The Tiger King (Chaelisa)

66| Pizza Time

previously: lisa had a meltdown after the return of an old nightmare, jenlisa argue over long-held secrets, jennie and somi hang out, somi offers to go Rkive and check on Dahyun.

Jisoo noticed something was up with the sisters once Lisa walked in. Jennie, who had been wrapped around her on the couch with Dalgom snuggled on her side, stiffened for all of three seconds before she peeled herself off Jisoo and stood up to go to her sister.

"Well, let's get this show on the road. Got lots of work to do," Jennie teased.

"Ha. Ha. Ha. Very funny Jen," Lisa retorted and then neither moved.

Jisoo turned from Jennie to Lisa, puzzled by their stilted attempts at conversation and how they avoided each other's gazes.

"Is everything okay?" she asked bluntly—she wasn't one to beat about the bush after all. "I thought you guys made up after your last little tiff."

"Just nerves Chu," Jennie said, elbowing her sister in the ribs. "Right, Lisa?"

"Yeah, yeah," Lisa chuckled feebly, rubbing the back of her neck. "I got a hot date to impress."

"And I'm nervous that this clown might embarrass herself in front of said hot date," Jennie added, slapping Lisa's arm. "Well, let's get you ready then."

The tension was palpable, the very air itself stiff and brittle as both girls left the room. The space between them as they walked out made Jisoo wince—she was sure she would have been able to drive her SUV through.

She had assumed that they had resolved their latest argument about the dinner date restaurant location but it seemed as though she had overestimated their ability to reconcile.

"Should I get involved?" Jisoo wondered out loud. She turned to Dalgom. "What do you think, ahjussi? But then again, it's only a little disagreement. I had plenty with my sister and look at us now—wait no bad example. But I mean, they're tight. Surely, it will pass? It's just a dinner date. Maybe they're on their periods so they're extra irritated. But Jennie didn't use any pads..."

She frowned deeply, vaguely troubled that Jennie had managed to smoothly evade confronting Lisa and managed to pretend that everything was fine, without Jisoo even twigging it.

"It's not that I don't trust her," Jisoo told Dalgom, who sat and stared at her, blinking every so often as though he really was listening. "But...she keeps hiding and suppressing. I know it takes time to open up and I don't want to push her but...I'm starting to really worry for her. And for Lisa."

Jennie had claimed Lisa's freakout was a symptom of her PTSD, likely triggered by a combination of inner distress over something, but nothing that a good strenuous workout couldn't manage.

"I'm fine now," Lisa had shrugged when they met up again and clammed up when Rosé tried asking. It had been strange to see Lisa so distant but thankfully, she soon was back to talking and laughing and snuggling with Rosé as time passed.

 Jisoo believed both girls wholly yet at the same time, the faintest trace of unease was starting to form in her gut.

There was more to what Jennie said than she was letting on, and though Jisoo had gotten the bare bones of Lisa's backstory, she badly wanted—needed—to know that Jennie and Lisa were safe. But Jennie couldn't even bring herself to explain the full story, let alone guarantee their safety and from what the little information she had gleaned, Jisoo had to admit that paranoia was slowly starting to creep up on her, making her second guess people more than usual.

For instance, the day after Lisa's meltdown, Jennie had determinedly marched down to the suspicious car that always seemed to be parked near the condo, vowing she was going to confront the person and get to the bottom of the situation right away.