The next day, Wendy made sure to wake up extra early. Jennie had a busy schedule and she didn’t want to mess things up, it seems like she’s already on her bad side, and she didn’t want it to get any worse. More than Jennie’s treatment, she just really needed the job and this one pays pretty well. She freshened herself in the bathroom, dressed, and ate a light breakfast. Today’s going to be a long day. She wanted to get a cab once again, but remembered that she didn’t get paid yet. That means another walk, and that means that she’s going to waste time she didn’t account for. This was bad, she'd be late if she didn’t hustle. She went back into the house and put on her running shoes, much better. Then she zoomed through the streets again. It wasn’t something she wanted to get used to, but she didn’t have any money and asking for some from her parents just didn’t settle well with her. She didn’t have them around for so long, it just felt strange to ask. How ironic that the people closest to you become the farthest sometimes, but that’s how she felt, and trying to survive alone for so long has put her into this mindset, where asking for help meant weakness. She didn’t want to be weak, her pride was too strong for that. 

All of a sudden, life decided to play a little prank on her, little droplets started falling from the sky. She sighed in frustration, how could she forget to check the weather app before leaving? The droplets slowly turned into pouring rain and Wendy took shelter under a small shop. This was bad, she looked at her watch and noticed that she was already ten minutes late. That’s when she decided that waiting any longer is definitely going to be the end of her career, so she decided to run through the rain. Who knows? Maybe Jennie would have the heart to forgive her.

She was incorrect. She did not have a heart nor did she forgive her. “Do you realize just how late you are? I clearly told you to be 30 minutes early, didn’t I?” Wendy nodded solemnly under the rain, she had no umbrella and no coat. Jennie glared at her for a few seconds, then got into the car. Wendy was about to approach the car, when the engine suddenly came to life and the car sped into the distance. Wendy stood there in shock, she was seriously just left behind by her boss. A message showed up on her phone, a simple “I’ll just deal with it myself,” and that was all it took for Wendy’s anger to bubble over. She woke up early, ran all the way here in the rain, and she was simply ditched just like that? Wendy shouted in frustration at nothing in particular, her screams covered by the pouring rain. After a while, she felt cold and tired, so she just sat on the sidewalk next to the parking lot and closed her eyes, trying to forget her anger. She hated this, she hated feeling too much. A few seconds had passed and something strange happened. Wendy couldn’t feel the drops falling on her anymore, but it was clearly still raining from the sound of it. She opened her eyes slightly and looked to see something covering her, when her eyes opened fully, she realized it was an umbrella. Confused, she looked to the side and her breath hitched, it was Irene.

Irene was standing next to her, holding out her umbrella for her. Wendy stared at her, unable to form any words. The thousand things she wanted to say to her after she lost her, and now she couldn’t even open . Wendy continued to stare, until she couldn’t. Every Time she saw Irene’s face, she would remember everything. Every detail, every word said, and every mistake she made that night. She regretted it all, but now what was she supposed to do? She couldn’t bring herself to do or say anything because this Irene knows nothing, it was always about the other Irene, the one who will never come back. Wendy dropped her head and covered her eyes, and waited for Irene to walk away, to leave her behind and never look back.

The footsteps she waited to hear never came, instead she felt shuffling beside her, then it went quiet again. Curious to know what happened exactly, she opened her eyes and immediately lost it. Irene sat down next to her on the sidewalk and was staring at her with concerned eyes. Wendy couldn’t handle it anymore and felt soft tears roll down her cheeks. Irene never broke the silence, she merely sat next to Wendy and gently attempted to dry her tears with her sleeves. This was all too familiar, the caring looks and the warm gentle touches, it almost felt like they had signals sent between them. No talking was necessary, they just understood each other. The previous Irene called it a ‘soulmate link’ and Wendy would always laugh and about it, but maybe she was right after all. She had just met this world’s Irene for the first time, and it feels like they’ve known each other for so long. Wendy's heart skipped a beat and she subconsciously smiled, it was always Irene who moved her stone heart. It was like her heart was just made for Irene to take. As Irene moved her hand away, Wendy’s body screamed at the loss of contact that she almost leaned forward to pursue her touch again. But she mustn’t allow this, she won’t allow herself to fall for Irene no matter what. Wendy didn’t deserve her kind and gentle soul, and she never will.  

