Chapter 16

 

 

 

 

 "Matthew?"

 

 - "Kim Jisoo.. long time no see!"

 

 Jisoo keeps staring at him for a while before snapping back to reality and says,

 

 "Aah.. yeah.. indeed. How are you?"

 

 She asks him although she's still surprised.

 

 "good.. In fact, very good." He replies, glancing at Jennie again and looking back at Jisoo, he continues, "Sorry for showing up like this so suddenly, you were the only person I know here." 

 

He finishes, wearing an sheepish expression.

 

 "Uh, no, not at all. Good thing you did.." Jisoo interjects, shaking her head, and then she turns to the girls and sees the same questioning expression, and quickly turns back when she notices his gaze shifting between her and them.

 

 "Let me introduce you, these are my friends.." She begins pointing to each one of them, "Chaeyoung.. Lisa.."

 

 With each name, she saw Matthew and the aforementioned nod to each other with a formal smile, "And lastly.. Jennie."

 

 She says, looking back at Matthew, oblivious to Jennie's blank expression and her not welcoming this acquaintance with open arms, unlike Matthew, who is enjoying every second of this situation.

 

 "This is Matthew, one of the people I met on Jeju Island." she adds, pointing to him.

 

 "Nice to meet you," Matthew says, addressing the girls. They return the gesture courteously, except for Jennie, who remains silent.

 

 "So! What are you doing here? How long are you staying?"  Jisoo asks him with sincere curiosity.

 

 Matthew smiles sideways before replies,

 "I'm afraid we will meet a lot from today onwards.." He pauses enjoying Jisoo's questioning expression, and mostly Jennie's reaction, he continues, "I'm a student here starting today."

 

 His smile becomes wider when he sees Jennie's face flashes different shades of color.

 

Shades of terror.

 

 

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 "How is your lessons going?"  As she walks, Jisoo asks, her question directed at Chaeyoung and Lisa, who were following her along with Jennie.

 

 - "Fine.. Miss Chongha will be doing our exams this weekend."  Lisa answers, and Jisoo nods, satisfied, as she looks back ahead.

 

 With the bomb that Matthew threw at Jennie earlier, she made sure to get them out of there quickly and fortunately the time for the first lecture had come already, so one look at her phone clock and she announced it immediately to interrupt Jisoo and Matthew's talk as she got up in a hurry, not oblivious to Matthew's knowing gaze of her as she did.

 

 

 "You're wearing a turtleneck sweater today.."

 

 Chaeyoung remarks randomly interrupting Jennie thoughts as she looks at the oversized sweater worn by Jennie, with a turtleneck, covering her entire neck, attracting Jisoo's attention and Lisa to look at her as too.

 

 "Oh, right, this is the first time I see you wore it." Lisa agrees cluelessly.

 

 - "uh.. it.. it was very cold this morning." Jennie replies awkwardly as she absentmindedly puts her hand around her neck, apove the cloth, taken aback.

 

 Jisoo remains silent for a moment as she looks at the cloth before saying anything, she had also noticed this when she spoke to her this morning,

 

 "It looks good on you."

 

 Jisoo randomly adds and smiles, making Jennie look at her with surprise for her sudden complement.

 

 "Yes it is."  Lisa adds in approval.

 

 Jennie gives Jisoo a weak brief smile before she turns her gaze quickly to Lisa and nods to her as she looks back down.

 

 As strange as it is, Jisoo ignores it and looks back ahead of her.

 

Jennie takes a look at them one by one and then starts putting her hands inside her coat and over her pants pockets pretending to be looking for something when she stops dramatically pushing them to stop as well.

 

 "My phone is not with me..I might have forgotten it on the table in the cafeteria."  She tells them, acting surprised and annoyed.

 

 - "Ok.. let's go get it back."  Jisoo says advancing opposite their path, but Jennie stops her quickly.

 

 "No! You don't have to.. I will go and get it and come back quickly. I don't want you to be late for your class."

 

 Jennie reasons, nodding to Jisoo to reassure her, and before Jisoo can respond, Jennie turns around and starts jogging back to the cafeteria.

 

 Jisoo remains silent a little, thinking about whether to follow her or not. Not wanting to come off as annoying due to their argument this morning, she turns around and tells Lisa and Chaeyoung to continue walking towards their class and so she does.

 

 

 

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 Jennie walks hurried steps in one of the corridors, after she has returned to the cafeteria and didn't find him there as she looks around with eyes searching. As she walks she feels a hand pulling her suddenly towards her right side into a classroom and before she can process what is happening she feels her body is being pushed against the wall forcefully.

 

 Of course.

 

 Matthew.

 

 "Well..well..well.." He begins with a mockery melodic tone as he fixes his right hand on her left arm and his other arm places it on the wall above her head as he brings his head closer and searches her face, "What do we have here.. Jennie Kim with her flesh and bone— or should I say..  Jennie Yin."

 

 He pauses momentarily.

