Forgotten Memories | JENSOO [18+]

Chapter Eighteen: The Ifs

By dinner the next evening, Paul had observed quite a bit in his visit. Jennie and Jisoo had this dance they did. Neither one quite crossing over a line, though he sensed they wanted to.

He stood at the den door. "Hey Sooya," he called.

Jisoo looked up, surprised to see him there. She'd been going over contracts and invoices for months trying to figure out what was happening on sites. It simply wasn't adding up or making sense.

"I'm getting home fever. Let's go out for a while," Paul said.

"Okay," Jisoo responded cautiously.

After getting their jackets on, Paul approached Jennie, kissed her cheek and said, "Hey Nini, we're gonna go out for a couple beers. Hold down the fort."

Jisoo waited for the argument. She was thrown when Jennie looked at her brother. "Have fun," she told them then walked into the living room.

They found a tall table at the sports bar. Two beer down, Jisoo got down to business. "Okay, Oppa, what's this about?"

"Uh, in case you haven't noticed, we're having a couple beers."

"And you wanted me out of the house why?"

"Wow, no getting anything past you eagle eye," Paul joked.

"Look, I just want to hear how things are since Jennie come home."

"You have a concern?" Paul noted her on guard. Something he could see daily since his arrival.

"No. You know it's just nice to see Jennie back to her old self. I've missed her."

That took Jisoo off guard. What the hell was she talking about, 'Jennie's old self'?

"You live in another state, Oppa," Jisoo said before taking another swig from her bottle.

"Doesn't mean I don't remember my sister. For all the hell we went through as kids, Jennie always had a way of taking it one day at a time."

"Are we talking about the same Jennie here?"

Paul motioned the waitress over for another round. Once they had their full bottles, he leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table.

"She's the Jennie I remember. What one do you remember?"

Oh no, Jisoo wasn't going to fall into that trap. The minute she said anything to the other Kim's about Jennie's temperament prior to the accident, she knew she'd have them all over her.

"Not the one you do," Jisoo finally answered.

Paul sat back in thought a moment. "I was hoping moving away had helped Jennie. She needed it, that's for sure. But, I guess with all that stuff with Mom and Dad, we didn't see the change."

"Oppa, what are you getting at?"

Paul knew when to be evasive and when to be upfront. Jisoo needed upfront.

"Look, I remember last Christmas. I know you guys were having some problems and tried to cover, but we could see it."

"So,"

"So, I'm not seeing it with you guys right now."

"That's because Jennie doesn't remember it yet."

"Exactly," Paul confirmed. "But you do. And, you're walking on egg shells waiting for it to happen all over again."

"Oppa..."

"Just give me a minute," Paul interrupted. "I can kinda see why Unnie dislikes you."

"Thanks!" Jisoo took another swig.