Wendy left her house and headed straight to the coffee shop that she and Joy had previously gone to. Upon entering, she immediately spotted Joy’s bob of brunette hair along with the two baristas they befriended previously sitting at the same table. Wendy shook her head in a weak attempt to rid herself of her previous encounter with the camera. She had to focus on this now, so she walked over to take a seat and Joy was quick to welcome her with a few sour words. 

“Here comes the cause of all my problems,” she sighed when Wendy sat next to her. Lisa and Yeri both chuckled at her statement and shared a few pleasantries with Wendy before digging into the big pile of papers stacked in front of them. Wendy tried to ignore Joy’s annoying reprimands every time she took on a new document, so she tried to shift the conversation by talking to the two in front of them. “We’re super sorry. I know you guys probably have more important things to do,” Wendy apologized to the two friendly baristas as she was struggling through her share of work. “It’s fine, really. This is good practice for us since this is similar to the things we go through at law school,” Lisa answered her with a wide grin, and Yeri nodded vigorously next to her, “The only people who do come at this time are usually the ones who need a caffeine fix, and it’s not like we have anything better to do anyway.” Wendy looked at the two and gave a small smile, “Well, as a thank you, I’d like to invite you both to dinner. How does next week sound?”

The two students turn to each other and nod, “That’s fine by us,” the two answer simultaneously. “And, of course, I am naturally coming along, right?” Joy butted in, slightly agitated that she wasn’t invited as well. “Of course Joy. You’re paying too,” Wendy answered her as a matter-of-fact, causing Joy’s smile to drop as soon as it had come, and fixed Wendy with a hard glare, “Of course,” she muttered under her breath sarcastically. 

“What’s this about dinner?” A familiar voice suddenly catches everyone’s attention. Wendy turned around quickly to find a smirking Jisoo followed by a tall blond head. “What are you guys doing here?” Wendy asked, visibly confused after seeing Jisoo and Rose in this small coffee shop. Jisoo laughed at Wendy’s question, “Let’s say I got a little SOS message from a noisy little birdie.” Everyone’s eyes immediately went back to Joy, who squirmed in embarrassment under their gaze, “Stop looking at me like that! We are clearly going to need all the help we get!” Wendy casually patted Joy’s fuming head in an effort to calm her down, and nodded in approval at her reasoning, “You’re right, we are.” 

The group moved to a larger corner round table and fitted themselves in an efficient manner. Wendy sat beside Jisoo, in order to ask her questions whenever she didn’t know what to do, which was most of the time. Joy was seated between Wendy and Yeri, whom she too would ask work questions, and other non-work maybe slightly flirtatious ones, prompting Wendy to kick her in the shin whenever she did. Rose, who was completely uninterested and unamused most of the time, seemed to be greatly intrigued by Lisa, who Wendy swore in turn almost had her interest in Rose oozing out of her eyes as the two interacted. Wendy looked around and regardless of the slight distractions occurring, the work was being done and Wendy was extremely grateful to be surrounded by these amazing people who stood by her side, even for such a menial task. It felt nice to have people who appreciate you for who you are regardless. 

Silence soon overtook the group as they approached the last stretch, Wendy was trying to stay focused on the task in front of her, but other intrusive thoughts were overtaking her mind. Her mind went back to the black camera and the memories it held, what was its purpose? Why was it there? What should she do with it? But another terrible question was eating away at Wendy. Was any of this reality real? Maybe the camera served as a reminder that this was nothing but a mere illusion and her bitter reality was still awaiting her at the end of the tunnel. It was overwhelming to think about, but her mind just seemed to be spiraling endlessly into dark depths and she couldn’t control it. 

Suddenly, she felt a warm hand on her slightly shaking one, she looked to the side and her eyes met Jisoo’s concerned ones. “I can do the rest. You look a little tired,” she spoke softly, her words only reaching Wendy’s ears, who shook her head in response, “It’s okay, I can finish it. I just zoned out for a little.” While she tried to sound reassuring, Jisoo didn’t miss how her smile never reached her eyes, or how her hand continued to slightly shake as she wrote, but she decided to let it slide for now. 

5 hours and an uncountable amount of caffeine doses later, the pile was done and ready to be handed in. “I promise, I’ll invite you all to dinner next week. We honestly wouldn’t have finished anything without you guys,” Wendy started, her words slightly slurring and her eyelids growing heavy. “I’ll take you up on that,” Rose answered, her head also wobbling around with exhaustion. The rest of the group was in the same predicament, so they soon all got up and prepared to head home, with the exception of Lisa and Yeri, who were still doing their shifts. Rose and Lisa walked out seemingly in their own bubble, along with Yeri and Joy. “Who knew work could be so romantic,” Jisoo snickered at the two obvious couples-to-be with Wendy quietly chuckling at her statement. “I hope we don’t have any more days like this. It’s seriously eating away at my sanity,” Wendy added, making Jisoo laugh as they walked out. When the two were outside and about to go their separate ways, Jisoo suddenly turned to meet Wendy's eyes, “I know that Jennie tends to over-exaggerate with her reactions,” Jisoo started, “But she has a point, Wendy. You’re her manager, not Irene’s.” Wendy nodded thoughtfully at her words, “I know, and I plan to set things straight.” Jisoo gave Wendy a tired smile, “Good because I can’t keep listening to her complain about you all the time.” Wendy’s ears perked up at her statement, “What?” Jisoo smirked and quickly started jogging away before she was forced to answer any questions, not forgetting to take Rose with her and causing Wendy to sigh for the nth time that day.