Chapter 2: Everyone with a ( little) secret

Jennie groaned annoyingly, she pulled up a blanket to cover her ears and tried to go back to sleep, as she was drifting back to her sleep, her phone rang again, huddling up under a blanket wouldn’t help any longer because it couldn’t get rid of the ringing of her phone. Frustrated, Jennie involuntarily gave up, her hand was rummaging aimlessly from bed to a night stand reaching for a source of the sound, once she got hold of her device, she looked up at a caller ID before answering it, “Yeah?”, short and annoyed as it might sound, a caller knew right away that Jennie was aggravated

But Irene didn’t care, she shouted through her phone, “Where the hell are you Kim Jennie!?”, she sounded equally aggravated as a recipient.

“Why?” Jennie lazily asked back, Irene clicked a roof of with her tongue, out of frustration, she held herself back.

“Seriously Jennie, you weren’t that drunk to forget our plan right?” Irene reminded.

Jennie inwardly cursed, she completely and truly forgot about it, “I’m sorry” Jennie apologized, she had a quick glance at a digital clock on a night stand and alerted, “I’ll be quick and get ready soon” she added.

“Don’t you dare Jennie, I know you just woke up upon my calls, and I don’t believe in your “soon”, because it means forever”, Irene said knowingly, “I’m already in front of your apartment, you’d better tell a security guard to let me in now, I’ll be waiting inside your apartment”, she added.

Upon hearing so, Jennie was wide awake, how she could let Irene in her apartment when she wasn’t there now, her brain started working on excuses to make. “I’m not at my apartment now” Jennie started with a truth.

“What? Where are you? What happened? Irene asked a series of questions, Jennie expected them though.

“Long story short, I gave the driver a wrong address, apparently he sent me off at my parents’ house” Jennie told a half lie and a half truth. It was true that she gave the hired driver a wrong location, she was supposed to give him her apartment address but she was thinking of this place when she was drunk so she gave him an address of their place instead, so she was dropped here

“Is that so?” Irene asked, she wasn’t completely convinced

Jennie would be underestimating Irene’s smartness if she thought she could make her believe right away, and she knew Irene better , so Jennie came up with something to distract her, “ Don’t you probably think that I ended up having a one night stand with a driver, do you?” Jennie made a joke to cover it up. Successfully, it earned a chuckle from Irene

“That what I was curious” Irene played along, she wasn’t serious though

“Are you kidding me?” Jennie mocked

“Nah, I know you wouldn’t and will never” Irene said, she knew Jennie was not into boys.

"Well, he was hot though” Jennie commented amusingly, but she didn’t lie when she said he was hot, It seemed to them that every time they ordered this extra luxury service, the company selectively provided them good-looking and well-manners guys to drive for their expensive cars back safe and sound .

“Whatever, enough for that” Irene cut Jennie off, “Now, get your off, go and get ready, meet me at the studio at 1 p,m” Irene instructed Jennie, as well as rescheduling their plan.

“Ok, I will” Jennie was grateful that Irene moved on from their topic, “Thank you and again I’m sorry” she added sincerely.

“Never mind, Yeri shall be happy that I’ll pick her up for brunch now” Irene changed a whole plan at an instance and their original plan for brunch was changed as well, “ Kim Jennie, you’re replaced!” Irene shot a light-hearted joke, it made Jennie laugh though.

“Alright, see you shortly” Jennie told

“See you” Irene said and hung up

Phew Jennie heaved a long relieved sigh, once again she could get away with it, or at least that was how she managed not to get caught for years. She didn’t want to hide it from her friends, but they couldn’t afford to let anyone else know about this, for secret shall not be known more than two, the more people knew about it, the harder it could be kept as a secret.

Jennie’s attention was back on her phone again when she received a new message notification from Another Kim, Jennie smiled sadly at it, this was one of the saddest facts she had to bear with, but she couldn’t blame anyone, when it was a path they chose, a choice they made to hide this relationship and be very cautious about everything they did, even a name on her phone, she couldn’t just simply add her contact as Kim Jisoo.

[ Another Kim , 10:12 ] : I figure you might wake up by now, I had to get some work done on my computer at my apartment and send to a president, I’m sorry I couldn’t wait till you wake up to tell you. I made some breakfast for you, heat it up, please don’t skip a meal… Love, Your J.

Jennie finished reading a long message then the corner of her lips curved up into a small smile, every little thing Jisoo did for her, Jennie appreciated them all, but she rarely told her, Jennie had never thanked Jisoo enough for what the older woman had done for her so far. And it wasn’t like that they could express or show in public though, not even in front of their parents, worse when they had to act estranged, and the only time they could be their true self was when they were alone at their place, their own world, and their safest place.

