S I G N S

Chapter 2

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry, I'm such an idiot, I had no idea you were deaf, I've been talking to you this entire time and you probably have no idea what I've been saying-" Lisa rambled on, as Jennie suppressed a laugh.

Reaching for the notepad and pen she kept next to her desk, Jennie quickly wrote out 'I'm not deaf, I just can't talk' before holding it up for Lisa to read. Still halfway through her tirade, Lisa stopped when she realised Jennie was holding up the notepad. With her elbow still propped up on the counter, Lisa placed her face in her palm, her long, dark hair spilling across the counter.

"Well now I'm even more embarrassed," Lisa laughed, looking back up at Jennie, who was scribbling away at the notepad.

'No problem, I get it all the time, everyone thinks that the only people who need sign language are deaf people'

Jennie held the notepad out for Lisa, exchanging it for another one of the books. She smiled down at her desk as she scanned the barcode on the backs of the rest of the books, placing them back on the counter in a neat pile.

"I'll remember that for next time-" Lisa said, breaking off midsentence. "Sorry, I don't know your name," she said sheepishly, waiting as Jennie picked up the notepad again.

'My name's Jennie, it's nice to meet you'

Lisa smiled again, her eyes gently crinkling at the corners. She extended one of her delicate, pale hands towards Jennie. After subtly wiping them on her trousers, Jennie shook her hand, the tingly feeling in her stomach making her heart race.

"I'm Lisa, it's nice to meet you too Jennie."

-----

Later that night, Jennie knocked on the door of Rosé's apartment, ready for 'sister plus Jisoo' night with pizza's in hand.

It was Jisoo who opened the door, flashing Jennie a smile that showcased her dimples.

"Hey Jennie! Need a hand?" Jisoo beamed at her, opening the door wider and grabbing a pizza box off the top of the pile.

Moving further into the apartment, Jennie spotted Rosé sat on the sofa in her pyjamas. Handing her a pizza box, she flopped down next to her, taking a slice out of her own box.

"Hey, I was starting to think you were going to bail on us," Rosé said through a mouthful of pizza.

'And miss an episode of Homeland? Not a chance'

Jennie signed back at her, her pizza slice clamped between her teeth.

Jisoo carried over three beers, and cuddled in next to Rosé, reaching over to Jennie to hand her one.

"Anything exciting happen at the library today?" Rosé asked, pressing play on the latest Homeland episode. