CHAPTER 5 : Memories

 

Jennie stood in front of Rosé, facing CL. Their gaze were intense and the atmosphere was so thick, it could be cut with a knife. CL scoffed. “So, you’re still alive… And you got back your powers…”

 

Jennie tilted her head a little. “Disappointed?”

 

“Why would I be disappointed? I gave you the Red Rose with my own hands… Now I’m going to take it back with my own hands.”

 

“I see you gained some monstrous strength. What did you do to yourself?” Only then, Jennie noticed there was a yellow crystal on CL’s earring.

 

CL then traced her finger on the yellow crystal on her earring. “Just some crystal modifications to match up to the Red Rose Crystal…”

 

Jennie shook her head. “That’s impossible. You can never modify a crystal to match up to the Red Rose’s strength.”

 

CL raised an eyebrow and smirked. “’A’ crystal?” She slowly shook her head. “This crystal right here is made out of 200 power crystals melded together. Which is why it can match up to your Red Rose, Jennie. I call it the Yellow Orchid Crystal.”

 

“Let me help you.” Rosé stood up and walked front.

 

As she was doing that, Jennie raised her hand to the side, not allowing her to intercept. “Stay back, Chaeyoung. This is between me and CL.”

 

“But-” Before Rosé could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by Jennie’s glare.

 

“I SAID STAY BACK!!”Jennie seemed really serious about this.

 

“...” Rosé flinched a little from Jennie’s loud voice.

 

Jennie got into her fighting pose. “Let’s do this!!”

 

CL raised an eyebrow. “Ho… You really dare challenge me in a hand to hand combat?”

 

“I’m pretty confident in my own fighting abilities.” Jennie was the first to rush in and pulled her fist back towards CL.

 

“You’re really good in fighting, Jennie. I’m not going to deny that. You truly deserved to be known as the knight on the chessboard.” As Jennie released her punch, it got stopped by CL’s palm easily. Jennie’s punch was supposed to be devastating with the power of the Red Rose.

 

“!!!” Jennie was surprised.

 

Gripping onto Jennie’s fist tightly, CL let out a smirk. “Don’t forget that the Queen is still the strongest piece in the chessboard, Jennie.”

 

With that, CL pulled Jennie’s arm in, causing her to lose her balance before landing a successful elbow strike right on her face. It hit Jennie directly on her cheek and sent her flying a few meters away, crashing through a few trees. “Argh!!”

 

“Whatever you’re using against me, Jennie… Don’t forget where you learned all that from…”

 

Jennie struggled to lift herself back up. She held one hand on her face in pain. There were some blood flowing down from her nose. It’s been far too long since she felt this amount of pain in a fist fight.

 

Rosé tended to Jennie immediately. “Jennie, please let me help you.”

 

“Get lost!! This is between me and her!” Instead of accepting Rosé’s offer to help, she pushed her to the ground and immediately ran towards CL once again.

 

“Jennie, you can’t fight her when you’re so agitated!!” Rosé called out.

 

Jennie released a punch at CL which got blocked easily, followed by another punch which got deflected away. As Jennie was going in for a roundhouse kick, CL quickly reacted with her very own roundhouse kick. As both their legs meet, the impact caused the ground under them to sink deep and created a huge crater. This showed just how much power they were putting into that very kick. Both CL and Jennie were trying to overpower each other with their kick, releasing every bit of their energy. Jennie was struggling quite a little while CL had a smirk on her face.

 

All of a sudden, CL pulled her leg back, causing Jennie’s kick to sway out of place and knock her off balance. “!!!!”

 

CL then spun around and released a kick on Jennie’s torso. To her surprise, Jennie punched her leg away before it could reach her torso and smirked. “I knew you were gonna do that.” Jennie then countered with a strong punch on CL’s torso instead.

 

“Ugh-” CL tumbled back and held her stomach in pain, followed by a smirk. “Not bad… But you will never defeat me.”

 

“Don’t be too cocky, CL. I’ll make you eat your words.” Jennie scoffed.

 

Rosé voiced out. “Jennie, we’re supposed to help ea-”

 

“Shut up, Chaeyoung!!” Jennie intercepted.

 

“Jennie please!!”

 

Once again, Jennie ran in and attacked CL with a flurry of angry punches. Every single one of them were either blocked or deflected away. Jennie then channeled the red aura from her earring to her fist while CL channeled the yellow aura from her earring to her fist. The both of them pulled their fist back and released it at each other at the same time. As soon as their fists connected, it released a burst of energy so great, it not only created a huge crater under their feet, everything around them got blown away as well. If Rosé had not activated her shield, she would have flown far away. Their connected fists were creating energy sparks that vaporized anything it touched.

