Do you remember what it was like to be 17? Of course you do. Many are still at that age but isn’t it strange? Even when you’re 17, you do not have an idea of what it's like to be 17. It’s a strange age to be at. In another year, you’ll be considered an adult but right now, everyone thinks of you as a child. The adults who had forgotten what it’s like to be 17 expect the 17 year old to think about their future and they ask these questions; What do you want to do? Who do you want to be? What kind of dreams do you have?

Nobody has a clue. A 20 year old or a 40 year old. We’re just navigating through life and hoping for the best. There aren’t many people who already have a purpose. If you think of it that way, isn’t it weird that the adults who don't know enough about life want a child to think about life? It's an unreasonable ask. But if you say that, they deflect the question. They’ll ask, ‘Surely you have a dream?’

And most of us do. Jaehyun of Class 2B wants to be an idol. Suyong of Class 3C wants to be a doctor. Chongbin of Class 1A wants to travel the world. Yeri of Class 1A however, does not have a dream. So when the class assignment is to write about, ‘Your Dream’, she wrote as she thought. It was honest but Mr. Park didn’t see it that way. He made Yeri read her essay in front of the class.


“My name is Kim Ye-Rim. Mr. Park told us to write about our dreams. Who we want to be 10 years from now. What kind of job we will do. This is a hard topic. I have never given any thought to it. Truthfully, I don’t know. I don’t think I want to know either. It’s such a bother to think about such arbitrary things. I just want to have a good time. That’s all. End.”


The class burst into laughter. Mr. Park didn’t think it was funny. Yeri didn’t either. She was being sincere in what she meant. Some of the classmates tried to high five Yeri but she just smiled back and glanced at her essay. What really was so funny about it? Why do we really need to constantly be somebody? And why do we always need a goal? Isn’t it okay to just stare at the ceiling fan sometimes? I just want to have a good time. I wasn’t lying when I said that.


“You’re so cool, Kim Yerim!”

“Well done, Yeri!”

Mr. Park interrupts the class with a stern warning before chiding Yeri.

“See me after class, Kim Yerim.”


Suddenly, the class becomes quiet. Suhyun and Nayeon, who were close friends with Yeri, shot her a sympathetic look. Mr. Park was known to be a stickler and he’ll probably give Yeri an earful after school. And he did.


“Kim Yerim. Do you think school is a place to just have fun and waste time?”

“No, sir.”

“Then why did you write that essay?”

“I’m serious about it.”

“If this is what you meant by being serious, I can see why you are failing every subject.”

“I’ve tried my best, Mr. Park.”

“No, you haven’t. You’re a smart kid, Yeri. But you never take anything seriously. You are already 17 years old. In two more years, you will have to take your CSAT. What do you think is going to happen if you fail?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“No, you’ll become a useless person. How are you going to get into a good college? How will you find a good job or have a good life?”

“I’ll worry about that myself, sir.”

Mr. Park sighs before cleaning his spectacles in an elaborate manner while thinking what to say next.

“You said you want to have a good time.”

Yeri nods.

“Then think about what I said and think about your future. Think about your dreams. Take your essay home and rewrite it. Submit it to me after the midterms.”


There it is again. The same phrase. Think about your dreams. It’s a really irresponsible sentence to use on someone, Yeri thought. If you wanted to be a musician, how would knowing calculus help? If english lessons are so important then why are even the most elite students from Seoul National University still speaking broken english? School doesn’t help, not really.


“Isn’t there at least something you want to do?” Nayeon chipped in. Suhyun follows behind them as they walk to their usual snackbar after school.

“No, not really.”

“You haven’t thought about it or couldn’t think of anything?” Suhyun follows up.

“Isn’t it the same?”

Nayeon and Suhyun looked at each other and shrugged.

“Then what’s your dream?”

“I want to be an air stewardess!” Nayeon exclaims loudly.

“You’re not nearly tall enough for that, haha!” Suhyun laughed.

“Shut up! Let’s hear about yours then.”

