Jennie walked out of the bathroom several minutes later feeling refreshed and much more awake. She had found medicine in the cabinets that she’d taken for her headache and sore muscles, and she was starting to feel the relieving effects which made it much easier to think straight. Plus, the time away from Lisa had allowed her to recenter herself and calm her frantically beating heart. Being around the blonde was far too confusing for Jennie to keep even her own thoughts in order. The minute she re-entered the bedroom, however, she felt a jolt of nervousness go through her once more. Lisa was sitting on one corner of the bed, quietly humming to herself as she scrolled through her phone. She’d clearly been busy while Jennie was in the bathroom because now there were several different items set up nicely on the nightstand and a clean set of clothes folded neatly on the bed beside the blonde. An absorbent mat was spread on the bed now, and Jennie had a pretty good idea of what was about to happen.

“Are you gonna help me wash up now?” Jennie asked with a hint of uncertainty. Lisa looked up with a small smile.

“Oh, hey. I didn’t hear you come out. You look better already. How are you feeling?” she asked, ignoring Jennie’s question as she stood from the bed to face the girl.

“I feel better. I took some painkillers and stuff.” Jennie narrowed her eyes. “Should I be worried that you didn’t answer my question?”

“No, not at all. I am going to help you wash up. I just don’t want you freaking out again when I ask you to take your shirt off.” Lisa smirked as a blush made its way up to Jennie’s cheeks. The brunette was determined not to let the blonde get to her this time, however, and she pulled her shirt over her head in one swift motion, setting it aside and looking at Lisa expectantly. That slight smirk was still on Lisa’s lips as she motioned to the bed, and Jennie climbed onto the mattress and laid down over the absorbent mat without saying a word.

“Is this going to hurt?” Jennie asked quietly after a long lapse of silence where she watched Lisa prepare her materials. The blonde looked up, biting her lip in hesitation in a way that gave Jennie all the answer she needed.

“It will. I don’t know how much and I’ll try to make it as quick and painless as possible, but I have to clean your wounds so yes, it’ll hurt. I wouldn’t put you through it if it wasn’t necessary, but we can’t risk any of your wounds getting infected.”

“I understand. Can you just talk to me while you work? It’ll be easier if I have something else to focus on.”

“You mean something besides the fact that I’ll be touching you?” Lisa ran one finger lightly over Jennie’s stomach as she said this, eliciting an involuntary shiver from the brunette. Jennie smacked Lisa’s hand away, feeling her face heat up again.

“If you keep teasing me like that I won’t let you do anything,” Jennie huffed, annoyed by Lisa’s antics which were accompanied by her quiet chuckles.

“You’re quite sensitive today, aren’t you?” Lisa grinned in a manner that was so sweet and childish that Jennie almost forgot she was being teased.

“I have the right to be sensitive. I got kidnapped last night and I still don’t know why.” Jennie blinked up at Lisa with an expectant expression. The blonde’s own expression grew serious as she began carefully removing gauze and bandages from Jennie’s torso.

“I didn’t kidnap you,” Lisa finally said after a long pause. She briefly met Jennie’s gaze before quickly looking away, focusing on the task at hand.

“It was a joke, Lisa. Why are you so serious all of a sudden?”

“A lot of things went wrong last night. I could have gotten us both arrested, or even killed.”

“What are you talking about? What did you even do last night? I still don’t understand why the cops showed up and what either of us had to do with it. What’s going on?”

“I didn’t go to that party last night for Sooyoung or to have fun or anything like that. I went to that party to steal something, and I almost got caught.”

“You? Stealing? Are you serious? You stole something other than that getaway car?”

“Yeah, are you really that surprised after everything?”

“Honestly, yeah a little bit. I don’t understand. What could you possibly need from anyone at that party? And what exactly went wrong?” Jennie asked, wincing slightly as Lisa began applying antiseptic to clean the wounds.

“I was there to get some information. I needed access to Mayor Park’s personal computer,” Lisa explained, calmly continuing her work. “It was supposed to be an easy job, in and out. I know the layout of the house like the back of my hand and no one would really question me if they saw me wandering around alone because Sooyoung and I are pretty close. I was done by the time you arrived and I was planning on enjoying the party for a little while before leaving so I wouldn’t raise suspicion.”

“So what exactly went wrong then?”