Wendy slowly rose from where she was sitting, then stood directly in front of Irene. Irene gave her a questioning look as she saw Wendy close her eyes and take a deep breath. The words that Wendy always wanted to say were right on the tip of her tongue, she wanted to say them, she had to say them, or else she really won’t sleep at night. She gathered up all her remaining courage and energy, stared Irene straight in the eyes, and opened , “I’m sorry. Please forgive me for everything I’ve done.” She then fell on her knees and sighed in frustration, it didn’t feel enough, how will it ever feel enough? It never will. No words or actions will wipe away the reality that she was the main reason her Irene had lost her life. But she had to give it a try, she couldn’t just say nothing and run away from her truth. With that, she stood up again and hesitantly walked away from a very confused Irene. Even though her heart begged her to stop and look back, she never did. Not this time, she couldn’t bear hurting Irene again, it may be the death of her.   

Wendy went straight into the building and headed directly to her office without sparing anyone a glance. She was angry and frustrated both at Jennie and at herself. Maybe if Jennie didn’t just leave her behind, she wouldn’t have to meet Irene. Her heart would still have some peace in it. But of course, nothing ever went the way she wanted to. Then she stopped, she shouldn’t think that, not right after she got her second chance. So she shook her head and tried to focus on the things around her. Her desk was messy, and even though she was quite the neat freak, she didn’t have the energy to clean anything up. She simply walked over to her seat, turned towards the window, and simply stared at the lines of water seeping down. Staring at the rain always calmed her down because while it was pouring and raging outside, she was able to relate to it. The rain somehow represented her emotions, and looking at it like that brought her some peace of mind. With that, she closed her eyes and listened, slowly falling into a deep slumber.

---------------------------------------------------

Wendy woke to a sudden loud bang. She frantically turned around to see the source and saw a seething Jisoo standing right in front of her with a worried joy in the corner. She was confused, was something wrong? Before she could ask, Jisoo beat her to it, “Why aren’t you with Jennie right now?” Her voice low and laced with anger. Wendy almost flinched at the tone, the sweet funny Jisoo suddenly became this intimidating being. “I was going--” Wendy started before she was interrupted with a loud bang on the desk. “You should’ve been there with her, not here sleeping your off!” Jisoo half shouted, Wendy scoffed, so now she’s being blamed, even though she was the one ditched in the pouring rain? She opened to retaliate, but she noticed the look in her eyes, there was urgency and panic swirling inside her once bright pools. “What’s going on?” Wendy asked, looking between the both of them. “Don’t ‘What’s going on me’! Go grab a car and follow after Jennie’s right now!” Jisoo was losing it, something wasn't right. She immediately left after saying what she had to say, but Wendy was beyond confused, her eyes darted over to Joy for an explanation, but all she did was shake her head and place car keys on her desk before following after Jisoo. 

Wendy gulped. This was bad. Like really bad. She was in the parking lot standing next to the car she should be driving right now. Some time has passed and she was genuinely worried about Jennie, but she just couldn’t bring herself to enter the car. Her hands were slightly shaking, after a few deep breaths she managed to open the door and enter the car. She sat inside in silence, but it wasn’t that silent for her. Her heart was pounding in her ears like crazy, her stomach twisted and turned, and her hands were shaking so much that she couldn’t even enter the key to start up the engine. She felt like crying and her breaths were shallow, it was suffocating. She immediately opened the door and left the car, she couldn’t do it. Even after all those years, this fear remained as strong as ever. She leaned her head back, trying to think of another solution. She can’t just simply walk back in there, Jisoo would end her. Taking a cab or something wasn’t an option either, she didn’t have the money for it. She sighed in frustration and smacked her forehead in an attempt to spark some ideas, but it didn’t work. 

She felt a light tap on her shoulder, opening her eyes, she came face to face with bright blond hair and deep chocolate eyes. “Do you need help with that?” the girl asked quietly. Wendy was about to run away in embarrassment, this girl had seen everything, but she had to up her pride. Just this once. She nodded. The girl gently took a hold of Wendy’s hand and pulled the car key out of her balled fist. “Get in the passenger seat.” Wendy went around the car and went in, sighing in relief. The girl beside her studied her curiously. Wendy avoided all eye contact, she didn’t feel like answering questions. “Where to?” she asked. Wendy opened her phone to a map and showed it to the girl. She glanced at the map for a second before her eyes glinted with recognition, it seemed like she knew the place. With a simple twist of the key, the engine roared to life and the two left the parking lot. The girl decided to break the silence, “Hi, I’m Chaeyoung Park.” Wendy slightly smiled,  “And I’m Wendy Son.” The rest of the ride was mostly quiet, a few words were shared here and there, but it wasn’t so bad, Wendy felt comfortable in Chaeyoung’s presence. The girl didn’t seem to have any ill intentions, and she was clearly helping Wendy out of the kindness of her heart. What was up with Wendy finding all these endearing beautiful kind women around her? 

