Jennie, ever the efficient tiger manager, set the press conference at 2pm on that same day. She had Rosie and Lisa’s respective personal assistants run up to the nearest drug store and buy them ibuprofen and then stop by the ground floor cafe of Lisa’s condominium building to get pretzels, sandwiches, and four coffees as brunch.

Both Rosie and Lisa tried to protest and remind Jennie that the two of them weren’t coffee drinkers, but Jennie shot them down with a piercing glare - a wordless warning. As if to say: I know you both don’t drink coffee, but you will ing drink coffee because I said so.

Lisa just gulped and Rosie subconsciously scooched closer to her.

Probably to throw Lisa at Jennie if ever Jennie explodes in anger again or use Lisa as a human shield.

Lisa, clearly understood her body language, however, and gave Rosie an incredulous look.

Really? So if it comes down to it, you’ll let me suffer Jennie’s wrath alone?

Rosie shrugged.

She’s your manager.

Fiancée or not, Rosie was not going to deal with Jennie’s ire for more than necessary.

As if having read her thoughts, Lisa just rolled her eyes.

Well, me, then.

~

They eat breakfast in tense, absolute silence.

It’s like the dinner where you bring your significant other to meet your parents because they’d found out you got engaged without them knowing and they’re upset they had to know from the neighborhood gossip out of all people.

Only it’s worse because Lisa and Rosie are having breakfast with their managers with a hangover.

And they’re both A-list celebrities, who, only hours ago, the world had thought of as straight women and they managed to both not only come out, but also announce to the world that they’ve gotten engaged out of the blue. And they did it through instagram, where they both have more than 20 million followers.

But that’s not even the worst part of it.

The worst part is that it’s all fake, and they have to put up the charade of being in love in front of their managers, too.

If anyone asked trainee Lisa and Rosie how they saw themselves in five years or so, they would have never thought - not even in their wildest, most absurd dreams - that they’d be in this very specific situation.

So they all eat their breakfasts in silence. Lisa even suffers through her black coffee because the assistant forgot to grab extra packets of cream and Jennie made sure to use up three after Rosie and Ashley took one each, while pointedly staring at her, as if daring her to ask for one.

Of course, Lisa doesn’t dare. She really didn’t want to further poke her manager and provoke another round of angry sermons.

If Lisa wasn’t herself and was simply an outsider watching them, she’d have laughed her off at the poor soul being punished by Miss Jennie Kim.

But alas, she is on the receiving end of it through no one else’s fault but her own.

So she accepts her fate.

And so does Rosie beside her.

But Rosie has something else entirely on her mind. The silence allowed her thoughts to wander. Inevitably, they drift towards Lisa. Or more specifically, her memories of Lisa and the times they spent together.

She wonders when, where, and how her feelings started to become more.

Was it when they both debuted in their careers yet managed to still show up in support for one another at shoots and guestings and concerts and shows? Or was it before that when they were both trainees in a strange land, learning a language unfamiliar to both their tongues? Or was it even before that, when they first met each other?

Rosie ends up with a blank. She really had no way of finding out because she’d seen Lisa as no more than a friend up until an hour or so ago, before Ashley said what she did.

Rosie sighs, deep and heavy. A part of her mind wishes Ashley never said anything, or even blew up like Jennie. And then another part of her wishes she didn’t feel this way about Lisa at all. That would certainly make things a lot easier.

Feelings make this already complicated and difficult situation, off-the-rails bananas.

But a smaller, meeker part of her - the part hidden inside a box she dares not open - wonders and hopes.

Wonders if Lisa feels the same way about her.

And hopes that Lisa does.

~

Rosie and Lisa’s respective stylists and make-up team arrive right after breakfast, looking like they didn’t really want to be there at that moment - as if they’d been held at gunpoint and told to show up.

Knowing Jennie, they probably were. Figuratively at least. Jennie doesn't own any firearms. As far as Lisa knows.

Whoever compared Jennie Kim to a cute cat once upon a time was clearly mistaken. Sure, she is tiny and her round cheeks make her look so adorable, but when it comes down to business, she never plays.

And that’s probably why she’s the perfect manager for Lisa.

Usually, they would get ready in their respective entertainment companies. However, for this afternoon’s impromptu event, Lisa’s apartment becomes de facto headquarters.

It’s Lisa’s fault, anyways.

Thirty minutes before the press conference, Lisa and Rosie - all done up and both in the respective luxury brands they represent, with Lisa in head-to-toe Balenciaga and Rosie decked out in everything YSL - were already in their respective vans, on the way to the venue.

Jennie even looked pleased with how things were going smoothly. She can only hope her number one talent doesn’t do anything in the short ride to screw things up again.

“The questions were pre-approved. You read everything on the printout I gave you?” Jennie asks Lisa.

Lisa holds up the stapled sheets of paper in her hand, two pages flipped over.

“I’m on my fourth read-through, boss.”

“Good. Just be your usual, charming self. Speak slowly, but do speak. I know you tend to opt for silence and instead become reactive when you’re too afraid to say the wrong things.” Jennie looks at Lisa from the rearview mirror. She sees Lisa nodding while looking at the papers again.

The manager sighs, feels a smidge of guilt brush against her shoulders.

