It's a silent kind of chaos every Friday night before the SMYG University, “Panorama”, Monday papers are published. The familiar calling sound of seasoned fingers flying across keyboards fills the air of the newsroom as the student workers begin to finish up their articles and columns. The air is heavy with anxiety and stress as they straddle the deadlines once again.

 

The heavy scent of coffee grounds Wendy back into the real world, as she takes another sip out of her third cup of the night.

 

Running an advice column for the universities school paper didn't seem like a hard gig at first. All she had to do was pick a question to answer and give her opinion on it, right? Wendy’s a pretty opinionated woman, so this seemed like a breeze. On top of that, she gets $13 an hour and only has to work 6 hours per week. It's good pocket money for when she wants to eat out or get militia from her favorite milktea place. It's easy money, it would have been ludicrous for her to have let this opportunity pass.

 

However, she quickly realized that this job was much more than just writing out opinions on people's situations. Wendy had to learn how to be completely objective about situations and read people's situations and personalities beyond just the blurb of writing that was submitted to the newspaper. There was a lot of psychology and analysis to it, and that was way harder than Wendy had thought.

 

She also quickly realized that the advice column was not the only job she would have to perform in the newsroom.

 

The newsroom is chaotic, especially on Friday nights before deadlines were due; and people need extra help getting things published, wrapped up nicely, and distributed to the newscarts around campus. So much work goes on behind the scenes, and it's a common practice for column writers and editors alike to do a lot of these behind the scenes tasks.

 

Although the newsroom is not the easy money experience she craves for, Wendy is okay with what she has got. In fact, she is happy that the newsroom is the way it was. The chaotic nature of the newsroom brings the student workers together, and forms lifelong friendship and bonds. A lot of the student workers joke around about how they even made a little family here together. In fact, this same newsroom lead her to her best friends.

 

If it wasn't for the wrinkled fliers she saw on the floor asking for applications for an advice column writer two years ago, she wouldn't have her best friends Jennie and Joy by her side.

 

However, sometimes these said friends can be extremely aggravating, especially on said Friday nights.

 

“So, how’s the Cupid column going” Joy shows up behind her with the most aggravating smile on her face and a steaming cup of coffee that matches Wendy’s own.

 

“It’s not a Cupid column, you titan.” Wendy mutters, “Aren’t you supposed to be doing something useful like writing your third article in a row about the new exciting minecraft block you can put in your farmhouse?”. She should have known the first thing Joy would do when coming back from break is come over to annoy her.

 

“HA. HA. Very funny, Seungwan. Truly wasting your immense talent in humor on this dull Ask Alice column” Joy slumps into the seat next to her, preparing herself for a long night of writing and editing ahead of her.

 

Wendy just sighs and goes back to looking at her own empty screen.

 

The thing about writing an advice column is that you have to be in the right mindset for giving advice. The second thing is that you actually have to have advice for the question being asked.

 

Right now, Son Wendy is suffering with both of these things.

 

She doesn't know what possessed her to choose this submission for the advice column. In hindsight she thinks she was drawn to it because she too is curious about the answer. But that’s not how she’s supposed to choose submissions. She’s supposed to choose the questions she actually has some sort of practical information on herself, not the ones she wants answers to.

 

Hence the blank page on the screen.

 

The question in front of her asks, “How do I get someone to notice that they are loved?”.

 

She can't quite explain what drew her to this question. Maybe it's the fact that the sender does not ask “how do I get someone to like me”, but instead asks “how do I get this person to notice that they are loved”. There is a type of innocence and purity to this question that draws Wendy in.

 

It does not ask for reciprocation, it is asking how to get someone to realize that someone out there is looking out for them, that someone out there cares so much about you that they don't care if you end up together, they just care that the person that they love notices that they are loved.

 

Maybe Wendy is a hopeless romantic, but she’ll never admit it.

 

“Ugh.” Wendy groans and puts her head in her hand, rubbing over her face numerous times, “I seriously can't do this.”

 

“What's up with her?”, Jennie plops down on the empty desk to the left of Wendy while pointing at her.

 

“Well, she's been staring at the same question for like 3 hours now and still hasn't written a word” Joy says with a mixture of sympathy and exasperation gracing her features. “She’s on her fourth cup of coffee”.

 

Jennie’s eyebrows shoot up as she whistles slowly and turns toward Wendy.

 

“Thats rough, babe”.

 

“You have two seconds to shut the hell up before I pour the rest of this drink down your back, love.” Wendy warns with a glare.

 

Jennie must have taken her threat seriously as she laughs and backs away with her hands in the air.

