Chapter II

When they reached the campsite, it was already bustling with people. Laughter and chatter carried through the vast meadow as students were putting up their tents while making new friends. Much to Jennie’s displeasure, many of the freshmen already had cans of beer in their hands. Soon that whole camp would turn into one huge drunkfest, just as she had predicted.

“What’s with that wry face?” Lisa chuckled, poking Jennie’s cheek. “Aren’t you happy we’ve reached the top?”

Jennie just shrugged. “I guess,” she mumbled and sat down on a nearest stump.

Gingerly, she took off her timberlands, glad to find out that her feet weren’t after all drenched in blood. However, the back of her right heel was badly scraped, a blister had torn.

“Great,” she grumbled under her breath, putting back her sock.

She really should have listened to Lisa when she told her that wearing new boots to her first mountain trek wasn’t the best idea. But it wasn’t like she had some other suitable for the occasion boots. She had to buy a new pair. That didn’t explain, however, why she hadn’t packed any band aids…

“Wait, I have something for that,” Lisa said and dropped her backpack to the ground.

Kneeling, she began rummaging through its various compartments, ping and unclasping its pockets.

“Painkillers, ointment, antiseptic, cooling spray, band aids and bandages,” she enumerated, putting each item under Jennie’s feet then looked up at her grinning in satisfaction.

Jennie blinked astonished. “That’s like half of the pharmacy.”

“Exaggerating as usual.” Lisa rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “Though I do have some cough drops if you need,” she said in a hush, covering her lips with her palm.

Jennie’s eyes widened.

“Relax. I’m just kidding.” Lisa giggled, patting Jennie on her knee. “Now show me that scratch,” she said and reached for Jennie’s foot.

“What? No!” Jennie yelped, shrinking away and almost falling off the stump. “I’ll do it myself.”

Bracing her fists on her hips, Lisa frowned at her but said nothing.

Jennie looked nervously at the items lined up on the ground. She didn’t really know what she should use first. To be honest, just a band aid would be enough for her, but certainly not for Lisa, seeing how she took out all those things. If Jennie was to only use the band aid, the girl would surely take offence in that.      

“Fine,” Jennie sighed, her shoulders dropping in defeat. “Go ahead and do it.”

Lisa beamed, clapping her hands while Jennie took off her sock. However, once Lisa touched her foot, a high-pitched squeal escaped Jennie’s mouth. Wide-eyed, the girls stared at each other, both equally shocked by the sound.

Jennie was first to compose herself. She cleared and squared her shoulders. “It tickles,” she mumbled, averting her gaze to the side.

“Okay, I’ll be more careful then.” Lisa nodded with a soft smile and began cleaning the wound using the antiseptic. Her touch was gentle and precise, feeling almost like a caress.   

Although it wasn’t the first time when Lisa showed her affection and care, it was the first time when Jennie was so acutely aware of it. As if all of her senses were tuned into those light and pensive, worried stares. It filled Jennie’s chest with a peculiar warm sensation.  

There never was much affection in Jennie’s life to begin with. Her parents, divorced workaholics, weren’t the warmhearted kind, and as for her lovers, their kindness was never unconditional.

It was different with Lisa. Her parents, both doctors, showered her with love and attention. They supported her even when she decided to choose a different career path than them, majoring in dance. No wonder then that the girl had so much love to give.

Now that Jennie thought about it, Lisa would probably show the same amount of care and affection to Jisoo and Rosé. Nothing special. And yet some foolish side of Jennie wanted to believe otherwise. Wanted those tender touches to mean something more. Wanted them to be only hers.

She scoffed mentally at those pathetic desires.  

“There, as good as new.”

Jennie tore her gaze away from Lisa’s smiling face and looked at her neatly bandaged foot.

“Impressive,” she stated in genuine amazement.

“Thanks, mom taught me,” Lisa stated proudly.

“Are you proposing?” Rosé’s impish voice reached them.

“Yes, and she was putting the ring on my toe.” Jennie’s smile dripped of sarcasm as she looked at their approaching friends.

Standing up from her knees, Lisa guffawed. Jennie’s lips twitched, curling upwards involuntarily.

“Hey, whatever floats your boat, mate.” Rosé put up her arms in defense.

Jennie sighed. “As you can see, Lisa bandaged my wounded foot.”

