Chapter Text
“Paris sounds like a dream, dear.”
Jennie wanted nothing more than to leave.
Her mother walked around her bedroom with folded clothes in her hands, animatedly speaking about places she had never seen.
“I’m sure it will be delightful, mum.” She paused. “And… thank you for letting me do this.”
Letting her? Jennie laughed at herself. Her parents encouraged her more than anyone.
“Oh, don’t worry about it. I understand how it is. You’ll make new friends, clear your head, and start from scratch. It’s exactly what you need.”
Jennie responded with a stiff nod.
Leaving was good.
Exactly what she needed.
A little over a week went by before Jennie found herself on the familiar path toward her most memorable fast-food place. After Lisa had kindly let her keep her clothing on the way back home, Jennie had promised to return them washed as soon as she could.
The initial plan was to meet her the day after she borrowed them. Jennie didn’t want to risk forgetting about it and never return the clothes, which was unlikely but still a possibility in her eyes. She even made sure to ask Lisa about her schedule before she left that evening. She did not want to seem intrusive, but based on previous events, Jennie would rather not walk into the fast-food place while Lisa’s manager was on her shift. (It wouldn’t end well, Jennie made sure to emphasise that.)
What stopped her from going back the day after was nothing more than another broken heart.
When Taeyang broke up with her, Jennie felt a balance between pissed and broken-hearted. Somehow, she even thought that maybe the part of her that broke the most was her pride, not her heart. It still didn’t help the fact that Taeyang made her feel like complete shit for several days, but Jennie was slowly starting to learn how to keep him out of her head.
Unlike Jennie, Chaeyoung was the one responsible for putting an end to her relationship. Responsible was a big word, Jennie thought. Chaeyoung merely sped up the process before she ended up getting hurt. That was what Jennie believed, or better, what she was trying to reassure Chaeyoung of.
It was different from Jennie’s breakup experience. For instance, Chaeyoung cried almost every night after she ended things with her girlfriend. Jennie highly doubted that Taeyang went through that phase after he dumped her. He probably didn’t feel any guilt or have regrets about how he handled the breakup, although Jennie would argue he had been a complete ass about it.
Chaeyoung though… she felt anything and everything.
Jennie had advised her best friend to take a few days off work. It wouldn’t directly help her feel better, but staying at home and resting was the best option for the first couple of days. Chaeyoung listened to her—for one day.
Other than being the kindest soul on earth, Chaeyoung was also an expert in being overly positive and optimistic. It was one of the reasons she was so keen on Jennie moving on with someone new. She believed that after every storm came a rainbow, and she lived by that in every way she could. Jennie wasn’t so sure about whether it was benefitting her in any way.
Chaeyoung was back working at the café forty-eight hours after her breakup. It was a form of distraction, Jennie assumed. She left in the mornings and was occupied until the late evening, leaving her little to no time to think about her ex. And even though Chaeyoung kept reiterating that she was fine, Jennie still noticed her puffy eyes every morning.
Jennie knew. Chaeyoung did too.
We’re not good for each other. That was the only explanation that Chaeyoung provided. There was no reason to rush. Jennie didn’t ask for too many details about why Chaeyoung did what she did. After all, not being good for one another was a perfectly valid reason to part ways. Jennie was very aware of that. But when she saw the sadness in Chaeyoung’s eyes whenever her ex-girlfriend’s face appeared on her phone screen, Jennie felt that there were unspoken words between them.
The reason Jennie was also kept busy in the following weeks was purely because she had best friend duties. Just the thought of leaving Chaeyoung by herself during such vulnerable times made Jennie feel anxious. She recalled how Chaeyoung was the first person that checked up on her back when the end of her relationship was still unknown to most family and friends. Chaeyoung could tell from miles that Jennie was not being herself, and she couldn’t have been any closer to the pathetic truth. Jennie didn’t have to say a word before Chaeyoung was knocking at her hotel door with beer and takeout bags. It was simply what best friends did.
Chaeyoung had not asked her for anything, but Jennie still stopped by her café right after her working hours. Every afternoon, she would comfortably sit at any empty table she found and review designs and reports on her laptop while Chaeyoung worked.
“I like the typing noise,” Chaeyoung had told her once. Jennie knew that she wasn’t referring to the sound itself, but rather the lack of silence that came with it. She had gone through it—her thoughts would amplify greatly when there was complete silence, and Chaeyoung most likely felt the same way. And so, even when she was done with her work, Jennie still found ways to keep pressing keys on her laptop. Chaeyoung would not have to worry about silence as long as Jennie was around.
It wasn’t until Chaeyoung brought out a familiar plastic bag from her room that Jennie remembered.
“Aren’t these your clothes?”
Correct. Jennie’s damp clothes that had been sitting in a plastic bag on top of Chaeyoung’s desk for more than a week. “Shit.”
