Wendy was pretty bored busy when Seulgi bursted out of nowhere, convincing her to accompany the latter to this legen-wait for it-dary— legendary party. Wendy kept a mental note to lock Seulgi out of her netflix account for watching too much How I met your mother.
“I’m telling you bro, this party is going to be EPIC!” Seulgi exclaimed as she detail out the biggest party of this school year.
Not long ago, Wendy received a text message from the star soccer player Kim Soo Hyun about a party that he is hosting this weekend.
From: Kim Soo Hyun
It’s time to bust our asses (and livers) because my parents are out for the weekend and I WILL BE HOSTING THIS KICK ASS END OF SUMMER PARTY.
SEE YOU LOSERS, BRING BOOZE.
She considers him obnoxious just for that text alone but Wendy is obliged to go, part of the best friend pact.
“And if you leave me all alone?” Wendy asks
“Not gonna happen, I won’t sneak off to God knows where.” Seulgi responded, she even went as far as raising her pinky finger to do a childish act of assurance.
A Junior student from the Student Council joined their little discussion, “What are you guys talking about?”
“Party at Kim Soo Hyun’s”
“Oh yeah, I heard everyone got the memo already.” Joy remarked, “I can’t believe summer’s over.”
“I bet you had fun this summer.” Seulgi jests.
“You bet I did” Joy replied coyly.
Wendy wishes she’s dumb or oblivious to the fact that her two friends are definitely sleeping together.
“You know what? I have a thing to do today with my parents so I’ll leave you two alone.” She bids farewell.
It was a lie, she wanted to clean herself from the eye-fucking that Joy and Seulgi let her be a witness of. The only way to achieve that is to distant herself, as far away as possible, from the main source of her disgust.
Hey, she’s not being a big antagonist to their love fuck story but she’d rather be excluded from that narrative than to see them lip lock out of nowhere. Knowing Seulgi, there is a high possibility that it will happen whether Wendy’s present or not.
She power walks from a dark and scary alley, one that she avoids passing through at night but she’s left with no choice tonight. Luckily, no one seems to be showing interest at mugging her, well they’re not going to get lucky with her, all she brought is a powerbank and a granola bar.
“Hey miss,” a bystander called for her attention, “miss!”
This is it, this is where she’ll die. She haven’t even told her mom and dad about Harvard, she haven’t bragged about it to Seulgi either. How can this be her end?
“Miss” a guy wearing a black hoodie, giving off eerie vibes, tapped her shoulder. “I think you dropped this.”
Due to her frightened state, Wendy grabbed whatever the hell he’s trying to give her and made a run for it. Looking like a crazy woman and tainting her reputation is the least of her worries right now.
A phone??
But it does not look like any ordinary phone that everyone sees on the television. The thickness of the phone looked like it came from the past or maybe it’s a new invention of Apple?
Wendy put down the odd phone on her study table, picked up her totally normal looking Iphone and rings Yeri.
“This better be worth it, Seungwan. You disturbed my sleeping sesh with Doyeon!” A loud voice coming from the other end of the line startled her. Yeri’s a bit dramatic, especially when it means impressing her oh-so dreamy crush.
“Calm down, will you? I need to ask you something since you’re advanced on technology.” Wendy said.
“You’ve come to the right person then, it comes with a price.” Wendy rolled her eyes, she knew asking something from Yeri would isn’t free. “And before you ask, I want the new Iphone 12.”
“Done.” Wendy agreed instantly, “Now, do you know a company who makes phones that are as thick as a—let’s say a hundred paged book.”
“Ew, that’s so 2000’s. Why would you even want a phone like that?” Yeri cried out.
“That’s weird,” Wendy mumbled, “Yeri, I’ll call you ba—“ Too late, Yeri already hung up the phone.
The odd mobile phone suddenly lit up without any notifications to show. What confused Wendy even more is the brand name of the phone.
Enhanced Electronic Identification—Network Remodelled
“What the fuck?” Wendy inspected the phone further.
The lockscreen loaded, a blank black background. She swiped up and saw the same thing. A blank black wallpaper with two applications installed, the camera application and the notes application.
Wendy was close to tapping it when her phone rang, startling her and accidentally dropping the bizarre phone to the ground.
“Hello?” She quickly responded.
“Not cool that you left me all alone with Joy bro.” Seulgi replied.
“Listen Seul, I gotta go okay? I’m busy.” She hung up on a protesting Seulgi. That’s a problem for another day.
