It was two in the afternoon when Jennie made her way to the Park’s residence next door. She would have gone earlier, but she wanted to give the blonde time to recuperate from her hangover and thought that she should be up and about by mid-afternoon since she didn’t look too bad when she encountered the young woman on the street earlier.

Carrying a history textbook, she walked up towards the Park’s front door, watching a butterfly as it fluttered around a rose bush in her neighbour’s front garden. She smiled at the sight as it reminded her of her previous garden, making her keen to start work on her new one. Her attention on the butterfly was stolen by an unexpected sound as she approached the front door. She heard the faint strumming of guitar strings accompanied by an angelic, honeyed voice. She looked to her left and right, expecting to see someone playing the instrument in their front garden, but upon seeing no-one, realised that it was coming from above. 

She turned her head up, following the music, and saw that a window was cracked open on the first floor of her neighbour’s house. Realising who the voice must belong to, she widened her eyes in surprise, but then smiled to herself as she recognised the song that her younger neighbour was playing. It was a song she was fond of and a song she was shocked that Chaeyoung would like, as it was filled with lyrics of romance and companionship. Jennie still saw Chaeyoung as somewhat of a mystery, and it never crossed her mind that the blonde would be singing and playing love songs with such a beautiful voice. She had only really seen the nineteen-year-old girl act mischievous, rebellious, or angry, but now hearing her play WhenYou Look Me In The Eyes by the Jonas Brothers, the mystery of Chaeyoung only deepened. 

Jennie decided to hold off on knocking on the door and waited for Chaeyoung to finish the song as she thought she wouldn’t hear the sound of the door through her voice and the strumming of her guitar. She patiently waited and actually enjoyed the song, and secretly hoped to hear Chaeyoung play a song for her someday soon.

She only had to wait a couple of minutes before the song was over and then knocked on the door. The door opened half a minute later to reveal the blonde, who looked fresher than she had during their morning encounter, but not as fresh as she could be. 

Furrowing her brows at the sight of Jennie, the blonde greeted the brunette with “Oh, what do you want?” Jennie chuckled as the girl she had just heard singing a romantic song about love and heaven returned to her usual disdainful self, as the transition between the two different personas reminded her of the story of Jekyll and Hyde. 

“Well, you’re not working today, and I haven’t got a job yet, so I thought I could help you with your history,” Jennie explained, raising the history textbook, to which the blonde did her signature sneering eye roll. 

“I thought we agreed on five o’clock?” Chaeyoung continued with a pained expression as if the thought of studying physically hurt her. 

“We did, but we’re both free, so I thought we could do it now so that we would have the evening off,” the brunette suggested with a shoulder shrug. Chaeyoung’s expression softened as she sighed and nodded, moving aside to allow Jennie entry. As the brunette past her, Chaeyoung noticed that Jennie was wearing her signature outfit made up of a long jeans and a long-sleeved sweater. The blonde glanced outside, noting the beautiful, scorching heatwave they were still having, and then shook her head to herself, knowing that the weather and Jennie’s outfit didn’t mix well. 

In the office, they both sat as Jennie opened the history textbook. “I found the curriculum for this year’s history exam online, and this book covers it all,” Jennie explained as she stopped flicking through the textbook and placing her hand on a particular page.

“It looks new,” the blonde observed. 

“Yeah, I just bought it yesterday,” the brunette said nonchalantly with a shrug as if it was nothing. Chaeyoung tried to look unmoved, but secretly felt gratitude for Jennie’s kindness and help. Turning her attention to the textbook, she continued while patting the page with her palm, “so, today we’re gonna learn all about the Ancient Egyptians. What do you already know about them?”

“Pyramids, sphinxes, mummies, organ dissections, cats,” Chaeyoung bookended her list with shoulder shrugs, while starring aimlessly in the direction of the opened page but not actually reading anything. 

“Well done,” Jennie praised Chaeyoung, which she then hoped didn’t sound mocking. “Well, today we’re gonna learn about Cleopatra. Do you know anything about her?” Jennie turned to the blonde, still keeping her palm on the page to prevent Chaeyoung from gaining any knowledge before answering her question. 

“Yeah, she was hot,” Chaeyoung smirked as she turned to look at Jennie as she emphasised the last word. 

“Really?” Jennie faked curiosity with a layer of sarcasm, which Chaeyoung chose to misinterpret as jealousy. 

“But she wasn’t as hot as you,” Chaeyoung dragged out her words seductively, daringly maintaining eye contact with Jennie throughout the sentence and letting her eyes gaze upon Jennie’s face even after her words were spoken. The brunette gulped at Chaeyong’s flirtatious compliment and felt a warmth spread from her chest as she felt the blonde gazing at her as if she was her whole world. She had never been looked at that way before and felt uncomfortable, being unfamiliar with the feeling of being wanted so badly.

The blonde knew exactly what she was doing. She knew she was looking at Jennie as if the brunette was her whole world. It was how she looked at every woman she wanted to sleep with and knew that this gaze made women feel more desired than any other man or woman had ever made them feel. It was a forced look, one that the blonde had practiced over the past two years and had mastered at this point. But even though the look was forced, Chaeyoung genuinely felt something for Jennie that she hadn’t felt before, a hint of an emotion she was unfamiliar with, and she didn’t know what it was or why she felt it.