Ignoring how awful her clothes smelled, Jennie wasted no time in shoving them one by one into the washing machine. She wasn’t too worried about her own clothes (except for maybe her new jeans), but she had started to slightly panic when Lisa’s hoodie disappeared from the drying rack. She remembered washing it and putting it to dry alongside the sweatpants and undergarments, but the oversized white hoodie was nowhere to be seen.
Chaeyoung had to sheepishly tiptoe back to her room and return with the missing piece of clothing before Jennie’s heart started to beat at a normal pace again. “I took it a few days ago, sorry. I thought it was yours.”
Jennie couldn’t possibly get mad when Chaeyoung pouted at her like that. After all, she and Chaeyoung had the tendency to share clothing without usually having to ask. “It’s okay, I’ll just wash it again.”
Two days of washing, drying, and ironing later, Jennie finally found the time to return to Lisa’s fast-food place. It was Chaeyoung’s day off, so Jennie didn’t have to worry about her friend feeling lonely at the café. She was probably at home, buried in blankets with the Disney filmography playing in the background.
As usual, Jennie stopped right in front of the glass door to peek inside and make sure it was safe to walk in. She had checked her notes three times to confirm that Lisa worked on Saturday nights (and that her manager didn’t), and she was pleased to see that the girl was indeed the only one standing behind the counter.
However, what was quite unusual was the presence of another person animatedly conversing with Lisa from the other side of the counter. As Jennie tentatively stepped towards the entrance, she noticed that the unknown person was a woman. Jennie only had the view of her back as she continued talking, but from the clean dark blue scrubs that covered her body, Jennie assumed she was a doctor.
Weird.
Jennie had no idea as to why a doctor would choose to spend her Saturday night in a place like that. She didn’t have the time to figure it out either.
As soon as Jennie pushed the door open, the girl’s voice was the only thing she could hear.
And then her body froze in place.
“You!” Jennie almost yelled as she let the door slam shut behind her. She stretched her free arm as she accusingly pointed her finger at the girl in scrubs. The deep voice alone was enough of a giveaway, but when the girl turned her head to face her, Jennie saw red.
At first, the girl simply gave her a bored glance. But then, when their eyes finally met, Jennie could see a look of slight annoyance slowly morph into pure confusion. She recognised her—Jennie was certain of it. “What are you doing here?”
Jennie let out a laugh of disbelief. She confidently marched towards the seated girl until her pointed index hovered just inches from the girl’s nose. Due to the sudden approach, the girl leaned back abruptly and slammed her hand on the counter to keep herself seated. “I swear, Kim Jisoo, I am so close to slapping you in the face.”
Jisoo grabbed her arm firmly and shoved it to the side. “I’d like to see you try, Jennie.”
“Don’t test me—” Jennie was rudely interrupted by a pair of hands holding her shoulders and gently making her take two steps back.
“What did I say about yelling at the first person you see?”
Lisa sounded a little more panicked than the other times Jennie had done this. Maybe it was the fact that this time, Jennie had no intention of backing down. She didn’t move her eyes from Jisoo as she raised her other arm behind her and pushed the plastic bag she had been carrying into Lisa’s chest. “Your clothes.”
Jisoo’s eyes moved past Jennie. “Why the hell did she have your clothes?”
“Uh—”
“Do NOT change the subject.” Jennie was quick to bring the attention back to her. It was a fairly arrogant move, but when it came to her best friend’s broken heart, Jennie had no mercy. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you again, but since we’re here, would you care to explain why the fuck you hurt Chaeyoung like that?”
“Are you being serious? She was the one that broke up with me. It’s not my fucking problem that she feels too guilty about it.”
“And whose fault do you think it was?”
“Well frankly, it’s none of your fucking business, Jennie.”
“It sure as hell is my business when it’s my best friend that you hurt,” Jennie rebutted. Jisoo still held her stance as she remained seated with her arms crossed. Jennie wasn’t willing to step back either.
“Ladies, please… let’s all calm down, yeah?”
----
A few minutes later, Jennie found herself sat on the exact same table as the previous times she had made a scene in front of Lisa. It wasn’t like she did it intentionally , but somehow, she seemed to always meet the wrong people at the wrong time (except for Lisa, obviously). Across from her was no other than Jisoo, also sitting with a scowl on her face. Jennie returned the angry glare without issues.
Lisa didn’t take long before she returned to their table. She definitely didn’t trust Jennie and Jisoo enough to leave them alone for too long, and Jennie honestly couldn’t blame her. If they had continued arguing, Jennie couldn’t guarantee that she would have kept her hands to herself.
“Here’s your diet coke,” she cheerily announced as she placed the silver can in front of Jennie. She then faced Jisoo and smiled just as joyfully. “And here’s your orange juice.”
“What? I also asked for diet coke,” Jisoo protested.
“Yeah, but we only had one left.”
“And why does she get it?”
Lisa shrugged, dismissing the aggressive complaints. “Well, I flipped a coin. Heads for Jennie, tails for you. It just happened to land on heads.”
