It was a long accepted fact among Blinks that Kim Jisoo and Lalisa Manoban were crackheads—for lack of a more fitting term—whenever they were side by side.

They didn't mind the word, though. If anything, they loved it, reveled in it; and, if their crazy antics on and off camera were any indication, they were always determined to prove themselves worthy of it, like it was some sort of championship title they could be proud of.

Which was why there was no way they would confess certain feelings to each other in anything but an unpredictable manner.

One day, while Jennie was in the kitchen and Chaeyoung in her room, Jisoo quit the game she was playing on her phone and stared at Lisa, who was curled up on one end of the living room sofa and had her eyes glued to some Disney movie or other on the television screen.

After days of struggling to tame the butterflies in her stomach—or possibly years, maybe she just got used to them and was only recently bothered by their presence—whenever the youngest member so much as breathed the same air as she did, Jisoo decided she wanted to set these accursed insects free. (There were only so many times she could lose yet another game because all that filled the corners of her mind these days were Lisa's plump, pink lips and how it might be like to nibble on them while parting her soft, blonde bangs and falling into the promise of endless stars her brown eyes held...)

"If you really, really love me, malhaejwo," Jisoo hummed softly, inching closer to Lisa and tucking some strands of her hair behind her ear, fingers lingering, feather-light, on the side of her neck.

As expected, the maknae, who was usually the flirty one, was reduced to a state of silent (gay) panic when the other party, especially since said other party was the usually aloof Kim Jisoo, made the first move. Jisoo clearly heard the stutter in her voice when Lisa turned to her and asked, "W-We aren't releasing that song until our comeback, right, unnie?" in an attempt to break through the tension cocooning them like a thick, heavy blanket.

"No," Jisoo answered nonchalantly. Lisa could see the beginnings of a smirk forming on the older girl's lips before they gently brushed themselves on Lisa's already burning cheek. "But I'm not waiting till our comeback to tell you how I feel about you."

"So... So how do you feel about me?" As if she didn't already know, what with Jisoo giving her an almost predatory look that was not at all far from the way she looked at any type of cooked chicken.

Jisoo, in true Jisoo fashion, answered the question with a question. "What's your last line in the song, again?"

"Why?" Lisa breathed out, the Disney movie on the television screen long forgotten and becoming nothing more than background noise.

"Just go with it, come on." It was her turn to blush, as she inwardly scolded herself for not being able to just confess her feelings like a normal person.

"I gotta know that you're for real?"

Jisoo snapped her fingers, feigning recognition. "Yup. That's it." Don't mess this up, Jisoo. Make it count.

"What's it?" Lisa asked, eyes wide in a mix of curiosity, and a little bit of fear that her unnie might just be playing yet another prank on her. You never really know with her, she thought.

Jisoo smiled, releasing the butterflies in her stomach, only for them to fly towards her chest and make her heart skip beats instead.

She leaned even closer to Lisa, and when she dared to look up, asking for permission with her eyes, the other girl brought a hand to her cheek and closed the distance between their lips.

And when they drew back for air after what seemed both like hours and no time at all, the stars Jisoo were looking for in Lisa's gaze were dancing in her own eyes.

"I feel like I know that you're for real."

-----

"You're so cute!" Chaeyoung would gush every so often at the new couple, eyes shining with genuine happiness for Jisoo and Lisa.

"You and Jennie unnie could be cute too, you know, if you just ask her out," Lisa had once replied, her head on Jisoo's lap, the older girl lazily threading her fingers through Lisa's hair.

Neither she nor Jisoo failed to see Chaeyoung's face fall ever so slightly. Or how she hastily tried to cover it up by clearing and laughing off Lisa's statement.

"Oh, come on, Jennie unnie and I are just friends."

"That's what they all say," Jisoo muttered, fingers moving from Lisa's hair to her cheeks. Her eyes met Lisa's, and the younger girl gave her a bright smile before nuzzling against the hand on her face. "But yes, we are cute, aren't we, Nalalisa?"

"The cutest!"

"If Jendeuk were here, she would probably say something about wanting to throw up right now," Jisoo said with a laugh. She looked up at Chaeyoung, who she noticed still had her eyes on them, but her mind evidently no longer in the same place.

