The sun is already high up in the skies when Wendy wakes up the morning after, considerably hung over and with a pounding headache that makes her want to maybe off her head. Probably. Kinda. Whatever. Her head just hurts like a .

Frustrated, she rolls over the bed and buries her face against the pillows when the sun’s rays hit her skin. It isn’t until a few moments later when it registers in her mind that the pillows and the sheets around her don’t smell like the ones in her own bedroom.

She scrambles to sit upright on the bed, but it proves to be a dumb decision because her vision starts spinning and the throbbing in her temples and behind her eyes significantly worsens.

Groaning in pain, she lets her body fall face first on the bed again, trying her hardest to push back the contents of her stomach that threatens to rise up .

It's then that she hears the familiar peals of laughter of one Kim Jennie. Slowly rolling over the mattress, she carefully opens her eyes to see that the other girl is indeed inside the room with her.

Jennie is standing by the door, her arms crossed over her chest as she leans against the doorjamb while laughing amusedly at Wendy's suffering.

Wendy tries to shoot her a glare, but her head is being a at the moment so she probably looks more like she's squinting at the other girl.

Grunting in irritation, Wendy just closes her eyes and puts an arm over them which makes Jennie cluck her tongue at her.

"You're such a baby, Son. There's aspirin and a glass of water at the nightstand. Take those and head to the kitchen when you can. I prepared breakfast."

At this, Wendy hears some shuffling before the door gets closed very gently. A small smile makes its way to her lips as she sits up on the bed slowly. As Jennie said, there are two pieces of aspirin and a tall glass of cold water on the nightstand.

Internally celebrating, Wendy makes a grab for the items and quickly pops them in , washing them down with the cool water that instantly soothes her parched throat.

Sighing in satisfaction, she lies down again and waits for the medicine to take effect.

Breakfast sounds really appealing right now.

**********

Jennie was sitting at the dining table having coffee when Wendy entered the dining area. The other girl's too focused on her phone to notice her so she uses this time to take in the sight of her.

The first thing Wendy notices is how Jennie's hair is not in a ponytail or a bun. It cascades freely down her back, with some parts falling down her front in a smooth curtain. This hairstyle makes her look . . . Softer, for the lack of a better word, and Wendy finds herself a bit awestruck at her beauty.

Don't get her wrong. The other girl has always been beautiful, but with her hair let down like this, and with no traces of any makeup on her face, Jennie looks almost immaculate that Wendy kinda has to do a double take.

Partner that look with a shirt that's maybe two sizes too big on her, and boyshorts that's almost completely dwarfed by the shirt, and Kim Jennie looks way too pretty and snuggly and soft for her own good that Wendy actually feels the want to cuddle her.

Feeling herself instantly flush at her thoughts, Wendy feigns a cough to get the other girl's attention. Jennie immediately looks up from her phone and flashes her a huge grin that sends the butterflies in her stomach into a frenzy.

"I didn't know what you'd like for breakfast being hungover like that, so I got a couple of stuff," Jennie says as she points towards the other end of the table where an array of food is served.

Wendy mumbles a small 'thanks' as she takes a seat and immediately tucks into the warm bowl of chicken noodle soup. It tastes good and warms her stomach nicely, so she takes her time to savor it with some toasted bread and a little jam.

There's also a plate of English breakfast and some waffles, but the scent of meat and the sweetness of the syrup make her stomach roil in protest so she opts out of those.

She was so occupied with enjoying her meal that she didn't notice Jennie's stare until after she's done. Flushing at the other girl's intent gaze, Wendy fakes a cough and averts her gaze as she reaches for the cup of hot tea and tries to focus on that instead.

There's an amused huff of breath from Jennie's direction that has Wendy flushing even more, so she does her best to hide her face behind the cup she's sipping from.

"Once you're done with that, go back to my room and take a shower. It helps with the hangover. I prepared some clothes for you to change into there. I'll do the dishes after I make some important phone calls. Shout if you need me for something, yeah?"

After saying this, Jennie gets up from her seat and heads to the living area, leaving Wendy with no choice but to dumbly nod her head in agreement. She takes her time with her tea, too busy trying to collect her thoughts and remembering the events of the previous night.

But her head begins throbbing again, so she saves all the thinking for later and finishes her now-warm tea in one go and stacks all the plates and utensils she used. She brings these to the sink and puts all the leftovers in the fridge as a small way to help Jennie.

She goes back to the bedroom after, heading straight for the en suite bathroom and stripping her clothes for a much needed bath and some more time to herself.

