"Wendy, can you meet Seulgi at the lobby? I just have to wrap up recording. Keep her company for twenty minutes tops?" 

Wendy stops packing her bag, stares at Irene to see if she's joking. She isn't.

"I thought of asking Sooyoung but you know how she is. Seulgi might get lost in the building and end up in tears. I don't want that because we're going to the movies later." Irene explains. 

"Oh. Okay." Wendy replies, replaces her bag on the chair and heads for the door. "Oh, Joohyun unnie, thank you."

"What for?"

"For trusting me." Irene nods, smiles at her and then enters the booth again. Wendy sighs, walks out the door and heads for the elevator.

She stares at her reflection through the lift doors, prepares herself for meeting Seulgi and possibly sharing her first conversation with her after the kiss. She hits her head with her own fist. Why did she agree to this? Oh, yeah, it's to show that she's being sincere about backing off and she is.

She steps off the lift, walks to the main doors to see Seulgi waiting there patiently. She punches the code in the security lock and Seulgi is able to enter.

"Seungwan, where's Irene unnie?"

"She sent me to get you. She's still caught up with work. You're gonna have to wait for a bit. Follow me." 

She turns on her heel, walks ahead of Seulgi so she doesn't have to see her but it looks like she's not going to let her. Seulgi catches up with her strides, damn her short legs, and holds her by her wrist.

"You don't have to be so cold towards me. We're still friends, aren't we?" Seulgi says. Her resolve softens and she's not sure if she can keep this up any longer. But she promised herself and Irene. No, she has to be strong. Irene's counting on her.

"Let go, Seulgi."

"No." Seulgi says, tightens her hold on her.

"I-"

"Oh! It's our favorite Hamster!" Wendy turns her attention to the newcomers, bows upon seeing that it's her seniors.

"Kyuhyun sunbaenim, Tiffany sunbaenim, and Taeyeon sunbaenim." She greets them.

"Annyeong, Wendy! Ooh. Who is this cutie?" Tiffany asks, steps in front of Seulgi. 

Wendy looks up, sees that all of them are eyeing Seulgi, especially Kyuhyun. Something awakens inside of her, a strong urge to protect Seulgi. She drags her to stand behind her so that she stands between her and her seniors.

"She's off limits, sunbae." Wendy says flatly.

"Oh. OH." Taeyeon exclaims, eyes wide in understanding. "Hi, Off Limits."

"Sorry. I wasn't checking out your girlfriend." Kyuhyun says, laughs.

"Sunbae! She's not my-"

"We can keep a secret." Tiffany says. "Cross our hearts!" She does the gesture and eye-smiles at her.

"Well, we have to go now. See you around. It was nice meeting you, Wendy's girlfriend!" Taeyeon waves as Tiffany pulls her away and Kyuhyun walks ahead of them.

"She's not mine! She's Irene unnie's!" Wendy tries to deny it but they're stubborn.

"Love wins! You look good together!" Taeyeon yells, grinning widely, and disappears from view.

Wendy sighs. She pulls Seulgi into an empty lift and presses the button for their floor. Silence settles upon them and Wendy tries her best to ignore Seulgi. She's doing a fair job until Seulgi speaks up.

"Maybe we do look good together." She mutters, points at their reflection on the elevator doors. 

Wendy stares at her, regrets doing so when she sees how serious Seulgi is. She then realizes that they're still holding hands and immediately lets go but Seulgi just takes her hand again, holds it tight.

"Let's meet tomorrow. At the playground. I won't take no for an answer, Seungwan." She says with so much determination that it catches Wendy off guard. Seulgi has never been one to make demands.

"What for?" She asks, trying to keep her face blank.

"To catch up. I just got my bestfriend back and I missed her. I miss you." She says, turns to face her, and looks her in the eye.

"Seulgi-" Wendy starts, wants to say that they shouldn't meet because it will only make things difficult for her.

"I'll be waiting for you. Tomorrow. 9PM." Seulgi doesn't let her finish. "If I still mean something to you, you'll come."

Now, that's not fair. Seulgi can't use that card! But Seulgi knows she said the right thing because there's no way Wendy won't show up now. She hopes.