"She'll take those words she didn't even say back though, when she gets together with Chaeng," Lisa piped up.

"Guys, stop," Chaeyoung whined, covering her face with her hands. "It's not gonna happen."

She had to bite on the inside of her cheek to stop herself from adding, I already tried, as her thoughts drifted to Paris, where a certain Kim Jennie was attending a Chanel event right then, and to whether kissing the love of her life in front of the Eiffel tower was really as romantic as people always made it out to be.

-----

Jisoo and Lisa were not trying to push Jennie and Chaeyoung towards each other just because they would look good together (Although they would, wouldn't they?).

It wasn't because they wanted to go on double dates every so often, either. (Although that didn't seem like a bad idea, as going on dates together could serve as a smokescreen to the public eye. They could easily hide their relationship in plain sight if all four of them were out together.)

These members had been together long enough to notice whenever something was wrong with one or more of them. In fact, both the real maknae and the fake maknae were well aware that they liked each other long before they finally gathered the guts to stop playing silly pranks to get attention and get together.

Both Jisoo and Lisa were convinced that something was not just off with the other two, it was as though a connection of some sort had been shut down between them.

To everybody else, there was nothing to raise eyebrows at. It wasn't like they were actively avoiding each other. (As if they could, since they were always together.) Chaeyoung and Jennie were still as soft and gentle as ever to each other whenever they were seen. They still hung out separately from Jisoo and Lisa, more so when they found out that the other two were finally a couple.

The oldest and the youngest member had a feeling that something about them just didn't feel right. Not since they debuted as YG Entertainment's girl group, Blackpink, almost two years ago.

Jisoo had a knack for being relentlessly curious. Fortunately for her, she had a perceptive girlfriend who was equally as intrigued as she was with regards to whatever was going on—or not going on—between Chaeyoung and Jennie.

So the moment Jisoo voiced out her thoughts about it, Lisa was quick to jump in and agree that yes, she also noticed, and no, her precious Jichu was not just imagining things.

"Yah, unnie, you do realize we could've compared notes about this a long time ago if we talked about it earlier, don't you?"

Dalgom, sensing the tiniest bit of resentment in Lisa's tone, gave her a warning bark before walking away from its owner's arms and plopping on Jisoo's bedroom floor.

Jisoo let out a light chuckle. "Sorry, Lisa, maybe I was too preoccupied with how I was feeling about you that it totally slipped my mind."

A grin automatically broke the pout on Lisa's lips. Lips which Jisoo could finally kiss freely. And she did just that. Because she could.

"You're so greasy, unnie," the younger girl complained, scrunching her face in fake disgust.

"Maybe, but you like it," Jisoo said smugly.

Lisa couldn't bite back the dopey, lovestruck smile that was starting to light up her face. Not even if it had been happening far too often lately. "Alright, alright, I do like it."

"Anyway," she said, picking up from where their conversation had trailed off, "I was telling you how I heard Jennie unnie talking in her sleep once, while we were roommates in Blackpink House."

"Did you hear what she said?" Jisoo asked, reaching out with one hand and playfully squeezing Lisa's fingers one by one.

"There was a lot of mumbling, and I was asleep so I couldn't catch most of it."

"But you did hear something, right?"

Lisa nodded. "When I was conscious enough, I could've sworn I heard Jennie unnie say 'Kiss me again'."

"She could've been talking about anyone else who's kissed her before, though," Jisoo replied.

"True, and I also thought about that, unnie. But," Lisa said, the corner of her lips curling up, "The thing is, Jennie unnie has been in YG since she was fourteen, and we know she was too focused on wanting to debut to even have time to kiss anyone. Then, remember when Chaeng came along and we all became friends? Remember how they were always together at one point? Everywhere and every time?"

Jisoo hummed in response. "So you really think she was talking about Chaeyoung?"

"I know she was talking about Chaeyoung," Lisa said, eyebrows raising up to hide behind her bangs. "Because she was calling out to 'Rosie' about three times that night, and who else does she call Rosie but her?"

"Interesting. Dreams do tend to bring out the desires people hide when they're awake," Jisoo mused.