“I want to be a singer-songwriter. Or a music composer.” Suhyun replied.

“That’s… actually kind of cool.”

“Now I feel bad about laughing at you. Why do you want to be an air stewardess anyway?”

“I like the uniform.”

“What? That’s it?”

“Yeah. That’s it.”


Yeri walked on quietly. It was such a trivial reason. You just have to like the uniform of an airline to have a dream. If that’s the case, why is it so hard for her to have something she wants to do? When she got home, Yeri was further lambasted by her parents when they received a phone call from Mr. Park. Mr and Mrs. Kim immediately signed her up for cram school but Yeri kept playing truancy and just hung out at the arcades. When they found out about it, they started looking for private tutors instead to get her grade back on track.


The first tutor was supposedly a famous private tutor who had coached many kids to ivy league colleges. He was an adult in his 30s with thick spectacle rims and always wore a collared shirt. He was very serious and Yeri was very unserious. She just kept giving random excuses to why she couldn’t find the answers.


“What is the most commonly known form of results-based pricing, Yeri-shi.”

“The regret purchase.”

“What?”

“You know, it's like you think you want something and you buy it and then you realize you don't need it and immediately start regretting buying it.”

“I’m asking about pricing terms, not purchasing terms.”

“It’s also known as the heartbreak pricing. Cause you bought a new iPhone but it’s not different from your last one and you wasted a bunch of allowance on it.”

“Can you take things seriously, Yeri-shi?”

“I am never unserious.”

“It’s a killer question on the CSAT. If you don’t memorize it, how will you get into a good college? The answer is contingency pricing by the way.”

“Didn’t you say it’s the most commonly known term?”

“What?”

“If it’s commonly known, why would I need to study it?”


The tutor quit after 2 more lessons and cited to Yeri’s parents that she was unteachable. The next tutor didn’t fare much better. Yeri kept repeating the last two words of every sentence until the second tutor quit too. In the end, they were about to give up but the tutor handed them a name card. Yeri’s parents were skeptical because the person on the namecard is just a young college student who had just returned to the country. They decided to give her a chance anyway because she was a Stanford valedictorian.

Yeri sighed heavily. She didn’t want to go through another cycle of tutors but her parents didn’t give her a chance to rebuke. It’s all the same anyway. Some adult comes in with his or her neatly pressed shirts and freshly printed resume to show they know it all and her parents will nod in agreement. The tutor will then attempt to tell Yeri how to live her life, what she will be and who she can become. Except this time, it was different.

After school on Tuesday, Yeri sat in her room, feeling frustrated about her entire situation. She began thinking of ways to play truancy again. She hears the tutor arriving and chatting heartily with her parents. Laughter filled the living room and even though they were rooms apart, Yeri already hated her new tutor’s laugh. After a lengthy exchange, a small series of knocks intrude in Yeri’s space. She didn’t have a chance to respond but her parents opened the door to introduce her new tutor.

Yeri suddenly turned wide-eyed when she saw it was a girl that didn’t seem much older than her. She was dressed semi-formally with white button shirt and long dark blue ankle pants with black sneakers. The tutor had wavy long black hair paired with large circular rim glasses. She had a subdued beauty to her and in a sense, didn’t feel very Korean. Yeri thought she was beautiful but immediately hated her guts. This is the kind of person Yeri dislikes the most. The ‘Adult’ who has it all together. The ‘Adult’ who dresses, speaks and acts like one.


“Hi, Yeri. My name is Wendy. I’m your new tutor.”

“Hmph.”

Yeri’s parents immediately shook her shoulders and warned her to be more polite. Wendy just smiled warmly to assure them that it was okay. They left the tutor alone with their disagreeable daughter, sighing and thinking that the new tutor won’t last long either.

“So… Yeri, shall we start?”

“Are you asking me or telling me?”

Wendy thinks for a moment and Yeri looks at the tutor’s animed expression. She almost snickered at Wendy’s reaction. It was just a cheeky probe but Wendy was seriously thinking about the question.

“So?”