 

CL smirked. “You can’t win against me, Jennie… You’re good in fighting and also strong but it doesn’t seem like you know how to use the Red Rose’s full powers…”

 

“What the hell are you talking about!? I know how to use the Red Rose’s powers!” Jennie raised her voice.

 

“You don’t know it do you?” CL shook her head. “Each BlackPink Crystals are triggered by different emotions, Jennie… The Red Rose Crystal’s trigger is the desire to destroy, Jennie… You don’t have it in you…”

 

“I don’t believe you!”

 

“Unlike the BlackPink Crystals, the 2NE1 Crystals don’t need any triggers…” CL chuckled and suddenly increased her strength on her fist, pushing Jennie back. “That is why you’re struggling so much against me.”

 

“Grr!!” Jennie was struggling to withstand the strength from CL’s fist. “Says who I’m struggling!?”

 

CL raised an eyebrow. “So you’re not really struggling against me?”

 

“N-No!” Jennie said that with her teeth gritted.

 

CL smirked. “Alright… Hope you’ve warmed up enough, then.”

 

“W-What!?” Jennie was surprised with CL’s statement.

 

CL knocked Jennie’s fist down with her elbow and delivered a punch right onto her face. Not allowing Jennie to tumble back, CL grabbed onto her wrist and pulled her in once again for a powerful headbutt.

 

“Ugh-” Jennie’s nose started to bleed from the headbutt. Not wanting to lose the fight, Jennie replied with a punch, but got easily deflected and was countered by another punch. Every single one of Jennie’s attacks were countered with a powerful strike. So much that Jennie had bruises all over her body. She panted heavily from the fatigue.

 

“Is that all you’re capable of, Jennie?” CL asked with a smirk. “To think that I made you into a captain… Disappointing.”

 

Angered that CL was criticizing her, she launched herself towards CL with a fist once again. “RAAGGGHHHH!!!!”

 

“Jennie, stop already!!” Rosé shouted.

 

“Fool.” CL tilted her head to the side, dodging the punch and released a powerful punch right on Jennie’s torso.

 

Jennie immediately spit out blood from that single strike. “Ugh…” She then fell onto the ground while grabbing her stomach in pain.

 

“You don’t deserve the power of the BlackPink Crystal, Jennie…” CL said while looking down at the helpless Jennie.

 

Rosé immediately intercepted them and hugged Jennie tightly. “Please don’t kill her!”

 

Jennie was surprised. “Chaeyoung…”

 

“Funny… You think I’d show compassion for a scene like this?” CL chuckled.

 

“Chaeyoung please get away. You’ll die as well.” Jennie told.

 

“I spent the last few years knowing that I will be the one to protect the people from the dangers of the World Government, Jennie… If I can’t even protect you right now… I’m as good as garbage!”

 

“Inspiring indeed.” CL then raised her foot above Rosé’s head. “I will end the both of you with one stomp.”

 

As CL’s foot came down, Rosé’s body unconsciously released a shield of light. There was something different this time. The shield was emitting a different kind of aura. It was far more powerful than any shields she had ever created.

 

To CL’s surprise, her foot didn’t smash through Rosé’s shield this time. It was stopped upon impact. “What the-” The light from the holy shield then released a burst of powerful energy and blasted CL far away from them. “Ugh-”

 

Even Rosé herself was surprised. “H-Huh? What happened?”

 

“Ugh…” Jennie grunted in pain.

 

Hearing Jennie’s grunt, Rosé took this chance to lift her up and ran towards the edge of the river. Hugging Jennie tightly, Rosé warned her. “Hold tight, Jennie.” Rosé then enclosed Jennie and herself in a shield and jumped off the waterfall.

 

 

“!!!” CL immediately rushed towards the edge of the waterfall and looked down. She couldn’t see anything because of the intensity of the waterfall. Angry that Jennie and Rosé managed to escape from her the second time, she cursed with a stomp that shook the entire cliff. “Damn it!”

 

“Minzy…” Lisa’s hands trembled. “It can’t be…”

 

“Surprised, Lisa?” Minzy chuckled. “How many years has it been? Five years?”

 

“...” Lisa remained silent.

