

And if she does, she hopes she doesn't go too fast.

A/N: 

:)

Happy wenrene day! (Was meant to post this earlier so that it was still wr day for all readers but I fell asleep :p )

- S (@rv_twice5 on twitter)