“What are you two doing here?” Wendy asked in English, as she stared bewildered at her smiling parents.

“We found out what time you would arrive from your manager,” Mrs. Son said happily, “and now we’re here.”

Wendy glanced over to manager unnie who was busy with the luggage.

“The company knew of this and failed to tell us,” Wendy thought to herself, a surprise she was glad to receive but also a strange one. No matter the case, she sent a wink to her mother.

Seulgi and Joy were still in a small amount of shock, so Irene pushed them forward to greet Mr. and Mrs. Son. Seulgi went first and bowed deeply, her face parallel to the ground. When Mrs. Son saw this she quickly exited the van and moved to lift Seulgi from her bow.

Seulgi seemed surprised and it showed on her face; but Mrs. Son helped things along by smiling and opening her arms, inviting Seulgi in for a hug, “Seulgi, I’m so happy to finally meet you in person,” Mrs. Son said in Korean, “I appreciate your manners, but I prefer warm hugs.”

Seulgi smiled a smile that lit up her eyes, “Yes ma’am,” she said placing her arms around Mrs. Son, “Thank you, it’s nice to meet you too.”

After the lengthy hug with Seulgi was finished, Mrs. Son moved forward to the still bewildered Joy, “Joy, I’m so happy to see you,” she went in for another hug. Joy wanted to bow like Seulgi, but found herself in the embrace of Mrs. Son. By the end of the hug, even stone cold maknae had melted to Mrs. Son’s charms.

“I’m so glad to have you two here,” Mrs. Son said in English. And although Seulgi and Joy only caught a few words, they smiled happily.

Mr. Son got out of the car then, beaming. He began to converse with Seulgi and Joy while Mrs. Son moved over to where Irene was standing with Wendy.

-----

After more hugs, Mrs. Son spoke candidly, “I know you two had it tough recently, Irene,” Mrs. Son whispered, “But I’m proud of you for standing up for Wendy and yourself. I’m so happy you two are here again, I know the sacrifices you made for Wendy last year, and what you did is amazing.”

“Umma, I love you, I’m glad to be back, and I promised to take care of Wendy. I intend to keep that promise no matter what happens,” Irene said. She opened her arms and Mrs. Son crept in for a hug.

At this sight, Wendy got emotional but held her tears and joined them in the hug instead, “Mom, we’re so glad to be here, I’m glad to be home.”

Wendy looked up from the hug and saw Manager unnie looking in their direction. Wendy let go of Irene, not wanting to cause any more attention, a precious moment ruined only slightly by the glare from manager unnie.

“I’m glad you’re here too, sweetie, all four of you,” Wendy was knocked from her reverie as her mother spoke.

Seulgi, Joy, and Mr. Son walked over then and soon the luggage was in the back of the van.

“Mom, do you know where we’re going?” Wendy asked, they still stood outside the van.

“Of course, we’re dropping off your manager and stylists at their hotel, then the rest of us are going to our house.”

“But what about practice? Should we check out the venue first?” Irene asked.

“No worries,” manager unnie cut in, “We’ll meet you at the venue at 2:00, Mr. and Mrs. Son will bring the four of you. We’ll be staying at the venue until 7:00, and then we’re free until next Saturday.” The stylists smiled at this.

“Hopefully, the four of you will join us for a meal one evening, we’ll send you the details, even pick you up,” Mr. Son said suddenly. Wendy looked inquisitively at her father. She loved her unnies, but the time away from them was the whole point, wasn’t it?

“Sure, we’d like that,” Manager Unnie said quickly, for some reason looking directly at Irene. The stylists laughed demurely, unsually, and Wendy looked at them confused, she’d never heard them laugh like that before.

“Well ladies, and Mr. we’re packed, let’s go,” Mrs. Son said.

The ten of them piled into the van, plus one driver and got ready to leave.

“Before Wendy could sit down next to Irene, Mrs. Son called out, “I call dibs to sit next to Irene, Seugnwan,” She scurried to the seat where Irene and Wendy were going to sit. Manager Unnie stared again. Mrs. Son smiled in her direction.

“But…” Wendy tried to say, she’d wanted to sit with Irene but was interrupted by her own mother and pulled from the seat.

“You’ll have her soon enough, sweetie, besides, I need to discuss some things with Joohyun,” Mrs. Son said in English. She smiled a devious smile and looked to Irene to confirm the seating arrangement.

Irene looked to a slightly bitter Wendy and smiled, “I love you,” she mouthed in English, this phrase she knew by heart. Irene wanted to be close to Wendy again after the long plane ride, but knew Mrs. Son meant business, If she wanted to sit in Wendy’s seat, there would be no one to stop her, “I’ll be glad to sit with you, Umma,” Irene said aloud.

