Wendy honestly didn’t know why she was doing this anymore.

Her job was essentially done.

Seulgi had asked Irene out. Irene had said “yes”. Seulgi was happy. Irene was happy.

Wendy was happy for them. End of story.

Except, it wasn't really the end of the story.

In books, there was always some flow of events that indicated junctures where the main storyline would end. The main problem would be solved, the main antagonist would be beaten, justice would be had, and the characters would get their happy ending.

That’s how stories worked. There was a beginning, a middle, and an end. It was simple. That’s why Wendy liked them. If she didn't like a story, she could close the book or stop the movie, and walk away. The story would end wherever she wanted it to.

However, in life, by the time one realized what was happening, they were already in the middle of it. If something happened that she didn't like, there was no way to hit pause, or close the book. The problem with life was that there was no option to walk away. It just continued whether one liked it or not.

The ends and the beginnings were less than clear, so all that one has left is a whole lot of middle. If there was such a thing as a happy ending, it just meant that the person hadn’t reached the end yet.

Hence, the phrase “happily ever after” didn't really make sense to her. People liked to focus on the first two words but forgot that there was an “after”. Meeting the love of your life, finally achieving your dream job, attaining that high score, all those life events that people sought after, all of them had an “after”.

Maybe that was the reason sequels were always a hit or miss. Sequels were a double edged sword. On one hand, it expanded on what happens after the initial events. On the other, it ruined the idea of a “happy ending” because the story didn't end there.

In any case, Wendy wasn't given much choice regarding the selected happy ending that Seulgi and Irene had taken.

At first, Wendy hadn’t thought they were a good match. With Irene’s condescending attitude and cold remarks, she seemed undeserving of someone like Seulgi, who was warm and had the biggest heart. However, she had to admit that Bae Irene had grown on her over the past few weeks, maybe even a little too much, if she were being honest.

Thankfully, she didn’t need to be honest.

What she needed to be, was ignorant.

She had been there for everything. The disastrous first date, the semi successful second and third ones, and even when she declined following them after dance practice, Seulgi still gave her a detailed update afterwards. She knew all of Seulgi’s worries, what she managed to say and what never made it past the barriers of her lips. It was the definition of having too much information about their relationship. To top it off, she was still texting Irene. She was writing as Seulgi, but it still made her feel stupid things nonetheless. The problem with being authentic was that it was authentic.

As for her and Irene, they began their relationship on shaky ground, but it didn’t make her oblivious to the other girl. She hated her own sense of curiousity sometimes. It made her observe and remember things she had no business knowing. If she could, she would un-notice things about the older girl.

Things like how Irene always spoke in a calm and collected manner, but when they discussed something they had differing opinions on, it was as though someone lit a fire in her. The only other times when Irene displayed that side of her were when she was participating in something that involved winning and losing.

She noticed that Irene hardly tied her hair from day to day, but she seemed to walk taller and prouder when she tied her hair in a high ponytail. It was part of how she empowered herself, Wendy figured. Watching her walk through the hallways with her head held high, it made Wendy feel just a bit stronger too.

She found out that Irene got cold easily when they walked out of the restaurant and Irene constantly fought to control her shivers whenever there was a breeze. If that wasn’t a giveaway, the older girl’s hands had been locked around her upper arms. It had been an adorable sight and she had to remind herself that Irene wasn’t hers to think about.

From the beginning, Wendy had never been part of the equation. If they were an algebraic equation, Irene would be the variable, Wendy would be the indices that disappeared once the variable terms were evened out. Seulgi would be the number that equates to Irene at the end of the function.

Maybe Wendy had spent too much time tutoring Yeri in mathematics lately, but it was always going to be like that.

Now that they were officially a couple, she could finally take a step back.

It had been a rollercoaster of emotions. From Seulgi messaging her during the date asking if she should confess, to Seulgi calling her in a panic, not once but twice, in the toilet, during the same date, Wendy was even more stressed because she had to watch the entire thing unfold while trying to stop her friend from getting a panic attack.

She had already warned Seulgi that there were so many reasons why she shouldn't watch a horror movie on a date. Seulgi’s favourite movie was ‘Before Sunrise’, and she cried at animal advertisements. It didn't take a genius to figure out that horror movies wouldn't be a good idea. Yet, Seulgi had genuinely believed that it would be fun to watch a movie if she had someone to be scared with.

Wendy left before the movie, despite Seulgi’s protests. She pointedly told the dancer that in no way was she going to subject herself to this kind of torture just because Seulgi didn't have the brains to pick another film that both parties would probably have enjoyed.

What she didn't count on, was her own propensity for masochism, because she decided to turn back and after reaching the train station.

Some small, naive, silly part of her forced her logical sense out the window, and made the rest of her succumb to the temptation. One way or the other, she wanted to know.

Hence, she knew, even before Seulgi had called her after parting ways with Irene that night.

Like a good friend, she pretended not to know anything when she saw Seulgi’s name appear on her phone screen. She choked back the bitter taste in when she congratulated her as genuinely as she could.

Ignorance was supposed to be bliss. Yet, Wendy was sure that she was feeling the farthest thing from blissful when she ended the call and took the long way home.

“So, Wendy-unnie, who do I need to kill?” A voice broke through her thoughts.

“I’m sorry?”

“Yes, you should be.” The younger girl poked her arm with the end of her pencil. “You’ve been spacing out a lot today. If I were to plot a graph for your attention span today, x would have 2 or 3 solutions.”

