it's always ourselves that we find in the sea || jensoo

Chapter 20

That was even more surprising to Jennie, and her eyebrows rose slightly, "you- you do?"

"Yeah," Jisoo softly murmured, a gentle smile on her face as she nodded, more to herself than to Jennie, as if the true extent of her feelings were dawning on her as they spoke. "I think that ... I've never felt like this with anyone else. I know it's fast - god, I know - but the other night, before Chaeyoung interrupted us, I-" exhaling slightly, Jisoo gave her a hesitant smile, "I thought that maybe you were going to say it, and I know that you didn't, and I'm not asking you to, but I realised that I did."

"The other night?" Jennie said, her eyes widening slightly as she tried to recall what they'd been talking about before Chaeyoung had opened the door. It had been the ice cream. Jennie loved chocolate and strawberry ice cream. That's what she'd said, and she had to hold back a laugh at the realisation that what she'd been about to say next was that she loved apple pie. Not that she thought the idea of loving Jisoo laughable; she cared about her deeply, and perhaps she did love her, but Jennie hadn't really spent much time figuring out her feelings. "Oh. Oh , I mean-"

"No. Stop. Just ... tell me when you're ready," Jisoo interrupted her, a warm look in her eyes as she gave Jennie a dimpled smile.

Blushing, Jennie bit her lip as she tried to stop herself from smiling, clutching her coffee in one hand as she fiddled with her glasses with the other. "Thank you."

Nodding, Jisoo took another sip of her coffee and Jennie pulled her own food out of the bag, taking a bite of her burrito as she stared out at the sea. Then she started describing the day to Jisoo. The colour of the sea, the number of seagulls there were, the exact shades of the leaves and the way the sun weakly tried to break through the pale sky. Huddled up next to her, Jisoo patiently listened, a look of content on her face, and Jennie wrapped an arm around her shoulder, kissing the side of her head as she turned Jisoo's words over and over in her mind. I love you . For the most part, she was surprised that Jisoo had said it first, but that only made her feel warmer inside, that Jisoo was so open with her feelings. It had been a long while before she'd had anyone be so honest with her.

Sitting on the bleached, damp log, they finished their breakfast burritos as they listened to the sea and the wind, and Jennie smiled as she watched Jisoo's fingers drum on the pale wood, imagining the keys of a piano as she made her own music. Setting her empty coffee cup down on the log, Jennie slid off it, creating deep footprints in the damp sand as she turned to Jisoo, taking the cup out of her hand and setting it down beside her own, before she reached for her hand and gently pulled her to her feet. "Come on then, show we me what you're hearing."

Letting out a quick laugh, Jisoo was pulled into Jennie's arms, letting her hand trace its way up to her shoulder, while Jennie's  found her waist beneath her quilted coat. The wind ruffled their hair, and Jennie gently stroked her thumb along Jisoo's as they held their hands clasped together. Moving slowly, they danced to music that only Jisoo could hear, and as they danced, Jennie could almost hear it too, and knew that she'd hear it on the piano later on. With Jisoo's cheek resting on her shoulder, Jennie closed her eyes, feeling her heart beat strongly in her chest as she held Jisoo close. It suddenly struck her that they might not be the only two people on the beach, and she slowly opened her eyes, finding that they were both still alone, swaying to nothing in particular, except the song that Jisoo had half-composed in her head. Letting out a quiet laugh, Jennie's eyes crinkled at the corners and Jisoo drew back slightly, a questioning look on her face.

"I was just thinking that it's a good thing we're alone," Jennie explained, "or we'd look a bit strange, dancing on the beach."

"Well, I wouldn't know either way, so it's really only you who'd have to deal with the embarrassment."