Jennie sat for a moment to travel down the memory lanes of those old days. It dated back 4 years ago when they realized their feelings for each other and started to hide it from everyone, included their parents. Jennie and Jisoo patiently waited be free from their parents’ sight, and the right moment came as they started a university life, everything was all planned out when Jennie told her father that she wanted to live on her own at her own space, at first her father didn’t agree, but Jennnie didn’t give up, she was persistent and proved that she was independent, he then realized that his daughter was growing up, he then understood that she might need a place of her own, so he bought an apartment complex for her, somewhere close to her university, while Jisoo was still living at her parent’s which was a bit far from university. Later on, on Jisoo ‘s birthday, he decided to give his step-daughter a birthday gift which was a condominium unit located at the city center, almost at close as Jennie’s but somewhere a bit cheaper than Jennie’s, for he didn’t want his daughter to think that he loved Jisoo as much as her.

But much to their convenience, things weren’t easy as they might seem, neither Jennie nor Jisoo could just show up and stay together at one of their places when they parents ordered to send their maids to look after their places and did cleaning every week. Although, how much they wanted to stay together, Jisoo and Jennie wouldn’t risk it, they couldn’t leave any track, let alone clothes or personal stuff which would only make it more suspicious if their maids found out or worse if it reached their parents, then it would be a disaster and the ending of everything.

As if it wasn’t complicated enough, added more mess to it, was a fact that Jennie never told anyone that Jisoo was her step-sister. Jennie wasn’t proud to tell her friends back at times about her father’s re-marriage with another daughter, she thought it was ashamed, beside it was unnecessary for her friends to know when Jisoo and her were studying at two different high schools, although things had changed and she didn’t hate Jisoo anymore after time, but Jennie tended to keep thing personal as she grew up and being more cautious for that they had to hide.

And just like a God’s prank, as they went to the same university, one thing let to another, and it took one incident during their fresh year to twist a whole truth. It was one afternoon where Jennie and Jisoo were alone at a music practice room, playing piano, they didn’t know what got into them at times, seemingly lost in a moment, they were about to kiss, but unexpectedly someone was entering the room, and Jennie was quick to notice, nervously she acted out of her unsettled mind and panic, and it was a swift second when she chose to slap Jisoo’s face, and the rest of history was reinvented by rumors after rumors, unwillingly, they were understood as enemies and rivals, and they just let it be.

Last but not least, Jennie couldn’t have her friends to run into Jisoo at her place as well when they visited her, so to cut all hassles, while they could still managed to be with each other sometimes, Jennie and Jisoo got themselves a place where they could feel safe and carefree, they didn’t see any reason why they wouldn’t do so when money wasn’t their issue.

Snapped out of her trance, Jennie got out of her bed when she realized she spent too much time on reminiscing of their bittersweet memories which got them where they were now, she glanced at the time ,she should get ready otherwise Irene wouldn’t spare her life this time.

Jennie walked toward the bathroom, their personal stuff were arranged separately for their different personal preference, she looked at the mirror expecting an ugly make-up trace or dirty mascara stain around her eyes, but none of those appeared, Jennie could only find her bare clean face, it wasn’t a surprised but it was enough to make her smile, it was one of those millions thing that made this Kim Jennie fall for Kim Jisoo without her knowing.

“Thank you” Jennie said to no one but herself in a mirror.

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A satisfied grin appeared on her face after Jisoo finished a double proof on her work, clicked on save button, she was done with an analysis report her father, or the President asked her to prepare and send for his review before he came back Korea. Attached a file, she hit on a send button featured in email options, and her task was completed.

Leaning her back on a backrest on a chair in her study room, Jisoo stretched her hands out to get rid of her tiredness, it had been couple hours since she returned to her apartment and worked away on her computer, although she wanted to stay back at their place to be with Jennie a bit longer, Jisoo had a responsibility to take, and it was something she was proud of, the President was confident in her work and she wouldn’t disappoint him, the least she could do to feel better about herself.

Just then a doorbell sound forced Jisoo to move her feet, she walked toward the door and had a glance at an intercom screen, funny face staring back at the video, Jisoo shook her head at how silly her friend could be.

“Welcome” Jisoo opened the door for her guests, she was expecting them.

Lisa, Chaeyoung and Wendy lined up, walking inside her place while Jisoo was holding the door for them, each of them was carrying bags of what seemingly food and soft drinks, Jisoo closed the door behind them when the last person came in.

Jisoo and her friends sometimes hung out at her place especially when they had project going on, among four of them, Chaeyoung was the one whose major was not involved in business but diplomacy, she somehow tagged along and spent time with them. Just like today.

