The next morning, she felt herself being nudged awake.

“jennie, why didn't you sleep on the bed? That couch couldn’t have been comfortable.”

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she blinked to see jisoo looking at her, worry written on her face. “It’s fine. I guess I was just tired and fell asleep here.”

Still not completely convinced, jisoo held out her hand. “Come on, I made some breakfast. Let’s eat.”

In the kitchen, lisa and chaeyoung were already immersed in conversation, but quieted quickly when they noticed jennie come in. She sat down and began eating, trying not to notice that none of the other girls had touched their food. Instead, they were looking at her expectantly. After a minute of silence in which all you could hear was her spoon scraping the edge of the bowl, jennie couldn’t bear it and spoke. “Don’t worry about me guys, I’m fine. You should eat.”

It was lisa who hesitantly replied, “Are you sure, unnie? You didn’t seem fine yesterday. Did you come down with something?”

Relieved that a simple cold was all they suspected, jennie responded with what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “Yeah, that must be it. I’ll get over it soon, so don’t worry too much and eat, okay?”

Soon enough, the atmosphere relaxed, dissolving into boisterous laughter and conversation. Thankful that she wasn’t the focus of their attention anymore, jennie made her way to the door, slipping on a cap and mask before pulling on a light jacket. “I’m gonna go for a walk. I’ll be back soon.” The girls nodded in acknowledgment before turning back to their conversation.

It was a crisp autumn morning in september. Deep red and scarlet orange and flaming golden leaves covered the ground, whirling around every few seconds as the wind picked up speed. Squirrels darted up trees. The occasional dog ran ahead of its owner, pausing to chase a squirrel or catch a thrown stick. jennie pulled her jacket closer to her, walking against the chilly wind. She didn’t mind the cold. Autumn had always been her favorite time of year.

She stepped inside a warmly lit café, ordering hot cocoa. While waiting for her order, her eyes wandered around the shop. A bookshelf filled with old books lined an entire wall, coupled with a few cozy armchairs for reading. A few booths and tables were situated on the other side, lights strung up on the wall next to them. A grand piano sat next to the window, chestnut wood gleaming in the autumn sunlight. Grabbing her cup of steaming cocoa, she sat on the piano bench, her fingers hovering over the keys. Before she knew it, a melody emerged from her fingertips that she didn’t quite recognize. Yet somehow she knew it. Chord for chord, note for note.

--
You play?

A little.

Play something.

What? No. No, I’m not even that good.

Oh come on. How bad could you be? Just play, I’ll join you.

Okay. But don’t keep your expectations high.

I won’t. Now play something.
--

She remembered now, why it was so familiar.

It was the first song they’d played together.

A crisp morning in early autumn, just like today. She’d been sitting on the bench of a piano in a music store, staring at the keys, unable to bring herself to play when he’d popped up out of nowhere and sat down next to her, leaving her dumbfounded. He’d played a quick run on the keys before looking at her. Then he’d talked her into playing, joining her with the accompaniment, finding the chords as quickly as she played the melody. They’d spent the entire morning by the piano, as people walked around them, oblivious to the world. Forgotten was the hesitation and wariness she’d had, replaced by the utter joy of losing herself within the music. She’d known the way his fingers flew effortlessly over the keys before she knew his name. Even if she had never met him again, the memory of how she’d felt that morning would have been enough.

She snapped herself out of her reverie. Her cocoa had long gone cold. Picking herself up off the bench, she hurriedly zipped up her jacket, before something stopped her cold in her steps.

“I’ll take a hot cocoa, thanks.”

It was him. She would have recognized that voice anywhere, even though it’d been so long since she’d last heard it.

She couldn’t move. She should have left quickly, before he had the chance to notice. But it was already too late. He glanced over in her direction, an undiscernible look taking over the initial recognition falling over his face. He looked as if he wanted to say something, but she finally regained motion in her legs and half walked, half ran out of the café, the twinkle of the doorbell the only sound as it closed on her way out.

She’d made it almost halfway to her dorm before she stopped. Leaning against a tree, she sat down, trying to slow her frantically beating heart. With her head in her hands, she could only explain what had just happened to herself as cowardice. Why had she run? It’d been two years, already. Shouldn’t she be over it by now?

But if she was being honest with herself, it was because she wasn’t over it. She was just too nervous to face him. And even though she knew it was a lousy excuse, it would have to be enough, at least for now.

--

“You’re back, unnie?”

“What? Oh, yeah.”

“How was it?”

“Hm?”

“Your walk.”

“Right. It was nice, I stopped for some hot cocoa on my way back. Here, you guys have some.”

“Thanks, unnie!” chaeyoung grabbed two, handing one to lisa.

jennie headed back to her room. jisoo followed right behind her.

“Ya. Are you really okay? And don’t you dare say it’s just because of a cold.”

“I’m okay, unnie. Seriously. I’ve just been thinking too much lately.”

“About what? You know you can always talk to me, right? And chae and lisa. We know something’s off. It’s been off since yesterday at the music show. What is it, jennie?”

“I just saw someone I used to know, a long time ago. I guess it reminded me of some things I haven’t thought about in a while.”

“A trainee at YG? Were you friends or something?”

“No, not a trainee. Just someone I knew.”

“If you don’t want to talk about it, I’m not going to make you. But please, know that we're here to listen whenever you’re ready to tell.”

“Thanks, unnie.”

“Alright. We have rehearsal in an hour, get ready and come meet us in the living room, okay?”

“Okay.”