“Jennie” Irene muttered as she witnessed a familiar face. If Jennie was to recover and soak in Irene’s features she would confess that the woman has aged finely.

Her features are just as sharp as they were eight years ago.

Irene carefully paced towards Jennie, blinking a little excessively, possibly questioning if her eyes weren’t playing any tricks.

“Bae, meet Kim Jennie. She is handling my father’s Alzhiemers drug project. You guys should probably get familiarized.” Yoona said oblivious to the rising tension in the air. “Jennie, Irene’s father recently donated $127 million to Alzhiemer’s research to honor her grandmother’s legacy. Why don’t you two self-introduce?”

“I know her.” Irene mumbled, finally piecing a few words together.

“Sorry, what?” Yoona questioned with a frown forming on her delicate eyebrows.

“We were high school frie-”

“We attended the same highschool in South Korea.” Jennie intercepted before Irene could finish the sentence.

You would not even count us as friends any more? Irene was a little hurt but she masked it. However, Yoona finally sensed some tension and decided to excuse herself so the two ladies could catch up.

Minutes passed but the bubble of silence surrounding the two ladies grew thicker, enough that even the pre-game chatter seemed to have died on their ears.

“How have you been?” Irene finally mustered the courage to enquire.

“Good. Recovering.” Jennie responded. Her brevity was not unnoticed and somehow reminded Irene of the night before her senior year began when she questioned Jennie’s move to Korea.

“Do you want to grab some coffee after the game?” Irene said with pleading eyes. Jennie wanted to say no. She had worked too hard to remove herself from all the toxicity but it looked like Irene needed some closure.

“There is a coffee-shop a couple blocks from here that I frequently visit. I can give you fifteen minutes.”

“Works. I’m in.” Irene said a little too eagerly which made Jennie feel guilty for giving the former a cold shoulder.

“Irene, listen. What happened in the past is over? I am trying to move on and build a new life. This project is important to me.”

“I will not hurt your chances of success, again. If anything, I am grateful that a competent leader like you will handle our family’s legacy and millions. It’s actually… a relief.”

Jennie was shocked to hear the words but decided to get a grip on herself. Don’t be stupid, Jennie. Do not cave into your emotions.

“Jennie?” Irene whispered so lightly that the other woman would have missed it amidst the roaring crowd if she wasn’t hyper aware of her surroundings.

“Yeah?” Jennie replied without facing the girl.

“Thank you for agreeing to get coffee with me. I know I don’t deserve it after everything.” Irene meekly added as her hand fidgets with her dress. This time Jennie turns to face the older woman with a sympathetic smile.

“It’s okay. After all, we were friends.”

“Were, right!” Irene said sadly, guilt gnawing her insides as she let herself be dragged by her fiance to watch the basketball game.

Both ladies watched the game in silence much of it was uneventful for Jennie who was looking forward to the game and taking a breather from her work. Her mind constantly wandered to the thoughts of revisiting her past as she dreaded sitting face-to-face with Irene.

Maybe this was the closure she needed so that she could finally move on.

--

The Lakers had won the game but Jennie’s face was devoid of the usual enthusiasm. She took Irene to the coffee shop she frequently visited with Sara as a ritual to prepare for their client meetings. The shop was small yet cozy and their Ghana coffee beans were heavenly. Something about the earthy and rich aroma of the coffee beans relieved Jennie’s anxiety. Brian brought two orders of coffee and carefully placed them at their corner table.

“Ms. Kim I have brought your usual and one white latte for your friend. Would that be all for you ladies?”

“That would be all. Thank you, Brain.” The young man nodded his head and gave the ladies some privacy.

“Please enjoy the coffee. They have the best roast in Manhattan.” Jennie said, hoping to break the silence. The ladies had been quietly sitting at the corner table since entering the cafe. Irene nodded timidly to Jennie’s suggestion and brought the coffee cup to her lips. All the initiation and courage in Irene to request for Jennie’s time seemed to have left her body now that she was finally face-to-face with her old friend.

“It's quite fresh.” Irene said as she was a little surprised at the quality of the coffee. “Most places would serve you leftover roast at this time around.”

“Precisely but not this place. I have had the distinct pleasure to meet the cafe owner and she values her customers like no other.” With that, both girls fell into silence once again until Irene decided to pull out whatever courage that was left within her.

“Jennie, I know this is rough but we are avoiding the elephant in the room with these small talks.” Irene slightly snapped surprising Jennie. “What I did was unforgivable but do you think you could give me a chance to make amends?”

“Irene, I don’t think it-”

“Please, Jennie. After all, we were friends once.”

Jennie deeply inhaled at the statement “You are right. We were friends once...”

Both ladies slumped slightly in their chairs as memories from the past flooded their minds.