 

 "I saw the magazine."

 

 Elaborating, he smiles menacingly as his face circulates around hers, Jennie stares back at him cautiously and angrily.

 

 - "Listen, if you're here for the money, I don't have it." She begins and Matthew nods feigning understandment, "I didn't even steal it!  My dad who did!"

 

 -"Oh really?"  He asks sarcastically.

 

 Jennie falls silent, knowing he doesn't believe her.

 

 "If I really had, would you see me here in front of you, you think? Do you think that I would have still wandered around Jeju when I knew your men were everywhere?" She counters in a sharp tone.

 

 They are both silent afterwards, and Matthew stares at her forever, as if contemplating her reasoning.

 

 - "Who knows? Maybe you found a new target to steal." he counters back, in a suggestive manner, looking at her with a false questioning expression.

 

 "What are you implying?" Jennie retorts more angrily because she understood what he meant.

 

 - "What a girl like you is doing beside Jisoo? How come you're so close to her?"  He asks with gritted teeth, as he removes his hand off her arm, places it around her neck, and pushes her against the wall more.

 

 "None of your business!"  She spats and feels his hand tightens around her neck harshly.

 

 - "Don't test my patience!"

 

 "I'm not afraid of you." 

 

She is, but she won't show it, she can't, and she doesn't know from where she got this self-composed demeanor. 

 

Maybe.. from a certain raven.

 

 "We're no longer on Jeju. You can't do anything to me." She informs sternly as she puts both hands around his hand and pushes it away forcefully from her neck, regathering her breath.

 

 He stares at her a little, wondering at her newfound boldness, then laughs humorlessly and follows as he backs away from her.

 

 "Oh, you can't imagine the things I could do," He says, looking at her in sharp gaze.

 

 - "Do you really think Jisoo will let it pass if something happens to me?" She asks in a warning tone.

 

She hates bringing up Jisoo or using her to hide behind her, but she's all she has now to stand up to Matthew.

 

 - "Aren't you putting a lot of overconfidence on how much you worth to her?"  He says rubbing his fist with his other hand.

 

 This time Jennie is the one who laughs knowingly. True, She's not sure of how much exactly she means to Jisoo, or whether she's worth it or not, but Jisoo once promised her that she'll protect her and she trusts her. She trusts Jisoo wholeheartedly.

 

"You can try.. but let me tell you this, I won't let you drag her with you into your filthy world!" She replies confidently.

 

"If you tried to harm her in one way or another, I will tell her everything I know about you and your other work." 

 

She emphasizes her last words before she pauses for a moment and continues as she approaches him and looks at him directly,

 

"And how much of a cold-blooded killer you are!"

 

 

 - "And that you were lying to her the whole time? Sure, go ahead." he challenges nonchalantly in a sinister tone.

 

 Jennie is silent, realizing the truth of his words and the consequences that will follow, but she pulls herself together and looks at him with renewed resolve.

 

 "I don't care.. at least I'll have protected her from you then."  She declares, and then turns and walks to the door, opens it, and exits the class quickly.

 

Matthew stays still for a while in his place, looking at the entrance to the classroom, staring into the void and thinking to himself, he rolls his head tiredly in despair as he walks toward the door.

 

 "I wasn't intending to hurt her anyway," he mutters to himself as he leaves the classroom.

 

 

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 "Hey! Where are you taking me? Hey! I'm talking to you!"

 

 Jay asks uneasyly as he tries to pull his arms out of their strong grip.

 

 He was standing with his friends during the second break when two men of huge build in black uniforms, looking like personal security men, approached him, and they asked him to come with them quietly and without making any fuss.

 

 As soon as he quietly left the cafeteria with them and after they were out of sight, he found himself being dragged somewhere.

 

 Jay continues to talk to them angrily and they continue to ignore him until they reach one of the classes when one of the men opens the door, stop and push Jay forcefully inside. Jay welcomes the ground with his hands, and they enter after him and close the door.

 

 Jay remains still on the ground for a while, as he looks at the two men skeptically and sees them looking ahead. He looks to the direction they are looking at and sees a girl standing at the window with her back facing them.

 

 "Who— who are you? What is happening here?!"  He says getting up from the ground and looks at the girl cautiously.

 

 "I told you.. I'm not done with you."  The girl turns around and meets him.

 

 - "Jisoo.. what's this nonsense? what do you want from me?"  He addresses her, alerted, while he constantly looks at her and at the two men behind him.

 

 Jisoo gauges him thoughtfully, and then points at him to the two men with her head. They move quickly towards Jay, one of them went and pulled a chair forward and another chair he put across from it, and the other man pulled Jay by his collar towards one of the chairs and forced him to sit and then put his hands on Jay's shoulders to pin him.

 

 Jisoo quietly steps towards them and sits in the opposite chair.

 

 "We're going to talk about that thing you were trying to give to my friend last night."  She starts as she leans back and crosses her legs.

