Song: She's in the Rain by The Rose

“Yeah, I’ll meet you there instead,” you murmured on the phone while talking to Chanyeol.

Your boyfriend said he needed to pass by the studio first and will need another hour before he can pick you up.

“Are you really going to the studio?” you asked, being paranoid as to what he might be doing.

“Yes. I’m really sorry, Minna. This is sudden but I need to do this.”

You let out a cathartic exhale. “Okay. I’ll see you at the steakhouse instead so you wouldn’t need to go back and forth with the heavy traffic too.”

“Thank you, Minna. I’ll see you there.”

“I was really hoping to surprise him with this look,” you whispered as you stared at yourself in the mirror.

“You’ll ride the bus wearing that?” Naeun scoffed. She and Kibum were on the sofa, running a Netflix marathon.

“I’ll take a cab, most likely.”

“You get going now. It’s rush hour, I doubt you can get a ride that fast,” Kibum suggested.

“Can you drive me there instead?” you tried to smile charmingly at your friends.

“Nah, you’re a big girl now, Minna. You can handle this yourself,” Naeun shook her head. “If I were you I would have insisted Chanyeol to pick me up.”

“Like you said, it’s rush hour. The studio is at the other side of the city from your house.”

“And so? He’s my boyfriend, he’s the one who needed to make a detour. Why am I the one who’s going to adjust?” she whined.

Kibum nodded. “She does have a point. At the same time, it’s the reason why she’s still single until now.”

“Hey!” Naeun threw some popcorn at him.

“I’m just telling the truth!”

“I’ll get going now. But if I have a difficult time getting a ride you don’t have any other choice but to take me there.”

The both ignored you.

“Guys, what happened with the both of you? You’re stuck here in the house, watching whatever. You need to get a life!”

You were surprised when both laughed so suddenly.

“Look, she wants us to get a life now,” Kibum kept slapping his leg.

You explained yourself. “Well, you only spend time here at the house. How are you going to see what’s out there?”

“What’s gotten into you? We’ve been like this for the longest time. You’re even worse than us. Did you forget?”

You tried racking your brain for any memory regarding what Naeun said, but you can’t.

“You’d even hide from your own boyfriend here at Naeun’s house because you hated going out. Your work has taken you to all these weird places that’s why you want to spend your time off in the house. Seriously? You forgot?” Kibum was surprised.

“That’s a made up story,” you shrugged.

“Wow, this one has selective memory. Must be the ty dress and high heels,” Kibum’s lips formed a straight line.

“I agree, I agree,” Naeun nodded.

“Whatever. I’ll get going now,” you turned around, eyebrows gathered in the middle. What the hell is your reality? From what you remember, you might be an introvert, but not to the extent where you’d hide from your own boyfriend.

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

You thought you could handle wearing Naeun’s stilettos, but your feet had started feeling sore while waiting for a cab. It was already twenty minutes and not a single cab passed by, so you decided to go to the bus stop instead, ready to ride either the bus, or a cab. Good thing you wore Chanyeol's huge hoodie as it hid your tight outfit underneath.

“Uggghhhhh…” you almost rolled your eyes seeing the long queue of people waiting for the bus. There were other people waiting for a cab as well. For sure it’ll take you a while to arrive at your intended destination.

“Why isn’t he picking up…” you talked to yourself as you tried calling Chanyeol. Naeun does have a point. You should have let Chanyeol pick you up instead.

You didn’t know the next thing to do, so out of frustration, you simply sat down the waiting area of the bus stop.

Holy …everything suddenly felt familiar.

An old lady took the space beside you and kept looking at you.

“Yes, I am that reporter from Chosun 7,” you told her without looking at her. Why the hell is this happening again???

“How did you know I was going to ask that, miss?” the old lady smiled.

“I get that question a lot, ma’am,” you said timidly as you glanced at her. It was the exact lady from before.

It happened in the morning the past two times, and at nighttime this instance.

“I always watch your segment. It’s very entertaining,” the old lady repeated her lines. “My favorite is when you reported that albino calf. It was so cute.”

“Are you going to say that I need to put more makeup, ma’am? To have a little color?” you asked.

“Wow, how did you know? Can you read my mind?” she was amazed.

You decided to ride on this foolishness. “As weird as it may sound, I dreamt of this exact moment already. I may have gotten back in time. The timing is just different, but the way you approached me and asked me questions are the same.”

She smiled and leaned back her chair. “Even if you try to tweak some things, what’s meant to happen will still happen, miss.”

“So the concept of having free will is not true, then? Because everything is predetermined? What’s the purpose of life, then?” you asked openly.