“I decided. I’m telling you.”

“Beep. Wrong answer. You should be asking me.”

“Nah. If I asked you, you would have said no.”

“How would you know? You didn’t ask me, the answer might be different from what you expect.”

“Okay then. Let me ask you if we shall start our study session now?”

“Nope.”

Instead of the usual sighs and reprimand from the previous tutors, Wendy smiles brightly at her and starts flipping the english textbook to page 36 instead. Yeri rolled her eyes and ignored her. Wendy starts reading out the page but Yeri just pretends to flip her face over to sleep. After the lesson ended, Wendy didn’t snitch on Yeri but instead praised Yeri for being smarter than she lets on. For the next lesson, Wendy starts reading from a novel instead. The book wasn’t exactly easy to comprehend for someone not speaking native english. Wendy starts reading an excerpt from The Elegance of the Hedgehog.

“Madame Michel has the elegance of the hedgehog: on the outside she is covered in quills, a real fortress, but my gut feeling is that on the inside, she has the same simple refinement as the hedgehog: a deceptively indolent little creature, fiercely solitary--and terrible elegant. ”

The famous quote didn’t touch Yeri. Perhaps she didn’t fully understand it either. Wendy gave her a little smile but she fidgeted a little from her sleep position.

“People aim for the stars, and they end up like goldfish in a bowl. I wonder if it wouldn't be simpler just to teach children right from the start that life is absurd.”

This sentence however, perked Yeri’s ears. Yeri still pretended to be uninterested but Wendy knew that she was hooked. She shut the book with an audible clap to signify the lesson was over and walked out. Yeri wanted to tell her to continue reading but didn’t want to look too excited so she continued her resting posture. The next day, Wendy came in and started reading a different book. Yeri felt annoyed that the story didn’t continue and finally turned around to look at Wendy. And when she did, Wendy was staring right at her as she read.

“...I rather think the world is like sand. The fundamental nature of sand is very difficult to grasp when you think of it in its stationary state. Sand not only flo-”

“I don’t care about whatever woman that is in the dunes. Tell me what happened to Renee.”

“What Renee?”

“Michel Renee! The character from the other book.”

“What book?”

“The one you were reading 3 days ago!”

“Jeez, I don’t recall the title of it. I thought you were sleeping. I didn’t think it was important enough to note it down.”

Wendy gives her a cheeky smile and Yeri becomes furious.

“Okay. I see what you are doing. You’re trying to teach me a lesson about not paying attention. You know what? It won’t work.”

“Nope, I’m just reading from books that I thought are nice.”

“Whatever.”

Wendy continues her story with Woman in the Dunes. Until the part of the story where the main character continually shovels dirt and repeats his life routine. Yeri turns back again and asks Wendy earnestly.

“See? That’s the part I don’t get.”

“Hm? Which part? The guy is being indoctrinated by his circumstances?”

“No. Life itself. It’s like the other book where a paragraph says something about aspirations and something about that ending up like a goldfish in a bowl.”

“What other book?”

Yeri pouts and Wendy smiles gently at her. She rummages through her bag for the book and hands it over to Yeri.

“The other book is named The Elegance of the Hedgehog.”

“Thank you. I guess.”

“So what about life, as you were saying.”

“I mean… life just ends up absurd anyway. Like that quote. We try to do something or be something but it always ends up far from what we expected anyway. Isn’t it better to just enjoy life as it is?”

“I think that’s true too.”

“Right? But everyone is always telling me to have a dream. Do this, do that. Be this person, be that person. What does it matter? We all end up dead one day anyway.”

“Haha, that’s a very nihilistic way of thinking. Yeri.

“But it’s not wrong, is it?”

“No but think about this. Do you know about this quote? A mortal’s life is fifty years. It is a dream compared to the age of the world.”

Yeri shakes her head.

“But if Oda Nobunaga, the general who said it, lived today. How shocked would he be? Humans live to 80 in Korea now.”

“Isn’t it the same? 50 or 80 years. It is all but a dream.”