It's only then that she realizes how much she's inconvenienced Jennie for the past night up to the present, and she feels herself pout as she turns on the shower and waits for it to reach the right temperature.

She makes a mental note to apologize to the other girl later. Maybe she can treat Jennie to lunch too, seeing as it's already half past ten right now. It's the least she could do after the latter took care of her drunk the previous night.

It's with these thoughts that Wendy distractedly steps under the warm spray of the shower.

**********

Wendy feels a whole lot better after her shower, and she actually finds herself smiling as she walks into the living area where she finds Jennie sitting on the couch and channel-surfing.

“Hey!” Wendy shouts in greeting as she jumps on the other side of the couch, effectively making Jennie jump on her seat and shriek in shock.

Wendy falls on her side as she laughs her heart out, totally amused as Jennie glares at her and starts hitting her with the couch cushions. Still laughing, Wendy shouts out “I give! I give!” repeatedly until the other girl stops hitting her.

“That was so not cool,” Jennie whines as soon as Wendy recovers from her laughing spiel, the latter wiping the tears from her eyes as she sits upright again.

“Sorry,” Wendy says with a chuckle, grin so wide it makes her nose crinkle and Jennie actually feels all her irritation melt away instantly. How can anyone stay mad at someone that cute, anyway?

Letting out a loud sigh, Jennie rolls her eyes as she returns to her channel-surfing. Wendy’s grin mellows out to a soft smile as she stares at the other girl with her adorable pout.

Wendy places an arm over the couch’s backrest, resting her head against the crook of her elbow as she continues to stare at Jennie, who seems to be ignorant of her stare.

“I’m sorry. Y’know, for the inconvenience last night,” Wendy says after a while, prompting Jennie to turn her head and look at her.

The other girl’s brows furrow as she purses her lips, and Wendy could only shrug her shoulders in embarrassment as she remembers snippets of the events from the previous night once more.

Jennie rolls her eyes again, half-crawling across the couch just so she can reach Wendy and flick her on the forehead. The latter yelps, half in surprise and half in pain, as she sits upright on the couch once more to rub at the offended spot.

“There was no inconvenience, you doofus,” Jennie says as she pulls back and settles on her seat, leaning her back against the armrest and crossing her arms over her chest as she faces Wendy. “If anything, I should be the one sorry for how my mom acted when we had lunch with her.”

“I honestly didn’t mind,” Wendy says with a shrug, reaching for one of the couch cushions and hugging it close to her chest. “I like your mom. She’s nice to talk to and nice to be with. Reminds me of my own mom, before . . . Just, don’t worry about that anymore, okay?”

The slight pause mid-sentence that Wendy did has Jennie looking towards her curiously, even though the latter couldn’t see because her gaze is locked on the hem of her shirt which she’s busy picking at with her fingers.

It must have really piqued Jennie’s curiosity though, Wendy notes, as she sees the other girl’s brows furrow and her lips pursed in contemplation. Curiosity must have gotten the best of her, because the girl starts asking her without any semblance of holding back.

“What happened? Between you and your mom, I mean.”

The question catches Wendy off-guard and makes her falter for a good minute, just staring at Jennie all wide-eyed and shocked. The latter, for her part, seems to have realized how tactless her question was and rushes to remedy the situation.

“I’m sorry. That was mindless of me. You don’t have to answer if it makes you uncomfortable in any way.”

A moment of complete silence passes by between the two of them before Wendy bursts into a fit of soft chuckles as she, too, leans against the other armrest of the couch and regards Jennie with a pensive look that has the latter squirming on her seat.

“What?” Jennie asks, half in frustration and half in embarrassment as she averts her gaze when she feels her cheeks warm.

“Nothing, nothing,” Wendy answers softly with a slight shake of the head.

Jennie turns to look at her again, all worried and confused. Wendy wants to reassure her, to tell her that everything’s alright, but she momentarily gets brought back to the past as the eerie feelings of loneliness and nostalgia get a grip of her mind and heart.

When Wendy manages to shake herself from her memories, she meets Jennie’s gaze momentarily for reassurance before closing her eyes. It’s a lame attempt at trying to calm her raging thoughts, but it works nonetheless so she’s still a bit grateful.

“I’m sorry. But, can we talk about that some other time?”

Wendy knows how desperate the tone of her voice is, and how the same desperation may be mirrored in her gaze. She knows it may leave no room for Jennie to disagree, but she’s not ready to talk about that yet even if she wants to.

