Three

retrograde
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Time flies so fast, but Jennie was still having a hard time keeping her cool. 
 
She lays against the bed, sighing as she remembers her recent interactions with Lisa. The Korean was not fully recovered from the Thai's sudden confession; Lisa owns the hotel they're staying at for 1 week. 
 
Jennie groans when she heard a knock on the door. She walks like a grumpy woman and opens the door. Her laziness vanished when she saw a pair of eyes. 
 
"What the hell?"
 
Jennie frowns. "Good evening to you, too,"
 
"It's almost time for the event and you're not preparing?"
 
The older rolls her eyes as she crosses her arms. Lisa may have not noticed that she's done taking a shower and all she has to do was to put a light make-up and wear the dress.
 
She rudely shut the door in front of the owner without uttering a word. A few seconds later, she went back to say something.
 
"Don't you dare use your key card to enter my room."

The scene made her smile, but it's not a genuine one. She knew how Jennie could get easily attached to someone. And her best friend wasn't fully recovered from a break up with Im Nayeon.
 
Their break up wasn't the typical one; Jennie ended it by texting Nayeon. They had been hurting each other physically and then they would make up by having . 
 

The cycle made her feel numb and tired, so are Nayeon. Jennie was the one who broke up with Nayeon, but Nayeon couldn't accept it and she keeps on coming back for more. She keeps on meeting up with Jennie even if her best friend wasn't interested to her anymore.
 
Rosé knew how much pain Jennie has done to Nayeon, but she couldn't tolerate it when Jennie wasn't in love with Nayeon anymore. Rosé thought it would hurt Nayeon more if she finds out that she's been living in a whole goddamn lie.
 
She thought it would be a good choice for her best friend to cut ties with Nayeon. 
 
Her conscience was eating her, but she couldn't do anything but take the risk of hurting someone she loved. It was Jennie; she'd risk all she's got just to give them the happiness they deserve. 
 
"Good to go?" Lisa broke her reminiscing time. She smiles softly and nods. 
 
Jennie carefully removes Lisa's hands on her shoulder and walks with Rosé. The junior bumps Jennie's arm to piss off the woman, and she did. 
 
Lisa sighs and shook her head as she follows the two women. 
 
 

 
If it wasn't for her Uncle, she would've kick out Jennie and Rosé outside the car.
 
The two have been fussing over which song should be played on the radio. Rosé suggested a TWICE song, but Jennie suggested a Red Velvet song. 
 
The driver was clueless about what song should be played, but Lisa glared at him to warn him not to play any song.
 
Their voices were entering Lisa's ears even if she doesn't want to. The Thai connected her air pods to her phone and played a BLACKPINK song to filter out the annoying whines of the two Koreans. 
 
Now, they're sitting in front of a round table, waiting for the event to start. Jennie was tensed due to the volume of people gathered in the hall, she could see many stars attended the exhibition. 
 
Rosé felt her senior's nervousness and caresses the latter's leg to calm her down. Gladly, Jennie smiles at her softly and went back to wandering with eyes around the area. 
 
The hall was big enough to handle such events like that one, but Jennie was unsatisfied because she feels like she was about to throw up because of suffocation. 
 
The owner of the hotel, Lisa, saw the sweats forming on Jennie's forehead. 
 
"Are you okay?" Jennie seems like she couldn't hear Lisa. "Hey, are you okay?"
 
That moment, Jennie went back to her senses. She looks at the Thai, confused, but manages to smile. 
 
"Pardon?"
 
"Why are you sweating? Do you want me to adjust the air conditioner's--"
 
"No, it's fine,"
 
Lisa looks at her, examining her face if she's telling the truth. Jennie giggles at Lisa. 
 
"Really, Lis, I'm fine." The Thai didn't expect the nickname from Jennie. Her heart beats like a madman and it irritates her. And because she doesn't want to think about it anymore, she shrugged it off. 
 
Lisa leans against the chair, trying to focus on the people walking around to distract herself. Her heart was still beating in fast-paced and she doesn't like it. 
 
She's keeping her eyes off the Korean, but it seems like her body was the boss of her that night and she didn't realize, they were having a staring contest. 
 
The tension between the two ascends when they heard the host of the event asking everyone to stand up. 
 
Jennie focuses on listening to the person standing on the stage, but failed when her eyes met Lisa's. She immediately rejected the invitation to drown in Lisa's eyes. 
 
Time passes by too fast, it was Jennie's turn to show off her portfolio. She smiles sweetly to the crowd when she her name was called. The host explains the meaning of the pictures and the purpose of why it is taken. 
 
"Excuse me, I need to take this call."

The two Koreans look at Lisa, who immediately walks away from their table to answer the phone call. They didn't even get to respond to the woman. 
 
Rosé was shocked when she saw the last picture on the screen, and it made her look at the woman beside her. Jennie's mouth agape when she saw the picture that has been hunting her when she couldn't sleep.
 
She didn't know that Mr. Wang included that picture in her portfolio. Jennie stares at the photograph for the first time in 3 days, she was so eager to forget about the picture because it drives her to the edge. 
 
Her portfolio was finally able to get the people's attention. She smiles back to the people who praises her work and thank them. 
 
Lisa was panting when she came back from the bathroom. 
 
"I'm sorry. What did I missed?"
 
"Something mysterious," Rosé answers. 
 
Lisa's forehead creases. "Like what?"
 
"Don't mind her, she's messing with you." Jennie takes away the topic. She doesn't want to talk about it. 
 
Her head hurts like it's gonna burst. She reminds herself to call and ask her boss why did he include the picture. 
 
Lisa was busy greeting people who recognize her. She keeps on bowing and smiling like she's used to it. Jennie rolls her eyes when she realized that the woman was nice to others but not to her. 
 
"Can we go home now?" Lisa and Rosé turn their heads at Jennie almost in sync. The two doesn't know how to answer her question. Lisa just shrugged while Rosé looks at the Thai. 
 
Jennie was the first one to stand up. She was welcomed by the bosses of several companies as she tries to walk out of the hall. 
 
She doesn't know how to deal with such powerful people, gladly, she was with Lisa and Rosé who escorted her until they managed to get out of the crowd. 
 
"That was... wow," Rosé sighs heavily as soon as they reach the parking lot. 

Jennie's phone vibrates when Jackson called her. The Chinese asked

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Astraea21 #1
Chapter 4: ❣️💖👏