“No, it’s not. After Emperor Sejeong invented the modern hangul, everyone can learn to read and write now. Before Ford invented cars, everyone wanted faster horses. The Internet didn’t exist until 1983. My point being, life can be short and pointless if you choose it to be. Life can also be long and exciting if you learn to love something.”

“And what if I don’t have anything I love?”

“That’s untrue, Yeri. Everyone has something they love. What about your parents? I can see that you care about them.”

“I…”

“You don’t have to like studying or getting a job or anything like that. You can learn to love what comes with it. Like going to college with friends and enjoying your student life. Or taking responsibility for your job and feeling proud of what you do.”

“I never thought about it that way. Can’t I just marry into wealth, get a sugar daddy/mummy or something.”

Wendy goes into serious thinking mode again. For some reason, Yeri liked the face of Wendy thinking so deeply about a question so superficial. No one has ever taken her seriously before. Not the tutors, not Mr. Park nor her parents. Wendy is the only one starting her time to answer her questions. Yeri unknowingly lets off a smile at the animated hamster’s expressions.

“I guess you can but you might not like it.”

“Leeching off someone and not putting in work? Who wouldn’t like that?”

“Because it’s a reward based system. You offer your physical being and companionship for money. One day, you will get old too and it doesn’t last.”

“Or I might be beautiful for a long time and amass enough wealth to retire.”

“Let’s try it then.”

“What?”

“The reward based system. I’ll reward you everytime you offer something to me.”

“Woah, okay. I’ll go take a shower now. You can get started first.”

Wendy pulls Yeri back to the chair and smacks her forehead for the joke.

“No, I meant for your time. You study properly. If you pass your midterms, I’ll buy you something you want.”

“Anything?”

“Anything that is reasonable.”

“I’ll make a hard request though.”

“It’s fine.”

“I want a signed EXO album if I pass my midterms.”

“Done!”

For the next few months, Yeri spent much of her time catching up on studies and reading books recommended by Wendy. Even though she was always last in class, she was catching up fast after having someone set a goal for her. The lessons with Wendy had also changed in its nature. Whenever Yeri performed well, Wendy would give her some snacks.

“I feel like a dog.”

“What?”

“I feel like a dog whenever you reward me for getting the right answers.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“I don’t know, probably.”

“Well, you’re the one who suggested the reward based system, right?”

“If that’s the case, then would that make you my sugar mummy?”

“Yah, don’t say such nonsense. You’re too young for my liking.”

“Would it be different if I’m much older?”

“Well, let’s wait and see then.”

Wendy patronizes Yeri with the comment and pats her head. Yeri however started to see her tutor in a different light. It felt good to be heard by someone. It felt good to have somebody caring for her and giving her guidance. It also definitely helps that Wendy is really pretty. During one of the lessons, Yeri begins to involuntarily shift her eyes to Wendy’s lips constantly. Especially when Wendy goes into deep thinking mode and does a small nibble on her pencil . The natural light of the room highlighted her profile and the shadows of her features and collarbone embolden her beauty more. Yeri felt her heart beating faster whenever Wendy moved closer to explain a problem to her. Wendy always wore a scent and it rotated between a few. Yeri’s favorite was the lavender one but she thought the sweet oak smell mixed with the lady’s sweat in the warm summer smelt strangely captivating too.

Before long, Yeri finished her midterms and she passed. In a short few months, she had moved from bottom of the class to middle average. Yeri’s parents were thrilled and paid a bonus to Wendy. Wendy smiled brightly at Yeri and patted her head gently, saying that she is proud of her. Somehow, Yeri felt nervousness at even the slightest touch of Wendy and unlike her usual self, she starts to blush and move her face away so that Wendy couldn’t tell. To celebrate her improvement, Wendy took the bonus she received and brought Yeri out for a nice meal of barbeque.

“Here’s your EXO album.”

“What? You really got it for me?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“I said it as a joke.”

“Really? Did you want something else then?”

“No, no. I love it.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“How long did you queue for this to be signed?”