"Your turn, Chichu. Tell me what got you curious about all this."

Jisoo opened to speak, but soft knocking sounds stopped her from getting a word out. She turned to Lisa, who gave her a shrug, and made her way to the door.

"Jendeukkie?"

"Hey, unnie," Jennie mumbled, eyes glued to the floor, twiddling her thumbs in a display of vulnerability that Jisoo found rare. "Can I stay in your room for a bit? Can't sleep."

Jisoo felt Lisa hovering behind her. "Jennie unnie, are you okay?"

"Oh, Lisa, you're here," the older girl said, looking up at the other two, embarrassment clouding her features as she started to back away from the door. "Sorry, I'm intruding, aren't I? Um, I'll just head back—"

"No!" Jisoo and Lisa said at the same time. None of them missed the slight puffiness below Jennie's eyes, not to mention the redness on their rims and the pinkish hue of her nose.

And to think that they had been talking about her not even a minute ago... They couldn't help but wonder if the cause of her dried tears was the member whose room was right next to this one.

Jisoo cleared . "I mean, no, stay here. We'll make it a sleepover or something."

Lisa perked up. "That sounds like a great idea. What do you say, Jennie unnie?"

They both looked at Jennie expectantly. She turned her head slightly to the side, casting what may or may not have looked a like a longing glance towards the room on the left.

Noticing this, the youngest girl asked, "Do you, uh, want Chaeng to come too?"

She felt a sharp pain on her side as Jisoo not-so-subtly nudged her with her elbow. "Oww, unnieeee."

"N-no, it's fine, she's already asleep, I think," Jennie stammered, seemingly too mentally preoccupied to notice the staring contest happening in front of her.

Jisoo broke away from Lisa's gaze and gently draped her arm around Jennie's slumped shoulders. "Okay, come in already."

"Thanks, guys. I'll try not to be a bother."

"Actually, we were planning to make a blanket fort," Lisa started. She widened her eyes pointedly at Jisoo, as if to say, "Just play along".

Thankfully, Jisoo got the message. "So now that you're here, Mandeuk, we could use some help."

Jennie's downcast eyes suddenly lit up. "I love making blanket forts. Rosie and I used to—" she stopped abruptly and blinked, looking surprised that Chaeyoung's name had slipped out her tongue. She shook her head, as if trying to shake the memory off her mind as well. "Anyway, sure, let's do it."

Even as the three got to work, taking blankets from Jisoo's closet and finding corners to tie the ends on to, the small, thoughtful frown never really left Jennie's lips, and the dreadful, sinking feeling caused by an unresolved conversation between her and a certain member never left her chest.

-----

"Lisa, Lisa! Wake up," she heard Jisoo whispering tersely at her and shaking her gently out of her drowsy state.

"What?" Lisa whispered back, blinking rapidly to stay awake and adjust her eyes to the darkness of the room. Jisoo's face slowly came into focus in front of her. "What happened?"

"Jennie just said something. And I checked to make sure she was asleep. She's definitely sleep-talking."

"What did she say?"

"'Why'," Jisoo answered, turning so she was lying on her back. She briefly glanced at the sleeping figure next to her.

"Unnie, did you seriously wake me up just for that?" Lisa rubbed her eyes, slightly annoyed. "Ugh, you're lucky I like you."

"Psh, you're lucky I like you more," Jisoo retorted, the soft rubbing of her thumb on one of Lisa's cheeks contrasting with the flatness of her hushed voice. "Or I wouldn't have woken you up so you could witness something interesting."

Lisa turned to lay on her back, following Jisoo's action. She turned her head to the older girl. "Okay, now I'm definitely curious."

She saw a small smirk on those heart-shaped lips which she had the honor of kissing every so often. "We're going to find out if she answers questions in her sleep. You know, like in that drama we just watched."

Before Lisa could say anything in response, Jisoo turned to Jennie on her other side.

"Jennie?" she called. "What do you mean, why?"

The two who were awake waited, none of them daring to speak lest they miss the sleeping girl's reply.

One minute passed without a response. On the second minute, Lisa started to tug at Jisoo's sleeve, silently asking for them to cuddle and go back to sleep.

