Angel.

Lisa had dragged Jennie to almost every corner of New York, and she did nothing but take pictures of Jennie, she would often throw in a joke or two and a random childhood memory and it would always make Jennie smile. Maybe it was because she saw the glow in Lisa’s eyes whenever she’d talk about her mother, or her crazy moments with her father and her embarrassing grade school moments with Jisoo, whatever it was, Jennie loved it. She realized she’s been falling in love with every single thing about Lisa, her smile, her lips, her eyes, their glow, her ears and how it turns red when she blushes, her neck where she finds a mole similar to hers, and then there was Lisa’s positive outcome in life, she narrates various scenarios of her getting bullied and Jisoo almost always getting called to the principal’s office because she had yet again punched a person who bullied Lisa, but nevertheless, Jennie never heard Lisa complain about it, she did not loathe them, she even wished them best, and hoped that they were doing fine and that they’ve matured enough and forgiven themselves for whatever’s bothering them.

Lisa is an angel, Jennie concludes.

And here she thought Rosé was the only angel that Jesus let walk on the face of the earth because Jisoo had convinced her enough to think so, but Jisoo was wrong, Rosé was not alone, because Lisa was one too, and though not a lot would see that, it did not matter, because Lisa was never one to show off her angelic side. God chose Lisa to be Jennie’s angel, to guide her here, to help her, and to make her feel safe.

“Jennie? Are you sure you’re okay? You’ve been staring at me a lot this evening” Lisa said, her face did not show she was teasing, instead it had worry all over it.

“I’m fine, Lisa” Jennie said as she chuckled and held onto Lisa’s arm

“Are you hungry? I know a place that you would love” Lisa said

“Lead the way” Jennie said

And so Lisa did, but this time they took a cab, it was located in the heart of Manhattan (or wherever that is) and it was a local book café called ‘Leslie’s’. Its exterior sort of looked like a castle, without the wooden sign hanging by the door you wouldn’t realize it was a café, and as they entered, Jennie and Lisa were greeted with the peacefulness of the café, its walls were mint green in color, there hung picture frames with quotes of motivation, the seats and stalls were varnished and as well at the tables, then there stood two huge bookshelves near the counter, there were numerous books and newspapers and magazines too, it was heaven for bookworms. It was definitely a place for someone trying to find their peace of mind and a good place to study.

Lisa’s hand was intertwined with Jennie’s and as the girl dragged Lisa, her right arm extended holding Jennie’s left hand, Lisa grabbed her camera and snapped another photo of the girl who seemed to love the place.

“Lisa, this is beautiful” Jennie whispered once Lisa was by her side

There were only a few people around; there were two elderlies sipping a cup of coffee and reading their newspapers, a woman in her mid-30’s reading a thriller novel, a young teenager reading a John Green novel, and there was one college student silently studying her notes with her earphones plugged in her ears blocking the world out as she drank her latté. It was getting a bit late anyways so it was no wonder only a few people were around.

“Did your Dad bring you here too?” Jennie asked as they sat down

Lisa giggled; she must’ve been telling a lot of stories about her father.

“Nah, this I found on my own” Lisa said

“Really? I never knew you were a book nerd” Jennie said

“I’m not, but Jisoo is, so when I found this I thought of her and so I brought her here” Lisa said.

“Jisoo? Gamer, Sassy Jisoo is a bookworm?” Jennie asked. The thought of Jisoo reading books felt foreign to Jennie, the sassy girl didn’t look like the type to read novels.

Lisa chuckled and nodded her head.

“She’s been into books since she was 10, I guess? It was the phase when she would make me shut up all the time because she was in the part of the book” Lisa said as she rolled her eyes at the memory of the said annoying Jisoo

“You’re so sweet, Lisa” Jennie said out of the blue

“Uh? Thanks, I guess?” Lisa said as she hid her blushing face

“I love how you think of your friends; I love how you take care of Jisoo and Rosie even through ways that they won’t notice it. You bring light into a lot of people’s lives” Jennie said

“Gosh, Jennie…that’s um, really sweet of you too. Thank you” Lisa said shyly, her ears turning red, making Jennie all giddy because of the effect she has on Lisa

“Let’s order then?” Jennie said and Lisa nodded.

…

They weren’t drunk but Lisa felt dizzy because of all these emotions running through her at the moment, they were simply in a café talking about their random stuff like how to survive the hunger games and whatever, but Lisa felt like she was drunk…in love (Hit it Yoncé). She felt intoxicated by the things Jennie was making her feel, her eyes were drooping low as she admired the beauty right in front of her, and she was wearing her gummy smile whilst she talked about the day Ella whined about unicorns being real. Everything around Lisa seemed to blur out, she heard buzzing noises and suddenly all she could hear were Jennie’s laugh, the aroma of newly grinded coffee filled Lisa’s nose which sort of made her lose her senses more, and it felt good.

“So what did you do?” Lisa asked when she was snapped back to reality

“I rented a horse and put a horn on its head. Ella was thrilled but the horse wasn’t, it pooped a lot” Jennie said, and Lisa laughed at 20 year old Jennie’s craziness.

“And how did your parents react?” Lisa asked

Jennie stiffened at the question.

“They uh…you see, I gave Ella her birthday gift a day after her birthday so I didn’t really get to see them that day, they were at work” Jennie said, eyes avoiding Lisa’s

“Jennie, can I ask you something personal?” Lisa asked

Jennie looked at Lisa’s eyes, and Lisa knew Jennie was scared.

“Y-Yeah” Jennie stuttered

“Are you and your parents okay?” Lisa asked carefully

Lisa saw Jennie inhale deeply, her hands were trembling, Lisa didn’t know if it was because of the caffeine or because of her nerves, so Lisa placed her hands on top of Jennie’s, and it somehow calmed Jennie down.

“You know I’m adopted, right?” Jennie asked and Lisa nodded

“I was in the orphanage for around 2 years, I was 4 when Mr. and Mrs. Kim adopted me, and I am forever grateful for them for taking care of me and for sending me to school