-VII.III-

Jisoo wakes up quite late the next day. Despite how late it is already, the eldest still feels exhausted and sluggish after what had happened the night before. The sheets beside her are cold, and the dorm feels as empty as ever. Shifting to her side, Jisoo picks up her phone and decides to browse for a bit before getting up.

She immediately closes her phone when she finds an article about Jennie and Nayeon's growing closeness. Tossing her phone away on the empty side of the mattress, Jisoo scolds herself for being jealous.

Jisoo knows she should be happy for Jennie. She’s Jennie’s best friend, but she’s not hers.

Deciding to get out of bed, Jisoo sees the standee facing her. She stares at the fake Jennie grinning at her intently. Memories she shares with her best friend resurface, and Jisoo shuts her eyes, trying to tamp everything down. She presses the palms of her hands into her closed eyes before she eventually sighs and gets out of bed.

With a frown and watery eyes, Jisoo turns the fake Jennie to face elsewhere.

Why can’t she be content with being Jennie’s best friend?

The news of Jennie’s date with Nayeon quickly spreads to the rest of the dorm when everyone notices Jennie practically going through her entire wardrobe in search of an outfit for her dinner date later that afternoon. It’s the first time in a while that Jennie’s been in her room for so long, Jennie thinks as she tries to bury herself into her closet. 

Most of her clothes and things are in Jisoo’s room, after all.

From her peripheral, Jennie can see her dormmates through the open door. Rosé’s watching her every move from the living room as she munches on a piece of toast. Meanwhile Lisa’s head rests on the vocalist’s lap. The maknae mindlessly scrolls through her phone, but also drops the device to check on her unnie. Jennie can feel the disappointment in both Chaeyoung’s and Lisa’s gazes.

In the midst of the mess that she’s made, Jisoo suddenly emerges from a large pile of clothes. Jennie squeaks and falls on her out of shock.

“Yah!” Jennie yells, her hand clutching her chest, “What were you doing in there?! How did you get here?!”

Jisoo just raises a brow and shrugs. For a moment Jennie’s absolutely confused until the older woman finally speaks up.

“I’m just being the best, duh,” Jisoo huffs and shoves a pile of clothes into Jennie’s arms, “Wear this dress. It makes your look great and this cardigan would match it too for when you get cold,” Jisoo says conclusively.

As much as Jennie wants to say something— like ask what the hell Jisoo’s doing— her best friend is already one step ahead of her.

“You’re not going to say no to a cardigan because it’s too cold to be going out without some form of warmth,” Jisoo says straightforwardly without meeting Jennie’s gaze before she suddenly disappears into the pile of clothes once more.

“Aaand, these should go well with everything too,” Jisoo mutters as she reappears with a pair of stilettos and a purse.

Jennie blinks twice, dumbfounded, and Jisoo takes all of the clothes still in Jennie’s hands to lay them out on the bed.

“What?” Jisoo asks once she’s straightened out Jennie’s clothes on the mattress, tossing a few random garments on the bed away. Jennie continues to stare blankly at her best friend.

“What are you doing, Jisoo-yah?” Jennie finally mumbles out as she refocuses her gaze to look at the outfit Jisoo picked instead.

“Helping you choose an outfit?” Jisoo says like it’s a question, “I can tell you’re nervous, Jendeuk. I know your style well enough to help you come up with something to wear before you end up being late to, uh... your date,” Jisoo stumbles on her last words as she looks at the ground.

Jennie doesn’t know what to make of this, what to make of her best friend at all.

She feels like an idiot, second guessing her best friend of all things. Jennie sighs, she really has to get her together.

“Sorry, was that too much?” Jisoo mutters timidly, a tone Jennie’s only heard from her best friend during their trainee days, when she was criticized for putting on too much weight. Jennie wants to slap herself in the face for being the cause of it.

“No. You’re never too much,” You’re always enough for me, she wants to add, but can’t find the courage to do so. Instead she reaches over to entwine their hands together, “Thank you, unnie.”

A small yet breathtaking smile blooms from Jisoo’s face. Jennie would’ve been blown away had it not been for the sad looking eyes that wilt alongside it. 