“Hmmm… about 3 hours?”

“3 hours?! Oh my god, thank you!”

Yeri jumps into a hug and Wendy was surprised by the sudden affection. Yeri realized what she was doing and backed off sheepishly. Wendy just gives her a proud smile and Yeri somehow feels disappointed. Yeri wanted the tutor to feel a bit more flustered. Before she knows it, her bowl is filled to the brim with meat. Wendy had taken the liberty of cooking and cutting the meat for her.

“No one has ever taken me seriously before.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. you’re the first one, Wendy-unnie.”

“Haha, I can’t help it. I’m the kind of person who answers seriously when someone asked how I’m doing.”

“I know. So how are you doing?”

“Hmm… Frankly, I’m as lost as you. I’m just trying to figure things out.”

“Really? By how well you teach, I would have thought you were a full time tutor.”

“No, it's just a side job for now.”

“Then what do you want to do?”

“I’m thinking I might be a singer. Or a baker. Or maybe go back to the states and do a PhD.”

“That’s… quite varied.”

“Yeah, I have many interests! What about you?”

“Everyone keeps asking me if I had a dream and I don’t really know what to say to be honest.”

“Then you can be like me. Just do everything and pick the one that you like the most!”

It sounds kind of absurd but somehow it makes a lot of sense. Yeri nodded. She wanted to be just like her Wendy-unnie. She wants to be good at many things. She wants to study abroad like her, join the choir like her, be in the golf team like her and sing as well as her. She thought about the ideas but didn’t say it out loud for Wendy to hear.

“Yeri-ah, you don’t have to decide your life now. You can start over whenever you like.”

“Well, I’m just studying because of this album. So whatever.”

“That’s not a bad idea. You can study for your parents next.”

“What do you mean?”

“I know the cool thing now is individualism. Don’t live your life for your parents or societal expectations. But if you think about it this way… if you failed at your studies, your parents are the ones that feel that they failed you.”

“I…”

“You don’t have to be a straight As student but you can try. Maybe not your best but try as much as you can afford to. I think that’s good enough.”

“That doesn’t sound very encouraging.”

“Why not? You said you wanted to have a good time, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Exactly. Having a good time and studying to pass is not mutually exclusive.”

Yeri goes into a long silence, thinking of all the possibilities before speaking again.

“Would you be happy if I get straight As?”

“Hmm? I would be happy but you don’t have to study for me.”

“You said so yourself, right? I should study for my parents. If I study for them, I can also study for you.”

“Hmm.”

Wendy goes into her serious thinking mode again and Yeri giggled at the cute expression.

“Okay then. Study for me.”

“Then what about my next reward?”

“What do you want?”

“Go out on a date with me if I get all Bs.”

“What the? Don't talk about such nonsense, Yeri.”

“I’m serious.”

“I’m serious too.”

“What would it take? All As or all distinctions?”

“It would take a long time. You’re like 17 years old. I can only see you as a sister. I like my partner a bit older.”

“How much older?”

“Hmm, 23 years old? Same age as me?”

“What? Six years?! That’s way too long!”

“I guess you’ll just have to keep waiting, haha.”

“Then would you go out with me when I’m 23?”

“You brat. Don’t tease adults. What do you really want?”

“Hmph! A signed Itzy album then.”

“Done!”

Yeri’s grades improved drastically over the next 2 years. From the bottom of a barrel, she ended up becoming a straight As student. After every examination, Wendy would bring her out to celebrate at a different restaurant. The same conversation would come up but Wendy always had the same response.

“Yeri, you’re so cool! Keep waiting and doing well! You might really end up becoming a charming adult and I might fall for you.”

Yeri would blush at the sentence but also feel helpless. As they hang out more, Yeri begins to meet Wendy’s friends. One particular girl named Seulgi would hover around Wendy all the time and they seem to be the perfect couple. A sense of jealousy would take over her feelings whenever she sees them together or whenever Wendy would hang out with Seulgi over her. On one particular date, Yeri had passed her exams with flying colors again but instead of going out for celebration like the usual, Wendy went out with Seulgi for her birthday instead. Wendy apologized and promised another day but the painful thoughts stabbed away at her repeatedly even though she said that she was fine.