“You still have free will. How you navigate through your daily life, that’s free will. But at the end of the day, those major things that will mold us, those that are out of our control, the things that are determined by the universe will still happen.”

You let out a sigh at all the ridiculousness you were hearing. At the same time, does it mean that Chanyeol is still meant to cheat on you, no matter how hard you work on your relationship?

“Yes…” the old woman whispered, as if reading your mind.

“I’m sorry, ma’am?”

“Nothing. My bus is here, miss. See you on the screen.”

Your gaze followed her and just so you can shake things up, you decided to follow her on her bus.

You tapped your card but it kept returning an error message.

“Load up first, miss and take the next bus…” the driver said impassively.

“This is supplied by my company. I’m sure this always has funds, sir,” you explained and kept tapping. You rummaged through your bag for money, but you were out of coins and bills.

How convenient, you thought.

“Miss, there’s a long line already at your back,” the driver explained. “Please take the next bus.”

You were surprised of the people waiting for you behind you, as you were sure that queue wasn’t there when you hopped on that particular bus.

“I’m sorry for holding you off,” you bowed and went down, taking extra effort as you needed to balance yourself in your stilettos.

The old lady looked back at you as the bus started moving. She gave a smirk before the bus faded into nothingness.

“, don’t I really have any money left here?” you kept looking at your bag. “I am so sure I have some bills here,” you took your wallet out, and saw some won bills tucked at the cardholder.

“Holy ing …it’s as if the universe didn’t want me to ride that bus in the first place,” you shook your head and scoffed.

By some miracle, there was a cab on standby, and you immediately hailed it so you can finally go to your destination.

“Sour Entertainment please at Cheongdam,” you told the driver. Yes, you were supposed to go straight to the steakhouse, but your paranoid mind kept telling you to go to Chanyeol’s studio first.

You’ll never know, Minna. You thought.

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

“Oh, you’re here,” Chanyeol greeted Seolhyun that evening in the padded recording studio.

“Yes. I accompanied Jiho at work this afternoon and I thought of staying here until the dinner with the gang,” she explained. “Why are you here?” she asked, eyes wide.

“Finishing touches for the song of A8 as they are insisting I submit everything today. It won’t take more than 30 minutes so yeah, our dinner is safe,” he started working on the laptop and mixer.

Seolhyun smiled. "I'm sure it's going to be another hit."

“Where is Jiho?” Chanyeol knew him as one of Seolhyun’s flavors of that month.

“He was called for a meeting with his boss.”

“I see.”

Only the music Chanyeol was working on filled the room.

“It’s only the two of us, then,” Seolhyun commented flirtatiously.

Chanyeol kept quiet, pretending he didn’t hear what she said. Being friends for a long time, he already knew her quirks particularly this coy side of her.

“Yeol,” she called him.

Chanyeol’s eyebrows creased because that nickname is only reserved to be said by his girl.

“Heya, I called you, Yeol,” Seolhyun appeared on his right, brushing her arm on his.

“Sorry, I’m clearly rushing to finish this song,” Chanyeol didn’t look at her anymore.

“Why don’t you finish that later and have fun with me in the meantime?” she proposed.

Chanyeol shook his head as he smiled weakly.

“I’ve been wanting to do it in the studio.”

“Good for you and Jiho, then,” Chanyeol ignored her.

“No, not with Jiho. With you, Yeol…” she traced her fingers on Chanyeol’s arms.

He immediately distanced himself from her. “Stop it, Seolhyun. I have let you be with your advances for some time now but I’m telling you now; please stop.”

She pretended to laugh. “Come on, we’ve liked each other for the longest time. This room is padded; nobody will hear us outside. And are you still going to deny it now, that your relationship with Minna is about to end soon?”

He quickly glanced at her. “Who the hell told you that?”

“Uh, everyone in our group?” she said innocently. “I mean, I only tried to be close to Jiho so I can finally have this kind of alone time with you.”

“Minna and I are trying to work things out. Please don’t bother me anymore. I’m only being civil with you since we’re friends. But I don’t have any intentions of hooking up with you.”

She leaned closer. “That’s not how you were when you’re drunk. You are lusting after me, and you can’t deny it; the drunk Chanyeol clearly told me that.”

“Told you what?”

“That you’d bang me if given the chance.”

Chanyeol stood up and went towards the door. “Please, Seolhyun. I am trying to work here, and you obviously aren’t letting me. I have a deadline and my girl is already waiting for me. Please leave. I’ll see you at the steakhouse.”

Seolhyun will not be fazed; she went close to him as she stood up and had him against the wall.

It was the same timing that you entered the studio and looked