Chapter 3 -  Thank You

The day was finally here, the day Bae Irene presents herself to Korea again after her scandal.

She sat nervously in the car as she fiddled with her fingers.

Joohyun-ah, you are a pro.

You will nail this.

Much to her surprise, Wendy was seated beside her today, not at her usual seat beside the driver. Irene looked out of the window as she tried to lessen her anxiety.

She suddenly felt something warm come into contact with her hand.

“Don’t catch a cold alright? Good luck on your first show, Irene-ah.”

She looked down at her hands, only to find a heat pack warmly nestled on her left palm. Wendy’s own hands held on to her other hand, rubbing it together, trying to warm the celebrity up.

Irene didn’t know why but she very much preferred the warmth on her right hand.

She blushed slightly as she thanked Wendy with a sincere smile, only to receive a smile even brighter than the sun in return.

Irene didn’t know what she was feeling, but she assumed it to be gratitude for now. She was immensely grateful to her manager, in all ways possible.

-

Throughout the ride to KBS, Wendy held onto Irene and the two felt like it was the most natural thing to do. I mean, a manager has to take care of her artiste right? Right, this is just a care a manager should have for her artiste.

Nothing more.

For the past few weeks, Wendy has been spending a lot of time with Irene. To be honest, Irene was not someone with a bad nature. She was just shaped by the cruelty of showbiz which caused her to up her defences.

Wendy could see the childish side of Irene at times when they were alone in Irene’s apartment.

The way Irene would refuse to eat chicken and playfully hit Wendy when she tried to trick her into eating.

The way Irene would pester Wendy all day to play board games with her, only to hit Wendy when she lost.

The way Irene would…

Yup.

This is totally platonic, Son Seungwan.

You only care for Irene as your artiste.

Wendy brushed the thoughts away as she held onto Irene to lead her up to the recording studio. She rubbed her thumb gently in circles to soothe the nervous brunette.

She saw Irene give her a small smile and her heart immediately palpitated.

Whoa.

Easy there.

She ignored her darned crucial organ as she pushed Irene in towards Mr. Lee gently, taking a seat at the corner, observing the entire situation.

Just like a manager would.

-

“Good afternoon Mr. Lee!”

“Wow Irene-ah, you’re early!” The older man smiled.

“Are you nervous?”

Irene could only force a smile on her face as she shook her head and responded.

“Aigoo, don’t worry I told Seulgi to take good care of you! You’ll be fine, that bear might seem dumb but she literally transforms into another person inside the radio booth!” Mr. Lee chuckles when he noticed the expression on Irene’s face.

The brunette let out a small giggle when Mr. Lee compared Seulgi to a bear, she couldn’t help but picture Seulgi with a cuddly fur coat and giant paws.

Adorable.

“Irene, did you say something?”

“I meant the BEAR was adorable!!!!”

Irene hastily tried to cover up her openly voiced out thoughts as a blush crept through her face. Ever since that day when she read that article on how Seulgi defended her from antis, her impression of the DJ has been starting to change.

For the better?

Probably yes but Bae Irene was still in extreme denial…

Mr. Lee looked at the pinkish tinged cheeks and laughed at the poor girl. He patted her on the back before passing her the script for today.

“Calm down, Irene! Anyway, here’s your script for today!” Irene immediately had her professional side up again when she received the script.

“As you would already have known, on KISS K we normally read out messages, song requests and stories our listeners send in and Seulgi would comment on it and give advice!” the brunette nodded in understanding as she listened attentively to every word Mr. Lee said.

“Your job would be to assist Seulgi and just banter along with her to make the corner more interesting, is that clear?”

Irene gave Mr. Lee a confident look before she stood up to prepare.

“Yes Mr. Lee, I’ll do my best today!”

-

The celebrity was in the middle of reading her script when the door to the room opened.

“Hi everyone!”

That voice.

All the staffs greeted Seulgi brightly as the DJ dropped her backpack in a corner before taking her script. She seemed to have not noticed the presence of Irene in a corner as she was sipping on her orange juice while reading her script intently.

The brunette wanted to approach Seulgi to thank her for standing up for her.

Hey, Bae Irene might be proud and spoiled but she definitely understood the meaning of gratitude.

The only problem was that Seulgi had her earphones plugged in and seemed to be in such a comfortable state that Irene didn’t know how to approach the said girl.

Should I yank, I mean pull, her earphones out?

“Hello Seulgi-sshi, thanks for speaking up for me.”

Yuck no. That sounded like a loser.

“Seulgi-yah…”

Wait when did you even call her Seulgi-YAH???

Are you THAT close to her Bae Joohyun?!

While Irene was deep in her thoughts, she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump in surprise.

“Yah!”

Irene didn’t mean to yell but she was caught off guard. She was a scaredy cat, it was a well known fact amongst all her fans that the slightest things could scare her.

The black haired DJ jumped back too upon hearing the sudden yelp.

“Woah, I’m sorry again I always seem to scare you Irene…” the DJ sincerely apologized, staring at Irene with her round hazel eyes.

Seulgi looked genuinely sorry and Irene couldn’t bear to berate the culprit of her rapidly beating heart.

It was because of the shock okay.

My heart is beating because I got scared by Kang Seulgi.

Yeap.

Irene mumbled a small “it’s okay” before looking up again, with eyes questioning the DJ’s reason for approaching her.

“Okay hi, so today’s your first day and it would be bora as you already should have known…not to worry though, just follow my lead and I’ll guide you along okay?” Seulgi said as she gently patted Irene’s shoulders unknowingly.

Irene only nodded.

“Prepare for show Seulgi and Irene! We’ll start in 3 minutes!”

“I guess it’s time?” Seulgi smiled.

Irene only shrugged as she got up from her seat, ready to go into the booth.

Before she could push the door open, she felt a soft paw hand pull her back.

“Good luck for the first broadcast, hope this comes in handy!”

With eyes curving up like crescent moons, Seulgi entered the booth.

Irene just stood th