The elevator doors open and she lets go of her hand just on time because Irene appears, smiles at her in greeting.

"Ready to go?" Irene asks Seulgi, who only nods. 

Wendy's eyes drop to the floor as she holds the door for Irene. She doesn't really want to see Irene kiss Seulgi on the cheek or stare at her like she's some succulent piece of carrot cake.

"I, uh, have to go back. You guys have fun." She tries to sound as cheery as possible, waves as she steps off the lift.

"Mhmm. Thanks again, Wendy." Irene says, smiles at her. 

"See you at home." She replies. 

She does her best to keep her eyes off Seulgi because she knows that she's looking at her right now with pleading eyes. But she's not going to let her crack her resolve anymore. She has no intention of giving in. 

However, Seulgi is just as stubborn as her and she's going to make sure that they'll meet tomorrow.

"I'll be waiting." Seulgi mutters loud enough for her to hear but not quite clear for Irene to comprehend.

"Did you say something, Seulgi?" Irene asks. Seulgi shakes her head at her then catches Wendy's eye just before the doors close.

--

It's 11pm on a school night and with the unnies nowhere to be seen, Yeri has decided to take this once in a life time chance to go out and buy snacks, with Joy accompanying her, of course - the older girl threatened to expose her as the culprit of the latest mishap at home, one that involved Irene's limited edition iron that she got from the home shopping network.

They're at the neighborhood convenience store, standing in the aisle of breads. Yeri's taking her time deciding which one to buy while Joy breathes down her neck, muttering things under her breath, paranoid about being out this late.

"Unnie, I can't decide." She pauses, index finger on her chin. "Ah! I know! I'll just take them all." She says and casually scoops everything in her arms.

"Yah, yah!" Joy stops her, starts putting the food packages back on the shelf. "You didn't bring enough money to pay for all this. Are you crazy?"

"Oh, I'm not going to pay for it. You are." Yeri says coolly, taking the bread that Joy replaced in the shelf back in her arms.

"Why should I? I don't owe you anything." Joy says, takes the bread away from Yeri again. She puts her hands in a wrist lock when she tries to grab the bread again.

"Yes, you do! You haven't paid me for winning the bet." Yeri exclaims.

"Who says you've won?"

"Unnie!" Yeri stomps her feet, puffs her cheeks out in annoyance. "Are you trying to wiggle out of our agreement?"

"I thought you wanted chicken." Joy says, turns Yeri away from the shelf so she won't have any thoughts of getting one past her.

"I changed my mind. I want bread." Yeri replies, sure as hell.

"Y-you can't change your mind about chicken. Chicken is our thing!" Joy complains, feeling betrayed. 

"My sunbae in school offered to take me out to a famous chicken place. I think he's giving me coupons for fried chicken so you don't have to buy it for me!" 

"He?! Who the are we talking about?" Joy is so surprised she lets go of Yeri's hands. 

Who wants to die?

"And he's not giving you coupons! He wants to go out with you!" Joy shouts, not really caring if they are in a public place.

"Jeon Jungkook sunbae. Don't swear, unnie. People might hear you." Yeri says, looks over her shoulder to check if anyone heard Joy's  cussing. "Does he really?"

"You can't! You can't eat chicken with him! You can't go out with anybody!" She's hysterical, paces back and forth on the aisle.

"Why not? Are you jealous?" Yeri wiggles her eyebrows at her, smiles playfully. Joy blushes and stammers.

"What? No, I'm not! I... I... You're seventeen! You're still a baby. You can't date anyone. Yerim? Yah! Where are you going?" 

Yeri turns on her heel and marches away from Joy in an angry fashion, forgets about buying snacks completely because she's just too upset right now. She exits the store and doesn't look back despite her unnie's constant calls.

Joy hits her forehead with the heel of her hand, runs after Yeri but hesitates and grabs two pieces of melon bread. She goes to the cashier to pay for it, muttering under her breath all the while.

Yeri's at the corner leading to their house when Joy catches up to her.

"Yah! Yah, stop." Joy is panting when she steps in front of her, blocks her way. Yeri narrows her eyes at her and crosses her arms over her chest at the same time.

