Jennie reluctantly took Jisoo's offer to stay in her house, but despite Jisoo's pleas, Jennie refused to file a complaint with the police. She didn't want to admit to the police that she was a beggar and she was worried she would get into trouble or get made fun of when they knew. Even though Jisoo couldn't agree with her, she had to respect her decision. 

Jisoo inserted the keys on the door and the sound of paws clawing at the door was the first thing they heard. As soon as she opened the door, her white maltese jumped to greet her. 

“Hi Dalgom, I’m sorry I’m a bit late today, but we have guests!” Jisoo said as she grabbed Dalgom and stepped inside her house, removing her shoes.  

Jennie entered after Jisoo, closed the door and followed her past the small corridor in the entrance after removing her own shoes. She took a look around to observe the small living room and kitchen area on the right side. 

“Jennie, this is Dalgom.”  

“Hi, Dalgom. This is Kuma, I hope you get along well.” Jennie patted his head, and Kuma, who had just woken up in Jennie’s arms, looked at him in curiosity. 

Jisoo smiled and kissed Dalgom’s head, before putting him on the ground.  

“Wanna eat or drink something?” Jisoo asked. 

“N-No, I’m fine, thank you.” 

“Alright.” 

Silence followed, but it was soon interrupted when Kuma barked. 

“Shh, Kuma!” 

“I think he wants to properly meet Dalgom.” Jisoo said, letting her tired body dive into the couch.  

Jennie looked down and Dalgom was sitting, looking up at Kuma. She smiled and squatted, letting Kuma on the floor.  

Trying not to be awkward, Jennie sat beside Jisoo, the both of them observing their dogs interact. 

“I think they liked each other.” Jennie commented. 

“I’m glad.” 

And silence won once more. Jisoo could feel the awkwardness in the air, but at the same time, she felt comfortable being in her house with Jennie beside her. 

“Jisoo.” Jennie called, making her meet her eyes with a hum. “I'm really sorry about earlier. I didn’t mean to judge or offend you. It’s just that...” 

“That’s okay, I understand.”  

“But I want to explain myself. There’s no way I can thank you enough for everything you’ve been doing for me since I met you. I think I at least owe you an explanation of the whole story.”  

Jisoo put one leg underneath her and turned her body to Jennie, ready to listen to it. 

“I used to live with my mother and Kuma. We weren’t rich, but we survived as we could, while I was in college and trying to find a part time job to help my mother.” Jennie paused and took a deep breath. “Two months ago, my mother suddenly passed out at home and I took her to the hospital. She was diagnosed with cancer and she has been under treatment since then.” 

Between the million things Jisoo had tried to imagine, this was something that wouldn't have ever crossed her mind. 

“Since my mom is quite skinny and has other sorts of problems, she needs to be watched at the hospital permanently... Which, as you imagine, is very expensive, so we had to choose between her treatment and paying rent. I think you can imagine what we chose. So we got evicted. I've been spending nights at friends' houses, others in the hospital, but sometimes, when the weather is not too bad, I stay in the streets. They charge extra for every night I spend at the hospital and I don't want to be too much of a hassle to my friends." 

Jennie paused to breathe, then continued. 

"I wanted to quit college to get a full-time job, but my mother refused to have me quit college because of her. I managed to get a part-time job at a nearby coffee-shop. One day, they called me from the hospital saying my mother got worse, and even though I explained the situation to my boss, she was a piece of and didn't believe me, so she fired me because I left mid shift." 

Jisoo grabbed her hand as Jennie’s voice sounded like she would cry any minute. 

"I couldn't get any other job since then, and I can't be always relying on my friends, that’s why I had no other option other than to ask people for money on the streets. And now that my bag was stolen... I had some money saved for my mother and some important belongings... At least my phone was in my pocket.” She said with a sad, almost forced smile, while a tear managed to escape her eye.  

“I'm sorry to hear that... I don’t know what else I can say, I’m sorry, I-" 

“No, that’s okay. I just wanted to say that out loud.” Jennie sniffed, wiping that one tear away.  

“There really wasn't any other option?” Jisoo asked.  

Jennie remained silent for a few seconds, avoiding Jisoo's eyes. 

“There kinda was but... My mother made me promise I wouldn’t do it.” 

Jisoo frowned. 

“I could earn a lot of easy money with... you know, some servic-" 

Jisoo launched herself with her arms around Jennie’s neck, silencing her with a tight hug. 

“Oh god, please Jennie, don’t you ever think of doing that.” Jisoo squeezed her as she spoke.  

Jennie held on her breath, her body frozen in Jisoo's embrace. After a couple seconds, she allowed her arms to snake around Jisoo's waist, hugging her back. 

“I won’t. I promised my mom I wouldn’t, and now I promise you. But believe me, if she hadn't opposed, I wouldn't have thought twice. My mom is everything to me.” 

They didn’t have any reason to stay like that, hugging each other in silence, but they still did so, and neither of them seemed to want to pull away. 

“Jisoo.” Jennie whispered her name once more. “I know I said this already but... Thank you.” 

Jisoo finally pulled away, just so she could stare into Jennie’s beautiful eyes. 

“For what?” Jisoo asked, her heart threatening to jump out of her chest with the intensity of Jennie’s stare. 