Jennie, for her part, seems to have understood. So, albeit the worry Wendy can see in her gaze, she just rolls her eyes in feigned annoyance as she mutters a disdained ‘fine’ that has the latter smiling gratefully at her.

Jennie hands over the remote to Wendy when the latter asks for it, and she spends the next few minutes watching her surf through channels until she finds a movie she actually wants to watch.

The whole time, Wendy’s mind was preoccupied with thoughts about Joy, Seulgi, Jennie, and her relationship with the three girls. How she became close to them at different points in her life, and how they had their own individual impact on her and how she is as a person now.

Seulgi was the one there for her for the longest time. Whenever she found herself hurting because of Joy, it was Seulgi picking up the pieces of her heart and patiently gluing it back together as if her life depended on it.

With Seulgi, Wendy felt safe. It was as if no matter what bull life threw her way, no matter how difficult or painful, she could get back on her feet just fine.

That might not have been the case for a while, seeing as she was almost an emotional trainwreck when the girl had to depart. But she thankfully didn’t have to stay that way for long.

She must have lost Seulgi to differences in time zones and distance for now, but she has Jennie to be there for her whenever she needs. If Seulgi is her safe space, then Jennie is her comfort. Because despite all the stupidity she’s shown, Jennie stuck by her side and patiently – or not so patiently, in some cases – set her back on the right track.

Isn’t she being a little too selfish, though? What do those two even see in her that they’re willing to stick by her despite everything? Isn’t she undeserving of their care?

But as she watches Jennie laughing happily – adorably – at whatever it is she’s watching, Wendy can’t seem to bring herself to continue questioning how things are or came to be.

**********

“You sure did take your time getting here.”

Wendy resists the urge to let out a groan at the accusatory tone that Jennie used as the girl got into the passenger seat of her car. It’s not like she’s late late, given that they agreed on her picking Jennie up at eight in the morning and it’s only five minutes past.

“Hello? Jen?” Wendy asks sleepily as she presses her phone against her ear. It’s been almost a week since the night she drunk her off and Jennie had to take care of her.

Turning towards the clock on her nightstand, she squints her eyes to look at the time and feels her brows furrow when she sees that it’s already half past one in the morning.

“Set your alarm to seven o’clock. I know you take at least half an hour to get ready. That way you can come pick me up at eight in the morning on the dot.”

“Huh? Pick you up? Are we going somewhere?”

“Are we going somewhere??? Yes, you dumdum! We’re going to Busan.”

Wendy’s brain lags for a moment, so she doesn’t say anything for a while until what Jennie said finally registers in her mind. Sitting up immediately on the bed, she quickly pinches her arm to see if she’s not dreaming.

Yelping in pain, and confirming that she is, in fact, awake, she focuses back on the conversation and the girl on the other line.

“Wha? Why?? I mean, why are we going to Busan? Is there some kind of business you need to take care of there? Like–”

“You’re moving on, right? So we’re going to Busan. Since you’re a dumdum who makes a habit of making her life revolve around someone else, I’m taking you there to show you that there’s more to life than her.”

There’s a finality in Jennie’s words, so Wendy is left with no choice but to agree. Bidding the other girl goodbye, she plops back down on the bed and sets her alarm to six thirty.

Spending a day far away from here, in the company of a person she really likes, and without having to think about Joy for the whole day sounds like a good idea.

Sighing, she closes her eyes and tries to not think about Jennie’s words that much as she waits for sleep to reclaim her.

It’s not like Wendy wanted to be late. But she had to make a stop by Eunji’s place to leave Muji – her pet hamster – in her friend’s care. It wasn’t her fault that Jennie called her very late the previous night and demanded for this outing.

They’ll be gone the whole day, and her baby needs to be taken care of! Joy wasn’t home for the weekend, and Eunji was the only person she trusted to look after her precious little bean.

“Sorry, I had to leave Muji with Eunji, and there was a little traffic on the way there. But I wasn’t late that much!”

Jennie grumbles out a quiet ‘fine’ but otherwise doesn’t say anything as she buckles her seatbelt. Wendy feels herself pout lamely as she pulls the car away from the parking lot and onto the main road.

“I said I was sorry,” Wendy attempts again in a small voice a few moments later.

They’re travelling smoothly on the highway now, Wendy focused on the road ahead, yet stealing glances at the girl sitting shotgun from time to time. She hears Jennie let out a deep sigh, and can even see from the corner of her vision the other girl crossing her arms over her chest.