Yeri didn’t know what to do so she gave up. She failed all of her final year midterms instead on purpose. She had gotten 1 out of 100 for Foreign Language - English. 2 out of 100 for Mathematics. 3 out of 100 for science and 4 out of 100 for social studies. Anyone could see that she failed on purpose. When Yeri’s parents called Wendy, she immediately headed over to talk to Yeri.

“What happened, Yeri?”

“Nothing. I just didn’t feel like it anymore.”

“What? That’s so sudden. You were doing so well!”

“What’s the point?”

“The point is-”

“I know! I know! Stop saying the same things to me. I hate it! Why do you even care about me anyway? Just leave me alone. I’m just a kid who doesn’t have a dream. I just want to lay down and be done with life. What’s so wrong with that?”

“Then why were you studying so hard for the past few years?”

“Because… because.”

Yeri wanted to scream the reason but she couldn’t. It’s because you are my dream, Wendy. You’re my dream! The room turned silent and Yeri started sobbing. Wendy puts a hand over her shoulders and begins to calm Yeri down quietly.

“Yeri, didn’t you say you would study for me?”

“I did say that.”

“Then no backing out now.”

“I…”

“You can’t escape from me!”

“You’re such a ruffian.”

“No helping it. You can hate me if you want. Just graduate and be the best you can be. Study for me. Whatever hopes and dreams you have, you can think about it after.”

“I can never hate you.”

“I know, Yerms.”

“Then what about my reward?”

“What do you want?”

“I want what you originally promised.”

“Which is?”

“Anything. You promised anything as long as it is reasonable.”

“Fine. You got it.”

With no surprises, Yeri managed to clear her finals easily. In fact, she became the top 1% scorer of her batch. Yeri’s parents were over the moon but Yeri made sure to not let them come to the graduation. She only wanted Wendy to come and when they’re finally alone, she would ask for her reward. She wanted just one date with her.

On the graduation day itself, the principal handed out the certificates and Yeri sees Wendy smiling like a lone flower in a snowy field amongst the crowd. Yeri waved back at her. Her Wendy was wearing a blue sundress and small ponytail. She drew attention wherever she went and the students were staring at her. Nayeon and Suhyun who knew about Yeri’s crush kept poking fun at her and Yeri just hits them back hard whenever they made some joke about it.

“So that’s the rumored tutor.”

“She IS gorgeous.”

Yeri smirks at them.

“You want one? You can’t have her.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.”

“Oh, heads up!”

One of Nayeon’s friends from another class bumps into Wendy and falls over. The girl was unfamiliar to Yeri but she has a weird innocent puppy look to her. Wendy immediately grabs the girl and helps her out of reflex. The girl looks back like a K-Drama princess and becomes bright red at the interaction. Some of the students begin to whisper behind Yeri and she hears every word.

“Uh-oh, it's Sana.”

“Of course, it’s her.”

“I bet she bumped into that girl on purpose.”

“Sana gonna do what Sana gonna do.”

Yeri immediately steps down from the stage when the graduation ceremony is done to approach Wendy and Sana.

“Oh hey, aren’t you Nayeon’s friend?”

“Yeah, I am. I’m Yeri.”

“Nice to meet you!”

“Can’t say the same. You can go now. Wendy-unnie is here for me.”

Wendy knocks Yeri’s forehead gently, unaware of the jealousy and thought that the girl was just being rude.

“Don’t be so mean, Sana is really nice. She just offered to buy me bubble tea for saving her.”

“Wendy-unnie felt like a prince when she helped me up from my fall!”

Yeri scowled at the cheesy interaction.

“Don’t worry. You can come too. Yeri-shii.”

“Really? Wow, you’re so nice, Sana! Let me go get my bag.”

Wendy scurry off hurriedly and Sana gives Yeri a wicked smile.