 

 As soon as she says that, Jay's features are scattered, his face turns pale and he swallows noticeably.

 

 - "I.. I don't know what you are talking about." He says hesitantly, feigning ignorance, his eyelids blink successively.

 

 Jisoo smiles at the corner of and leans slightly forward towards him as she returns her legs to their normal position and slightly spread them out.

 

 "Come on.. let's not make this takes longer than it should." She encourages with a false cheerful tone, "I know you put a drug in her drink. I have your friends to confirm that for me.."

 

She was talking while looking at him directly and it seemed that her words were affecting him. 

 

"You know?  I can expel you from here just for that. Do you think your parents will take it happily and with open arms? Especially when they know the reason?"

 

 Once mentioning his parents, his pupils expand and fear invades his face, and so she takes advantage of this and continues, "That their dear son;  Not only does he deal with drugs, but he even sneaks them in for girls so that he can ually assault— "

 

 -"It's not like that!"  Jay interjects, interrupting her, looking at her terrified.

 

 Jisoo is silent as she conceals her cunning smile as she succeeded in getting him to speak.

 

 "What is not like that.. Jay?"  She presses calmly.

 

 He stares at her momentarily, then turns his gaze down as he opens his mouth a little, closes it and his lips nervously before speaking.

 

 - "The ual assault.." He begins looking up at Jisoo, which is beginning to look at him with a piercing gaze, "We did not ually assaulted anyone, this is the main purpose of the drug. And that is.." He continues as Jisoo's features are getting more intrigued. "To get what we want without resorting to these methods."

 

He finishes lowering his eyes.

 

 "What do you mean? How is that?"

 

 Jay takes a deep breath and swallows again as he looks back at her.

 

 "It is a new drug, and last night was its first use. It works on the sensitive parts of the body, stimulates ual desire and relaxation. One pill is enough to achieve that and it doesn't lead to fainting— I mean, this is what the person we bought it from told us."

 

 He falls silent, looking at her with anticipation, awaiting her reaction. Jisoo was silent too, processing the new information and feeling disgusted the more she thought of it, but she ignores her feelings and returns her attention to him.

 

 - "You mean that the girl will agree to do it with you willingly once she takes that drug?"

 

 He nods affirmatively. 

 

"Is that why you're putting it in to them secretly?" She adds in an mocking tone lined with anger.

 

 "Some girls don't even give us the chance to speak with them!"  He defends while turning his gaze away.

 

 Jisoo is silent again, staring at him angrily and clenching her fist.  She wants to beat him up so bad, but refuses to do so.  She will not get to anything with violence, besides.. she decided to become more peaceful today.

 

 She sighs in annoyance and digresses, 

 "You said 'we', you and who else?"

 

 - "Me and three of my friends.."

 

 "The dealer, the person you bought it from. Do you know them?"  She asks as she leans back. 

 

 - "No, we communicate with him through an intermediary."

 

 "A mediator?"

 

 - "I don't know his name, but he is in the club a lot. One of the workers there, he's the one who handed us the drug."

 

 Silence reigns between them afterwards, as they both stare at each other.

 

 "Can I go now?!"  He adds in irritation as he tries to get up, but the security man puts him back on the chair.

 

 - "Not yet.. The drug." Jisoo says her last word as she holds her hand out to him.

 

 "What? I don't have it! It's not with me!"  He exclaims while looking at her and at the two men.

 

 - "Jay.." She starts with a sharp tired tone, making him still in his seat, looking at her skeptically, " I Know you brought it with you to try to sell it to others here, isn't it how it works with your likes? '' She finishes in a sarcastic tone.

 

 He keeps staring at her, then turns his head towards the man behind him and looks back at her.  Jisoo understands what he wants and nods to the man to move away from him and walk to stand behind her, next to his colleague.

 

Jay extends his hands to his trouser belt and begins to untie it, and before he continues any further Jisoo stops him quickly.

 

 "what are you doing?!"

 

 - "I have to hide it somewhere!"  He deadpans as if it is the most obvious thing, standing upright suddenly, urging one of the two men to move towards him, thinking that he will escape, but Jisoo stops him.

 

 Jay stares in annoyance, and then turns around and gives his back to them as he loosens the belt, s the pants and extends his hand inside and down his underwear.

 

 Jisoo can guess where he hid the drug from his movements, which made her facial expressions wrinkles in disgust, waiting for him to get the drug out.

 

 After what it seems that he had taken it out, he pauses and re-closes the zipper, redoes the belt, and then turns back around and extends his hand, in which he held a very small transparent bag. Inside of it several blue round pills.

 

 Jay kept holding his hand out while he waited for Jisoo to take them. Jisoo was looking at him and at the bag, disgusted, while he looked at her indifferently.  She sighs hopelessly, then holds her hand out sideways to one of the two men, the man takes a handkerchief from his jacket pocket and gives it to her.