Not wanting to upset her companion even more, Wendy opts to stop talking and just turns her whole focus on the road as she drives. Still, she couldn’t stop herself from pouting. Even though she acted like she was reluctant to go on this trip, she was actually excited about today.

She knew they were out to have fun, but they haven’t had the best start to their day so far and she’s feeling a little disheartened. She was about to apologize again when Jennie sticks something in that effectively silences her.

It’s sweet, and suspiciously tastes like watermelon. Looking down, Wendy almost chuckles out loud when she sees the handle of a lollipop sticking out of .

Stealing a quick glance at her passenger, Wendy’s lips curl into a huge smile when she sees Jennie on her own lollipop.

The other girl might still be a bit pissed at her right now, but Wendy knows that it wouldn’t take long before they’re back to their usual routine of bickering and teasing each other.

**********

“Oh my God turn up the volume! I freaking love this song!”

As soon as Wendy shouts that, Jennie fiddles with the buttons on the dashboard and Taylor Swift's voice blasts through the stereo as the two of them enthusiastically sing – more like scream their lungs out – along.

The both of them are all smiles as they shout along to the lyrics of Sparks Fly, with Jennie even dancing along in her seat. Wendy would steal glances at her from time to time, making her smile even more.

Wendy couldn’t help but think, as she watches the other girl sway her arms and bob her head to the beat, smile so huge and eyes twinkling in mirth, how much the song fits Jennie at that very moment.

She puts a hand over her chest, right atop where her heart lies beating, as Jennie continues to merrily sing and dance along to the beat.

‘Cause I see sparks fly, whenever you smile~

**********

“There are turtles, Seungwan! Turtles! Come take pictures of me with them!”

Before Wendy can say anything, Jennie grabs her tightly by the wrist and pulls – maybe even drags – her towards the tanks that house the sea turtles that the other girl surprisingly seems to be fond of.

They’re in Busan right now, at the Sea Life Aquarium that Jennie demanded they go to first as soon as they crossed the province borders about half an hour ago.

Really, it’s just been half an hour of Wendy taking pictures of different sea critters inside humongous tanks, and letting herself get dragged to wherever Jennie wanted. But it’s not like she’s not having fun, so she doesn’t mind it in the slightest.

Their running skids to a stop when they reach the tanks of said turtles. Jennie hurriedly lets go of her wrist to pose in front of the giant tanks, where turtles of different species and sizes can be seen swimming behind her.

Wendy rolls her eyes playfully, but brings the camera – that’s hanging by her chest – to her face so she can take a photo. Jennie squats down Asian style, closing her eyes as she brings her hands up in a peace sign before grinning toothily towards the camera’s direction.

Wendy snaps a couple of photos in that pose, before Jennie stands up to her full height again, leans against the tank lightly, pushes her hands inside the pockets of her jeans, and demands for another set of photos.

She looks . . . so beautiful, with her hair let loose down her back as she dons a pair of whitewashed jeans and a pretty loose black hoodie. For the briefest of moments, Wendy thinks how easier things would be had she fallen for this Jennie instead.

But the image of Joy smiling so softly at her quickly flashes in her mind, and she’s reminded of the harsh reality that she still hasn’t quite moved on yet. And pursuing something with Jennie right now, when she’s in the midst of forgetting Joy, wouldn’t bode well for either of them.

Because Jennie needs to be loved whole-heartedly, and Wendy couldn’t give her that just yet.

**********

It’s quite late when Wendy and Jennie return to the bustling city. They’re both tired, but satisfied with how their day went, when Wendy drops Jennie off at her place.

“Thank you for today. I had a lot of fun, so you should have had too,” Jennie says sassily as she unbuckles her seatbelt, making Wendy burst into a fit of amused chuckles.

“Yes, yes I did,” Wendy says in between her laughter as she unbuckles her own seatbelt and reaches into the backseat for the other girl’s belongings.

Jennie thanks her as she reaches for the bags, but otherwise remains on her seat when Wendy expected her to alight already. Raising an eyebrow at this, the latter tilts her head in confusion – her silent way of asking what’up?

Rolling her eyes upwards before letting out an exasperated sigh, Jennie brings her bags down for a moment to cross her arms at Wendy who’s still as confused as ever.

“I know I’ve said this before, but I’m going to say it again just in case my words couldn’t penetrate your stupidly hard skull,” Jennie starts, the insult making Wendy pucker her lips and furrow her brows in distaste.

