A sense of foreboding has been with Wendy since she left her bed this morning. From the broken TV to the malfunctioning coffee maker, nothing was going her way. And she has never been someone who actively looked out for and believed in signs, but the heavy feeling in her chest and her broken appliances are making her reconsider.

Wendy ended up deciding to go out for coffee today, she figured going for a walk will shake some of the negative energy that latched itself to her so early in the day. 

Except, it only seemed to heighten once she stepped foot out of her apartment.

A bell chimed in around her favorite cafe as she opened the door to enter, directing the patrons’ eyes to her. Wendy felt the hair on her skin prickle as their eyes stayed on her as she made her way down the counter. 

She is not a stranger to attention, god knows she has spent 5 years trying to get as much of it as she could just to have a career in music, but having strangers blatantly stare at her as she gets her coffee in her gold star pajamas and oversized hoodie made Wendy very self-conscious.

“Hi, welcome to—hey, Miss Popular,” the barista, Anne, greeted, the smile on her face turning brighter as her eyes landed on Wendy.

Wendy cringed at the nickname. “Yeah, people have been very weird today,” she glanced down on her legs. “They keep staring at me… I think it’s my pajamas.”

Anne snorted. “You’re hilarious. But don't mind them, okay? They just don't know how to mind their business.” She sent a threatening glare to one of her customers who is obviously taking a picture of Wendy, poorly disguising his phone behind a menu. The man jumped in his seat and immediately turned his back on them. 

“So, what can I get you?” Anne asked with a small smile.

“One double double and one iced latte, please, Anne. Thank you.”

As Anne moved to the back of the counter to prepare her order, Wendy felt the eyes on her multiply. She tried to sneak a glance at the people behind her and saw a few of them with their phones out, either obviously pointed at Wendy or clutched in their hands as they excitedly typed on it. Heat rushed up to her face as she nervously fiddled with the sleeve of her hoodie. Did she do something embarrassing? Is she doing something embarrassing right now? Surely it isn't the first time these people saw someone in their pajamas ordering coffee. 

“One iced latte and a double double for you.” Anne placed two cups in front of her. “Just the way you like it,” she winked.

The smell of warm coffee surrounded Wendy as she opened her cup. “No one makes my coffee better than you, Anne,” she sighed. “What will I do without you?”

Anne giggled. “Oh, stop sweet-talking me! You’re cute and all but I don't go for unavailable women, especially those who are freshly taken.”

Wendy frowned. Freshly taken? She wanted to ask Anne for clarification but the barista had already busied herself with preparing the next customer’s order. 

The pairs of eyes are back on Wendy once again—she even felt them multiply as more people entered the cafe for their morning fix—so she ducked her head down and walked out of the store, leaving more confused than when she entered.

---

Rosie was awake by the time Wendy returned. She had one hand on her hips while the other was clutching her phone, a cold expression on her face. 

“Do you have something you want to tell me, unnie?” 

Wendy slowly put her keys down. It looks like whatever negative energy that attached itself to her still hasn't left. “Um, our coffee maker broke so I bought you coffee.” She raised the cup on her hand and gave Rosie what she hoped was a charming smile. 

“No, something important,” Rosie stressed. Her tone and posture showed that she's annoyed, but her face is blank, reserved. She glanced down at the cup on Wendy’s hand. “Thank you for the coffee,” she said, taking the offered cup from Wendy.

“Oh,” Wendy chuckled. How did Rosie already hear about it? “Erm, Anne the barista finds me cute? I just found out about it, that's why I haven't told you. But, really, I didn't think this was a big deal.”

Rosie rolled her eyes. “How can you just realize that now when she—no, unnie, why didn't you tell me about her?”

“Who?”

“Your girlfriend!” 

Wendy blinked. “My what?”

Rosie sighed. “I want you to know that I support you one hundred percent okay? I understand why you hid it from me, and honestly now it makes sense why you refuse to watch her movies with me, but couldn't you have at least arranged something so I could meet her in person? You could've just introduced her as your friend or something, I wouldn't care.”

Rosie took a sip from her drink and continued to pace around their living room. “I know I have been quiet about my admiration of her lately, but still, you know how big of a fan I am!”

“You’re not making any sense.” Wendy pressed the tips of her middle and index fingers to her temple. She could feel a headache coming. 