“What do you plan to cook?” Jisoo asked Lisa

“Thai food, of course” Lisa said

“I love Thai food!” Chaeyoung clapped happily, Wendy adored a sight, Chaeyoung didn’t only love Thai food, she loved everything edible as food and she could literally ate everything.

“Awesome” Jisoo said, “I’ll help”

“Me too”, Chaeyoung walked toward a kitchen counter in island shape design, and stood beside Lisa who was preparing things.

“What’s left for me to do?” Wendy asked as she looked around and didn’t know what to do

“You can go ahead, and finish the project for us” Lisa told, a playful grin was written on her face

Wendy rolled her eyes, “Yah, that’s not fair” she groaned

“I know you are a genius” Lisa persuaded

“Thanks but no” Wendy protested.

“How about we make some punch?” Jisoo asked Wendy as she was checking what they bought, and figured they could make some kind of fancy soft drink.

“That sounds fun”, Wendy agreed and walked toward Jisoo. With that said, they started preparing their own lunch.

After they finished their lunch, three of them assigned to a project started brainstorming to work on their project, discussing seriously for the best of work, while Chaeyoung who lazed around a couch, flicking through TV channels, glanced at them sometimes, she founded them truly passionate about what they were doing, but among them, one person was still the best of all. Chaeyoung, sometimes walked to them and offered snack, but when she found the topics they were working on just too much for her to take, she walked back to the couched and enjoyed by herself.

They were working diligently and didn’t realize how fast time gone by until they could finish the work, and it was already 4 pm in the evening.

While Lisa was collecting her iPad, charger and stuff, she stared at Jisoo and decided to ask “Do you have any plan for this evening?” she asked hopefully, while getting ready to leave.

“Yeah I do” Jisoo turned to Lisa and replied

“Ah” Lisa said, disappointed, Jisoo noticed it, then she asked “Why?”

“It’s okay, I was just wondering if you would want to see a movie with me, but I guess we can do it another time” Lisa put an iPad into its pouch.

“Yeah, let’s go another time” Jisoo promised

“What are you guys planning to do?” Chaeyoung who just walked by to fetch her bag, was curious.

“Going to a movie theater” Jisoo answered, Chaeyoung’s eyes sparked

“Let’s do it” Chaeyoung suggested cheerfully

Lisa inwardly sighed, Chaeyoung always wanted to do everything together with them and left Lisa no time alone with Jisoo lately. She was grumpy at her thought and talked to Chaeyoung, “ Jisoo is not free, maybe next time”

“What’s a shame” Chaeyoung pouted , Jisoo exchanged her look between Lisa and Chaeyoung then she had an idea

“Why don’t you guys go to watch first and we can go together next time?” Jisoo wanted Lisa to go with Chaeyoung.

“I’m not going with Chaeyoung alone” Lisa said stubbornly

“Why?” Chaeyoung was slightly hurt, she asked offensively

“Because the last time I went with you because Jisoo cancelled on me, you cried through a whole story, it was so embarrassing” Lisa reasoned

Upon hearing a reason, Jisoo and Wendy tried their best to suppress their giggles, while Chaeyoung pouted harder

“It wasn’t my fault, you picked a very sad movie” Chaeyoung defended

“Oh, God, that was a rom-com movie” Lisa argued, Chaeyoung surrendered to the truth, she couldn’t talk back.

“Fine, don’t go with me then” Chaeyoung sulked, she got her bag and walked toward the door,

Jisoo shook her head, there wasn’t a day going by without these two bickering or having fight over little things. Chaeyoung was a sensitive and emotional type while Lisa was total blunt and oblivious, their different personalities clashed now and then, fortunately they often made up in a short time, and most of the time it was Lisa who gave in.

After her friends left, Jisoo plopped down on a couch tiredly, the whole place was engulfed in silence and peace was returned to her again, although she loved the silence because it allowed her to be mindful, but sometimes the silence was also too much when she was lonely and missed someone’s presence. Jisoo reached for her phone, hoping to see any message or reply from a person she was thinking of now, but to her disappointment, she received nothing from her, not even a reply from her this morning message.

As Jisoo was about to put her phone away, new message notification sound alerted her, her hope was restored, she quickly checked on it, but again she was greeted by another disappointment, it wasn’t from a person she expected, but her group, she checked it somehow. Jisoo frowned when she saw few long messages sent by Lisa to their group chat, and a name appeared on its content was enough to make Jisoo widen her eyes in shock.

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At a police station, Jennie, Irene and Yeri were boringly sitting in front of a police officer who was diligently typing on his computer, and next to them there was a man with his bleeding nose and cracked lips and swelling mouth mumbling something while holding his injured face, he scarily lowered his head every time Irene sent him a dread glare.

“You’ll need to pay the fine ladies” A police officer concluded at the end of his report.