-- Junior Year Highschool --

Jennie’s life had quickly turned into cliche, Jennie thought as she observed the situation around her. She was squeezed between Seulgi and Namjoon on one of the long cafeteria tables along with the rest of the basketball and cheerleader team. High school cliché, right?

Across from her she saw Jiwon and Jisoo with their bodies pressed against each other. The basketballer gave a small smile when she saw Jiwon whisper something in his girlfriend’s ear and heard the girlfriend’s soft husky giggles cut through the cloud of rowdy cafeteria noise.

Jennie still had difficulty believing at how they all reconciled and were sharing a table like a big happy family.

Jennie’s conversation with Jisoo at the sauna was pivotal. To say she was startled by what she saw the next morning would be an understatement of the year. She was greeted with the sight of Seulgi, Jisoo, and Jiwon as she left her bedroom entirely dressed to leave for her classes. Jennie inferred that they were waiting for her when they stood up from the couch at the speed of light and she saw Seulgi lightly smack her best friend’s nape.

Jiwon’s face was devoid of any color as he fidgeted with his fingers, a clear sign of nervousness. “I am so-sorry, Jennie-ssi. I don’t know what got into me.”

“Ego?” Seulgi butted.

“Pride?” Jisoo chimed in.

“Immaturity?” The reprimanding duo added together. Jiwon’s face that was pale moments ago had turned beet red listening to the remarks from his girlfriend and bestfriend. He paused and did one thing he felt could possibly redeem him in this situation. The tall and well-built man bowed a full 90 degrees, maybe 110 degrees but who’s counting. For a moment, Jennie was actually concerned that the guy might have snapped his back but the situation was quite overwhelming for the new transfer study to form coherent sentences.

“Jennie, I would sincerely like to apologize for my foolishness. I didn’t mean for the act to get out of hand and the coach to punish you so harshly.” Jiwon struggled with explaining his actions. Guilt was b with every word he spoke; Jennie knew that the guy was sincere.

“It’s okay.” The two words had managed to get Jiwon raise his head in complete astonishment.

“Wait! What. No. It’s not okay. I should probably be punished for what I did. I will talk to Coach Seo and tell him the trut-”

“That won’t be necessary. I have decided to forgive you so let’s bury this matter in the past. I am not interested in vengeance, Jiwon. I just want to be a part of a basketball team where I can call them my family. That’s all I ask.” Jennie said as she brought her hand in front of Jiwon and offered a hand-shake.

Jiwon was stunned but hurriedly responded to the handshake. “I am sorry for being a-”

“An ?” Jisoo scoffed.

“A ?” Seulgi joined.

Jennie couldn’t believe how Jiwon’s face could get any redder than it was but it did. However, she could see her roommate’s proud expression at her best friend’s apology. Their eyes met, and the monolid girl threw her a grateful look. Jennie reciprocated it and silently thanked her for taking the initiative to help end the hatred.

Silence soon engulfed the room as no words were further exchanged and Jiwon was still nervous about the whole ordeal. It amused Jennie to no ends when she saw the well-built guy all embarrassed and at a loss for words.

Her amazement was however short-lived as she heard Jisoo clasp her hands in glee. “I feel like a proud mother watching my kids reconcile.” The room filled with laughter kicking away the air of awkwardness and filling it in with a promise of new friendships.

They decided to leave for their classes to avoid facing punishment for being late. Seulgi and Jiwon were animatedly making plans to watch an NBA game at Jiwon’s house which left Jisoo and Jennie quietly trailing the duo. Jennie was content as she felt that things were finally taking a turn for better. Lost in her thoughts she softly hummed as she enjoyed the breeze until soft fingers wrapped around her arm compelling her to stop and face the intruder beside her.

If ever asked publicly, the basketballer would deny that she enjoyed the new warmth that the older girl spread through her arm and heart. However, her body seemed to have a mind of its own as it sofly sighed, engulfing every ounce of this warmth.

“Thank you.” Jisoo whispered, slightly squeezed her fingers to convey her gratefulness and for a moment (just a moment) Jennie forgot how to speak and how any other life existed on this planet except for the one standing in front of her. A new sense of comfort grew alongside the spreading warmth and Jennie knew just then she should never let a friend like Jisoo slip through her fingers.

“No, Jisoo, thank you. Thank you for not letting my rudeness get to you last night and taking up the role of a peacekeeping force. It undeniably made it easier.” The basketballer saw the cheerleader’s lips slip out a genuine smile and both girls knew no words were needed after that. Jisoo recoiled her fingers from the blonde’s arm to resume walking. In an instant, Jennie missed the warmth; but, she wasn’t upset as something inside her told her that it wouldn’t be her last time enjoying it.

And she was right because here she was sitting with Jisoo across from her, and the whole crew squeezed against each other while enjoying their lunch. St. Lawrence started to make her feel happy, safe and belonged. A feeling she hasn’t tasted for a while.

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