For The Sake of Wendy

WenRene Book of Joy, Bear and Squirtle
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Date Completed: 10th April 2018

Song Recommendation: James Arthur - Safe Inside

 

Based on a webtoon.

Also, what is beta? Never heard of that. (Tell me if the story's confusing though, I need them feedbacks.)

 

 

Irene slumped on the chair outside of the emergency room. The doctor was still talking but she could not hear any of his words anymore.

 

She was gone.

 

She just saw Wendy yesterday and while the girl looked weak, she had smiled at Irene and assured her that everything would be fine, that she would rise above this, that she would recover and they could be together again, just like before.

 

Irene wanted to believe those words, but it was hard when she could see that Wendy herself did not believe what she was saying.

 

Her breath was caught in her chest as she realized that in this world, there was no longer Wendy; there would not ever be anyone like Wendy ever again.

 

The last thing she remembered was the overwhelming wish to follow Wendy before her view faded.

 

*

 

“Rene, do you believe in second chances?”

 

They were watching the sky together in at the park during their lunchbreak. Irene turned to Wendy and saw that her wife was trailing the passing clouds, not even looking at her. She did not immediately answer Wendy’s question. Instead, she watched the side of Wendy’s face and her gaze fell upon the plaster on Wendy’s chin. Her heart tightened as she turned away.

 

She reached Wendy’s palm and intertwined their fingers together. Her grip was tight, afraid that the person in front of her would slip through her hold, leaving her forever.

 

“Of course. That’s how I get to meet you, the best person that I’ve ever known in my life.”

 

 

Irene woke up with a start. It was dark and the numbing pain on her hand called her attention. She had been connected to an IV drip and came to the realization that she was in the hospital.

 

She half expected to see Wendy beside her but the events of what happened earlier crashed her mind and she enclosed her head with her hands, trying to will everything away.

 

“Please, please, please,” Irene sobbed, “please tell me that it’s all just a dream. Please. Please tell me Wendy is still alive.”

 

Silent. There was no response to her pleading and Irene clutched her chest that was starting to hurt. She never knew that it was possible to feel a heartbreak like this, so palpable and present. Irene could not breathe from the pain.

 

“I’ll do anything to bring her back. I’ll give everything I have. Please. I can even die in her place.” Irene croaked out and she exclaimed loudly when a voice casually spoke up.

 

“Die in her place? Now you’re talking.”

 

Irene looked to the chair conveniently placed by the side of her bed that was empty before. Now, it was occupied by a woman wearing a fedora and all-black outfit. The stranger was looking at her nails as she spoke, blowing hot air onto them before she looked at Irene. Her appearance screamed dangerous but her facial feature was serene.

 

“Ex-excuse me?”

 

The woman did not answer. Instead, she stood up and tilted her head as she looked at Joohyun. Her gaze turned sad as she snapped her fingers, making Irene drowsy.

 

“The price will be heavy indeed. I wish you luck, Bae Joohyun.”

 

*

 

“Do you believe that everyone is born into this world with a heart as white as snow?”

 

Irene smirked at Wendy who was gazing at Seulgi and Joy’s son with wonder. They were separated by a glass case and it was obvious that was as far as Wendy would be willing to be around the newborn, despite Irene’s constant assurance and Seulgi and Joy’s trust.

 

“Are you seriously asking a doctor whether a heart is white, Wendy?”

 

Wendy rolled her eyes and playfully shoved Irene’s arm.

 

“Metaphorically of course. Like, I’ve heard somewhere that the more bad things you do, you’ll have a dark spot in your heart and by doing a good deed, you’ll wash them away. ME.TA.PHO.RIC.CAL.LY. Speaking.” Wendy emphasized her word when she saw the teasing smile on Irene’s face again.

 

“I don’t know, I don’t think about such things a lot. If people do good things, it’s great, even if it comes from someone considered as bad by others. Bad people are capable of doing good things and good people are capable of doing bad things. That’s all there is to it for me. Why would you ask that?”

 

“I just think I have a lot of black stains in my heart.” Wendy placed a palm over her chest. Normally, Irene would joke about how humans’ hearts were not smacked directly in the middle of their chests but this time, she pried Wendy’s palm and held it.