“Why do we have to do so, he intended to harass my friend” Irene aggressively rebuked, she had no problem paying but it wasn’t fair, Yeri didn’t deserve what he was trying to do.

“I didn’t” He tried to defend himself and it only provoked Irene

“How dare you”, Irene clenched her jaws, she was getting up from her seat, but Jennie held her back.

“Just pay and leave, I don’t want to breathe the same air with a disgusting creature” Jennie told Irene

“Me neither” Yeri threw him a disgusting look

Their case was settled with both of them paying some fine, three ladies were supposed to be charged for physical abuse for beating this guy up, but to their statement and evidence, he was trying to harass one of them first, and they claimed to act out of self-defense, as a result of the investigation, they were found innocent and luckily they were not filed on their criminal record, otherwise Jennie couldn’t imagine how furious her father would be to find this out.

Jennie parted way with Irene and Yeri, with Jennnie was headed to her apartment, and Irene was dropping Yeri. While Jennie was driving, she got a phone call but she ignored it when she peaked at a name of who was calling.

“She couldn’t possibly find out, could she?” Jennie asked herself, the ringtone went off, a flash notification showed that she got 2 missed calls, but she didn’t call back, Jennie concentrated at her driving, her destination was only some miles away, she made a turn leading to a properties when she noticed a car following her from a rear view mirror.

“You’re not doing this” Jennie disapproved, she was too exhausted to deal with this, her hand grabbed tight on a steering wheel when she put her car into a stop at a parking lot, she was waiting inside her car watching as another car was making its way to a parking space, a few meters away from hers, then Jennie looked around before getting off her car, a person with her hoodie and cap on, was swiftly walking toward her

“Come with me please” It didn’t sound demanding but more like a pleading, her hand reached for Jennie’s and grasped it tight, Jennie was led to another car and she followed obediently.

Once a car was back on the road, Jisoo had a side glance at a person on a passenger seat, Jennie didn’t speak a word since she got on a car, so Jisoo asked a question she had on her mind “What happened?”

“Nothing much” Jennie answered nonchalantly while she was looking out of a car window, she was tired.

“How did you end up at the police station then?” Jisoo asked impatiently, she was desperate to know what actually happened since she got some information from Lisa on their group chat.

“Who told you about it?” Jennie asked back, she saw it coming , but she didn’t know how Jisoo could find out, it was impossible that Jisoo would be following her around, she was more convinced it was someone else who told Jisoo, but whoever was, she didn’t like it.

“That’s not important how I found out, I wanted to know what happened” Jisoo avoided to answer

“But it is for me” Jennie argued, “Who told you?”

This was going nowhere and Jisoo knew better than to make Jennie impatient, she gave in “Well, Lisa happened to pass by and caught a glimpse of you, Irene and Yeri standing in front of a police station, so she shared it among us” she explained.

“What’s a nosy person” Jennie scoffed

“Jennie!” Jisoo didn’t like it when Jennie was behaving this way

“Do you expect me to praise your friend?” Jennie asked with a sarcasm

“That’s not very nice” Jisoo chided, “She didn’t say any bad thing about you or your friends, she was just curious what could happen and in that case I was the one who got worried” she further explained, hoping Jennie wouldn’t take it a wrong way.

“That’s the whole point” Jennie said, “Without her knowing what actually happened, but gave a fraction of information of what she saw, it did nothing good but made you worry for nothing” she pointed it out calmly

“You can’t blame her for my worry” Jisoo argued

“Why not, your worry got you to come all the way here, when you could just wait and hear me out” Jennie bickered

“That had nothing to do with her” Jisoo straightened it out

“I know you were going to defend her” Jennie sounded hurt

“Come on Jennie, we are not at it again” Jisoo remembered their last argument when Lisa was dragged in

“You know what, it’s none of her business, the last thing I want to do is to make you worry about me” Jennie burst out impatiently

“Alright, I was freaking worried about you” Jisoo raised her voice “But can’t you just reply my message or answer my calls to stop my worries, would you not worry if you heard that I was escorted to a police station ?” Jisoo impatiently ranted out her frustration. That was enough to startle Jennie, she didn’t dare to utter a word afterward.

It was rare that Jennie would witness Jisoo being mad or losing her patience, it brought Jennie back to her sense, she might go too far this time but she had her reason too, part of her she wanted to apologize, but then a fact that she wasn’t at fault held her back, in the end she chose not say a word and ended their argument by being silent. While Jisoo realized that she might frighten Jennie with this scary side of her, she took a moment to calm her down too.

Jennie stared out of the window again, and found that the street view had changed from a view of city shops to the light poles on highway, Jisoo was driving out of the city but Jennie didn’t ask where they were going, she was too tired to care now.

