“Why are you being so insistent on this, Jisoo?”

Jennie shuffled her feet as she leaned against the light pole, sneakers scraping against the concrete sidewalk. She shoved a hand into the pocket of her black and white Adidas track pants that hung loose about her legs, the other holding a phone to her ear. She bit her lip nervously as she looked at the small building in front of her, red brick and almost unassuming, save for the white illuminated sign that stretched across it’s front.

Bae Cleaners

“Because you need closure, sweety,” came a soft, nasally voice from the other end. “For you, for her and more importantly for us,” Jisoo said in a mild tone, “You know how much Chaeyoung and Lisa miss her. If she is going to be coming back into their lives, she is going to be a part of ours.”

Jennie frowned, her cat like eyes falling shut as a low, unhappy sigh escaped . “When you say it like that I know you’re right. I still don’t want to do it,” she said in a petulant voice. She didn’t have fond memories of this building. It was the place that had kept her lover away, locked in a small office, lost in paperwork and phone calls. Her last memories of this place were the stairs, her feet pounding down the hardwood steps, carrying her away from Joohyun as tears had streaked down her puffy cheeks.

“What if she doesn’t deserve closure?” 

“Sweety,” Jisoo whispered over the phone, her voice affectionate and sweet, “You don’t have to forgive her but you have to move on.”

“I have moved on,” Jennie said quickly, perhaps too quickly for the girl on the end of the line. “I’m with you and happier than I have ever been. Isn’t that moving on? Besides, aren’t you afraid of her coming back into my life, the woman I dated for four years?”

“Should I be?” Jennie winced at the hurt tone that came across her phone, her mind envisioning the sudden hurt look on her girlfriends face. She mentally cursed herself. 

“No, never,” Jennie said in a contrite tone, her shoulders slumping as a small wave of guilt washed over her. “You know I’m all about you. So much that I worry about anything that could come between us.”

“She won’t,” Jisoo said, her voice suddenly cheerful again. Jennie knew it was a facade and entirely for her benefit but didn’t want to call her out on it. “Because,” Jisoo began with a voice tinged with innuendo, “I do that thing you like that nobody else has ever done before.”

“Jisoo,” Jenny suddenly hissed, her face turning red as her eyes darted about nervously. She knew nobody would have heard but couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. “Why do you always have to say things like that!”

The musical laugh on the other end of the phone made her smile. She knew it was genuine and if there was one thing she could find solace in, it was the sound of her girlfriend laughing. She clung to that sound, hoping it would bolster her resolve. “Well, if you make it through this, I promise to do it tonight, okay?” The husky tone laced with naughty promises only made Jennie’s blush deepen.

“You’re going to kill me,” she groaned, “don’t get me all worked up right now.” Jisoo’s soft chuckle let her know the teasing would only continue. “Okay, I am going to get this done. I’m going to go in there right now and confront her.” There was finality in her voice, a determination in it’s tone that she didn’t feel at her core. 

“That’s the confident, badass girl I came to love,” Jisoo said affectionately. “Don’t linger too long before you go talk to her or you might wind up missing her.”

“As if,” Jennie said with a scoff. “She works at least 16 hours a day. She won’t be out of there till late tonight so I’ll just a few more minutes to,” her words trailed off as the side door of the building creaked, swinging open slowly. Joohyun slipped out, dressed in black slacks and a white, button down blouse, hair drawn back into a ponytail. Jennie blinked in confusion, head cocking to the side as she said, “I have to go, apparently. I’ll call you back after I’ve had it out with her.”

“Okay, hun,” Jisoo said quickly, “You can do this!” And with a click, the line was dead. Jennie drew in a long, steadying breath as she slid her phone into the pocket of her track pants. Pushing herself off from the lightpost, she took a few tentative steps towards Joohyun, her mind hesitant despite her bluster of confidence she had displayed to Jisoo just moments ago. The sight of the woman still caused her to chest to tighten, breathless, a catch in , still affected by the woman’s beauty despite their sad history.

She forced herself to move, feet struggling to move across the sidewalk, slowly closing the distance between them. She watched as Joohyun turned, the girl jumping where she stood in surprise. The woman’s face was a mask of bewilderment, confusing playing across those supple features, eyes darting left and right as though looking for an escape route. It was a happy sight to Jennie. She wanted Joohyun on edge instead of the cool, always confident woman she had once been in love with.

“Once been in love with, not anymore,” she thought forcefully, trying to drive the point home and reminder herself.