Wendy lifted the fallen phone. Fortunately for her, the screen wasn’t shattered. Well, it is an ancient phone and rumor has it that Nokia phones don’t break easily so this must be a Nokia product.
She went back to the home screen and tapped the notes application.
There was only one note saved on the phone.
20/11/06
My father invented a phone that could do more harm than good. It almost got pitched to a famous manufacturer of mobile phones but luckily I snatched it just in time before his meeting.
To the person who managed to get a hold of this. Destroy it! Destroy it and leave it in someplace where people can’t find it. I tried to destroy this phone but something’s wrong with it.
Do not, and I mean this with my whole heart, DO NOT OPEN THE CAMERA APP AND DO NOT TAKE A PHOTO.
Please just destroy this monster of a phone, I beg of you.
-B.J
Now, Wendy has the option to either destroy the phone like what B.J says or open the camera application and check what’s the big fuss is all about.
Curiosity gets the best of people right?
No turning back, Wendy.
Day 1 of trying the phone
Wendy tried a numerous attempt at figuring out what the phone does but failing miserably. She took a picture of everything, from the trees to her gigantic stuffed toy, Manen. It showed nothing but a normal picture, though pixelated from the low resolution camera.
She even surfed the internet to find out more about this phone model but, once again, she’s left with a dead end. All she gathered was an inventor of a few phones similar to what she has but just a tad different because the applications from their phones are complete unlike hers. The phones earned a lot of criticisms for bugs and lags, even as far as the phone takes a picture all by itself. The manufacturer, B.J Incorporation, phased out all controversial phones and replaced it with the new Apple products instead.
Wendy knew she has to destroy the phone sooner or later but the more she uses it, the curious she gets on how the phone functions.
Day 2 of trying the phone and a day before the big summer party at Kim Soo Hyun’s
Still no progress from Wendy. Times like this when she wishes she should’ve taken seriously her computer lab lessons, mayhaps she’ll learn a thing or two about technologies.
She doesn’t even consider going to Yeri for help. Buying her one Iphone 12 is pricey but manageable, however buying her another apple product is just opportunistic of Yeri. Plus, she has no money to spare in case the phone that she has in her grasp turns out to be an illegal one and she’ll get locked up. Paying for lawyers nowadays is pretty expensive, paying for bail isn’t cheap either.
Last click from the phone’s camera and she called it a day. Clearly, Wendy won’t figure out what it does today. Maybe she will in Kim Soo Hyun’s party, although she is prepared for the extra teasing she’ll receive from her friends for brining a jurassic phone.
“Yes Seulgi, I’m dressing up for the party now”
Day 3 and hopefully the last day of trying the phone. Also, it’s Kim Soo Hyun’s party.
“Good, I’m just making sure that you won’t bail on me.” Seulgi said.
“Between the two of us, I’m not the one who bails on the other.” Wendy spewed.
“Okay that was one time, Wendy!” Seulgi interjected.
“It’s actually three times but you were drunk at the other two so all is forgiven, Seul.” Wendy quipped.
“Whatever, I’m downstairs already. Hurry up, Joy’s blowing up my phone.”
Wendy hurriedly grabbed her things, including the jurassic phone, and made her way down the stairs. There she saw Seulgi, leaning on her Jeep like the fuckboy that she is, with a rayban glasses as if it is not nighttime and the sun is out.
“You look stupid,” She remarked, “There’s no sun.”
“It’s called style, you buffoon.” Seulgi defensively retorted.
“Whatever, let’s just go to this stupid party.”
“You said epic wrong”
“Trust me, I didn’t.”
Wendy let out a laugh when she saw Seulgi gripping the steering wheel with an annoyed look on her face.
This is going to be a looooong night.
A few steps away from her stood an unfamiliar face, not like she knows everyone from her school but she’s never seen anyone like her.
“Seul” Wendy turned to her right only to realize that Seulgi left her all alone. “Talkshit”
There’s nothing left for Wendy to do other than to figure out how the stupid phone works. She theorized that the camera does not work on non-living things or things that do not exist (or not programmed to be recognized by the mobile phone), therefore she’ll test it out with a few friendly faces and hopefully it puts her mind to rest.
Her first subject is Naeun from Geometry class, a narcissist who never turns down a photo op.
“Hey Naeun!” She called out for the tall girl.
“Oh hey Seungwan, I didn’t peg you as a party girl.” The other commented.