“Have fun on your date, Jendeukie,” Jisoo says softly, “When you hit it off with Nayeon-ah, don’t forget to hang out with me too, okay?” The eldest’s voice cracks, and Jennie is half tempted to cancel her plans to risk it all for her best friend.

She’ll never be able to move on at this rate.

“I’ll never forget about you, Jichu, what are you talking about?” Jennie moves to pull Jisoo into a tight hug, “I hope you know that no date will ever take me away from you, unnie. We’re forever,” She says as sincerely as she can.

Jisoo tries her best to stop counting down the minutes to Jennie’s date by occupying herself with Jennie.

It’s not Jisoo’s brightest idea to date, but she does what she has to when she notices that Jennie looks quite nervous. It brings a frown to her own face to see Jennie in such a state. She practically feels what Jennie feels, after all. It makes Jisoo wonder, shouldn’t she be going on a date with someone she’s comfortable with? Moreover, both of them know Nayeon long enough for Jennie not to be acting so strangely.

Jisoo just doesn’t get it.

“Unnie,” Lisa pulls Jisoo out of her thoughts, “Chaeyoungie and I are also gonna be out in a while. Will you be okay here by yourself?” The maknae asks tentatively.

Jisoo rolls her eyes playfully, “Of course it is, Lalisa,” She quips, trying to lift the mood.

The eldest can tell that Lisa’s already noticed her change in mood when Jennie locked her room  to change clothes, “Go have fun with Chaeyoungie! You both don’t have to hang around me all the time because I get it, you’re dating. So go be gay and happy together,” She continues, reassuring Lisa with a wide smile.

Lisa still looks hesitant but nods anyway. At almost the same time, both Lisa and Jisoo open their mouths to speak up. But before either of them can say anything else, Jennie bursts out of her room.

Jisoo’s jaw drops before her brain can register much, and the eldest hears a wolf whistle from right beside her.

“Daaaamn,” Lisa’s quick to hype Jennie up, “Make way for Jennie Kim!” She yells, and that causes Chaeyoung to stumble out of her room to see Jennie as well.

“Woah, unnie!” Rosé yells, and the couple holler at Jennie proudly.

Meanwhile, Jisoo’s still at a complete loss for words.

She knows that Jennie would look good— Jennie would look perfect in anything— but it seems that Jisoo didn’t anticipate the heart attack that would come with seeing Jennie in the outfit she chose for her.

JIsoo bites her lip as she gawks at her best friend. She can barely hear Rosé gushing over Jennie’s whole ensemble as she spins circles around Jennie.  Her best friend’s hair is slightly curled, and the dress she’s wearing has just the perfect slit to show of her flawless legs. The cardigan and heels go well with the outfit, and Jisoo feels like she’s falling.

Oh.

Oh no.

“Unnie,” At the sound of Jennie’s voice, some of Jisoo’s last few brain cells spark back to life, “What do you think?” She says and does a few half turns to show Jisoo her clothes. Jisoo pretends she doesn’t see Chaeyoung grinning mischievously in her peripheral

“You uh,” Jisoo mutters mindlessly, “Perfect, yes.”

Everyone in the room is silent as they stare at a still gaping Jisoo.

Lisa not-so-subtly elbows Jisoo. The eldest also pretends to not see the raised brow Jennie sends to her in return.

“Uh, I mean!” Jisoo practically yells, “That’s how Nayeonie will react when she sees you in that!” The eldest rests her hands on her hips in mock confidence as Lisa loudly whispers, ‘Let’s go actress Jisoo!’ to Chaeyoung.

“Beautiful, show stopping, flawless, perfect,” Jisoo grins widely as she steps into Jennie’s space, moving some wayward strands of hair behind Jennie’s ear. 

She trembles a bit when she moves even closer to Jennie while her best friend stares at her with shining eyes. Jennie always looks at her this way, so softly and lovingly, and Jisoo realizes that she shouldn’t be thinking of this now when she’s about to have a date with someone else. Jisoo tries to shake off her nerves, she has to be the bestest best friend to ever exist. She promised Jennie she would when they were kids.

Jisoo doesn’t intend to break that promise now.

