“BABE!”

Irene has to pull her phone away from her ear after hearing her girlfriend’s voice through the speaker.  “Hi, baby,” she giggles. “What’s got you all excited?”

“IT CAME!” Wendy responds in excitement. “My application results! I’m already outside your house!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Irene heads downstairs as quickly as she can. When she opens the door, her heart feels warm at the sight of her girlfriend. They share a quick kiss before the two excitedly make their way to Irene’s room. 

Once settled on Irene’s bed, Wendy opens her laptop and pulls up the college application site. The next few minutes were silent as Wendy hadn’t moved a single inch, just hovering over the button that will affect her life for the next four years. Irene didn’t say anything at first, but as the silence continued, she started to get worried.

“Wen…” Irene trails and reaches out to grab Wendy’s hand.

“Sorry,” Wendy breaks from her trance to look at her girlfriend. “It’s just…”

Although Wendy didn’t finish her sentence, Irene already knew what she was thinking.

It was the time of college application results and all that was left between the two girls was Wendy’s application to her dream school. In the days prior, they each had gotten results from their respective safety schools to which they were unsurprisingly admitted to and even Irene had managed to get into her dream school as well. Now, despite their many applications, there was actually only one college that they had both decided to apply to. This was because it was the only school that the both of them were genuinely interested in and to be quite honest, they were both very confident that they would get in with little worry. But their assumption was just too good to be true as only one of them had got in. Which leads them to now.

“I know, baby,” Irene kisses Wendy’s temple. “But let’s not worry about that just yet, okay? Let’s see the results first and then we’ll figure it out.”

Wendy nods and with a deep breath, she clicks the button to see her results, “Dear Wendy Son, Congratulations- OH MY GOD!”

Both girls squeal in happiness as they share a hug.

“I knew it! I knew you’d make it in!” Irene peppers her girlfriend with kisses as Wendy laughs in utter joy. “They would’ve been idiots to not accept my baby girl!”

As their hyperness starts to get the best of them, they eventually plop down on their backs against the bed next to each other. The atmosphere begins to settle in and so does the reality of what happens now.

“It’s far,” Wendy soon breathes out.

“I know,” Irene responds just as somberly.

“It’ll be difficult to see each other in person.”

“I know.”

“Maybe I should just stay in Korea. If I remember correctly, one of my safety schools isn’t too far from your dream school-”

“Wendy,” Irene turns to face her. “You’re going to Stanford.”

“But-”

“No buts,” she reaches up to caress Wendy’s face which she immediately melts into. “We talked about this. No matter what happens, if we got into our dream schools then that’s where we’d go. And you know damn well that if roles were reversed, you wouldn’t want me to give up Seoul University, right?”

Wendy nods knowingly.

"And I've spent too many hours hearing your cute rambles about how 'Stanford is one of the best women's soccer programs ever' to just let you give up on that opportunity because of us."

After a moment of staring into each other’s eyes as if they were having a silent conversation, Wendy kisses Irene’s palm with a small smile, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Irene replies as she looks at Wendy with so much adoration. “Long distance has nothing on us, baby.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

 

-----

 

"Do you really have to leave already?" Irene pouts as she crouches down to tug on the sleeve of her girlfriend's shirt.

"I think it's a little too late to change my flight time, babe," Wendy kisses Irene to make her stop pouting, and of course, it works.

They were currently at Wendy’s house as the girl was finishing up her packing for her flight to the United States tomorrow. The day of Wendy’s departure came by faster than what either girl would have liked, but they knew the time had to come eventually.

“You’re going to call me everyday, right?” Irene asks.

“Absolutely.” Wendy confirms.

“No matter what?”

“Babe, I have your phone number memorized by heart. So, I’ll call you from a random phone booth if I have to!”

“You are so cheesy,” Irene pecks her cheek before standing back up to head towards Wendy’s closet. She’s about to toss her girlfriend another shirt to pack, but does a double take of what she was holding, “Hey, Wen? Can I have this?”

Wendy turns around and sees that Irene was holding one of her soccer varsity shirts, “Can I see how it looks on you first?”

“You are such a ! You just want me to take off my shirt, huh?” Irene fakes disgust before tossing the shirt at Wendy’s face with a giggle.

