The Five Steps | Jensoo

Chapter 36

"It was nice to meet you, Jisoo," Hyeri says, snapping me out of my thoughts. She moves on to speak to another student who has wandered into her exhibit. I look back up at the largest painting with Chaeyoung next to me. I'm trying to understand how each painting represents something different when all ten of them look exactly the same.

Also, I think I could've painted them myself but I'm pretty sure that's a crappy thing to say at an art showing.

A funny thought hits me as I look up at the oversize painting, the brown, black, and tan shapes all pressed together. And once it hits I just cannot unsee it.

"Hey." I lean over, already laughing as I try to whisper in Chaeyoung's ear. "Doesn't it kinda look like... gigantic butt cheeks?" I laugh a little louder. It really does.

But Chaeyoung doesn't laugh with me. She just squints and shakes her head.

"Uh, not really. Not to me," she says.

"Oh yeah. No, they really don't. Sorry." I point my thumb over my shoulder. "You want to keep walking around?"

She smiles and nods, letting my unfunny joke thankfully fall into the past.

As we move around the room Chaeyoung comments on a lot of paintings and drawings and sculptures, but just like she didn't see the butt cheeks I don't see half of what she sees in them. Nonetheless, I stick by her as she talks to a million people about a million different pieces, my face feeling tired from having to smile every time she looks my way. I wish it were just the two of us but Chaeyoung seems to thrive off social interaction so maybe this is how it will always be...

As we move on through the exhibits, a text buzzes into my phone.

Jin

Jennie was here looking for you
She left but thought u should know

I suck in a sharp breath as a ringing in my ears blocks out all the sound in the room.

Jennie was looking for me.

Why was Jennie looking for me?

I wonder if she came to apologise.

I wonder what she wanted.

I wonder if she would've thought that painting looked like...

Yeah. I smile to myself. I know she would have.

And we would've laughed about it together, just the two of us because no one else would think it was funny, but it wouldn't matter. And then we would go get ice cream and walk around campus as late as we wanted, talking about all the things that we've never talked about with anyone else.

The good. The bad. It wouldn't matter. We'd talk about everything.

God, I miss–

No. I don't. Because it's like she said. None of that was real, so what is there to even miss?

What is real is that she's selfish, cocky, a horrible skater, brutally honest... though, that's unintentionally funny at times, independent, loyal, easygoing, and–

"Hey, Jisoo." Chaeyoung's voice pulls me out of my head, back to the art gala that I just can't seem to stay present at this evening.

"Yeah?" I ask, blinking away the past and realising that we've made our way into a secluded corner all by ourselves.

Chaeyoung stands in front of me, wringing her hands together nervously which is a look I haven't seen on her before.

"I'm really glad you came with me tonight, but I want to be honest with you," she huffs out.