LISA’S POV

     “Oh, I didn’t know you were up,” I say or something that sounds like that because my mouth is actually full and I’m also a little drunk from the small party we’ve had with the production team after we’ve called it a wrap.

I look at the clock on the wall that says it’s two in the morning, then back to the woman who just walked out of our room, tilting her head towards my voice.

Besides her disheveled hair from sleep, nothing else with the way Jisoo looks is normal. Drops of sweat trickle along her forehead, a full-blown scarlet color graces her cheeks and ears, her lips are dry and chapped, and the rise and fall of her chest are too irregular.

She looks too uncomfortable for comfort... and well, I panic.

“Jisoo, are you sick? Do you—“

“Stay!”

I choke on my food, my sticking back on the chair at her command like magnet to metal, seriously taken aback (and also a little scared). I blink once.

Did she seriously just order me to stay? Stay???

“Oh, please, I’m not taking your food away,” Jisoo huffs and rolls her eyes, before entering the restroom.

I was confused by what she meant by that until I realize that I have wrapped a protective arm around my plate. She got me acting like a damn dog.

“I thought you were gonna take away my good treat for being a bad girl!” I puff.

And despite herself, I hear chuckles behind the shut door, which is a relief because I knew then that we are okay. But, I still have no clue what that was all about. I think of anything I've done to warrant her outburst, but come up with nothing.

“So, what was your problem?” I ask when I hear the light switch off along with the gentle opening and closing of the bathroom door minutes later.

“Sorry, I just didn’t expect you to be home,” Jisoo vaguely answers. And my body twists just so I can look at her and shoot her a disbelieving stare.

“Really? That’s the best you’ve got?”

Jisoo grimaces. “Shut up. I just wasn’t prepared for you to see me like that.”

“That,” I mimic her. Speaking of, she actually looks way better now, so that tugs my curiosity even more. “Okay, but what was that all about? I thought you had a fever, you looked literally hot.”

“It’s nothing. Just a bad dream.” Jisoo tries to flip it off, but the blush rising from her neck isn’t as nonchalant as her shrug.

“Dream? What dream? How bad—?”

And then, I gasp. I guess something in the way my face lights up tells Jisoo that I figured it out because she raises a threatening finger. “Don't. Just don't.”

We both know that won’t stop me, though.

“Oh, it was bad, alright, you dirty girl!” I wiggle my brows and she scoffs in annoyance. “Just how wild was it to have you looking like that as aftermath?”

“Drop it. What are you? A child?” She’s acting all calm and collected, but bad for her (and good for me) that how her neck all the way up her entire face is all kinds of flushed tells that she’s everything but that. She’s embarrassed and well, can you blame me that I’m enjoying every bit of it?

“Yes, yes,” I chirp, pulling myself up and kneeling on the chair both hands curled onto the backrest, like a giddy kid, and I bounce. “Tell me who it was! Tell me! Tell me! Was he good? Do I know him? He must be—“

“I said drop it, Lisa,” Jisoo says way too sternly, almost menacing that I nearly curl up on myself.

“Geez, I was just playing,” I fix myself into sitting properly again, my back facing her. “Someone needs to get laid so bad,” I whisper under my breath.

“I heard that.”

“Good, cos maybe it’s the dry spell that’s causing that sour mood of yours. You should do something about it.”

“Okay, I will. Get laid,” Jisoo accentuates the words, stepping into my line of vision like she’s challenging me or something and I curl my brows in confusion.

“Okay? What point are you trying to make? That’s literally what I’m suggesting.”

Jisoo just stares back like she wants to say something, but she her lips in instead and sighs. She shakes her head dismissively. “Whatever, I’m going back to sleep.”

“Seriously?” My spoon and fork clang on the plate when I drop my hands in exasperation as I watch her turn her back on me and disappear into the bedroom. “God, what is going on with her?”

Jisoo has been acting weird lately. I chose not to confront her about it, but yeah, of course, I noticed.

I had no great expectations for my internship because I’ve already expected that I’ll probably just fetch coffee or be ordered around by people I couldn’t care less about, which turned out to be true. But while it is true, while I memorized how much sugar they want in their coffee and where stuff is found without them telling me anymore, I also discovered a knack for something I never thought I had.

I was placed under a “scripty” or a script supervisor. She was a total angel, and while I didn’t have much to compare, I know that she’s good. She could see how the movie is playing out in her head just by reading the script and can spot even the tiniest continuity problems so easily.