As Lisa's heavy eyelids started to droop, Jennie's voice broke the silence.

"Why don't you believe me?"

Both Jisoo and Lisa jolted in shock. Jisoo, acting quickly, turned to Jennie again. She propped up her head on her elbow and peered over, checking yet again whether or not the girl was, in fact, asleep and not messing with her.

"What don't I believe, Jen?"

This time, the answer was immediate.

"Why don't you believe that I like you?"

Jisoo pulled back, startled at the response. She slowly turned to her other side to face Lisa, who looked just as surprised as she felt.

"Quick, ask her another—"

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, okay?" Jennie suddenly mumbled in English. The other two fell silent, leaning closer to listen. "I'm sorry it's late, but I'm—I'm telling the truth. Please believe me."

"I-I believe you, Jennie," Jisoo answered in the same language, trying her hardest to steady her words. As much as she felt they were invading Jennie's privacy in some way, the nagging voice in her head telling her they wouldn't get another chance like this was all too easy to listen to.

"Really?" Jennie's voice interrupted her thoughts. She felt Lisa nudging her side, reminding her to keep the conversation going.

"Yes."

The sleeping girl's furrowed brows visibly relaxed, the ghost of a smile on the edges of her lips, eyes remaining shut.

Jisoo started to turn again so she could face Lisa, thinking that Jennie had nothing more to say, when she felt a hand on her arm. "Don't take that back, okay?"

The older girl, caught off-guard, couldn't get a word out in reply.

The grip on her arm tightened. "Rosie?"

If Jisoo had even an inkling of doubt that there was something going on between Jennie and Chaeyoung, it certainly vanished into thin air at that moment.

"I won't, Jen," she said reassuringly, slowly prying away from Jennie's hold and patting her hand. "Good night."

When she was finally face-to-face with her girlfriend, the first words that escaped her were, "Okay, Lisa. What do we do with this information?"

-----

It turned out they couldn't do much about what they'd found out, seeing as the group was swamped with comeback preparations, and they had to squeeze in hours of practice for their title track choreography into an already hectic daily schedule.

Sleep had always been important to Jisoo, but right then, since they never seemed to get enough rest, she regarded it as sacred. So, two days before their official comeback date, when she quietly stepped out of Lisa's room at three in the morning to go to the bathroom, rubbing her bleary eyes, she couldn't hide her surprise upon seeing Chaeyoung awake on the sofa at that hour, elbow propped up on its arm and the side of her head resting on her hand.

"Chaeyoung-ah?" Jisoo drawled, voice thick with drowsiness. "Why are you still up? We have an early schedule tomorrow. More like later, actually."

"Oh, unnie," Chaeyoung straightened her back, blinking away whatever she was thinking about and focusing on the older girl's presence. "I didn't see you there."

"Are you having trouble sleeping?"

She nodded, giving Jisoo a tight-lipped smile.

"That's weird. I get so tired lately, I've probably been as dead as a rock as soon as we'd get home," Jisoo thought out loud, momentarily forgetting about what she even got out of bed for and taking a seat beside Chaeyoung.

"It's all worth it, though, right? Your dancing is so much better now."

"Yah, what are you saying? My dancing was bad before?"

Chaeyoung held her hands up, "No way, unnie, that wasn't what I said at all," she defended, but a light chuckle gave her away.

Jisoo huffed, muttering something about disrespectful dongsaengs.

"Seriously, though, all of you have come so far from where we were before we debuted. Sometimes," a wistful smile tugged at the younger's lips, "I feel like I'm having trouble keeping up."

"Well, if you must know, I watch a lot of fancams," Jisoo replied. "I've seen a lot of yours from our first few stages, and I suppose you're," she put on a mildly impressed expression, "maybe a little better with our new song than with 'Whistle'."

"Why thank you, Jisoo unnie, for honoring me with your kind words," Chaeyoung said, doing a small mock bow.

"You shouldn't doubt yourself," Jisoo answered, as the grin faded slowly from her face. "I've seen how hard you've been working since you started. We still have a lot to improve, but you're definitely not falling behind. None of us are."

Chaeyoung took a deep breath and gave the girl next to her a determined look. "You're right. I think I just needed to hear that."