“Yeah, right. Nothing to do with your weakness for pretty—”
The subtle kick from Lisa under the table didn’t go unnoticed by Jennie. It was hard to miss it given that Jisoo let out the biggest groan of pain as she leaned down to rub her calf. Lisa innocently patted the girl’s back as Jisoo mumbled under her breath. “You’ll pay for this, Manoban.”
Although worried about the outcome, Jennie kindly requested for Lisa to leave her alone with Jisoo. Surprisingly, Lisa agreed to give them a few minutes to talk, even though Jennie doubted the conversation would take too long. It was unlikely she would get any answers in the first place.
It was already impressive that Lisa managed to get Jennie and Jisoo to sit at the same table without either girl starting a screaming match. Jennie was not in the mood for a civil conversation, especially not with Jisoo. But considering she was in a public place with an audience, being mindful of others was the least she could do.
It still didn’t mean that she couldn’t act smug. Jennie made no effort to hide her smirk as she brought the can to her lips and took a sip of her drink. Jisoo was visibly irritated by her action, but she wisely chose to silence her complaints.
Throughout the duration of Chaeyoung’s relationship, Jennie had only met Jisoo twice. She had seen pictures and heard stories from her friend countless times, but considering that Jennie was still with Taeyang and worked full-time, she could not make time to meet the couple very often.
The first meeting was a formal introduction over dinner, where Jennie got to learn about Jisoo’s profession and the very basics of their relationship. If she recalled correctly, they had first met after Chaeyoung accidentally received a nasty cut from a broken glass at work. Jennie had to hear her best friend gush about the pretty resident doctor that took care of her stitches for hours.
The second time, Jennie bumped into the couple at the café, with Jisoo wearing a white coat and similar scrubs to the ones she currently had on, just in lighter blue. Her attire wasn’t really unusual given Jisoo’s absurd work schedule. She was more often at the hospital than home, which Jennie presumed was quite an issue when it came to relationships.
She hadn’t seen much of the couple at the time, but she still remembered how both girls looked at each other with nothing but love in their eyes.
“What went wrong?” was the first thing Jennie asked.
Jisoo grumpily grabbed her boxed juice and ripped off the plastic wrapping around the attached straw. She pushed the pointy end through the drinking hole and started taking steady gulps of the drink.
“Fuck knows,” she finally responded, keeping the straw between her gritted teeth.
“You’re telling me you don’t even know why she broke up with you?”
Jisoo averted her gaze as she shook her head. Jennie rolled her eyes.
“It would be nice if you actually answered honestly, for a start.”
“As if I owe you anything.”
“You’re right, you don’t owe me answers. And yet, I don’t see you leaving this conversation either.”
Jisoo kept quiet after that. Jennie let out a sigh as she crossed her arms and leaned back on her chair. She noticed Jisoo’s leg bouncing up and down underneath the table, but her eyes remained emotionless.
“Did you and Lisa sleep together?”
“Excuse me?” Jennie sat up straight. At the same time, the sound of a plate falling into the sink echoed through the place.
“The clothes.”
“Those were—no, the answer is no,” Jennie explained with rosy cheeks. The fact that Jisoo had got her flustered with such comments was not helping the civil discussion. “And again, stop trying to change the subject.”
“Is Chaeyoung doing well?”
The question came out so hesitantly that Jennie barely heard it. She raised an eyebrow at the sudden inquiry, not expecting Jisoo to actually give in. “Why do you care?”
The other girl squeezed her empty juice box and forcefully slammed it down on the table. “Can you both just—stop? Chaeyoung blocked me literally everywhere. All I want is a little more communication, okay? For fuck’s sake, I had to email her because she won’t answer texts or calls from unknown numbers. And you know what? I don’t even deserve to be interrogated like this when she dumped me over a phone call.”
“She broke up with you over the phone because you wouldn’t fucking meet her, asshole.”
“I’m a doctor, what did she expect me to do? Leave the A&E whenever I pleased?”
Jennie scoffed. “Yeah, right. Pretty shameless of you to pretend she hadn’t asked multiple times. And every single time, you came up with the exact same excuse.”
Jisoo stood up abruptly and stared down at Jennie with furrowed eyebrows. She placed her open palms on the table and leaned her upper body down until Jennie could hear her agitated breath.
“I’m done with this conversation. Tell Chaeyoung that if she ever wants answers, she knows where to find me.” She didn’t wait for Jennie’s reply before she grabbed her belongings and headed straight for the door.
It made Jennie cackle. “It didn’t work out, did it?”
Jisoo paused, expecting her to continue.
“Avoiding her, I mean. That’s why you refused to meet her, right? Because you knew she’d break up with you?”
Jennie didn’t mean to go that far. In hindsight, the only asshole throughout the whole encounter had been her. She didn’t even know the full story; seeing Chaeyoung hurt was enough to make her blood boil at the sight of her ex, but that still didn’t give her the right to act like that. She really had to stop meddling into other people’s business.
