Jennie's POV

There's only an hour left before the party starts and Rosé's nowhere to be seen. She insisted on bringing the cake as one of her gifts to Jisoo.

Yes, you read that right. "One" of her gifts. I kinda feel bad about the jacket I got her as a gift since Rosé bought not only one, but 5 gifts for her.

"Miss Kim, where would the gifts be placed?" asked the event organizer. "I was thinking it would go well next to the buffet but Jang inists it's better to put the table near the entrance."

I was about to answer when I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket.

From: Chaeng ^^)

Jendeuki! Sorry I haven't been able to answer your calls. I just picked up the cake and I'm on my way. I'll be there right away. 15 mins tops! 

I sent her a thumbs up as a reply before putting my phone back in my pocket. 

After deciding where the table of gifts should go(near the buffet), I went back in my room to get changed.

-----

I've never had any trouble picking out clothes because let's face it, I would look good in anything ;) 

But today feels different. I tried on all sorts of outfits but I was never fully satisfied with anything.

Before I could get back to deciding, my phone started ringing. I quickly took it out of my pocket. I swear if this is Rosé telling me she's gonna be late, I'm gonna lose it.

Dad calling...

I wonder why dad is calling. Maybe he’s just checking up on the hotel, making sure I don’t wreck anything.

---

Lisa’s POV

If it weren’t for my desire to make new friends, I wouldn’t go to this party. Plus, Jennie can be really persuasive. The moment she handed me the invitation the other day, I was already set on turning it down. But she bugged me the entire day I had no choice but to say I’m going. And that Jisoo girl looks nice so I guess it won’t be that bad.

Since I don’t know anything about her other than her name and the fact that she’s in our batch, I decided to get her a bracelet from Pandora as a gift. I spent a long time thinking what to get her before I came up with that. I don’t want to screw up the first party I’m attending and I don’t even know who to ask stuff about her.

I know you might be thinking, “how about asking Jennie?” since she’s the only one I talk to in school. The thing is, I don’t want to. Sure I enjoy teasing her at times but I don’t wanna step on some boundaries. I really want to be friends with her so I don’t want to annoy her that much.

I read the invitation again. It says the party will be held at this hotel called The Crown Palace. Oooh fancy. Good thing my car has a gps or else I would get lost and probably arrive at the party 2 hours after it finished.

Upon arriving, I let the valet take my car and park it somewhere. Just by the looks of the exterior part, I can tell this hotel really is fancy. 

“Hey. Lisa, right?” I heard a guy’s voice say behind me. I turned around and saw Jae Young approaching me. 

I nodded, “Yup.”

He chuckled. I don’t understand why he likes doing that. Is everything I do funny for him or is this his response when things become awkward?

“You know, you don’t have to be shy when you’re around me.”

“Okay Mr. President.” I said, trying to make the mood lighter.

He laughed, “Oh yeah I forgot to thank you for what you did during the election.”

I smiled at him, “No problem.”

We walked in together and the moment I stepped inside, I felt someone cover my eyes. If I’m gonna narrow down the list of people I know, this must be...

“Jennie?”

The unfamiliar person laughed, “Woah, already looking for Jennie?” then she removed her hands from my eyes. I don’t know what her name is but I’m pretty sure I’ve seen her with Jennie a couple of times.

Seeing the confused look on my face, she introduced herself, “Rosé,” she shook my hand, “I’m friends with Jisoo and Jennie.”

---

Jennie’s POV

Ugh I can’t believe it took me that long to get ready. I’m supposed to be entertaining guests while the party hasn’t started yet and here I still am in the elevator. There are probably a lot of guests in the hall already. 

As I reached the lobby, I saw Rosé and Lisa talking to one another. As I came near them I heard Chaeng say “Jennie told us a lot about you. Sometimes Jisoo thinks her ears are gonna bleed if she hears your name one more time.” OMG

I immediately covered with my hands but it was obviously too late. By the looks of it, I won’t be hearing the end of this from Lisa. Another reason for her to tease me. 

I pursed my lips before turning to Rosé, “Thanks a lot, Chaeng!”

She laughed before she excused herself to “fix the remaining preparations”. If I didn’t know any better, I would believe her. Unluckily, I do. She and Jisoo have been teasing me for the last few days. They keep on saying the reason why I get easily annoyed at Lisa is because I subconsciously have a crush on her.

I turned to face Lisa and she’s wearing that stupid (but incredibly cute) smirk on her face. Ugh, so it begins.

“How’s your day so far Jennie?” she asked, still smirking at me. Really? She’s not gonna pester me with what she found out?

“Fine I guess?”

“Okay.” I was almost convinced she would drop the annoying teasing before she spoke again, “So have you been waiting for me?” There it goes.

I rolled my eyes at her, “No because I have this thing called A LIFE.”

She laughed so hard and although I rolled my eyes at her again, I can’t help myself from smiling.
“Are you done making fun of me? Can we go inside now?”

“Now I know how Jae Young feels. I swear that guy laughs way too much. If I didn’t know him I would think he’s nuts.”

Jae Young? Wow I didn’t know they’ve gotten so close already. “Really? Maybe he is nuts.”

We walked inside the hall and saw Jisoo was already there so we went near her and wished her a happy birthday. The party is mainly about chatting with others because the program will only last for a short time and it mostly consists of birthday messages and Jisoo’s thank you speech to everyone who came.

Towards the end of the program I can see Lisa trying to conceal a yawn. I checked my wristwatch to look at the time. I can’t believe it’s already 10:00 pm.

I poked her cheek, “You bored?”

“No I’m having a great time,” She said, trying to be polite but failed because she couldn’t suppress her yawn anymore, “Oops.”

It was my turn to laugh. I stood up, “Come with me,” I reached my hand out to her, “I’m taking you someplace fun.”

Although she is obviously hesitating, she took my hand and stood up. “Isn’t it rude to leave while the party is still ongoing?”

“Isn’t it ruder to fall asleep while it is?” I retorted, which made her laugh again.

We slowly walked outside. Hopefully no one noticed because they were all focused on Rosé singing.

I took Lisa to the rooftop. She was evidently amazed because I saw her eyes widen the moment the door opened. The walls of the rooftop are designed to look like real bricks and Christmas lights are arranged in rows so it kinda looks like a great place to conduct a photoshoot. And since it’s night time, it looks more romantic because of the moon and stars.

“See? Didn’t I tell you you’d have fun?” I proudly said. But I think she didn’t hear me since she’s too busy looking around the place.

She turned around and she’s smiling from ear to ear, “I have an idea.”

She pulled me to the corner and took out a camera. Her bag looks so small I didn’t think a camera could fit in there. She positioned me near the wall and took a shot fast enough I didn’t even have a chance to pose.

“Hey!” I yelled at her. I was gonna ask her to delete the picture but I didn’t notice it was a Polaroid camera and before I knew it, the picture already came out. If the picture didn’t turn out to be great I would have pinched her. Fortunately for her, it did.

“You should join the photography club. You’re pretty good.” I suggested. “Maybe some time you could take a photo of me using another camera?” 

“If you want I could take a photo of you using your phone.” She said smiling at me.

“Yay!” I said a little too excited I heard her chuckle. I took out my phone and handed it to her, "So what am I supposed to do?"

She told me how to pose and what other stuff to do. I'm pretty sure she must have taken at least 10 pictures.

Before we went down, I pulled her to my side and took a picture with her.

I did it to get back at her for taking a lot of stolen shots of me earlier but she seemed to enjoy it. Bummer.