"Can I tell you something I've been worrying about, too?"

"Of course you can. What is it?"

Jisoo sighed. No point in letting this drag on without saying anything.

"Jennie talks in her sleep about you," she admitted.

"Oh," the younger girl said, biting her lip, a rueful expression on her face. "She still does that, doesn't she? I noticed, when we used to sleep in each others' rooms all the time."

Used to, Jisoo thought. Two words she also heard from Jennie a few nights ago. Why in the world do you talk about each other like you're a pair of ex-girlfriends? was the question she wanted to ask. "Why did you stop?" were the words she let out instead.

Chaeyoung fell silent, eyes darting away from Jisoo's.

"Sorry, Chaeng, you don't need to answer that if you don't want to. I just want to make sure you and Jennie are okay. That we're all okay, you know?"

"You don't have to worry about that, unnie." The taller girl reached out and gave Jisoo's hand a quick, reassuring squeeze. "I think you should worry about leaving Lisa alone, though. She might go looking for you."

The mere mention of the maknae's name made Jisoo snap to attention. "Oh, right," she stood up abruptly. "I needed to go to the bathroom really quick."

"Okay, then, I'll try and go to sleep now, too." Unlike Jisoo, the way Chaeyoung rose from the sofa was slower, more reluctant. She started to walk away, but paused in her step and turned, answering the question still hanging in the air between them.

"Sometimes, you just have to stop doing the things that hurt you. No matter how much you want to go back."

By the time the words left her lips, however, Jisoo had already shut the bathroom door behind her.

-----

"I hate lurking on Twitter," the oldest member groaned, barely stopping herself from hurling her phone against the wall of their dance practice room. She lightly tossed it instead, sending it skidding across the polished floor.

The last month had been both an exhilarating and excruciatingly exhausting ride for Blackpink, from the comeback day to their performances in music shows, back-to-back radio and TV interviews, and magazine shoots. Right then, they were supposed to be practicing their solo stages for their upcoming Japan concert.

Instead, Jisoo was on the floor, leaning her back against the mirror, narrowed eyes burning a hole through her discarded phone.

Lisa, who was nearby, stopped practicing the choreography for her own solo performance and was on the other girl's side immediately.

"Yah, Chichu unnie, don't throw your phone around like that," she scolded, sounding older than she actually was. In a softer tone, she asked, "What's wrong?" while taking one of Jisoo's palms and drawing patterns on it with her fingers.

This calmed Jisoo down considerably, her eyes softening until only a small pout remained on her lower lip.

"Some shippers just go a bit overboard," she muttered, still a little sulky.

Lisa raised an eyebrow at the statement. "Let me see your phone," she said, grabbing the object off the floor and unlocking it with her fingerprint.

A few seconds later, she looked at the older girl with a mischievous smirk. "Aww, is Jisoo unnie jealous?"

"What? Of course not!"

"Oh, okay, then you won't mind if I show this cute Jenlisa picture to Jennie unnie—" Lisa started to stand, when Jisoo all but yanked her back.

"Okay, okay, maybe I'm a little jealous."

"Only a little?" Lisa teased.

"Maybe more than a little. I may have, uh, sent it to Jennie and told her to tone it down," Jisoo said guiltily, wringing her hands together like a toddler caught stealing candy.

"'Keep your hands off my woman' with five angry emojis and several knife emojis is what you call 'tone it down'?"

"I'm sorry, I was just—"

"You're so cute, unnie," the younger girl squealed, turning to Jisoo and wrapping her in a hug. Quietly, she added, "How did I get so lucky," while sighing into her girlfriend's neck.

The moment was cut short, though, when Jennie shouted from across the room. (She had been on the other side of it, wearing a pair of headphones to listen to the song she was to perform for her solo stage.)

"Yah, Kim Jisoo, I don't plan on stealing your woman. Now stop sending me knife emojis!"

Jisoo only stuck her tongue out at the girl.

Chaeyoung, who was closer to her, briefly turned to Jisoo and Lisa with a clueless expression before focusing her attention once more on her guitar, alternating between strumming chords and adding to the notes she'd already scribbled on a piece of paper beside her.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed Jennie looking—she didn't want to believe she had been staring—at her, so she met her gaze and gave her a small smile. Jennie blinked and smiled back, albeit a little shakily, before putting her headphones back on and closing her eyes.