Wendy laughs too and takes a look at the shirt herself, “Sorry, I just love teasing you, babe. And you can definitely have the shirt! It even has my name on the back. Actually, you should wear it all the time because if some disgusting dude tries to hit on you, all you gotta do is turn around to show you’re already taken by your one and only girlfriend!”

“Then, I guess I should put it on right now, right?” and Wendy nods enthusiastically in response so Irene does a small little fashion show wearing the shirt as Wendy just hoots and hollers playfully.

“I gotta say, the shirt definitely looks way better on you than it ever did on me,” Wendy admits, making Irene blush. Then, Irene decides to go and sit on Wendy’s lap to which the other girl accepts without hesitation.

Irene smirks, “Don’t you think it would look better with it off, though?”

Now, it was Wendy’s turn for her face to get hot. “And you say I’m the ,” she says before locking their lips together.

Their foreheads lean against one another as they take a break to breathe while also savoring the moment for as long as they can. Irene lifts her pinky, her voice just above a whisper, “Don’t forget our promise.”

Wendy links their pinkies together, “Never.”

 

----- College: Freshman Year  -----

 

The thing about promises is that sometimes, they can be hard to keep. It requires the holders to have trust and the determination to get through any obstacles that may threaten it. And to the harsh reality of Wendy and Irene, long distance was a much bigger obstacle than they had thought.

There once daily calls had turned weekly, before ultimately turning into every once and a while in the rare moments where both girls weren’t exhausted from the time difference and the newfound stress that came with college.

As time went on, they began to bicker about the smallest things, yet still silently longed for each other’s touch. They started to find things annoying about one another all the while missing the way that they used to be. And they had become so insecure about their relationship to the point where they found it useless to voice their unknowingly similar concerns.

They had slowly become lost in translation when all they wanted to do was make sure the other felt loved by their love. But somehow, their promise had turned to dust, slipping through the cracks of naivety and immaturity in their tightly held fist. Eventually leaving nothing left to keep them holding on.

 

----- 4 Years Later -----

 

"This cannot be happening right now!" Irene grunts in frustration as she holds her very empty bottle of lavender-scented laundry detergent.

Just moments ago, Irene was actually pretty relaxed. She had just finished taking a refreshing shower and put on a dress that she had been holding onto just for this particular day. In a few hours, her long-time best friend Seulgi was throwing a party to celebrate their college graduation.

She knew Seulgi was going to invite some of their former high school friends as well as a sort of mini-reunion, so there was a tiny part of her that wanted to dress-to-impress. So, she decided to wear a beautiful black dress.

Or, it was beautiful until her blush brush slipped from her grasp and left a noticeable mark on her dress.

Now of course, Irene could have simply swapped dresses, but her goal was to wear that particular dress and she's quite a stubborn woman.

She was going to give it a quick wash, but of course she was out of detergent and a lot more pressed on time than she had thought. Deciding not to waste any more time, she takes off her dress while in her laundry room to place it into the washer so it was ready when she got back home. She turned around and saw a pile of some of her old clothes that she was planning on donating. Without a second thought, she pulled out a pair of jeans and an old high school t-shirt, putting them on with haste.

Soon enough she was at her local department store and quickly made her way to the laundry aisle. As she approached the area where her detergent normally was, she was met with an unpleasant surprise. 

"They moved it higher?!" Irene says to herself as her eyes woefully look at her favorite detergent placed on the top shelf.

You see, Irene is… vertically challenged, but that didn't stop her from trying. She knows she probably looks like a fool on her tippy toes, right arm stretched with her finger tips grazing the bottle but she didn't care. She was not leaving without that detergent.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, another arm enters her field of vision and it grabs the bottle with ease.

Thank goodness! Irene thinks as it seems a stranger had decided to help her out. And so, she turns around to thank them.

"You are a life sav-"

Irene’s sentence cuts short as she soon locks eyes with her one and only ex-girlfriend who was smirking like an idiot.

Honestly, she shouldn't be that surprised to see her. Of course Wendy would be back at their hometown after graduating college too. But even so, she didn't think she'd run into her so soon or even at all.

"I'm a what?" Wendy asks.

"Nothing, just-," Irene holds out her hand, not falling for the woman's antics. "Thanks for grabbing the detergent for me."