Jisoo’s gaze dropped to her feet, deliberately hiding the pain in her eyes. “Yeah, maybe that was why.”
There wasn’t the time to apologise before Jisoo rushed out the door.
Jennie sighed and dropped her head into her hands, rubbing her tired eyes in the process. Why was she so horrible at dealing with people’s feelings?
Given the nature of her job, Jennie thought that she was fairly skilled in decision-making. When it came to choosing fabrics and materials for a design, or readjusting sizes, or selecting the most suitable models for fashion shows—Jennie always had the answer in a matter of seconds. Understanding people was not as straightforward. Jennie only seemed to make the wrong assumptions and cause chaos.
“That wasn’t very nice.”
Yeah, it really wasn’t. Jennie was relieved that Lisa didn’t sound particularly harsh about it.
“I’m really sorry about that.”
“I’ve seen worse,” Lisa mused as she walked around the table. She took a seat on the same spot that Jisoo had occupied a minute prior. Jennie waited silently as Lisa wiped a few drops of juice on the table, leaving the wet cloth on the side. “Maybe take a gentler approach next time.”
“I don’t plan on having a next time.”
“Oh? You got all your answers?” Lisa smiled slightly.
“None at all, actually.”
Well, she did get one answer. Jennie figured that Jisoo was not even close to being over Chaeyoung, and since her best friend was in a very similar state, Jennie couldn’t see either of them moving on very soon.
“Do you know why they broke up?”
Lisa calmly shook her head. “I didn’t really ask anything, to be fair.”
“Of course,” Jennie laughed. That was pretty much how they met. “You ask no questions, and yet give all the right answers.”
“That’s not true.”
“It is for me.”
Maybe Lisa was simply born with the ability to read Jennie like she had known her for decades. It was a talent, not a skill. Jennie would know since she was an utter failure at reading people no matter how many times she tried. She couldn’t even work out why Taeyang broke up with her, let alone understand other people’s hidden problems.
“So… you’re Chaeyoung’s best friend?”
“You know her?”
“Only by name. I’ve never met her.”
Jennie frowned. “Never? They were together for almost two years.”
“I know. Jisoo never offered to introduce us, and I never requested it.”
“Isn’t that a bit unusual?” Jennie wondered. Surely there would have been a chance for Jisoo to introduce her girlfriend to a close friend of hers.
“Again, I don’t ask questions.”
“Yeah, yeah, I got that.” Jennie dismissed her comment. “So, you’re telling me that they were together for more than a year and broke up, but you never once met Chaeyoung in person?”
“Nope.”
“Right. Interesting.”
“You should stop that.”
“Stop what?”
Lisa playfully tapped Jennie’s forehead with her index. “Trying to use that little brain of yours when it’s not necessary.”
Jennie’s bottom lip jutted out to form a pout. “I’m just trying to—”
“—figure things out?”
“…yes.”
Lisa chuckled at the semi-confident response. She glanced down at Jennie’s drink, then looked up again as she pointed at the half-empty can of coke. “May I?”
“Go ahead.”
Drinking from the same can was a weirdly intimate thing to do, but Jennie supposed they had been through enough to not feel awkward about it. She had worn Lisa’s (clean) underwear after the second time they met, it couldn’t get worse than that.
Jennie’s thoughts were interrupted by the sight of Lisa trying to drink from the can without it making any contact with her lips. She was fairly good at it, but a few drops of coke still missed her open mouth. Jennie couldn’t help but smile amused at the scene. Skilled, but still messy. As Lisa brought the can back down on the table, Jennie reached into her bag and pulled out a clean tissue. “Here.”
“Thanks.”
“I didn’t expect you to sky it.”
“Well, wouldn’t you have felt uncomfortable if I hadn’t?”
“Trust me, I couldn’t care less at this point.” Jennie noticed how Lisa’s cheeks flushed slightly. It was rather cute. “Thank you, by the way.”
“What for?”
“The coke,” Jennie held up the can and finished off the remainder of the drink in one sip. “Did you actually flip a coin?”
Lisa tried her best to suppress a grin. “Did it look like I did?”
“Not even a little bit.”
“Fair enough. I just thought that new customers should get priority. Besides, Jisoo always gets free diet coke.”
“Isn’t that against the rules or something?”
“Not when her dad owns the place, no.”
“Your boss is… your friend’s dad?”
Lisa nodded. “He’s also my landlord.”
Somehow, everything unusual about Lisa started to make perfect sense to Jennie.
“I see. Any grudges against the man?”
“Not really,” Lisa replied flatly. “I got a job and a home, can’t really complain.”
“Do you like it?” Jennie suddenly questioned. “Your job, I mean.”
“I don’t mind it, but I don’t actually look forward to it.”
“Not your dream job, I’m guessing.”
For the first time, Lisa showed a smile that had sadness written all over. “Not even close.”