"If I didn't know better," Jisoo said in a low voice, "I would think there isn't anything wrong with them."

"Something definitely happened," Lisa agreed, trying to keep her voice to an equally hushed volume. "They're not distant, but they're not as close as they were before either. I don't get it. Why can't we just ask them?"

"I tried, remember? But Chaeyoung won't say, I'm pretty sure Jennie won't either unless we talk to her while she's sleeping again. And that's risky enough as it is."

"And we're so busy, it's not like we have time to think of a plan."

"You know, with all the times we've spent worrying about those two, sometimes I wonder if fate brought us together just so we could solve this mystery," Jisoo mused.

Lisa, who had her head laid on Jisoo's shoulder, looked up at her, her eyes holding a combination of curiosity and apprehension—much like how she looked that day when Jisoo first confessed her feelings.

"Then, do you think we'll stay together still, once we solve the mystery?"

"If we ever manage to get to the bottom of this one," Jisoo said, kissing the top of the other girl's head, "We'll just go and find another mystery. The world is full of them, you know, so we'll never run out."

Lisa laid her head back down, content with the answer she received. One of the things she loved about Jisoo was that she could follow her train of thought without effort or judgment. Heck, she didn't just follow it, she could very well be driving the train with how well her unnie understood her.

She loved how honest they could be with each other about every single thing.

Lisa just wished the day would come when the other two members could be honest with each other, too.

-----

Chaeyoung's eyes always told the truth, even if sometimes, her words did not.

Jisoo found this to be true when, almost two years ago, the night before their debut, as she loitered around in the living room in mild nervousness, she heard Jennie's bedroom door fling open and saw Chaeyoung walk out of it, closing the door behind her.

Jisoo met her gaze as the other girl looked up, and she was greeted with glistening eyes that were barely holding back two heavy pools of tears.

"Chaeyoung? Are you okay?"

"A-ah, unnie," she stammered, biting the inside of her cheek. Before Jisoo could take a step towards her, Chaeyoung waved her away. "N-no, don't, I'm fine, I... I'm going to go to sleep now. Big day tomorrow, right?" she managed a smile that did little to hide the pained expression she had been wearing earlier.

"G-good night, Jisoo unnie," she said hastily, trotting to her room and slamming it shut without waiting for Jisoo to speak.

And Chaeyoung's eyes hid nothing right then, as they saw Jennie twist her ankle and fall down the stage stairs during their Osaka concert.

Jisoo was frozen in shock as the rest of the world moved around her. First, she saw the taller girl's worried look, and not a second later, a blur of pink hair as Chaeyoung ran to Jennie's side and helped her sit down.

No words were spoken between them as the concert winded down, but the worry in the girl's eyes remained even when they were back in their hotel.

"Chaeng, I'm gonna go to Jisoo and Jennie unnie's room for a bit," Lisa said, taking a blanket from one of the beds in her shared room with Chaeyoung and wrapping it around her pajama-clad shoulders. "Are you coming?"

The older girl shook her head, laying her head on her pillow and fixing her gaze on the ceiling. "I'll check up on her in the morning. I'm really tired, so..."

The maknae shrugged. "Okay, but just go if you change your mind."

Jisoo was, of course, already in Jennie's room when Lisa entered, seeing as she was sharing the room with her.

"Hey, unnie. How's the ankle?"

Jennie looked up at Lisa. "I just took some painkillers, so it's starting to hurt less now." She smiled gratefully. "I'm fine, though, you two don't have to worry about me."

"Oh, we're not that worried," Jisoo said off-handedly. "But one of us who isn't here right now seems to be in so much panic, she probably can't come in here without crying."

Jennie visibly stiffened, but rolled her eyes a second later, steering the topic towards a different direction. "Wasn't that you, unnie, the last time I fell off a stage?"

"Shut up. I don't know what you're talking about."

"Do you want me to show her the YouTube video, Jennie unnie?" Lisa said, laughing.