“Someone was onto me. I had a bad feeling the whole time like I was being watched, but I ignored it and that was my biggest mistake. They recognized you when you arrived, I guess from when you were at the station the other day. It seems like they thought you were part of the plan and that I was planning on taking more than I already had. I don’t know exactly what they did but the authorities were notified. Luckily, I have someone who has access to the private methods of communications that the police uses and they were able to warn me.” Lisa looked up and met Jennie’s eyes with a bite of her lip. “The thing is, I wasn’t mentioned at all. They were after you.”

“Me? Why me? I didn’t even do anything for once!” Lisa shook her head, her eyebrows knitting together.

“I don’t know,” the blonde admitted. “But I lured you there so I figured I had to get you out of there, especially since it was my fault that the cops were coming.”

“What do you mean you ‘lured’ me there? I went to that party because I wanted to.” Because I wanted to see you again, Jennie added in her head but didn’t say out loud. Lisa simply shook her head.

“Jisoo isn’t as skilled as she thinks she is. She didn’t even realized I had used the link you originally established with my phone to reverse the signal and hack into your computer.”

“Wait… what?”

“Everything you got from my phone, all the files you shifted through, all of the information you found—I was feeding all of it to you. I was aware the moment you hacked into my phone and I took the opportunity to feed you information. I put the invitation file where I knew you would find it eventually. I had a hunch that you wouldn’t be able to resist such an opportunity.” A pause. And then, quietly, “I wanted to see you again.”

“Okay, hold up. Are you like a criminal or something? Stealing confidential information from the mayor, using a hacker’s signal against them—that’s even above my level of expertise. Here I thought you were a goody two shoes, loved by everyone and protected by your perfect cop girlfriend. But, clearly, that isn’t the case. Who are you, really?” Jennie took a breath as if just processing Lisa’s last sentence. “You… wanted to see me again?”

“I did. You’re interesting. I wanted to get to know you a little before things got… complicated.” Lisa stopped talking, worrying away at her bottom lip as she focused intently on reapplying gauze and bandages to Jennie’s injuries. The blonde refused to look up and meet Jennie’s gaze, but she could feel the brunette’s hard stare burning into the side of her head.

“There’s a lot you aren’t telling me, Lisa,” Jennie said coolly. “I put a lot of trust in you last night to let you drag me out of that party, and right now staying here with you and letting you take care of me takes just as much trust. I think I deserve some answers.”

“There’s a lot I can’t tell you, not until our mission leader gives the okay. She won’t be happy if I give you information before you’re cleared. I can’t tell you a lot of person information either. It could put us both in danger if we know too much about each other. But just so you know, I’m not a criminal—at least, not in the typical sense. Everything I do is part of my job and that’s why it’s so secretive. There’s a lot at risk when it comes to the tasks I have to carry out but I swear that I’m not doing all this illegal stuff for fun or wealth or anything like that. There’s a bigger picture.”

“Okay, why do you suddenly sound like a secret agent trained in giving half-answers?” Jennie said with a roll of her eyes as Lisa finished up and handed her the clean set of clothes. As Jennie pulled the clean shirt over her head, she caught Lisa’s nervous expression.

“Well, you see…” Lisa mumbled. She was fiddling with her fingers, unable to meet Jennie’s incredulous gaze.

“You’re not about to tell me that you actually are a secret agent, are you?”

“I’m not. Well… not exactly…”

“What do you mean ‘not exactly’? How are you ‘not exactly’ a secret agent?”

“It’s complicated. I work for a government agency, yes, but it isn’t as clean-cut as that. I’m not an agent, I’m an asset, a tool. It’ll make more sense when everything is explained to you in more detail by our mission leader. I can’t tell you much more at the moment, I’m sorry.”

“And Taeyeon? Is she part of your team or whatever?” Lisa’s expression darkened immediately.

“Unfortunately, yes. She’s my partner.”

“Well that explains a lot. You two seem to share a rather… tense history.” Jennie gave Lisa a curious look. “So what happened? I thought if you’re partners then you’re supposed to trust each other with your lives and stuff, but you seem ready to kill Taeyeon at any given moment. What gives?”

“That information is classified for you.”

“Why? Because I don’t have the proper clearance or whatever?” Jennie asked with a roll of her eyes.

“No,” Lisa replied curtly, her gaze steely. “I won’t tell you because I don’t trust you to stay if you know the full story yet, and I’m honestly not ready for you to leave.”

