Yeri is ecstatic. She can barely keep herself from running inside her favorite bakery. Today is the day that Joy has finally acknowledge her defeat. Yeri is going to get her winnings of bread, bread, and more bread.

Joy watches her bitterly as she fills up a shopping basket with bread of every kind. She keeps her hands in her pockets and looks out the window.

Sure, she wants to see Yeri happy and all that, but she can't bear to think of the conseqeunces of her lost. It's not even about paying anymore. She can stomach that part. What she can't face is the fact that she'll never get to tell Yeri about how she feels. And even though she has no grand ideas about confessing to the younger girl, it still would have been nice if she got the chance to.

Wendy will probably understand her pain, if she ever tells her. Maybe she'll do that. Maybe she won't.

"Thanks, unnie!" Yeri hops up and down next to her as she pulls bills out of her wallet to pay for the bread. "That was a really good game."

Joy just grunts, slips her wallet inside her bag and walks ahead of the maknae. 

"Did you acknowledge defeat because you know?" Yeri asks, wants to be a smartass to rub it in her unnie's face.

"Know about what?" She asks.

"Joohyun unnie is going to ask her to make it official. Tonight!" Yeri exclaims. Joy's face falls.

"Really? Does Wendy unnie know?" She asks, voice shaking a little. Yeri doesn't even notice.

"Uhuh. Irene unnie told her."

Ouch. Now Joy feels sorry for Wendy more than she feels sorry for herself. Wendy really likes Seulgi. Well, Irene does too, but out of the two, Joy knows only Wendy would be willing to give up everything for Seulgi. Heck, she even backed off thinking that Irene can make Seulgi happy! And that Seulgi, how lucky is she? Did she save the entire world in her past life or something?

Joy shakes her head, wakes behind Yeri, hand on her chest because her wallet feels light but her heart is heavy with grief. 

Poor Wendy unnie. Poor me.

--

Fingers tapping nervously on the wooden tabletop. Eyes darting between the clock on the wall and the main door. Heart beating steady and somewhat hopeful. 

Irene takes a deep breath and smoothens out the creases on her favorite white dress. She especially wore it for the occassion. She wonders if Seulgi will like it. She hopes she will. She laughs nervously, starts to think that she's crazy. 

The doorbell rings and she looks up to see Seulgi enter the restaurant. Seulgi smiles at her from across the room and she swears the room lights up. She catches herself waving, doesn't know when her hand started to have a mind of its own now.

Soon, Seulgi's standing in front of her and she doesn't know what to do so she just watches her.

"Did you wait long, unnie? I got caught up in traffic. Sorry." Seulgi says as she pulls up a chair. 

"No, I didn't."

"You look nice in your dress." Seulgi comments. 

Irene's face breaks into a smile. She tries not to giggle at how Seulgi suddenly blinks at her from being dazzled.

"S-should we order?" Seulgi squeaks and she can't help but to let out that giggle she's been supressing.

Irene takes the menu and ordering becomes a fun affair as they take turns peeking at each other from the top of the menus instead of actually choosing food to order. They're giggling like fools that their waiter walks away looking irritated but they don't even care. 

When that was done, they talk weather, current events, and music. The topics slowly go from general to personal and Irene just lets herself come open, piece by piece. 

She talks about homesickness, how much she misses her parents, and how she worries for her dongsaeng. She talks about her struggles with expectations at work and with the general public. She's laying herself out in the open for Seulgi, ready to become vulnerable for her. She wonders if Seulgi feels the same, feels like being an open book for her to read. She hopes she does. 

She's overthinking things that she hadn't realize that she's the tablecloth until Seulgi suddenly lunges forward. At first she thinks she's going to hold her hand but she grabs the sugar bowl instead. 

Seulgi laughs awkwardly for a few seconds and then surprises her by putting her hand on top of hers, runs her thumb over her knuckles.

Irene doesn't know what pushes her to do it but her heart gets ahead of her, followed by and she spouts forth what's on her mind.

"Seulgi, can I ask you something?" She starts, heart picking apace.

"Hmm?"

"Do you... want to go steady with me?" She watches Seulgi carefully and she's thankful that she doesn't look too surprised. She just remains silent, eyes looking into hers like she's seeing her for the first time. 

"You don't have to give me your answer right away. I'll give you some time to think so don't hurry." She says, smiles at her. 

--

Wendy breathes out deeply as she steps out of the convenience store, her coat pockets full of cookies. Her breath fogs up due to the cold and she rubs her hands together to try and produce some heat.

She hurries up the street, wants nothing but to get home as fast as she can so she can eat all the cookies she just bought, thinking that maybe, just maybe, it'll help fill the void. She feels her phone vibrate in her pocket and she has to stop so she can see who's calling her.

Kang Seulgom

She swipes the screen to reject it, shoves it down her pocket. She swears when it vibrates again and she pulls it out only to have missed the call. She sighs and tries to put her phone away again when a message comes.

I've something to say to you. I'm at the playground and I'm not leaving unless you come for me. - Kang Seulgom

Wendy feels like crying, throws her hands up in frustration as she stomps her feet on the ground. She takes out one pack of cookies, opens it and furiously munches on it while she thinks things through.

She's stubborn. Seulgi knows that. But Seulgi also knows she can't ever bear to hurt her - even though she's pretty much done that already. Seulgi sure knows how to play her cards. That girl has her memorized like the back of her hand despite them being apart for 15 years and she tries not to dwell on this fact because she wants to forget her so she can keep her promise to Irene, so that at least one of them is happy. Still, she wants to know what else is left for them, for their friendship so she marches to the direction of the playground, everything else be damn for the last time. She prays that it will be the last time.