 

 Jisoo throws the handkerchief on the bag, takes it from Jay's hand, and then returns it to the man.

 

 "Send it to a laboratory for them to check and analyze its contents, I want the results as soon as possible."  She says and the man nods to her affirmatively, and heads out the class.

 

 

 She turns to Jay and looks at him with restlessness.

 

 "Now you will tell me who else beside you owns this inside the university, and who you sold it to."

 

 She continues, making Jay rolls his head completely grumpily.

 

 

. . . . . . . .

 

 

Jisoo and the girls are standing in front of the university main entrance on the wide stone sidewalk, after the end of the lessons, waiting for the car that will drive them to the apartment, except for Jisoo, she told them that she will go directly to the company for an urgent matter.

 

 Lisa and Chaeyoung were standing at the circumference of the sidewalk talking to each other while Jennie was standing behind them at some distance from them and Jisoo was standing next to her, at some distance from her as well.

 

They were standing silently, Jennie's gaze had never left the patio, while Jisoo was looking at her sometimes and sometimes looking ahead, thinking about whether to start a conversation with her or not.  Something with Jennie's straight face makes her hesitant to do anything, like she doesn't want to pressure her.

 

Maybe she feels like that because of their argument this morning.. maybe she is just overthinking.

 

 Yeah.. she must be overthinking it, her worry is for no reason.

 

 Jisoo sighs and then moves closer to the side near Jennie, unaware of the way Jennie took a sharp, faint breath, and or how her body tensed up.

 

 "Are you still feeling cold?"  Jisoo begins with a lighthearted tone as she turns to Jennie .

 

 - "A little.." Jennie answers, wearing a weak smile without looking at Jisoo, who in turn smiles at her normal answer, happy because her wory was indeed untrue and of nothing.

 

 Jisoo's gaze falls on Jennie's hand and she smiles again at the idea that came to her, and she doesn't take time to put it into action, she takes her hand out of her jacket pocket and slides it down with an attempt to clasp their hands together, and as soon as her hand reaches Jennie's, barely touching it, she feels Jennie's hand move way up, leaving her hand hanging alone aimlessly in the air.

 

 "I can't wait to return to the warmth of the apartment."  Turning to Jisoo, Jennie exclaims, smiling uneasily and rubbing both hands together quickly before she turns her gaze back ahead and begins walking towards Lisa and Chaeyoung.

 

 - "Ah.. right.." Jisoo says with a weak chuckle, not putting too much thought into what happened and just steps forward, returning her hand inside her pocket reluctantly.

 

Seconds pass when a black car arrives and stops next to the sidewalk, Lisa and Chaeyoung go in first, then Jennie follows them inside from the opposite door, and before it drives away, they wave to Jisoo goodbye, while Jennie kept looking at the other side through the window.

 

 Jisoo remains standing watching them drive away from the campus, immersed in her thoughts and in her own world until a man's voice interrupts her.

 

 "You're going to drill a hole in the car window at this rate."

 

 Jisoo turns to the source of the sound and sees it as Matthew, standing next to his car, looking at her smiling.

 

 Jisoo stares at him dumbfounded at first, and then chuckles when she understands his remark and starts walking towards him until she stops facing him without getting off the sidewalk.

 

 "Matthew.. how was your day?"

 

 "Hmmm.." He begins turning his head slowly to the side thoughtfully and looks back at Jisoo, "Good. I still have to get used to the new college system. " he continues, Jisoo nodding to him with understanding.

 

 Actually, his day was very bad.. the only reason he attended this university is because of Jisoo, which he has not been able to see since their encounter this morning and he has not run into her ever since.

 

 Silence prevails between them for a while, and then Jisoo breaks the silence.

 

 "Well then.. I'll be going now." she declares politely and ducks her head as wave and  starts walking towards her car.

 

 -"Wait!"  Matthew calls, making her stop and look at him quizzically.

 

 "I was thinking.. if you are free this evening, may I invite you to dinner?" He asks hesitantly, seeing the puzzled expression on her face disappear, "Just.. you know.. a way to spend time and hang out."

 

Before answering him, Jisoo pauses for a moment staring at him.

 

 She would have agreed.

 

 There is no objection to that and Matthew's company is enjoyable. He's not a boring person and he doesn't come off as a creepy or pushy, but rather friendly. She knew this since she went out with him when she was on Jeju,  besides.. it's a good invitation for a good change.

 

 She would have agreed if it hadn't been for the evenings she spends with Jennie sitting next to her watching whatever Lisa and Chaeyoung are watching, that she wouldn't want to trade them with anything else.

 

 The mere memory of one of those evenings in her mind brought warmth to her body.

 

 "Uh..I'm sorry, I can't. Maybe some other time?"  She says and gives him an apologetic smile.

 

 -"Yeah sure!" Matthew reassures, nodding with understanding nervously. "Anytime that suits you." He finishes, smiling back and acting indifferently.

