There were three small scratches on the knob and five larger ones on the door, or so Irene had spotted since the last three minutes spent sitting on the toilet. Irene did not have an OCD, mind you, and she definitely was not the type to count things. However, Irene had spent 129 days 21 hours and 38 minutes waiting for Wendy Shon to say what she forgot to say when they debuted. She had waited four months too long now counting felt like a hobby to her.

Irene had been waiting for so long and so many mornings had passed, yet Wendy still did not seem to have any plan to make a move or anything.

It stressed the hell out of her.

She could have sworn she knew exactly what Wendy wanted to tell her about that night.  , Irene thought to herself, she should have just made the girl say it then. (This was also a change that happened to her, cursing, because she usually did not use such a word but it's Wendy Shon, and no other word could describe Irene's frustration better but the curse ones.)

She hated this.

Irene hated second thoughts. She hated doubting herself, questioning her self-worth, like she was not actually that good. That she was not as good as she thought she was, and that there was no way she, a complete lowlife, deserved any special attention from Wendy Son. Irene hated to admit that.

How was that even possible, she wondered, for Wendy to act so nonchalant? Still wrapping her oversized sweater around Irene, still holding her hand throughout SMTown concert encores, still catching Irene's hand when she was about to fall, as though that night never happened. As if Irene had been so drunk she could not remember everything that Wendy had said and done.

Or it was probably Wendy who had been drunk. And she remembered none of those things while Irene had been utterly stupid for believing that Wendy actually felt the same kind of affection as Irene did toward her since they first met.

Every time such thoughts invaded her mind, like now, Irene wanted nothing but to be swallowed by the floor beneath her. Like, just disappeared, and who knew, maybe then Wendy would remember that she still owed Irene an explanation to that unexpected kiss.

She could not, though, because she was in the middle of a goddamn concert and she still had to be present for the encore stage in twenty minutes. Also because Wendy most probably would hold her hand throughout that encore, and in all honesty, Irene desperately wished the vocalist would.

She should, or Irene would initiated it herself.

Yeah, Irene said to herself, she should just initiated it. Even better, perhaps she would also confront –

Just as Irene began to plot her plan to extract the explanation from Wendy, Heaven seemed to hear her desperate prayer for right at that moment the door to her stall blasted open, revealing a panting Son Seungwan before her.

"What are you doing?" Irene exclaimed rather aggressively, feeling her cheek heating up from the sight before her. Wendy was panting hard, as though she had run from the farthest side of the stadium straight to the toilet, hair disheveled, her oversized t-shirt revealing too much of her collarbone, rendering Irene inept to think straight.

"I need to pee," came an innocent answer from Wendy.

"And you just have to do that in my stall because...?"

The vocalist flashed Irene a brief small – clearly still attempting a murder on Irene whenever possible – before walking up to her. Then Wendy grabbed her by the shoulder and turned her around, switching their positions so now the shorter girl was the one standing in front of the toilet.

"Other stalls are full," Wendy reasoned. "This is much more convenient than waiting in line."

Irene started panicking when she saw Wendy opening the toilet lid and ever so casually reaching for her jeans. The crazy girl – yes, she must be crazy, Irene decided – was so ready to her jeans when she seemed to notice her surroundings. Irene's presence, to be more specific, thank you very much.

"Unnie," the younger girl called out, brows frowning a little, "you can turn around if you must. I really don't mind either way."

"Are you crazy?" spat Irene. Shrieked. She did not even know she could sound so high-pitched. "I'm going out."

However, before Irene could fully her heels, she felt Wendy's fingers on her arm. "No, no, no, Bae Joohyun –" Irene froze at the call, "unnie, wait."

Irene heaved a sigh, mentally telling herself to stay composed before returning Wendy's gaze.

"I really, really need to talk to you, but I also need to pee. Just give me thirty seconds, okay?"

For a second there, Wendy sounded like she did that night. Carelessly calling Irene by her full name, ditching formal speech and all that. And those eyes, they looked so helpless, a perfect reflection of Irene's current state of mind it felt like she was looking in the mirror.

Irene let out another sigh, more frustrated now, "I can't believe I'm putting up with your craziness."

And it felt like the longest thirty seconds of her life. Irene did try to count, really, trying to take her mind anywhere out of the damned stall, but it was proven to be a harder task than to explain the meaning behind Red Velvet during her debut days. And Irene gave up because her malfunctioning brain would just wander back to the very person who was minding her bladder just a few step away behind her.

Just when did Wendy take out 'embarrass' and all words related to it from her dictionary?

"Unnie, you're red."

She heard the toilet flushing and Wendy's steps coming dangerously closer.

"Encore's in fifteen minutes, we should get going," decided Irene fast as she turned around, both hands on her cheeks, trying to evade the scene before the younger girl could see just how red she already was. However, as she faced the latter, she was greeted by a big, annoying grin. The owner was looking overly amused Irene was tempted to wipe that grin off with a punch.

"Really now, Bae Joohyun?" Wendy enquired, an eyebrow rising challengingly.

"Unnie," she corrected, to which the vocalist responded with a shrug.

"Unnie," the younger repeated while raising her right hand to peel Irene's hand off her cheek, only to replace it with her own, "I did tell you I would call you whatever I like since then, didn't I?"

Irene scrunched her noise, refusing to acknowledge how good Wendy's perfume smelled. "I don't know, maybe?"

"'Maybe'?"

It was Wendy's turn to scrunch her nose. She moved her thumb against Irene's cheekbone, gesturing her to open her eyes so she could read what the older girl might be thinking.

"No. Don't. Stop that." Irene caught her hand, eyes shooting open. "I'm thinking, stop distracting me."

Wendy chuckled a little to that. "We've wasted too much time thinking, don't you think, Unnie?" And before the older girl could respond, Wendy stepped closer and caught Irene's lip between hers.

Unlike before, this time Wendy made sure to stay still and not pull away. She could hear Irene gasp, surprised by the gesture. Wendy was, too – she did not know she actually had the courage to kiss Bae Joohyun properly when she had been such a coward months earlier.

And it was the most dreading one second Wendy ever felt as she stood there, waiting for Irene to react. Thoughts flooded her brain and Wendy just could not stop herself from believing that she was already too late to come and claim Irene. She was months too late, and any second now Irene would slap her across the face for creeping her out.

However, just then something she did not even dare to dream happened. Irene kissed her back.

It was hesitant and wobbly at first as the older girl began to move her lips, hands rising to the back of Wendy's neck in search of support, and with her other hand behind Irene's head, Wendy backed the older girl to the door instead, certain enough she would not be a good support with her knees beginning to tremble.

Irene tasted like strawberry, sweet and soft against Wendy's own lips, and for a fleeting moment Wendy wondered if it was the juice she drank earlier. With their bodies pressed closely together, Wendy could smell that vanilla scent perfume Irene used. It danced in Wendy's nostrils and flared its way down to Wendy could hardly suppr