"The day that man allows true love to appear, those things which are well made will fall into confusion and will overturn everything we believe to be right and true." -- Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy

"Lalisa?" He called out with a slight tremble in his voice.  The woman in front of him, sitting with her back facing him, hadn't glanced behind, not even a single glimpse.

"Lalisa?" He tries once more, aching to at least get something from the blonde.  Walking further he places a hand right above her shoulder; the woman faces sideways.

"Get your filthy hands away from me!  I don't want to see you or your face ever again!" The blonde speaks angrily and shoves his hand aside.  "Go and make children with your wife or whatever you call her, I'm through with you!  I don't want to have anything to do with you or your riches!  I'd rather be homeless than have to stand living another day with you!"

And just like that he was surrounded by darkness; just like that he was all alone.  No Lisa, no wife.  Just a sad man down on his knees as he weeps in a garden.  A garden that once used to have the finest, greenest grass.  A man that used to have everything, now left with nothing but a broken heart.

"You are no father, and I am just a mere obligation." The pained voice of his one and only daughter resonated through his mind, it echoed and echoed till he jumps up from bed with a powerful scream and unfamiliar wet drops falling from his eyes.  He touches the side of his cheeks and finds those drops settling onto his palms.  "What are these?"  He thinks to himself.

This man, now in his early forties had not been able to sleep for the past few months.  His mind was completely infested with nightmares of his daughter falling into destruction because of him.  But there were times when he had subtle dreams, dreams of his daughter playing around with him, but he would always shove her away.  And he cried; he cried every time he would wake up.  They weren't just dreams…  They were memories.  His wife knew about this and could only hope that he gets better as the days pass by. 

She hated seeing him this broken.  And she hated herself for being useless and not being able to do anything for the man she dearly loved.

So there he was again, drowning himself in alcohol as he continues to growl and mumble his regrets into thin air.  And she would watch him.  She would watch him from the window of their shared room as he would wrestle with the wind down by their mansion's garden.

"Lalisa!" He wails in his inebriated state holding a bottle of whiskey.  "Lalisa, come back!  Please come back!  I didn't mean it.  I didn't mean any of it!  Lalisa!" He shouts and though the neighbours were sure to be awoken by his tantrums, they could do nothing but pity the man.  He was after all a very powerful man, and they respected and feared him.  All they could do was try to cope up with him.

He collapses down the grass, tears still evident and fresh by his face.  Some of his men were already ready to bring him back to his huge mansion, but they halt when he orders them to.  "Don't come near me!" He screams.  They wait until he passes out from all his crying.

Morning came, the red-haired man finds himself amongst the comforts of his own room.  His wife was there exquisitely rubbing his hair.  Struggling to open his eyes, he allows her to continue on, some sort of calm wave washed over him because of her.  Somehow, it doesn't have to hurt as much when she's around.

"W-What time is it?" He asks with his raspy morning voice.  Shouting endlessly while being drowned in alcohol had his voice vanishing in a jiffy.

His wife as gentle as possible, continues to brush his red locks.  "It's a quarter past twelve, dear." 

"A quarter…  A quarter past…  twelve." He struggles to pronounce.  His throat was sore and his head ached, but nothing compared to the emptiness his heart felt.  "Lalisa?"  He decides to ask.  "H-Has she not come home yet?"

The wife smiles bitterly, internally thanking the gods she wouldn't see how pained his face would seem once he sees the reaction.  "Not yet, dear."  She answers managing to disguise the crack in her voice.  "Not yet, but she'll come home soon.  Alright?  You keep waiting, dear.  She'll come back to us."

Jiyong curves his lips upward to a grin.  "She'll be back soon."

Not very far away from the power this man beheld were the Kangs.  The Kangs who had begotten the one and only Kang Seungyoon who was beloved by all the citizens of the nation.  Seungyoon who had all the power in the world had come clean, and his parents who were very furious about the sudden news that their son had brought to them.

"What is the meaning of this?!"  Seungyoon's father raged throughout his whole mansion.  His face all up to his ears had turned red and he was now stomping in all directions like a madman.  "What kind of treachery is this?"  He demands unable to keep still.