 

“You don't gotta tell me twice, Wen.” Wendy tenses at that, just like Jennie knew she would, “Good luck with writing, I’ll leave you be.”

 

The last part was quieter, more sincere.

 

Yes, Jennie can get under her skin and can joke a little too much, but she knows when to get serious, especially around Wendy. It makes Wendy feel happy to know that someone pays enough attention to her, to realize when to change the mood and when not too. Wendy appreciates Jennie. She appreciates their friendship.

 

While going on this little tangent in her head, a metaphorical light bulb sparked within her.

 

The little things. The little things that people do in relationships, whether it be familial, friendship, or romantic are the ones that matter. If the questioner's purpose is truly to get someone to realize that this person cares for them, and to make the other feel appreciated, then reciprocation doesn't matter. Big romantic gestures don't matter.

 

Wendy lack of experience with romantic relationships serves as a roadblock for this specific question. But what she lacks in romantic experience she more than matches in platonic experience.

 

With this new vigor and drive settling in, she finally starts to type.

 

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

 

It's Monday morning and the school newspaper comes out today. Jennie makes a beeline for the news stand outside one of the dining halls on campus, and snatches one up as soon as possible.

 

She flips through the paper, scanning the pages for a very specific article.

 

“5 Fool Proof Steps to Get a Girl to Notice that You’re Interested” - Son Wendy

 

Jennie closes the paper for a second to collect herself.

 

It’s not exactly the question that she has asked, but this actually seems to work out even better for her. It is nerve wracking though, to see the muse behind Jennie’s question answering it as well.

 

She takes a deep breath to calm her nerves.

 

She opens the paper again and begins to scan the article for the tldr section that Wendy always ends up putting at the bottom of her column for the lazy readers. Jennie has never been so thankful for that. There's no way Jennie could read the full column right now without legitimately bursting into flames. She finds the section formatted in the form of bullet points and sighs in relief; seems easy enough to follow.

 

Now, she tells herself, it's time to actually read the steps.

 

“Step 1). Buy her favorite coffee in the morning.

Step 2). Ask her about her day.

Step 3). Look her in the eyes when you talk to her or if she talks to you, it allows her to know that you genuinely care about what she has to say.

Step 4). Unnecessary (but respectful!!!) touches. Lean into her when she talks and maybe touch her arm. Play with her hands or hair. Hang off her shoulders, etc.

Step 5). Playfully call her cute nicknames like love,babe, baby, cutie, honey, etc.”

 

WHAT?

 

Jennie is officially confused. Did she read that right? She goes back over the words again and again, and even scans the actual article just to make sure that what she’s reading is actually what’s written in those bullet points.


She’s in shock. Does Wendy already know how Jennie feels for her?

 

Jennie goes through the list step by step once more.

 

Step 1). Buy her favorite coffee in the morning.

 

Well, maybe she doesn't do it in the morning, but she does know Wendy’s coffee order by heart and gets her a coffee every Friday night. That's kind of the same thing, right? Well, she also gets coffee for the rest of the team sometimes on Fridays, but they are not specially ordered, so Wendy must know she’s special… right?

 

Jennie makes a mental note to try to get Wendy coffee more than 1 day a week.

 

Step 2). Ask her about her day.

 

Now, this one was easy. Jennie does this every day anyway. No matter what time of day it is, no matter how many times she’s already asked, every time Jennie greets Wendy it’s either with a “how was your day”, or a version similar to it. Jennie always makes sure to ask about Wendy. Not just because she’s got a massive crush on her, but because she genuinely cares. Well, no matter what, Wendy is her best friend. Of course she’s going to be interested in her day.

 

But then again, because of that thought process, she ends up asking all of her friends how their days are as a way of greeting. It’s just that she is genuinely interested in them and their lives. And Wendy is almost always around Jennie if they're not working or in classes, so Wendy knows that it's kind of a habit for Jennie to greet people this way.

 

But Jennie asks Wendy how she is way more than any of her other friends, she must notice that, right?

 

Step 3). Look her in the eyes when you talk to her or if she talks to you, it allows her to know that you genuinely care about what she has to say.

 

This was also way too easy. Jennie thought. She does this automatically when talking to Wendy.

 

Well…

 

She does this automatically when talking to anyone. If she’s talking to someone, she always tries to give them her undivided attention. She wants the people who are talking to her, know that she appreciates the fact that they want to share their lives and their days with her, and what better way to show them that then to make eye contact with them.

 

But the thing is, Jennie will look at Wendy even if the girl isn't talking. She likes looking into Wendy’s eyes regardless of whether or not words are being spoken.

 

Wendy must know the difference, right?

