Wendy and Jisoo soon arrived at the assigned room. Wendy took a deep breath, a lot of important people are going to be inside, and she had to pull her together and try not to act stupid for some time. She felt a gentle squeeze and noticed Jisoo giving her an encouraging soft smile. Wendy smiled back at her, feeling more at ease and opened the door. 

Luckily, a lot of people were inside already talking and chatting, so no one noticed her at all. A group of people noticed Jisoo and called her over, so she begrudgingly let go of Wendy’s hand and shot her an apologetic smile before walking off in their direction. Great, Wendy was now alone in a sea of people; rich, famous, and high class people. Exactly where she belongs. On that note, when was her paycheck going to arrive again? 

Wendy scanned the room trying to look for familiar faces, but only noticed a familiar back covered in flowy brunette hair. That’s her Jennie. She confidently walked up to the girl and patted her back, “Hey, I was looking all over for you--” The girl turned to face her. Nope! Nevermind! That’s no Jennie. It was none other than Jennie’s long lost sister apparently, Irene. Since when did those two look so similar? 

“You were looking for me?” the girl asked in a soft voice. God no! Wendy can’t do this now… Mission abort! Mayday Mayday! And as what usually happens with these calls of help, Wendy got nothing, and was left to sink all on her own, with Irene staring at her questioningly. 

She had to say something, anything. At this point, she just looks like a creep as she stares at Irene. She quickly cleared and started, “Ah, yeah… I totally wanted to say something… and that is… um… thank you? Ah yes! Thank you! I appreciate you stopping and standing in the rain to cover me and keep me company.” Wendy smiled as wide as she could to make it seem as genuine as possible. Thank god, she had her wits about her and managed to say something that sounded a little persuasive. 

Irene’s eyes gleamed in recognition, “Oh, it’s you!” she stated. “Don’t worry about that, it looked like you needed someone there with you.” Then she smiled. Her perfect angelic smile, and Wendy’s heart began to beat faster, the traitor. Wendy nodded quickly, “Well, anyways, I gotta go. I have someone I need to manage.” She turned quickly to walk away, but was held back by a gentle tug on her arm. She looked back at Irene, opening and closing, indicating she had something to say, but didn’t know how to say it. It was a cute habit of Irene’s and Wendy always knew that Irene had to get something out or else she’ll be grumpy and cranky for some time. Wendy smiled at the memory and stood there waiting, she’d always waited for Irene to speak up, and she always will. Irene noticed that Wendy didn’t move and was waiting for her, she smiled back at Wendy’s kindness. It’s as if she knew Irene really wanted to say something. So, she looked straight into Wendy’s eyes, “Why did you do it?” Wendy was confused, “Do what?”

“Why did you apologize to me before running away?”

Wendy’s breath hitched, she still remembers? Of course she does, you idiot. Irene never forgets anything, she would always be the one to remind Wendy of everything, especially their relationship anniversaries. Wendy shook her head, she couldn't answer that question. It’s answer was a part of Wendy’s previous life, something that only lives within her, “I don’t really have an answer. But it was something I knew I should do.” She was honest about it, she didn’t feel like lying about something this serious in front of Irene. She just didn’t have it in her, but she had to be as vague as possible. 

Irene was baffled, what was she supposed to do with an answer like this? It didn’t make sense, but a glance at Wendy’s face told her that maybe she shouldn’t push it. So she decided to drop the topic for now. She let go of Wendy’s hand and smiled again, then she leaned in closer to Wendy, prompting Wendy to instinctively lean in too, “You know, Jennie has been standing there for quite some time glaring at you. Maybe you should go for now. It’s not fun when she’s angry.” Wendy gulped loudly and looked to the direction Irene was secretly pointing at, only to be met with an angry looking Jennie staring right back at her. This definitely wasn’t going to be any fun.
 

Wendy slowly heads over to Jennie. “Ahaha… Hey Jennie.” She has to tread carefully, as she knows full well Jennie’s cold side. “Oh, so now you decide to show up?” her voice filled with venom. Wendy was about to open and say something, but stops when Jennie raises a finger in front of her face. “I don’t want to hear it. I’ve been waiting here for about 20 minutes. Then what, I find you laughing with Irene?” 

Wendy was slightly confused as to why Jennie would be angry about her laughing with Irene, but maybe it’s because she’s Jennie’s manager and she promised not to be late again. Wendy casts her eyes downwards and sighs, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to keep you waiting.” Jennie notices the visible shift in Wendy’s mood, and immediately regrets what she said, she didn’t mean to be that angry about it, but seeing Wendy with Irene looking all lovestruck made her feel things she didn’t like. She couldn’t tell what it was, but she had a feeling it was nothing good. 