And when I was assisting her during all the production stages, she tried to get me involved as much as possible. She would ask me if I could see a problem in a certain sequence and she would be pleasantly surprised when I tell her what exactly was on her mind.

One day, she smiled at me so big, and said, “I think great attention to detail can’t be learned. Honed yes, but learned, no. A person is born with it. And you have it.” And because I was having so much fun, I accepted when she offered to train me.

And now, I have the same job as her. And if my skills were still raw then, they are sharpened now. Attention to detail is like an extra limb that grew on my body, an extension of myself, and I just can’t cut it off. There’s no on and off switch. It’s an occupational hazard.

So, when things sort of shifted since the night Jisoo helped Ms. Choi pack, of course, I noticed.

How she’d still be awake even if I come home super late when normally she'd be in bed by then; how she tries to subtly avoid eye contact alarmingly often; how the apartment has been always exceptionally spotless since; how her body would tense up for a split second before she relaxes to my touch.

So, I asked her, but I figured she’s lying. Her reasons just don’t add up. I doubt the apartment is spotless because she just felt like cleaning. I think it’s because she’s in dire need to do something to keep her mind off of things. If she had so much free time to clean, she could’ve just been doing her work, then she won’t have to stay awake late at night, but my guess is she’s just been too distracted.

She’s hiding something and she tries to hide the fact that she is. So, she’s become tense... which I think should explain what just happened and how she reacts to my touch and how she starts doing things just so she won’t have to look me in the eyes when we speak.

But as I said, I chose not to confront her about it because I know she’ll come to me if she wants me to know or when she’s ready to let me know.

I’ll just have to wait.

//

(Turns out I don’t have to wait for too long.)

Jisoo has been smacking her head with a book, then pausing for a few seconds to sigh or grunt, then starts hitting herself again. I don’t know how long she’s been at it before I entered our bedroom, but I had been standing by the door for like a whole minute and she still hasn’t stopped.

See? Weird. But whatever’s going on with her, I really, really don’t want to add up to her problems anymore.

“I’m not much into books, but I’m pretty sure that’s not how you read one,” I chuckle softly, making my presence known.

Jisoo sheepishly puts the book down on her tummy and crosses her arms above her chest. “I just wanted to check if it’s a good hardbound,” she pouts, rolling her eyes. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough to wonder how the hell your head hasn’t started bleeding yet.” I snort a laugh. Jisoo chucks the book my way and I catch it, genuinely laughing now. “Is throwing things like your love language?”

Jisoo sends me a heatless glare. “I honestly only have hatred for you at this moment.”

“Aw, that stings,” I coo, contrary to the soft smile that curves my lips and though Jisoo tries to fight it, she smiles too. This stupid banter is actually us making peace with each other. “I kinda need someone to help zip me down tho. Can you postpone hating me for like 10 seconds?”

Jisoo nips on her lip and hesitates. Something flashes in her eyes that I can’t figure out what because she shifts her gaze elsewhere. Again, she’s acting very, very weird. All I’m asking from her is to zip me down like—

“Fine, come here,” Jisoo says finally after a moment, beckoning me over, so I go and stand by the side of the bed, turning to my back, as she kneels on the edge.

I feel her fingers grasp the zipper of my dress, but I wait and I wait, then I wait some more, but Jisoo still doesn’t move an inch. I turn my head sideways to check on her and I’m suddenly aware of how close she is to me. She’s too close, way too close.

“We’re way past 10 seconds. In case you forgot how, you have to pull it down,” I breathe out.

“Sorry, you just smell too good,” Jisoo whispers, her voice surprisingly raw and low. is barely just an inch away from my sensitive ear that I feel the heat of her breath on my skin. My head snaps forward so fast it’s a surprise it’s still attached to my neck as I suppress the urge to shiver. What the hell?

The bend of her finger lightly brushes the path of skin being exposed as she pulls my zipper down achingly slowly, seductively, and I fail to suppress the urge to shiver altogether. I feel like this somehow turned out to be way too intimate than it probably should be, even for us. And, my heart starts to hammer absurdly fast.

No. No, no, no. Get a ing grip.

My body listens to my brain and I step away, swallowing my saliva to wet my dry throat. I slip out of my dress and regret doing it as soon as I did because I can feel Jisoo watching me with the same burning gaze she had when she watched me dance a week ago. Is that what this is all about? Is this her revenge for all the teasing I’ve been doing? Because if it is, the way she’s making me feel is not ing funny— not when I have alcohol running thr