QUITS

Chapter 17

Lisa didn't say a word and Jongin lets her. He knows her way too well to not pressure her about anything that bothers or hurts her. Lisa will always tell him anyway.

After minutes of silence — well save from the AC's soft buzz sounds and Lisa's casual sniffing, Lisa sighs.

"I guess karma finally got me."

"Huh?"

"I should've followed your advice."

Despite being confused because Lisa isn't making sense now, he stays quiet.

"She knows."

"Who knows what?"

"Jennie knows who I am. She knows what I did. She knows me all along. And yet.."

The last words came out so soft and so broken that it made him panic, he once promised himself that he doesn't want to see or hear her get hurt like this again but here they are. His jaws clenches. Irritation slowly surfaces.

"She knows that I was that dumb girl back in Auckland. You were right. All the things I did to her and how mad she was when she talked about it, in no way hell she'll forget me. How dumb do I have to be to think that we could start in a clean slate."

Now Jongin is pissed.

"What did she do?" He tries not to get spiteful but his voice betrayed him.

Lisa seems to give no care about it. "I overheard her conversation with her cousin. Before you judge me, it wasn't on purpose. You know how big and tall the back rest of the couches in Jigglypuff café. I didn't know I sat just right behind their table."

Lisa stops to take a deep breath. "I was about to get out there, trust me but I heard my name and I got curious. Turns out to be a blessing and a nightmare in disguise. She had it all planned. She made me walk straight to her trap."

His jaws are clenching really hard now. He's getting mad, like really mad.

"She planned to lure me in and when she thinks she got me good, she's set to hurt me. None of the things she did were true. All this time, she toyed me. She was playing with me and she successfully did so."

Lisa places her elbows onto her lap and buries her face against her hands. She starts to silently cry and each sob and hiccup she produces is equivalent to a jab in Jongin's heart. He had never heard her cry this bad, this broken and this sad.

He immediately engulfs her into a hug. Though Lisa refuses to move from her position, his warmth and comfort are enough to finally break her down.

"Let it out. Damn it." Jongin whispers, he wants to say something but that won't probably help so he stays quiet and continues to hold Lisa as she cries her heart her.

He knew it, Lisa got it pretty good and bad. Lisa is helplessly head over heels with Jennie hence the breakdown. Jongin knew all of Lisa's exes, both men and women, and she never cried when they broke up. To keep it real, Lisa never went serious with them and that's probably why they got less to zero reactions from the woman when they broke up.

This time, it's different.

This is the longest and the most heart breaking cry Jongin had ever heard from her.

He should've been more careful. He should've been more vocal and not let Jennie have her way in but he also knows he can't baby his bestfriend all the time — not like Lisa wants that plus his protective stunts could only go a certain way. He knows that. One way or another, Lisa needs to be on her own but doesn't lessen the amount of guilt, pain and anger he has right now.