Intermission #1: Empty Chairs and Empty Tables

BIFOCAL

 

The first time Wendy ever stood up to someone was not when she was young, not even the time when her best friend in the fifth grade was getting bullied by the class bully. It was her third year at a small and shrinking news company named Bifocal. 

 

Her supervisor, a ghastly woman by the name of Tiffany, had taken it upon herself to cast the slap-jack work of thirty pages of reports on to her. “Slap-jack work” was a phrase made up by her and a few others in their department for the work Tiffany put upon them. It was based on the card game “Slap-jack” in which the work was slapped on to a table without any hassle or thought. It did not even matter who got the work. All that mattered was that it got finished.

 

And so that started the fortunate story of one Wendy Son, who by flipping off Tiffany, started an inquiry into the daily work practices in their department by Human Resources. And, not to anyone’s surprise, they found a lot going wrong with it. 

 

The employees called it ‘The Great Overhaul’, the ones who stayed anyway. The people who were laid off were the ones benefiting from the system. The system meaning, ‘ Tiffany or give her gifts and you’ll be smooth sailing’. They found all the dirty secrets lying in that ’s desk and they also found that she was selling exclusives to rival companies. There was no question about it: she was fired. 

 

And it all started because Wendy flipped Tiffany off. Magnificent work, she would say. 

 

But then came the hard part: she became a department head, a position just under the lead editor, a smart, hardworking woman named Hani. New positions, new powers. More pay, more responsibilities—she liked to call it. 

 

With her new position in place, she threw a party at a bar near East Wicca. A grungy, but suitable bar named The Pearl. It was her first time there and as always, her first times were memorable.

 

“The name’s Wendy if you were wondering. Buy me a drink? My throat’s a bit parched.” Wendy sat on one of the stools of the bar, hunched over, totally unbecoming of the dress she was wearing. A black, feathery dress stopping just above her thighs. She looked elegant, but her posture was anything but.

 

The woman she spoke to only looked at her with questionable eyes. They were brown, and there was a certain shine to them, as if the woman was thinking hard about something. 

 

“Who are you? And what do you want from me?” The woman said, her voice trembling.

 

Wendy did not understand what got the woman so worked up, but she decided to play along with it anyway.

 

“I already told you my name. Wendy Son. My friends threw a party for me because I got promoted or something. And now I’m thirsty, which means I would like a drink.”

 

The woman looked at her one more time before shaking her head and gesturing to the bartender. “Suzy. Get me three margaritas.”

 

The bartender nodded and went to work mixing their drinks.

 

“Three?” Wendy asked. 

 

“Two for me. One for you. I’ll need it tonight. I messed up my case a few days ago and now my boss is on my about it.”

 

“Case? What case?”

 

“Eh, it’s on the news. Red Pill Case, they called it. And even though they didn’t show my face, the police department is knee deep in the swamp because of me. And so everyone’s ignoring me! Gosh, I messed up. I messed up! Ever had your whole world ignore you? Trust me Wendy or whoever you really are, it’s not pleasant!”

 

Wendy chuckled as she watched the bartender mix their drinks with skill she had never seen before. The girl was twirling it all around, making a downright show of it. 

 

“You don’t trust I gave you my real name? Well, what’s yours then if you’re feeling awfully distrustful. I’m telling the truth, okay? The name’s Wendy.”

 

“Sooyoung. And that’s no lie. It really is Sooyoung. Close friends call me Youngie. You can call me—”

 

“Soo. I like that name.”

 

“Wait a sec, we just met. Should you really be calling me like t—”

 

“I like Soo. Deal with it.”

 

Sooyoung opened to say something, but could not find anything to say back to the snarky, petite girl. 

 

“Tell me more about the cases at your job. You’re a police officer, right? I think it’ll be interesting.”

 

Sooyoung paused for a moment and looked at Wendy again, who was looking back at her with bright, inquisitive eyes. She knew what those eyes meant. There are a few types of people with eyes like that—one being journalists, the type of people who would make her life difficult if the wrong words reached them. But Sooyoung was not thinking clearly, and so she smiled, shook her head in amusement, and started rambling on about unsolved cases. 

 

 


 

 

“You ever wonder what day you want to relive?” Irene asked. 