Seungyoon who remained as steady as possible does not dare to apologize to him, instead he scoffs, showing a feigned version of himself because of a stupid thing called love.  "I told you already, father.  I'm not marrying Park Chaeyoung.  I don't want to."

"And why not?"  The father was quick to give a response turning swiftly to face his son.  "What had she done that had upset you?  We'll fix this!  We'll fix her up for you!  Just tell me what had made you come up with such a hasty decision!"  The angry father continuously rants.

Seungyoon slowly, as if he were in a fashion shoot, rakes his hair with one hand.  He glances at his father with an indifferent gaze and he speaks, "I've decided she wasn't my type anymore.  I think I'd like to give other women a chance, you know… options.  And come on father, marriage, really?  We hadn't even gotten to know each other yet, and here we are about to settle?  I don't think that'll suit me very well."

"This damn bastard!"  The father scurries to meet his son face to face at a proper level.  He readies himself to hit him square in the face.  Seungyoon, however, was unfazed by all this and raises a brow.  This only adds more fuel into the father's raging heat, but because his wife stops him midway, he calms down… a bit.

"Yoon-ie, why are you acting like this all of a sudden?  You were so kind, so obedient, so… unlike you now.  What happened to you?"

He shrugs walking away to their living room, leaving a man about to just let it all out and a mother who was very disappointed.  Keeping well with his act, unwavering, he speaks, "Mother, I just don't want to rush into anything I'm not very sure of.  I don't want to end up in regret once I tie the knot with the Park's daughter.  You know I rationalize everything, think things through even before getting involved right?"  This time he spoke reasonably, subtracting the off-the-chart rage the father was bubbling up inside.

"Yes, yes."  The mother replies, leading her husband to have a seat by the living room couch where she found her son staring off into some frames hung up just above the fireplace.  "Take a seat, honey."  She instructs the older man, before she addresses her son.  "I know this was all sudden, but were you not the one responsible for this?  You had personally come to me, asking and begging me for the Park's daughter's hand in marriage.  You've never been fickle about anything, Yoon.  How come you're doing this now?"

Seungyoon cringes at the term 'begging', and though he does not let it show, he was quite embarrassed, knowing that what his mother stated were facts.  With resoluteness in his eyes and love still embodying his being he faces his mother and takes hold of both her arms.  "Mother," he starts, "I just don't want this, okay?  I don't want it any more, can you not do anything about this?"

"Bastard!"  His father shouts.  "You know we can do a lot, but how do you think we'll face the embarrassment?  The shame?  How do you think people would react to me once they see me?  They'll never fear me again, and you… you won't ever find a maiden as fair as the Park's!"

"I really won't."  He finishes in his head.

"Is this what you really want?"  The mother amidst the conversation between father and son suddenly stated.  "Are you really sure about this?"

"This is the only way to make Chaeyoung happy, of course I'm sure about it."  Instead of speaking, however, he gives a small apologetic smile to his mother, and she nods, understanding right away what it is her son really wants.

With one lone sigh, she turns to her husband and gives him a pair of eyes he was sure not to resist. 

"God dammit!"  He curses under his breath, aware that he was completely powerless under those loving eyes.  "Go on ahead, spoil him!  What kind of world!"  He exclaims leaving the two.

"I just hope you're really sure about your decision, Yoon."

"I am, mother.  Thank you."

Days come and go, and work drains the living life out of Jennie Kim.  Coming home from work, the first thing she does is to plop down directly on her awaiting bed.

"How I missed you."  Muffled, she speaks, as her face fell straight down on the mattress.  A few minutes of rest, that's all she's asking for right now.  That few minutes of rest, nevertheless, selfishly and tauntingly taken away from her as soon as she hears her phone ringing.

Hissing, she lazily gets up from bed to search for her damned phone.  "What?"  She answers, not caring how hoarse and tired her voice echoed, not caring how rude she sounded.  Her indifferent and least tainted reply, however, earns a good chortle from the caller.

"Hello to you too, Jennie!"  The caller continues.  Grinning.  Is all Jennie thinks.  She might be grinning and enjoying herself right now.  Now she knows what that had felt like.

