Chapter 3: CHAPTER 2
"We are getting married.", she repeated to make it loud and clear to her superior that she cannot be deported because she is eventually getting a green card by marrying a US citizen. She hopes she is not wrong though. She hopes that she remembered reading Wendy Son's personal file correctly and that the file indeed says she is a US citizen. Otherwise, this ridiculous stunt she is pulling right now would just be senseless.
Her secretary's face was still clearly puzzled. "Uh, boss... Who is getting married?", the blonde whispered to her.
"You and I."
"You and I?"
"Yes, you and I are getting married."
"...."
"Come on, baby. We have finalized the plans about this. Don't be all too shy with the gentleman.", she chuckled.
𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙜𝙤 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙩. 𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙜𝙤 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙩. 𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙜𝙤 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙩, Irene chanted inside her head.
"You and I are getting married..." Wendy muttered, seemingly spacing out.
"Yes, right!", Irene wrapped her arms around Wendy's waist, showing the chairman how close they really are to be in a relationship. Surprisingly, Wendy didn't flinch at her sudden actions and she's relieved with that, but it must also be because the blonde is still disoriented with the unexpected information.
"Isn't she your secretary?", the chairman asked, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
"Yes. Personal Assistant... Executive Personal Assistant Secretary. It's just... titles.", Irene chuckles. "But, it wouldn't be the first time one of us fell for our secretaries. Right, sir? Like with your ex-wife, Laura, remember?". That was an inappropriate comment but Irene wants the chairman to see the point here that getting in a relationship with secretaries is not that uncommon when he himself had experienced it. She was risking it all with that unprofessional remark but she's almost positive that the chairman would be too embarrassed to react negatively knowing that she knew of his shenanigans. "What I mean is, Wendy and I, we're in the same situation. We are just two people who weren't meant to fall in love but we did.", her insides are twisting as she says these words.
"Hmmm.", Scott hummed as he tried to assess the two individuals in front of him. Clearly, the man doesn't want to comment about Irene bringing up his past relationship because he would be opening a huge can of worms if he acknowledged it. Scott Anderson breathed deeply as he tried to make sense of this situation.
"All those late nights at the office, weekend book fairs, business trips, lunch outs... Eventually, something... something happened." She was spluttering a bunch of bull right now but she doesn't care. It's not in her personality to do something stupid like this but all she could think of right now is the empire she built. All the hard work, all the time and all the effort she had to put through just so Reve Publishing could be on the top cannot just be thrown outside the window because of a stupid visa. She would do and say anything to keep her position in this company.
"We tried to fight it, avoid it, cause you know... work ethics... and HR wouldn't be so happy with it either. But if you fall, you fall. Right?", she added as she threw a sweet sweet smile to Wendy who is still trying to get a grasp of what's going on. "So uh... Are we good with this? I hope this is great news for you. You know, with all of the circumstances that we are in?", if she could cross her fingers right now, she would.
"Irene, it's terrific. I'm happy for both of you. Just make it legal. Okay?", the chairman said, pointing to his ring finger.
"Oh. The ring. Legal. Yes, yes. Of course. Well then, that means we need to get ourselves to the immigration office so we can work this whole mess out."
The chairman nodded in agreement.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Anderson. We will do it right away. Thank you."
Irene Bae exited the chairman's office with a speechless Wendy Son following behind her.
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News of the Irene Bae-Wendy Son engagement spread throughout the building like wildfire. As Wendy follows her boss back to her office, everyone along their way is looking, whispering and giggling at them. Some are giving her disapproving looks, some are giving her thumbs ups and some are giving her slow claps. She cannot understand what is wrong with all of them. Hell, she can't even understand what is happening.
She's suddenly not feeling well. As she walks and blankly stares at Irene's back, she tries to recall what her boss said inside the chairman's room.
"You and I are getting married..."
The blonde shook her head and told herself, no. It can't be right. Irene Bae would never say anything stupid like that. Right? She must've heard it all wrong. Yes. She must've heard it all wrong.
"Girl, for real? Didn't even know you're into girls. It's kinda hot though.", she heard Somi say as she passed by her colleagues' cubicle. She threw a glare at Somi. "Oooh. Hot.", the girl teased.