Jennie shook her head, deciding to be merciful to their oldest member, for once. "You can stay as long as you want, Lisa, but these painkillers are a bit strong so I might fall asleep in a few minutes."

They kept the conversation going for more than a few minutes, Jisoo and Lisa doing most of the talking, while Jennie started to nod off as her eyes drooped, struggling weakly to stay awake.

"Good night, unnie," Lisa said softly an hour later, after noticing that the injured girl had finally given in to sleep, chin resting on her collarbone and mouth slightly open. With Jisoo's help, the younger girl was able to move Jennie's head into a more comfortable position on the bed.

Jisoo and Lisa were about to leave the room when they heard knocking from outside. "Jennie unnie?" Chaeyoung's soft voice called.

Lisa made to open the door for her when Jisoo grabbed her arm. "Unnie, what are you—"

The older girl pulled her back, putting a finger on her own lips.

"Jisoo unnie? Lisa?"

"Hide," Jisoo hissed, dragging the taller girl towards the bathroom door. By the time Chaeyoung had twisted the knob and opened the door, the other two were already hidden, keeping the light off and the door open by a crack.

"Oh, she's asleep," the pink-haired girl mumbled to herself as she peered at Jennie from the doorway. "Where did those two go..."

Jisoo and Lisa could only allow a sliver of light to enter the bathroom so they wouldn't be visible if Chaeyoung suddenly decided to look up. Still, they could see enough of what she was doing as long as her back wasn't turned to them.

Chaeyoung stood over Jennie as the seconds dragged on, seeming to have an internal conflict between staying and retreating to her room. Finally, one side might have won, as she took a deep breath and sat on one side of the bed.

"You're always hurting yourself," she said a matter-of-factly, carefully threading her hand through the side of Jennie's hair. "Please be more careful."

"...'s nothing," Sure enough, Jennie replied a minute later. "You keep hurting me too, Rosie, so this... is nothing."

If it were possible to hear a heart physically shattering, the hidden pair in the bathroom would have probably heard such a sound from across the room right then.

"I—" Jisoo saw Chaeyoung swiping at her face repeatedly, until she finally gave up and let her tears trail down her cheeks. "I didn't mean to."

She covered , trying to muffle the sobbing sounds she could barely hold back. Her other hand curled to a fist on the sheets.

Somehow, even with the painkillers, Jennie stirred, feeling a presence beside her. The smell of white roses was so distinct in her memory that she didn't even feel the need to open her eyes to know who it was.

"Rosie?"

Chaeyoung cleared , mouth still covered. "S-sorry for waking you, Jennie unnie." She hastily swiped at her face once more.

Jennie's eyes fluttered open just in time to see a single tear drop falling down Chaeyoung's cheek. She sat up, ignoring the dull ache on her ankle. "Why are you crying? Did I say something while I was asleep?"

The younger girl shook her head, but her eyes just couldn't lie.

"I said something, didn't I? Whatever it was, I didn't mean it!"

"It's okay, I—I probably deserve it."

"You know, I hate it when you do that," Jennie frowned.

"Do what?"

"When you just take everything without even trying to defend yourself. When you apologize even if you haven't done anything wrong," she answered. "When you just smile and never say how you actually feel."

"Jennie unnie, please don't—" Chaeyoung choked, fresh tears threatening to spill out.

"You didn't even tell me how you felt after I—"

"After you turned me down?" she said, lips pursed. "It's okay, unnie, that was... a long time ago."

Meanwhile, from behind the bathroom door, Lisa's jaw dropped. "When did this happen?" she whispered, looking wide-eyed at Jisoo.

"I think I have some idea."

They strained their ears to listen to the rest of the conversation between the other two.

"You didn't even give me time to think about it," Jennie said sadly. "And by the time I realized I had feelings for you, you were shutting me out and acting like nothing happened. We're still mostly friendly, and you aren't avoiding me but," she swallowed, "maybe sometimes I wish you were, so I'd at least know if you were hurt, or mad at me, or—or anything, really, except whatever this is you've been doing lately." 

"Wh-What was I supposed to do?" Chaeyoung snapped, heat rising up to her cheeks in frustration. Jisoo couldn't help but draw back from the door a tiny bit. She had never seen the younger girl more than mildly annoyed until that moment.

