Lisa missed the elevator. She had been staring after Hanbin like a startled deer.

Coherent thought was failing her. Hanbin had struck his blows like a karate master of words, finding her weak spots and leaving her broken. She'd begin a thought but it would leave her halfway through... I can't believe... what should... I really...

Finally, something made its way through the haze of shock.

Get to office. Find Jennie.

Yes, that was what she needed to do. She turned to the stairs, too impatient to wait for the elevator to come again.

Find Jennie.

Ten flight up, she remembered why you didn't take the stairs in a sky scraper. She collapsed on the landing, panting and clutching a stitch in her side.

What are you doing?

She wasn't going to find Jennie in the office. She'd probably run home, locked herself in her room.

And rightfully so.

Lisa was really starting to appreciate that coming out party her mother had thrown her.

She leaned against the wall and stared up into the endless concrete stairwell. She had messed up. Hanbin might have been the world's biggest , but he was right.

No one could make a surer case for Jennie losing her job than you.

It was true. He'd seen right into her, seen how much of a up she really was. He'd known she was going to mess up.

Not to mention the trust she'd given him – she'd told him everything he needed to know, right from the first day. Told him every weakness of Jennie's, told him of their relationship, of her insecurities.

She had no idea what to do. She reached into her pocket. Her phone, her iPhone, was sitting in the auditorium on grand display. But her hand closed around her HopeBerry and she drew it out.

Her 'Jennie Phone' Hoseok had called it. It only had her numbers programmed into it. Why couldn't she have used this phone to text Jennie? It probably had a million security measures on it.

Jennie probably won't even want to talk to me right now. I wouldn't want to talk to me right now.

She stared at the phone, then typed in the only number she knew by heart.

"I'm not interested."

"Mom, it's me."

"Lili? I thought you were another damned telemarketer. I swear if I get one more call from them today I will reach through the phone and – are you crying?"

Lisa touched a hand to her face. She was crying, tears falling thick and fast. When had that happened? And now that she had noticed, she had no control. She made a sound somewhere between a word and a sob and then she was really crying.

Her mother's voice became frantic as she sobbed into the phone. "What's wrong, Lili? What happened?"

She took a few deep, gulping breaths. "I ed up," she blubbered.

She heard clattering in the background, a cat hissing, and her mother's footsteps for a minute then, "Alright, I'm settled. Tell me what happened."

Lisa told her. Sunmi listened silently, waiting for her to get the words out. This was one of the best things about her mother – she would talk constantly and interrupt for most things, but the moment Lisa started crying she was the best listener on the planet.

When she finished, Sunmi took a deep breath. "Okay, so what I'm hearing is that you're a terrible, awful person."

"Uh-huh," Lisa said. Yup, that was the sum of it. Her head felt like it was clogged full of snot.

She bet she looked really attractive, sitting there on a stairwell with mucus dripping from her nose and a splotchy red face.

"You trusted Hanbin with Jennie's secrets because you thought he was your friend and he used that information to backstab you?"

It sounded so much worse coming out like that. She wiped at her nose with the back of her hand, "Namjoon warned me, you know, very first day. He said Hanbin wanted something from me. I should have listened to him."

"And now you think Jennie hates you, or is going to shut you out, because you can't keep your mouth shut?"

"I'd hate me."

There was a moment of quiet from Sunmi. Lisa could hear Leo in the background, probably trying to convince the mail carrier that they were committing a serious felony and that their continued existence was an affront to catkind.

"That's bull," Sunmi pronounced.

"But-"

Sunmi tutted, cutting her off. "Did Hanbin ever give you any reason to mistrust him? Did he ever give any indication that he was less of a friend than he said he was?"

"No, but-"

"There's no 'but' here, Laliz. You trust people. It's beautiful, really. You meet someone and you take what they give you at face value. You don't suspect that people are plotting against you or that they want something from you."

Lisa gave a bitter laugh. That was her, alright. "You mean I'm naive."

"Maybe," Sunmi conceded, always one to accept the obvious, "but why is that a bad thing? It's never wrong to trust, love. It's a beautiful, wonderful thing and if the world had more people like you it'd be a better place."

"But-"

"What did I say about buts?"

This time Lisa laughed for real. "That they're God's gift to humanity and a great reason to wake up in the morning?"

"Wrong 'buts'." Lisa laughed again. "The point is, you can't blame yourself for Hanbin breaking your trust. Blame him, and save your energy for fixing what you can fix."

Lisa smiled and rubbed the tears out of her eyes. This was why she called her mom. "What will I do about Jennie?" she asked.

"I doubt she'll hate you as much as you think she will. That girl loves you, you know."

"She never said it," Lisa objected. It felt important. "I've said it to her, but she hasn't said it back.

"Well, that's you all over. Jump in head first and all that." Sunmi sounded proud. Lisa scowled at the wall.

"Trust too much, you mean," she corrected. "You know, I think after this I'll wait and see if people earn my trust before I give it."

"No you won't," Sunmi said with a snort.

"Well, fine, probably not." Dammit, her mother knew her too well. She leaned forward, her back aching from the long time sitting on the concrete. "But that still leaves Jennie... I don't want her to lose her job."

"You'll do the right thing," Sunmi said with conviction.

"I'll try," Lisa hedged. She wasn't sure she knew what the right thing was anymore.

"If you do the wrong thing, you'll survive. You and Jennie will survive. As long as you don't kill anyone the situation is always redeemable."

She chuckled and dragged herself to her feet by the hand rail. "I'll keep that in mind."

After she hung up, she climbed the remaining stairs slowly, considering what to do. She felt clear headed after talking to her mom. She needed to do something – something to make sure that Jennie could keep her position. She needed to make this right, or at least showed that she tried.

She shoved her phone in her pocket and bounded up the last flight two stairs at a time. She needed to get to her computer. She needed to make this right.