“What’s with that face?”

“This my snake-dealing face, Sana-shii.”

“I’m no snake. I’m a straightforward person. Go on home and don’t come along and interrupt my date with Wendy unnie.”

“Hah! Wendy doesn’t like young brats like you.”

“How would you know that?”

“How would I not know that?”

Sana gives a long contemplative look at Yeri before revealing a playful smile.

“I see~ You might have tried and gotten rejected.”

“What?”

“I bet she said you were too young, right?”

“Shut up. You have no chance too.”

“But what’s this?”

Sana flashes her phone and Yeri could see that they had already exchanged numbers and linked up on Kakaotalk. Before Yeri could speak, Wendy had returned. Yeri didn’t say a word and just grabbed Wendy’s hand and pulled her away from Sana.

“Yeri, wait!”

“Stop telling me to wait!”

“What’s wrong?”

“We’re not going with her.”

“Why not?”

“I passed all of my exams with flying colors.”

“Ahh, you want the usual dinner celebration? I got you.”

“No. I want my reward, Wendy.”

“What reward?”

“You said I can have anything from you as long as it’s reasonable.”

“Yeah. I don’t have anything prepared though.”

Yeri finally stops and turns around to look at Wendy in her eyes. Yeri wanted to say that Wendy already has everything she wants.

“Wendy unnie, I have a dream now.”

“Oh, that’s great! what is it?”

“You’re my dream, Wendy.”

“What?”

Without a word, Yeri pushes back Wendy’s hair obscuring her cheeks and kisses her infront of everyone in the school. It felt like her heart might burst but she didn’t stop. She felt Wendy’s hand pushing back her shoulder softly but she didn’t stop. Wendy tries to stop it but Yeri pushes on harder until she hears Sana squealing excitedly behind them. Yeri finally came to her senses and all sense of embarrassment rushed to her head. She wanted to explain but couldn’t find the words so she just turned around to leave.

After a few weeks, Yeri texted Wendy and said it was a prank. Someone dared her to kiss her and Wendy chuckled at the response, saying that she expected as much. Wendy about the kiss over and over again. Yeri pretended to hate it but she secretly felt happy that Wendy kept bringing it up. Over the years, Yeri kept ‘pranking’ Wendy by asking her out on a date but Wendy always replied the same.

“Just keep waiting, Yeri. One day when you’re an adult.”

It’s been over six years now. She’s 23 now and she had hoped that her wait was over but suddenly all the mess with Seulgi and Jisoo came to light. Yeri felt like a mess. She tried to stop Seulgi from confessing. She tried to stop Jisoo from dating Wendy. She tried to expose Seulgi by calling Garam. No matter what anyone would say, no one could say that she wasn’t trying her hardest. Even if it was pathetic and petty, Yeri was trying her hardest. In the cold moonlit night. Wendy stared back at Yeri. Yeri stayed in silence over the sentence.

“I know it was you, Yeri.”

“What?”

“I know it was you who called Garam to my date with Seulgi… why?”

“Because you’re my dream, Wendy unnie. You are still my dream.”

Without saying the next sentence, Yeri started sobbing and hugged Wendy tightly, refusing to let go. After a few minutes, she finally releases her grip and moved away.

“Yeri…”

“Hah, I got you. Didn’t I? That was just a prank.”

“C’mon, Yeri.”

“Man, where is Jisoo? She sure likes to give us trouble. I’m hungry now.”

“Let’s talk about this, Yeri.”

“I’m going back to eat some cup noodles. I only brought my share, there’s none for you. Don’t follow me.”

“Yeri, stop.”

Yeri finally stops at the command. The tears from her face wouldn’t stop flowing but she couldn’t turn around to face Wendy.

“I’m serious. Don’t follow me. I’m really hungry now. I’m going to eat alone.”

“Yeri, I…”

“DON’T FOLLOW ME!”

Yeri walks silently back to the small campfire flickering away in the distance of their hotel. Wendy wanted to chase her but the small quivering back of Yeri made her feel helpless and alone.