 

“Why the silence all of a sudden, Lisa?” Minzy smiled. “Aren’t you happy to see me well and alive? Oh wait… You can’t be happy to see me alive, Lisa…”

 

“Minzy…”

 

Minzy tightened her grip on her sword. “You left me to die… Remember?”

 

“You did a lot of bad things, Minzy… You killed people for money. I had to stop you.”

 

Minzy sighed. “We never met eye to eye on this…”

 

“You work for the government now?” Lisa asked. “The World Government is only interested in your skills. Not you. They’re using you for their own benefits.”

 

Minzy shrugged. “At least the World Government appreciates my skills.”

 

“Just how many more innocent people have you killed ever since you entered the World Government, Minzy?”

 

“I lost count after 200…” Minzy told Lisa in a calm expression as if there was nothing wrong with that.

 

Lisa gripped onto her sword handle with anger. “You never learn, Minzy… Not even after I defeated you fiv-”

 

“You got lucky, Lisa…” Minzy intercepted. “Things are different now… I have gained new powers.”

 

Lisa frowned. “This feeling… A power crystal… But it’s weird… It’s giving off a strange aura.”

 

“A 2NE1 Crystal. The World Government’s first man made crystals. Tailored specifically to fight against the BlackPink Crystals.” Minzy then revealed a ring with a green crystal on it. “The Green Orchid Crystal holds the power of gale. Strong, fluid, sharper than blades, and destructive as a hurricane. The perfect crystal for a swordsman.”

 

Lisa got on guard immediately. “…”

 

Minzy chuckled. “You see… I never would have thought that you were the one holding onto the Black Rose Crystal, Lisa… It has to be some sort of fate that you re my target now even after five years. God must have really wanted me to kill you off once and for all.”

 

Lisa shook her head. “It’s already too late for you to turn back, Minzy… You have crossed way past the line.”

 

“Then why are you still talking?” In an instant, both the swords clashed. There were sparks of energy released all over the place upon impact.

 

“Ugh!!” Lisa’s hand were trembling from the amount of strength from Minzy. She was literally overpowering Lisa a lot in terms of strength.

 

Minzy chuckled at Lisa’s struggle. “The most you had been in was street fights, Lisa. I’ve been in wars under the World Government for the past 5 years.” She then knocked Lisa’s sword away and started a flurry immensely fast slash attacks.

 

Lisa blocked every single one of them, but with extreme amount effort. Minzy’s slashes were way too fast. Lisa groaned and thought to herself. “Damn it, I can barely catch up to her speed… She’s way more powerful compared to our battle five years ago. If she was this powerful back then, I would have been defeated in under a minute. She really did improve a lot…”

 

Minzy channeled a green aura into her sword and swung it at Lisa’s direction, releasing a huge shockwave of wind blade. Lisa who noticed this channeled a black aura into her sword and released a black shockwave as well. Upon contact, Lisa’s black shockwave got destroyed instantly as Minzy’s wind blade and flew directly at Lisa’s direction. “!!!!!”

 

Lisa had no time at all to dodge, so she channeled a black aura into her sword and held it up to block against the green shockwave. As soon as it came in contact with Lisa’s sword, she started sliding backwards incredibly fast. The shockwave was way stronger than she thought and it was literally pushing her back despite already using a lot of energy to block. “What the- This…power isn’t normal… I can’t… defend…against…this…”

 

Upon saying that, Lisa lost strength in her arm and got blown away by the giant shockwave that caused her to smash through a few rocks and trees before falling flat on the ground. Her left arm got injured badly from that single shockwave. “Ugh…”

 

A second later, Minzy fell from the sky and swung her sword down in attempt to slash Lisa, but the latter rolled away and kept a distance between them. Minzy smirked. “You got weak, Lisa. I’d show you some compassion but given that you didn’t do so five years ago, I’ve thrown away that thought. Now get sliced into pieces and die.” Minzy then released a hundred small wind blades at Lisa’s direction.

 

Before the wind blades came in contact with Lisa, each and every single one of them were diverted away from Lisa, slicing off the ground beside her instead.

 

“What!?” Minzy was surprised.

 

From up in the sky, Jisoo flew in with an incredible speed and swooped Lisa off her feet just like that. “SWOOSH!!”

 

Minzy’s eyes widened in shock. “The Blue Rose…”

 

“What the-” Lisa was surprised that someone lifted her off the ground.

 

“Don’t worry, Lisa. I’m here to get you out of trouble.” Jisoo said.

 

“What?? Who are you? And how do you know my name?”