“I got dragged by my bestfriend,” Wendy starts, “by the way, your outfit looks amazing and it would be a waste if it didn’t get documented right?”
“Oh totes! Come on, snap me up.”
Wendy took out her phone, ignored the judging expression of Naeun and snapped a quick picture.
Name: Son Na-eun
Age: 17 years old
Relationship: Acquaintance
Last lie: I did not sleep with your boyfriend, Eunji.
Wendy’s eyes widen at the bits of information displayed on the screen of her phone.
“Hey, is something wrong?” Naeun asks her with concern.
“I—I gotta go.” She stammers before speeding out of the kitchen.
Pacing back and forth, Wendy gnaws on her bottom lip. She finally figured out how the phone works but she doesn’t feel ecstatic at all. For all she knows, she’s letting the government see all the information that she gathered from Naeun. Yes, she believes in the FBI spying on the people through cellular phones theory.
“Wendy, you’re here. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Seulgi jogged up to her lonesome best friend. “Dude what’s wrong?”
“Huh?” Wendy snapped back to reality. “Nothing, why are you here?”
“I asked around where you were and they saw you running in this direction. They told me you look disturbed, is anything wrong?” Seulgi elaborated.
Wendy’s left with two choices once more, she could tell Seulgi the truth or lie her way out in case her best friend find it weird that she has a phone sent from outer space. It might be an invention by aliens.
“I had too much to drink.” She poorly lies.
Seulgi eyed her cautiously, “You sure?”
“Yes” she answered rather quickly.
“Okayyyy” Seulgi responded, dragging the y, “I’ll go back inside, message me if you wanna go home alright?”
Wendy only nods, her thoughts consuming her focus again.
Day 1 of finally figuring out what the hell that phone does and also not knowing what to do with it.
Her conscience is telling screaming at her to just destroy the phone before it falls on the wrong hands one day. She watched too many dramas to know how this will end. Howbeit, she finds it exciting to know what people lie about. Naeun certainly slept with Eunji’s boyfriend, a bad choice by the way because men in general are disgusting.
Trying it won’t hurt right? It’s only Wendy who will know about the information, afterall.
She went up to her best friend and asked her to pose.
“Dude how old is that phone? Is that from the mesozoic era?”
Name: Kang Seulgi
Age: 17 years old
Relationship: Best friend
Last lie: I’m not in love with you, Joy.
Ooh that’s a tough one, Wendy thought. All she hypothesised is Joy and Seulgi are sleeping together but she never actually got to the part where Seulgi showed romantic interest with Joy.
The next person she asked for a picture is the culprit who stole her best friend’s heart.
Name: Park Sooyoung
Age: 16 years old
Relationship: Friends
Last lie: Oh yeah? I don’t have feeling for you either, Kang Seulgi.
Wendy scratched her head, feeling agitated at the situation of her two friends.
“You should admit your feelings to my best friend, Joy. Your pride will get you nowhere.” said Wendy.
“What are you talking about?” Joy asks anxiously.
“She feels the same way.” was Wendy’s last answer before walking towards her next prospect.
Yeri, her sophomore friend who treats her like a fucking ATM machine, posed for her with no questions asked.
Name: Kim Yerim
Age: 15 years old
Relationship: Friend
Last lie: I don’t like Saeron, Doyeon.
Now that’s a great way to end her night. Finding out who Yeri really likes help her get the revenge she’s been looking for ever since Yeri became her frenemy.
Other people didn’t catch her interest though, some varies from a white lie or a boring one. The popular jocks and cheerleaders, however, amused her.
A popular cheerleader, Jennie Kim, lied about basketball star player Kim Jongin being a great lover in bed. Another one is from softball captain, Lisa Manoban, lying about her true feelings for the co-captain of the cheer squad, Chaeyoung Park.
As entertaining as it is, Wendy grew tired of being intrigued with the lives of her schoolmates. She has to make a hard decision by tonight.
Day 1 of Senior Year
Wendy’s been dreading this day for a whole week. She is not mentally, emotionally, and physically prepared to be swamped by school works and thesis writing.
The only thing she’s looking forward to is trying out the phone to her teachers.
Yes, Wendy chose to keep the phone and destroy it after she graduates high school.
And hopefully, she bumps into the girl she saw at Kim Soo Hyun’s party. The unfamiliar yet enticing black haired woman.
“What’s your first class?” Seulgi asks her.
Wendy flipped the paper she’s holding to examine the schedule she was given.
“Geometry, 7:30 AM” Wendy whined.