Seulgi's sitting on the swing when she arrives. She stands as soon as she sees her. She looks relieved but there's something else there, in those chocolate brown eyes of hers. Fear? Maybe. Desperation? Definitely. Again, Wendy tries not to dwell on things so she sits on the other swing, waits for Seulgi to sit as well before she starts talking.

"I'm here now. What is it that you have to tell me?" Her breath fogs up and she wishes Seulgi would hurry, not because it's cold but because she's holding in her feelings again and she feels like she would go crazy. 

She keeps her hands in her pockets, breaking a few cookies every now and then to try and relieve some tension.

"She... she asked me if I wanted to go steady with her."

Seulgi's words feel like an ice pick stabbing her right in the heart. She clears .

"I know. She told me." She says.

"I've been given some time to think about it." Wendy keeps quiet, crushes more cookies. 

"I'm still awkward and shy around her that I can't even hold her hand without feigning to grab the sugar bowl first and it confuses me. What do you think I should do?" 

She looks at her, wishes so badly that she could hear what she was thinking right now because if she could, then maybe she can help her understand.

Wendy takes a sharp in take of breath, feels as though the wind has been knocked out of her because it just ing hurts but she pushes down everything and answers.

"Well, for one she told me that you let her do most of the talking. It's good that you do but you should tell her stories too. Take the chance to be honest with her." The plastic packaging of the cookies feels slippery in her hands because she's sweating now for some weird reason.

"You have to treat her better. Try not to be what she wants you to be, but rather what she needs you to be. Tell her she's lovely. Tell her she's beautiful." She sits straighter on the swing, focuses on a patch of ground as she kicks the dirt around, determined to keep her eyes off Seulgi who's staring really hard at her now.

"She'll tell you secrets. You tell her secrets too. She'll talk about her hopes and dreams. Talk about yours too." She continues, her heart aching at the thought of what could have been if she got to Seulgi first. 

"When she says she needs you, tell her you need her too. When she says she loves you, tell her you love her too." She looks up as Seulgi stands in front of her. 

"You know me, Seungwan. I don't always see things through. Why should I do that you just said?" She looks at her with her forehead crinkling and with her eyes wet.

"Give me one reason why you shouldn't." She replies, tries to be strong as she prepares herself for the answer but it doesn't come anytime soon.

The wind blows and she tries not to shiver as she waits for Seulgi's anwer, thinks it's never coming and that this is really the end for them when Seulgi kneels in front of her, looks straight into her eyes.

"Can't you be that reason?" Seulgi says and when she does, it feels like she could have feelings for her too.

Wendy looks at her blankly, feels tears well up in her eyes. She stands up abruptly and Seulgi does the same. She wants to run away but Seulgi is in her way so she takes a step forward to try and ease her off her path but Seulgi only moves forward and the next thing she knows is that she's in her embrace and it's warm and it feels right even though everything is pretty much ed up.

They're crying in each other's arms, tears streaming down their faces as they hold onto each other. No one was talking because there aren't any words to be said even though they're both grasping in the dark for answers. 

When Wendy finally brings herself to talk, her voice is broken like every thing she has.

"I thought you regret meeting me."

"That was a lie." Seulgi says, tightens her hold on her. "I'm sorry. Please don't throw me away, Seungwan."

She looks back at her and she cries even harder.

"I don't want to."

"Then don't. Don't do it." She's pleading now. She can't lose her. She just can't.

"It's not that simple, Seulgi. You're with her now. I don't want you hurting her."

"But you're the one who's hurting." 

Wendy tries to pull away at this point but Seulgi fights her, fights her so hard. Seulgi feels her crumple against her hold and she slowly loosens her grip. Wendy's legs give way and she falls to a kneeling position at Seulgi's feet, cradles her face in her hands as she continues to cry.

How they both wished that they were 8 again. How they wished things were simple again like how Seulgi always picked being with Wendy over doing her homework. But they both know that Irene isn't homework that Seulgi can put off so when Wendy stands, she pretends to be strong, pretends to be alright.

"You don't have to worry about me, Seulgi." She wipes her tears away, smiles at Seulgi.

Seulgi wants to say that she's hurting too, that they're both hurting but she can't because she wasn't sure of anything. She doesn't want to give her hope and then end up hurting her again. 

She's selfish, this she's sure of. She doesn't want to lose Wendy, doesn't want to hurt Irene and this is what makes her the most despicable human being on earth. They're both important to her and she doesn't want them hurting. 

So what's the right thing to do here?

Wendy's convinced that it's to walk away and that is what she does. Seulgi still isn't sure and it shows in her tears. And when she comes home, she tells her mom she's going to Japan.

------------------------------

A/N: Hi everyone. Sorry for making you wait for this update. I've been busy with other things. Also, there are things that I would like to clarify but can't. At least not until the next chapter. I tried playing on the subtly but it has become too vague that some of you no longer understand what is happening. Please know that I am in a hard position since I do not want to spoil what's going to happen. And I am also trying my best in writing. I try to incorporate your comments and suggestions to the updates while keeping my own flavor to the whole thing. So please trust what I am doing and forgive me for the mistakes I make. I am only human after all. 

So, that's that. Thank you for reading! This update was inspired by song of a band called Echosmith. Just saying. Thanks again!

- Bluekimchi