They let the necessary silence to engulf a whole car, then Jennie reached to connect her phone with a car bluetooth, she needed music to relax her mind and get rid of this stress.

“Did you hurt somewhere?” Jisoo broke the silence when they drove away for a quite distance, she sounded more relaxed this time.

“No” Jennie answered shortly, her voice was softened too

“Are you sure?” Jisoo’s voice was filled with the hint of concern.

“I’m positive” Jennie reassured

Scattered thoughts in Jennie’s mind was finally settled, she got calmer by the time they spoke again so she decided to tell a long story short about an incident that led them to a police station, and as expected, she heard a long disapproval sigh escaped Jisoo’s mouth after Jennie finished a story.

Jisoo wanted to nag Jennie about their careless act, she didn’t want to imagine what could have happened if the thing was the other way around, it could have been be Jennie and her friends that got injured. But seeing how exhausting Jennie was, Jisoo didn’t have a heart to add more stress to her, she could only set those negative thoughts aside, and was thankful that Jennie was safe, besides it wasn’t fair for Jennie to be scolded for what she didn’t do it alone but her whole gang,

“Can you please be careful next time, I don’t want to see you get hurt?” Jisoo begged, she had a side glance at Jennie, and the younger girl nodded.

“Promise?” Jisoo asked

“I promise” Jennie said with a smile.

With one smile, it lifted up the heaviness in Jisoo’s heart, and made everything better. Jennie knew Jisoo was being like this because she cared too much, but sometimes, her act was a treat to get them exposed and that was the last thing in this life Jennie would ever want it to happen.

After three hours of driving, Jennie’s question was finally answered when Jisoo pulled in in front of a grand hotel and resort complex, in the middle of white snowy slopes where cable cars could be seen from they were standing, they were at a ski resort.

“Are we staying here tonight?” Jennie asked

“Yes” Jisoo answered, she then walked past Jennie to reach for a luggage at the back of her car

“That’s not fair” Jennie complained as she saw Jisoo’s luggage while she had only clothes she had on now.

“No worries, I packed some for you” Jisoo told before taking Jennie’s hand  and walked toward a check-in counter.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me beforehand” Jennie said

“I told you we would go somewhere this weekend” Jisoo retorted

“Did you?” Jennie was recalling a series of stories in her head

“Yeah” Jisoo confirmed

“Oppa and Omma are coming back this Friday, so I want to enjoy a short getaway with you before then ” Jisoo informed.

“I thought they would be in States until next two weeks”, Jennie stated what she could remember

“There is some problem at the company, so they decided to shorten their trip” Jisoo explained 

“Oh” That was all Jennie uttered, it didn’t matter to her whether their parents were back or not, she didn’t go home that much anymore, the only difference was they had to be more extra cautious sometimes.

As they reached the check-in counter, Jisoo told them her name and reservation and passed them a credit card, Jennie noticed a credit card that Jisoo was using, it was just a normal visa card, and not one of those prestigious powerful credit cards they were both allowed to use them. Jennie saved her question until they were done at the counter and got in an elevator. The transparent elevator revealing a breathtaking view outside a ski resort took Jisoo’s attention.

“Why did you use that card?” Jennie asked, Jisoo was confused at first

“What’s card?” Jisoo didn’t understand the question

“Your credit card” Jennie clarified

“Ah” Jisoo got it now.

But before Jisoo could answer, the elevator stopped at their floor, they got out and walked toward their hotel room. Once they were inside the room, Jisoo carried on what were left.

“That card is my personal incomes account that I earn from investing in stock market” Jisoo explained, she left a luggage near by a closet, Jennie was listening while looking around a suite room, she stopped by at a huge glass window with an overlooking view of the ski resort, the night view of white snow contrasting to the light poles gave off a serenity feeling.

“And?” Jennie asked while turning her back to Jisoo as she enjoyed a night view from where she was standing, Jisoo walked toward her.

“It’s something I could be proud of” Jisoo wrapped her arms around Jennie’s waist from behind, and with their same height, Jisoo rested her chin on Jennie’s shoulder

Jisoo continued “This is what I can do for you, for us from my own effort, without having to depend on your father’s fortune, which it’s only a reminder of our social status, for once I want to forget who we are ” Jisoo confided her feeling and thought to one and only person she could trust the most.

Jennie knew Jisoo was very thoughtful and reasonable, but she never thought that Jisoo could be this deep sentimental. Jennie was touched to hear her reason behind what she was doing now and it never failed to make Jennie fall deeper and deeper, sometimes she wondered it was too deep that she was scared to lose her. Jennie hugged Jisoo’s arms which were holding her.

“Thank you so much” Jennie said, Jisoo smiled as she tightened her back hug, and they wished they could stay like this for the longest time.

