two

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Jennie wakes to the mechanical hum of the plane and the sound of glassware and cutlery nearby. Her head throbs slightly and her mouth is dry and she wishes for a moment that she'd refused the wine with dinner. She keeps her eyes closed, wonders if there is any chance she can just fall back asleep.

Instead, she remembers that she's going to see Lisa today, for the first time since their engagement ended, and a knot of anxiety takes shape in the pit of her stomach.

She pushes the thought away.

With the shades still pulled down on the windows, the suite is in a sort of twilight. Even so, Jennie can tell that it's daylight outside. She rolls over on her side to check her phone for the time, tries to remember what time zone she should be in.

A light knock sounds on the door and she hears the attendant tell her that they'll be on approach to Heathrow soon. Jennie blinks heavily and looks around in the grey darkness for a bottle of water.

As she swings her legs over the side of the bed and rubs sleep from her eyes, Jennie can hear Chaeyoung's muffled voice on the other side of the wall. Chaeyoung sounds bright and awake, even if Jennie can't make out what she's saying. Of course she's a morning person, Jennie thinks.

Somehow that isn't surprising at all.

Jennie stands and stretches, then reaches into her purse and pulls out her cosmetics bag and compact. She flips it open and winces.

Her reflection is nothing short of disastrous. Her hair is a mess and the mascara she didn't remove last night in a fit of pique is now spread in wide, dark rings around each eye. She's planning on showering in the first class lounge once they land—putting that off until the hotel seems like inviting disaster, no doubt Taeyeon will be in the lobby, waiting for her like a vulture—but there is no way in the world that she's going to be seen by anyone looking like she does right now.

Standing up also makes Jennie aware of just how urgently she needs to use the bathroom, so she slides on the provided slippers and grabs the rest of her cosmetics case and a change of clothes. She unlatches her door and peers out into the hallway. Jennie can make out the back of the steward as he makes his rounds, but other than that it's clear.

She walks swiftly to the bathrooms. Tries the first door. Locked, of course. The gruff voice from inside informs her that it's going to be a minute.

She grabs for the second door. It's also locked. But to Jennie's absolute horror, the voice that calls out "just a sec!" is far more familiar to her than she would like.

For the second time in two days, Jennie dismisses screaming as an option, however desirable. She's not even through contemplating whether or not she can run back to her suite when Chaeyoung steps out, smiling.

Chaeyoung looks unfairly good. She's dressed in the same outfit from the day before and, even though Jennie's certain that means Chaeyoung wore it to sleep, she looks just as maddeningly attractive in it now as she did when she stepped on the plane.

Jennie can clock the exact second Chaeyoung realizes it's Jennie who's waiting because her smile grows wider.

Jennie grimaces out a smile in return, mutters a greeting, and pushes past Chaeyoung before the other woman can say a word.

She spends far longer than she'd planned scrubbing her face and wondering why Chaeyoung seeing her when she's a mess is putting her this far off kilter. You hired her for godsakes, Jennie thinks, staring into the mirror and debating just how ridiculous she's going to feel if she puts makeup back on knowing she'll be showering it off again in an hour. What does it matter if she sees you looking like a socialite after a two day bender.

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