Rosie ignored her. “And it’s wrong of me, I know, but I do feel some satisfaction for being right about her liking girls. Stan twitter said I was crazy but I know a sapphic when I see one,” she nodded.

“Rosie.” Wendy sat down on their couch, fingers still rubbing circles on her temple. “Please, explain to me what's happening.”

“You and your girlfriend were caught and now you're the number one trending topic on twitter.”

The fingers on Wendy’s temple paused. “I don't have a girlfriend, Rosie.”

It seemed that Wendy’s response seemed to only increase Rosie’s annoyance because she immediately fished her phone out of her pocket and showed her twitter feed to Wendy. “This is you and Irene Bae, right?” 

Wendy looked at the grainy image on the screen and, yeah, that is her. The picture looks like it was taken at a grocery store and, wait, “The snobby woman in the grocery store was Irene Bae?” she shrieked.

The oversized sunglasses and thick coat, Wendy now understands, it’s a disguise. She argued with Irene Bae over bread in a grocery store and she didn’t even know. Famous, rich, and beautiful Irene Bae refused to give her the last remaining bread because she ‘doesn't see how it’s her problem.’

Wendy scoffed. Maybe that’s why she needed the disguise, lest she acts out in public and people saw how she really is without a script to follow. “No one really is perfect,” she mumbled.

“And if you're worried about what the fans think, you’ll be glad to know that most of them are very supportive… and confused as to how you managed to be in a relationship with someone miles out of your league. Now, her fans are—well, most of them are too confused right now to hate you. Of course, there are those who are insisting that you're just frien—”

“That's fake.” Wendy gave the phone back to Rosie. “We aren’t dating.”

“F—fake?” Rosie frowned, staring at her phone. “But you guys look really sweet here, see,” she shows a zoomed-in picture where Wendy was staring at Irene, her hand on top of the actress’. 

“I was holding her hand because I was begging,” Wendy scowled. She plopped the rest of her body down on her sofa, annoyed. She has been trying to get people to notice their music for years, she has worked so hard and sacrificed so many just to get one leg up, and now she finally has people’s attention and it's because of a fake dating scandal?

She pressed a pillow on top of her face. “I can’t believe this is how people will know about me. About us!”

She heard Rosie gasp. “Oh my god, you think this will lead to Irene Bae noticing me?”

---

Wendy’s sour mood stayed throughout the morning and continued on till the afternoon. In hindsight, it was extremely unwise to go out because of the fake articles and viral pictures (that were taken out of context!) about her, but she was getting anxious and the longer Wendy stayed in her apartment, the smaller and more cramped it felt. 

Despite her posting a tweet denying everything, her phone continued to ring almost every minute, signaling a new email as entertainment sites kept asking her for an interview. Her social media were also a mess with hundreds of notifications flooding her phone whenever she unlocked it. It was like her statement generated more attention to the situation. “This is why celebrities have publicists,” Rosie has told her. It finally got too much that she decided to go out for a walk, just to get out of the apartment.

She ended up going to an old bookstore a few blocks away from their building. She didn't plan on it, but she has been walking for a little over 20 minutes already and her feet needed a break. The store was empty save from the cashier and a handful of patrons that thankfully didn't pay her any mind, and Wendy finally felt the weight fall off her shoulders once the store’s doors closed behind her. She grabbed whatever book she could from the closest bookshelf to her before sitting down on one of the reading nooks of the store. 

“That’s my favorite book.”

Wendy snapped her head around and saw a woman clad in a pair of skinny jeans and a black t-shirt. Her face was hidden behind a mask and under a baseball cap but her body language was enough for Wendy to feel the stranger’s uneasiness. “Um, hi?” Wendy greeted.

“Hey, I’m sorry for disturbing you, but I saw you grab that book from the shelf and I just want to say that I hope you end up buying it because I’m sure you're going to enjoy it.” The woman’s rushed speech showed her nervousness, but she still went over and told Wendy, a stranger, about her favorite book. Wendy found it endearing.

“What is it about?”

The woman hesitated before sitting down next to Wendy, her hands visibly shaking on her lap. Wendy tried to give the woman a comforting smile and this worked enough to urge her to talk about the book. The woman spoke softly, her tone melodic even as she was talking about the darker parts of the book. Even though most of the woman’s face was hidden behind her mask and cap, Wendy still saw how brightly her eyes shone as she excitedly told her favorite part of the book and how it resonated with her, trying her best to keep it spoiler-free.

