Enjoy and stay safe stay warm stay healthy!! 😭❤️💚

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Such a calm, lovely dusk. Irene sat on the couch in the living room, reading the newest Elle magazine that had several pictures of Joy's face in it, with Yeri beside her, playing games on her phone. Then there's also Wendy behind the kitchen counter, using her skills to cook some delicious food.

For no reason, Wendy would spare a glance at the living room occasionally just to refresh her eyes from the boredom of looking over the vegs she was chopping.

Everything was where it belonged.

Until Wendy caught Irene smiling to herself when the woman flipped the magazine in her hand to the next page where there was a close-up face filling the whole paper. But it's not the kind of smile that looks like a happy one. It's more like an admiration that was layered with remorseful expression.

"Why don't you set aside everything and make your relationship with Joy clear?" Beside her worry over the leader's sudden movement, Wendy was mostly relieved that Joy wasn't here now, so she could touch on a topic that everyone in the room already knew.

"I'm sorry?" The second Irene put down her magazine onto her thighs before looking at her with a questioning look, Wendy began to think that she had chosen the wrong way. That hadn't been added by Yeri, who suddenly followed Irene to look up at her with a startled expression, certainly didn't expect Wendy to broach such a sensitive issue.

But then again, Wendy had always been the first destination for Joy when the tall girl has something that bothered her mind or heart. There were already so many tears from Joy because of her relationship with Irene which Wendy had always witnessed so far. Joy was like her sister. Wendy loved her so much till it hurt too to see her crying over and over again after realizing that her love for Irene couldn't be pursued.

Well, that was Joy and Irene's perspective. 

But even untill today Wendy hadn't found anything wrong with their feelings. She could mantain a stance that it's okay. She thought it's fine. Then why couldn't others? Maybe that conception made Wendy persistent to carry on bringing the problems further.

"You heard me, unnie. I said, why don't you just set aside every—"

"You don't understand, Wan." There, she dropped it. Irene had always used that sentence every time the members gave some advice to help her. And suddenly it awakened the anger within Wendy with the assumption that Irene just didn't want to try.

"Then make me!"

"Enough, Son Seungwan." Coincided with Wendy finishing her activity by one, sharp chop at a meat on the cutting board, Irene also got up from her seat, glaring at Wendy as if she could shut Wendy's mouth just by doing that. The fact was, she couldn't. 

Yes. Wendy had always been the shield for everyone, taking care and paying close attention especially to her members. She had a big compassion in her big heart that she couldn't easly be mad over some trivial matters. But this wasn't trivial. The two main parties within this drama had been going on and on for years. It somehow took a serious toll on the mental energy in Wendy, if not all members.

When Joy and Irene started circling around an evil loop of injurious schenario, it was the members who felt it first. The positive energy would be out of the air and the fun they'd been enjoying would dissipate all of a sudden. Wendy tired. Not beause she personally hate the awkwardness bwtween the two members after their breakdown moments, but because Joy couldn't live up to that stage name anymore like old times. Wendy knew precisely that Irene realized how fragile Joy's always was. So, seeing her leader just turned down every opinion regarding this issue really made Wendy... upset. 

"No, you've always been like this, unnie. You push us away when we tried our best to make your relationship with Joy better, but at the end of the day you hurt her. Again. It's you who should stop, unnie."

Taking a step forward, Irene unconsciously fisted her hands. "It's never been about me, just so you know. Sooyoung and I are always concerned about the three of you! It scares us, imagining you guys will also be devastated because of the chaos this might cause. You think I don't want to put a definite status in our relationship? God! I want to be with her so badly! But don't you see? keeping our personal feelings inside is our job in the first place."

"What?! That's so stupid!" Wendy didn't mean the whole thing that Irene just delivered. It's last sentence that succeeded at making her frown, couldn't believe Irene held such perspectives within her. Maybe Wendy agreed with that, in a way. But the fact that it was the one that hindered her leader from taking further action, just stood still going nowhere with Joy, surprised her.

"Seungwan-unnie..."

For a second, Wendy is so focused on Irene's reasons which jumped to a ridiculous conclusion. Until a small voice that sounded afraid managed to capture her attention, making Wendy shifted her eyes to the girl that was still sitting behind Irene. Perhaps Irene heard it too, so she let out a long breath, covertly trying to be calm and keeping herself out of the sense of rising anger. Followed by pinching the bridge of her nose, Irene began to think that maybe Wendy was right. Maybe she just unconsciously didn't want to put in more effort.

"There are so many people who love her now, not like her debut era when she got so many hate comments. She built this herself and I don't want to ruin her career. Her life. My love for her isn't worth her struggle to reach her current position."

"But, unnie. She must've also wanted to be with you."

Less than a second, the anger inside of Irene suddenly changed into a huge insecurity. Of course, Irene wanted Joy to have a thought just like hers. But what if she was the one who wanted to ignore society and enjoy her feelings? What if it turned out that Joy chose her success over her?

Then, uttering the question in her head before dragging her feet to her room was Irene's final decision.

"Does she?"

What Irene and another two girls didn't know was that there's a particular tall girl in front of the dorm door who had listened to the debate from the very beginning.

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