Jennie just raises a sharp brow at her, and Wendy immediately schools her features into a reserved expression.

“Anyway. As I was saying, you’re impossibly stubborn and stupid at times so you need constant reminding. If you really want to move on, then you have got to stop letting your life revolve around her,” the way Jennie says the last word is full of so much distaste that it actually makes Wendy flinch a little.

She wants to say something, some sort of rebuttal, maybe, but Jennie has that interrupt-me-and-I’ll-mess-you-up-real-good look in her eyes. Wendy, for her part, wisely keeps her words to herself.

“The first thing you have to do is to establish a boundary between the two of you. Just so you can start distinguishing where she ends and where you begin again. Prioritize yourself for Pete’s sake.”

Jennie pauses a bit to regain some composure, because it’s obvious that she’s getting a bit heated from what she’s talking about. Wendy doesn’t exactly know how to react, seeing as one wrong move can agitate the other girl further.

But before she can even say anything, Jennie continues with her lecture, prompting her to shut up. The other girl looks considerably calmed down compared to moments ago.

“And to do that, you need to move out of your shared apartment. You need a space for yourself, Seungwan. And you’re not gonna be able to flush her from your system if you’ll see her everywhere you look.”

After that whole tirade, Jennie uncrosses her arms and leans over the console to give Wendy a quick but tight hug.

When she pulls back, she flashes Wendy a wry smile, mutters a “Thanks for today again, drive safe”, grabs her bags, and gets out of the car. All the while, Wendy remained silent, speechless.

Not long after, there’s a knock against the passenger side window. Albeit a bit confused, Wendy rolls it down and Jennie briefly peeks in from the huge gap.

“I hope you remember that the purpose of today was for you to see that life doesn’t revolve around a single person, Wendy. There’s so much more to it than you think, and the best way you can and should live yours is without her on its axis.”

With that, Jennie steps back so Wendy could roll the window back up. Sighing, she buckles her seatbelt again and restarts the car’s engine.

Glancing at the side mirror, she sees Jennie sending her off with a wave. She would’ve found it cute, heartwarming even, had she not been distracted by the girl’s words ringing inside her head.

Her own space, huh.

**********

It’s almost midnight when Wendy exhaustedly stumbles inside the apartment she shares with Joy.

Not expecting the other girl to be home, she finds herself freezing on her spot when she sees that the doorway to their balcony is open, the light from the moon spilling into the dark living room as the curtains billowed softly against the chilly night breeze.

As silently as she can, she tiptoes her way to the couch and reaches down underneath it to reach for the baseball bat they kept there in case of emergencies.

Gripping the handle hard, she then carefully makes her way towards the balcony, ready to swing at any given moment. For the second time that night, she finds herself surprised when she sees Sooyoung standing there with her back to her, arms spread wide open.

Joy had her eyes closed, her face tilted up as she let the light rainfall hit her skin. It was as if she was welcoming the light showers with open arms, and bathed in the moonlight like that, the scene looks so . . . heartbreakingly sad that Wendy is frozen for a moment.

She drops the bat, and it crashes loudly against the hardwood floor as it makes contact, making Joy turn around in surprise. Her eyes widen comically for a moment once they land on Wendy, but she recovers quickly as she averts her gaze towards the bat on the floor.

Looking up at Wendy again, she flashes a small smile that unnerves the older girl for some reason.

There’s something in her eyes that Wendy can’t quite put her finger on, but before she can think some more, she’s surprised when Joy walks back into the living room and gives her the briefest of hugs.

Wendy shivers, because the other girl’s skin was so cold it was worrying. She was about to tell her to take a warm shower when Joy pulls away from the hug and wordlessly walks back to her room.

Wendy’s left there, in the middle of the living room, utterly confused and wondering what in God’s name just happened.

**********

A/N: Hiiiiiii. So, first off, I want to apologize if this chapter took longer than intended. I got sick and didn’t have the time and energy to write until recently.

This was mostly a filler/setting up chapter that delved a little into jendy dynamics. As a reader, I value the development of the side characters and side ships as they contribute greatly to the development of the main characters and main pairing/s and the story as a whole.

I’m also the type who likes to stew in their thoughts/feelings while reading, and I think those translate over into my writing. So I’m really sorry if the pacing may be a bit slow.

I have a lot of plans for this universe (which my friend and I actually call the AM verse) and I’m excited to share all of them with you.

Anyway, I’m sorry for rambling, just got a bit too excited hehe. Stay safe y’all. And see you guys in the next update. :>