“Jennie?” Joohyun said slowly before taking a slight step back, lips quivering as she said hesitantly, “What are you doing here?”

“I want to talk to you,” Jennie said with as much calm as she could muster, her entire body seeming to want to scream instead. “Heading out for dinner before going back to work and ignoring everyone?” She winced at the bitterness that came out in her voice. She hadn’t intended for her tone to be so angry and hards, but those unresolved emotions lingered.

“Something like that,” Joohyun said as her lips drew into a tight line, eyes holding a countenance of worry. Jennie saw Joohyun draw herself to stand as straight as possible, squaring her shoulders as the moment of surprise finally passed. “I suppose we’re going to have that conversation we never got to have?”

Jennie could see the way Joohyun’s eyes dropped, the slight decline of her head that said the woman was resigned. “If you have time?” There it was again, she thought, the bitterness and harsh tone of voice that seemed to make Joohyun wince every time she spoke.

Joohyun turned slightly, extending a finger to point towards the doorway that lead to the stairs, her office just one flight up. “Do you want to back into my office and talk there?” 

Jennie looked at the doorway, her lips unconsciously turning downwards in a slight frown. Her eyes lingered a moment on the “employees only” sign plastered across it before shaking her head. “No, I have no intention of going in there again. I don’t think I have a need to.” Last thing she wanted to do was have this conversation on Joohyun’s home turf.

“That’s fair,” Joohyun replied, her voice laced with understanding.

“There’s a park not far from here. We could go there,” Jennie said as she swung her arm wide, pointing down the street. The sudden loss of color on Joohyun’s face, suddenly seeming to reel at the suggestion as she shook her head and held up her hands in dissuasion caught Jennie off guard. 

“Not the park,” Joohyun said a bit too quickly. “How about we just go to the convenience store,” she countered, her eyes glancing the opposite direction. “They have seating out front and we could just have our,” she swallowed heavily, “conversation there.”

“The park would be better in case I start yelling,” Jennie said, eyes narrowing as she cross her arms across her chest. “I’m here to have it out with you,” she said simply.

“I’m not going to yell,” Joohyun said with a sigh, head hanging forward, “but if you want to yell at me, I would deserve it.”

“So you admit you deserve it?”

“Let’s not do this in front of my office and employees,” Joohyun said quickly, her eyes glancing over her shoulder at the large glass windows that stretched out across the lower level of the building. They could see several employees behind the counter, staring out at her and Jennie. She knew they couldn’t hear what was being said but worried they could extrapolate just enough from watching.

Jennie followed the line of Joohyun’s gaze and let her arms drop, voice softening as she apologize, “Sorry, you’re right. As angry as I am, it’s inconsiderate of me to cause problems at your workplace. I at least owe you that much of a courtesy.” Without waiting, Jennie heel and started down the sidewalk towards the corner where the convenience store waited. 

“You can buy me a drink,” she said over her shoulder.

She could hear Joohyun fall in behind her, the hard clack of low heels on cement ringing in her ears. “Don’t look back at her,” Jennie thought. “Let her know you’re in control.” Her long strides carried her down the sidewalk, the click clack speeding up as Joohyun hurried to keep pace. She knew she should feel bad over acting so petty but couldn’t summon up any guilt. Even after all these months she was still angry. Angry at how things ended and angry at how she still held lingering feelings for the woman.

As they neared the small convenience store, Joohyun quickly jogged up beside Jennie, her cheeks puffing as she glanced at the girl from the corner of her eye. “What do you want to drink,” she asked almost breathlessly.

Once they reached the store, Jennie slowed her pace, drawing up beside a small wooden table with four white plastic chairs around it. Grabbing a chair by it’s low back, she pulled it out, not bothering to look at Joohyun as she simply said, “A can of green tea would be fine.” She settled down, only glancing over to watch Joohyun disappear through the automatic door of the small store. She frowned, catching herself watching the woman’s backside and hips sway side to side as she walked.

“You can do this,” Jennie told herself as she tugged at the hem of her t-shirt, tan legs stretching out before her, crossed at the ankles. “You’re doing this for Rosie and Lisa,” she repeated to herself, the words a mantra to bolster her nerve.

“They had your favorite,” Joohyun said cooly as she stepped out of the store, striding over to the table and placing a can of green tea, the tin can so cold she could see tiny wisps of condensation winding up and away from the can’s surface. With a grunt, she reached out and popped the tab, the can making a soft hissing noise. Looking up, she watched as Joohyun settled down across the table from her, the woman’s face unreadable.