 

Step 4). Unnecessary (but respectful!!!) touches. Lean into her when she talks and maybe touch her arm. Play with her hands or hair. Hang off her shoulders, etc.

 

Jennie grows impossibly tenser than before. Hmm. So, that's a sign of romantic affection?

 

Jennie is an affectionate person by nature. Her parents always hang off of their kids, friends, and each other. She grew up around tons and tons of affection, and at one point thought that was just how people were.

 

Luckily for her, all her friends growing up were really receptive to her affectionate behaviors, so, she carried that trait with her all the way into college. With that being said. She’s extremely affectionate to Wendy.

 

And Joy

 

And Rosé

 

And Jisoo

 

And Lisa

 

And Irene

 

Well… you get the point.

 

But, even though she’s super affectionate with people, Jennie only ever holds Wendy’s hand. That much has to be obvious to Wendy. It has to be, right?

 

Step 5). Playfully call her cute nicknames like love, babe, baby, cutie, honey, etc.

 

Well, Jennie thinks she might just be ed.

 

She uses the term love like frat boys use the term bro.

 

Now that she’s taken the time to actually look through and think about each individual step, she realizes that she does this with every single one of her friends. How is Wendy supposed to know that she likes her when Jennie, herself, calls half the editing staff love, and hangs off Joy like she’s attached to her.

 

Sigh. Crushes are stressful. Especially when they're your best friend. Especially when it possibly… maybe… probably… could be a little bit more than a crush. Especially when your crush thinks you're probably crushing on every person you meet.

 

Jennie needs to think of a plan of action, because she knows from the already growing nausea in her stomach, that she cannot just accept the fact that Wendy’s own Fool Proof Guide to Love is Jennie proof.

 

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

 

Wendy has been stressed and wound up all week and she’s trying to figure out why. It is as if each minute that passes by brings up another itch on her skin that she just can't seem to scratch, and now her skin is churning and burning and itching all over.

 

It may have been because the paper was released yesterday, but she’s never felt this way about the paper before. It shouldn't be any different now.

 

Except it is different this time, and she knows it is, because she’s on her 6th cup of coffee today.

 

As much as she does not want to believe it, ever since that stupid paper had been released, people have been coming up to her and doing the things on her list.

 

She’s never seen so many acquaintances suddenly so interested in her plans, and it's really starting to irritate her.

 

It just doesn't make any sense, where were all these so called admirers before this stupid article. Sigh.

 

“Ow! What the !” Wendy yelps, ready to fight whoever the just spilled coffee on her favorite sweater. As she looks up, assessing the situation, she sees Jennie standing in front of her, shocked with half a cup of coffee in hand.

 

“! I’m so sorry, Wen.” Jennie mumbles, eyes fixated on the large coffee stain covering the lower right side of Wendy’s cream colored sweater.

 

Jennie makes a move for her pockets, presumably to check for napkins, but comes up empty.

 

Wendy takes a deep breath and counts to ten, collecting herself before she says something she will regret.

 

“Jen. You have one second to get the away from me before I kill you.”

 

So, that didn't exactly go as planned. But Jennie always seems to know not to take the things Wendy says personally. Wendy is very short tempered and sometimes says things that she does not mean, so, the fact that Jennie can understand her humor and coping mechanisms and just roll with it is something she’s really thankful for.

 

“Come on, Wen.” Jennie says with a smirk, eyes sparkling while bumping into her shoulder. “I really am sorry that happened, didn't plan on it. Also, here’s some coffee, or at least the rest of it. I owe you one for helping me revise my article last week.” She ends with a giggle, a slight pink tinting her cheeks.

 

Jennie has the sense to look a bit apologetic and bashful about it, and it warms Wendy’s heart. Even more than the coffee stain burning through her favorite sweater. But it's okay, her favorite sweater takes the backseat to her favorite person any day of the week.

 

So, Wendy grabs the cup of coffee, regardless of how many she’s had in the past 48 hours, and how this exact cup of coffee is already melting, stinging, and sticking on her skin, and drinks it.

 

“Ugh. Thank, God.” Wendy mumbles around the coffee. It’s Wendy’s favorite order, and she’s so thankful for that, because if she has to drink any more ty sugar water disguised as coffee, she will go crazy.

 

“I mean, no, I’m Jennie, but go off I guess.” Jennie’s looking at Wendy with a big smirk on her face and mirth shining in her eyes as she teases the older girl.

 

Wendy turns to slap Jennie’s arm, but she’s too fast and already ran out of reach while laughing.

 

“Don't think you should run around with that, babe, might spill more of it on yourself.” shouts Jennie from the well thought out and planned distance she’s put between Wendy and herself.