Jennie was caught off guard by the defeated tone. For the most part, Lisa had always sounded pretty indifferent whenever she spoke about her life. With the exception of the first time she saw Jennie’s old neighbourhood, Lisa had never really brought up the topic.
“What is it, then?”
“What’s what?”
“Your dream job,” Jennie clarified.
“Does it matter?”
“Of course it does, it’s not like you’re about to retire.”
“It’s not like I’m about to change my job either.”
“Are you not going to tell me?”
“Are you not gonna stop whining about it?”
“I’m not whining!” Jennie huffed. Maybe she was, but Lisa didn’t have to point it out like that. “You’re no fun.”
“And yet this is what… the third time you’ve come here?”
“Hey, I had a reason this time,” Jennie pointed with her finger at the abandoned plastic bag on top of the front counter. “I can officially disappear after tonight.”
“Now who’s being no fun?”
“Why?” Jennie leaned closer with her arm crossed on the table. “You enjoy my company, don’t you?”
It was all fun and games, Jennie had meant it in a very joking manner. But something in the way Lisa averted her gaze and fidgeted with her fingers told her that maybe she wasn’t that far off from the truth.
“Well, I don’t really have options to choose my company.”
Jennie scrunched her nose in a half-playful, half-offended frown as she crumpled up the tissue Lisa had left on the table. She felt no guilt in throwing it at the other girl after Lisa had started giggling at her expression.
“Okay, fine, you’re not that bad.”
“Not that bad?” Jennie repeated in disbelief, but her words probably didn’t come out as clear as she wanted due to the laugh that threatened to escape her lips. Lisa’s carefree laugh was ridiculously contagious.
----
It seemed like Jennie had the tendency to lounge around her friends’ workplaces and grace them with her lovely company lately. Was Lisa even a friend? Jennie supposed so. She was definitely more than a casual acquaintance like her colleagues at the fashion studio. Either way, Jennie was happy that Lisa appeared to be a little more cheerful while serving customers, which she liked to think was partially thanks to herself keeping the girl entertained in-between orders.
“Does your dream job involve being a celebrity?”
Keeping company also meant asking questions in Jennie’s vocabulary. In her defence, she would have kept quiet if not for the fact that Lisa enjoyed listening to her wild guesses. When there were no customers, it would have been awkward to just sit in silence.
“What kind of celebrity?” Lisa questioned, although Jennie had a feeling she was nowhere near the right answer.
“I don’t know, you tell me.”
“Well, people told me I looked like a K-pop idol in the past.”
It was quite an interesting piece of information, but not very helpful. “How did you look like in the past, exactly?”
“I, uh,” Lisa rubbed the back of her neck as she laughed lightly. “I used to dye my hair a lot.”
“Really? Do you have any pictures?”
“I don’t think so,” Lisa shook her head and looked away. “And even if I did, I would never show them to anyone.”
“Why? Too embarrassing?”
“Hey! I used to look very good. Like an idol, remember?” Lisa countered almost in a smug manner.
“And you still look very good now,” Jennie laughed.
It was hard to ignore the blatant fact that Lisa was really pretty. She didn’t put much effort in her looks, and Jennie meant it as a compliment. She didn’t wear makeup but her face was naturally beautiful, her clothing consisted of mostly loose hoodies and t-shirts but Lisa made them look very trendy even behind her apron. She simply had a really cool style in Jennie’s eyes.
The comment was thrown casually, which was the reason Lisa’s ears turned red immediately. The girl struggled to come up with a reply and instead started wiping the front counter for what felt like the tenth time that evening. Jennie enjoyed every moment of it.
“Not used to compliments?”
Lisa cleared her throat. “Well, you can’t really say I look good when you look like that.”
Jennie didn’t have to look down at her outfit to know exactly what Lisa was referring to. Unlike Lisa, Jennie’s clothing was definitely more on the tight-fit side, with the exception of her leisurewear. It was mostly due to her work environment requiring formal clothing, Jennie couldn’t really help it. Sometimes she wore dresses and long coats, other times she opted for women’s tailored suits, but the standard remained the same.
“Thank you. But I still stand by what I said.”
Lisa still wouldn’t look at her. Jennie’s smile grew wider.
“Maybe you should have answered the job question to avoid all this blushing,” she teased.
“I’m not…blushing,” Lisa mumbled as she put away her cleaning items. Her words were quite the contrast to her reddening cheeks. Lisa also began to take off her work uniform, which prompted Jennie to glance at the wall clock and let out a hum at the late hour displayed.
“Photography.”
Jennie’s head turned back to Lisa in an instant. “What?”
“My dream job was to be a photographer,” Lisa elaborated. She didn’t sound disappointed or upset by the topic, but Jennie could tell she wasn’t that happy either.
“Was?” Jennie dared to ask.
Lisa hummed as she switched off the lights of the kitchen at the back. She walked out of the staff area and joined Jennie at the table she had pretty much claimed. “You’ll probably never see me out of this place.”