“Fine mom, you can have her,” and a slightly bitter Wendy moved closer to the front and plopped down next to one of their stylist unnies, who turned to Wendy with a questioning look on her face.

“We’re all in, driver,” Mrs. Son shouted, “Step on it,” and everyone laughed but Wendy.

-----

After a while of driving the crew finally made it to the Unnie’s hotel.  With a promise to meet at the venue at two, the driver helped with their luggage then got back in the van and headed to Wendy’s home.

With stylist unnie gone, Wendy was left alone in the seat to contemplate all that was happening.  Mrs. Son was still busy talking to Irene. They laughed, they chatted, and though alone she was happy that Irene was having so much fun.  Joy and Seulgi had fallen asleep like they did on most car rides. Mr. Son was sitting in the passenger seat, busy directing their driver and talking about the city as it passed them by.

Wendy was alone with her thoughts. She wondered about the company and why they’d sent three stylists when they only needed one for two for a single performance. She wondered about the looks she’d gotten from Manager unnie and the laughs the stylists had given to her father when he’d asked them all to dinner. And then she wondered why her mother insisted to sit next to Irene, what a strange morning it had been.

She thought all of this, but then decided it was no good to think that way, she switched to happier thoughts about Irene and finally being alone with her…

-----

....We're......

.........home....baby...

.....................let's go.....

“We’re home, baby, let’s go.”

Wendy was awakened by Irene who whispered lightly in her ear.

Wendy had fallen asleep, the drive taking a little longer than anticipated. Irene’s soft voice washed over her again, “Let’s get inside, the girls want a tour.” Wendy yawned and sat up to find everyone else already out of the van.

She saw a happy Seulgi and Joy laughing at her apparently hilarious mother’s jokes, “How long was I out?” Wendy asked.

“Well, it took us an hour to get here because of traffic, but it was good for you to rest. Seulgi and Joy slept too.”

“But you didn’t sleep, did you?” Wendy asked, her voice slightly mocking.

“I—don’t be mad,” Irene read between the lines.

Wendy chuckled, “I’m not mad at you for sitting with my own mother, but something weird is going on with everyone, mostly manager unnie.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“I didn’t notice,” Irene said, puzzled.

“What did you and my mother talk about?” Wendy quickly changed the subject, trying to confuse Irene.

“Oh, n-n-nothing much,” Irene stuttered.

Suddenly Wendy’s mom shouted, her voice coming closer to them, “Lovebirds, we’re going inside, you two better join us, Joy says her eyes are too innocent to look into the van.” Mrs. Son suddenly appeared at the van door, “So I said I would take a peek.” Joy giggled in the background.

“Yeah, well, Joy’s going to get it,” Wendy laughed, “Okay, okay, we’re getting out now.”

Irene and Wendy stepped out of the van into the now bright sunlight, “Glad you could join us,” Joy joked.

Irene glared.

“Okay, let’s get inside,” Mr. Son said.

Mr. Son, Mrs. Son, Seulgi, and Joy walked ahead, while Irene and Wendy lagged behind them.

Wendy stopped Irene suddenly with her hand, “I haven’t forgotten about the non-answer you just gave me about what my mother needed to tell you,” Wendy said, “We’ll talk tonight.”

Irene gulped, Wendy smirked playfully, and they made their way to the front door.

-----

After the tour and Joy’s unwanted jokes about Wendy’s bedroom, the crew settled down for a delicious lunch and had fun laughing and talking about memories.

It was nearing 12:00 and the ladies went to prepare themselves for practice. Irene and Wendy would be sharing Wendy’s room for the night and Seulgi and Joy would be sharing the guest bedroom.

Each of them took a short shower, knowing they would be taking another when they returned from their performance. All four dressed in comfortable clothes and made it downstairs at 1:00, a small miracle. Mr. Son was surprised that all four girls were ready and smiled knowing they would be on time for rehearsals.

-----

The global audition was important to Wendy and she wanted to make a good impression. They would be a part of the program where all the people auditioning and some of the public would get to see their performance. So when Mr. Son pulled up to the venue, Wendy was as nervous as ever, about to perform in front of a home crowd.

“You’re going to do so well, Wendy, don’t be nervous, okay?” Mr. Son said.

“I’m not nervous…”

“Yes you are, and so are the girls, but you‘ll be fantastic. I can’t wait to see you live instead of on a computer screen,” He said proudly.

Hearing her father say that, Wendy knew that doing her best was the only option, she smiled and grabbed her dad’s hand, “Thanks, we’ll do our very best.”

“I know you will, now go practice, your mom and I will be here tonight, okay?”

“Okay,” Wendy got out and sidled up to her group members, “Let’s all do our best and work hard tonight,” she said.

They all nodded in agreement and headed into the venue.