shout out to these 3 songs that pulled me through this chapter. if it weren't for these three, i would've taken so much longer. 

locked out of heaven - bruno mars

still falling for you - ellie goulding

me without you - sam tsui

a/n at the end.

irene pours soju in both their shot glasses and downs it in one go. she raises an eyebrow in question at the untouched shot in wendy’s hands, suggesting should i drink that?. it’s an obvious no from wendy because she throws her head back and slams the glass down with a distasteful look. 

on their way home, irene asks the driver to stop by a convenience store and pulls wendy along. she lets wendy sit on the chair inside while getting them both food and drinks for the night. irene later comes with two bowls of steaming hot ramen, urging wendy to eat. although shaky from the encounter with her parents, irene manages to awe wendy with her attentiveness. after the peaceful dinner, wendy moves towards the door and hops back into the car just to notice that irene is still in the store. she waits for a few minutes and irene comes back with a plastic bottle full of soju that leads up to this predicament.

irene keeps her promise and tells everything in between the shots of soju. wendy absorbs every word coming out of irene like it’s her own and she wonders how a person could be so broken inside but still manages to shine her way, especially into her life. by the end of her story, her soft cheeks turn crimson and wendy mentally calculates the number of shots she could take before passing out. not keen on finding out, she joins in despite not being a big fan of soju. she takes the shots occasionally, in a more calculated way since someone needs to be sober by the end of the night and that wouldn’t be irene with the way she’s downing the alcohol like it’s water.

“you’re not going to say anything?”

wendy plays with the rim of her glass as she carefully processes the words in her thoughts into sentences. “thank you for telling me. i know it isn’t the easiest to let others know the secrets we keep but i’m glad you told me, irene. i’m glad you trust me enough to open up. if anyone hasn’t told you yet, i’m proud of how you’ve brought yourself along. losing someone so dear took you away but you gained yourself back all on your own. i am very proud of you.”

irene didn’t anticipate a heartfelt reply coming from wendy so she hides her sniffles but it didn’t go unnoticed by wendy’s observant eyes. “i’m glad you’re here with me.”

wendy reaches out for her small hands, offering a few pats of comfort before settling down their clasped hands on her lap. “i’m happy to be here.” because i’d do anything for you, wendy purses her lips to keep the words from pouring out. if the thought of them breaking up–despite the fake relationship–hurts her, how would she react if irene asked for it? could she even say no when that was expected of their agreement? 

as much as wendy needs to draw the line on where they stand, she doesn’t want this to end. sure they could stay as friends but would she be fine with just friends? she’s not one to fall easily let alone have feelings for someone, so she leaves irene to make it or break it but now isn’t the right time as irene tips between falling asleep and staying awake.

cute, wendy smiles to herself when irene absentmindedly rests her head at the juncture of her shoulder. being considerate as she is, she adjusts herself to make irene comfortable. with irene growing quiet as time passed by, wendy thought she had fallen asleep.

“can i stay?” irene suddenly asks, voice almost uncoordinated.

wendy raises an eyebrow. “why not? this is your place.”

“no, what i mean is….” irene yawns, nuzzling even further into wendy’s shoulder as she whispers the next words, “....can i just stay a bit longer in your life?”

tingles run up her spine at the raw confession irene just made. people say that the words coming out of a drunk person are the most genuine and come straight from the heart. though it’s not directly implying the love irene harbours for her, but irene asking for permission? to stay in her life a little longer? all while she could just stick around for as long as she wants without her approval. 

but that’s the irene before the fake girlfriend proposal. before they got to know each other better. before she gradually warms up to her. before she realises her feelings for irene are stronger than she anticipated. 

wendy opens to reply until she hears the sound of soft snores. she looks down and sees irene deep in slumber, obviously from all the alcohol she devours tonight. as much as wendy wants to lay irene down and leave, she chooses to be selfish this one time as she shifts irene to lay comfortably on her lap instead. sure in the morning she’ll wake up sore and cramp, but she savours the moment they’re in.

before fatigue catches up to her, she replies irene anyway.

“you can stay for as long as you want, irene. i wouldn’t want anyone else either.”

the pitter patter of the rain outside with the delicious smell of coffee beans brewing, wendy takes the opportunity to sink into her seat and take in the cool weather. a longing sigh leaves at the thought of earlier this morning.

her alarm went off, noise blaring through the expanse of the room. usually the sound wouldn’t irk her that much but with the dull throb in her head banging against her skull, she’d rather continue sleeping. just when she was about to ignore the alarm, another groan that wasn’t hers stopped her from falling back to sleep yet.

“wendy…..” the voice grunts,” shut your damn alarm off. it’s be