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Serious Chaeyoung , Lisa thought as she looked at a girl beside her, Chaeyoung was holding a popcorn in one hand, while another was holding a tissue, her soft sniff escaped. Lisa rolled her eyes, what was there to cry for when in front of them was a big screen of cinema showing nothing to resemble romantic nor dramatic scene but an action movie

“Why did he have to die?” Chaeyoung mumbled softly but it was audible to a person next to her.

“That was a hero supposed to do” Lisa quietly responded, despite being alone on VIP seats, Lisa kept her voice low not to interrupt the continuation of the movie.

Chaeyoung took a glance at Lisa before she continued to watch quietly. Lisa didn’t want to admit it, but she found this side of Chaeyoung adorable though, and although she kept complaining about her weird habits when it came to watching movie, Lisa ended up coming with her anyway.

After they left Jisoo’s place, Chaeyoung kept quiet and didn’t talk to her, and it wouldn’t have been uncomfortable if Lisa wasn’t giving Chaeyoung a ride back home, when Wendy had something else to do and was going a separate way. Lisa couldn’t stand the dead air between them so she started talking as if they didn’t fight at all, but still Chaeyoung didn’t respond, and Lisa had to give up, she tried to make up with Chaeyoung and ended up asking her out to watch a movie tonight with her, which in the end, Chaeyoung agreed. That was why they were here watching a new release of action movie.

After the movie, they decided to drop at a midnight ramen shop, one of Chaeyoung’s favorite food, and they were going to make orders when one person came into Lisa’s mind.

“Do you think Jisoo is still awake?” Lisa asked Chaeyoung for her opinion

“I don’t know, why don’t you just ask her and find out?” Chaeyoung replied nonchalantly as her eyes fixed at the food menus

“You’re helpless” Lisa said, she then typed away on her phone and waited

Chaeyoung ignored Lisa’s statement but she was curious why Lisa wanted to find out if Jisoo was awake or asleep, “Why do you want to know?” Chaeyoung asked

“I wonder if she wants to come over and have a midnight snack with us” Lisa revealed, she was smiling as she was waiting for Jisoo to reply.

Nothing went unnoticed by Chaeyoung, anything about Lisa, was everything Chaeyoung paid attention the most, and she couldn’t turn the blind eyes to what she acknowledged, she would be lying if she said she didn’t see how special Lisa was treating Jisoo, even though they were all friends, there was something about Jisoo what seemed to take a place in Lisa’s heart and thought. Jisoo was always the first person Lisa would be thinking about or even running to, also it was always Jisoo that brought huge smile to Lisa’s face, something Chaeyoung could never do. Chaeyoung bit her lips suppressing the ache in her heart, she wished she wasn’t aware of how Lisa feel toward Jisoo, it would save her for feeling this pain not to know that a person she was falling for, had a feeling for someone else, and it hurt just like that.

“She’s awake but she can’t make it” Lisa informed Chaeyoung, sad and disappointment was obvious in her tone, and it made Chaeyoung feel sad too.

“Maybe next time, for now let’s order already, I’m hungry” Chaeyoung stated.

“Ok” Lisa looked up at Chaeyoung, she was excited to order her food, Lisa somehow managed to smile, when it came to food, Chaeyoung was second to none.

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On the other side of Seoul, a woman was talking to a guy on her phone, he was informing her about what happened this evening.

“So was everything alright?” Wendy asked a guy

“Yes Miss” He answered, “They were fined for investigation fee, and were released, they didn’t indemnity to the guy or anything, he was at fault, and they were innocent” He informed more detail.

“Was any of them, I mean those three girls, got hurt?” She asked curiously

“Apparently no, one of the girl knocked him down then another two joined to beat him up” He described, and as if she was listening to a funny story now, Wendy chuckled

“I see” Wendy said, “Please don’t disclose this information elsewhere” she instructed

“Absolutely, that’s a virtue of our services” He confirmed

“Thank you” She said, then hung up a phone call.

Wendy felt much better to get a picture of a whole story, and what was bothering her all these hours was eliminated, she was at ease.

It all started from this evening when Lisa sent messages mentioning about three girls from a Cool Club involving in a sort of trouble and caused them to be appearing at the police station, Wendy would have just read and paid no heed if it wasn’t for a name of a person that got her most attention, Irene.

Wendy had no way to find out more information, it was impossible to find out from her rival group for sure, so Wendy chose to depend on a service, confidentiality was traded for a huge amount of money, but Wendy couldn’t care at this rate, she just wanted to know what happened, but she didn’t do it out of her pure curiosity but her concern over one person, who wasn’t even aware that she had been watched from afar.