"Who says I grabbed this for you?" Wendy still smirks. "You got me hooked on this stuff too, remember?"

"I do remember you being just as obnoxious as you are now," Irene counters.

"Ooo, I see you still have such a way with words too," Wendy places a hand on her heart jokingly.

"Okay, okay, enough with the teasing, can I just please have the detergent?"

"Alright, I'll stop," Wendy concedes. "I forgot how much I loved teasing you."

Suddenly, there's an unexpected pang in Irene's heart when she hears Wendy say 'loved.' A reminder of what used to be and their break-up.

"And I'll give you this only because you said please," Wendy hands over the bottle and proceeds to get another one for herself. "And because it still looks good on you."

Irene's eyebrows furrow, "What are you talking about?"

Wendy’s raises her brow with a grin as she flits her eyes down to Irene’s shirt and back up.

Irene follows the woman's line of sight and was soon horrified at the realization of what she was wearing: Wendy's varsity soccer shirt.

OUT OF ALL THE SHIRTS IN THAT PILE!?!

Irene's cheeks redden in embarrassment, "I know you won't believe me, but I did not mean to wear this. Smile all you want, but I was in a rush and-"

"In a rush? For what?"

And suddenly Irene remembered why she was at the store in the first place.

"Oh my god, I have to go!" Irene starts to move after checking the time on her phone.

"I guess you can finish that story later, then?" Wendy says from behind her.

"Believe me, we are never seeing each other again!" Irene stresses. 

"It's a small world, Bae!" 

 

—

 

"You made it!" 

"I wouldn't miss it for the world, Seul," the two best friends embrace.

"And damn," Seulgi whistles. "Are you hoping to get laid tonight or something because that dress is stunning!"

Irene can only sigh in relief at the compliment. Thankfully, she had minutes to spare after the run-in with her ex and the make-up mark was now completely gone. 

"Thanks," she says graciously. "And maybe."

The two laugh and then Irene takes a look out into the crowd, "I didn't think that there'd be so many people."

"Originally, it was supposed to be just a small group of us, but I guess word got around and more people wanted to come so I kinda turned it into a makeshift class reunion. Hence the bigger venue, this place even has a balcony! Anyways, I honestly didn't think our former classmates would want to see each other so soon."

"You're telling me," Irene says as she takes a sip of her drink as she remembers her encounter with Wendy.

The best friends continue to talk, but Seulgi was eventually waved down by some of her other friends so Irene was left to her lonesome. Irene never really had much friends in high school. She gave off a cool exterior so not many people approached her back then and she didn't really mind it as she spent most of her focus keeping up high grades. 

But don't get her wrong, she was still really grateful that she had Seulgi in her life. Even though they were both introverts, Seulgi always had the right amount of extroversion that she needed. Not to mention that Seulgi was the one who introduced her to Wendy-

Wait a minute, the cogs in Irene's brains start to turn. Surely… surely Seulgi would have told me if she had invited Wendy.

"I told you it was a small world."

Irene’s grip around her cup tightens as she hears the person's voice drip with arrogance.

Yeah, a small world that’s apparently against me.

“Are you stalking me, Son?” Irene questions. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh come on, did you seriously think I wasn’t coming? Seul practically invited all of her soccer teammates, which need I remind you, I was one of them.”

Irene eyes for Seulgi and once she finds her across the room, her eyes sharpen.

“Wait, did Seulgi really not tell you?” Wendy genuinely asks, following her ex's gaze.

As if she could feel their stares, Seulgi’s head turns and eventually her eyes widen at the sight of the ex-couple. One who looked confused while the other stared daggers.

The two watch Seulgi instantly grab her drink from the table and beeline in an opposite direction. Irene was about to go and follow her, but Wendy places a hand on Irene’s shoulder to keep her from going after their mutual friend.

“Don’t be mad at Seul. You know her, she probably forgot since she’s been busy with organizing all this.”

Irene hates the fact that Wendy made a reasonable point. Seulgi does have a clumsy yet cute tendency to forget things, especially in times when so much is going on in her mind. Irene knows her best friend must be freaking out enough already after seeing her and Wendy together.

