Irene awoke in the middle of the night and reached for Wendy. Her hand brushed the pillow but Wendy was gone, all that was left was a Wendy-shaped dent in the bed, “Wonder where she went,” Irene thought.

Irene slowly got up, stretched, yawned and seriously debated leaving the warmth of the covers. She really didn’t want to get out of bed, but she wanted to go back to sleep with Wendy by her side, so she reluctantly slipped from under the sheets and went out searching for her.

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Fortunately for Irene, there were not a lot of places for Wendy to go inside their dorm and she quickly found her in the living room, balled up under a blanket reading a book.

“What are you doing up, Wan-ah?” Irene asked sleepily.

“Wendy was startled, “Oh gosh, you scared me. Did I wake you up?”

“No, I woke up myself and you weren’t there, come back to bed with me, it’s cold without you. Why are you up anyway?”

“Can’t sleep.” Wendy said.

“Well, I would say reading might help you sleep, but you seem really into that book, if you keep reading, you may stay up all night long.”

“You’re right, it’s one of my favorite books.” Wendy said.

Irene walked over to the couch and sat next to Irene, “Here let me see it—“

“Wait,” Wendy said, but Irene had already snatched it from her.

She kept Wendy’s place in the book, but flipped through it with her other hand, “Well, I’m not going to be able to read this am I?”

“No, not this copy, It’s been translated to English. Do you want to see if we can find a copy written in Hangul?”

“Maybe. Sometime soon, when we’re free of schedules we’ll go to a book store.”

Wendy nodded happily.

What’s the story about?” Irene asked.

“Oh, it’s about two people who fall in love when they’re young, but it doesn’t work out because of outside circumstances. They wait 52 years before they can profess their love again.” Wendy said.

“That sounds really sad…” Irene said.

“It is, Wendy’s eyebrows scrunched in thought, “ I don’t think I could let you go for that long,” she said.

“52 years without each other? There’s no way I’m going to let that happen, you’re stuck with me.”

“And you’re stuck with me,” Wendy said, she leaned in and pressed her lips to Irene’s cheek.

Irene smiled at the sweet gesture, “Anyway, that book has got you thinking deep thoughts, it’s not something to read late at night.”

Wendy laughed, “I guess you’re right, want me to come back to bed with you?”

“Yeah,” Irene smiled shyly, “If you’re having trouble sleeping, I could sing for you, but you’re the expert at that, so you may have to sing me to sleep.”

“You got it.” Wendy said, “But I may have to hum, don’t want to wake up Seulgi or Joy.

“Well, your humming is great too…”

They laughed and walked back to bed.

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“Why has she brought him along?” Wendy asked sadly.

Joy, Wendy, and Seulgi stood just inside the company building where they were meeting for practice. They watched as Irene talked to the man she’d been seeing. It wasn’t quite time to meet up and the room they booked was being used, so they all just stood there and watched the scene play out before them.

“I told you,” said Seulgi, “You don’t have all the facts right now.”

“Well, I don’t see her,” Wendy pointed to Irene, “telling me anything.”

“Stay calm, Irene is going to tell you very soon, there’s a reason she hasn’t said anything,” Seulgi replied.

“Okay, I believe you, it’s just not fun standing here watching this, I’m going up to the practice room, no matter what they’re doing I’m not waiting to see the conclusion,” Wendy said.

She turned and walked away.

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Joy and Seulgi didn’t wait either and followed Wendy to the practice room. A few minutes later, Irene joined them.

“Good of you to join us, Unnie!” Joy said.

“Sorry, I was just…I-I was just working something out.” Irene looked to Wendy, but she was too busy changing shoes.

“It’s okay, Unnie, let’s get started,” Seulgi said.

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After the grueling practice, and being called out by Joy and Seulgi for her mistakes, Wendy was ready to go home and sleep for at least 12 hours. She was cranky, she knew it, and she had messed up the choreography quite a bit. The other three were clearly better dancers than her, she wasn’t afraid to admit that. She usually took the criticism well, but today was a different story. Having seen Irene and that stranger had riled her up again. It had been a week since the café and still nothing could prepare her for that sight.

“Unnie, we’ll be outside,” Joy said. Irene nodded. Time to start her own plan.

Seulgi and Joy rushed out, leaving Irene and Wendy alone in the room.

Irene walked up to Wendy carefully, and touched her shoulder. Wendy swung around in alarm.

“Oh My God, you scared me, I thought you left with the Joy and Seulgi.”

“No, I-I want to talk to you…”

Wendy looked perplexed, “Are you here to break the news about your boyfriend?” She asked in a joking tone.

Irene was startled, “He’s not—

“He’s not what?” Wendy asked condescendingly.

“Please,” Irene said miserably, “I don’t want to fight, please don’t fight with me.”

Wendy nodded her head,  “Alright, go ahead and tell me whatever it is.”

“I want you to know that everything’s going to be clear soon,” Irene said.

“Go ahead and tell me,” Wendy said.

“I-I-I can’t say right this moment,” Irene said nervously.

Wendy stayed quiet.

“Look, I’ve made promises to you, and I’ve had to break them. I’m asking you for a little more time. Just a couple of days,” Irene was afraid of the response she might get, but pushed on with her statement, “ I-I-I still need you.”

Wendy looked away for a moment, trying to think of a reply.

“I know I’ve hurt you. I’ll explain it all. Everything. I need you on Friday night, at that coffee shop where you…saw us…please be there. I—“

“I-I need you too,” Wendy said quietly, ”You have hurt me, very deeply. And I don’t even know why. You hurt me when you went along with the company and you continue to hurt me. Now I have to meet you somewhere just to know the truth?”

“I know, I have no right to ask you baby—uh—Wendy—“

“Look…I’ll be there, okay?  No matter what, we’re all in a group. I’ll be there…and we’ll see. I don’t know how you’ll be able to explain anything to me, but I’ll listen. That’s all I can say.”

“That’s all I ask,” said Irene.

“Okay, I’m going to go first, alright?”

“Okay,” Wendy began to walk away, “—Wendy, wait, have you read anything lately?”

“No, why?” Wendy asked. That was a random question.

“Oh…well, never mind then, I’ll see you later, I have to—“

“Meet someone?” Wendy asked.

“Yeah….”