Miss J | Jensoo

Ch43. Out in the Open

Jennie stole a few glances at Jisoo when the girl was not looking.

Changed out of her dress and freshened up, the raven donned a baggy white tee tucked into grey cotton sweats. Under the light, Jennie could see layers of bandage twirled around Jisoo's torso under the tee, and some more bandage around her re-stitched arm peeked out from under the sleeve. The home attire surely looked comfy, but Jennie could only imagine how much Jisoo must be hurting underneath all that, as the raven winced a little when she tried to adjust her sitting posture opposite the brunette.

A wave of guilt washed over Jennie but she hid it behind her stoic face. And when Jisoo was about to make eye contact, Jennie swiftly averted. She was still mad at her.

"Rosé and I, we uh, we're helping someone look for his long-lost daughter. And we suspect his other daughter wants to destroy her sister before she's found."

This captured Jennie's attention and she was finally willing to look at Jisoo, whose relief showed across her facial features.

"And her attempts have escalated from sowing discord and humiliation, to rape, drug spiking, and murder, of not just the sister but the people around her too," Jisoo swallowed and clasped her hands together, a little fidgety and nervous.

"Ohhkayy," Lisa straightened up and cocked an eyebrow, not any more certain than Jennie about where this was going.

Jisoo visibly inhaled and licked her lips. She looked at everyone else before settling her eyes on Jennie. "We think Jennie is the long-lost daughter we are searching for, someone we need to protect until confirmed."

"What? Then who's my sister?" Jennie's shock translated into volume and broke the silence she had been keeping. After all these years, was she finally going to know her biological family?

Jisoo's brown orbs brimmed with worry, "We can't tell you, but we think she's out to get you." Lisa gasped, Dara frowned, and Jennie's mind struggled with the puzzle pieces.

"This is insane. How do you even know for sure if I'm the one?"

Jisoo dropped her gaze to the floor, quiet. Seeing this, Rosé answered instead, "Two ways to ascertain: one, a star-shaped birthmark; two, DNA."

"You have a star-shaped birthmark?" Lisa sounded surprised.

"But... Jennie hasn't gone for any DNA test, has she?" Dara asked simultaneously.

"Uhh," Rosé glanced at Jisoo.

Only Jisoo and Jennie remained silent, but the puzzle pieces in Jennie's mind screeched into place, cruel and loud like fingernails on chalkboard. The truth was beyond her wildest guess.

All she needed was a night with me... for her to tick off the two checkboxes...

With all the space in this apartment, Jennie ironically felt suffocated and caved in. She finally scoffed and chuckled mockingly at her own stupidity, "So, I'm just a mission, huh?"

"Jennie, I –"

"I see," she nodded at nothing in particular, "Your college transfer, meeting me, taking me out, kissing me, everything – whatever we had, it was all part of the plan, wasn't it?" Her lips were quivering and she bit down on the bottom one as hard as her memories were now hitting her mind's eye, forcing her to recollect and rethink.

"No, it's not al–"

"Was the hangover even real? What about the nightmare?" The memory of that night was coming back with a vengeance, humiliating her to the point of tears, but pain knows no boundaries.