She whines like a little baby, knowing that she won't ever win against the blonde from the other side of the line.  "Lisa~" She cries out.  "This isn't funny.  I'm tired, stressed, and most of all hungry.  I want to sleep and just let the bed swallow me whole…  You better have a good reason for calling me, otherwise, I'm not speaking to you ever again!"  She threatens even as her own body betrays her as a small beam now lingers on her lips.

Lisa chuckles whole-heartedly before giving an answer.  "You won't regret it Jennie.  Just come out for a while, please?"

Jennie raises a brow slightly at the small request, nonetheless, she finds herself walking slowly towards the door.  "Why would you want me to go outside?" She asks doubtfully.  "Are there assassins waiting outside?  Are you plotting something against me?"  Cautiously she heads nearer and nearer the awaiting door that separates her from the outside.

"Planning, yes."  Lisa answers truthfully.  "About you, correct again…  However, no.  I'm sorry to burst your bubble Jennie, and probably let down a long childhood dream, but assassins are not watching over you.  You won't be harmed, just please come outside."  Lisa again pleads with a voice so mighty Jennie just couldn't resist.

The lock snaps, and the knob twists, slowly with phone still stuck on her ear, Jennie peeks outside.  Caught off guard was an understatement.  Lisa stood there, with phone on her ear.  Her hair tied up into a loose ponytail, and the smooth expanse of her legs were shown clearly as she wore ill-fitting denim shorts.  It was horrid.  The display was too much to handle, and has Jennie biting her lower lip.  Lisa had worn an oversized shirt and the smooth-looking leather jacket fit her well than Jennie would care to admit.  And as usual, her powdery pair of Chucks--something Jennie hadn't seen before, was perfect on her feet.  It was dusty and filled with different kinds of stitches, curiously Jennie wanted to know how she got all of them.  But overall, she had the whole swagger style on point.  Jennie was impressed.

Lisa clears at the seemingly floating head that was gawping at her.  "You done?"  She smiles a little and winks.  Blushing madly and embarrassed that she was caught staring at Lisa, Jennie immediately snaps out from dreamland, swiftly retreating her head back in as she forces the door shut and leans her back on the closed door.

"W-What a-are you doing h-here?" Jennie nervously asks, ending the call with assurance that Lisa still would hear her.  Somehow she didn't seem as tired as how she felt she was.  Her heart now beat like loud knocks on her wooden door.  "A-And w-why are you d-dressed like that?"  She dared ask, biting a knuckle as soon as she registers what she had asked.

Lisa giggles, giving a few quick taps onto the door that sounded more like a children's song.  "We're going on a date!"  The younger exclaims happily, feet impatiently tapping on the floor.  Jennie's eyes almost popped out from their sockets once she hears the blonde's exclamations. 

"D-Date?!"  Trembling on her knees, Jennie couldn't seem to believe it at all.

Cackling over and over, Lisa grips on her stomach.  "Y-Yes, Jennie."  She laughs and affirms for the woman, whom she believes to be rambled up in thoughts.  "Let me in so I can tell you the whole details, please?"  She smiles longingly at the door, aware that Jennie was just near.

Lisa hears soft rustling from behind thinking Jennie just might be fixing up, not expecting the sudden visit from Lisa.  But it was completely different inside.  Jennie was having a mental breakdown.  Her feet were annoyingly pacing from left to right, her teeth biting down hard on the fingertip of her right thumb.  She wasn't sure with how to deal with this.  This whole 'Lisa situation' considering that the blonde was just outside, and it's been too long since she's gone on a date.  She had forgotten, she had long tossed all memories of being a decent date.  Lisa should've at least warned her.

"Come out with me, please."  There she goes again.  Asking Jennie in a manner that was just impossible to be ignored.

Slowly she opens the door widely for Lisa who gave her a toothy grin in return.  "Now that wasn't very hard to do was it?"  Lisa chuckles. 

Jennie sighs in relief at how easy Lisa was able to make her happy.  Her previous predicament had long gone, and she was feeling more at ease now.  "Where are we going anyway?"  She asks, pretending to be uninterested, showing her poker face and crossing her arms above her chest.

Lisa glances at her with a naughty gleam in her eyes, and a very protruding smirk up her lips.  She says, "You'll see."

Later that night, Chaeyoung receives a message that day informing her of how the plan had unfolded.  And she couldn't be happier.