Irene never knew and would never know that Wendy had been looking upon her since they were at junior high school, a nerdy girl like her had never been noticed, Wendy even wondered if Irene even realized her existence. At one point, Wendy was surprised at how a secret crush could take her this far, but she didn’t mind it, she was happy to be watching that person from away, even though Wendy was never at Irene’s sight.

Wendy lied down on her bed, she found peace at last, and could go to sleep now.

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“I gotta go now” Jennie told Irene, letting her know that she had to hang up

“Where are you going? Shopping? Irene frowned on the other side of her phone and Jennie couldn’t see it with their audio call.

“Nope, I’ve got something to do” Jennie answered hurriedly

“You’re acting weird” Irene pointed out

“Haven’t I always been that way?” Jennie exaggerated her surprise, Irene scoffed lightly, Jennie could be funny at time.

“Fine, if you insist” Irene gave in

“Alright, talk to you later” Jennie said

“Bye” Irene said

Irene stared at her phone after they hung up, she couldn’t help but feel bored, she was hoping to go out for a shopping with Jennie, but a brunette seemed to be caught with something Irene didn’t know about. Irene wasn’t desperate to be out for a shopping that much, it was more like a reason or excuse to be exact, for her to get to spend time with Jennie, when it was something Jennie liked to do, and it was the only time they could spend hour and hour walking side by each other side and finally ended up at any coffee shop to chill out. Irene loved it when she could be with Jennie more than seeing her at university.

Irene scrolled down to her other contacts, there were other few friends in her lists she was thinking about going out with, but then Irene chose to dismiss it, she didn’t feel like going, it didn’t feel the same without Jennie. “What have you done to me Jennie?” Irene thought.

After hanging up with Irene, Jennie walked back to a table where Jisoo was waiting, she took a seat on the opposite site, where her food was placed in front of her.

“That was quick” Jisoo smiled at Jennie

“Yes” Jennie replied, Jisoo’s eyes were still on Jennie, it hinted how she curious about who was calling, but Jennie knew that Jisoo didn’t want to ask, Jisoo always respected her privacy, that was why Jennie chose to be the one telling her “ It was Irene, she wanted to go for a shopping” Jennie said

“Ah” Jisoo hummed, understood. “Let’s eat before it gets cold” Jisoo suggested, she was waiting for Jennie to come back from answering her quick phone call to start their breakfast together.

“By any chance, are you jealous?” Jennie asked out of the blue, it almost made Jisoo choke on her food.

“You almost kill me” Jisoo complained, after drinking water from a glass to clear , Jennie chuckled.

“So?” Jennie anticipated for the answer

“So what?” Jisoo asked back

“Are you jealous?” Jennie repeated her question, Jisoo avoid answering but when Jennie kept her gaze on her, Jisoo knew she was cornered and had no way to go but to answer.

“Will it sound stupid if I say yes?” Jisoo hinted her answer, although she didn’t give a direct answer, it was obvious and, it was enough to satisfy Jennie. Jennie didn’t bother to respond to Jisoo’s indirect answer but only grinned happily.

It was evitable to feel such a way, no matter how much they trusted each other, there were moments they couldn’t avoid this possessive feeling. Admittedly, Jisoo got jealous when she saw Irene being extra close with Jennie, hanging out or sometimes even hugged her in public, although they were friends, still Jisoo couldn’t help her feeling, she wished she could do so. But this issue didn’t only apply to Jisoo, Jennie was indifferent, she wasn’t a fool. As someone who was in love, Jennie could relate to a certain stare, certain gaze or even some gestures Lisa was consciously or unconsciously giving Jisoo, Jennie was just a human after all, she was possessive of a person who belonged to her.

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“Uh!” Jennie groaned as her landed on the soft snow, she lost her balance and skidded off a slope, after standing gracefully on her ski sliding down winding white snowy slopes for sometimes , she almost succeeded to reach the foot of it. Jisoo who was following closely behind a younger girl, saw what happened, she swiftly maneuvered her move and stopped at where Jennie fell down.

“Are you alright?” Jisoo asked worriedly, she bended over and kneeled down in front Jennie to check on her.

“I’m fine” Jennie answered with a smile, Jisoo was relieved, she nodded

“We are almost there” Jisoo informed, she got up first then extended her hands offering to pull Jennie up. Jennie reached out to hold Jisoo’s hands, but instead of pushing herself up, Jennie pulled Jisoo down

“Yah” Jisoo cried out, she wasn’t prepared for a jerk, she lost her balance, but avoided landing on Jennie, as a result she landed on soft snow next to Jennie. The younger woman didn’t seem to feel guilty for what she had done, Jisoo huffed her nose disapprovingly, but then she smiled when she hear Jennie giggling, she loved it when Jennie was happy and be her true self.