So, Irene just sighs as she stays put. However, she soon silently leaves to find the balcony that Seulgi had talked about earlier. If she was going to stay, it was definitely not going to be next to Wendy. She makes a stop at the bar to leave her empty cup of water and grab a beer instead and eventually settles herself against the outdoor railing.

She’s only awarded a couple of peaceful swigs of her beer bottle before hearing the door to the balcony open behind her. Someone leans against the railing next to her and Irene doesn’t even have to turn her head to know who joined her.

“No one else to bother in there, hm?” Irene takes another sip.

“No one that interests me.”

Silence envelopes them. Both either not wanting to talk, not knowing what to say or hesitant to say what they’ve wanted to say after four long years. Their break-up wasn’t easy, that they could easily admit. But now it was a matter of whether or not it was something that they still needed to address or leave in the past and move on as best as they could.

“What happened to us, Irene?” Wendy breaks first, both of them still staring out into the city.

“I don’t know,” Irene fiddles with the bottle in her hand. “We were young, in love and thought the outside world couldn’t touch us.”

“Lucky us, huh? Guess we were just two more victims who fell out of love.”

When Irene hears that, she can’t help but feel a knot in her stomach. And maybe it’s because she’s a lightweight and was already a couple drinks into her beer, but she couldn’t stop the words coming out of .

“I never fell out of love with you,” she can feel Wendy’s eyes on her now, but she keeps her eyes forward. “I know it’s been years and you’ve probably moved on. I mean, I thought I did, but then I saw you earlier today and I just…,” Irene sighs. “I don’t expect you to say anything back, I just had to say it.”

Irene finally decides to look at Wendy and is met with an expression that was all too familiar, “I know that look. You’ve got something on your mind, so you might as well say it.”

“Me neither,” Wendy finally spouts out.

It was only two words, but damn they were heavy.

She’s… she’s still in love with me?

“I’M SORRY!” Seulgi bursts into the balcony. “PLEASE don’t fight! Oh my goodness, Rene, I’m sorry I forgot to tell you that Wen was coming! I know you’re my best friend, but it’s not like I couldn’t invite Wendy either when I was already inviting all of our other teammates and Wendy was my friend back then too and you know how I am,” Seul whines. “I’m too forgiving so I couldn’t just stop being friends with her after the two of you broke up-”

“Seul,” Irene cuts in. “Everything’s okay.”

“Are you sure?” Seulgi says guiltily.

‘We weren’t fighting,” Wendy adds.

“Our conversation was just ending actually,” Irene lifts herself from the railing. “And I’m sorry for giving you the death stare, Seul.”

“Okay, okay. Good to know,” Seulgi relaxes. The best friends give each other a tight hug.

“It’s getting late anyways,” Irene says as soon as they release. “I’m going to head home, the party was great.”

“Hold on,” she hears Wendy say. “You’ve been drinking.”

“It was only a bottle. I didn’t even finish it,” Irene says. “And Seul kinda scared me when she came in so it sobered me up a bit.”

“At least let me take you to your car,” Wendy offers. Irene’s about to refuse, but Seulgi insists that she accept and so she does.

They make their way to her car without a word, silence yet again taking up the space. Once Irene sits inside her car, Wendy voices concern again, “Are you sure you’re able to drive?”

Irene nods and closes her door. When her car is started, she hears Wendy tap on the window, prompting her to roll it down.

Wendy holds onto the top of the door frame. Her voice is stern, laced with curiosity, “Irene.”

Her ex didn’t say much else, but Irene knew what she was insinuating. The two had practically admitted that they still loved each other even after all the years, so of course Wendy didn’t want their conversation to end how it did and a part of Irene didn’t want it to end that way either. They were older now and surely had enough time to be more aware of themselves. Less scared to say what’s on their minds. Maybe that could mean something as their eyes remained locked.

“It’s still the same by the way,” Irene decides to say and Wendy lets go of the frame.

“What is?” 

“My phone number.”

---

A/N: Love an open ending :)

Again, huge shout out to @/RVcrack for the super cute prompt! Another twitter prompt down and I wonder if I'll ever finish my archery one..

Either way, I hope you enjoyed this little quickie and for my TT/TT(RV) readers, a new chapter is coming soon so keeps your eyes peeled ;)

- S (rv_twice5 on twitter)