Their initial conversation about books slowly transformed into a personal one. Wendy learned that the woman often went to this bookstore specifically because of how there's almost never any people inside, she learned that even though the woman was working in a field that she dreamed about when she was young, she’s slowly finding herself resenting it, much like the character in the book. And likewise, Wendy told the woman about her own goal in life and how she might be going in the path that her younger self would have never allowed her to take. 

Wendy didn't plan on opening herself up to a stranger in a bookstore, but she weirdly felt comfortable with this woman, despite only knowing her for less than half a day.

The sun was already disappearing into the horizon when the woman’s phone rang, pausing their conversation. She took one look at the screen and suddenly jumped from her seat, glared straight at the cashier of the bookstore, bid Wendy a quick goodbye, and ran out before Wendy could even ask what her name was. 

Wendy stares at the unopened book in her hand. There's no way she can't buy this book now.

---

Rosie greeted Wendy in a similar way she did that morning; one hand on her hip while the other is gripping her phone. The smile that appeared on Wendy's face since her conversation with the stranger at the bookstore immediately fell.

“What is it this time?” Wendy sighed. She removed her shoes, one after the other, as she prepared herself for whatever outrageous rumour that would come out of Rosie’s mouth.

Rosie crossed her arms. “You were on a date with her.”

“And are there pictures?” Wendy challenged. “Because my whole afternoon was spent in a boo—”

“Bookstore with Irene Bae?” Rosie gave her phone to Wendy, showing a picture of her with the stranger from the bookstore. 

Wendy felt her heart drop to her stomach. You have got to be kidding me. “That was her?” She zoomed in on the picture, looking for anything that would disprove the fact that she was once again with Irene Bae and didn't know it. But more importantly, did Irene Bae remember her enough to recognize her? Did she purposely talk to Wendy because she recognized her? Wendy looked at the picture and saw that the stranger’s—Irene Bae’s back was turned to the camera, but Wendy's wide smile was clearly visible in the picture; whoever took it must have been sitting near them—the cashier. 

“Unnie, how can you not recognize her when she's in front of you?” asked Rosie. “You're not lying to me are you? You really aren't dating her?”

“I’m not!” Wendy grumbled as she stomped her way onto their living room sofa and threw her whole body on it, face down. “She was wearing a cap and a mask and unlike you, I don't have her face memorized,” she reasoned, her voice muffled against the foam beneath her. 

“Then there's only one explanation for this,” said Rosie, laying a comforting hand on Wendy.

“She’s stalking me?”

“It’s fate.” 

Wendy lifted her head up from the sofa. “Fate?”

“Yes,” Rosie nodded. “And I can tell that this isn't the end of it, unnie. You’ll meet her again.”

Wendy narrowed her eyes. “Is that a threat? That sounds like a threat.”

---

The conversation with Rosie ended immediately after Wendy made it clear that she will never take Rosie’s ‘fate’ theory seriously. 

Now in her bed, Wendy’s mind wandered to the book in her hand, or specifically the one who enthusiastically recommended it. 

The Irene Bae that she encountered at the grocery store was a complete 180 from the one who recommended the book to her. The one from the grocery store is exactly like someone who would be quiet about a situation like this, no matter how much unwanted and invasive attention it gives Wendy, because she ‘doesn’t see how it’s her problem.’ 

But people have off days, Wendy is aware of that, so it was possible that their encounter at the grocery store was simply a result of a very bad day. 

And maybe, the real source of her troubles is the fact that the charming, endearing woman she met at the bookstore—the one who made Wendy feel comfortable, who Wendy desperately wanted to be friends with, to talk to again—is the reason why Wendy’s neighbors are leaving their door open, even snooping in the hallway, hoping to see even a glance of Wendy to sell to entertainment sites. The sole reason for her first smile since this trainwreck happened is also the one who started it.

Wendy shakes her head. She shouldn't be having thoughts like that for people she doesn't know, especially a big celebrity. She grabbed her phone and decided to clear out her inbox, desperate for any kind of distraction. 963 emails just from today. Wendy sighed, selecting each one before mass deleting, not bothering to read through them anymore. 

Her phone buzzed in her hand. Another email. 

Wendy frowned, this one is different. For one thing, the title of the email doesn't have the words ‘interview’ or  ‘comment’ in it. And another thing, this isn't from entertainment sites, no.

It’s from Irene Bae’s team.