“For helping me expecting nothing in exchange, for showing me there’s hope when I was starting to lose it, for... being there for me even though you barely knew me. I don't smile a lot lately, but the few minutes I spend with you every day allow me to forget about life in general for a little bit.” 

Even if Jisoo wanted to break the stare, she couldn’t. There was a magnetic force, way too strong for any of them to fight against. It kept their eyes locked, it made their hands meet each other’s, and their bodies to draw closer.  

Slowly... carefully, as their eyes found something else to look at. Parted, dry lips, screaming silently for the other.  

Kuma barked, startling both girls, making them jump and pull away. 

“K-Kuma!” Jennie cleared . “Come here!”  

The dog whined and jumped to Jennie’s lap, while Jisoo took a deep, silent breath and fixed the hair that fell to her face. 

“I-I'm sorry, he likes to bark randomly.”  

“That’s okay, if he’s barking it means he’s okay, right?” Jisoo smiled, trying not to look stupid, knowing her cheeks were tomato-red. 

Jennie hummed and nodded.  

Another awkward silence. Dalgom jumped to Jisoo's lap, and she hugged him. 

Did that just happen? It wasn’t a dream? Maybe Jisoo just imagined it all and her mind was tricking her. But she knew it wasn’t her imagination when she stole a glance at Jennie and found her with the same red cheeks, eyes already on her.  

“J-Jennie, you wanna go to sleep?”  

"Yeah, I could use some rest." 

"I don’t have a spare bed, so, you can sleep on mine and I’ll sleep here on the couch.” 

“What, no! I’ll sleep here, that’s perfectly fine. It's already great to have somewhere to sleep at.” 

Jisoo wanted to hug her again and tell her she wouldn’t need to ever sleep on the streets again, but the courage seemed to have vanished just like that.  

“My bed isn’t so small, I think we both could fit in there.”  

Jisoo widened her eyes and Jennie’s eyebrow rose on her forehead. Wow, courage came back fast. 

“I’m sorry, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, I-" 

“That’s fine by me.” Jennie smiled at her. 

“Okay, then.” Jisoo said, without even noticing the stupid smile on her face. “I'll get a towel and clothes so you can take a shower.” 

“Oh, yeah, I know I stink.”  

“Oh my god, no, that’s not what I meant! You don’t stink, much for the opposite, you smell good, I mean, I like your natural scent, I-I mean-" 

Jennie burst out laughing, even scaring Kuma in the process, who had fallen asleep on her lap. The poor dog also seemed exhausted. 

“I’m sorry, I was just messing with you. I would really appreciate a shower. And thank you, Jisoo. You smell good too. I really like your perfume.”  

“Oh, uhm, yeah, right, t-thank you.” Jisoo quickly got up. “I-I'll get the things, yeah, I’ll be right back.” And she stormed to her room, closing the door. 

Her back met the door as she tried to cool down her face with her cold hands, rubbing her cheeks vigorously. Jisoo, what the hell! 

If asking Jennie out of the blue to sleep IN THE SAME BED as her wasn’t already embarrassing enough, she just told her she liked her natural scent. And if it that wasn’t enough, Jennie also told her she liked her perfume.  

Shaking her head until she almost felt dizzy, she fetched a towel and some pajamas for her and returned to the living room, finding Jennie playing with Kuma and Dalgom. If that wasn’t the cutest thing Jisoo had ever seen, she didn’t know what was. 

“H-Here! The bathroom is right there. Make yourself at home.”  

“Thank you. I won’t take long so you can go too.” 

“No, that’s okay, take as long as you want to!” 

Jennie giggled and grabbed the clothes from Jisoo's hands. She shot her a smile before entering the bathroom, without knowing that made Jisoo so weak at her knees. She sat on the couch, closed her eyes and let her head fall back. 

Why do I feel this way whenever she's around? 

Why does my heart beat so fast when she looks into my eyes? 

Why do I keep wanting to hug her? 

Jisoo felt her mind spinning around as the sound of the water running came from the bathroom. It was somehow relaxing, and soon, she fell asleep. She was so conflicted she didn't realize how tired she was.  

A soft touch woke her up. 

"Jisoo, you can go now."  

She opened her eyes and oh she was not ready to see Jennie with her pajamas and wet hair. 

"R-Right." She muttered, standing up and stepping inside the bathroom.  

After a quick shower, it was Jisoo's turn to find Jennie asleep on the couch, with Kuma and Dalgom also asleep next to her. Her lips crept into a smile as she observed her for a bit, until she realized what she was doing. Jisoo woke her up and they headed to Jisoo's bedroom. Cozy and small, with a closet, her bed, a desk, and long, white curtains. 

They laid down and accidentally ended up facing each other. 

"Good night." Jennie whispered. 

"Good night. Sleep well." 

"I'm sure I will."  

Jisoo closed her eyes and hoped Jennie did the same, or else, even in the dark of the room, Jisoo was sure she could see how red her cheeks had become.  

But Jennie didn't need to see it, because Jisoo knew she felt it when Jennie's lips suddenly touched her cheek.  

Not a word was shared. It wasn't needed anyway, they were sure they could hear each other's heat beat from how strong it was. 

---

A/N: Hi everyone! Gosh, thank you SO MUCH for your support in this story already, it means a whole lot ^-^

So, there you have a huge dose of fluff with some backstory! I hope you enjoyed the chapter and look forward for the next one <3