 

“Well, let’s just say Jennie told me about you both. I’m the holder of the Blue Rose Crystal. My name is Jisoo.” Jisoo introduced herself.

 

“Blue Rose… You finally appeared…” Lisa said.

 

“You’re not escaping from me…” Minzy channeled her aura from her ring into her sword. This time, was different. The aura was dark green in color. She then released a slash at Jisoo and Lisa.

 

A huge green blade flew towards them incredibly fast, so fast that it was catching up to Jisoo’s flying speed quickly. Jisoo who was carrying Lisa spun herself away from that direction to dodge the slash but to her surprise, the slash changed direction and continued chasing them. “What!? A homing slash!?”

 

“It’s still following?” Lisa asked.

 

“It’s getting closer!!” Jisoo started panicking.

 

“Go low into the forests.” Lisa said. “We need the trees to slow the shockwave down as much as possible.”

 

Listening to Lisa’s advice, Jisoo made her way down into the forest, swerving past the trees. The green blade still didn’t slow down and sliced right past every single tree. “It’s not slowing down!”

 

“Guess I have no choice…” Lisa said as she removed her blindfold, revealing two completely back eyeballs in her sockets and channeled the sinister black energy into her sword.

 

Jisoo suddenly felt chills all over her body. “Hey, what are you doing? Why is your body so cold all of a sudden??”

 

“Just keep flying.” As soon as Lisa said that, she swung her sword at the homing green blade and released a black energy shockwave with a power so great, it destroyed the ground and all the trees behind her including Minzy’s shockwave.

 

“Wow!!” The impact explosion was so powerful that Jisoo started staggering and fell onto the ground together with Lisa.

 

“Ugh…” Jisoo and Lisa stood back up and patted the dust off them. Lisa then immediately wore her blindfold back on.

 

“That was really close…” Jisoo sighed in relief.

 

Lisa started tottering and finally balanced herself on her sword before she could fall. “…”

 

“Hey, are you okay? You don’t look so good.” Jisoo supported Lisa up.

 

“I’m fine. It’s just the side effects of using the Black Rose’s full powers.” Lisa replied.

 

Right at that time, Rosé pushed past the bushes and saw Lisa and Jisoo. “Lisa, you’re fine!!” Rosé went straight in for a hug.

 

“Yeah, I’m fine… Jisoo here saved me.” Lisa pointed out. “She’s the holder of the Blue Rose Crystal.”

 

Rosé’s face brightened up. “Really???” She then grabbed Jisoo’s hands. “You’re really the holder of the Blue Rose Crystal???”

 

Jisoo smiled and nodded excitedly. “Yes, I am!”

 

“It’s true, Lisa!!” Rosé got so excited. “It’s true!!! We’re gonna be best friends, Jisoo! All four of us!”

 

“Yes, I know!” Jisoo too brightened up.

 

“Ugh…” Jennie suddenly groaned in pain from her injuries.

 

“Jennie, are you okay?” Rosé tended to Jennie’s injury.

 

“You should have minded your own business instead of saving me earlier, Chaeyoung.” Jennie said.

 

“Really? Not even a simple thank you?” Rosé complained.

 

“I would have been fine even if you didn’t intercept, Chaeyoung. Heck, I would have even beaten her to a pulp!” Jennie raised her voice.

 

“No, you won’t be fine! You were the one being beaten to a pulp! Your mind was so clouded in anger, you couldn’t even concentrate during the fight.”

 

“I was fine!” Jennie was definitely stubborn. “I never needed your help anyway!” As soon as Jennie said that, she was greeted with a slap on the face by Rosé.

 

“Oh god…” Jisoo gasped at Rosé’s actions. The slapping sound made Lisa stunned as well.

 

“You are one stuck-up person, Jennie.” Rosé was literally boiling inside her. “How dare you say those words after I saved your life? Just how stubborn can you be? CL betrayed you and wanted to take your life? So what!? Just because of that, you wanted to take her down ALONE when you know you’re not match for her? Let me tell you this, Jennie. There’s a thin line between pride and stupidity. And whatever you did was way beyond stupidity.”

 

“Wow…” Jisoo then came in and tried to pry the two of them apart. “Guys, can we stop the argument? Why can’t we just be friends?”

 

Rosé walked closer towards Jennie and grabbed her hands. “You don’t have to do this alone, Jennie. We’re with you. You’re not a stranger anymore. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

 

“...” Jennie finally let out a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Chaeyoung. I should have been more grateful that you saved me… Guess my pride really did blind me…”

 

Rosé finally smiled. “Apology accepted. Hug?”

