Jennie drove us home and boy, did she look so hot maneuvering my car's steering wheel. The way she caressed the leather felt like she has long been riding the car that it was so used to her touch. I think it's both our lucky day today, me and my car- I call him Beagle.

Unlike me, Jennie wasn't distracted and so we got home faster than if I drove. And so, I didn't have much time to gather the courage to ask her how my head ended up on her lap and if I drooled on her or did something regrettable.

And also, I didn't have much time to contemplate on why Seulgi texted. She never texted, she always called if she needed something. I thought either it wasn't urgent or that she knew about me being with Jennie at the library.

When we entered the house, what welcomed us wasn't anything close to what I expected. It wasn't even close to how our apartment kitchen used to look like. I held out my arm against Jennie to bar her from hastily stepping in. There was broken glass everywhere, utensils and fruits on the floor, knocked down bottles, and the place reeked of alcohol, lemon and lime.

The TV and laptop were visible from my line of sight, and so this wasn't a case of burglary. But neither is this the kind of situation Seulgi would just text about.

"Eonnie!" I called out since no one was on the first floor. I knew Lisa had an early gig and Chae had afternoon classes.

"Up here!" Seulgi yelled and it sounded coming from the washroom.

"Are you okay? What happened??" I yelled back.

"Yeah! Careful with the floor, don't remove your shoes!"

I haven't taken off my combat shoes but Jennie already removed her white sneakers, and I sensed that she was deciding whether to wear them again or just cautiously traipse her way up.

"Jennie, let me just carry you to the stairs." It was an impulsive thing I said and there was absolutely nothing behind it but my mere concern for her safety.

Before she could even understand what I said, I bent slightly down in front of her, wrapped my arms tightly around her hips and lifted her up. I didn't calculate this situation properly, now she was holding onto my shoulders for balance, I was sort of hugging her and her chest repeatedly touched my cheek with every step I took. Can we just pretend that there's also broken glass on the stairs?? Can we, just this once?

I slowly lowered her onto the first step of the stairs and as I did, her entire torso brushed against my face. Whoever created this mess in the house is my hero and I will totally support her future episodes, even help her.

"You didn't have to, but thank you."

I just smiled and prevented my lips from letting out words in the fear of saying something inappropriate, because I know my brain won't miss this opportunity to cause some more humiliation.

When we reached the washroom, we saw that Seulgi was putting some ointment on the left corner of her lips. Jennie immediately checked if it was more than a simple cut.

"Did someone punch you?"

"No, I got hit by one of the bottles."

"Eonnie, what happened downstairs? Where are the others?"

"Lisa, work. Chae, school. Joohyun, I don't know."

"Is Joohyun-eonnie alright?"

"She's ok-" Seulgi shut the medicine cabinet and stepped out of the washroom. "- I honestly don't know."

"You said you wanted to talk to me. Did the two of you fight?" I asked the questions while Jennie preoccupied herself with checking our leader's face. I almost forgot I had a throbbing headache after that few seconds of unintentional hugging, now the pain is creeping back in.

"No, not really. But I think I said something that really pissed her off. And then of course Chae had to pour gas on the fire right before she left for school."

"But why did you want to talk to me?"

"I was going to ask if she told you anything when you were with her at the club last night."

"Joohyun went to work last night?" Jennie asked seemingly focused on something else but the ex-lovers' violent argument.

"Yeah, the club manager called her before midnight and she took Jisoo with her. They just came back this morning." Seulgi replied to her but Jennie appeared more confused than a few seconds ago. "Anyway, did she tell you anything, Jisoo-yah?"

"Honestly eonnie, she did not talk much and the club's music was blasting the entire night because of the party. We didn't even have a minute to have a normal conversation." Which was the truth, I recall every word we said was answered by a Huh?! Or a What?? Sign language actually worked better.

"She's a bartender too?" Jennie asked Seulgi even if I was just inches away from her and she could have just asked me. She seemed a little fixated with everything else except the actual topic of discussion.

"The manager allowed her to help out at the bar, by Joohyun's request." Seulgi absentmindedly answered before returning to me. "I thought she might have told you something."

"But eonnie, even before we left the apartment, she looked, hmmm... not okay."

"What do you mean?"

"It was her birthday but she seemed sad. I just thought maybe..."

"... because it was supposed to be our anniversary too."

"Yeah, that could be one."

"One? Why, there's something else?"

I glanced at Jennie to see if she might be thinking the same so she could support me or give me some affirmation. But when I looked at her, she was already staring at me like she wanted to keep me in her pocket. She worriedly studied my head as if I required careful stitching even if I didn't need one. Boy, it felt so warm inside having her full attention, more so being looked at the way she did. It took an additional ounce of bravery to look away; but I decided that I must bef