From Chaeyoung:

"This is a miracle, Yoon-ah!  Thank you so very much for this!  You're a life-saver!  XOXO"

From Seungyoon:

"Anything for you Chaeyoung-ah…  But you owe me a meal."

From Chaeyoung:

"Will do, sir!!!"

"Rosé!!!"  The woman hears her name being called down by none other than her mother.  Hurriedly she tucks her phone aside and staggers to meet the frustrated voice of her mother.  Hiding behind her joy, she pretends to have been curious as to why she was called.

"Yes mother, you called?"  Her voice laced with confusion, her parents both buying the incredulous act.

"Mrs. Kang…"  the mother says with disappointment clouding her tone.  "M-Mrs. Kang c-called in just now saying Y-Yoon-ie wants to cancel the engagement, what had you done Rosé?"  Again, Chaeyoung saw her mother's eyes fill up discontent in them.  This time she doesn't feel the same way she always felt.  All her life, when her mother looked at her like that, she would always mentally scold herself for causing those eyes to fall on her.  She always felt like a letdown.  But not this time.  Certainly, not today.  She doesn't feel the very familiar feeling of self-loathing, instead she feels happiness.  Real happiness. 

Not minding to hide the hurt because of how her mother had addressed the situation, she sternly retorts, "What do you mean, what had I done?"  Anger started to broil in the pits of her stomach.  "What answer do you want to hear, mother?  Would you want me to tell you that I had done something stupid, admit my mistakes to the Kangs and they'll bring the engagement back?  Is that what you want?"  Her mother let out a gasp at how straightforward the strawberry blonde was, her father stunned in his seat.

Her mind, soul, and body were in sync this time.  She felt angry.  She was angry.  And she showed her parents she was angry.  With a voice louder and the serious her parents both had heard her, she continues, "What if I told you that I asked him to break the marriage?  What if I told him I didn't love him, and that my parents just used me so that they can have some of the shares from his powerful status?  What will you do about it now?  Because all those things I just said are true!  I did all this!"  She confesses.  "So you want to punish me?  Fine, punish me!  See if I care…  because I don't…  Not anymore."

"You ungrateful brat!"  The mother exclaims at the top of her lungs, busying herself with trying to slap some senses into the child she had born.  Before she even had the audacity to do so though, Chaeyoung's father intervenes. 

"Stop!"  With voice full of authority he shouts from his seat, halting the enraged mother.  "Let the girl speak…  It seems as if she has a lot to say."  And is if seeing right through Chaeyoung, he gives a nod allowing for his daughter to speak.  "Go on, dear.  I want to hear it."

Chaeyoung could not believe what her ears just heard.  With a startled face, she glances at her father to see the man amusedly staring at her.  A speech was what she had prepared but everything went out and flew away as soon as she sees him with a very pleased smile, one which she wasn't very used to.  Closing her eyes briefly, she in a breath rambling with her thoughts.  "It's okay, dear.  Take your time, we'll listen."  Her father's voice, although seemingly as if it were only a whisper, echoed through her head, and that was all the encouragement she needed.

With mind bested by heart, and eyes piercing at her lovingly--this time it was real, she truthfully voices, "All this time, I've always wanted to please you.  Be the perfect daughter just to have the perfect family, but I can't keep pretending.  I can't keep doing things I'm not happy with.  I can't keep following your orders just to feel accepted by you.  I love the both of you very much, but I wonder when you'll love me too.  I wonder what else I need to do in order for you to see me as a person and not just some object you can easily use and toss away when over with.  I want to be loved the way I am supposed to--"

"But not everything is about you, Rosé."  The mother rudely interrupted.

"Hush woman!"  Chaeyoung's father intercepts.  "If you have nothing good to say or if you find it hard to listen even to your own daughter, go and leave us to talk.  Find something worthwhile to do with your life, instead of giving snide remarks when you don't do anything yourself."

The mother rolls her eyes, obviously angered at her husband's decision to listen to whatever Chaeyoung had to say.  "Fine, I will!"  She moves away passing by Chaeyoung and shooting her a mean and nasty glare.

"Continue, dear."  The old man reckons.

