Lisa's POV

Code red. Jennie has been absent for three days. I repeat, THREE EFFIN DAYS.

Sure for others it might seem normal but this is Jennie we're talking about. Not going to school for three days might be the cause of her death. 

I had a group call with Jisoo and Rosé last night and I asked if they visited Jennie. Jisoo said when she got to the hotel, Jennie won't let her inside her room. 

I clearly remember Rosé saying "At least we know she's alive."

Man, she's got a lot of catching up to do. I've been copying notes for her but it's not enough. She is already behind four seatworks and one group activity. I'm thinking maybe I could drop by their hotel later and leave the notes to someone who can give it to her.

"Miss Manoban?" Mrs. Chan motioned me to go to her desk. It's free period so this isn't related to any subject I hope.

I stood up and went in front.

"Can you please do me a favor?" Her voice was so low I can barely hear it. 

"Umm what kind ma'am?"

"Can you please try to befriend Miss Jeong? It's been three days and no one is approaching her. I've heard some unpleasant things about her in the past but I'm starting to get worried she might think she isn't welcome here."

What? Make the new girl befriend the person everyone's avoiding? This is just great.

I forced myself to smile and nodded, "I'll try ma'am."

I headed back to my seat. Since she's seated at the row behind me, I tried looking at her using the mirror from my press powder. Hmm, she looks harmless. I mean I can't judge her that easily but I don't think she's mean.

I forgot I was still staring at her through my mirror and she noticed me. Crap.

Okay Lisa. Act cool.

I turned around and waved at her, "Umm hi."

She looked at me, her face still no expression. Geez, you could at least smile.

Her poker face was immediately replaced with a grin, "Let me guess," she leaned forward. "Mrs. Chan sent you to talk to me."

Completely dumbfounded, I didn't know what to say. "W-what? No- that's n-not true."

Great job self. Stuttering will convince her.

She smiled. I don't know if I should be scared or what. 

"You can go back to doing what you are doing because I'm fine. It's not like I'm a basket case people stay away from." Then she rolled her eyes. Wow she is mean. No wonder she has no friends. 

Being the obedient child I was, I turned around and played on my phone. Now I can see why Jennie dumped her as a friend.

---

"She what?" Jisoo said too abruptly she almost spit her food at me.

"Unbelievable," Rosé added, "I bet she didn't even know your name and she's already being a to you."

We're at Barney's Burger. Chaeyoung was craving for burger so this is where we're having lunch.

"I can't believe it either. I didn't expect her to act like that especially because I'm just being nice to her." And because Mrs. Chan told me to. But let's stick to the part that I'm nice.

"Anyway, Jennie texted me a few hours ago. She's coming back to school tomorrow." Jisoo said, diverting the topic.

"That's great!" I exclaimed. "What else did she say?"

"That's it."

What?! She doesn't contact anyone for several days and that's all she says the moment she does?

Seeing my exasperated look, Rosé spoke, "Just so you know... Jennie Kim? Not much of a talker."

We finished our meal in fifteen minutes so we spent the rest of the hour chatting. This is why I don't like burgers that much. They're not satisfying.

"Tell me about you two." I said to Jisoo and Rosé. I remember Jennie saying something about them having an unexplainable connection.

They were both caught offguard but they seemed to have gotten over it quickly because they laughed.

"Me and Jisoo?" Rosé asked, clarifying. I nodded. "Other than we're bestfriends, we're also lab partners." Then she grinned.

"That's it? Jennie said you have this lovey dovey aura."

Both of them laughed again. This time Jisoo actually spit out a bit of her drink. I gotta bring protection next time we have lunch together. Maybe an umbrella.

"You shouldn't believe everything Jennie says." She said after she drank the rest of her drink.

"Really? There's not even a tiny bit of either of you who has a crush on each other?" 

"Maybe"-Jisoo
"No"-Rosé

They both responded at the same time. Shocked, they looked at each other and spoke at the same time again, "What?"

"You do know I'm aual right?" Rosé asked Jisoo.

WHAT? ROSÉ IS AUAL?! And she said it so casually I think she forgot I didn't know yet.

"Yeah but I told you I had a crush on you way back in 7th grade right?" Jisoo said.

Say what again? I think they totally forgot I'm right here listening to what they're saying. I'm having a hard time trying to absorb these revelations I wish they would slow down.

They went on about the topic for the whole hour we almost forgot we still have classes to attend. I got so hooked to their conversation even I didn't notice it's almost 1:30.

---

Three hours went by quickly and now it's time to go home.

"You sure you don't need us to come with you?" Rosé asked

"Or you could just wait for her to come to school tomorrow and give her the notes then." Jisoo suggested.

After assuring them I won't get lost or anything (which took a while), they left to go home.

I told the cab the name of the hotel and the driver didn't ask any more questions. 

Great, traffic. This is gonna take longer than I thought. I still have to work on an essay due tomorrow. I'll just drop the notes to the receptionist, tell them who it's from, then I'll be on my way. Easy.

We were passing by the street filled with bars and clubs when I saw a familiar back.

Jennie.

What is she doing here?

I asked the driver to stop the cab then went to go to Jennie. She was bending over a flower patch. It looks like she's vomitting.

I patted her shoulder, "Hey are you okay?" Nice genius. By the looks of it, does she look like she's okay? 

