“I need you to step down from the CEO position” Wendy blinked her eyes repeatedly, making sure that she was awake and was actually hearing him right instead of dreaming. 

“Before you start to think of ways to blame this on yourself, let me clear it all out. I believe that forcing you to take over this huge company fresh out of your graduation was a bad move on my part. I feel like I put too much pressure on you by doing this and that's why I want to send you to The States for a vacation before you start your training there,“ scratching the back of her neck, Wendy sighed and squeezed the skin if her forehead, feeling her headache coming back in full force.

“I thought I was doing well,” she muttered.

“We talked about this sweetheart. You're doing well but at the expense of your own sanity and I don't want that. I'm in no hurry to retire and you're still young. This is a long commitment and I want you to be prepared about this without ever putting yourself on line for some work that holds no value compared to your life,” His words indeed made sense. She was making it work but at what cost; putting herself last in terms of the things she should prioritise. 

“People will label me as a failure if I leave this soon,” It was silly, she was potentially putting words in his mouth that weren't even true. But she had this fear, if she hated something in her life, it was the possibility of being called a failure.

“Your appointment as a CEO wasn't made public, no one knows besides the company and I discussed this with the Board of Directors already, they agree with me and are willing to let you go for some training,” he explained, clearing off any doubts she had regarding his sudden decision.

“Can I get some time to think about this?” Wendy muttered, fidgeting with her fingers and thinking that her father would understand because she didn't want to make a decision on impulse.

“Sure,” he got up and looked at his watch. “I got a brunch date with your mom in a while,” he shared and draped his blazer over his shoulder.

She walked her father to the entrance, her mind occupied with his words. “Take care baby and get lots of rest,” he turned around and enveloped her in a bear hug ruffling her hair like she's some baby boy. She whines and he laughs before the place goes silent once he leaves.

Laying on her bed after taking her medicines, she feels sleepy but the urge to sleep is nowhere to be seen because her thoughts are consumed by words of her dad and words of Irene.

If she correlates both of their words, the choice is pretty simple because Irene doesn't want her near herself because their relationship is nothing but some physical attraction and her dad is proposing exactly that, staying away from Irene.

The immediate response in her mind is a yes but it's her heart causing problems refusing to let go of that attraction she has harboured for the older girl. It wouldn't hurt to go all in and see where it goes, at least she has a backup plan this time if something doesn't go her way.

She grabs her phone from the bedside table and texts her dad a positive response to his suggestion and then passes out because she doesn't have the energy to deal with another emotional breakdown.

(...)

Opening her eyes, Wendy remained still on her bed, hearing the shuffling of keys and the sound of door closing. She was barely holding herself together when Irene woke up, shattering her dream of waking up next to her. She clutched the sheets tightly as she heard Irene dress herself, the door to her room opened and her heart sank.

It took everything inside her body to stop her from opening her eyes the moment Irene ghosted her lips over her forehead. She contemplated and fought the urge to take her hand and ask her to consider her decision once again but then Irene's words from the previous night echoed in her ears, she had already termed their relationship as a disaster, a two way sword that was meant to stab both of them. In the end she held herself together and heard those fading footsteps until they disappeared.

She sat up in her bed and despite convincing herself that it wasn't that bad, she ended up crying. It wasn't even a breakup, they never got the chance to put any label, but it was hurting more than her college breakups. She always heard that a heartbreak is an experience that leaves a person shattered and vulnerable but it didn't feel like that during her previous relationships.

“If it wasn't meant to be—then why?” She sobbed, the pain was unbearable knowing that their feelings were mutual, only if circumstances were different. 

Everytime Irene gave in, reciprocated her actions and failed to control herself gave her a glimmer of hope that maybe there was a chance that she would be willing to take that risk. However, as fate would have it, Irene chose a different path—the right path.

She couldn't blame Irene because it was her that was being irrational. The older girl was right, a lot was on the line and despite convincing herself that she had fallen for the older girl, Irene's words rang through her ears making her doubt her feelings, thinking if she was indeed right about their attraction being limited to just sleeping with each other.

Crossing her arms, she looked at her place for the last time as her luggage was being put into the car. She didn't know when she was going to come back or if she was even going to come back here. 

The pain of rejection seeped into her heart. She was experiencing a deep sense of mourning as the car started to navigate through the busy roads of the city, shattering her dreams of sharing a future with Irene.