Chaeyoung tears up.  It was harder when only one parent had wanted to pay attention.  But it's better than nothing.  Voice muffled up by tears, she unclearly says, "I-I… J-Just…  W-What I'm s-saying is…"  She chokes up on her own words, nothing else came from , too emotional to keep going.  Knees getting weak, she squats down as she buries her tear-stricken face by her thighs.  With nothing but the image of her mother who shot her the ugliest pair of eyes she's seen her give anybody, she continuously wails, feeling pathetic that her mother had once again broken her heart and allowed herself to be this weak.

Amongst her desperate cries she hears light footsteps nearing and next thing she knew she was being held to stand up.  Calloused hands cup her cheeks and wipe her tears away.  "I-I'm sorry."  The man confesses with sultry tears now also staining his face.  "I-It m-must have been hard for you having to deal with u-unworthy parents.  Y-You must have suffered much, and we did nothing to help you.  W-We're sorry Chaeng.  W-We've been blinded by money, we haven't noticed that we should've been paying more attention to the greatest treasure of all… you.  Will you forgive this man?"  The man asks with cracking voice.  "Will you be able to forgive this man, who had allowed you to suffer too much, he deserves the same, maybe even worse, kind of suffering?  Will you be able to find it in your heart to forgive this man who did nothing but cause you pain?  Chaeyoung, I'm really, really sorry, I--"

"I-It's fine, dad…"  Chaeyoung answers, cutting off the obviously-sincere-about-his-apology father.  Dad.  It felt nice rolling off her tongue.  Instead of calling him father, it felt different.  Like somehow there was a bond between them.  It really felt surreal.  "You don't have to keep apologizing, I already had forgiven you.  Both of you."  She also caresses his cheeks with her feeble palms.  "I know you hadn't meant any of it, you just turned astray.  But everything's fine now.  It will be."

Her father felt joy surge through his heart, and as if it had beaten differently.  Like he somehow felt complete again.  "I-It will be fine."  He repeats with a huge grin playing across his lips.  With a soft kiss planted on Chaeyoung's forehead, he continues to hug her, Chaeyoung nuzzling herself closer to the father's embrace.  "You'll have my word on that."  He ends.

Meanwhile, as the night was still young, here was Jisoo who was sprawled up in bed one hand stretched above her head as she counted the tiny wrinkles that formed therein.  She sighs thinking of what was happening right now.  Her heart was beating so fast and she felt this weird, uncomfortable feeling settling in her stomach.

How could she not?  Lisa asked her beforehand if she could take Jennie out on a date.  And being the er of a woman she is for the blonde, she painfully consents.  Her heart was blazing on fire, continuously ripped apart by the only thing that brought it alive.  She brings her hand back down to her side and she closes her eyes.

She closes her eyes to remember how Lisa smiled at her effortlessly, and how she would find herself alongside the latter grinning from ear to ear, giving her best eye smile.  The first time she saw Lisa, she thought it was love at first sight.  She shuts her eyes tighter, lips pressed even harder as more and more images of Lisa spread across her mind.  That is until she hears tiny barks echoing along the room.

Immediately opening her once closed eyes, she rolls over her bed, finding her dog, Dalgom, barking at her.  "Oh, Dalgom-ah!  Come here." She instructs the small dog.  The dog, as short as he is, does comes near although unable to climb up to where his owner was.

She giggles, seeing her dog struggling to get up, Jisoo decides to carry him over, placing him near her as he obligingly falls on all his fours and watches her with big dark eyes.

"Dalgom-ah," Jisoo coos, holding the little one closer to her chest, the dog slightly whimpering in her touch.  "Do you believe in love at first sight?"  She asks, caressing his soft white fur.

Dalgom, of course, could not answer.  Knowing this, she thus furthers, "Well, Lisa makes me believe in those things."  She sighs happily as she reminisces the tall blonde.  "She makes me feel things that I usually don't feel.  She makes me do things that I usually don't do.  She made me believe that love at first sight was actually a thing for people, and not just chicken."  Jisoo chuckles at her own words.  The dog had long fallen asleep under his owner's protective arms.