Career advice was not Jennie’s forte. She had a somewhat clear idea of what she had wanted to do in life from her first year of university, and she worked towards her goal ever since. She must have done something right since she was currently in the fashion field. Lisa’s eyes lacked any sign of ambition, though.
“Well, you can still keep it as a hobby, right? And wait until the opportunity to turn it into a profession comes up.”
Lisa actually laughed at the suggestion. “I would be waiting for a long while. I told you, didn’t I? Hope is not really my thing. Besides, I don’t even have a camera to do it as a hobby.”
Jennie frowned. “But if it’s you passion—”
“I had it,” Lisa was quick to add. She casually interlocked her fingers together and raised her arms above her head as she stretched, easing the tension on her spine from the long shift. It almost distracted Jennie from the end of her sentence.
“But I sold it.”
“Wait, what? Why?”
“Why does anyone sell their prized possessions?” Lisa asked rhetorically as she brought her arms back down and relaxed on her seat.
“Yeah but… what if…”
Jennie struggled to find her words. How could Lisa give up the thing she loved the most?
“Any money is still money, Jennie.” Lisa answered her silent question. “Sometimes you just gotta do whatever it takes to get by.”
“Money is not everything, there’s still—”
“That’s exactly what a person with money would say,” Lisa smirked.
Jennie could not really argue with that without sounding like a hypocrite. She was born into a rich family and her current job paid her more than enough to live comfortably. Her intention had never been to flaunt her wealth or belittle Lisa’s struggles. Lisa did not seem to have taken any offence, but Jennie still felt rather worried about possibly hurting her feelings with the direction that their conversation had taken.
“Did I sound like an insensitive bitch just now?”
“Nah,” Lisa was quick to sport her best smile of reassurance. “I get it, really.”
“I’m sorry, I just thought…”
Jennie genuinely believed that Lisa was capable of great things, but she had clearly forgotten how life was a fucking bitch to most people.
“I know, but I already gave up long ago. Spent my heart and soul into making it happen but, well, it just didn’t happen.”
Jennie could understand why Lisa stopped being disappointed. It must have drained her to keep trying and waiting, Jennie couldn’t blame her. “I see.”
“It’s getting late,” Lisa gestured towards the clock as she stood up. “I have to close up soon. How are you getting home?”
Jennie supposed that was her way of wrapping up the conversation.
“By bus,” Jennie quietly gathered her things and followed the other girl. “The bus stop is closer than the train station.”
“Yeah, it’s not too far.”
----
When Lisa had told her it’s not too far , Jennie didn’t think that she meant to walk her to the bus stop. She shouldn’t have been that surprised since Lisa had never missed a chance to prove to Jennie that the world wasn’t completely filled with assholes.
They had been walking for a few minutes at a rather slow pace. The street was almost empty with the exception of a few cars passing by. Lisa had opted to stay on the edge of the sidewalk that was next to the road, and Jennie couldn’t help but think that the subtle decision had been influenced by unfortunate experiences involving fast cars splashing water. It wasn’t exactly a high risk that night since it had not rained at all, but Jennie appreciated the thought regardless.
“Do you not own a car?”
Jennie wanted to laugh. Multiple people had asked her that question at one point or another, naturally assuming she owned some sort of modern vehicle to get around. “I can’t drive.”
It was flattering that people thought she looked like she could drive, but the sad truth was that Jennie never passed her driving test. In the previous years, Taeyang was usually her ride to work, while on the way back she simply had to take one train. It was better than spending money on a taxi or waiting for three hours after work for her boyfriend to take her home. Obviously, Jennie didn’t have a ride anymore, but public transport worked just fine.
“Have you never applied for a licence?” Lisa wondered.
“I tried,” Jennie grimaced. “Failed twice.”
“Consecutively?”
“Oh, no, I wasn’t that eager to shatter my pride.” Jennie chuckled. “The first time I was still in high school, then I tried again when I had just graduated from university and returned to Seoul. It was a disaster both times, but I guess the first failure always hurts the most.”
“Was it the theory or practical exam?”
“Practical. I got too nervous.”
Plus, she almost ran someone over, but Lisa didn’t have to know that.
“That’s understandable,” Lisa commented. Jennie hummed in response, but as the bus stop came into view, her eyes squinted to focus on the small electronic screen with the bus ETAs. It took a few further steps for the text to be legible, and Jennie groaned in frustration as she read the waiting time for the next bus.
“Twenty minutes? Is this a joke?”
“It could have been worse.”
Lisa’s optimism sounded almost like Chaeyoung’s positivity. It didn’t make Jennie feel any less annoyed.
“At this rate I’ll have to do a third driving test,” she muttered. There was nothing she could do to control time, so Jennie tiredly slumped on the cold metal seats with a sigh. Half a second was all it took for her to jump back up with a screech and rub her bottom. “Shit, these seats are freezing.”