As she closes the chief's office door behind her, Wendy waits for Irene to say something about what happened. She stands there awkwardly, still confused as fuck and waits for Irene to explain. But the chief just casually sat on her office chair and started doing her pending paperwork like nothing had happened.
Wendy cleared her throat to somehow get the chief's attention.
"What?", Irene asked. "Your work isn't gonna finish by themselves if you'll just keep standing there."
"I don't really understand what's happening.", she said.
"Oh. About that. Relax, this is for you too.", Irene answered as she busied herself with the documents on her table, not even looking at Wendy while speaking.
"Please enlighten me. I'm kinda lost here."
"He was going to make Jennie Kim chief."
"So naturally, I would have to marry you?"
"What's the problem? Like you were saving yourself for someone special?"
"W-well, yes, maybe. But regardle—"
"What's the girl's name again? Joy is it?"
"What? No. What I'm saying is—"
"If you're single and there's no one, then I don't think there is a problem."
"Irene.", Wendy said, looking dead serious, dropping all the formalities she had with the woman in front of her. She's not playing anymore. She was pissed at Irene cutting her off every time she tries to say something and she's pissed at the fact that this woman does not even have an ounce of care for what she's feeling. "I'm not gonna marry you.", she firmly said.
"Oh yes, you are."
"No, I'm not."
"Yes, you are. Because if you don't marry me, your dreams of touching the lives of millions with the written word are dead."
Wendy was speechless. And her head is starting to throb. Irene is not making any sense right now.
"Look, I'm being deported. Jennie Kim is gonna fire you the second that I'm gone, that's for sure. Why? Because she knows your loyalty is mine. That means you have no job and you'll go running around looking for a new one. You're literally starting from scratch. That means all the time and hard work you spent working in an institution like this were all for nothing and all your dreams of being an editor are gone."
The poor blonde saw her life flash in fast forward as Irene said all of these. Why is her career suddenly on the line?
"I guess you don't want that, right? Don't worry, after the required allotment of time, we'll get a quick divorce and you'll be done with me. But until then, whether you like it or not, we are tying the knot. Okay?"
Wendy cannot just agree nor disagree about any of this. She needs time to think this through.
"Now, get yourself ready. We're going to the immigration office.",
But her soon-to-be-wife is not giving her much time to at least process anything.
𝙒𝙞𝙛𝙚.
Wendy cringed at the thought of Irene being her wife. Yes, it's not like it'll be forever but she'd like to imagine the other half of her life would be someone decent. Don't get Wendy wrong, it's not that Irene is not decently looking in the physical aspects. The woman was undoubtedly gorgeous and elegant and beautiful and a whole lot more but Wendy wanted someone with a pleasing personality. Someone who is kind, gentle, understanding and warm. Irene is nowhere near kind, gentle, understanding and warm. She's bossy, demanding, manipulative, selfish and mean. She's a witch. Wendy does not want to get married to a witch.
Wendy is screaming internally. Even in this situation, Irene Bae is using her and taking advantage of her and she can't even protest against it because the witch is also low-key blackmailing her.
As the blonde realizes the actual position she is currently in and how messy it is, she concludes that she doesn't really have much of a choice. Irene is right, once the chief is gone and Jennie Kim takes over the place, the first thing that Kim would do is to fire her and everyone else that is loyal to Irene's management. She can't afford to lose her current job and start all over again from zero. It is extremely difficult to find a job in a publishing company that is as prestigious as Reve Publishing. She has already sacrificed a lot for her dreams and going back to the starting point is not an option. If marrying her boss is the only thing that will save everything she worked hard for, then so be it.
With a heavy heart, Wendy fished her duplicate of Irene's car keys out of her skirt's pocket. "I'll start the car. I'll wait for you at the parking lot."
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Like any other government agency on a Monday, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services is having a very busy day. People from different nationalities that are full of hopes and dreams fill the office with tired and bored expressions on their faces. It must be because of the waiting time. As Wendy's eyes roamed around the place, she noticed that there was also a very long line of people waiting for their turn to be assisted by a customer service representative. Estimating the queue, it may take till the end of the day for them to finish their business here. As the blonde secretary leads Irene to the end of the line, the lady boss has other ideas. The blonde watched the chief cut the line and proceeded at the front.