 

“If I can see your metaphorical heart, I think yours will shine the brightest, Wen.”

 

 

This time, Irene woke up by insistent pokes in her cheek.

 

“Unnie, why are you sleeping on this bench? Mommy says you can get sick if you don’t sleep on bed.”

 

Irene fought the urge to fall asleep and slowly opened her heavy eyelids. The sleepiness dissipated almost immediately when she saw a pair of chubby cheeks puffing at her and the shiny young eyes reminded her of an older, more melancholic version of them.

 

Irene jolted awake, startling the girl in front of her but the child composed herself and flashed toothy grin at the woman who just woke up from her slumber on a bench, as if it was just another normal occurrence in her young life.

 

“Wh-where is this?”

 

“This is the playground near my house! My house is xxx-xx Seongbuk-dong!” The little girl chirped and Irene widened her eyes, for two main reasons. Firstly, the address sounded very familiar to her and secondly…she was in Canada before she went to sleep so how the heck did she wake up in Korea?

 

“Perhaps…your name is Wendy?” Irene cautiously asked the child, holding back the urge to pinch the chubby cheeks and ruffled the messy mop on her head. She could see Wendy in the kid’s face more clearly now and it was absolutely ridiculous but she just had to make sure of certain stuffs. If this was a dream, her brain was certainly putting effort in trying to piece everything together.

 

“Wendy? Like in Peter Pan? No! My name is Seungwan. Son Seungwan.” She proceeded to spell out her name and Irene quietly pinched herself to make sure she was not dreaming.

 

“There, Seungwan! What about unnie’s name?” That caught Irene off guard temporarily but she pushed aside whatever she had been thinking and focused on the situation at hand.

 

“Ire-Joohyun. Call me Joohyun unnie.”

 

It felt weird, to use a name she had not used in so many years but she knew introducing herself with ‘Irene’ would probably confuse the child who was unfamiliar with English names.

 

“Joohyun unnie? Okay!” Seungwan held out a palm with her chest puffed out proudly. “Mommy said we have to shake hands when we meet new people, that’s how I made a lot of friends in kindergarten.” Seungwan elaborated when Joohyun just stared at her.

 

Joohyun bit back a smile. This Seungwan she saw in front of her was not much different from the Wendy she had known, with their bright smiles and friendly gestures. However, Wendy had a darker undertone in her eyes and the innocent girl in front of her had not seen much of the world yet.

 

‘Is this how Wendy would look like if she grew up as Seungwan?’

 

Joohyun took Wendy’s palm and shook it lightly. As she bent, her hair fell to the sides of her face and she was taken aback by the length.

 

Before she went to sleep, her hair was only slightly longer past her shoulder but now it fell to the middle of her back.

 

“Joohyun unnie, how old are you?”

 

“Uh, I’m 28, I think.”

 

Seungwan widened her eyes and this time, Joohyun had a strange sense of fondness and sadness mixed as she recalled how Wendy used to do that as well.

 

“People can live after 20?!”

 

“Hey, what do you mean?! How old is your mommy then?” It was probably weird to be so defensive about her age to a child Seungwan’s age but when you hang out with younger group of people often and your age was the of their jokes 80% of the time, you started to become wary about such jokes.

 

Seungwan’s innocence was really endearing but Joohyun could not let her off easily with this age joke.

 

“Mummy said she’s always sweet 16! I’m going to grow up and be sweet 16 too!”

 

16…Joohyun felt a thump on her chest and just like that, she realized that whatever she was experiencing, it was not just a mere dream. They heard the sound of a woman calling out for Seungwan and the girl quickly turned and waved the woman, saying that she would run over to her soon before facing Joohyun again.

 

“My nanny is calling me. Unnie, will I meet you again tomorrow? I want to be friends with the oldest person on the planet!”

 

“What do you mean the old- Nevermind. I’ll be here too, tomorrow. Now go back with your nanny and we’ll meet again tomorrow.”

 

Seungwan waved to Joohyun and when the little girl’s silhouette disappeared from the playground with her nanny, Joohyun leaned to the bench and wondered what was going on. Was she travelling back in time?

 

She mindlessly dug in her pockets and got surprised when she found a folded piece of paper with a worn out wallet that contained some money, credit cards and her ID. She opened the paper and the message was pretty short, but loaded.

