You're everything I want | Jenlisa

Just Little Touches

"Ruby Jane, darling, we thought you'd never get here, we were waiting for ages-" Her mother said without taking a breath, ushering the two of them into the house.

"Mum," Jennie said, stopping Yerim in her tracks. She put her arm back around Lisa's waist, bringing her forward. "This is Lalisa Manoban."

Lisa stepped towards Jennie's mother, stranding straight with a smile on her face, all trace of nerves gone. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Kim, I've heard so much about you," she said, reaching out a hand for Jennie's mother to shake.

"I wish I could say the same about you," Yerim said, offering Lisa a warm smile. "You've been quite an elusive topic in this house - Jane hasn't told us much at all. Oh, and please call me Yerim, dear."

She lead the pair of them into the living room, and Jennie couldn't help but notice how Lisa kept sneaking glances around the place, staring up at the high ceilings and mahogany furniture. She sat primly on the sofa, quite still. While Yerim was occupied in another room, trying to find Jennie's father, Lisa leaned in towards her.

"The floors are made of marble!" she muttered into her ear.

"Yeah, and they have Persian rugs," Jennie said, dryly. "Try not to think about it."

Jennie adjusted herself into a more comfortable sitting position, her fingers accidentally brushing Lisa's, her skin sparking at the touch. Lisa's eyes widened a little, and the pair shot each other a look before their eyes darted away, Jennie snatching her hand away to scratch the back of her head.

"Jiyoung!" they heard Yerim call from the other room. "Come and meet Lisa!"

Jennie's father entered the room with a sense of grandeur, and as always, Jennie felt a little like there should have been some kind of fanfare as she came through the door. The way he moved commanded attention and he filled up space in a way that Jennie never could; even if it had been crowded, Jiyoung would have been impossible to ignore.

Lisa rose to her feet, and with the same polite smile she'd been using morning – the same smile, Jennie noticed, that she used for customers – offered her hand out for him to shake.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir," she said, as his hand gripped hers and shook it with enough force to remove her arm from its socket.

"Call me Jiyoung, please," he said. "Wonderful to meet you, lass. You're certainly a beautiful young lady, my Jennie's a very lucky gal."

"Ah, thank you," Lisa spluttered and ducked her head, her cheeks turning a little red.

Jiyoung joined Yerim on her seat, and Lisa sank back down beside Jennie, and this time her hands finding hers was no accident.

She felt her skin pricking again as their fingers met.

"So, what do you do, Lisa?" Yerim asked.

"I work in a bar," Lisa said, her customer service smile back on her face. "It's not what I want to do forever, but it's enough to get by on for now."

Jennie frowned, as her thoughts turning to Lisa's cold, draughty apartment, the heating never on, the endless amount of bills stuffed into every corner. "Lisa wants to be a journalist, eventually," she said. "She's going to take another course or an internship as soon as the money picks up."

"Is that right?" Yerim said, with a smile.

Lisa blinked. She'd been saving money for ages, putting every spare coin into a separate bank account - but she hadn't told many people, for fear that it might never happen. She'd only mentioned that to Jennie once, in passing. "Yeah," Lisa said, still staring wide-eyed at Jennie. "I dread to think of the loan I'd have to take out, though."