 

Jennie nodded. “Sure, why not?” and they did.

 

“How sweet!” Jisoo clapped her hands. “This is definitely going into my book!”

 

“It’s getting late. We should make a bonfire and settle for the night.” Lisa suggested.

 

“Ooo, yes! We can have some bonding!” Jisoo clapped excitedly.

 

After they made a bonfire, they started chatting about their personal lives as if they had known each other for the longest time. The topic changes so quickly. It started off as proper introductions, then somehow led to Jisoo’s weird fiction es and led to the captains in World Government.

 

“So, how many captains are there, Jennie?”

 

“There are four captains including me. I was the captain of army in the headquarters… The other three were captains in their specific branches in different parts of the world.”

 

“I only heard of 2 captains. You, and Bom. So…are the other two captains as strong as you both?” Jisoo asked.

 

“Captain Sandara is the World Government’s best marksman. Toss her any kind of gun and she would be a master in it.”

 

“Any kind of gun?” Jisoo squinted.

 

“Oh let me rephrase…” Jennie said. “Any kind of weapon that shoots projectiles. That includes bows and crossbows. She had 80 assassination missions and 80 headshots. Two of them were performed with throwing knifes. Unless you have the ability to divert her bullets away, you’re not gonna survive facing her.”

 

“Hmm… Sounds like a good opponent for me.” Jisoo smiled and clapped.

 

Jennie kept a straight face. “It’s not funny, Jisoo. She kills for a living. You haven’t even been in a battle before.”

 

Jisoo then pouted a little. “I’m just saying. No need to get all serious about it…”

 

“Next is Captain Park Bom, or just Bom. She was in the news as often as I was. The World Government’s best pilot.”

 

Lisa’s ear twitched. “Best pilot? Doesn’t sound that intimidating to me.”

 

Rosé, Jisoo and Jennie exchanged glances with each other. Jennie then asked. “You don’t watch television, do you?”

 

“No I don’t.” Lisa replied right away.

 

“...” Jennie had just forgotten that Lisa was blind. “Right, that’s understandable then. Bom isn’t just any common pilot that flies planes, you see… She pilots the World Government’s one and only battle robot into war. She’s a one-man army, Lisa.”

 

Jisoo nodded. “Exactly. Nobody would even dare to go up against her while she’s piloting a robot. I’ve seen her fight live on television before. That robot is about 60 meters high, equipped with all sorts of weapon.”

 

“Wow Jisoo, you do know a lot about them…” Rosé said.

 

“Well, my younger sister and I used to watch the fights on television, so yeah… And also I got most of the details from Jennie’s head.”

 

“Oh you got those details from my head?” Jennie raised her brows with a smirk. “Would you like to see more?”

 

“...” Jisoo’s face turned red all of a sudden from remembering the unforgettable image in Jennie’s mind. “N-No thanks.”

 

Rosé squinted. “Is there something I’m missing here? Jisoo, you’re really red right now. ”

 

“N-Nothing! I saw nothing!” Jisoo then immediately changed the topic. “So who’s the last captain, Jennie??”

 

“The last captain is Captain Minzy. The World Government’s best swordsman. Her swordsmanship had been unrivaled for the past few years. She excels in any weapon that has a blade in it.”

 

“I know her personally.” Lisa finally opened .

 

“What??” The three of them were shocked. “You know the captain??”

 

“She joined the World Government 5 years ago?” Lisa stated.

 

Jennie nodded. “She’s the newest captain recruit we had.”

 

“We were friends before that… We were both passionate about sword fighting and trained really hard for it. She was the one who taught me how to use my other senses to fight. But she got greedy. She started using her sword fighting skills to earn money in a bad way.” Lisa told.

 

Rosé’s eyes widened. “You mean…”

 

Lisa nodded. “A bounty hunter. She was hired a lot of times by different mafia bosses for assassination jobs… She loved it because it was an easy way to earn money. We got into an argument and a sword fight after that… I left her laying on her own pool of blood before I left. The victory was mine but I felt empty inside. She was my best friend for years… And I thought she died…”

 

Jennie shook her head. “Minzy was only in critical condition. CL saved her and brought her back into the World Government headquarters. Her criminal records were what attracted CL to recruit her. She wanted to use Minzy’s skills to strengthen the military power.”

 

Rosé clung onto Lisa’s arm and looked at her in a sympathetic expression. “Lisa, I didn’t know… She must mean a lot to you…”

 

Lisa pulled her arm away. “Not anymore…”

 

“...” Then there was an awkward silence.

