All Because Of her || A WenRene Novel

What Are You Doing Here? - [Wendy]

I don't know what time it is when I wake up. Irene isn't next to me. Where did she go? She gave me her jacket to lean on. My mind flashes to just before Irene fell asleep. She told me she loved me.

"I love you," she said.

"What?" I asked.

"I love you," she repeated. "I love you."

Then she fell asleep. It startled me a little bit. I know she's liked me for a while, but doesn't she think she's moving a bit too fast? It's only been a day. I said something, too, but I don't think she heard. It's okay, she didn't need to hear it. I don't think I meant it just yet.

I heave out a sigh. It's only been a day, and all of this has happened. I don't know how her mother ended up getting a stroke, but my first thought goes to Jennie. It doesn't make sense, though. She couldn't have caused that, there's no way she would be able to.

I check my phone. It's around 7:00 pm. I've been asleep for a while. I wonder when Irene woke up. 

Suddenly, the door to her mother's room opens and Irene comes out. She sees me. "Hi."

"Hi," I say. "Is she okay?"

Irene nods, sitting back down next to me. "Yeah, she's fine. They said she needs to stay here for a few nights before she can leave, so I'm going to stay with her."

"Do you want me to stay with you?" I ask.

"You don't have to," Irene says. "I've put so much pressure on you since I arrived at your house."

"That's not true," I say. "It's not your fault all of this is happening. All of this is our of your control. You did nothing wrong."

Irene looks at me, smiling wearily. "I dragged you into my problems."

"You didn't drag me into anything," I say. "I'm with you by choice."

She smiles at me, making me melt on the inside. She interlocks her fingers with mine as she rests her head on my shoulder. "Nobody else knows, right?"

"No," I say. "Why?"

"People will think I'm doing this for attention," I say. "I mean, think about it. This is the first time in my life where almost everyone knows who I am. Why not get more attention?"

"They won't think that," I say. "I won't tell the others, anyway. Don't worry."

"Thank you," she says. "I guess I'll be staying at your house a bit longer."

"It seems like the universe hates the idea of us being separated," I joke. "Everything that's happened so far has resulted in you staying with me."

"Yeah," Irene laughs. She clears her throat. "By the way, sorry about earlier."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"You know, when I..." she trails off. "Nevermind. I don't think you heard me properly."

What is she talking about? I shrug. My stomach growls. "I'm going to go get something to eat, do you want anything?"

She shakes her head. "I ate in there, the nurse got me something."

"Okay," I say.

I walk down the stairs to the third level and make my way to the food court. There aren't very many people in there to my surprise. There's a McDonalds which I order a Big Mac from. I sit down at one of the tables in the food court, sanitize my hands, and begin to eat.

"Wendy?" a familiar voice says.

I look up to find one of my old friends from America, Eric Nam in crutches. I put down my burger. "Eric?"

He smiles and excitedly hops towards me. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here with a friend," I say, gesturing for him to sit down. "What happened to you?"

"Oh, you know how I was auditioning to become an idol?" he asks.

I nod. It's been his dream since we were kids. He would always talk about how he was going to become a famous singer and dancer in a boy group and all the girls would love him. He even used to invite me over and watch his performances to some songs.

"Well, I got an audition at SM Entertainment!" he says excitedly. "You know, the one that was in charge of Girls' Generation? Them!"

I smile. He was obsessed with Girls' Generation when we were younger, especially with their song Lion Heart. "Really? That's great!"

"Yeah, I know!" he says. "I got accepted and I'm a trainee now!"

"Wow," I say. "I'm friends with a future boy group member. Don't forget me when you're famous."

He laughs. "I won't. But I was practicing choreo for a song and I slipped and broke my leg. That sucks, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," I say. "But that's still great! You'll heal up in no time."

"I hope so," Eric says. "Who's the friend you're here with?"

"Oh, you don't know her," I say. "She goes to high school with me. Something happened to her mom, so she's going to stay with her until she can leave."

"Aw, that's horrible," Eric says. "I hope her mom gets better."

I nod. "Me too."

Eric takes a fry from my meal and eats it. We sit quietly for a bit before he says, "So how's your family?"

"We're all good," I say. "Same old same old."

"Hah, yeah," Eric says. "Hey, remember what you said? Before you left to move back to South Korea?"

"No?" I say. "I said a lot of things before I left."

"Well, you said something along the lines of this," he pulls out a crumpled piece of paper from his jean pocket. He reads it aloud, "I, Son Seungwan, promise to go out with Eric if he becomes a famous idol before he turns twenty."

I freeze. "What?"

He shows me the paper. It's my handwriting, and the paper even has the signature I'd made up back then. "I started training four years ago," he says. "I'm eighteen! I'm going to debut next year!"

"Um, Eric, I was twelve," I say. "I didn't mean it."

"You said you would," Eric says. "Your signature is even there! You're not dating anyone right now, are you? Come on!"

"Eric, I already like someone," I say. "I like that person a lot. I'm not going to give them up just for some stupid paper I wrote on six years ago."

"Come on, Wendy!" Eric says. "Please? You promised! I waited all this time with the hopes of running into you, and here we are now! The universe put us here at the same place at the same time, it's fate!"

"No," I say, finishing my burger. "I already said, I like someone."

"Fine, who is it?" Eric asks. "I bet I could top him!"

Just then, Irene walks up behind Eric. "Hi, Wendy."