“Oooh, riiight,” Rosé drawled, nodding. “So you were playing doctor?” She wiggled her eyebrows, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

“Whatever,” Jennie grouched, shaking her head and putting on her boots.

“Guys, I suggest we pitch our tents before there’s no space for us,” Lisa said as she meandered through the meadow dotted with colorful tents of various shapes and sizes.

Jisoo followed her after giving Jennie an odd look. Rosé tagged along but not before she elbowed Jennie’s side for no apparent reason.

“What the--“ Jennie winced in pain.

Massaging her ribs, she grudgingly went to join her friends that managed to find some decent spot away from the noisy freshmen. 

*  *  *

“Fu—!” Jennie clamped her lips, swallowing the swearword after Lisa knocked her bony elbow into her rib. The one that had been already victimized by Rosé. Certainly it was at least cracked by now, and she began wondering whether she would survive till the end of this camp.

“Shoot!” Lisa swiveled around, her hair swatting Jennie’s face. “I’m so sorry! This stupid tent is so small. Are you okay?”

“I guess,” Jennie mumbled, taking a blonde hair out of . “You would think that after a year spent in a dorm room that has a size of a shoe box, we would learn how not to throw accidental punches at each other while sharing small spaces.”

Lisa snorted a chuckle. “But don’t we constantly bump into each other in our room?”

“Yeah,” Jennie said with a pensive look on her face. “How does it happen?”

Lisa shrugged. “Guess we’re clumsy like that.”

“Maybe…” Jennie mused as she remembered all those times when they would trip over each other’s feet and fall onto a bed in a messy tangle of limbs.

“Here, let me check it.” Lisa reached to lift Jennie’s AC/DC t-shirt.

Jennie wanted to protest, or at least her mind wanted, because her body did nothing to stop her friend. And so she observed how Lisa’s slender fingers grazed her skin, igniting tiny sparks inside her body. She stifled a moan that bubbled at the back of when the girl applied some more pressure to her touches.

“Does it hurt?” Lisa raised her gaze, her plump lips slightly parted as if eagerly awaiting something.

Or perhaps, it was just Jennie’s imagination. Still, breath caught in Jennie’s throat at the sight, and she only managed to shake her head.

“Hey you two, quit making out, it’s dinner time!”

They both jumped startled, hearing Rosé’s voice. Lisa withdrew her palm while Jennie hugged her knees to her chest. Her heart beat violently and she wasn’t sure whether it was Rosé’s fault, or maybe Lisa’s.

“What?” Jisoo’s confused voice made them giggle. 

“Coming!” Lisa exclaimed then said to Jennie in a hush, “you’ll live.”  And with a playful wink she left the tent.

Closing her eyes, Jennie propped her forehead against her knees. She needed a moment to cool off. To suppress that painful yet pleasant sensation that surged inside her with Lisa’s each gentle touch. 

“,” she breathed shakily and ran fingers through her dark locks.

Silently, she thanked for Rosé’s existence then went to join her friends.

*  *  *

Apparently, they weren’t the only ones who thought about having a dinner. Around nine thousand people had the same idea, since the queue to the hostel’s restaurant was winding way beyond the entrance’s door. Jennie imagined them turning into skeletons by the time it was their turn to order.

“How about you two will go order and me and Lisa will find some place to sit.” Rosé suggestion sounded more like a statement.

Jisoo didn’t seem to mind the idea, or if she did then she decided not to communicate her discontent. Jennie only squinted her eyes in suspicion. It was strange that Rosé didn’t suggest Lisa to go with her instead of Jisoo. Perhaps, she was fishing for a chance to mess with the other girl’s head. A worrisome prospect.

Suddenly, Jennie felt a soft touch on her arm that brought her back from her thoughts.

“Hey, if you don’t want, I can go,” Lisa offered. “Your foot must still hurt.”

“Nah, it’s okay. I’ll go,” she said and caught a glimpse of Rosé's widening grin.

“You pay today and I pay tomorrow?”

Jennie nodded to Lisa’s words. It was their usual arrangement whenever they went out to eat. But for some unknown reason, Rosé must have found it really amusing because, lo and behold, her grin grew even wider.

Jennie found it hard to believe that she was thanking for that demon’s existence just minutes ago.

“Come on, I’m hungry,” Jisoo whined, tugging her sleeve.

Jennie jerked away her hand. A wry look passed between them and wordlessly, they left.

