« chapter fourteen »

•••

Lisa was relieved that, the next day, there was no sign of Jennie. That meant that, since it was Friday, there would be no reason for them to run into each other until Monday, and Lisa was grateful for even a few days of less stress.

That weekend, Jisoo was supposed to head out for a two-day conference in another town, but she was reluctant to leave Lisa alone. When Lisa brought it up while mentioning Jisoo during class, Seulgi insisted on staying at Lisa’s house with her for the weekend, and Lisa relented once she made Seulgi promise that she would not tell Jisoo anything about Jennie or what happened at the academy. Lisa knew that Jisoo deserved an explanation, but she wanted to be the one to give it when the time came.

Jisoo, for her part, was glad Seulgi was coming over. With Seulgi staying, she felt less anxious about leaving Lisa alone, and she also felt that Seulgi would be more sympathetic company than the two officers, though she was still grateful for their presence.

“You’re sure you two will be fine?” Jisoo asked nonetheless at the door, looking between Lisa and Seulgi.

Lisa waved her off. “We’re positive, Jisoo ... go, relax. Don’t stress about us, you do that too much.”

Jisoo sighed, and nodded. “Call if you need me, ’kay?”

“Definitely. Bye!”

One Jisoo got into her car and disappeared around the corner, Lisa closed the door and turned to Seulgi. “So ... what do you want to do now?”

“We ... we can watch Netflix, I guess?”

«•••»

They must have fallen asleep sometime shortly after starting, because when Lisa was startled awake, the sun was barely visible. She blinked a few times, adjusting her eyes to the new lighting, and realized that Seulgi was still asleep next to her on the bed. It couldn’t have been her that woke Lisa up, then.

Lisa slowly stood up to stretch, and then moved the laptop that they had been watching Netflix on away from the edge of the bed so it didn’t fall. She was about to leave her room to go wash her face before waking Seulgi, but then she froze when she heard the same noise that had woken her up. It was a sharp knock against the window, as if someone had thrown something at it.

She wondered if she should go alert either Baekhyun or Kyungsoo, since the same thing happening twice in a row was unlikely. At the same time, though, she didn’t want to bother them if it ended up being inconsequential. Besides ... it was just a knock against the window. She could just be imagining it.

Lisa walked to her window, and after a moment’s hesitation, she opened the blinds.

And then jumped backward, knocking into her dressing table and falling down. There was Junhwe, the same as ever, standing completely still at her window.

Initially frozen by the shock, she was about to scream when he held up both his hands, as if in a sign of surrender. Lisa was still breathing hard, but glancing at Seulgi, she decided against screaming. After all, he was still outside, and anything he tried would take time—enough for Lisa to call for help.

With one hand on the dresser for support, she carefully pulled herself up, eyes never leaving Junhwe’s. His gaze followed her movements, and once she was standing, he slowly tapped on the window again.

Lisa furrowed her brow, confused, and then he mouthed the word open.

She shook her head quickly. No way. There was absolutely no way she was going to willingly let him in; she was being too kind, too stupid in not calling for help already.

He tapped again at the window, and this time indicated at an imaginary line about two inches above the windowsill. Open, he mouthed again.

“No. Way,” she said, whispering the words but making them clear enough for him to read her lips. She backed away from the window and turned toward her door, intending to get either Baekhyun or Kyungsoo or even both of them. But when she finally grabbed the door handle, she stopped.

Lisa took a deep breath and let it out slowly, internally debating. There was only one reason as to why he was here ... and that reason was too important to Lisa for her to pass up this opportunity for information.

Reluctantly, she stepped back from the door and faced the window again. Junhwe was still there, patiently watching her. Once she reached the window, she motioned for him to back away. She was already being irrational in just opening the window; she wasn’t going to take a chance and risk him pushing it open all the way.

Surprisingly, Junhwe complied, walking backward to the sidewalk that was about fifteen feet away. Only once he was there did Lisa unlock the window, keeping her eyes on him as she lifted it to about two inches like he had indicated. Then she reengaged the locks, ensuring that Junhwe wouldn’t be able to open it farther.

She took a step back automatically as he approached the window, but then reminded herself to hold her ground. Junhwe kneeled down so that he was level with the opening.

“You know where Rosé is. Get her back.”

Lisa frowned. She had been expecting to get answers, not get questioned. “W-What do you mean? I don’t—we don’t know whe—”

Junhwe slammed his fist against the window, his eyes blazing. “Shut the up.” Lisa clapped her hand over to keep from yelling out in surprise. There’s nothing he can do—the window is still locked.