"Is it weird Dalgom?"  She continues her rant at the small pet.  "Is it weird for me to have this love feeling for her?  Yongsun unnie told me it wasn't, but I'm not really sure with her."  She trails off for a while, and then returns.  "Is it weird listening to umma say things like this?  I know you usually don't like other people other than your Jennie noona, but I do hope you'd come to like her someday.  Your approval is important to me, you know?"

Still nothing.  Not even the slightest sound from the angelic dog.  Jisoo being Jisoo, takes her voice a notch lower and mimics, "Of course not, umma!  I don't want to befriend her!  She's always breaking your heart."  Pretending to be voiced by Dalgom, she chuckles.

"You're very observant Dalgom!" She chuckles, not finding this whole thing weird at all.  "She's not intentionally doing it though.  It's not as if she asked her heart to love Jennie on its own.  Hearts are very cruel you know."  She narrates to the small ball of white.  "Dalgom, love doesn't abide by the rules.  It just does what it wants, does what it is.  How do you think you've come to love me after all these years?  Come on now, just give her a chance.  Please?" 

"No!"  She pretends that Dalgom had growled, once again, she shifts her tone of voice.  "Umma, don't be so stupid.  You shouldn't even be liking that woman.  She already likes Jennie noona.  You should just give her to noona, because I know you'll find someone better.  Someone who'll love you like how she loves Jennie noona.  Love may be strange and absolutely wretched… but only at times.  You'll come to see that love can also be the sweetest, most amazing feeling you'll ever get once you find the right one.  So don't bawl your eyes and break your big heart over someone undeserving.  Umma, I love you, and I know you'll soon find the person for you."

She replies with a surprised tone as if she wasn't the one who had spoken everything.  "You really think so, Dalgom-ah?"

"I know so, umma."  She answers her own question.  "So don't be too sad about it.  I love you."

Jisoo shakes her head, putting the dialogue slash monologue to a stop, now thinking of the fact that it was completely strange.  "What am I even doing?"  She sighs.  Her phone buzzes by her bedside table and when she reaches over to see what kind of notification she received, it was a message from Lisa saying that Jennie tagged along to the 'date'.  Heart getting heavier, she crawls herself back to Dalgom, nuzzling herself in his little furry ears.  "I hope they have fun."  She states bitterly before she drifts off to sleep.

But as her night comes to an end, the two people who walked all the way to the venue start theirs.

"Welcome, Jennie!"  Lisa expresses and grabs Jennie's hand as they make their way to enter the castle like building.

Jennie scans the whole place from top to bottom, her jaw working the hardest as was agape.  It had a lot of fancy looking people, but it also had a lot of other people from different walks of life.  They were all so good-looking, Jennie thinks.  Lisa glances over her way and shuts the woman's trap and saying, "I wouldn't want you catching any flies in there."

Jennie swats her arm and flushes a bit red.  "S-Shut up."  They were all so good-looking, she repeats again, but Lisa was by far at the top… and she stops.  Why was she thinking about Lisa that way?  Well it was a given… it was normal for anybody to be charmed by the blonde, but today felt different.  It wasn't usually like this.  She takes one good appraisal at Lisa again, and her world stops. 

Only Lisa was there, all the rest were a blur.  The silky blonde locks seemed to get smoother, and the flawless jawline was very much enticing.  Those big shining, shimmering eyes were pools that were addictive and those plump lips, inviting.  Her heart starts to stir up, shaking and beating violently in her tiny, little ribcage.  "What's happening?" She says to herself, placing a hand over her left chest, feeling the sudden rapid movements of the damned organ inside.  "What is causing all this?"

Lisa slowly, in her own perception, moves her head and stares directly into her eyes.  Addictive, she affirms in her mind.  She watches closely as the smile disappears from Lisa's lips, replacing it instantly with a frown.  She gazes intently, as the blonde's eyes showed worry, creasing brows altering the once relaxed ones.

And Jennie doesn't know how all so suddenly Lisa's face met hers at the same level, and why they suddenly became so close, Jennie held her breath so.  "Are you okay, Jennie?"  Lisa queries, finding Jennie turning pale.  She reaches for Jennie's cheek, a part of her palm touching her jaw, and Jennie's breath hitched.  "Oh my God, Jennie.  You're heating up!  We better get you treated right away!"  Lisa was about to pull her out of this, but Jennie thinks she would be missing such a good opportunity.  Not realizing what she just did, she pulls Lisa instead and they've become closer than before.