Hearing no response from Lisa, Jennie turned to the girl to check if she was still there. A look of confusion formed on her face when she noticed Lisa, still very much present, taking off layers of her clothing. “What are you doing?”
Wordlessly, Lisa took off her hoodie and dropped it on the bus stop seats. She then put her jacket back on, looking at Jennie expectantly. “Sit down.”
Once Jennie figured out what had just happened, she immediately started to shake her head as she picked up the hoodie and handed it back to Lisa. “You’re going to be cold. Put it on again.”
Lisa shrugged and accepted the hoodie, but instead of following Jennie’s orders, she placed it back where it was and sat on top of it. She patted the space next to her, inviting Jennie to join her.
“You’re so annoying,” Jennie muttered at last, but she sat down next to the girl without further complaints.
“You don’t mean that.”
“No, I don’t,” Jennie admitted in defeat. Lisa had been anything but annoying. Jennie simply hated how her acts of kindness kept coming, but she couldn’t return them just as fast.
Lisa crossed her long legs and shoved her hands in her jacket pockets. Jennie wondered if she was actually freezing without a hoodie.
“You can go home, you know. It’s a twenty-minute wait, if I hadn’t made that clear.”
“It’s eighteen minutes now,” Lisa pointed out. “And you’re sitting on my hoodie.”
Jennie rolled her eyes. “Okay, first of all, I told you to take it back. And second, I could just wash it and bring it back to you like I did last time.”
“You know, for someone that was so confident about being able to disappear after tonight, you sure do seem to always find an excuse to come back.”
Lisa’s smirk only grew wider at the sight of Jennie’s outraged expression.
“So annoying ,” she repeated in what sounded more like a whine than a complaint. “And I never said I would disappear.”
Jennie didn’t want to disappear. There was something about Lisa that made her feel at peace at the worst times, and Jennie really didn’t want to let go of that. She couldn’t really tell if Lisa felt the same way, but Jennie had observed how the girl’s demeanour when working had slowly started to change. Lisa had always appeared relaxed, but recently she seemed a little more lively. Whether this was caused by Jennie’s wonderful presence or not, she would gladly stick around if it meant that Lisa would feel less bored during her, well, boring job.
Lisa just nodded, seemingly content with the response. She then opted to stretch her legs out and awkwardly look down at her shoes.
“Where did you study?”
“You mean, my degree?”
“You said… you had to return to Seoul, right? Where were you before?” Lisa asked rather hesitantly.
Jennie found it more amusing that she should have. She gently bumped their shoulders together. “I thought you didn’t ask questions.”
“Oh, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”
“I’ve asked worse things,” Jennie mused, thinking back to her failed attempt to identify the boy in Lisa’s framed picture. Lisa’s inquiry was pretty innocent in comparison. “I moved to Paris for my fashion degree.”
“That sounds… pretty great,” Lisa commented, although there was something unusual about her tone that Jennie couldn’t pinpoint.
Studying abroad had definitely been… something. Jennie didn’t mind the experience per se, but rather the events that led up to her moving to France at the age of eighteen. It would have helped if it had been her plan from the start, but it never was. She didn’t think that the mention of it would have brought up memories she had not thought about for years.
“In theory, yes, sounds like a dream.”
“In theory?" The disappointment in her voice must have been felt by Lisa, who turned to give her a curious look. “Why? Were your parents against it?”
Jennie snorted. “Quite the opposite. It’s a long story.”
A story that Jennie would rather bury for good. Strangely, Lisa seemed quite invested in the topic, and Jennie started to wish that the bus timer would go down faster.
“They must be really proud of you now, right?”
“I wouldn’t know,” Jennie mumbled. “I haven’t spoken to them in years.”
“Oh,” Lisa’s eyes grew wide. She probably realised she had ventured into sensitive territory. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.”
The topic made Jennie uncomfortable, she couldn’t lie. No matter how well she was getting along with Lisa, she was nowhere near ready to talk about that specific part of her past. But when she noticed Lisa’s worried gaze, she didn’t hesitate in giving her a comforting smile.
“It’s fine. Talking about my parents is something I’ll reserve for like, meeting number twenty.”
“That’s quite the commitment,” Lisa chuckled, but her eyes remained focused on Jennie with a trace of uncertainty. “Will you do that? Come and see me twenty times?”
“Hey,” Jennie nudged Lisa’s knee playfully. “It doesn’t always have to be that way. Why don’t you come to me instead?”
“I don’t know where you work, nor where you live.”
Jennie’s workplace would probably be a terrible location. There wasn’t really a decent place to hang around with the exception of her office, and Jennie would rather not stay behind those four walls for longer than she had to. She couldn’t see Lisa enjoying such a formal setting either.