Feeling the urge to bite her lip under the intense gaze from the blonde, Jennie forced herself to look away and break the tether between them, choosing to reply to Chaeyoung’s flirtation with “that’s sweet,” which came out more nervous than she had planned, as her heartbeat raced in her chest.

“Okay, getting back to Cleopatra,” Jennie said, turning her attention to the opened page, “you need to read these two pages, taking notes as you do so. Then when you’re done, we’ll have a little pop quiz.”

“A pop quiz? How am I gonna remember everything after reading it just once?!” Chaeyoung complained, with disgust on her face, which made Jennie chuckle. 

“Don’t worry. I’ll allow you to use your notes to answer the questions. So you better take notes of everything you feel is important,” the brunette recommended, looking at Chaeyoung to obey. The blonde nodded her head and moved the textbook closer to herself, and then picked up her pen, ready to jot down points in her open notebook. 

________

“Who were her parents, and why would her parents be labeled as wrong in today’s society?” Jennie continued her pop quiz, reading questions from a trivia page in the textbook. 

“Oh,” the blonde looked through her notes, “she was the product of , meaning her parents were brother and sister,” the blonde grimaced at what she said. 

Chuckling at the blonde’s reaction, Jennie added, “And why was she the product of ?”

“Erm…ah…because at that time the leaders of Egypt wanted to keep their bloodlines pure. They didn’t want to taint their genes with those of other families,” Chaeyoung finished, shaking her head at the logic she found downright illogical, adding a chuckling “weird.”

“Well done. You’ve impressed me so far,” Jennie congratulated Chaeyoung. “You’re like a different person to the girl I tutored the other day,” Jennie said, glancing at her own forearm, thankful that the blonde had chosen to not pursue the reason why she touched it so much.

“Yeah, well…I need to study if I want a better future,” Chaeyoung shrugged, trying to sound convincing. It was true, she wanted a better future for herself since her childhood was so troubled, but her past was paradoxically the reason why she felt she didn’t deserve a bright future. Jennie felt the weight of uncertainty behind Chaeyoung’s words surrounding her future and felt a flutter of compassion.

“Do you mind if I use the toilet?” Jennie politely asked. Even though she was the authoritative figure in this scenario, she still liked maintaining her manners.

“Sure, but the downstairs toilet isn’t flushing properly, so you’ll have to use the one upstairs. Top of the stairs, last door on your right,” the blonde anticipated that Jennie would ask for directions. 

With a nod and “thank you,” Jennie exited the office. 

She walked up the oak staircase, holding onto the white wooden banister for balance. Turning her head, observing the part of her neighbour’s house she hadn’t seen before, she turned her attention to the wall and noticed family pictures dotted with equal distance between one another, ascending in a diagonal pattern parallel to the staircase.   

Slowing her steps to give her time to admire the family photos, she smiled at the sight of the blonde appearing happy in the moments caught on camera. 

The first photo was obviously of Chaeyoung, with her signature chipmunk cheeks, sitting with her mother on the beach as they both enjoyed ice-cream. Judging from the size of the small girl in the photo, Jennie guessed she was about eight or so. 

The next photo was of the little chipmunk girl, eight-years-old or so, helping her mother decorate a Christmas tree. The small girl in the picture was hanging a snowman on the lower half of the tree as her mother hung a golden bauble on the top half, pausing their actions to smile for the camera. 

The next photo was only of Chaeyoung, seemingly a year to two older than the previous photos, stood on a lawn in someone’s garden with her arms and legs stretched out as if she had just finished dancing. 

As Jennie ascended the stairs, her concern and sympathy grew inside as each photo she saw was only of either Chaeyoung or of Chaeyoung and her mother. As she approached the top of the stairs, the series of photos finished, and Jennie's heart sank at the fact that there was no father present in any of the ten photos. 

At that moment, the brunette realised how fortunate she was to have grown up with a loving dad and hoped that Chaeyoung did too, and hoped that Chaeyoung's dad was just busy on the days that the photos were taken or was the man behind the camera and was just extremely camera shy.

________

Jennie was back in the office, and Chaeyoung was now writing a 750-word essay on Cleopatra’s legacy and influence on the Ancient Egyptians. The brunette sat there in silence with the photos she had seen earlier, playing in her mind like a slideshow presentation. But instead of being informative, it just raised multiple questions that Jennie was hesitant about asking. 

She watched the blonde as she wrote her essay, observing her as she simply existed, and also worrying about the mysteries of her childhood. But Jennie wasn’t confident enough to simply blurt questions out and interrogate people about personal details. There was a time when she was, but time and past events had changed her, turning her into the nervous woman she is now. 

The silence in the room, as Chaeyoung concentrated on her essay was real, but Jennie couldn’t enjoy the tranquility as several burning questions took turns projecting in her mind. She nodded to herself as he told herself to gain the courage to ask her student simple questions about her childhood, questions that may be personal but were questions that neighbours would normally know the answers to. 