"N-No," she timidly tells.  "I'm alright, really."  Giving a gummy smile, she nods at Lisa who seemed to be pretty flushed at the close proximity as well.

"Y-Yeah?"  Lisa awkwardly asks.  "Y-You sure?  I-I mean, uhm, w-we could go if you want.  I-I'm not f-forcing you to come along, if you're feeling funny."  Lisa averts her eyes elsewhere, looking at everyone and everything except for the cat eyes that managed to make her knees tremble.

Jennie doesn't even notice the sudden shyness of the taller girl, too overpowered with her own slack.  "Y-Yeah… n-no.  T-Totally fine."

"Oh… uhm… H-Huh, y-yeah."  Lisa stutters the same.  They kept mirroring each other, until someone cuts off the pathetic display.

"I'm sorry to interrupt the both of you," the waiter, Jinhwan, Jennie reads, says.  "You will be able to continue your moment later after I show you to your seats.  Please follow me."

Both girls suddenly jump out and away from each other, as they silently follow Jinhwan to their respective seats.

"Miss," he points at Jennie, "This is where you will be seating."  He pulls the chair, and Jennie thanks him formally before sitting. 

"Miss Lisa," he then calls for Lisa's attention, "You'll be coming with me upstairs…  Your presence would really bring the mood up in that area."

"Alright, Jinhwan."  Lisa replies.  She turns to Jennie and starts to act normally again.  "I'll see you later, a'ight?  Call me if you get in trouble."  With a wink she leaves a blushing Jennie, who took a second or two to note that Lisa isn't going to sit in front of her.

"Wait, what?!"  She exclaims, standing from her seat.  Lisa turns around at the familiar voice, both brows raised, ignorant of what Jennie needs.  "Y-You aren't my date?"  Jennie asks, turning even more pink as soon as she sees Lisa with that remarkable smile.

Lisa excuses herself from Jinhwan for a while, to which Jinhwan only nods.  Strutting, she stands in front of Jennie, amused at how Jennie diverts her gaze away from her.  Leaning in closer to Jennie's ear, she whispers huskily, "I'll make sure to be the last thing you see during the whole dating period.  You can count on me."  Jennie shudders at the low tone, but immediately begins to miss it once the warmth that enveloped her disappeared.

Lisa was fading away before her very eyes.  Waving her goodbye, Lisa follows Jinhwan upstairs, and Jennie slumps in her seat.  "What even is this?"  She asks.

Lisa, on the other hand, keeps a close eye on Jennie as she walks up the staircase.  A voice, however, snaps her out of it. 

"Can you believe this, Lalisa?"  It was Jinhwan.  "Four years of freaking business school together, and look at where I landed?  A waiter at a restaurant that conducts speed dating.  How hilarious can life get?"  He asks.

Lisa puts an arm around his shoulder, speaking, "Oh, come on, G-nani!  It's not that bad…  You work in a fancy restaurant that conducts speed dating, you earn double the amount of any other waiter out there.  It's all good."

"It's all good?" Jinhwan asks incredulously, removing the arm away from him.  "All good, for you."  He points at Lisa, crossing his arms over his chest, stopping midway from getting to Lisa's designated seat.  "You're Jiyong freaking Kwon's daughter, for Pete's sake.  You're like the modern-day Cinderella, or should I say Prince Charming." 

Lisa laughs.  "Prince Charming?"

Jinhwan rolls his eyes, dragging the girl and points at the brunette he just met.  "Just look at her.  You made all her dreams come true.  Hyejin isn't very good with keeping it to herself you know?"

"Ah, good old Hyejin unnie."  Lisa nods.  "But she isn't Cinderella, okay?  And I'm not Prince Charming.  She's just a friend."

"Just a friend."  Jinhwan mocks, moving along to Lisa's seat.  "Here.  You seat your over here."  He directs her to a table where a nervous and clumsy lady was seated.

Lisa furrows her brows, Jinhwan looks at her with a brow raised.  "What?" He demands.

"Aren't you going to pull the seat for me?" 