“If Nayeon’s a bad date, I’ll be here with snacks and milk flavored ice cream, okay?” Jisoo mutters out softly, pinching Jennie’s cheek playfully. The eldest tries to memorize the finer details of Jennie’s face. She can’t help but feel that she has to, she won’t be seeing Jennie as often anymore if she ends up being Nayeon’s girlfriend.

Her thoughts all stay in her mind, but it still brings a bitter taste to .

“Okay, unnie,” Jennie says with some hesitation. Jisoo doesn’t understand why. The younger woman rests her forehead on Jisoo’s, “You’ll always be here for me, right?” She says, her voice barely above a whisper.

Before Jisoo can answer, Jennie’s phone rings in between them. When Jennie lifts her phone up to her ear, Jisoo notices that she’s wearing all of their rings.

Jisoo doesn’t have a lot of time to think about it because soon enough, Jennie’s being escorted by Nayeon into her car. The eldest tries not to break when she sees their silhouettes come a little bit too close to each other before Nayeon starts the car and drives away.

Jisoo can no longer control the tears that spill from her eyes.

“Jennie-yah, I wasn’t expecting you to actually go all out,” Nayeon snickers as they both take their seats. Jennie’s thankful that the older woman decided to book a private room at the restaurant. Dispatch would be all over them if they spotted them together again, and dinner would be nonexistent.

“It’s, well...” Jennie mutters as she fiddles with the rings on her fingers. She’s decided to wear all of her rings today despite them looking mismatched, “Jisoo chose my outfit for tonight.”

“Oh?” Nayeon’s brows raise up as she eyes Jennie curiously, her gaze lingering, “She knows your style well,” She pauses when a few servers come in to place their food on the table.

“Will you guys have fun after this or something?” Nayeon rests her chin in her hands and snickers. 

Jennie’s brows immediately scrunch together in confusion.

“No what are you talking about?”

“Um, aren’t you guys like together now or something?” Nayeon asks, dumbfounded,  “Look, I’m sorry you had to look after me on Jisoo’s birthday… I was being really stupid— but the ring!” She screams. Jennie feels even more relieved that Nayeon opted for a private room with how loud she is.

“What about it?” Jennie still can’t seem to connect the dots.

“You gave her a ring!” Nayeon cries out.

“I told you it wouldn’t make a difference,” Jennie huffs and Nayeon stabs her fork fiercely into her salad.

“Did you get rejected?” The older woman asks pointedly. Jennie can’t help but feel just a bit intimidated.

“I—”

“Let me guess; you didn’t even ask,” Nayeon interjects quickly, and Jennie deflates in her seat. The older woman munches on her salad aggressively.

Jennie sighs and runs a hand down her hair. She avoids Nayeon’s piercing gaze and decides to just pick at her food.

“No. I got scared,” She admits. Jennie knows it isn’t possible, but it feels like Nayeon’s growing in her seat when she hears Nayeon drop her fork on the plate.

“Scaredy cat Jennie-yah,” Nayeon starts, “When will you stop hiding?”

“You got rejected, unnie,” Jennie blurts out defensively, already frowning at her poor choice of words, “Jeongyeon didn’t even tell you why until you saw Jihyo kissing her. Jihyo and Jeongyeon didn’t even tell you they were dating, and they’re your best friends!” Jennie blurts out loudly and bites her lip to shut herself up.

Jennie feels terrible for hitting a nerve. She is well aware that Nayeon isn’t over everything that’s happened to her, either. The older woman is just much, much stronger than she will ever be. Even if she did decide to get drunk during the day. On Jisoo’s birthday, no less!

Jennie isn’t sure if Jisoo will ever forgive her for missing on her special day.

“Look,” Nayeon starts, bringing Jennie back to their conversation. The older woman looks away, tears pricking in her eyes, “That’s me, and not you. Sometimes it doesn’t work out and sometimes it does. That’s just life, Jennie,” Jennie tries to interject, feeling bad about snapping at Nayeon, but the older woman holds a hand up to stop her from talking.

Nayeon leans forward, picking her fork up again and pointing it at Jennie, “You came back from New Zealand just to be with Jisoo, and you didn’t even know your feelings for her back then. Y