The front door slamming woke Rosé with a start. She rubbed her eyes tiredly, throwing her covers off and climbing out of bed. She made her way to the kitchen and found Jennie downing a glass of water. She was dressed in leggings and a tank top, and sweat was rolling down her temples and neck. Rosé blinked at her in confusion.

“Jennie?” she said, catching the older girl’s attention.

“Oh, hey, Rosie,” Jennie greeted, setting down the empty glass. “Did I wake you?”

“Did you just get back from exercising?” Rosé responded with a question of her own.

“I woke up early and couldn’t fall asleep again so I went for a run,” Jennie shrugged.

“Why did you wake up so early? Is everything alright?” Rosé demanded.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Jennie averted her gaze as she said it, a sure indicator that she was lying. Rosé narrowed her eyes but decided not to push it. After a moment of silence, Jennie cleared . “Well, uh, I’m gonna go take a shower. I’ll see you in a few.”

Jennie stepped around Rosé, still avoiding her narrow-eyed stare. Rosé watched Jennie disappear down the hall, making a mental note to probe her for answers later.

***

“Hey, Brian,” Rosé greeted later that day, climbing into the boy’s car.

“‘Sup, Ro?” Brian replied. Rosé rolled her eyes.

“Please don’t call me that,” she said, making a face.

“Right, sorry,” Brian laughed, beginning to drive. “Where do you wanna go for lunch?”

“The Café. Jennie and Jisoo are meeting us there.”

“And Lisa?”

“Has some dance moves she needs to work on apparently. She was totally willing to join me, up until I mentioned that the rest of you were coming too. Then she got all weird and ran off before I could ask her about it.”

“Okay, so I’m not the only one who’s noticed that she’s been acting weird. I thought I was going crazy.”

“No, Lisa has definitely been acting strangely. And she’s not the only one either.”

“What do you mean?”

“Jennie was up before me this morning. Said she couldn’t sleep. When I asked why, she sort of dodged the question.”

“Do you think it has anything to do with the Pocky game?”

“The Pocky game? Why would it have anything to do with that?”

“Well, you saw their faces afterwards. The wouldn’t even look at each other. And you said they were both acting weird last night too. How Lisa bolted out of the car and Jennie kept evading your questions.”

“Yeah okay, but that doesn’t mean it has anything to do with the game.”

“What if it does though?” Rosé rolled her eyes.

“Alright, let’s say that for some strange reason this does have something to do with the game. What would that mean?” she asked. Brian shrugged.

“I guess only time will tell.” By then, they had arrived at their destination. Brian parked the car in the parking lot of a cute little coffee shop with the words “The Café” flashing in neon lights. The pair got out of the car and into the shop, making their way towards a table in the back where Jennie and Jisoo were already waiting for them. The group greeted each other and ordered their food, engaging in idle chitchat for the majority of their meal. As they were getting ready to leave, Jisoo turned to Rosé.

“Before I forget, Lisa wanted me to ask you a favor for her. She wants to know if you can drive her home after dance practice tonight. I’d do it myself but I have a project I need to work on and my partners will kill me if I bail,” Jisoo said.

“Sure, it’s no problem. It’s just Jennie and me so there’s plenty of room. Right, Jen?” Rosé replied, turning to her dark-haired friend.

“Um, actually, I wanted to talk to you about that. I have a, uh, music theory paper that I need to start, and I need the library’s research materials. So I have to pass on joining you for practice today, sorry,” Jennie answered nervously. She checked her watch. “Speaking of, I’d better get going now. I have to grab some things before I head to the library. I’ll, er, see you guys around.”

Jisoo, Brian, and Rosé watched Jennie leave. They exchanged glances once she was gone.

“That was strange, right?” Brian said, looking confused.

“Definitely,” Jisoo agreed.

“Yeah, wanna know the strangest part?” Rosé crossed her arms, turning to the pair. “She doesn’t take music theory until next semester.”

***

“Rosé, what are you thinking?” Brian asked nervously as he drove her back to her apartment.

“Nothing,” Rosé replied curtly. “Why?”