"No."  And just like that, Jinhwan leaves, passing by her as she gives a light chuckle.

Jennie, who was just dragged into this, had not the slightest clue that this was a speed date.  Only when Jinhwan stands up on stage does she get the knowledge of it.

"Okay," Jinhwan starts gathering attention all around him.  "My name's Jinhwan the Cupid and I'll be helping you in your troubles today!"  Saying it enthusiastically as if he hadn't been on a moody streak for the past few days, he earns a couple of cheers from some of the guests.  "Today you came here as single, lonely people who want to feel love and to give that love in return.  So you sad yet lovely people came to the only resort you had left: speed dating."  And the people began to nod in response, Jennie, completely overwhelmed.  It was as if she had been lured to eat the milk ice cream set on a table, only to take a bite and find out that it was vanilla after all. 

Jinhwan begins to speak once more, "I'll lay down the rules for tonight to achieve maximum satisfaction for both you and your dates.  First off, you'll be having three hours tops.  In those three hours, a maximum of eight people could be met--our staff has already verified.  A maximum of twenty-three minutes given for each date.  Those eight people would come from our premium customers and they'll be the ones standing up and looking for the number on your table.  There are small buckets placed on your table, and it contains all the numbers listed here tonight.  So it's a game of chance.  After the date, the people assigned pick up a number from the bucket and find the table for themselves.  Easy, right?"  He smiles.  In furtherance, he adds, "If in case you find your match, you may be excused from the venue and continue elsewhere.  In case you don't want to continue, you may leave, but no refunds will be given.  I hope for your full cooperation.  Do not do anything that would make your date uncomfortable in any way… you came here after all to meet new people, and perhaps find the love of your life.  So… shall we begin?"

Another round of loud applause and uncontrollable whistling.  Jennie felt an uncomfortable twist in her stomach once she sees a man quickly approaching her.

"Hey, I'm Jackson," the man introduces, stretching his hand for Jennie to take before he takes a seat.

"I'm J--"  Jennie was about to greet the man likewise, however she gets cut off the minute she opens .

"Oh, I already know who you are."  The man slightly smirks and replies with a very airy tone, that had put Jennie off.  He was handsome, and Jennie was looking forward that they could make it.  Even when she was opposed to this at first, she had to make something out of it, she was already there after all.

"Y-You do?"  She asks, uncomfortably shifting in her seat.

The man nods, his elbows resting on the table, his chin resting on the backside of his palms.  "You're my type."  With suavity he said it, but that just made Jennie want to gag.  Jennie doesn't try to hide how disappointed she was.  Her brow was raised, her arms crossed, and overall she just had that whole façade, and the man named Jackson immediately begins to retreat his now shaky hands away from the table.  He coughs awkwardly as he flushes red.

"I see." Jennie nods, her face showing no sign of alteration.  "You good now?  Happy?"  She feigns a smile.

Jackson shifts in his seat as Jennie pierced her eyes right through him.  Rubbing his sweaty palms together and with eyes only staring at the table, he admits, "M-My friends and I-I have actually been doing that for a while now… and every s-single time we do that, the ladies are all over us.  It's funny actua--"  He lifts his head up only to find Jennie with eyebrows knit, and an oh-so-powerful glare that would definitely aim to kill.  He grimaces, bowing his head in shame.  "I'm sorry."

Jennie nods, bringing her torso closer and leaning her elbows on the table to whisper to the man.  "Yeah, you should."  She scolds unbelieving.  "Just how many times have you tried this on women?  Just how many times have you broken their precious little hearts that absolutely didn't need any more to be shattered?  Are you happy now?  Huh?  You think this is all some joke, playing around, getting cheesy and just hitting and running after you've had your fun?"

"Well, it wasn't technically like tha--"

"Shush!"  Jennie reprimands.  "I don't want to hear it from you."

And that date ended up in total disaster, but at least she instilled some sense into that man.  "The nerve of some people."  She sighs.  Her mind wandered off while she waited for the next date.  She glares into the distance, not noticing that her date had already arrived.  And it might've been weird, and maybe it was, but her date found himself raising both brows once he hears what she's mumbled under her breath.  "I'll have my revenge on you, Lisa.  Just you wait."

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