None of Us Saw This Coming

August, 2017: A Mistake

"Happy birthday to us! Happy birthday to us!"

The private room in one of the restaurants at Itaewon was filled with loud cheers and celebration. Nine young girls were visible in the room as they happily sang a birthday song. Blackpink and Red Velvet decided to throw a small celebration for their anniversaries that were only set about a week apart.

It was the youngest Yeri's idea, which soon was approved by Sooyoung, who was so excited about the idea of finally getting to hang out with Chaeyoung after planning on doing so over and over just to end up not executing the plan because their schedules always clashed. So joyfully, Sooyoung told Chaeyoung about the plan, and it was not long until the invitation was extended to Jisoo's ears, who then passed it along to Jennie while confirming it to Seulgi who then told Wendy and Irene as she confirmed it again to their youngest members.

While Lisa, obliviously, just tagged along because she was dragged by her eonnis and being the ever-so-obedient maknae put her in the place where she would just follow her eonnis with no questions asked. So there they were all, happily chatting with one another while Lisa looked a bit out of place because when her Eonnis said they were celebrating their anniversary, she only had them in mind; them as in Jisoo, Jennie, Chaeyoung, and her. Never once did it cross her mind that the celebration would also be attended by the Red Velvet members.

She was not ready to meet the eldest member of the group. At least not then, when what she did was still freshly carved in her head—that deliberately took her involuntarily to the moment she was so sure she would forever regret.

It all started somewhere in the middle of July after their last encounter at Inkigayo when Irene and Lisa began to text each other quite frequently—keeping their casual conversation on. Irene sometimes shared her pictures with Lisa who did the same, telling each other about their days until one day during Red Velvet's reality show filming in Yeosu, Irene went MIA and Lisa could not help her worried arse that she had to plead with her manager to contact Red Velvet's manager just so she could know if Irene was okay.

It turned out she was not.

According to their manager, Irene was having some indigestion that required her to rest, that was why she could not come to the phone. Lisa did not know how or even why, but by the time her senses finally got back to her body, she already arrived at Yeosu even before the sun reached the middle of the day.

"Lisa-yah, where are you? Why aren't you in your room? Let's have breakfast together!" Chaeyoung's voice blasted through her phone as soon as she turned it on and picked that very first call ringing her device up.

"I'm—uh—I'm outside," Lisa tried to hide her whereabouts with a vague answer.

"What time will you be home?"

"Late."

"Where are you exactly?"

Chaeyoung knew something was up because that was not how Lisa usually answered a question. First and foremost, Lisa had never once gone out earlier before the sun reached her bloody arse whenever they had no schedule—like that day—without a heads up to the members. Second, she always gave the exact approximate time she would be home whenever she was asked—unlike that day. Then those tiny details failed to be delivered by the youngest, so it was only natural for Chaeyoung to pick up on things that unavoidably gave Lisa out.

She could never lie.

At least not to this one (to be fair, she could not lie to all her members—they would see the lies right through the youngest in a blink).