‘This is a mess…I don’t freaking love chicken!!’

                Joohyun looked up at Wendy, fidgeting and worried, before looking down on her plate in dismay. For the love of all chicken, why in the world this place has no tteokbokki?! She internally grimaced, poking the poor piece of braised chicken with her knife before sighing, ‘Right…This isn’t Korea’.

                After Wendy’s fussing about her health and taking a warm bath in the bathtub, Joohyun and Wendy decided to eat out in their—Wendy and Irene’s— favorite restaurant  just a few minutes’ drive away from their house. It turns out she was indeed in Canada, which Joohyun thought just makes sense since Korea isn’t really open to same- relationships, much more to a married couple of the same . Or at least, if this universe’s norms and society is the same as hers, she thought, she just wonders why they’re in Vancouver instead of Toronto, with Wendy’s family. Then again, not everything in this universe so far is similar from hers.

                And so, she finds herself in a fancy restaurant where they sat inside since it’s freakishly cold outside their usual spot (according to Wendy), and she let Wendy order since she’s still bad with English. It was only then that she realized that despite living in Canada, it seems that Irene and Wendy are still speaking in Korean, weird, and she felt like asking, but that would give her away. Joohyun decides she’ll ask Wendy later.

                But, of course, not everything about her and Irene are the same isn’t it? The chicken in front of her the glaring evidence between their difference and Joohyun felt like she’s having indigestion just by looking at it.

                ‘Are you serious, Irene, chicken? You might as well just kill me already. Have you had no idea that your—I don’t know? Cosmic twin has trauma eating chicken??!!’

                Joohyun grimaced, and it was too late when she realized that Wendy had been watching her and had been worriedly wincing as she tries to murder the already cooked chicken with her knife. Finally, Wendy held her wrist, stopping her from her thoughts and fight over a chicken that probably won’t harm her in anyway. “Are you okay, Love? Is there something wrong with your meal?” Wendy asked her worry, and Joohyun should’ve stopped, maybe try to smile and just eat the damn thing, but she knew that it’s going to be a matter of time before Wendy realizes that the woman she’s been giving her love to wasn’t really her wife but a weird 30-year-old idol that was somehow swapped with her real wife.

                And so, taking a deep breath, you can do this, she faced Wendy, “I’m not Irene.”

Beat.

Wendy stopped. Like really, she even stopped breathing. No, she didn’t die, but she was holding her breath, eyes wide and her hold on Joohyun’s hand loosened.

Beat.

Suddenly, Wendy frowned, and held her hand instead, her eyes watery and wide. “I—Irene…”she grimaced; this is it, “Is this because I was late on our date?”

BEAT

“I—What?”

Joohyun blinked confused and subconsciously pulls away, but Wendy was faster and held her hands tighter, her face almost begging as she says, “Look, Irene, I’m really sorry for coming 3-minutes late on our 3rd wedding anniversary. I know it was of me but there was an emergency with one of my patients and the kid needed immediate surgery and I—“

Joohyun furrowed her brows, what surgery?? “Wendy.”

“I really didn’t mean to be late. I knew you were angry—“

“Wendy!”

“Yes?” Finally

Joohyun smiles softly, hoping that the younger woman would know that she wasn’t angry. She held her hand, a smile on her lips and thought, ‘Geez, it seems like this Wendy is also a babbler’ and sighs. Joohyun rubbed circles against the woman’s skin, hoping that it would help ease her nerves.

“Are you okay now?” She asked, looking over the haggard woman who gave her a sheepish grin, and a mumbled apology. Joohyun breathes in, hoping to also calm her nerves before she speaks again. “Wendy,” she continued, “I’m serious.” Then looks onto Wendy’s eyes, hoping to bore the sincerity and honesty behind her words and says, “I’m really not Irene, Wendy.” And then, beat.

Beat.

“Let’s go back home,” Joohyun nodded dumbly, but she saw the flash in Wendy’s eyes, something cold and Joohyun worries if she’s gonna get murdered tonight.

Their way home was quiet, or at the very least, it should’ve been if it weren’t for Wendy’s endless tapping and nervous fidgeting, Joohyun thought of asking if she should drive—considering that in this Universe, Irene wasn’t such a scaredy-cat and knows how to drive a car—then again, Joohyun doesn’t so she stays put.

“Freaking traffic,” Wendy suddenly murmurs in English, and Joohyun doesn’t need to be fluent to know that Wendy is annoyed as of the moment, Joohyun wonders if she actually made the right decision telling the truth the woman. It’s so sudden… Maybe I should’ve waited till we finished eating?

Joohyun felt stupid as of the moment and started hitting her temples, unknowingly grabbing Wendy’s attention who only smiled weakly. After all, this woman may not be her wife, but they still share the same habits, and Wendy hated it when the woman hits herself like that so she held her hand, eyes back on the road.

“Don’t hit yourself, Lo—I mean, J-Joohyun