"It's not like I could stop talking to you at all! Don't you get it? Even if I wanted to avoid you, I just couldn't. We've been together as a group for so long, and I love all of you too much to let some—some stupid feelings get in the way." She squeezed her eyes shut, letting the tears escape. "And this sounds so cliché, but I love you so much, it hurts. It really, really hurts. Is it so wrong for me not to say anything about it? When I already feel the pain in here," she tugged at her chest, "every single time you're on my mind?"

"Chaeyoung—"

"You—You want to know how I feel, Jennie?" she cried. "I'm so angry, and so scared, because I have no idea what to do after you suddenly come along and tell me you like me, when I've been trying so hard to get over you!"

"Then why don't you stop?" Jennie retorted, starting to tear up herself. "Stop drifting away from me. Stop trying to get over me. Stop pretending that kiss never happened. Stop telling me my feelings for you aren't real every time I try to talk to you about them!"

Jisoo felt Lisa tug at her sleeve. "Unnie," she said in a soft, pleading voice, "We shouldn't be here listening in like this."

"I know," Jisoo whispered back guiltily. "I didn't think it would be this bad."

"How am I supposed to believe that? How can I be so sure you won't wake up the next day and change your mind again?"

"You can't," Jennie said simply, determined to steady her gaze on Chaeyoung's. Determined to promise with her eyes that she would never give Chaeyoung a reason to doubt her ever again. "You can't be sure. All you can do is trust me."

"Trust... you?"

She nodded, grabbing the other girl's hand and resting it on her cheek. Chaeyoung couldn't stop her eyes from lighting up at the feel of Jennie's skin on her palm.

"I keep having this dream about you kissing me again," Jennie confessed, her eyes closed as Chaeyoung caressed her face with her thumb. "How long do I have to keep dreaming?"

"Then," Chaeyoung leaned forward, enough for Jennie to reach out and wipe her tears, "Why don't you wake up?"

"Why don't you make it come true?" Jennie dared.

"Gladly, wifey," Chaeyoung replied playfully, tilting the older girl's chin upwards and capturing her lips with her own.

Lisa put a hand on to stop herself from squealing excitedly. Jisoo leaned on the bathroom wall, relieved that the worst seemed to be over.

Jennie pulled Chaeyoung so they were both laying on their side, still heatedly kissing away years of pent-up tension.

"Was this why," Jennie asked between kisses, hands tightly gripping the younger girl's waist, "your solo stage songs sounded so sad?"

"Maybe," Chaeyoung breathed against her lips. She laid her forehead on Jennie's, panting slightly. "I figured I could pour my heart out that way without having to actually say anything."

"From now on, we don't keep anything from each other, okay?"

"Okay," she said shyly, eyes shimmering with what Jennie hoped were happy tears this time. "Kiss me again?" she added softly.

"Sure, hubby, but first," Jennie sat up and turned to the bathroom door, locking narrowed eyes with Lisa, as if she knew right where to look. "Both of you better come out now or else."

Jisoo and Lisa slowly padded out of the bathroom, sheepish smiles on their faces at getting caught eavesdropping.

"Umm, surprise?" "We're sorry!" they both said at the same time.

Chaeyoung groaned, hiding her face behind Jennie's shoulder. Jennie's lips curled up despite the annoyance in her stare.

"We should punish them. What do we make them do, Rosie?"

"Wait, wait, before you say anything else," Lisa cut in, "How did you even know we were in the bathroom?"

"You left one of your slippers by the door," Chaeyoung muttered on Jennie's shirt.

The maknae blinked, eyes darting towards her feet, then searched for the missing slipper, which was in fact close to the bathroom.

"Uh, good eye!" Jisoo squeaked. "Hey, Lisa, why don't we get some food to celebrate the Chaennie ship finally sailing?"

"Way ahead of you, unnie!" Lisa zipped to the bedroom door, Jisoo closely following, Lisa's slipper in hand.

"You better get us milk and mango ice cream or you'll never be forgiven!" Jennie called after them.

Finally, she turned to Chaeyoung, and right then she wondered what she had ever done to deserve a second chance as beautiful as this.

"Now, where were we?"