Something inside her snapped as her eyes fell upon the road sign indicating that the highway leading to the airport was nearing. She was leaving but it didn't mean her feelings disappeared into thin air. She had made up her mind to come back when circumstances are better for both of them.

Taking out her phone she looked through Irene's profile and found a number to the person that started all this.

She reached the airport a little late due to her impromptu meeting but she still had time to make it into her departure gate without any rush. She was surrounded by people bidding goodbye to their loves ones and here she was alone, navigating her way through the crowd.

She stood at the departure gate, her heart felt heavy with a mix of emotions running through her veins. The bustling airport around her seemed distant, blurred by the tears welling up in her eyes. She couldn't believe that it had come to this—the moment she was leaving the country, all for the person she met a couple of weeks ago.

The memories flooded back, each one a bittersweet reminder of what both of them had shared in that short time. Irene was so gentle and so caring with her rejection, because she knew that the choice wasn't an easy one for the older girl as well. Each rejection felt like a dagger piercing her heart. She had fought to hold on, desperately trying to salvage what they could have been. But she couldn't blame Irene because she made the right choice and it was the only choice they both had. The difference was that she was a coward and Irene was brave enough to take matters into her own hands.

As she boarded the plane, a mix of emotions washed over Wendy. She didn't expect a drop dead gorgeous stranger to change her life forever, make her feel things she had never felt before. There was a profound sense of loss, but there was also a glimmer of hope—a flicker of strength that whispered that leaving might be the best thing for both of them (for now), a chance to flourish and when the time comes they can find their way back to each other.

As the plane soared through the sky, Wendy made a silent promise to herself—that she'll do everything she can do to become a good heir and once she does that she'll get rid of everyone that thinks that a woman's success is always correlated to a man that has nothing to do with her. She doesn't want any other female worker in her office to be objectified just because they work better than men there.

She would come back and make sure that this time there is nothing in her way to stop her from getting her special exception back.

(...)

Wendy sat on the sofa of her apartment, her personal assistant Winter sitting right beside her was tending to the small bump formed on the back of her head due to the girl sitting in front of her enjoying snacks.

“Your seriously couldn't wait!” She snarled and crossed her arms, bitter that her entire plan went down the drain because someone decided it was a good idea to throw a pebble at the back of her head while she was letting Irene have her moment.

“She was crying!” Yeri defended herself, stuffing with more chips. “I thought you were saying something mean to her,” She shrugged and looked at her sister who looked like the most confused person in the world watching them argue.

“I wasn't even speaking—I was too busy trying to stop myself from breaking character,” She glared at her, finding it unbelievable that she had the chance to pull off a romantic confession in the rain and it got ruined.

“Uh,” Karina raised her hand, a confused smile resting on her lips. “Is someone going to tell me what is happening?”

Wendy looked up locking eyes with Irene, unable to control her smile despite trying her best to not look like a lovesick fool, the smile that a teenager has on their face when they get recognised by their crush.

“If you aren't blind then it's quite obvious that she got assaulted,” Winter summarised dryly.

“Thanks, genius. I absolutely didn't figure that out on my own,” Karina rolled her eyes, annoyed at the audacity of the girl and turned to Irene for answers.

“Umm…the heart I broke belongs to her,” Irene blurted, feeling awkward with all eyes on her. She didn't expect the night to get more crazy than it already was after Wendy's arrival. She's pretty much still in daze registering the fact that Wendy is back and has already implied she's still interested in her.

“I told you not to listen to her,” Winter scolded Wendy, pressing the ice pack harder against her skin that made the girl wince. “It was a dumb plan to begin with,” snorted Winter.

“Hey!” Yeri looked up, feeling offended. “It was a great plan. It's not my fault she's still a little wuss. She really thought she was gonna take a plane to Korea and meet my sister just like that—NOT. ON. MY. WATCH,” Yeri exclaimed and stood up, looking like those villains in animated movies ready to tell the hero about their plans on how they are going to destroy the world.

“I came up with the perfect plan to make it as romantic as possible, the cherry on cake being the rain but then she started to cry and I had to intervene,” blabbered Yeri, uttering out more nonsense.

“By intervening you mean smacking my head with pebbles when I was about to kiss her,” scoffed Wendy, an angry pout resting on her face.

Yeri looked to her side and locked eyes with Irene and chuckled nervously, “Oh.”

Wendy sighed and removed Winter's hand from her head and stood up. She locked eyes with her assistant and the latter immediat