Wendy allowed herself a total of two seconds to take in the shock and pride in her student, before she made her counterattack. “Okay, first of all, you’re suggesting that my attention span over time would be a cubic curve, which is unlikely, to say the least.”

“Secondly, you’re forgetting that in order to even find x and determine how many solutions there are, you would have to draw a straight line and create another equation. Lastly, you know, if you put in this much effort in solving your actual mathematical problem sums, you’d get an A.” Despite trying to look stern, Wendy couldn't hold back her smile. Kim Yerim had always been one of the dark horses in her year. When she was assigned as her student, the teachers had warned her about Yeri being “problematic” to handle.

Wendy remembered their first meeting. The lower year student had strolled into the study area and yelled out for Son Seungwan to appear, causing both of them to nearly get exiled from the library. The ends of her hair had been a faded purple, the product of a cheap hair dye which she had done as a dare. On the outside, she looked like a typical rebellious student. However, Wendy had never doubted the junior’s intelligence.

“Nice deflection from the issue.” Yeri commented. “I think the fact that I managed to get your attention now already proves my point that it would be a cubic curve, but in any case, I am more curious about who it is.”

“Who is what?”

Yeri rolled her eyes. “Who broke your heart, unnie?”

“What?” She exclaimed. “There’s no one. I’m not interested in anyone that way.”

“Unnie, as much as I learn a lot of things from you, lying isn’t one of them.” Yeri’s tone was flat and unamused. For a second, she was reminded of someone else, but she mentally slapped herself in disdain. Her mind was always on the other girl; that was partly why she was even in this situation. “You have a certain look on your face that normal people would term as “pining”. It’s sad.”

“It must be because she missed me.” A familiar voice interrupted Yeri’s interrogation. It was the tall girl who had been looking for Yeri previously, much to said younger girl’s displeasure. She turned her gaze to Wendy, who suddenly wanted to disappear. “Hi cutie, I told you I’d be seeing you around.”

“You.” Yeri’s eyes narrowed dangerously. Wendy recognised that look. It was never a good sign. She had witnessed their weird relationship. All she could say was that for the sake of self-preservation, she didn't want to get in the middle of them. “How do you even know Wendy-unnie?”

“We got acquainted the other day when you ran off. Could you blame me?”

“Park Sooyoung, no.”

“Are you dumb? I’m not a dog.”

“Oh really? I must have mistaken you because you’re still a bit-“

“Okay, I think we’ve done enough studying for today.” Wendy announced, cutting the younger girl off before she started a war. She turned to Yeri with a warning look. “Do you want to head out for food? I baked chocolate chip cookies.”

Yeri’s eyes suddenly lit up. “Absolutely.”

Without another word, Yeri stood up, grabbing her things in one swoop. Wendy, knowing how it felt to be left out, turned to the other girl who had fallen silent.

“If you’re free, would you like to join us?” She offered, looking at her student for permission. Yeri gave her a pointed look but shrugged. She had been seen enough of their interactions to guess that they were friends with a peculiar way of communicating, but their threats were not serious. She hoped that she wasn't wrong. “But absolutely no fighting from both of you.”

Wendy watched a slow smile spread over the taller girl’s features as she stretched out her hand for her to shake. “Nice to meet you, Wendy-ssi. I’m Sooyoung but most people in school call me Joy. I think we’re going to get along fine.”

She accepted the handshake and half-expected that she was going to regret her decision.

In some aspects, she did. Neither girl allowed her a moment of peace. Yeri was more animated with the taller girl around, so the conversations were dominated by their playful banter. She would have been fine as an observer, but the other two seemed to have a different idea because as the “neutral” third party, she was asked to be the tie breaker for every decision.

However, throughout the whole afternoon, she realised she hadn’t thought about Irene or Seulgi at all.

It was different, she thought as she stared at the newest contact in her phone, but not altogether a bad thing.

~~

The three of them were squished together in the middle of a coin karaoke booth when Yeri’s phone rang.

A coin karaoke booth in a tiny alley wasn’t a place that Wendy would normally find herself in.

The idea had originally been Sooyoung’s, but Yeri had been the one who physically pulled Wendy there after they found out that she wasn’t familiar with the concept of coin karaoke. As her new friends, they had taken it upon themselves to educate her on the allure of the activity.

Of course, Wendy had known about the existence of karaoke booths but she didn't see the point in going alone.

The booth was tiny and obviously not meant for much more than two people, but it fit the three of them just fine. Perhaps it was also due to Yeri shoving the tallest girl out of the seat whenever she got too caught up in her hand gestures when she sang. Joy was in the middle of belting out a pop song when Wendy felt the youngest girl squirm uncomfortably next to her.

There was a series of vibrations from the younger girl’s jacket. Hence, she instinctively moved in the other direction so Yeri had space to retrieve her phone. She stared at the caller ID for a second, seemingly surprised.

There was a cautious look that flashed across her face just before she answered.

“Unnie?” She asked into the phone.

“Why are you calling all of a sudden?” Yeri spoke with a hand over the speaker, muffling out some of the karaoke noise and amplifying her own. “Yeah, I can hear you.”

There was a pause.

“I’m here with my friends.” Another pause. Wendy could see a pinch of defensiveness as Yeri retorted. “Well that’s rude. I have other friends, Joohyun-unnie.”

Yeri crossed her arms defiantly. Wendy was so focused that she didn’t realise Joy had slipped back into the booth beside her until she felt the other girl’s warmth against her shoulder.

“She’s rather informal to her unnie, isn’t she?” Wendy remarked casually, playing off t