“Thank you,” Jennie said slowly, unsure where to start. She took the can in hand, bringing it to her lips for a quick sip, the slightly bitter liquid pouring across her tongue. Her eyes never left Joohyun, waiting and watching, wondering what was going inside the woman’s head. She had always thought she understood Joohyun, that she knew what made the woman tick, but was always found herself caught off guard by the sudden changes in moods or demeanor she displayed.

Placing her drink down on the table, Jennie leaned forward, jaws tight as she simply said, “I’m still angry at you.” She could see the sudden downcast of Joohyun’s eyes, the slight down curve of the woman’s lips. 

“You have every right to be,” Joohyun said softly as she drew her eyes up, letting them meet Jennie’s, a visible shiver passing across her shoulders. Jennie could see the sorrow in those brown eyes. “I know I neglected us,” Joohyun said as she set her hands on the table, clasped tightly, “I’m sorry for how I acted that day you stormed into my office. I should have been more understanding.”

“Damn right you should have been,” Jennie said as she began to tap on the can of green tea, the hard clack of her fingernails ringing from within. “You always cancelled our plans, you began to stop replying to my texts,” her voice began to raise as she spoke, ire in her eyes, “Do you have any idea how abandoned I felt? How hurt I was?”

“I didn’t at the time,” Joohyun said as she drew back in her seat, the vehemence in Jennie’s voice pressing against her, “but I regret how I treated you. I regret not taking the time for you, making sure you were cared for.”

“You should feel more than regret,” Jennie snapped at her before tearing her gaze away, eyes clenching shut as she fought to keep from shouting. She knew it wouldn’t do any good to make a scene but part of her wanted it. She almost felt like she needed to scream and carry on and flush away the last of these feelings that lingered for Joohyun.

“I feel regret now,” Joohyun said as she reached up to rub her eyes with the palms of her hands, “but I felt pain after you left. I was angry with myself.”

“I was angry with you too,” Jennie spat. “I’m still angry with you right now. I’m angry that I we need to have this conversation.” She watched as Joohyun recoiled, the woman’s cool demeanor slipping away. She hated that look of indifference that would settle on the woman’s face, the calm that hid away the boisterous and wild woman beneath. The side she only showed to friends, the side she had missed.

“Maybe we should have gone somewhere more private afterall,” Joohyun said as she looked around, watching people walking in and out of the small store, tidbits of their conversation catching attention and odd looks. “Did you want to move so you can yell at me all you want?”

Sighing heavily, Jenny reached up to rub her brow, her voice pained as she spoke, “I don’t want to yell at you. I don’t even want to be here but I have to for my friends. Do you know that Rosie cried more than I did after the breakup? She misses you and Seulgi so much that I almost felt guilty for ending things with you.”

“I regret that too,” Joohyun said, eyes falling downcast to start at her own hands, “I miss her and Lisa. They were my favorite pair of dorks in the whole world.”

“Pair of dorks,” Jennie said, cracking a smile despite the mood hanging over the table. “Okay,” she said as she extending her hands out before her, palms extending out in a “slow down” kind of motion. “I’m not going to yell at you but we need to work out how this is going to work. They want to be friends with you again and that means you’ll be in mine and Jisoo’s life.”

Joohyun looked up, her eyes soft and liquid, “Jisoo,” was all she said. 

“Right, my new girlfriend,” Jennie said quickly, pointing a finger at Joohyun, voice firm, “and someone I love very much. So do you think you can accept seeing her hanging on me?” Part of her wanted to hear Joohyun say she couldn’t. She wanted to watch the woman’s twist up in jealousy. She wanted to know that Joohyun still wanted her even if she had no intention of leaving Jisoo.

“I will have to accept it,” Joohyun said after a long pause, a firm resolve forming around her features. “You’ve moved on and I lost my chance to get you back,” she said, the sadness in her voice seeming to send a wave of satisfaction through Jennie.

“Damn right you did,” Jennie said before catching herself, drawing in a deep breath. “So, here is what I propose,” she said as Joohyun nodded slowly, the woman leaning forward to listen, obviously intent on Jennie’s words, “we aren’t going to be friends but we are going to be friendly. I won’t snap at you and you won’t say anything uncomfortable.”

Joohyun bit her lip, brows furrowing as she let Jennie’s words sink in. “It would be uncomfortable for us. Don’t you think Rosie and Lisa will feel it?”

“It’ll get better as time passes,” Jennie said with a sigh before reaching out to slip her fingers around the can of tea, spinning it in her grasp. “They’re my best friends in the world and I know that, beside Seulgi, they meant the world to you. Do they still?”

