“Do you want some Wendy-ah?” Irene turned around to offer the box of Pepero to the girl sitting behind her, only to get her breath caught up as Wendy leaned in to take a bite of the other end of the Pepero stick that Irene had between her lips rather than taking a new one.

 

Why does Wendy always have to like this?

 

It was as if the girl did it on purpose to edge her on even further.

 

“Y-Yah,” Irene quickly distanced herself away from Wendy, leaving the Pepero stick to Wendy instead as she tried to get rid of the blush that was evident on her cheeks.

 

Wendy quirked a brow curiously at Irene’s odd behavior as it wasn’t the first time that she saw the leader blush around her that week. 

 

Did something happen to their precious leader that causes her to act like this?

 

Or…could it be that Irene had harbored some feelings towards her?

 

“Nah, that couldn’t be,” Wendy muttered to herself.

 

There was no way on earth that Irene likes girls, her gaydar just couldn’t sense any gayness coming from Irene.

 

Nevertheless, Wendy continued to stare at the other girl before gesturing Irene to come closer.

 

All those blushing and stuttering around her could not just turned out to be nothing. Wendy was definitely sure that they had gone through the shyness phase after getting to know each other for more than a year.

 

She didn’t know what she wanted it to be though. Does she like Irene too that she’s hoping it to be true? What she just thought of earlier? Or was she hoping that her assumptions were not true and that she was just overthinking about it?

 

“Unnie, come here for a bit.”

 

“W-What is it?” Irene timidly complied with Wendy’s request but she still tried to keep a distance from the girl.

 

Irene didn’t expect what was coming afterwards though. The moment she sat right back at her spot earlier, Wendy leaned in and quickly pressed her lips against Irene’s.

 

And boy that surprised the hell out of her.

 

Irene froze on spot as her brain tries to process what was going on and it seems to her that her heart seemed to have skipped a beat as well.

 

Wendy slowly pulled away from her and tried to examine the leader’s expression and seeing Irene’s flushed cheeks made her heart flipped for a few times.

 

“Do you like me Irene-unnie?” she whispered, loud enough for Irene to hear and the colour of Irene’s cheeks got a shade deeper as she lightly nodded in response without even thinking any further.

 

The next sensible thing to do for most people was that one of them would be asking the other out and they would live happily ever after but Wendy just squealed and pulled Irene onto her lap, squishing her cheeks for a few times.

 

“You are so cute!”

 

Irene blinked for a few times, before letting out a soft chuckle at Wendy’s action. It’s just like Wendy to do something like this. “Yah, don’t squish my cheeks.”

 

“I can’t help it unnie,” Wendy laughed out loud and at that time, Seulgi and their maknae just had to walk into the living room.

 

“Oh? What are you doing on Wendy’s lap unnie?” Seulgi quirked a brow questioningly at the sight of Irene sitting on Wendy’s lap. She knew that the leader is a fan of skinship but Irene never sat on her lap before.

 

“A-Ah, nothing!” Irene hurriedly got off Wendy’s lap and tried to feign ignorance by offering the girls the box of pepero that she had forgotten earlier. “Do you want some?”

 

-

 

And so, the day that they had waited for finally came and Wendy, along with Joy broke down into tears right after they performed. Finally, after all those years of sacrifices and tears, they managed to perform on stage in front of the crowds that they dreamt of.

 

Wendy wasn’t the type of person to break down easily, if it wasn’t related to her family but she cried on that day. And Irene was glad that she did.

 

Wendy had always been the mood-maker and the mother of the group, and to see that she could finally let out the feelings bottled up inside her was a relief for Irene.

 

“Shh, don’t cry now,” Irene smiled as she pulled Wendy into a hug, Seulgi on the other hand busy dealing with their maknae as she tried to fight her own tears.

 

“I just, I’m so happy…”

 

Her voice slightly croaked as she said that and Irene, gently caresses Wendy’s hair in an attempt to soothe her and it worked. Wendy, who was a sobbing mess managed to calm down in her embrace.

 

Wendy felt safe in her arms.

 

And Irene liked the feeling of Wendy being in her arms.

 

-

 

Irene was a light sleeper, and when Wendy slipped under her covers she woke up almost instantly. That got the younger girl to smile sheepishly in response, seeing the doe-like eyes boring into her own with the help of the street lights outside.

 

“I’m sorry now, it’s cold.”

 

“It’s alright,” she muttered and rubbed her eyes gingerly before turning to face Wendy again, a silly smile plastered on Wendy’s face. “What’s with that smile?”

 

“Can’t I smile like this?”

 

The smile was replaced with a smirk as Wendy answered. “I suppose it’s going to make your heart beat faster.”

 

Irene could feel her cheeks heating up upon hearing Wendy’s words and she was glad that the other girl couldn’t see the colors of her cheeks at that moment.

 

“Where did that came from,” Irene quickly turned her back against Wendy and the latter just chuckled.

 

“Well, you do like me no unnie?” Wendy wrapped her arms around Irene’s waist from the back and pretended to pout.

 

“I like everyone.”

 

“Do you kiss everyone then?” Wendy whispered teasingly, her breath tickling against Irene’s ear.

 

“You kissed me first,” Irene whimpered like a little puppy in defeat as she replied. She wasn’t going to let Wendy have the last word this time. Wendy already had her ways around her so many times.

 

“You were begging to be kissed.”

 

“I was not!” she tried to defend herself as she turned to face Wendy once again and was silenced with Wendy’s lips placed on hers.

 

All of her frustrations towards the younger girl went away with just a kiss.

 

And Irene was terrified of what more Wendy could do to her once they got together.

 

That is, if they got together.

 

-TBC-

 

Sorry for the cliffhanger sentence at the end. Ohohoho.