 

 "Okay.. see you later." she says and waves him goodbye as she starts walking without turning her gaze away from  him.

 

 -"Bye."

 

 He returns the greeting, watching her turn around back to her car, she opens the door and climbs up, and after a few moments she turns it on and drives it away from the sidewalk.

 

 He sighs helplessly, opens his car door, gets inside and closes the door a little frustratedly.

 

 It's fine.. that's just the first try.

 

 He tells himself as he drives off campus.

 

 

 

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 Jisoo was sitting on her desk chair working when the door was knocked, she let them in without pulling her gaze away from the report in her hand.

 

 "Ma'am, the results from the lab have arrived."  Somi says as she enters with the file in her hand and closes the door behind her.

 

 Jisoo turns to her as she takes off her medical glasses and looks at her with expectancy.  Somi quickly steps up and puts the file on the desk.

 

 "So?"  Jisoo says, indicating her to continue.

 

 - "It is a mixture of chemical compounds; the **** hormone and Fli******, whose most important function is to influence and increase women's ual desire, in addition to a percentage of dopamine.." 

 

Sumi was speaking calmly and animatedly as a way to convey the information smoothly, and Jisoo listened carefully to her.

 

"But the most important thing is that it contains the compound Flun*******, and here lies the danger of this drug."

 

 She pauses for a moment and then continues.

 

"This compound is used for calming, relaxing muscles and even.. it can be used to put someone to sleep."

 

 - "Put to sleep?"  Jisoo adds furrowing.

 

 "Yes, it is one of the known compounds that some people use for vile purposes, such as , especially since it causes hallucinations and memory loss as well."

 

At that Jisoo creases her eyebrows suspiciously, as if she realized something, Sumi falls silent momentarily as she sees Jisoo taking the file and starts flipping through the papers. 

 

Somi follows, "Its risk increases if it is mixed with alcohol."

 

When she says that, Jisoo takes her eyes off the report and looks up at her intirigued.

 

 "It may cause loss of consciousness or..  sometimes even death." She ends her phrase in a cautious tone as she sees Jisoo's expression starting to become more serious and intimidating.

 

 - "Okay.. you can go now." Jisoo dismisses, nodding coldly.

 

 Sumi bows, turns around and starts walking leaving the office. Once she does, Jisoo throws the file on the desk annoyedly and swivels in her chair partially as she leans back, placing her hand over and passes her index along her lips thoughtfully, very puzzled.

 

 From what she heard from Sumi, she can understand that what happened to her last night was related to this drug, meaning the part related to memory loss in particular, but she didn't even drink from the glass that Jay was holding!

 

 All she drank was what Jessie and that bartender guy gave her—

 

 Jisoo stills in her chair for a moment, realizing it, then quickly sits up, slamming the desk hard with her hand.

 

 'The bartender! That bastard!'

 

 Jisoo gets up quickly, takes her jacket off the head of the chair and her things from her desk. She steps out of the office hurriedly as she opens the door forcefully, causing Sumi to startle, watching her go past her with her features blazing with anger.

 

 

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 Standing behind the bar, Jessie dries the glasses and places them down organizedly one by one, looking around the club with boredom, that's when she sees Jisoo coming down the stairs that leads to the front door.

 

" Jisoo? Hi there!" Jessie greets in a clear, yet confused, cheerful tone enough for Jisoo to hear.

 

 "What are you doing here—" She cuts herself off when she sees the two men walking behind Jisoo, and looks at them with caution.

 

 "Do I have to run away?"  Jessie asks sarcastically and suspiciously.

 

 - "Don't worry, they are not here for you."  Once at the bar, Jisoo says and stops, facing Jessie, while the two men stand on the side at some distance from her.

 

 Jessie stares at them for a while, then turns to Jisoo.

 

 "So.. what's the matter?"  Jessie asks as she leans on the edge of the bar with both arms.

 

 - "You tell me, I thought drugs are prohibited here." Jisoo says putting her hands in her coat pockets and looks at Jessie with a questioning gaze.

 

 "Still, they are, why? Did something happen?"  Jessie wonders mirroring Jisoo's expression. 

 

 - "You sure? Are you sure of those who work for you?"

 

 Jessie impatiently rolls her eyes, sighs, and retorts, "Jisoo, can you get to the point already?"

 

 - "Someone produced a new type of a drug and began distributing it inside this club.." Jisoo begins with a serious tone, making Jessie look at her with complete surprise, "With help of someone from the inside.. someone who works here.. and I'm here for him."

 

 Jessie remains silent, staring in disbelief, and then scoffs incredulously.

 

 "No way! Every worker here undergoes a thorough interview to be accepted and we even request a CV from them!"

 

 Jisoo stares silently at her and smiles at her reaction, excusing her for not believing.

 

 "So? that doesn't give you knowledge of what they really are."  Jisoo argues as she puts her hands on the edge of the bar across from Jessie, her features hide a smile.