 

“Well, I need something to cool me off.” Lisa broke the silence and took out a small bottle from her pouch.

 

“What’s that bottle?” Jisoo asked.

 

“Oh, it’s a special kind of drink. She wouldn’t let me try it even till today.” Rosé answered.

 

“It’s a type of alcohol exclusive only in Thailand. Incredibly strong. Helps to clear up my mind when I’m in stress.” Lisa explained.

 

Jisoo then pointed. “It helps you clear up your mind?” She looked at Jennie and her face became red again. “Yeah, I need some of that.”

 

Lisa lifted the bottle away from Jisoo’s reach. “Like I said, this is super strong. People who are not used to drinking extremely strong alcohol will get drunk from just a single sip.”

 

Jisoo raised her brows. “I was born from a wealthy family, Lisa. I live for exquisite wines and alcohols. I’m pretty sure I can handle it.”

 

Rosé pouted. “Hey, I wanna try it too!”

 

Lisa shook her head. “You can’t handle this, Chaeyoung. Neither of you can.”

 

Jisoo raised her brows. “Ohohohoho… Looking down at us, huh? What’re you gonna do if we can handle it?”

 

“Then I’ll be your slave for a month.” Said Lisa confidently.

 

“OH DEALL!!!!!” Both Rosé and Jisoo said simultaneously.

 

Lisa shrugged and passed the bottle to them. “Take only a sip. Nothing more.”

 

Jennie took the bottle from Lisa’s hand first and took a sniff at it. She then looked back at Lisa. “Wow, you can handle stuff like this?”

 

“I’m used to it.” Lisa told.

 

“Mind if I take a sip first?” Jennie asked.

 

“Sure. Don’t blame me if you get drunk.” Lisa warned.

 

“Don’t worry about me getting drunk.” Jennie said as she took a sip from the bottle. “Hmm… This is really strong…”

 

“Pfft! Just how strong can this be?” As soon as Jennie said that, Jisoo snatched the bottle from Jennie’s hand and took a sip. She then passed to Rosé who took a sip as well. “See???? We’re not drunk yet! HAHAHAHA!! Get ready to be our slave for a month, Lisa!”

 

A few minutes later…

 

Jisoo and Rosé had their arms around each other’s shoulder and laughing like mad women while singing a random song. “WHEE~~~ PARAMM~~~ UHHHHH~~~~~~ WHEE PADAM PADAM PADAM~~~~ WE PARAPARAPARAPAM~~!! HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA!!!!”

 

Jennie and Lisa merely sat there quietly side by side while watching the two drunk ladies going all out. “…”

 

“Look at these two long-faced apes.” Rosé pointed at both Jennie and Lisa and started laughing all by herself.

 

“...”

 

Jisoo released a hiccup and looked into Jennie’s eyes from an inch away. She then smiled in a really drunk manner. “Hey, Jennie… Can I watch you kiss me again? Hehehehe……” She slowly traced her finger on Jennie’s lips and smiled once again. “I kinda like that…”

 

Lisa’s ear twitched. “What the hell did she just say?”

 

Jennie pulled away from Jisoo and released a huge breath. “Nothing.”

 

“Anyway, you seem to be doing really well with this alcohol.” Lisa voiced out. “I’m impressed.”

 

“I’m a soldier, Lisa.” Jennie said as she took another sip of Lisa’s alcohol. “I would be burying my head in the ground if I wasn’t good in drinking. So you ready to be my slave for a month?”

 

“I never made any bets with you, Jennie. Only the both of them.”

 

“Tch- I got tricked right there.” Jennie smiled and shook her head.

 

Jisoo pointed at Jennie and giggled in an intoxicated manner. “Hey, Chaeyoung. Jennie is like a movie theater… But this theater only shows adult films… Wanna watch her kiss me??? Hahahahahahaha…”

 

“...” Jennie merely kept quiet at drunk Jisoo’s statement.

 

Rosé tottered a little and blinked her eyes continuously at Jennie. “She’s a movie theater?” All of a sudden, she just fell onto Jennie and started hugging her tightly around the neck. “Mmm…”

 

“What the-” Jennie was surprised.

 

While hugging onto the stiff Jennie, Rosé placed her legs around Jennie’s waist as well, followed by a drunk hiccup. “I’m a koala bear… I like to stick on trees…”

 

Lisa’s ear twitched. “Is Chaeyoung hugging you?”