“Chaeyoung, my friend… she owns this really nice café not too far from here. It’s not that busy in the evening, which is around the time I drop by to see her.” Jennie loved Chaeyoung’s café. It wasn’t the biggest place, it didn’t have fancy art pieces on the walls or other expensive décor, but Jennie loved how peaceful and cosy it was. Maybe it had something to do with Chaeyoung’s positive energy agenda reflecting in everything she did. “Since Jisoo didn’t bother to introduce her, maybe I can do that instead.”
Was it weird? Jennie was almost thrilled at the prospect of her best friend meeting Lisa. All teasing aside, she really thought that Chaeyoung would like her. Inviting Lisa to her café was the least Jennie could do since she pretty much implied that they were going to see each other another twenty times. (NOT as a potential love interest like Chaeyoung insisted Lisa was.)
Lisa agreed immediately.
----
Chaeyoung was sulking.
Jennie walked into their shared apartment to find the other girl wrapped in a baby blue blanket in the middle of the sofa. It went around her full body and over her head, but Jennie could still see the big, overdramatic pout as Chaeyoung greeted her with an accusing stare.
“You abandoned me,” she whined. Chaeyoung held onto the blanket tightly as she turned to face the opposite direction with a petty humph!
Jennie laughed loudly as she shrugged off her coat and slipped out of her shoes.
“You big baby,” she cooed as she plopped herself down next to Chaeyoung and opened her arms wide. “Come here, I’ll make it all better.”
Chaeyoung still wouldn’t look at her, but she didn’t wait a single second before falling into Jennie’s arms, who in turn cuddled the big blob of blankets and patted the side of her head lovingly.
“Were you at the junk food place all this time?” Chaeyoung’s voice was barely audible as she melted into Jennie’s embrace.
“Yeah, plus a long wait for the bus.”
“Did you have a nice evening without me?”
Jennie pondered for a few seconds on whether or not to mention her encounter with Jisoo. She had no intention of ruining Chaeyoung’s night, but she also didn’t want to lie by omission. She thought about Taeyang, and how people naturally mentioned seeing him without her asking. It didn’t feel great, but Jennie had still wanted to know.
“I met Jisoo today.”
In an instant, Chaeyoung sat up straight and let the blanket fall off her shoulders. “You did?”
Jennie nodded. “Apparently, she’s a close friend of Lisa. She happened to be there when I walked in.”
“Oh,” Chaeyoung let out quietly. She awkwardly rubbed her arm and avoided eye-contact. “Was she… did she say something?”
Jennie had been extremely cautious about not revealing any information about Chaeyoung to Jisoo when they argued spoke. But Chaeyoung was her best friend, and it was Jennie’s rightful duty to report back to her.
“She seemed quite… upset, I guess.”
“About?”
“Well, you breaking up with her on the phone. And also, the whole blocking and no replying thing afterwards.”
Chaeyoung pursed her lips. “She didn’t want to meet me. I had no choice!”
“That’s exactly what I said!” Jennie gasped. “The brutal delivery was not your fault, honey.”
“Yeah… not my fault.”
From Chaeyoung’s hesitant look, Jennie knew that she felt guilty regardless. Knowing that Jisoo was upset had not helped—if anything, it only made things worse. Jennie tapped her fingers on Chaeyoung’s knee waiting for the girl to look at her. Chaeyoung’s gaze remained fixed on her lap.
Jennie did not have enough information about what had happened between Jisoo and Chaeyoung, but she didn't need that to know that feelings lingered. From the reaction of both girls, it was easy to conclude that there was a lot of unresolved tension, whatever the reason may be. There were no ill feelings, just… frustration.
“Do you want to talk to her?” she suggested quietly. Jennie had not even thought about meeting Taeyang to sort out her doubts, but she knew that Chaeyoung’s situation was different.
Chaeyoung sighed and placed her hand on top of Jennie’s, halting the tapping. “Even if I did, she probably wouldn’t listen.”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, you know,” Chaeyoung made a subtle eyeroll, “she has the usual I don’t see a problem attitude when there clearly is one.”
“And what is the problem?” Jennie wondered. She had always been curious about what caused a change in Chaeyoung’s heart. She had not been with Jisoo for too long, but Chaeyoung was so in love. There must have been a serious issue for her to end things abruptly.
“Well, sometimes it felt like we didn't have the same vision.”
“Huh?”
“It’s nothing,” Chaeyoung quickly shut down any further discussion by standing up and folding her blanket.
“She’s worried, you know?” Jennie mentioned offhandedly. Chaeyoung paused for a moment, and Jennie fully recognised the troubled look in her eyes.
“Worried about what?”
“You.”
Chaeyoung pressed her lips together and returned to tidying up.
“She didn’t seem worried about me when she ignored me for weeks,” she scoffed.
So… Jennie was not that far off when she accused Jisoo of avoiding her friend. She really couldn’t understand what was so hard about communicating. It was fundamental in making a long-lasting relationship. But then again, Jennie got dumped, she couldn’t really have a say.
“Are you sure you don’t want to meet her?”
“It’s over, I have nothing else to say.”
Jennie didn’t quite believe that.