"What?" 

Joy straightens up, hands Yeri one of the breads she bought. And for a moment, Yeri forgets to be mad at her as she takes the bread, holds it in both hands and smiles at her. But it goes as quickly at it came.

"Just because you gave me my favorite melon bread that doesn't mean you're forgiven." She tears the packaging ferociously, as if she's proving her point. Joy smirks because she knows Yeri won't be able to hold a grudge on her.

Yeri takes a bite of her food and moans into it. Joy starts walking and Yeri follows her.

"Thanks, Sooyoung unnie." She hears her say.

"You're welcome. And by the way, I didn't give you that to buy your forgiveness. Just so you know." Yeri looks up at her. "I bought you that because I saw how much you wanted it. And... sorry for what I said. I went too far."

"It's a good thing that you know." Yeri says in between bites.

"But I stand by what I said. You can't go out with anyone." Joy turns to her again, stops walking.

"Why?" 

"Because I don't want you to." Joy says. 

Yeri looks confused and she wanted nothing more than to explain but the words aren't coming out and they're right in front of their house now with Irene and Seulgi standing opposite of them.

"Kim Yerim! What are you doing out at this time?" Irene looks at her with wide eyes, turns to Joy. "And you Park Sooyoung! You're letting her! Inside now! Both of you!" She almost yells, points to the house.

Seulgi stands behind her awkwardly and Joy thinks it's a good idea to greet her.

"Hi, Seulgi."

"What do you mean 'Hi, Seulgi'? Call her unnie!" Irene reprimands, slaps their butts and pushes them to the front door.

Yeri smirks at her and Joy looks back at her with something akin to fear in her eyes.  Could Irene really be winning? Wendy can't possibly be yielding, right? Right? She can't lose! She just can't! Because if Wendy loses then Joy will lose too! 

She feels her knees get weak while she takes her shoes off. She avoids eye contact with Yeri and keeps her head down the whole time Irene is lecturing them. They're sent off to bed but she couldn't care less. There's no way she'll be sleeping anyway.

--

Seulgi never left Wendy's mind for the whole day. Wendy couldn't stop thinking about what she said on the elevator, about meeting her that she made a lot mistakes during dance practice. It's a miracle that Joy didn't make fun of her for it. Come to think of it, she's been brooding over some things too.

"If I still mean something to you, you'll come."

Wendy fidgets in her seat and Irene looks at her curiously from her seat in the front, next to the driver's. The four of them are on their way home after a long day of rehearsals - both Joy and Yeri are sleeping.

It's almost 10pm. She wonders if Seulgi's still waiting for her. She bites her lip in annoyance. 

Screw it.

"Oppa, can you drop me off on the side?" She asks, hates herself for not being able to resist Seulgi, for worrying about Seulgi.

Irene turns to her as their manager pulls the car over.

"What is it?" She asks.

"I have to get something from the convenience store first." She lies through her teeth, starts taking off her seatbelt.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Irene offers.

"Uh, no, unnie. I'll be fine. I kinda want to get some fresh air too, before going home." She zips her jacket up to her chin, avoids Irene's eyes so she'll feel less guilty for what she's about to do.

"Practice was harsh, wasn't it? Don't let it get to you, alright? And don't stay out too late." Irene smiles at her like the thoughtful and caring leader she is.

"Okay. Thanks, unnie." Wendy gets off the car and waits for it to disappear on the corner before she heads to the playground. 

She takes slow steps, thinking she'll be able to delay meeting Seulgi if she keeps doing that but she eventually reaches the playground. 

"Holy ." She mutters, seeing Seulgi standing by the swing set, hands in her pocket as she looks around the place, no doubt waiting for her even though she's late for more than an hour.

She hesitates and hides behind a tree, watches Seulgi for a moment, debates with herself if she should make her presence known. She takes one step forward when Seulgi speaks up.

"I knew you'd come!" Wendy freezes. "I know you're behind that tree. I saw you, Son Seungwan." She sighs and then steps out from her hiding place, almost falls to pieces at the sight of Seulgi so happy to see her.