“Look, it’s fine. Let’s just go meet some people.” Jennie stated. Wendy nodded, still feeling a little down. They walked around and talked to a lot of the amazing artists and producers. Jennie introduced Wendy to her colleagues and those who help her with work. Wendy was amazed by the amount of people it took to work on projects as big as Jennie’s. That’s why they always end up being major hits, garnering Jennie all the success she has. And the thought of her now being one of these people just made her nervous and excited. Can she handle such a responsibility? Her mind screamed. 

She immediately shoved that thought away when she heard footsteps behind her. “Oi, Wendy!” Wendy turned around only to be met with an overly hyper jisoo, a grumpy Joy, and a bob of blond hair being dragged by Jisoo. Poor girl. “Oh, hey Rose,” Jennie suddenly piped from beside her. Blond hair turned to face all of them, and Wendy immediately recognized the girl. The girl also seemed to recognize her as the both of them ended up pointing at each other like that one spiderman meme. “You?!” they both said simultaneously, confusing everyone around. “You know Rosie?” Wendy did in fact know ‘Rosie’, or as she knows her, Chaeyoung. She had a bone to pick with her after ditching her in the parking lot that day. Rose, sensing the danger emanating from Wendy, decided it best to leave the scene. “Well, see you around guys!” she immediately announced in her crisp Australian accent, and turned to walk away quickly. “Oh no you don’t!” Wendy exclaimed behind her, causing her to walk away faster with an angry Wendy on her tail. The group was left confused and slightly embarrassed at the scene taking place in front of them. Wendy and Chaeyoung speed walking behind each other, with Wendy’s fists up in the air and the latter laughing nervously while waving. 

After a few moments, Joy and Jisoo sprung into action, each of them grabbing the two and pulling them farther from the crowd that seemed to be noticing their strange behavior. “Why are you chasing me?” Chaeyoung whined,

“Because you left me behind, you dofus!”

“Yeah, but that’s because you left me behind first!”

“No, I didn’t!”

“Yes, you did! You left and never came back! What if you had been kidnapped or killed?”

“So, if I was kidnapped or killed, you’d just drive away? Without even calling for help or anything?”

Rose scratched her neck and smiled sheepishly, “Well, I wouldn’t want to be next, so of course I’d drive away.” 

Thank God, Joy had a tight grip on Wendy or else she would have pounced on the girl at that moment. “Okay okay, what’s happening here?” Jennie interfered, the two suddenly turned to her. Wendy paled slightly and Rose looked up, avoiding eye contact with Jennie. It was like a teacher who asked the class to answer a question, only to have no one look at her to avoid answering. Wendy wasn’t ready to tell people about her fear of driving because that would open a whole can of worms that she really didn’t want to worry about right now, and Rose couldn’t say anything since it wasn’t her place. Jennie looked between the two suspiciously, something was up. But before she can interrogate them about anything, Irene approached the group and smiled sweetly at Jennie before getting into a conversation with her, distracting her. 

Wendy and Rose quickly look at each other and nod, they both pull themselves away from their captors and walk away. Rose then quickly grabs Wendy’s arm and pulls her towards the buffet that had just been opened. The two rushed to stand in line and grabbed their plates excitedly, the food looked heavenly and Wendy’s sure it tastes as such too. As they fill their plates with food, the two naturally fall into small talk, “Guess you haven’t told her about that whole thing huh?”

“No, not really.”

“But, you’re her manager. She has to know one way or another right?”

Wendy nodded, “One day, but not yet.”

“How did you explain it to her when I left then?”

“I just kinda told her that my driver’s license is fake and illegal, since I wanted the job.”

Rose facepalmed, “Are you serious?”

Wendy shook her head in approval innocently, prompting Rose to sigh. The two fall into another silence as they get to the pasta section. Rose’s eyes lit up, as they had been doing through every section they passed. “So, like, what should I call you? Rose or Chaeyoung?”

“You can call me whatever you like. Chaeyoung is my real name, while Rose is my stage name.”

“I like your real name better.” Wendy stated and Rose smiled. 

“And you?” 

Wendy looked at her questioningly. “You actually expect me to believe that your real name is Wendy?” Rose smirked. Busted, Wendy thought, “It’s actually Seungwan.” She whispered to Rose, who snorted at the name. Wendy looked at Rose with fake hurt, but that was expected. She knows that her name is often for boys, but she didn’t really care about that. 

“What an interesting name. Definitely suits an interesting person, Ms. Seungwan.”

Okay, now it was just annoying, “Just use Wendy. For my sake.” Rose laughed at her remark and put up a thumbs up. “Aye aye captain!” she saluted. They both finally finished filling up their plates, which were filled to the brim with all sorts of foods, garnering weird looks from the people around them, then headed to sit at a table. The two quickly dug into their food, both laughing at the funny facial expressions they each make whenever they taste something new. 

Wendy still wanted to kill the girl deep down, but she definitely enjoyed her company. Guess that’s a new friend added to her ever-increasing list. Damn, past Wendy would definitely be put to shame at Wendy's social skills. Well, not really, she just felt like she was attracting all the strange and weird people, but who cares, they were fun regardless.