 

 Jessie sighs desperately as she turns her gaze elsewhere, then guides it back to Jisoo and continues; "Well.. do you know who? Have you seen him?"

 

 -"Yes!" Jisoo answers playfully with a childish excitement, "This is why I want you to—"

 

 Jisoo pauses when she turnes her gaze to the side and sees the guy she's looking for as he was coming from the back of the club with wine bottles crate in his hands, simultaneously, he also stopped in his tracks when he saw her.

 

 "Forget it. I already found him."  Jisoo adds in a devilish tone as she continues staring at him with sharp eyes.

 

 The guy remains frozen in place, looking at her cautiously and suspiciously, and at the two men behind her, and just when Jisoo makes a slight movement by tilting her head a little, he throws the crate to the ground, turns around quickly and dashes to the back door.

 

 Jisoo remains silent for a moment in surprise, as all she wanted is to snap her neck a bit. She turns to the two men and points with her head to them to catch him, they move immediately running after him.

 

 "Did he have to throw it like that?"  Jessie laments with a blank face, still looking at the crate and the contents of the bottles that smashed and spilled on the floor.

 

 - "I'll pay for it." Jisoo says as she takes a seat at one of the stools attached to the bar, then goes to one of the beer bottles, takes one, pulls one of the glasses and puts it in front of her, and begins to open the bottle, attracting Jessie's attention.

 

 "Jisoo.." She begins with an exhausted tone as she looks at Jisoo, "I know you don't get drunk easily, but that doesn't mean not taking a break and drinking during the day. "

 

 She continues, putting her hands back on the edge of the bar.

 

 Jisoo doesn't comment at first and only pours the beer into her glass while looking at her indifferently.

 

 - "It's just this one." Jisoo defends, raising her eyebrows in protest before she takes a sip.

 

 "Look, I know I teased you last night for not coming much, but in fact, it's good that you stopped coming here."

 

Jisoo's hand holding the glass stops before reaching at that, because Jessie's words caught her attention.

 

"And because you look better than last year." Jessie continues with a gentle and calm tone.

 

 Jisoo puts the glass on down, intends to comment on Jessie's talk, and before she does, the two men comeback stop her, both breathing heavily and tiredly.

 

 "He escaped."  One of them informs.

 

 Jisoo stares at them a little disappointedly, and turnes to Jessie as she gets up from the stool.

 

 "It seems that our visit has come to an end."  She says and then pulls out her purse, takes out extra money and puts it on the bar, then she takes the glass, drinks it at once, and puts it back on the bar vigorously.

 

 "See.. just one."  She quips, giving her a side smile and starting to walk to the door, leaving Jessie shake her head helplessly, chuckling amusedly at her antics.

 

 

 

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 In the middle of the bathtub, Standing under the waterfall of the warm water pouring from the showerhead, Jennie lifts her head upwards and closes her eyes, letting herself relax with every drop of water that falls on her skin and strolls around her entire body with her hands roaming through her deep brown hair as she straightens it back and down to her neck and arms gently and smoothly.

 

 She doesn't know how long she remained like this, absorbed in her thoughts, but it must have been long enough to lift the weight of her anxiety off her mind a little.

 

 She opens her eyes, straightens her neck, closes the shower faucet, and exits the tub carefully and slowly, without slipping.  She wears bath slippers and then stops and takes the large towel and wraps it around her body. She turns to the small towel and tilts her head to the side, gathering all of her hair to drop to one side and then dries it with the towel.

 

After she's done, she keeps the towel draped on her head and saunters to the basin, staring at the mirror, which has become blurry due to the steam.  As her hand rests on basin, with her other hand she reaches out and wipes the mirror off enough to show her face and returns to stare at her reflection.

 

Staring at herself intently, her gaze falls on her neck, and precisely, on that reddish blemish at the crock of it, above her collar bone and a little to the side.

 

 She stares at it a little, and then raises her hand slowly towards it until she touches it and begins to trace her fingers around it slowly and cautiously as she remembers what caused it last night and takes a prolonged deep breath.

 

 ** 

"You're mine! Only mine!

 

 you are mine!" 

**

 

 Another deep breath, that is a bit shaky, she quickly pulls her hand away and places it on the edge of the basin, and looks down at her hands.

 

 Moments pass before she looks back at the mirror and swallows with difficulty in an attempt to gather herself. Blinking anxiously, she adjusts her posture and brings her hair to the sides to hide her neck.

 

 

 She has to go out and change her clothes before Jisoo comes back.

 

 

. . . . . . . .

 

 

/ "Matthew, what are you doing there?" Jang Park, his father, says in an annoyed tone.

 

 - "What would I be doing, Dad? Run our business of course!"  Matthew answers him sarcastically, as he’s standing, staring out the window.

 

"I only sent you to work, not to go to college!"

 

 Matthew sighs indifferently and retorts, 

 "Basically that was my goal from the start! But of course you had to go and take advantage of it and bring work to Seoul!"  He finishes in disapproval.