 

Wendy takes it back. Jennie is no longer her favorite person, she’s a dead man. With that thought she starts to close the distance and bolts after her best friend.

 

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

 

“So operation be cute and get Wendy some coffee failed pretty ing bad. I honestly don't think I’m cut out for this whole “do cute things while also not being stupid” thing.” Jennie sighs while looking up at her friends from across the table.

 

Jennie and her friends decided to meet at their favorite cafe on 32nd street. It’s close by Rosé, Lisa, and Jisoo’s shared apartment, and the coffee here is fantastic. So, Jennie doesn't mind the long walk it takes to get there. Also, Jennie needs some major help on how to perfectly execute plan “Get Wendy to know she’s liked” because so far, Jennie’s been dropping the ball.

 

“Jendeuk, I promise you, all you have to do is tell Wendy that you like her. And if she doesn't like you back then I’ll literally ing eat her, so no worries.” Jennie laughs at that. Lisa may not be the best at advice, but what she lacks in the advice column she more than makes up for in support and loyalty.

 

“No, Lisa, you’re not ing eating Wendy. And Jennie, to be completely frank, you should have confessed a long time ago.” says Jisoo, looking at Jennie with a mix of sympathy and the tiniest bit of frustration.

 

“Okay. First of all, I don't know any Frank’s” Jisoo rolled her eyes at that, “And second, why do I have to be the one who confesses? If you all are so sure that Wendy likes me back, then why cant she confess?” Jennie whines dejectedly.

 

She knows she’s acting like a baby, but she can’t help it. Confessing is hard, regardless of whether or not she has a shot. Because while there's the chance of romantically charged hand holding and all the other fun things that come with being in a relationship, there's also the chance that there will be no more hand holding, or platonic cuddling, or any type of physical affection after the confession is out in the air.

 

Jennie knows she can't deal with that.

 

“Hey.” Joy says softly, “It's gonna be alright. And to be honest, you do have a point there. It shouldn't just be on you to confess if it really is a mutual feeling. But, bro, you did read the article, right? Trick question I know you did so shut up, bro.” Jennie didn't even try to speak.

 

“The article literally describes what you do, right? But it describes what you do for everyone, bro. Wendy was probably thinking of you without even realizing it! And bro, if we’re really being honest here, why would Wendy ever feel comfortable confessing to you if she thinks you’ve got a crush on half the campus. Your jolly sunshine and rainbow attitude has ed you over in the end my friend.” Joy says matter of factly.

 

“Say bro one more time and I’ll cut your favorite dress tonight.” adds Rosé nonchalantly while scrolling through her phone.

 

“Bro…” Joy whispers under her breath spitefully.

 

“Hey, guys, shut up. Let's get back to the problem here. My ing brain. How do I get rid of it?” Everyone looks at Jennie all at once, exasperated looks painting all of their faces.

 

“Jennie, can you please shut the up for a second?” Jisoo says while rubbing her temples.

 

“Yeah!” Joy agrees, “And also did you listen to anything I just said? It was pretty ing profound if you ask me.”

 

“No one asked, Joy.” Rosé quips in cheerfully.

 

“I thought we were on the same team, Rosie posie. The betrayal is poignant. Also, no one is sticking up for me? All of you so bad. I ing hate it here.” Joy grumbles to herself.

 

No one ever answers Joy’s dramatic tantrums (they happen way too often to acknowledge), but they all pat her on the shoulder, or ruffle her hair, just so Joy knows they're just playing. That’s one of Jennie’s favorite things about her friends. They are super understanding of each other, and even if they have trouble expressing it in words, you can always feel the love they have for each other through their actions.

 

Lisa clasps her hands together and clears , effectively shifting everyone's focus to the task at hand. “Alright. So, we’ve all come to the conclusion that Jennie’s bright and sunny personality ruined her chances of ever getting Wendy to realize she likes her, right? So essentially, you can either confess to her outright, or stop caring for your other friends so she gets the point.”

 

Everyone pauses to look at Lisa in horror. There's no way in hell that Jennie would ever go with option 1. They all understand her for that, and can't really blame her, all things considered. But that also means that Jennie may actually consider option 2. And that option ing blows. Jennie is the kindest, cutest, most cuddly person their friend group has ever met in their lives. For Jennie to not act like Jennie for even a day would be torture for the rest of them.

 

“Lisa, babe, you absolute brilliant woman!” Jennie praises. “Why didn't I think of that before?! I’ll just keep my friendship habits on the downlow for the meantime. Lisa, have I told you how much I appreciate you, babe? Lit