“Oh, definitely,” Joohyun blurted out as she quickly nodded her head. “I think about them every day!”

“Every day, huh,” Jennie said slowly, fighting back asking if Joohyun thought about her as often. She could see the unsaid question reflected in the woman’s eyes, the way she suddenly shrunk in on herself again. She didn’t know the answer and was certain she didn’t want to know.

Joohyun swallowed air, face screwed up as she asked, “How do I make this up to them?”

“Just be there,” Jennie said, regulating her voice. She watched as Joohyun sunk into thought, chewing on her soft, pretty pink lips. “Don’t stare at her lips,” Jennie admonished herself internally and tore her gaze away. “You’re with Jisoo know, don’t let yourself get distracted.”

“I’ll call Rosie tonight and talk to her,” Joohyun said finally, the woman’s lips drawing into a smile. 

Jennie nodded slowly before pulling her feet up flat, pressing a hand on the table for balance and pushing herself to stand. She placed her hands on her hips, staring down at Joohyun, lips drawn into a frown before speaking, “You’re not off the hook, though,” she said quickly. “I’m still angry with you and don’t think that is going to change any time soon.” Joohyun only nodded and shifted in her seat.

“I may still yell at you down the road,” She warned. She started down at Joohyun a long moment before grunting and saying, “I’m going to go ahead first. Make sure you give Rosie a call.” She didn’t wait for a response but simply heel and strode away. As her steps carried her down the street, she felt herself shrink, that self confidence she had summoned up for the confrontation slowly begin to slip away. Taking a deep breath, she refused the look over her shoulder. 

As she turned the corner, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, flicking the screen to life with a finger and punching her lockscreen code. Going into her contacts, she smiled at the top entry and hit the phone icon next to it. As it rang, she held it up to her cheek.

“Hellooooooooo, sweetheart,” came Jisoo’s exuberant voice through the receiver, the sound causing Jennie’s lips to curl into a wide grin, her steps suddenly feeling lighter. “So, are you able to talk or is your throat too sore from yelling?”

“No yelling,” Jennie said, almost laughing at the surprised gasp her girlfriend gave from the other end of the line. “I figured it wouldn’t do any of us good. I did tell her off, though.” She wondered if she had been too lenient on Joohyun, lips pursed, surprised at how calm she had managed to stay.

“Well, I’m proud of you, wifey,” Jisoo said in a happy voice. Jennie could picture that smile on her girlfriends face, the soft look in her pretty eyes. 

“Wifey? When did you decide to start calling me that,” Jennie asked with a laugh. “I’ve always just been sweety.”

“Since now,” Jisoo said sweetly, her voice full of confidence as she spoke, “Now that you’re getting closure, you can be my wife now.” Jennie knew Jisoo was full of bluster, being soft and sweet to lighten the mood. It was one of the things she liked so much about the woman. “We’d have to move to another country to really get married though. What are the laws about that in New Zealand?”

Jennie gave a soft laugh, shaking her head as she walked and talked, “It’s legal but not recognized here. Anyway, I’m on my way to your place. I need some cuddles.”

“Cuddles on order,” Jisoo declared in a loud voice before giggling. “See you soon, wifey.” As the line clicked and went silent, Jennie heaved a sigh and shoved her phone back in her pocket, her shoulders feeling a little lighter. She knew that full closure would take time and that fully giving herself to someone else was tough, but she wanted to do it for Jisoo. She just wished she could shake the memory of Joohyun’s soft lips against her own, fingers teasing her skin, from her mind every time she saw the woman.

***

Seungwan leaned over her digital piano, headphones covering her ears as she gingerly plunked out random notes. Forming her lips upwards, she blew out a big puff of air, her dark hair billowing up and away from her forehead. Lyrics were tumbling around in her head, the shape of words mingling with the image of Joohyun and Jennie. 

The picture of them at the club, standing facing each other, still ingrained in her memory. She had wanted to write a song about love, something she could play for them when they finally realized their break up was a mistake. When they finally clicked. Instead of something full of cheer and happiness, only lyrics of loss found their way from her head and onto paper. “This isn’t working,” she said to the empty room as she reached up and pulled off her headphones, placing them on the hooked stand beside the keyboard.

She rubbed her temples with index fingers, scrunching her eyes shut. “I can’t let her get to me,” she thought before pushing her seat back and standing. Arms extending over her head, she stretched and yawned, eyes turning towards the window of her bedroom. It was growing dark outside, the sun having sunk below the horizon, the last vestiges of it’s light starting to fade as dusk was turning to night.