 

“Yes…”

 

“Oh god…” Lisa shook her head.

 

Rosé pulled away from Jennie and stared into Jennie’s eyes from an inch away. She then let out a cute drunk giggle. “Hey Jennie… Are you a tree?”

 

Jennie looked confused. “Am I a tree!? What the hell are you even asking??”

 

Rosé then pulled Jennie in for a hug once again and snuggled into her neck, repeating the same sentence. “I am a koala bear… I like to stick on trees…”

 

Jisoo grabbed Lisa’s arm and pulled her up. “Hey, let’s go into the woods and make out, Lisa~”

 

“Go into the woods and what??” Lisa asked.

 

“Come on! Come on!” Jisoo kept on pulling Lisa’s arm till she got up from her seat.

 

Lisa sighed and reluctantly followed Jisoo. As they were leaving, Lisa told. “Jennie, watch Chaeyoung for me will you? I’ll take care of Jisoo.”

 

Jennie nodded. “Sure.”

 

“Now where are you taking me?” Lisa asked as she kept on being dragged by Jisoo deeper and deeper into the woods.

 

“Let’s kiss.” Jisoo puckered her lips and moved closer towards Lisa’s face.

 

“No.” Lisa immediately placed her hand over Jisoo’s mouth. “You’re a fine woman but my lips aren’t for you.”

 

“Aww…” Drunk Jisoo pouted. “I wanna kiss like how Jennie kissed me in her mind~”

 

“What the hell are you even talking about?” Lisa frowned. “You’re obviously drunk. Let’s go back to where Jennie and Chaeyoung was, alright?”

 

“Hey… I was thinking…” Jisoo drunkly whispered into Lisa’s ear with a giggle. “Do you have any memories you’d like to relive?”

 

“No.” Lisa flinched away and answered within a second.

 

“Why??????” Jisoo pouted and whined.

 

“You’re really drunk, Jisoo… And I’d rather not talk about my memories…”

 

“Hahaha…” Jisoo started chuckling without any specific reason. “You know I can read minds, right?”

 

“Do not read my mind, Jisoo. I’m warning you.”

 

Jisoo’s eyes were closed and pointed her index finger up. “You are…thinking about……unicorns…” She then chuckled by herself once again. “I can’t read your mind right now because I’m feeling a little woozy up here… But I can force your memories out~”

 

“Alright, that’s it. We’re going back, Jisoo.” Lisa stated.

 

“Oh, come on~ It’ll be fun. I did that to Jennie before.” Jisoo was still playing around and hugged Lisa.

 

“No! Stop!”

 

“Mmm~~~” Jisoo managed to grab onto Lisa’s temple in a drunk manner. Perhaps she should have left Lisa alone. She wasn’t ready at all for what she witnessed inside Lisa’s head. 1 second of contact was enough for Jisoo to get a short glimpse of Lisa’s memory.

 

 

A man was dragging a young girl on the ground by her hair. “Ouch!!! It hurts!! It hurts!!” She was definitely in a lot of pain as she was struggling to pry his hand off her hair.

 

“Shut up!!!” He gave her a tight slap on the face, earning only cries and screams. He continued hitting her despite blocking her own face in fear.

 

“Stop! Stop! It hurts, daddy!! Please stop!!!” The little girl was crying and screaming her lungs out.

 

He then continued dragging her by the hair and into a dark room. “You’re staying inside here for two days!”

 

“No no no no no…… Please don’t leave me here daddy!!! I’m sorry!! I won’t do it again!!!” She quickly crawled towards the man and grabbed onto his leg tightly before he could leave. “Please!”

 

“Let go!!!” He kicked the young girl on the face so hard that she started bleeding from her lip instantly. She rolled away.

 

“No…” She started crawling desperately towards the door before lifting herself up and ran towards it. She was too late. As soon as she reached the door, it was shut and locked completely. “NO!!! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! Let me out!! I’m very scared of the dark!! Please let me out!! Daddy!!! I CAN’T STAND THE DARK!!!” It was so obvious that she was afraid of the dark. She slammed on the door hard continuously. “LET ME OUTTT!!!!!!!! LET ME OUTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE LET ME OOUTTT!!!!!”