She turned around with gaping.

"Lisa? What are you doing here?"

"I was dropping by some notes for you at the hotel but then I saw you here. What happened to you?"

She sat on the steps of a club and shook her head a couple of times. She is obviously drunk. I can smell the alcohol inches away. I should take her home.

I was about to take her arm when she started crying. Oh no what have I done? 

"I... I just want everything... to go back to the way it was. Is that... i-is that too much to ask?" she said in between sobs.

God. She's in pain right now. I'm not comfortable seeing her like this. It's like a whole other side of her no one's supposed to see.

I sat down beside her. Good thing the club behind us is closed.

"I have no idea what you're going through right now. But I'm here for you. And not just me. Your friends care about you so much and we were all worried sick these past few days." She stopped crying. Oh good. I must be doing something right then. 

She looked at me. Even with swollen red eyes she still looks breathtaking. 

"You're just saying that because you miss me." she said smirking. She's back.

I remembered something but I'm not sure if I should ask her about it. 

"Jennie?" 

"Hmm?" She is still looking at me. I don't know how to say this. "Was the reason why you didn't come to school for three days is because a certain person is back?"

The crease on her forehead tells she doesn't understand what I'm saying.

"What? Who?"

It took me seconds before I could answer. Man, Rosé and Jisoo are gonna kill me.

"Saoirse."

Her expression went from puzzled to shocked to apathetic. She opened but no words came out. There was a short moment of silence before she spoke.

"Wow. I had no idea. When did she return?"

"Last Monday."

"I wonder why she came back." She's staring into space and for a moment I felt like she was asking herself rather than me.

"How do you feel?"

I can tell she's really bothered. She kept opening then closing it back again as if not knowing what to say. 

"I honestly don't know." She looked at me abruptly like she realized something. "Wait, how did you know? I mean you do know something right?"

I was hoping she wouldn't realize. Guess I have no choice but to be honest with her.

"Chaeyoung and Jisoo told me. But they didn't mention anything else. They just said there is some kind of bad blood between you two."

She sighed, "Yeah. I think there's no harm in you knowing." 

She was playing with the rocks on her foot. Probably consumed by her thoughts.

After a few moments of silence she looked at me and smiled. 

"I appreciate you being polite and sensitive with my feelings," she held my hand and squeezed it, "but if you wanna ask anything, go ahead."

I hesitated for a moment before I gave in, "What did you and Saoirse fight about?" 

That question has been in my mind since I heard the story the other day. I just didn't know how to ask Jisoo and Rosé.

"Did Jisoo and Chaeyoung tell you Saoirse and I were bestfriends before?" I nodded. "Well one day I did something that hurt her so much. I didn't mean it though. I had a choice to make and I didn't choose her." She stopped, again looking lost in her thoughts. "It still haunts me. Sometimes I think about it and wonder if I made the right choice." 

It looks like she was about to cry again but she shook her head and looked up at the sky to prevent her tears from falling. 

"Anyway, she got mad and tweeted something. She said my dad was having an affair with someone." She paused, "And not just anyone, she said he was having an affair with my swimming coach... who is a guy." 

Tears were welling up once more in her eyes and this time she doesn't do anything to keep them from falling.

"The next day I yelled at her in the cafeteria. I accused her of spreading lies against my family. She yelled at me back and repeated everything she said the other night. Completely outraged, I grabbed her hair and next thing I know we were brought to the principal's office."

She's crying but not like the way she cried earlier. This time her eyes are holding a blank expression. 

We fell completely silent for a while. I don't know what to say. I don't think I could say anything to make her feel better.

I put my hand on top of hers and squeezed it gently, "I'm sorry. I might not fully know what it feels like to lose a bestfriend but I know it must have hurt so much."

She forced a smile that meant something I don't understand. "What hurts more than losing her over a fight is finding out she was right."

I was dumbfounded. My being loss for words earlier is nothing compared right now.

I took my hanky out then gave it to her because she started crying more. She wiped her cheeks then took a deep breath.

"I came home that day and found my mom in their room unconscious. She tried to kill herself." She started sobbing again, "On the bedside table there was a suicide note she wrote before she tried to overdose herself. Of course I was in shock and didn't know what to do so I didn't pay much attention to it and just shouted for help. Our maids and bodyguards came rushing to the room and she was rushed to the hospital. I couldn't imagine what could have happened if I didn't find her there immediately." She took a deep breath once more before continuing, "When everyone left to go rush her to the hospital, that's when I noticed the note so I read it. Turns out, my mom was suffering from depression. She has been keeping it from us. And when she found out about my dad having an affair with another man, it pushed her over the edge."

I put my hand around her shoulder then hugged her. She leaned on me and started crying again. 

We stayed like that for several minutes until she stopped. She wiped her tears once more then stood up. 

She stretched out her hand, "It's getting late, we should probably go home."

I looked at her face. I can't help but smile seeing her nose so red.

I took her hand and stood up. Maybe it is best for her to go home and take a rest. I'm sure she's exhausted from all the crying she did.

She started walking then suddenly I remembered something, "Hey. If you didn't know Saoirse is back then why didn't you come to school for three days?"

"That's another story for a different day. I've done my share of crying for today." Then she smiled and started walking away again.