A knock on her door made her jump, her entire body spinning as she gasped and grabbed her chest. Laughing at herself, she walked across the small room and cracked the door open, peeking through the tiny slit. 

“Seungwannie,” Sooyoung said before placing a hand, fingers splaying across the center of the door, and giving it a push. Seungwan stepped back, the wood door creaking open as Sooyoung stared at her with a level gaze. “Your phone has been ringing off the hook the past five minutes,” the younger girl said with exasperation. “Here,” Sooyoung said as she held up her other hand, the white phone clutched in her fingers.

“Oh,” Seungwan said quickly reached out and grabbed it, her face a mask of contrition as she apologize profusely, “I’m so sorry, I had on my headphones and I couldn’t hear it. I didn’t mean to leave it in the living room but you know how forgetful I am. I didn’t mean to cause you any trouble with it or,” her words were cut off as Sooyoung reached up to stop her lips with a finger, the girl’s lips quirking into a smirk.

“Oh, shush. It’s not like you kicked a puppy.” With a roll of her eyes, Sooyoung drew her finger away and pressed it against her own lips. “Indirect kiss,” she cried playfully before backing away, seeming to enjoy the sudden blush that overtook Seungwan’s lips. With a final cackle, the girl turned and headed down the hallway.

Seungwan sighed, used to the constant teasing she received from her roommate and best friend. “One of the days I’m going to just up and kiss her and see how she likes it,” Seungwan muttered as she brought up her phone to look at the notification screen. “14 missed calls. Someone really wanted to get a hold of me.”

Looking at the call log, her face blanched as she quickly hit the phone button, dialing back the number. Two rings later, a man’s voice on the other end said with a soft laugh, “You finally deign to call me back, Seungwan.”

“CEO You, I’m so sorry! I was busy writing music and I never heard my phone. I’m so sorry, I wasn’t ignoring you or anything,” she said in a jumble, words pouring out of so fast to almost be intelligible. 

“Slow down, Seungwan,” the man said, his voice soft and kind, “No need to get upset or anything. I do have to say that I’m glad you’re writing music since we’ve talked about a new album in the next few months.”

“Right, which is why I’m being so diligent,” She said, her voice suddenly full of pride. She closed the door to her room and shuffled across the hard wood floor to her bed, plopping down onto it as she continued talking, “I really want this album to be my best.”

“Every album you release is always fantastic,” her company’s CEO said warmly, “but I think we might want to release your latest song as a single. Quickly if possible.”

“My latest song,” she said with a frown, her eyes flashing in confusion as she held out her phone, looking at it as though her boss could see her face. Bringing it back to her cheeks, she said, “I don’t think I sent you any songs to review just yet.”

“The new one you played at that club a few nights ago. Don’t tell me you aren’t aware of what’s going on,” he said, surprise in his voice. Seungwan’s silence telling him she wasn’t. “Apparently not. Someone recorded you playing and uploaded the fancam on SNS and Youtube. The raw emotion in your voice really resonated with people. Seungwan, you went viral.”

She gasped and sat up on her bed, ramrod straight, a sudden heaviness sinking over her. She felt tighten, her voice thin as she asked, “Was it the one that starts In just one moment, your eyes dig into me?”

“That’s the one,” he said, his voice almost jubilant. “I want to get you in to the recording studio as soon as possible so we can cut the song. I’ve been getting calls from radio stations wanting to get their hands on the song for airplay and even music shows calling to see if you are going to promote this song.”  Her shoulders began to shake.

“This is the big chance we’ve been waiting for,” he said. “Look at your schedule and give the studio a call and get in there, Seungwan. Listen, I have to go now but I’m excited. Fighting!” With a click, he was gone leaving her alone in the deafening silence of the room.

With jittery fingers, she brought up Youtube and punched Wendy and Kingdome Come into the search field. She paused, taking a deep breath and steadying herself before flicking the enter button. The top result was a grainy thumbnail of her behind the black, glossy piano, tight black dress hugging her slender body. Next to it, the view count in small grey letters.

873K views

Dropping the phone onto the bed beside her, she leaned forward and buried her face in her hands as she silently cursed numbers.
 

Authors Notes: All the major players in the story have entered. This was actually a very easy chapter to write, compared to the next one. Would you believe I have 7 discarded rought drafts of chapter 8? It may take as many rewrites to get it just how I want it so be patient...