“Isn’t it pretty?” Jennie laid her head next to Jisoo’s and looked up at the blue sky

“It is” Jisoo agreed

“Do you think my mom would be watching us from there?” Jennie asked out of the blue, Jisoo had a side glance at Jennie’s side profile

“I think so” Jisoo reached for Jennie’s hand and gave it a light squeeze, Jennie responded by intertwining her fingers with Jisoo’s firmly.

Jisoo knew how Jennie was feeling, after all these years, although Jennie was fine with having Jisoo’s mother coming into her life, and accepted her as a mother, but Jisoo knew no one could replace her mother and Jisoo never wanted so.

“I missed her” Jennie said sadly.

“Shall we visit her on our way back?” Jisoo wanted to lift up Jennie’s mood

“Can we?” Jennie asked

“Sure” Jisoo confirmed and Jennie smiled.

It took them a moment until they decided to stand up and got going, they reached the end of the slope finally, they returned ski equipment and made their way back to the hotel to fletch their stuff and set out for the city. Jennie was hugging Jisoo’s arms for more warmth as they were walking side by side, but then she was forced to stop when Jisoo halted her walk, Jennie furrowed her brow and followed Jisoo’s gaze where she saw nothing but snow sledge.

“Do you want to ride on it?” Jennie asked

“No” Jisoo smiled, but still Jisoo didn’t move and stood still, it earned a confused look from Jennie

“It reminded me of the first time we came here” Jisoo said , Jennie looked at it and reminisced. They remembered it vividly

4 Years ago

It was the winter time, and it was their first family trip since they became family, Jisoo and Jennie came to a winter ski resort with their parents. At times they were already close and they were having fun sharing a hotel room together while their parents were on another room. They were having a good time as a family and everything went well and joyful until one dinner when they couldn’t find Jennie anywhere, and after several unanswered phone calls, they were restless and worried.

“I’ll look for her” Jisoo offered when she couldn’t bear a bad scenario in her head with every minute went by imagining what could have happened to Jennie, Jisoo had enough and she got to do something.

“It’s dark now” Mr. Kim warned, “You’d better stay here, I’ll search for her” He told Jisoo

“I can take care of myself and Jennie might be around” Jisoo protested, “She probably didn’t answer her calls just because she is mad at me” Jisoo confessed somehow.

“Did you guys get into a fight?” Her mother asked

“Kind of” Jisoo lowered her head, she gulped down, hoping her parents wouldn’t ask a reason behind their fight because Jisoo wouldn’t be able to provide the answer, because she was still struck about it too.

Jisoo mother was going to chide her daughter when her husband stopped her, he then let Jisoo go to look for Jennie, he wanted her to show her responsibility.

“We will search for her too, so be careful out there” Mr Kim told her even he knew there wasn’t any treat of danger around here; He had come here since Jennie was still a little girl, with his first wife. He believed Jennie should have known ways around here so well

“Yes” Jisoo nodded

“Please call us if you find her first” Jisoo’s mother instructed, Jisoo nodded before dashing out of the hotel and into the white snowy field of a cold night.

Jisoo didn’t know where to start, she frantically ran around every direction that her mind made up its decision to guide her, and she might have underestimated a scale of this huge land when she searched most everywhere but couldn’t find Jennie, and her legs were giving up.

“Where are you Jennie?” Jisoo panted for air, she put her hands on her knees feeling cold and tired. The longer she was searching, the worse fear crept up into her heart. She wouldn’t forgive herself if something happened to Jennie, she was such a fool to have acted like that upon Jennie’s confession, but she was too shocked and confused at times, although her feeling was clear. Jisoo could only blame herself now.

“Jennie please” Jisoo prayed in her heart. It took Jennie to be missing for Jisoo to realize how scared she was to lose a younger girl, and she would regret all her life if she would not be given a chance to tell Jennie how much she meant to her.

Jisoo continued her quest, her feet were dragging tiredly until she reached the bottom of a slope, when her prayer was answered, Jisoo didn’t know why but her eyes were beaming with tears as she was walking toward a girl who hugged her knees besides a snow sledge, she was shivering hard, and all Jisoo wanted to do was anything to keep her warmth.

“I found you” Jisoo sobbed as she kneeled down in front of Jennie and threw her arms around her.

Present

At a peaceful gravestone, lied a soul of a beloved mother that Jennie missed the most, she watched as Jisoo was placing another flower above the cold white marble stone and paid her a respect.

Jisoo stood up at Jennie’s height,standing next to her, Jennie slowly leaned her head on Jisoo’s shoulder. Jisoo had become a pillar of her strength that Jennie didn’t know what she would do without her, she was always there when Jennie needed her the most, and her existence was only worthwhile because Jisoo was here.

“You found me” Jennie spoke softly “Thank you”

----TBC---

A/N : A journey of secret begins, please stay tuned