"Thank... you...?" Jennie actually responded after ten seconds of utter silence. Whew.

Now all I needed was to say something normal before I scoot through the window.

"Hmmm..." I started, and then she looked at me with anticipating, seducing eyes. Fine, they weren't seducing me, I just wanted them to be. I swear I could have just jumped to the other side of the room and smothered her with a hug. But I subtly balled my free hand so my nails dug into my palm to elicit a much-needed self-control.

"Jennie... Can you... Read more?" Okay, so much for saying something normal. The only upside of this forthcoming tragedy is that I didn't stutter for the first time.

"Why?"

I only expected her to say no, not why! I nervously swallowed and, "Hmmm... N-Nothing, j-just a birthday request." I'm really gifted with an ability to jinx myself. And God! Birthday request?! I realized I could be such a weirdo.

"When is it?"

"Next week, the 3rd. But..." I stood up trying to act composed and squeezed in The Little Prince to rejoin the stack. "... if you need to do something, you can ignore-"

Before I finished my sentence, she started reading her book... From page one.

I almost peed my shorts from happiness.

---

After two hours, Jennie went down to the kitchen and automatically took her spot in the counter to read. Joohyun nudged Seulgi and pointed at her.

"Uhhheeuurrm... Jennie-ah."

Jennie only lifted her head to acknowledge the leader's call.

"Do I need to get the mop and start tidying up the room?" Chae nonchalantly said without looking away from the laptop monitor.

"I didn't hear a gunshot though. Did you use a silencer?" Joohyun giggled to a thought only she was aware of.

"She's alive."

"Good to know I didn't have to explain her death to Boss GD. But why didn't she come down? She didn't eat yet." Seulgi stood up from the sofa and approached the counter.

"She fell asleep."

"WHAT?!" Seulgi and Joohyun exclaimed.

"I hope not on my bed."

"Nope."

"ON YOUR BED??" Again, from the surprised duo.

"Oh my god... What did you do to her?" Now Joohyun was approaching the counter too, with her bright and suggestive demeanor.

"Nothing."

"As if you can get anything out of her, Joohyun-yah. Just go ask Jisoo tomorrow."

"Wait, did you slip a drug on her drink or something?"

"Tsss... Not everyone's like you."

"Excuse me, Bear, I am having an adult conversation with Jennie, not you."

"And in what context are you using the word adult?"

"You're still a baby, you're not even supposed to join this conversation, Chaeyoungie! So, Jennie, did you?"

"I don't have a reason to do that."

"Tsk. Well, Mother Theresa, just in case you'll need it in the future, let me know." Joohyun winked and retreated to the living room. Jennie just shook her head and went back to her book.

But Seulgi continued to pry, "Hey, nothing really happened?"

Jennie just glared at her.

"Seulgi-eonnie." Chae called from the other side of the room. "Do you want us explaining your death to Boss GD?"

That night, Jennie stayed in the living room where she fell asleep, as always, with the lights on and her book laying open near her.

At dawn, it took her a minute to piece together her unusual state when she woke up. She was covered with a blanket; the book was nowhere within her reach and it was pitch dark. Immediately, she touched her right ankle to feel if her small gun was still where it should be. And then she chuckled at the thought of an intruder making sure she stayed warm after stealing her book. She knew burglary just doesn't happen that way.

Jennie miraculously dozed off again and woke up an hour before everyone did. And before anyone could go down to Lisa's calling, she was already out of the apartment.

"Hey guys! What are you waiting for? Come down now, I'm here!"

"Yah. It's so early for you to strain your voice. You cooked all that?" Seulgi asked half-asleep slowly walking down the stairs. Behind her was Joohyun who woke up completely to the sight of food.

"Huh? I thought you cooked it. I just literally came from work, eonnie."

"Oh yeah, you worked overnight. So, who cooked?"

"I'm guessing, Jennie-eonnie." Looking over from the second floor, Chae suggested after seeing the confusion building up in the kitchen. "Only the four of you cooked, and deducing from your faces, none of you prepared that."

"Wow, Jennie-eonnie cooked breakfast after a long time? Someone must be hungry..." Lisa commented while gawking at an omurice.

Seulgi and Joohyun looked at each other and had the same thought. "JISOO-YAH!!! BREAKFAST!!!"

---

I sat straight off the bed disoriented after the yelling from the first floor. Could they be any louder? And then Chae called from the other side of the door.

"Hungry?"

"Starved."

"Food is ready."

"I'm coming."

I almost dragged myself down the stairs. I don't know if it was because of hunger or hangover from Jennie's voice last night. I can't believe I fell asleep while she was reading. I hope she's not upset about that and my intrusion of her bed. It's still not sinking in that I didn't just dream all that.

I sat beside Lisa who, with her fingers, started combing my hair that I didn't care fixing before I came down. After munching a spoonful, I realized I was trembling from skipping dinner, which I will never regret doing again if I get another chance to talk to Jennie. I could happily die malnourished or