Chapter 3

Peek-a-boo

Today Jennie forced herself up and go to work. Aside for the talk with her boss, Dara, first thing in the morning, everything else went as usual. She always has Dara's sympathy when Jisoo went missing, she didn't scold her much about the absences. But she did warn Jennie to take her job more seriously. She wasn't asking for much, but she was just asking for enough and Jennie understands that.

Jennie waits in the diner for her take out when her eyes drifts to the Pizza shop across the street, an unfamiliar face walks out of the place. Her long hair bounces along with each stride, a tall figure that could be mistaken for a model. New faces in this town is rare, so she thought maybe she's new or just a tourist passing by. When the girl goes out of sight, Jennie's eyes avert again to the Pizza Shop, the place where Jisoo was last seen. They were just students in the University back then, Jisoo got extra cash by working part time and other instances when she's covering for Lisa's shift. Jisoo would've been a graduate of literature by now, she always wanted to be a novel writer.

The last memory she had there was when they were searching, they said Jisoo was going home after she delivered a pizza.

"To go for Miss Jennie." Jonathan, the waiter gave her her order. "How are you?" He asked.

Jennie met Jonathan when the police questioned him about Jisoo's disappearance, he was one of the last people who saw her. And since then, he always show concern whenever they see each other.

"Same old, same old." Jennie replied and hurried out. She didn't mean to be rude but she can't take another second seeing the Pizza Shop.

Back in the apartment, Jennie cleans after she ate her meal. She's tidying up their room when her foot catches on something and she falls over.

"How clumsy can you be, Jennie Kim." She curses herself. Another surge of irritation creeps in when she saw a wooden panel raised from the floor. "I just have to destroy everything, don't I."

But when she was about to fix it, something caught her eye. There's a pile of journals under the wooden floor. She picked them up and instantly recognized the hand writing, it's Jisoo's. All five journals look identical, black moleskin, with the labels; 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and the last one is unlabeled. 2012 was the year Jennie and Jisoo moved in together, 2015 is the year the latter went missing.

Jennie decided to sit on the couch to read the journals, cleaning the apartment can wait. She opens the 2012 journal. Jisoo's neat handwriting brought nostalgia to her, every of ink is embedded in her mind, she can even imagine Jisoo writing it.

April 15
Moving in with Jennie is stressful but fun. She's a perfectionist and wants everything presentable and comfortable at the same time. I'm not complaining, I think it's great. Since I don't have keen eyes on interior design, I'm glad Jennie's the one taking over that. I'm just happy to help her move the furniture. With her here, I have no doubt that this apartment will always be a home. I'm sure if my parents are still alive, they'll love her. I'll just take care of the food... nah... Jennie's the cook. What can I do for her then? I'll take care of the cold nights, if you know what I mean ;)

The corner her lips curve up, it's been a while since she smiled and the expression is almost foreign to her. Jisoo has a great sense of humor, one of the things she loves about her. Another ache came to her chest as the memories flood along with the realization that that's all it will be... memories. But despite the continuous agony, Jennie made her way to the 2014 journal.

July 4
I don't want to take a bath. I don't want to eat. I don't even want to get out of bed and it's not just because it's summer. I don't have the will to do anything, but I have to go to work.

And unto her last entry...

Feb 25, 2015
Jennie and I had a fight. I know I was wrong, I should've told her my problems. I'm grateful that she wants to help me. I'll make it up to her.

Tears fall freely down Jennie's cheeks as she remembered the last time she saw her girlfriend. Jisoo had been her same cheerful self but she knew something was up. She doesn't have much appetite even for chicken. She greets everyone with the brightest smile, but Jennie hears her cry alone sometimes.

That morning, Jennie discovered that Jisoo had cuts along the inside of her arm. She felt sad that Jisoo would do this, and mad at herself for not noticing what was happening. She promised to see this through with Jisoo and convinced her to see a psychiatrist.

Three loud knocks came from the front door, tearing Jennie's attention from the journals.

"Open up, !" Lisa's voice bombards her hearing.

Jennie is quick on her feet to open the door to prevent Lisa from disturbing the neighbors. "Must you always be rude?"

"Must you always be so formal." Lisa mocks Jennie's tone, the latter rolls her eyes and sighs. "Relax. I come bearing gifts." The tall girl offers a box of Jennie's favorite milk ice cream.

The two settled in the living room, consuming Lisa's peace offering while watching some rom com movie.

Lisa's eyes drifts to the plain journal on the coffee table. "Is that Jisoo's brainstorming notebook?" She said as casual as she can manage because Jennie's puffy eyes are obvious sign that she'd been crying.

"You know that book?"

"Yeah, Jisoo used to write on it all the time. She said those were ideas for her novel." Lisa picks it up and scans that pages. "Oh! This is creepy. She asked my grandmother about this." Her blonde hair falls on her face as she leans in to show the scribbles.

"Missing delivery boys?" Jennie reads out loud.

The sudden realization that the topic is too similar to Jisoo's case made Lisa's eyes wide in surprise. "You know what? Let's just watch another movie. You want Frozen?"

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Comments

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nurrulasyi #1
Chapter 16: Story Realy good & mystery
holmesfreak1412 #2
Chapter 16: This is sad. I was still hoping that Jisoo is alive but well, it got much worse. But it is a pretty solid mystery all throughout. Thank you for writing this.
TrudyHopeHunter
#3
Chapter 16: And we need these kinda five girls irl . Disgusting s like these men who torture women for pleasure do not have the right to live
TrudyHopeHunter
#4
Chapter 16: This was so dark but i actually enjoyed it . Good job author
TrudyHopeHunter
#5
Chapter 14: That took a dark turn real quick
TrudyHopeHunter
#6
Chapter 15: Ha great man my !
poplarbear #7
Chapter 5: ......it was a mistake to read the comments but thank you for making this fic!
dexoday #8
Chapter 11: i still have hope that jisoo could escape or sth :((