 

"Matthew!" His father addresses him, scoldingly, in a warning tone, "Just one thing, don't this up!" He says and hangs up afterwards.\

 

 Matthew keeps the phone on his ear for a moment, then rolls his eyes, sighs annoyedly, lowers the phone and puts it in his pocket as he turns around to meet the guy who came to them terrified.

 

 Matthew was at one of the weary warehouses and his men were spread around the place while the guy was sat on a chair in the middle. The place is dark except for the area illuminated by the hanging lamp in which the aforementioned was sitting under.

 

 "Talk. Why did you come here?" Matthew begins with a low pitched tone.

 

 - "We can't.. we can't use the club anymore.." The guy begins with a trembling voice, as he looks ahead and to the siddes, alerted, "They.. they know."

 

 "Elaborate."

 

 - "The drug.. they knew about it.. she must have told them!"

 

 "Who do you mean? Who is 'she'?" Matthew asks him sternly, starting to lose his patience.

 

 - "K-kim.. Kim Jisoo.. I don't know how, but she did!"

 

 "Kim Jisoo?"  Matthew asks in complete confusion, asking for clarification, even though he already knows her.

 

 - "She’s.. she's one of the important and well-known figures in Seoul—" 

 

He tries to explain rubbing his legs nervously but Matthew interrupts him in an angry tone as he takes a few steps towards him, exposing his face in the light.

 

"What does she have to do with this? What do you mean she knew?"

 

 - "I have.. used the drug on her." The man answers him hesitantly as he looks to the other side.

 

 "What did you do?"  Matthew inquires calmly, in complete shock and distaste.

 

 - "When.. when I saw her at the bar, I found it an open chance for me.. I wanted to try it." The man starts looking down, sometimes at Matthew, sheepishly.

 

"I mean.. she's Kim Jisoo.. everyone wants to have her. I saw it as an irreplaceable chance.

 

 Therefore, I put the drug in her drink secretly, intending to look for her after a while when the drug starts working, but.. after that, I searched for her and I couldn’t find her anywhere."

 

The man falls silent and looks at Matthew, who is now staring at him with straight expressions.

 

 "I don't know how, but today.. Today she came back to the club and made her men chase after me, but I managed to escape from them, they could not catch me."

 

 "So, you didn't tell them anything and they couldn't get to you." Matthew calmly comments.

 

 -"Yes. I swear to you!"  He confirms in all seriousness.

 

 Matthew nods sympathetically and then walks around the man, places his hand on his shoulder, and patters it.

 

 "Good.. good what you did.."

 

 He says while continuing to pat and walk until he is behind him, holding his free hand out to one of the men discreetly. The man understands what Matthew wants and pulls out a thin wire out of his inside pocket and passes it to Matthew.

 

 "Now, you have to disappear for a while just in case," Matthew adds, in a calm and convincing tone.

 

 The man nods his head unconsciously and obediently.

 

"Okay.. I'll do that first—"

 

 

 He doesn't get to finish his words when he suddenly feels a sharp and thin wire is wrapped around his neck forcefully and tightly, causing him to stutter and choke on nothing while he wrestles with the air, trying to push it away from his neck with his hands, kicking the air with his legs, but there is no point as it’s tightened by the hands behind his head.

 

 Matthew continues to tighten the wrapped wire, amid the sound of the man's suffocation and the constant writhing and jerking movements of his body, and it's only moments before those movements dwindle and that sound is dead silent in his hands.

 

 "You should have tried your chance with someone else."  Matthew remarks wryly as he moves his hands off, pulls the wire, and returns it to one of his men.

 

 

 

 .  .  .  .  .  .

 

 

 

Jisoo washes her hands and face, and after she's done, she takes the small folded towel on the surface of the basin aside and dries her face first, and then her hands as she looks at her reflection in the mirror.

 

 She folds the towel and puts it back in place before she walks out of the bathroom to the chest of the apartment to find that Lisa has already started choosing the movie that they will watch tonight, squatting near the DVD player while Chaeyoung was sitting on the side sofa and Jennie was sitting on the other one.

 

 She smiles at the sight and walks towards them, to her usual place, near Jennie.  She gets to the sitting area, passes Jennie, to sit right next to her and on her left. Getting comfortable in her seat, she glances at Jennie and sees her wearing blank expressions, seeming kinda lost.

 

 She smiles at this because she looks cute either way and doesn't dwell on it and just refocuses on the TV as Lisa turns it on and then returns to sit next to Chaeyoung.

 

Barely a minute passes from the beginning of the movie when Jisoo feel Jennie as she gets up and stands up straight, looking like she is on a hurry, making Jisoo look at her quizzically.

 

 "Um.. I'll bring us some beverages..." Jennie says in a hurried tone, and then walks way and to the kitchen.

