How I Married My Bias

CHAPTER 3

It was a Sunday morning which means today is Church day. Since there are only a few Filipino Christians here, we just meet in a small apartment room.

Then we'll talk about God and all the blessings and how we're lucky to be his children, then we'll pray and sing.

I actually miss being in a real church with my family. Now I understand how it feels to live abroad, how it feels to miss the things you're used to.
Right next to the apartment was a bookstore. Nowadays, books are considered outdated. Since e-books and social reading websites appeared, books are randomly set aside only to those who still appreciate it.

Well I love books. Books are my life. I love how it touched my fingers and I also love how it smell. It's like smelling the words out of books, the older the better. I don't know, I think I'm just weird.

I am one of the few people who always visit this bookstore. The owner and I are practically friends. As I opened the door, I heard the familiar bell sound of the door.

Mrs. Heo, the owner, was an old widow. Since I left the Philippines, she's the closest thing I had to a mother. Her small eyes widened as she saw me.

I bowed and greeted her. She's a very nice woman, too bad she wasn't blessed with a child. The child would've been so lucky to be with her.

I ran my fingers through a shelf of books looking for a new one to read. I found one that's really interesting called The Locket and pulled it out from the shelf. I scan through the pages and decided to buy the book.

As I was walking through the rows of shelves, I found a book lying open faced on the floor. I looked around to see if anyone dropped but I was the only one there. I picked up the book and was surprised to see that it was the same book, The Locket.

There was one page that was folded. I opened the book to that page and found a small piece of paper and written in it was the word 'Locket'.

It was weird. I went to the counter to ask Mrs. Heo about the book. She said it was already stamped (meaning it was bought already). The owner must've left the book or dropped it accidentally.

I asked Mrs. Heo to keep the book in case the owner comes back for it and she agreed. She put the book on a drawer in the counter. I bought the book and waved good bye to Mrs. Heo.

I decided to walk home since it was a fair day and it was less cold than the days before.

I thought of making Adobo for lunch today so I decided to stop by the supermarket. As soon as I got in, they were playing Seventeen's Love Letter. My vibe just got even better.

The lyrics floated to my head and the melody seemed like you were walking by the beach and looking at the fair blue sky and the wide calm sea.

I almost felt the moist sand in my feet, the salty air blowing my hair and my hands locked with Wonwoo's hands. My thoughts were disturbed when my phone ringed. It was Divina.

"Hey," I said.

There was no answer.

"Hello? Divina? Are you there?"

But still no answer.

I was about to put the call down when a loud, deafening shriek come from the other line. I almost dropped my phone and I think I hurt my ear.

"You won't believe what I'm about to say but . . . KYAAHHH!" Divina shrieked on the other line.

"Is that so great that you have to shriek like a bat?" I asked irritated.

"I'LL BE ONE OF THE OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHERS OF THE SEVENTEEN UPCOMING EVENT" she said way too excitedly that you might doubt she's telling the truth.

"You are? Wow, congratulations Div." I said smiling as I put a bag of chips into my grocery cart.

"And you're writing a book about them," she said way too fast that I think I misheard it.

"Wha-what? Me? Writing? Book? For Se-seventeen?" I asked nervously that I dropped the can of beans I am holding.

Later that afternoon, Divina came to my apartment. I was saving that bag of chips for my movie marathon tonight but I had no choice but to open it.

You don't want to know how much this girl likes chips. It's like a country she's ready to defend in the face of enemies.

We sat on my bed, fingers soaked with cheese powder.

"Yeah, I talked to one of the staff and they told me that they liked my photos on Insta and they'd hire me for Seventeen's performance. I mean, can you believe that?," she said then hits me.

"I guess Insta really is helpful." I said rubbing my shoulders. I got hit by Divina a million times since college and time didn't change her even a bit.

"And they wanted you to write their book. Can you believe that? We've been dreaming of this since college." She said with her mouth full.

"You liar. How would they even hire me when I didn't even apply for them?" I said sinking my hand into the bag of chips.

"I don't know. Wait, you didn't apply for that job?" she asked, eyes wide with confusion. I nodded. I'm very sure I didn't apply for them. 100 and 1 percent sure.

Just then, my phone ringed. I stood up from my bed and wiped my cheese-stained fingers and answer the call. It was a woman.

"Annyeong! I'm Soohee, I'm a staff of Pledis assigned to Seventeen."
Upon hearing SEVENTEEN, my eyes widened with shock.

"Who is it?" asked Divina with the softest voice she could.

"Staff. From Seventeen," I whispered back to Divina.

"Is is the personal number of Miss Dennielle?" the woman asked.

Dennielle, yes it is me. The phone call is really for me. I can't believe it.

"Y-yes, it is." I answered with a nervous voice.