 

‘xxx-xx Seongbuk-dong (house)

Seoul National University Hospital (Work: Starts tomorrow, 9AM. Report to Seo Joohyun)

Good luck

P.S. You’re actually 38 here.’

 

It was signed with a drawing of a figure in fedora hat and Joohyun could take a rough guess on what, or who was the one who caused her to be thrown into this place. It was rather surprising to see how different her age here with the age she remembered but Joohyun accepted it rather calmly.

 

She remembered that she was willing to trade everything if she could save Wendy and that was the first square in her journey.

 

*

 

Irene knew that the front of her shirt was wet from Wendy’s tears now, but she held on to the small frame within her embrace. She would never let Wendy go first, unless Wendy herself pulled away from her. She was hurting too but she swallowed her own feelings and comforted Wendy, putting her wife’s needs above hers.

 

“I don’t get it, Rene. It’s not the first time I’ve experienced death but,” Wendy buried her head deeper in Irene’s embrace, “why does the pain still feel like the first time?”

 

They had received the news of the death of one of their best friends and Wendy had been inconsolable since. Irene knew it was sadness but there was also a tinge of fear gripping Wendy, and even herself. The fear knowing the inevitability of death and how close it was to them with every second passing by.

 

“It’s because you have such a big heart and you love everyone in your very own, unique way. Not one of our friends is not precious to you and because you’ve known loss, you cherish the moments with them even more. Ironically…the pain when you lose them become more poignant since their presence in your world are more constant. They’re special since they’ve been loved by you, and you’re special to have been loved by them.”

 

Irene whispered to Wendy’s ears softly, knowing that words could not do much right now but numb a little of the pain. Even then, the scar would never be gone. She knew she was not just talking about the friend they had lost, no. She was referring to all of the people Wendy had lost and the younger woman understood what Irene was doing.

 

“Rene, if one day, I…”

 

“Shhh. We promise not to talk about it.”

 

“I want you to know that despite all of the bad things that had happened to me in my life; I’m always thankful to have met and loved you.”

 

 

Joohyun hung her head low as she waited at the bench she had managed to frequent regularly despite her busy schedule at the hospital. This was the seventh evening in a row she had come to the park and there was still no sign of Seungwan; which was not surprising since the girl would have a lot of things to attend to.

 

Joohyun was anxious and restless. She kept fidgeting and whenever a child around 10 years of age came a little too close to her, she almost jumped out of her seat and called out for Seungwan, only to falter in disappointment when she realized it was not the girl she was waiting for.

 

She forgot how many times had she drown herself in torturous thoughts, beating herself up over her incompetency. Seohyun had told her that she should not dwell on it too much, that these things happened in their line of work, but Joohyun could not let this one mistake passed by easily.

 

She was aware that she had just missed a critical chance to save Seungwan-Wendy’s life and she would not forgive herself easily just like that.

 

“Unnie…”

 

There was a soft voice calling for Joohyun and when she raised her head, she was looking

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wenderpul
The sleep-deprived student in her final year who started the collection then could never have imagined having her story featured at the front page amidst all the great writers in this site. I can never thank you enough for all the kind words, upvotes and subscription. February is a good month :D

Comments

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Zulfebrian
#1
Izin baca
hiyerimie
27 streak #2
Chapter 16: Honestly, I always like your stories and will continue to wait for new stories from you 💙💖
thequietone
16 streak #3
Chapter 13: I love the ending! And its heartbreaking to read wenrene's pov but the ending just made up for it!! Really good storytelling
thequietone
16 streak #4
Chapter 10: Love it!! ♡♡♡
thequietone
16 streak #5
Chapter 8: Goshh this is so cute!! Had a big smile after rereadingthis
thequietone
16 streak #6
Chapter 7: Rereading this and now I feel brokenhearted :((
WendyyBaee
#7
Chapter 6: Joy emg kampret wkwk tapi akhirnya wenrene bersatu kembali
WendyyBaee
#8
Izin baca
KLXRYU #9
Chapter 4: rebel wendy and prim and proper Irene is the pair i never knew i needed 🤧
hiyerimie
27 streak #10
Chapter 7: why do my tears keep flowing 🤧