“I know I blew up on you, Lisa, but I’m going to say this just once, so you better be listening right now.”

Lisa looks up then, interest piqued, eyebrow raised.

“I’m sorry if my outburst rained all over the excitement for your engagement. You may be an idiot, but I am glad you found someone you want to spend the rest of your life with. I really am happy for you and Rosie. You’re both such warm, bright people who bring sunshine to the lives of those around you. You deserve each other.”

Lisa blinks, stunned. She feels something crack in her chest - something warm up and thaw. She and Jennie never really considered their relationship to be anything deeper than talent and manager.

But maybe, over the years, they have developed something akin to friendship. Lisa would definitely trust this woman with her whole career. Perhaps now, she thinks she can trust Jennie with more than that.

The dancer smiles, an answer easily spilling out of her lips.

“Thank you.”

There’s one more thing on Lisa’s mind that she doesn’t say. She’s too well-aware that, essentially, this whole thing is a big charade and none of it is real.

I’m happy that Rosie and I found each other, too.

But she doesn’t dare say it.

It’s too much of the truth and such a truth deserves to see light under different circumstances. 

And she wants a different set of ears to hear it, first.

~

“ChaeLisa: BEST FRIENDS TO LOVERS!”
Posted August 8th, 2020. Written by OhMez Hilt-under.

That’s right, folks!

After a surprise instagram post last night from worldwide dancing and rapping sensation Lalisa Manoban, best known by her stage name LISA, fans and gossip columnists alike were left scratching their heads to wonder: have LISA and ROSÉ been in a secret relationship all along and are now finally coming out to the world AND announcing that they’re tying a knot or was it all simply nothing more than a silly stunt pulled by straight gal pals for s and giggles?

SheMZ got the confirmation at a press conference the two performers held today - YES THEY’RE REALLY ENGAGED AND HAPPILY IN LOVE!

Cue the shippers going wild!

It was Lisa who popped the question first, but apparently it had been a long time coming. Rosé recounts how impulsive the move had actually been on her fiancée’s part but she admits to having harbored feelings for her best friend for years. Lisa had just beat her to the punch.

Lisa had managed to rope famous Actress Jisoo Kim, who was also tagged in the engagement photos, into preparing for the little proposal as well.

The happy couple also announced that they hadn’t made up their minds about the date and details of the wedding quite yet, what, with Rosé being booked for a European tour with 15 stops in major cities all around the continent and Lisa being appearing as regular mentor for a dancing show, a regular judge for a reality talent competition show, and preparing for her new rap album, they just can’t pin down the perfect date and place to have the wedding.

Ah, but isn’t that just the price of fame?

The couple does promise SheMZ that when they do finally set their eyes on a date, we will be one of the first to know! And also when Lisa does finally buy a ring.

Apparently, the dancer’s proposal had actually been impulsive that she didn’t even get to buy a ring. But when she does, she also promises that SheMZ will immediately be sent photos of it.

Either way, SheMZ congratulates the happy couple. Love wins!

~

The press conference went smoothly. Lisa did forget about the little detail of the real engagement ring, and had to tell a story about how she proposed with the same ring she once gave Rosie as a gift, back when they were still new stars, up and coming.

Still, it went as smoothly as it could have gone, all things considered. Jennie even booked a dinner for all of them at a nice hotel - the two stars and their managers, along with the stylists and makeup crew, assistants and the bodyguards and drivers.

So it’s safe to assume that the tiger manager had been pleased with the outcome.

During the press conference they got asked who proposed. Lisa said she did. They got asked to recount the story of how they ended up together. Rosie managed to cook something up, tell the story of how they’d been friends since trainee days and how she’d had feelings for Lisa since then but never realized it.

Lisa was glad for that save, cause she didn’t really know what to say. For Rosie, though, it wasn’t really a save. It was just more so an admission to realizations she’d had that morning.

She didn’t know what came over her, but the words just slipped out, none of it rehearsed and everything completely ringing true in her heart. She was sweating like a pig and her hands shook as she held the mic, but she managed to get through.

And as nerve-wracked as Rosie was while telling that story, it had been absolutely liberating to say it.

Especially when she was looking right into Lisa’s eyes doing it.

Rosie wondered if Lisa felt the truth and sincerity in her words - even just a little bit. She’d hoped that genuineness had somehow bled out, enough to seep through the idea in Lisa’s brain that they were only faking being in love.

Rosie doesn’t even want to think of the high probability that she was the only one with feelings and Lisa was just faking it.

But her hopes and dreams are dashed.

Because after the press conference and on their way to their respective vans, Lisa enveloped her in the biggest warmest hug that Rosie couldn’t help but melt. And then she whispered into her best friend’s ear, making sure that no one else around them gets to hear - especially not their managers.

“Your acting was so good up there. It really saved my . You should get booked in a drama with Jisoo.”

Rosie just looked at her and laughed, after extricating herself from the embrace. Her laugh was humorless and pained.

She wonders how long exactly they would need to pretend to be engaged to each other.

And she hopes that it only gets easier for her, given what she feels for her best friend.

Or she hopes at least that the next time she has to talk about her feelings, that Lisa’s clueless looks and compliments to her acting won’t hurt as much as it does now.