 

After not getting any response from the man who locked her in the dark and gritty room, her phobia started kicking in. She started hearing voices and seeing objects in the dark. She was so horrified that she she couldn’t stop trembling. She closed her eyes and slowly crawled to the corner of the room. She covered her ears and swayed back and forth as if she had lost her sanity while mumbling the same sentences over and over again. “I will be a good girl… I’m not afraid of the dark… I’ll be a good girl… I’m not afraid of the dark… I’ll be a good girl… I’m not afraid of the dark… I’ll be a good girl… I’m not afraid of the dark…” Tears continued rolling down her cheeks without stopping.

 

 

Another memory then flashed into Jisoo’s eyes.

 

 

The same man was holding onto a glass shard and the tip was only about two inches away from the little girl’s eyes. She was crying her heart out while holding onto her father’s wrist tightly in attempt to prevent him from stabbing her in the eye. Her hands were shaking a lot. She obviously didn’t have the strength to hold on forever. And then everything went black with a high pitched scream.

 

 

“!!!!!!!!!!!!” Jisoo was absolutely traumatized with what she saw in Lisa’s memory and quickly flinched away in horror. Her whole body shook with fear and she broke into a cold sweat. She became sober instantly from the revelation of Lisa’s horrifying past.

 

Enraged with Jisoo tapping into her memory, even when she was drunk, Lisa grabbed her by the collar and slammed her onto the tree with one hand and the other holding her sword by her neck. Lisa literally had the killing intent at that very moment. She warned with a voice trembling in anger. “You do that again, I’m going to cut you in half, you hear me? I don’t give a whether you’re part of the prophecy or not.”

 

Jisoo was afraid. “I-I’m sorry… I-I won’t do it again…”

 

“Answer me honestly… What did you see, Jisoo?” Lisa’s lips were trembling.

 

“I…”

 

“WHAT DID YOU SEE!?” Lisa shouted at the top of her lungs this time, causing Jisoo to tremble more.

 

“A-A m-man…” Jisoo was having a hard time even saying the two words because she was still horrified.

 

After a few heavy and angry breaths, Lisa finally released Jisoo and sheathed her sword once again. “…”

 

“I-I didn’t kn-”

 

“First and last warning, Jisoo… Do not do that again. Whatever memories you saw are memories that I buried deep down inside me. There’s no reason at all to bring it all back out. Do you understand?”

 

“I understand. I really am sorry…” Jisoo was sincere in her apology. She was literally drunk earlier and just wanted to play with Lisa. She never would have thought that it would end up like this.

 

“That’s enough. Let’s get back.” Lisa said as both of them made their way back to where Jennie and Rosé were.

 

Both Jennie and Rosé were already fast asleep by the time they got back. Jennie had a frowny face while sleeping as Rosé was still clinging onto her tightly. Not only was she snoring loudly into Jennie’s ear, she was also sleep-nibbling on Jennie’s arm.

 

As soon as Jisoo saw that, she had a weird sensation within her. “...” She then used her telekinesis to gently pry Rosé off Jennie and rolled her to the other side.

 

Lisa laid down a few meters away from where Jennie and Rosé were. Jisoo looked at Lisa silently and slowly tiptoed towards her direction. “…”

 

“What are you doing?” Lisa voiced out after hearing Jisoo closing in.

 

“Oh you heard me closing in?” Jisoo said.

 

“I can still hear even if you tip toed. I may be blind but I have exceptional hearing. What do you want from me?” Lisa told.

 

“I just…feel like sleeping here today.” Jisoo said as she laid down facing Lisa.

 

Jisoo laid beside Lisa, staring into her blindfold quietly. “…”

 

“Stop staring at me.”

 

“How do you know I’m staring at you? You can’t possibly hear that I’m staring at you.”

 

“From intuition. I just had goosebumps.” Lisa then turned her body to the other side, with her back facing Jisoo.

 

“...” Without uttering another word, Jisoo closed in and back hugged Lisa gently.

 

“!!!” Lisa did not expect that to happen at all. She could literally feel Jisoo’s breath on her hair. “What the hell do you think yo-”

 

“You don’t have to go through this alone, Lisa…” Jisoo tightened the hug. “We’re friends, right?”

 

“...” Lisa kept quiet for a moment before voicing out. “I’ve always been through this alone. Now let go.”

 

“...”

 

“Hey, I said let go.”

 

“...”

 

Only then, Lisa realized that Jisoo had fallen asleep while back hugging Lisa. Her soberness must have worn off. Lisa really didn’t feel comfortable with Jisoo showing this kind of sympathy to her but somehow, her hug made her feel warm. She then placed her hand on top of Jisoo’s hand and slowly dozed off.

 

CHAPTER 5 : Memories

END