"Follow me.", Irene ordered.
"Hey. There's a line...". Wendy groaned as Irene interrupted a woman who was already talking to a representative. 𝙊𝙝 𝙢𝙮 𝙜𝙤𝙙. 𝙎𝙝𝙚'𝙨 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚.
"I'm sorry ma'am, there is a line. Please proceed at the back.", the representative said.
"This'll just be quick. I just need for you to file this fiancée visa for me.", the chief said as if the man was like one of her slaves that she orders around.
The man narrowed his eyes and sighed, taking the folder from Irene's hand. He opened it and scanned the content. "Ms. Irene Bae?", he asked, raising his left brow.
"Yes."
"Please come with me.", the man gestured for them to follow him. He led the pair to a small room.
The small office revealed a woman in her early thirties with long black hair and a pair of glasses.
𝙏𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙜. Wendy reads the name on the table.
The woman looked up at them and stood up to greet them. "Hi. I'm Tiffany. I'm the immigration agent who will handle Ms. Irene Bae's case."
"I'm Irene.", the chief offered her a handshake which Tiffany took. "We appreciate you seeing us on such short notice."
"Well, it's technically my job.", Tiffany chuckles as she turns to the blonde secretary. "You must be Wendy?", she asks as she offers her hand too.
Wendy took her hand for a shake. "Yes. I'm Wendy."
"Great. Have a seat please."
Once everyone was seated, Tiffany adjusted her glasses and opened Irene's file. "Okay. What do we have here?", the agent scanned through the file as the two waited for her to finish.
"So... I have one question for you.". Tiffany closed the folder and looked at the pair in front of her. "Are you both committing fraud to avoid Ms. Bae's deportation so she can keep her position as editor-in-chief at Reve Publishing?"
Wendy heard Irene scoff. "That's ridiculous. Where did you hear that?", the chief inquired.
"We had a phone tip this afternoon from a woman named—"
"Jennie Kim?"
"Jennie Kim. Yes."
"Oh Jennie. Poor Jennie.", Irene shook her head with a pitiful look on her face like she actually pitied what happened to her rival. "I'm so sorry about that. Jennie is nothing but a bitter former employee whom I just fired. I apologize."
"Hmmm.", Tiffany hummed as the lady examined the editor-in-chief.
"But we know you are extremely busy and we don't want to take too much of your time. If you just give us our next step, we'll be out of here and on our way.", Irene stood up and smiled.
Wendy can tell that Irene is not warming up with Tiffany. Though the agent has an amused look on her face, she's not letting the bossy chief have her way.
"Ms. Bae, please. Take a seat.", the agent gestures for Irene to sit down. Surprisingly, Irene did not protest and did what was told.
Wendy tried to hold back a laugh because it was so entertaining to see Irene follow orders from other people.
"Let me explain to you the process that's about to take place.", Tiffany started. "Step one will be a scheduled interview. I'll put you each in a room and I'll ask you every little question that a real couple would know about each other."
The pair nodded.
"Step two, I dig deeper. I'll look at your phone records, talk to your neighbors and interview your co-workers. If your answers don't match up in every point, Ms. Irene, you will be deported indefinitely." Tiffany said in a serious tone. "And you, young lady,", she looked at Wendy. "You will have committed a felony punishable by a fine of $250,000 and a stay of five years in federal prison."
𝘼 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 $250,000.
𝙁𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙛𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣.
𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙛𝙪𝙘𝙠?
Wendy never thought this whole mess could ever get much more complicated than it already is. She is the one being used here but why is she the one taking the huge blow if everything goes crumbling down?
Her face contorted with different emotions as she suddenly felt sick to her stomach. She may look like a constipated freak in front of Tiffany and Irene right now but she can't really suppress all the mixed feelings swarming inside of her.
Tiffany looks at her with pure concern. Irene looks at her with pure concern as well but the concern is actually all about her spilling the truth to the immigration agent.
"Ms. Son, are you okay?"
