December 19

The flight to Toronto was tiring. Well, any travel that takes long hours is tiring. Irene felt lethargic as she dragged her luggage away from the conveyor belt with Wendy a few steps ahead of her. Unknowingly, Irene, who’s following Wendy’s path, bumped onto the blonde’s backside.

Wendy quickly turned to her and gave her an apologetic smile, “Sorry for stopping so abruptly, just wanted to check on you. You okay?”

Irene gave a small smile, a hint of tiredness in her eyes. She nodded in response, “I am.”

“Okay. Although, you don’t have to suffer that long, once we reach home you can rest all you want.”

Whatever Irene was feeling before their conversation it quickly dissipated the moment she felt her lover’s warm, comforting hands wrapping on her free hand. Wendy has her hand cradled in between her hands and gave a kiss on the palm of her hand, the next thing Irene felt were Wendy’s warm cheeks, her girlfriend staring at her with full of affection as she rested Irene’s hands on her right cheek, “Thank you for coming home with me. I know you’re not much fond of long-distance travels, and all of this is pretty much foreign to you but you still said yes.”

The gesture softened Irene’s features, and couldn’t help but smile, “I couldn’t say no to my lover’s cute face.”

Wendy was about to give her response, but in that moment, a loud yell calling for her name made everyone turn in the direction where they heard where the shout was coming from, “Seungwan-ah!”

Wendy closed her eyes, still resting her cheeks in Irene’s hands and let out a breath through her nose, as if trying to prepare herself from the embarrassment. Irene chuckled at the situation as she chanced her eyes from Wendy to the owner of the voice, there she saw someone by the waiting lounge who has like almost the same features with her girlfriend albeit a little bit different too. Basing on her hunch, Irene assumed this is her girlfriend’s older sister.

“Son Seungwan!!”

“If you keep on ignoring her, she’ll keep shouting.” Irene said along with an amused smile.

Wendy heaved a sigh and straightened herself up, flattened her shirt for unknown creases. She then turned to acknowledge the woman’s presence, “That loud woman is my sister, Seunghee.”

Irene nodded, her guess was right – she has heard a few stories from Wendy about her sister, all on her good side. How supportive she was when Wendy told her family of her going to Korea for a career that their parents have complete doubts over.

Wendy has already turned around and has her hands clasped on Irene’s, tightly holding her partner, pulling her along towards where her sister is waiting.

*

When Wendy said that she’ll get rest once they reach their house, she expected it to happen where she’s going to take a short nap, regain her energy from the long travel, but Irene thought wrong.

The moment they stepped onto the Son’s house, she was quickly greeted with Wendy’s parents, Wendy’s cousins, Wendy’s cousins’ parents, Wendy’s grandparents, and it seemingly felt like all of Wendy’s relatives are gathered here today as her welcoming committee. Greeting after greeting Irene could feel her energy slowly slipping away, she ran her eye to Wendy who gave her a sheepish smile, embarrassment full on her face.

“Oh my God, Wendy your girlfriend is so pretty.”

“How old are you, Irene? I just graduated high school but will you marry me?”

“Drop your skincare routine, Irene.”

“If Wendy breaks up with you, I can be the Son for you.”

“What did Seungwan bribe you for you to say yes?”

“When’s the wedding?”

Irene turned her head left and right trying to answer one question after another, not going to lie Irene loved attention but this is something else and when Wendy saw her discomfort with every question, she felt her blonde girlfriend hold her hand for comfort and gave her a soft smile.

“Is nobody going to give me a hug or any greeting at all?” Wendy tried to interject as the questions kept on coming for Irene.

“Oh, we didn’t realize Seungwan is here.” Wendy’s father stated, making everyone in the household burst into laughter. “I’m kidding, come here Seungwan.”

And for a moment all the attention was on Wendy and Irene could only smile at the sight, it was heartwarming to be honest, her girlfriend has been away for years and this is the first time in years that she had the chance to come home to where she grew up. As Irene stared at Wendy’s family huddled aro