For a long moment, Jennie had no idea how to respond. She simply stared at Lisa in shock, unable to drop her gaze from that of the younger girl. The blonde was clearly a bit flustered, maybe even embarrassed, if the light blush on her cheeks was any indication. But nonetheless, she refused to release Jennie from that intense stare of hers. It was almost as if she was trying to convey some message telepathically. However, before Jennie could find her voice and ask Lisa what else was on her mind that she wasn’t saying, the bedroom door burst open. Taeyeon strutted in, a phone in hand and a taunting smirk on her perfect lips.

“Ooh, Lisa dear, you’ve really ed up this time,” the older woman said in a singsong voice.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Lisa snapped, finally breaking eye contact with Jennie while motioning for the girl to hurry and finish getting dressed. Taeyeon held out the phone so Lisa could see it and the blonde snatched it out of her hand. Jennie jumped to her feet, hurriedly pulling on the sweatpants that Lisa had provided her with before moving to stand behind the girl in order to see the phone over her shoulder. On the screen, there was some local news reel playing and Jennie was surprised to see her own picture on display above the caption THIEF TURNED KIDNAPPER.

“Wait a minute. That’s me, but why does it say kidnapper? I didn’t kidnap anyone!” Jennie demanded, feeling a slight panic rise in her chest. Lisa didn’t answer, simply turning up the volume on the device with her brows furrowed.

“... goes by the name Seoyeon Kang, although authorities now believe this to be an alias,” the news reporter was saying with a grim expression. “The suspect was reportedly spotted at the birthday celebration of the mayor’s daughter last night and is suspected to have lured one of the party guests to a private location before kidnapping her, not long after the suspect is believed to have stollen confidential legal information from the mayor’s personal computer. The victim in question is Lalisa Manoban, age 23, a young physician at a private practice and close friend of the hostess of last night’s celebration gone wrong. If you have any information on either the suspect or the victim, please contact the local police department. There is a reward being offered for any helpful information.”

The news anchor proceeded to talk about the incident in detail, including pictures of the crashed vehicle and “eye witness” accounts. Jennie gaped at the phone, vaguely aware of Lisa’s tight grip on the device and her paper-white knuckles.

“This is ridiculous!” Jennie exclaimed, finally breaking the silence that had engulfed the room. She took a step back, glancing back and forth between Taeyeon’s smug smirk and Lisa’s deep frown. Jennie pointed an accusing finger at the blonde. “I did not kidnap you. You were the one who dragged me out of that party. Why am I a wanted criminal now and you’re simply the helpless victim?!”

“It must have something to do with Chaeyoung. Or maybe Sooyoung or Seungwan,” Lisa said thoughtfully, though not really directing the reply towards Jennie.

“You’d better fix this, Blondie. I’ve been very careful about keeping my records clean despite my activities. I do not get caught, and I am not about to take the blame for a heist I didn’t even pull off,” Jennie spat at Lisa, suddenly furious. But the blonde didn’t even blink in her direction. She was too busy having a telepathic conversation with Taeyeon by the looks of it.

“Face it, Lisa. You’ve epically blown your cover. The mission is in jeopardy and I think you know who’s to blame,” the older of the two finally said aloud, her smirk turning into a malicious snarl.

“This can be resolved. It’s not that big of an issue,” Lisa responded calmly, her expression stoic despite her death grip on the phone that was still in her hand. Jennie threw her hands up in the air as she looked back and forth between the women.

“Seriously? You’re both just going to ignore me, the actual victim of all this?” Jennie huffed in exasperation. At last, Lisa finally looked her way, seeming to have just remembered her presence. But when the younger girl opened to address Jennie’s concerns at last, the phone in her hand started blaring. Jennie really didn’t like the dark smile that curled Taeyeon’s lips at the sound of the ringtone.

“Good luck explaining yourself,” Taeyeon said in an eerie tone. Jennie glimpsed the name Mission Leader Im on the screen and for some reason she herself felt nervous.

“,” Lisa hissed under her breath. She let out a shaky sigh. “Yeah, she definitely won’t be happy about this.”

I'm sorry that this took so long everyone, please forgive me TT Anyway, I know I raised more questions than I answered in this chapter, but that's just how I roll B) I hope you enjoyed and that you'll stick around to discover what happens next!

~unsungpoet ^-^