Roommates // Jenlisa

9: Couldn't Say No

Lisa sighed, knowing this was coming but not really feeling excited about. Seulgi leaned over to her and quietly said, "By the end of this week, you'll have definitely earned the right to dye your hair some crazy color." Lisa smiled at that, deciding that Seulgi was right and making a mental note to pick up some bleach and hair dye sometime this week.

•••

Lisa spent a lot more time at the office than she usually would've that week, not getting home until after seven every day other than Friday. Friday would be deployment day, and assuming nothing broke majorly that night, the team would be able to actually relax that night. Lisa was counting on it, because she was supposed to be going out with Jennie somewhere, although she hadn't hardly had any time to think about it. Not only was she at work late every day, but she'd handled a few work things from home before bed as well. She was definitely low on sleep and was basically counting the hours until deployment on Friday afternoon.

On Thursday, things were shaping up to be pretty good for the deployment, and the team got to leave by six-thirty. Lisa got home right at seven to a seemingly empty house. Usually, Jisoo and Chaeyoung would be downstairs having dinner about now, so the fact that they weren't made her guess that they weren't home. As for Jennie, she could be out or up in her room.

Lisa prepared herself a quick dinner, running a hand tiredly through her hair as she waited for the microwave to heat up her meal. She then scarfed it down as fast as she could, not even really feeling full afterwards, before tossing the trash away and heading upstairs, ready to collapse into her bed for a while before even considering putting her attention anywhere like obtaining a more meaningful dinner.

But as she reached the top of the stairs, she suddenly became aware of Jennie's voice raising in her room.

"Why the hell would you do that?" she was demanding. "I was asking you. Not them!" A pause, and then, "I know that, but can you really not get it? Fine, fine, fine, what?" Another pause. "Are you fucking kidding me?" It sounded like she might be crying as well as yelling, and Lisa felt her heart clench as she leaned on the outside of her own bedroom door, feeling a little bad for eavesdropping, but being unable to move all of the sudden. "Do you not realize how horrible that is? I don't believe you; if you did you wouldn't be telling me! Well I didn't ask you to do that, Taehyung!" She was definitely sobbing now, and Lisa pressed her lips together firmly, wondering who this Taehyung was and why he was making Jennie cry. "You know what, I want you to forget about all of it. I thought you'd do this one last thing for me, and I realize now that you're nothing more than their stupid puppet. No—fuck you, Taehyung! You got what you wanted, I'll stop asking you. Do me the same courtesy and don't fucking call me again."

Lisa heard a thump from Jennie's room, like maybe she'd slammed her phone down or maybe just collapsed into her bed. Lisa chewed on her lip, wondering if Jennie would rather be left alone. But she heard her sobbing, and Lisa didn't think she could just go into her room and ignore it.

Taking in a deep breath, she walked toward Jennie's door and, after building up the courage, she knocked lightly on the door. "Jennie?" she called softly. She heard the sobbing cease all of the sudden, and she frowned deeply, hoping that Jennie wouldn't be too upset that Lisa had overheard the phone call. "If you want to be alone, I'll leave you alone, but—"

"You can come in," she heard Jennie call out weakly, and Lisa opened the door to reveal Jennie's room, which she'd never even really got much of a glimpse of. The theme of the room was red, but it wasn't too in your face. Dark wood furniture contrasted the red rug and red bedspread. She had some things pinned up on the walls. Lisa didn't have a lot of time to look around, though, because her attention was immediately going to where Jennie was sitting on the edge of her bed, her cheeks streaked with tears. "I didn't think you'd be home for another half hour or so."