the rules of moving forward

II

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Who Is It?

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It's not an alien scene to Jisoo being greeted firsthand by the press upon stepping out of her limo.

What's quite new to her is how they seemed to double in number this time around, and it worried her for Chaeyoung whom she helped climb out of the limo after her, arm held out for the blonde to take.

Chaeyoung took in the sight, obviously stunned. "This isn't just another Tuesday for you, is it?" she finds herself mumbling into Jisoo's ear.

Jisoo sighed, shaking her head. "It was probably Kai," she retorts just as quietly, tone rather a little bit regretful.

Chaeyoung turned to look at her in concern. "Hey," she reaches out to caress Jisoo's cheek, smiling reassuringly. "You're fine."

At this, Jisoo smiles back.

"I know." She held Chaeyoung's hand up, kissing the back of it softly. "I have you."

Chaeyoung effectively blushed, leaning in to press a soft kiss on her girlfriend's cheek and causing the flashes and murmurs to intensify. Chaeyoung tried her best to shut the unnecessary voices out, focusing on the way Jisoo held her hand that was resting on the brunette's arm and squeezed it softly.

Cameras and microphones were shoved forcefully to their faces as they tried to walk past the press, Jisoo noticing her girlfriend's hold tighten on her arm. She couldn't help but feel slightly guilty knowing that she put Chaeyoung into this. Finding out about Jennie and Lisa sent Kai into overdrive, and whenever he feels like he's not doing enough, he lets himself give in to inclination that results to trouble more often than not.

That's how Jisoo ended up going with him to the club the night before, where Kai recklessly threw a whooping one hundred thousand dollars on drinks (and strippers— Jisoo never looked). And perhaps, Kai managed to make it to the news, this time, dragging Jisoo along.

Chaeyoung knew about the cousins night out, as Kai likes to say, and she understood. She feels so much sympathy for the boy, and she can't bring herself to hate how childish Kai was acting, knowing he has his reasons. But sometimes, she also can't help but be a little pissed at how he manages to drag Jisoo into his mess every single time.

"This is gonna ruin you even more than you already are, Kim," were the words Seulgi first said the second they stepped into the Kang manor where the brunch table was set up out on the first floor balcony. "Seriously, what is it with you Kim's and your scandalous coping mechanisms? If Irene were to divorce me, I would've just stayed in bed all week in my sweatpants and some ice cream, perhaps, a private stripper—"

"Oh, dear god," Seulgi's wife, Irene, cuts her off the second she steps into the balcony with one of the maids who's holding a plate of freshly baked cinnamon bread. "Kang Seulgi, can I please have one day of you not embarrassing me? Hi, sweetie, sorry about that."

Irene ignores the way Seulgi cackles obnoxiously in her seat and leans in to greet both Chaeyoung and a chuckling Jisoo with a peck on the cheek. "What is it with you, getting more and more intolerable as you age, Seul?" Jisoo shots back, making Seulgi laugh louder, sending a finger at Jisoo's direction.