 

Seulgi shook her head, playing with the straw of her drink. She did not look Irene in the eye, instead finding interest in the wobbly leg of the table beside them. 

 

“I don’t think so. Not really me. I don’t dwell on stuff like that.”

 

“Why not? I’m sure you have a day. C’mon what is it? Something like the first time you fell in love or like errr the best hamburger you’ve ever eaten? A movie you want to see for the first time again.”

 

Seulgi sighed and looked up. She looked straight into Irene’s eyes, ones filled with hope and curiosity. Irene wanted to know, for some reason, the answer to this measly little question of hers. Seulgi’s answer was bound to be interesting. 

 

“Relive? No. Re-do? Sure. I’d want a redo. All of us do. We’d want to take the leap, risk it all. Throw in a few more ‘I love you’s’ or tears or maybe even run away. We want to break the script. Because, in the end, most of us aren’t satisfied with how we end up.”

 

Seulgi stopped playing with her straw and leaned forward. She watched as Irene’s eyes flickered with surprise at the sudden action, and a small, discreet smile rose up to her face. “I don’t want to relive my best memory. I want to fix my worst one. I’m sure you’d say the same. So…” —Seulgi held out her hand to Irene, as if goading her—“...tell me, what’s the worst day of your life? And...do you want to go back and fix it?”

 

Irene knew what Seulgi meant by her words. They both knew the day, that fateful encounter at this bar. Again, Irene felt her hands pulse as if she was reliving the memory, and she squeezed her hands under the table so as to not alert Seulgi of it. 

 

After all she had been through, Irene was not sure if she wanted a redo of her past. Sure, it was terrible and lives could have been saved, but there was something more important to Irene than that. Herself. 

 

It was no question whether she had not changed. It was obvious she had. It was the question, however, if she liked the change or not. And increasingly, as the days went on, as sessions became more frequent, as more words and blood was shed, Irene felt comfortable with herself, what she became. Is this her true self? Is this what Seulgi was trying to show her?

 

That she, a mere therapist, was in fact the same as Seulgi, a monster under a pretty face. 

 

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purplerain-
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Comments

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jeulgi
#1
is this completed already? I'm planning on reading this, please answer🥺
Para29
#2
I really like your writing style and how you build characters, story and plot. I love how the plot escalates and builds to the climatic demise of Wendy(rest in peace). Seulgi is scary, unpredictable and chaotic, i truly could not tell what her next move was going to be. Wendy and Joy’s relationship is endearing and sweet, they look more like a married couple passed the honeymoon phase but still love each other. I like the little world building you did, the world taking part in the story. How you write dialogues is perfect, so witty and engaging. I’ve read your other stories, all of them have interesting premises and really good writing, i hope you finish one if not all of them, especially this one, the plot and your writing is just too good.
Kumakum
#3
Chapter 6: WENDYYY NOOOO😭😭😭
brdfillet #4
Chapter 7: was speaking my thoughts out to a close friend while reading the few last chapters, and i do wanna say, they were beyond confused of me.
i am so eager and couldn't help but squirm in anticipation for the next act. by far the greatest one i have read, i truly enjoyed and loved it, you've done such a great work, author-nim!
Wazzup_wanduhhh94 #5
Chapter 7: Thank you for your beatiful writing 🙂
lokonaba
#6
Chapter 7: it was intense and love the plot!
IdareU2KissMe
#7
Chapter 6: This story plot is unique. I love it!
Kpop_fan21 #8
Chapter 6: I just finished reading this. Such a beautiful masterpiece I hope to see how it continues on but a little bit scared.. Thank you for writing this it was so good thank you again
ZeroReddust #9
Chapter 6: Omg?? Really, the good (well at least they don't just murder ppl) guys can never get any rest huh? After all the heartful confession and last will, you just have to do that?!!!
This story is really intriguing. Ngl, the plot is actually simple, [redacted1], a part of a syndicate wants to have a successor, in a city who happened to have a hero that will totally got in her way. But the way you weave all the intricate details is just, chef's kiss! And this is only Act 1! You closed the act with a bang (literally)! The waiting time for your update is totally worth it. Thanks for writing this!
LxttleRebel
#10
Chapter 3: The last “t-tada..” made me feel a mixture of things that I don’t understand. This feeling is new to me and I kinda like it. Im so in love with this story holy this is bloody impressive.