Jennie clenched her jaw, compressed her lips, and balled her fists, trying her best to find the confidence that she once had, which she hoped was still within. After minutes of searching, she finally found it giving her the means to hopefully gain some answers. 

“I, er, saw the pictures of you and your family…next to the staircase,” she informed Chaeng, hesitating between words, as her confidence was rusty. 

The blonde glanced at the brunette, and her heart picked up a beat or two per minute, as she anticipated questions. “Oh, right,” was all she replied with, trying to sound as casual and indifferent as she could. 

“I, er, noticed that your, er…dad isn’t in any photos,” she stumbled over her words as her confidence weakened as her words became more personal for her student.

“Hmm,” Chaeyoung hummed, simply acknowledging Jennie’s observation. 

“Did your dad and your mum separate?” Jennie asked, almost timidly. 

Chaeyoung’s heart was racing now, although she tried to maintain a display of composure. She wanted Jennie to think the topic didn’t affect her, although her heart rate and sweaty palms said otherwise. The blonde stopped writing and turned to Jennie, sighing from the stress brought on by the topic of her father. “No.”

“Do you still see him?” Jennie continued her empathetic interrogation with a calm voice, not wanting to sound desperate for answers. 

“No.”

“Oh,” Jennie pouted in sadness and sympathy for Chaeyoung, learning that her student had no father figure in her life now, “where is he?” 

Chaeyoung inhaled deeply after the question as she glared through the pages of her notebook. She let out a semi-aggressive sigh before coldly answering “somewhere where he deserves to be.”

The blonde’s cryptic answer left Jennie with even more questions, but the cold yet oddly calm delivery of Chaeyoung’s answer sent shivers down her spine, making Jennie afraid to continue in her quest for answers, for now. 

__________

Later that evening, Jennie turned off the stove, lifting the wok to pour the freshly-made kimchi fried rice onto her plain-white plate. She then turned around and put the now empty work in the sink along with the wooden spatula, saving them to be washed up later. Now she was too excited to eat one of her favourite dishes and too impatient to wait for the favourite dish to cool down. Jennie took the plate to the living room, where she still had a couple of boxes left to unpack labeled ornaments. 

She slumped on her dark grey sofa and her 42” smart TV, automatically making her way the to Netflix icon, eager to binge-watch one of her favourite sitcoms which never failed to boost her spirits and make her laugh. As she selected her favourite sitcom, she adjusted herself on the couch, bringing her legs up and crossing them in front of herself and then resting the plate of kimchi fried rice on top of her lap. The steam from the hot dish didn’t scare her away from tucking in as her stomach started to growl.

A satisfied smile graced her face as she filled her spoon with rice, lifting it up to . As she chewed, a burst of her favourite flavours exploded in as she watched what her favourite characters were doing on her favourite sitcom. She was content at that moment, a rare moment that she had all to herself to enjoy with no particular person there to ruin it.

Just as she refilled her spoon with more rice, her smartphone started to vibrate on the glass coffee table in the middle of the living room. The sound made her jump slightly, which in turn made her chuckle when she realised how harmless the sound was. Reaching for the phone, her satisfied smile and content demeanour vanished in the blink of an eye as she saw the name of the caller. 

With a gulp of trepidation, she reluctantly brought the phone to her ear, pressing the green answer button, beginning an unwanted conversation. 

“Hello?” Jennie greeted as her voice shook. “I’m just having dinner and watching Netflix…..erm….yeah…I’ve just been unpacking all week and helping Ch-, er, my neighbour’s daughter prepare for exams,” she bit her lip hoping not to anger the caller, but her shaky voice and hesitation to answer meant the caller wasn’t exactly happy. “...well, I thought it would be a good way to get to know our new neighbours and you know….I don’t have a job yet, so it’s a good way to earn some extra cash,” she reasoned with the voice on the other line, searching for forgiveness and acceptance with her tone. “Okay….hmm hmm...,” she nodded as she put her spoon down on the plate enabling her to bury her face in her hand. 

“Saturday?!” Her head shot up from her hand with wide eyes and a look of terror. She looked around, searching for something that displayed the current day of the week, wishing for it to be Monday. But as she sighed in defeat, she knew it was Thursday, giving herself two more days for the unwanted visitor to arrive. “Okay, okay,” she buried half of her face back into her hand. “See you then,” she ended the call with a complete lack of enthusiasm and excitement, as her voice cracked and shook even more than before.

Ending the call, she defeatedly threw her smartphone beside herself on the couch. Her appetite for her favourite dish had suddenly disappeared and her desire to watch her favourite sitcom vanished as soon as she heard the voice on the other line, sentencing her kimchi fried rice to the garbage bin, along with her happiness.  

The dishes that she had planned to wash after enjoying her meal could now wait for later. All she wanted to do was hide away and disappear as she made her way upstairs and into her bedroom, where she climbed into bed, covering herself with the duvet which she wished would serve as a cocoon, transforming her into a completely new person when she chose to emerge. 

Fortunately for Jennie, her wish was answered as she woke up the next morning with an air of rebellion in her lungs. She pulled the duvet off of her face, revealing her new self to the world. 

it. I’m gonna enjoy myself today. I don’t give a if he finds out.