In about 20 minutes, the two arrived at the destination. It was thundering at this point and the rain didn’t have any intentions to stop any time soon it seemed. Chaeyoung parked the car, and Wendy squinted her eyes in an attempt to spot a black car, and she did. She immediately unstrapped her seatbelt and opened the door, speeding over to the other car. Wendy scanned the car and looked through the windows to no use, since the car had black tinted glass. She thought of the car being opened and attempted to open the door. Surprisingly, the door easily swung open. Why would they leave their car open? It doesn’t matter, she had more important things to worry about. She ducked into the car and noticed a small figure balled up on the seat farthest away from her. Wendy looked closer and noticed that the figure was shaking, she was about to reach out, when thunder clapped and a small yelp escaped the tiny ball. 

Wendy sat inside the heated car and closed the door gently. She now understood the whole panic issue on Jisoo’s end. Jennie was afraid of thunder, afraid to the point where her body would shake, screams left , and tears streamed down her face. Even though Jennie treated her badly that day, she couldn’t help the small pang of guilt in her chest. Oh how the great Jennie Kim got reduced to this tiny mess? She wouldn’t know. But she was going to help her either way, she was a nice person once. She was pretty well-known for having one of the kindest hearts out there, not anymore. 

Wendy slowly reached out and tapped Jennie’s shoulder. Jennie flinched, “Don’t touch me!” she screamed. This is going to be rough, Wendy sighed as she leaned closer. “Hey, it’s okay. It’s just me.” she whispered quietly near Jennie’s ear, which prompted her to raise her head and meet Wendy’s eyes. Surprise and relief were evident on her features before they were immediately replaced with that cold exterior. “Why are you here?” she asked in a hard tone. “Because I’m your manager and this is my responsibility.” Wendy answered, already thinking of getting out and walking away, since this is clearly going to be a headache. “My manager? And since when did you start acting like it?” Jennie quipped, taking Wendy by surprise, what’s up with the attitude? She opened to answer, but Jennie refused to let her, “You know what? Don’t answer that. I could care less about your excuses. It’s pretty obvious that you want nothing to do with me or the job.” Wendy was confused, like seriously confused, what’s this woman talking about? “You come late to work everyday. You ignore all my requests calling for you to come. You never do the work I assign you. Heck, you even cried the first day we met, probably to get away from me, right? If you hate me so much, why did you accept the job? Just leave already…  just like everyone else did.” The last part came out as a whisper, but Wendy caught it. She caught it and she wasn’t going to let go of it. 

Jennie put her head down again, refusing to look at Wendy. Wendy on the other hand, lost all feelings of agitation, Jennie wasn’t doing all of this out of the hatred she holds in her heart. She was just another lost soul. She sounded so broken and small, and Wendy couldn’t help but see herself in Jennie, it was almost like looking into a mirror. And there was only one thing Wendy wished she could do to her reflection. She reached her hands out and pulled Jennie closer to her in an embrace. Those broken eyes, which reflected her own, she knew how this all felt like. She knew the pain of it all, and oh how she wished someone was there to help her through it all. That was when it came to her, deep in her heart, she promised to be there for Jennie, this is her second chance after all, and she was going to do good, no matter the annoyances she’ll have to suffer with this job. Jennie flinched at the contact once again and looked at Wendy’s face, as if she was trying to read what was going on in her head. They stayed like that for a while, neither of them pulling away. 

“I don’t hate you,”Wendy stated softly as she rubbed Jennie’s back gently, clearly catching Jennie’s attention, but the latter made no effort to show it as she continued closing her eyes. “Working with you has been such a big honor. It’s just… there’s a lot going on in my life right now, and I can’t control that. So please don’t label that as me hating you. Also, I’m not going anywhere, so you’ll have to deal with me and my beautiful face every morning.” Wendy concluded, trying to omit as many details as possible. She can’t just up and tell Jennie all her life problems, but it’s a start, an attempt to clear up some misunderstandings. Jennie remained unmoving, waiting to see if Wendy was planning to say more, but when she was met with silence, she gave a small nod which was clearly felt by Wendy. A smile subconsciously colored her features.