*  *  *

Sometimes Jisoo dealt with boredom in the most bizarre of ways. The moment they joined the queue, she began playing with her cap, tossing it into the air and trying to catch it with her head. Jennie ignored it at first, but gradually, it began to get on her nerves. So when Jisoo threw her cap up, for what it felt like a millionth time, Jennie caught it mid-air.

“Hey!” Jisoo protested, frowning.

“Could you please stop doing this?” Jennie tossed the cap back to the older girl. “It’s giving me a headache,” she muttered and checked how many people was still before them.

Too many…

Leaning against the paneled wall behind them, Jisoo gave her a sidelong glance.

“So what’s up with you and Lisa?” She asked, spinning the cap on her forefinger.

There was a confrontational edge to her voice and it didn’t sit well with Jennie.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jennie intoned flippantly.

Truth to be told, unlike Lisa, she never really hit it off with Jisoo. Their relations were lukewarm at best. Jennie blamed it on their conflicting personalities. Jisoo liked to party, Jennie hated crowds; Jisoo couldn’t stand still for a second, Jennie enjoyed peace and quiet; Jisoo told her she didn’t trust her, Jennie had no idea why. But for the sake of Rosé, they managed to work around those differences and learned not be bothered much by them. Naturally, it was harder whenever they were left alone.

“Then why Rosé said that you two were making out?”

Jennie checked the queue again. There was still around twenty people to go. She groaned.

“I don’t know, ask her.” Jennie’s shoulder lifted in a lazy shrug.

“Do you like her? I mean, like like her.”

With a sigh, Jennie turned to face Jisoo. She figured it was better to explain the situation to her before she would make her own false assumptions. “Okay, look, Rosé came up with this crazy idea that me and Lisa should be together. Her insinuations are supposed to hint at something. I don’t know at what, though. I have nothing to do with this.”

The older girl snorted with laughter. Jennie looked at her unimpressed.

“Wait, you aren’t joking.” Jisoo’s doe-like eyes clouded in confusion.

“Exactly my reaction, minus the spitting,” Jennie grumbled, wiping her cheek.

Jisoo seem to contemplate her next words.

“I don’t know,” she mumbled.

“Like I said, me neither.”

“No, I mean, maybe she’s right.”

“Excuse me?” Jennie was certain she misheard what Jisoo just said.

The cap stopped spinning. Jisoo stared at it, biting the inside of her cheek. Her eyes suddenly devoid of their usual vibrancy. 

Jennie rubbed the back of her neck, averting her gaze to the floor. She was never good at dealing with sad people. She felt awkward whenever someone cried around her, or simply acted dejected, much like Jisoo was right now.

“I’m not the best judge of personalities apparently,” Jisoo murmured and put on her cap, covering her eyes with it. “I thought that Seulgi was a good match for her, and yet…” she trailed off as her breath hitched.

And yet she turned out to be the biggest ing fraud, Jennie finished in her mind. In all honesty though, she also thought that Seulgi, a reliable graduate student, would take a good care of Lisa. Or maybe it was just Lisa’s perception of the girl that clouded her judgment and made her believe so.

The girl was completely smitten by her. Talking on and on about how mature and responsible she is, how smart and funny. How her eyes turn into crescents when she smiles and how breathtaking her dance moves are. A walking perfection, really.

“Don’t beat yourself about it. Some people are just good at pretending,” Jennie remarked with scorn.

Jisoo sniffed, nodding. “Anyway, whatever you do, just don’t hurt her, okay?”

Jennie smiled because Jisoo sounded like an overprotective older brother. And well, she kind of was. She was often saying how she always wanted to have a younger sister like Lisa. Whenever she would mention that, some tiny part of Jennie, found it quite adorable.

“I won’t,” Jennie replied, but the words felt heavy on her tongue, filling her with anxiety.

She thought back to the situation in the tent when she hadn’t found enough will in herself to stop Lisa. When she allowed her innocent touch to spark the all too familiar desire within her. When she wanted her all to herself…

The anxious feeling grew in its intensity, turning into sickening dread as the final thought occurred to her; what if Jisoo didn’t trust her, because Jennie never trusted herself in the first place.

A/N Wow, I'm honestly overwhelmed by the positive reaction this story gets. I never expected over 100 subs after just one chapter. I'm really thankful for this. It means a lot to me. And I hope you'll continue to enjoy this story ^^