Seoul, more than 2 years ago.

Her knees were starting to get wobbly and her legs were pretty much just trying to…well, trying. One drunk step over another she goes through the neighbourhood park in Seoul where she knows there wouldn’t be enough nosy neighbours to ogle her. She just tries to pump through even if she really didn’t want to, but she kind of has already committed to this and at this rate, it just doesn’t make sense to turn around anymore. She is stubborn enough to push through this and she will be stubborn enough to get through this.

She runs across the intersection, barely crossing her 4th kilometre. Her legs are starting to give way as she’s running an elevated pathway, but she pushes herself to go through it. Just one more block. Just one more street. The more you go through it, the more kilometres you finish.

She will tell herself it wasn’t her drunk wobbly legs but something else that makes her slip during that time, but she’s just thankful there was a stretch of grass beside that path walk she was running on in the park. Her body skids through the Bermuda grass and she smells the packed soil more than she feels it, but she knew she can’t really proceed anymore. She groans, then tries to pull herself up.

She won’t go home yet tonight. She knows exactly where she could find comfort.

--

Lisa was just about to sleep when she heard the urgent knocks on her apartment’s door. Well, she’s, of course, convincing herself that she was just about to sleep, but she still was trying to get through a few lines of codes that she’s been trying to analyse for the past 20 minutes. She wondered if it were her mother, but she knew if it were that urgent, she’d likely call Lisa on her mobile instead.

She opens up the door to a distraught Jennie in her dishevelled running gear. There were a few flags that got to Lisa immediately: one, would be why Jennie is in her running gear at 35 minutes past 12 am, and two: why she looked…dirty. Literally. There are grass stains on her white dri-fit shirt and running tights, her hair askew, much unlike how pristine Jennie usually looks like. Lisa’s eyes widen, the worst scenarios going through her head. She grabs Jennie’s shoulders in panic but drops them immediately, not knowing if she might be giving the brunette additional shock or pain.

“Jennie Unnie, are you okay? Did you get hurt?”

“I’m fine. I stumbled on something while I was running at the park earlier and fell on the grass. I’m sorry I disturbed you. Can I stay here for a bit?” Jennie just narrated through the whole thing in one go, barely letting her breath through. Lisa knew her enough to mean she’s really upset.

“Of course, come in,” She opened the door wider to let the short brunette through. The latter went straight to Lisa’s couch and sat gingerly, trying not to get any mess unto the fabric. She sits there like a lost child, just staring at anything other than Lisa.

“Do you want a new shirt? You might get cold in that state,” Lisa offered, but Jennie just shook her head. The latter nervously bit on her lip.

“Jennie Unnie,” Lisa tried again carefully, sitting beside the agitated brunette, “Why were you running at the park at midnight?”

Jennie just stared in front of her, almost trying not to cry. Lisa softly prodded again.

“Jennie,” Lisa dared to touch Jennie’s damp back, carefully running her hand on the brunette’s spine.

The brunette doesn’t speak for a minute. It’s almost like she’s carefully assessing her next words.

“I needed a drunk run.”

Lisa’s forehead creased, then she moved closer to Jennie to sniff her. She doesn’t smell of anything suspicious.

“You’re drunk? You don’t smell drunk.”

“I had a few beers and no dinner, so you know how it goes.”

“Jennie, why the would you go running in that state?” Lisa assessed her again. “Is that why you tripped?”

“No,” Jennie answered quickly, a tad bit too defensive. “I’m sober now.” She resumed staring at a spot on the wall and her aggressive frowning.

Lisa may be a little bothered by what this girl has got her in a twist, but she couldn’t help but chuckle at how much Jennie just looked like a petulant kitten. She stood up and went to the kitchen, grabbed two bottles of beer and a bottle opener, then went back and offered one to Jennie. She shook her head, declining. Lisa shrugged. She definitely needs one right now, so she placed the unopened bottle on the floor near Jennie, plopped on the sofa beside her and opened her bottle cap in one swift motion. She was drinking through her alcohol by the time she got settled.

She let a few minutes sink in, then she heard Jennie sigh. The latter grabbed the bottle from the floor and motioned for Lisa to open it, then took a long swig. They resumed sitting beside each other in silence.

Their dynamic has always been like this for years. Jennie usually bottles in a lot of her disappointments and Lisa just waits until Jennie’s ready. Lisa does a lot of waiting, to be honest, but Jennie was never the type to be pushed unless ready. She always liked to pretend she’s stronger than everyone thinks.

Sure enough, after a few silent minutes, Jennie finally spoke.

“I’m ing frustrated with a lot of things,” She sighed after resting her arm on her thighs, her bottle placed idly on her knee. “On top of that, I’m so ing ually frustrated right now. That’s why I ran.”

Lisa almost choked on her beer. Jennie just had to open while she’s drinking.

Lisa waited a bit more to see if Jennie’s going to talk. When she looked like she won’t, she finally dared to venture a question.

“What about Nia?”

“What about her?”

“She can’t help you with that?”

Jennie sighed. She started playing with her bottle, tracing random stuff from the label.

“We’ve…been having issues. I don’t know. I think she’s a little nervous about me leaving for Singapore soon, but she’s been all cling and no…I don’t know. I tried earlier, after dinner. I kept kissing her and trying to , but she just asked if we’re just making out or we’re having because if it’s the latter, she’s a little tired.”

Lisa just nodded. She’s met Nia a few times, but they’re not particularly close. It feels weird to be close to the girlfriend of the girl you’re in love with, so she avoided Nia as much as she could. But she knew Nia to be…affable, to say the least.

“Did you