"Uh... Y-yeah..."
"Do you want to talk to me about anything?"
"Uhm..."
Should she tell Tiffany the truth? Yes, she would lose her job and she would have to start from scratch once Irene is gone but it is so much better than paying a $250,000 fine and being thrown into jail, right? Wendy tries to weigh every outcome of her decisions.
Tiffany is waiting for her to talk. Irene is glaring at her not to talk.
As she was prepared to tell the agent the truth, a brilliant idea was formed in her mind.
"The truth is...", she cleared her throat.
"Yes?", Tiffany probes.
"Ms. Tiffany, the truth is... Irene and I... Are just to people w-who weren't supposed to be in love, but did.", she started, making Irene satisfied and relieved with what she said. "We couldn't tell anyone we work with because of my... my big promotion that I had coming up.", she said wickedly, taking advantage of the situation too.
Irene threw her a questioning look.
"Promotion?", Tiffany verbalized the question that is also in Irene's head.
"Yes. W-we both felt that it would be deeply inappropriate if I were to be promoted to editor while we were having a relationship. Right, baby?"
"Uhh... Y-yeah.", Irene muttered.
"Oh. I see. That somehow makes sense. So, have the two of you told your parents about your secret love?". Tiffany inquired.
"Oh. Impossible for me. My parents are dead. No brothers or sisters either.", Irene said.
"Well, how about Wendy's parents?"
"Mine are pretty much alive.", the blonde answered.
"Well, we were gonna tell them this weekend. Halmi's 90th birthday and the whole family's coming together. We thought it would be a nice surprise to tell during the celebration.", Irene said confidently.
That didn't make Wendy happy. It didn't come to Wendy's mind at all that she might actually be introducing this little witch to her family way back home. As much as she does not want to go home yet because of her unfinished business of reaching for her dreams, she thought it is already too late to turn back now after all the bullshit she fed Tiffany to back-up Irene's schemes. Plus, that dream will eventually be fulfilled once all of this is done so Wendy decided to just get along with everything.
"Yes. That's right. We're gonna tell them this weekend.", she said.
"And where is this surprise gonna take place, Irene?". Tiffany asked.
"Uh.. At Wendy's parents' house."
"Where is that located again?", Tiffany asked Irene again, trying to test the lady chief if she knew about these details.
"Why am I doing all the talking? It's your family's house, babe. Why don't you tell her where it is? Jump in.", Irene chuckled tensely as she clearly does not know the place.
"It's in Jeju.", Wendy said.
"Jeju...", Irene's eyebrow furrowed.
"South Korea."
"South Koreaaa...?"
Wendy can tell that Irene was taken aback by the information. The chief must be thinking her family's house is just somewhere here in the USA. Yes, they have a family home here but whenever it's a big celebration, they always celebrate it in Jeju with her grandmother.
"Hmmm. So you're gonna fly to South Korea this weekend?"
"Yep." / "Yes.. yes we are.", the two answered in unison, hesitation was evident in Irene's voice.
"And how long will you be there?"
"A week.", the blonde answered.
"A week?" Irene asked.
"Yes, a week. Gonna show my fiancee around my hometown.", Wendy smiled at Tiffany.
Tiffany chuckled in amusement. "Fine, fine. I see how this is gonna go.", the agent said as she wrote something on her sticky note. "I will see you both at 11am next Monday morning for your scheduled interview and your answers better match up on every account.", she handed the sticky note with the details to Wendy.
"Sure. Thank you."
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As the pair left the building, Wendy felt like her soul left her body too. They managed to somehow trick the immigration agent about this whole engagement thing but another problem arises when she also has to bring the little witch to her family in Jeju and pretend that they are actually a couple the whole time they are there.
She is pissed and annoyed and Irene better promote her to editor after all of this is done cause she deserves it. She knows how to do the job. She took extra training, seminars and she studied hard to learn and be better. She invested a lot of her extra time on learning whenever she's free from Irene's torture of workloads and she thinks she's ready to do it. It's not like she's asking for too much but Irene could have her start on small projects and she's fine with that.
Never once in her life has she thought she'll be this low just to achieve her ultimate goal but she is looking at a huge sum of fine and jail time so fuck to everything.
