She knew that she was screwed in life with a name like Bonita, but just like she had no control over what family she was born into, she had no control over her name. Her parents, who had nothing but each other's love, thought of her as their riches. To her parents, she was their little black-haired 'Bonita', and that's how the name came about. When she had been an angsty teenager tired of being teased for her name, she had thought countless times about getting it legally changed when she was an adult. However, that all changed when her parents died tragically in a car crash during her freshman year of university, leaving her alone. Her name was the only familiar thing she had to hang on to so she kept it.

There were times where she felt like her university life would become darker than her high school years. In high school, it was just the typical coming-of-age angst. Upon the death of her parents during what was already a stressful and competitive university experience, it was no longer angst but a deep-seeded depression. There were multiple nights she'd be confronted with images of her parents' lifeless bodies in the morgue and the passive faces of officers who tried to console her raging self in her nightmares.

'Why didn't you take me with you?' Bonita couldn't help but think.

What should have been a year of promise began to become a year of disappointments. She began to miss classes due to her depression, and because she was missing all her classes, she was failing as a consequence. Her aspiration to obtain a degree to become a screenwriter was slowly sinking like the setting of the sun. She didn't think that anything could save her from the crippling depression she was feeling, but she was proven wrong in the unlikeliest of ways through none other than a television show called 'Bubble'.

It premiered on the day she had decided she was fed up with the pain. Sitting on the couch with her favorite meal in front of her since she planned on treating it like her last, she turned the television on for distraction. She never expected to feel a connection with the main character of the show—a man her age who had grown up isolated from the world in a 'bubble' of sorts created by his family so he could withstand the end of the world. Bonita had no idea how a show like that could stretch beyond a limited series, but the longer she watched it, the more she found herself relating to the main character, Bang Chan. She saw herself in him, and that's what she assumed others could too, since the show went on to be renewed for multiple seasons.

As odd as it was to say, that show saved her life that day. The feelings of isolation and loneliness were reciprocated, even if it was just through the screen. Choosing to live, Bonita attempted to turn her life around in any way she could. 'Bubble' became the comfort show she viewed after a long day, and Bang Chan began feeling like a close friend even though he was nothing more than a fictional character. Once more, she began to work towards her goal of becoming a screenwriter with a renewed vigor, wanting to create characters of her own that were as lifelike as 'Bubble' and a television show that was equally relatable.

After graduating with the degree she had worked towards, she was fortunate enough to land an internship at a famous entertainment company. Bonita hoped that with enough hard work she would be able to eventually become a credited writer on one of the company's ongoing shows or maybe even get to launch her own.

Unfortunately, with every high came an eventual low.

- - -

It was amazing to Bonita to see the power that some people were able to effortlessly wield. She had interned for the company for the last two and a half years, but it had all gone out the window due to one celebrity's accusations against her. Sitting on the bench outside the company with a small box of her belongings on her lap, the tears that were pooling in her eyes misted the contents within. She was trying desperately to keep herself together until she got home. She was so busy trying to keep her emotions contained that she didn't hear someone approaching her until they took a seat beside her.

"I'm sorry that Lucien was such a jerk to you."

Trying to swallow the emotions that were threatening to bubble out of her, she turned her head to the side to see none other than Lee Know sitting beside her. She was shocked. He had joined the company at the same time as her, and she couldn't help but develop a crush on him. After all, there had been many times where she thought he ought to star in a show instead of being behind the scenes as a writer. They had crossed paths once or twice, but they hadn't ever had a conversation before now.

"It's not your fault. Really," she assured.

"Still," said Lee Know with a tsk. "I think this company is making a mistake by letting you go."

Bonita fought back a blush then. Here was a man who seemed to be able to see her. With a smile, they introduced themselves to each other and sat making small talk until the bus came. As Bonita reluctantly stood up to get on the bus, Lee Know did as well, tucking a hand into his pocket to withdraw a scrap of paper with his number on it.

"Keep in touch, okay?"

Taking the scrap of paper was like taking a lifeline. Nodding her head, Bonita tucked the number into her pocket before boarding the bus with her box back to her apartment. She couldn't get it out of her mind that he had a scrap of paper already prepared with his number on it. Bonita couldn't help but to think how he had it planned out all along.

Despite the situation and the uncertainty of her screenwriting dreams, Bonita couldn't wipe the smile off her face as she entered her apartment. Shutting the door behind her, she was ready to end her day with a new show of 'Bubble'. Putting her box of belongings down by the door, she walked over to her couch and had no sooner turned the television on than her whole world shattered again.

The actor who played Bang Chan in the show—a man named Christopher Chan—had gotten into an accident and passed away. Sinking down onto the couch, Bonita broke into a fresh round of tears. The safety net that she had grown to depend on for the last few years was no more, leaving her feeling lost within a bubble of her own isolation all over again.

- - -

AN: Sorry to leave it here, but there's more to come, I promise. This chapter had to set the scene for everything that is coming in the future chapters.

I hope you like it alright! See you all in the next chapter!