“Poor you, I got Ms. Rose for first period.” Seulgi stuck her tongue out.
“Yes, let’s see what your girlfriend has to say about you thirsting over a teacher.” Wendy fought back.
A few days after Kim Soo Hyun’s party, Wendy set Joy and Seulgi up on a date. One thing led to another and they’re girlfriends now who sleep with each other and not just friends who casually have sex.
“Whatever, I’ll be punctual for once.” Seulgi said, walking away from her best friend.
Wendy shook her head at Seulgi’s weird antics. Crushing on a teacher is one thing but doing foolish stuff to get her attention is on a new level of stupidity.
She walked to the opposite direction Seulgi took, passing by a few Juniors including Joy who slapped the back of her head. Wendy flipped her off.
“Hey” a soft voice called for her attention, “You’re Wendy right?”
Wendy turned to face the owner of the softest voice she has ever heard and saw the girl she’s been craving to see ever since the party.
“Hi” that’s it?
“Hi” Wendy heard the most beautiful girl let out a giggle. “I’m kinda lost.”
“Oh where are you headed?” Wendy asks.
“Geometry for my first period but I don’t know where that is.” The girl gave Wendy a timid smile.
“It’s your lucky day, geometry’s my first subject too.” Wendy expressed brightly.
They walk side by side, with Wendy stealing a few glances here and there.
Wendy feels overjoyed with her companion. Her nameless companion that is. She should ask for her name right? But she’s too scared to do so.
If only there’s a way to know her better.
Oh wait, her phone!
“So you’re telling me, there’s a new student in our school who looks so beautiful that you can’t help but stutter every time you look at her?” Seulgi recapped the few notes she took after listening to Wendy’s incoherent rants.
“You got all that from my holy shit Seulgi she’s fucking beautiful it’s insane and other nonsensical words?” Wendy asked skeptically.
“I am not your bestfriend for nothing,” Seulgi replied, “Ask her out then and introduce her to me!”
“I will, once I learn what her name is.” said Wendy.
“You have your first period with her, she did not introduce herself?” Seulgi then replied.
“Well, we were near the classroom door when she told me she forgot her book in the library,” Wendy begins, “She never attended Geometry.”
“Weird,” Seulgi reacts, “but I don’t blame her. I hate Geometry, I’d cut classes if it weren’t for Joy’s threat.”
“I don’t even wanna know what she has on you.” Wendy grunts.
“Hey, cheer up buddy. You’ll get her name soon!” Seulgi encourages her disheartened best friend.
Wendy gripped her phone tightly. She knows her last mission before destroying it.
Day 2 of school and Day 1 of my attempt to get to know Miss Holy-Shit-She’s-So-Beautiful.
A few steps away from her stood the most elegant looking lady in the hallway. Wendy gathered up all her courage to talk to her unknown crush.
“Hey,” she greets cheerfully, “I didn’t see you in Geometry yesterday.”
“I got sent home, my father fetched me for a family business matter.” The other girl replied evenly, it almost brought Wendy’s spirits down.
“Well, do you still have Geometry for your first period?” Wendy asks.
“No, I have Chemistry.” The girl smiled shyly, tucking her hair behind her ear and grabbing her books from her locker. All that made Wendy’s heart leap.
“Oh okay, I’ll see you around then.” Wendy bids her farewell and proceeds to her first period.
Wendy sucks at talking to gorgeous girls who does not even look a little bit fazed by Wendy's flirtatious friendly approach.
Day 20 of Senior Year and Day 19 of hanging out with the most beautiful girl in school.
Wendy has been spending her free time with the new girl in school. However, her confidence falters when it comes to asking her name. She’s still named as holy-shit-she’s-so-beautiful as Seulgi would name it.
There has been numerous attempts to capture her picture in Wendy’s other phone as well but every time she tries to grab it from her bag, she always pulls out her Iphone without the intention of using it.
And now, they’re here again at their usual spot. A hidden lake near the school’s garden. No one’s familiar with this location because they’re interested on watching the soccer players’ practice.
“How are you liking it here so far?” Wendy breaks the ice.
“Great, everyone’s nice.” She answers.
“And the food at the cafeteria?” Wendy can feel her cheeks heat up from embarrassment. She’s pathetic, asking the taste of a cafeteria food? For what?
She chuckled, “It’s alright. I prefer fast food chickens though.”
“No way, me too!” Wendy exclaims, “Why did you transfer here though?”