She groaned in frustration as she walked out of the building, not even opening the door for her boss like she always does. Every kindness, patience and understanding she had for Irene were all gone with the wind. Irene is not respecting her like a person so Irene does not deserve her respect as well. Two people can play this game.
"So, what's gonna happen is we will fly to Jeju and pretend like we were girlfriends, tell your parents we're engaged... and... Uhm, book a first class ticket. If it's not first class, we're not doing it. And oh, please no chicken for my meal. Confirm if they have other dishes without chicken." Irene is barking all of these orders while her eyes are glued to the phone, not noticing Wendy is not even listening. "The last time I ate chick— Excuse me? Why aren't you taking notes?"
"I'm sorry, were you not in that room?", the blonde said in an angry tone.
"What is it now?"
"Seriously??"
"Oh! The thing you said about being promoted? Genius. You're a genius. She definitely bought it."
"I was serious. I'm looking at a $250,000 fine and five years behind bars. That changes things."
Irene scoffed at the blonde. "Promote you to editor? No. No way."
"Then I quit and you're screwed. Goodbye, Irene. It's never been a pleasure working for you.", Wendy turned and walked away.
"What? Wendy! Wendy, wait! Hey!"
Irene's desperate call for Wendy's name fell on deaf ears.
"Fine! Fine! I'll make you an editor, fine.", Irene said in a defeated voice.
It made Wendy stop. 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙞𝙩. She finds herself smirking before turning back to Irene.
"If you do the Jeju trip and the immigration interview, I will make you an editor. Happy?"
"And not in two years. Right away."
"Fine."
"And you'll publish the manuscript I gave you."
Irene rolled her eyes and huffed. "Fine. Ten thousand copies for the first run."
"Twenty thousand copies, first run."
"Fine! What else??"
"We'll tell my family about our engagement when I want and how I want."
"Deal."
"Now, ask me nicely.". Wendy said.
"Asked you nicely what?"
"Ask me nicely to marry you, Irene."
Of course Wendy was messing up with the chief. She thought it would be so amusing to see Irene actually proposed to her in the traditional way. If she is not getting a romantic proposal like the ones in her dreams, might as well have Irene do it here, in the middle of the streets of New York, in front of many people from different walks of life. That could already pass as romantic.
"What does that even mean?"
"Oh. You definitely know what I mean. Now, on your knee."
"Are you fucking seriou—"
"Oh. You wanna upset your girlfriend? She may end up not showing at the altar.", Wendy teased.
Irene looks around and is extremely hesitating because they are literally in the middle of the street with so many people. But Wendy is waiting and will not take nothing for an answer.
The lady chief groaned but eventually proceeded to kneel. Wendy can tell she's struggling because of her high heels and her expensive corporate dress but she is doing what Wendy wanted. The editor-in-chief position must be so important to Irene like her life depends on it that she'll do anything just to keep it.
"Does this work for you?". Irene asked, squinting her eyes in annoyance.
And there you have it. Irene Bae in all her glory, kneeling before Wendy Son.
"Oh. I like this. Proceed."
"Uh. Will you marry me.", Irene said quickly in a quiet voice.
"No. Say it like you mean it."
Irene did another eye roll and cleared her throat. "Wendy...", she said in a calmer, sweeter tone.
"Yes, Irene?"
"Sweet Wendy..."
"I'm listening."
"Would you please, with cherries on top, marry me?"
Wendy did a thinking pose. "Hmmm. Okay. I don't appreciate the sarcasm but I'll do it."
"Then we're good."
"Yep. See you at the airport tomorrow. Oh! And your car is in the parking lot. I'm taking the bus home. Drive safe!", and the blonde left the chief, still on her knees.
As Wendy waits for the bus, she just then realizes how tired she is and how physically draining this Monday is. Last night, she was kissing her best friend. Today, she got engaged to her boss. What an interesting way to start her week.
END OF CHAPTER 2
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
wanhyuniie
wanhyuniie This is pretty much just the continuation of Chapter 1. I'm so excited to work on the next chapter! Tell me your thoughts about this chapter too! Happy reading!
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