As Lisa stayed frozen in spot, Junhwe took a few seconds to calm down before speaking again. “I know that you know. You and that planned it, didn’t you? This is your way of keeping her away from me ... but you won’t succeed.” He grinned, and Lisa felt a chill run down her spine. “Just know that I’m watching you. And you’ll pay for this, Lalisa.” He looked to the side of the room, to where Seulgi was still sleeping. “You’ll pay.”

In the few seconds it took for Lisa to check to make sure Seulgi was still asleep, Junhwe had disappeared. Lisa all but ran to the window, slamming it back down and locking it before drawing the blinds closed.

“What the was that?”

Lisa spun around to see Seulgi sitting up.

“You were ... weren’t you sleeping?”

Seulgi scoffed. “As if I could sleep with you falling down and making a ruckus. But back to the point—what was that?”

When Lisa didn’t answer, Seulgi said, “Lisa. If you don’t start talking in a minute, I’m going to find those two officers. And before you say they won’t believe me, I’m sure there are security cameras here, right?”

Lisa nervously wetted her lips. “That was—that was J-Junhwe.” At Seulgi’s confused expression, Lisa realized that more explanation was needed. “Junhwe was ... Chaeyoung’s boyfriend when she was in Australia. He’s not exactly ... normal, I guess. Or stable might be a better word.”

Even after she brought Seulgi up to date on Junhwe’s history, Lisa went on to recount the first incident since Chaeyoung had moved to South Korea—the vandalism of Chaeyoung’s house. And then the break in at Lisa’s house, and the incident at the food exhibit, and the kidnapping, and the video message ...

Seulgi’s confusion quickly turned into shock and borderline horror. “Lisa. How have you not told me all of this before?”

Before Lisa could respond, she waved her hand dismissively. “Nevermind, I get it. I’m glad you told me now at least.” Then her eyes widened as she looked to the window with a new understanding. “So you just—you were talking to—”

Lisa nodded. There was a long moment of silence, and then Seulgi ran a hand through her hair and sighed loudly. “What did he say?”

Lisa pursed her lips. “That’s what I don’t get. He said I knew where Chaeyoung was ... he said I—that I ‘planned’ it?” She shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe I should take what he said with a grain of salt. He’s unstable, after all.”

Seulgi nodded in halfhearted agreement, and Lisa tried to ignore the tugging feeling in her chest.

«•••»

The next morning, Kyungsoo had left to take the week’s update to the station, accompanied by Baekhyun. Though neither of them voiced any complaints, Lisa could only imagine how stifling their current job must be. It was only natural for them to want a breather.

That left Lisa and Seulgi alone, and even though it was a Saturday, neither felt like leaving the house. In fact, both of them put the house on lockdown as soon as the two officers left, locking all the doors and windows, closing all the blinds, and drawing all the curtains. They stayed in Lisa’s room, uneasily watching Netflix as if it was a chore. Neither wanted to speak about the previous night, but the previous night was all either could think about.

Eventually, Seulgi seemed to be on the verge of starting to enjoy the show. She shook her head disapprovingly at the actions of the second female lead. “What a petty ,” she said with a light laugh.

“You and that planned it, didn’t you?”

“He said I planned it with someone else,” Lisa said suddenly. She could feel Seulgi looking at her, perplexed, so Lisa paused the episode before turning to the other girl. “When Junhwe said I planned it—he said I planned it with someone else ... ‘you and that ’ were his exact words,” Lisa said, using air quotes.

Seulgi rubbed her face with her hands. “This guy ... I think he’s actually delusional, Lisa.”

“I think I figured that out a while ago, but I don’t know ... this seems different.”

“I wouldn’t dig too deep into it, he has no evidence, no leads, so—”

“—with the lead you have, there is no point in still waiting for her—”

Lisa gasped, cutting Seulgi off, as realization dawned on her. “No leads.” She looked as Seulgi pointedly. “No leads. As far as everyone else knows, there are no leads. So how did Jennie know we had a lead?”

•••

Author’s Note:

*dramatic music*

hallo, me is back! this chapter toook a while lol ... i don't really know why, but writer's block hits me at the oddest times. do try to check out my stories on ao3 (link in my bio) because that's where i was during this mini episode of writer's block ... whoops. anyway, thoughts? i love reading all your comments, and thank you so much for all the love so far!! i'm getting kind of emotional because this story is nearing its end ...

~ thana