 

 A few minutes pass and Jennie is still in the kitchen, she comes out later carrying a tray with four glasses full of different kind of Juices and puts it on the table in front of the girls, and instead of sitting back next to Jisoo, she goes and sits on the opposite sofa that faces the one Lisa and Chaeyoung are sitting on, taking one of the glasses and focusing back on the movie casually.

 

 

Jisoo didn't lose sight of that.. 

 

Jisoo's eyes didn't leave Jennie ever since she changed her seat as she sees her watching the movie indifferently.

 

 Although she was surprised at the act, she ignored it again and didn't stand on it. 

 

It's not like there is some kind of a rule that states that Jennie must sit next to her, and the same goes for her.

 

 

And it's okay.. it's totally normal.. 

 

So much that Jisoo watched the movie with half interest..

 

 The other half was with Jennie.

 

 

 

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 "Ok.. are you done?"  Lisa says, putting on her coat, standing at the door looking at Chaeyoung, who was wearing her beanie.

 

 -"Yes!  Done!" Chaeyoung zips the jacket and exchanges looks with Lisa, both are ready.

 

 "Be careful outside."  Jisoo tells them tenderly, she was silently watching them, smiling.

 

 She is sitting on the couch armrest, her legs are a bit spreaded as she places both hands on the sofa between them.

 

 "Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?" Lisa asks before she opens the door.

 

 

 - "I’m sure. I rather stay in the warmth here."

 

 Jisoo answers assuring, when both of them hear the sound of the bathroom door opening, they turn to its direction and see Jennie walking out of it, ruffling her hair with boredom.

 

 Jennie stops in her tracks when her gaze falls on Lisa and Chaeyoung, who are standing at the door and looks at them with confusion.

 

 "Are you two heading out?"  She asks them so questioningly that she almost seems to be against them leaving.

 

 -"Yeah!" Chaeyoung confirms enthusiastically and continues, "We'll go out for a little to stroll around the neighborhood."

 

 Jennie silently stares at them thoughtfully, her expression lined with.. panic?

 

 "Wait for me.. I’ll come with you."

 

 She says, turns around, and dashes to her room, leaving Lisa and Chaeyoung looking at each other with surprise, this is definitely not a usual thing from Jennie.

 

 Jisoo, on the other hand, would be lying if she said she wasn't feeling disheartened.

 

 

It’s not like she refused to go out with them just to stay with Jennie.. it’s not like she was looking forward to spend time with her..

 

 its just..

 

 

 Was it unexpected?

 

 Yeah..

 

That must be it. 

 

 She was disheartened because it was unexpected.

 

 It didn't take long for Jennie to come out of her room, ready to go out, wearing her coat and scarf around her neck, walking until she stood next to Lisa and Chaeyoung, her gaze fixed on them.

 

 "Well then.. let's go." Lisa says, looking at Jennie, turning to open the door, and before she does, she turns to Jisoo, who got up from the sofa and is now standing, staring at them with a faint smile, 

 

"You still don't want to come? "Lisa asks, wearing a worried expression.

 

She hates to think of Jisoo being alone in this big apartment.

 

Jisoo chuckles helplessly and nods positively as she answers softly, pretending to be indifferent, 

 

 "Yes.. and also, I have to finish some work."

 

 She assures while walking towards them with her intention to close the door behind them, Jennie just lowered her head sheepishly.

 

"Well, just calls us if you need anything."

 

 Lisa adds before she opens the door, and steps out, followed by Chaeyoung and Jennie, who kept her gaze to the ground, and at the same time Jisoo approaches and stands at the door.

 

She watches them walking down the corridor on their way to the elevator, having a conversation with each other, and from what it looks from Lisa's expressions as she talks to Jennie, she's provoking her playfully again, and Jennie doesn't seem to be annoyed with it.  On the contrary, she seems to be enjoying her time.

 

 Something she didn't see from her today.

 

 She begins to close the door gradually, continuing to look at them, and as she does, she sees Lisa throwing her arm around Jennie’s neck loosely after they have stopped in front of the elevator awaiting its arrival.

 

 She smiles to see them like that, and before she closes the door completely and the moment the elevator door opens, Jisoo glimpses Jennie as she puts her arm around Lisa's waist as they enter the elevator with Chaeyoung.

 

 

 And here precisely.. at that very moment.. at that moment that seemed to her to be in slow motion, like an alarm went off in her mind.. like a hand gripped her heart and squeezed it hard, Jisoo realized the strange thing on this entire day.

 

She realized why she had been feeling like something is missing all day. Like something is off.

 

 

 Jennie didn't turn Lisa away.. Jennie didn't turn her gaze away from Lisa or Chaeyoung.

 

 Yet, she didn't even touch her for even a moment throughout the day.

 

 Jennie was avoiding Jisoo.

 

 She was avoiding her.

 

'It hurts..'

 

 

 ———————————

 To be continued

 ———————————

 

 * Chemical compounds are real and exist. I avoided mentioning their names just in case.

 

*this is Matthew btw;