“You have that look. I always get scared when you get that look.”

“What look?”

“That really deeply pensive look, like you’re contemplating doing something reckless.”

“Well, I’m not. If you must know, I’m thinking about Jennie--”

“Ha! What’s new?” Brian scoffed.

“You didn’t let me finish,” Rosé huffed. “I was going to say that I’m thinking of Jennie and Lisa.”

“Oh… what are you thinking about?”

“I’m thinking that maybe there is something more to their recent behavior.” Rosé paused. “Do you think… Do you think it’s possible that they’ve developed some kind of feelings for each other?”

“I guess it’s possible. Why do you say it like it’s such a bad thing?”

“I dunno, we just don’t really know Lisa that well yet.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, Jennie typically doesn’t know the people she hooks up with very well.”

“You know what, nevermind. Forget I said anything.” Rosé crossed her arms and slumped in her seat as the pair lapsed into silence. She tried to think about something, anything other than Jennie, but her mind kept reverting to the dark-haired girl. Despite her strongest efforts, Rosé couldn’t stop the feeling of dread pooling in the pit of her stomach.

***

Jennie heaved a sigh and rubbed her eyes tiredly. She was sitting on the floor in a back corner of the library, her laptop balanced on her lap and her earbuds in. Although she’d lied about the music theory paper (which, in retrospect, was a stupid lie), there was work that she needed to get done. Since she had already said she’d be at the library, she had decided that she’d better be where she said she would be. So there she was three hours later, drowsy and wondering whether or not it was worth it to go home and face Rosé. As the thought was crossing her mind, something moved in her field of vision. Jennie looked up, her eyes trailing up the length of a pair of long legs until she was staring up at Lisa’s shy smile. Jennie’s heart gave a little start and she uncertainly removed her earbuds.

“Hi,” Lisa greeted quietly.

“Hey,” Jennie answered, equally as quiet.

“Mind if I join you?”

“Um, I guess not.” Lisa cautiously took a seat beside Jennie, careful to keep a space between them. For a moment, neither girl said anything.

“Have you been avoiding me?” Lisa asked all of a sudden. Jennie didn’t answer right away, shutting her laptop in pensive silence.

“Have you been avoiding me?” Jennie echoed after a pause.

“I asked you first,” Lisa countered, a small smile tugging on her lips. Jennie sighed, leaning her head back against the wall. She refused to meet Lisa’s wide eyes.

“Honestly, yeah. I sort of have been.”

“Why?”

“I don’t really know. I just felt like you didn’t want to see me.”

“Trust me, I did.” Lisa chuckled. “I had the impression you didn’t want to see me.”

“Well, I did.” Jennie tilted her head, looking at Lisa through her lashes. “Considering we’re still practically strangers, I admittedly missed you a lot.”

“Really?” Lisa asked, a blush crawling up her cheeks.

“Really,” Jennie nodded, smiling warmly at the blonde. Lisa lowered her head, letting her hair fall like a curtain so that she could smile bashfully at the floor. After a second, she peered back up at Jennie, who was watching her out of the corner of her eye.

“You know, we aren’t really strangers anymore though. After all, I did spend the night at your apartment,” Lisa smirked.

“That doesn’t prove anything,” Jennie argued. “I still don’t know that much about you.”

“That can change.” Lisa shifted her position so that she was facing Jennie, her shoulder pressed against the wall. “What do you want to know?”

“Would it be too cheesy for me to say everything?” Jennie asked with a smile.

“Yes, it would be,” Lisa giggled. “But I’ll let it slide for now as long as you share some info with me too.”

“Deal.”

“Alright, where should I begin…”

Gah! I was gone so long, I know! I'm sorry, don't kill me OnO I was just experiencing some major writer's block and didn't want to add a crappy filler chapter. I hope this chapter was at least sort of worth the wait. (Also, I got so frustrated that I couldn't think of anything decent to write for this that I started a Jenlisa oneshot and it turned out ty so if you're into that, it's called Testing Your Limits). Anyways, hopefully the next chapter won't take me as long. Thank you all for your patience. Until the next time!

~unsungpoet ^-^