“My father keeps getting relocated and this school is the nearest one from our new home.” She explains
“Ah, well if you don’t mind. I want to show you around town someday.” Wendy offers with a warm smile. "There are a lot of buildings that you have to see. Restaurants you have to try out. Sceneries you have to appreciate. Honestly, Busan is the best place to be for a night stroll. What do you say?
“I’d like that.” She smiled in return.
What the other girl doesn't know is Wendy likes the idea of doing all that with her too. Maybe she likes it TOO much for it to be friendly.
Day 65 of Senior Year and Day 64 of crushing on her.
She decided that today is the day she’ll take a picture of her long time crush. It has been a long overdue decision but today’s the day and she will not chicken out.
Seulgi has been up on her ass, along with Joy, asking to meet her crush. Ever since the 2nd day of classes, she’s been blowing off her best friend and her girlfriend to hang out with her crush. Albeit the reassurance from Seulgi that it’s fine, Wendy still feels a tad bit guilty.
This is her apology for Seulgi and a grand gesture for herself.
They’ve been on a few dates, she even showed her Wendy’s romantic side through picking flowers and treating her on a nice dinner date. And if Wendy’s reading the signs right, her crush likes her back too.
The night before her date with her crush today, she mentioned her plan to Seulgi. Including the device that binds her and her crush’s future. At first, Seulgi was skeptical about the whole phone thing, Wendy expected that reaction, but as she explained how it works and how it helped Seulgi get Joy as her girlfriend, Seulgi slowly believes that it is, in fact, a powerful device.
So now she’s in front of her dresser, frantically searching for the perfect outfit to wear for her date later tonight. She wants to look good in front of her, a look that will surely make her remember Wendy for days.
She settled on a light blue long sleeves (folded in ¾), a beige khaki shorts, and a pair of white sneakers to finish the look. Despite the outfit looking simple, Wendy feels more confident with herself.
She’ll totally nail this date.
6:30P.M
My annoying best friend 🐯
Yo are you on your way to that date?
Break a leg bro!
Wait not literally alright?
Goodluck!!! Hope you get the girl!
Wendy reads Seulgi’s message while waiting for her date to arrive at the place they agreed on.
6:45 P.M
My annoying ass best friend 🐯
So I’ve been so curious about that phone and I’m researching about it….
Sorry! I wanna make sure you won’t die bc of it
Wendy sees her arriving at the place, looking as beautiful as ever with her blue dress and a pair of black stilettos.
“Hey, you made it.” Wendy says, still in disbelief that the most beautiful girl in school is going on a date with her. How lucky can she get?
“Traffic’s bad, I’m sorry to keep you waiting.” She says.
“It’s fine, I did not wait that long anyway.” Wendy reassured her.
“So shall we eat?”
7:00 P.M
My annoying ass bestfriend 🐯
You did research about that phone right?
Like in depth?
Bro pick up the phone
Please just pick up the fucking phone
The night was nearing to its end.
Wendy won’t deny that every time she’s with her, everything feels lighter and brighter. She won’t let this moment pass without saying her true feelings.
“Do you mind if I take a picture of you real quick?” Wendy finally mustered up the courage to change the course of their relationship.
The other girl tensed at Wendy’s question but the latter pays no mind about it. All she’s focused on right now is knowing the name of the girl who stole her heart ever since she saw her at Kim Soo Hyun’s party.
7:10 PM
My annoying bestfriend 🐯
Wendy I’m not kidding anymore
Please pick up the phone.
I looked into the manufacturer of that device and they’re still operating.
Wendy, if she is who I think she is then you must stop what you’re about to do.
Wendy pulled out the device and waited for it to focus on the girl in front of her.
Without any choice left, the girl tried her best to make her smile as natural as possible.
Here it goes, Wendy thoughts.
[System Error]
“Huh?” Wendy mumbles, “Hey, I’m sorry fo—“ but when she looked up, the girl was nowhere to be found.
7:15 P.M
My annoying best friend 🐯
I know her name now.
You should learn how to pick up the phone, Wendy.
Her name’s Bae Joohyun by the way. Hope the initials sound familiar to you.
She’s programmed, Wendy, she’s not real.
She won’t be detected by that device because she IS the device.
Destroy that phone and don’t let anyone get a hold of it ever again. You are tricked into thinking Bae Joohyun is a real person but she is not.
She is a delusion that the manufacturers created to lure people into buying the phones.
She is an illusion, Wendy.
But to Wendy, Bae Joohyun felt real.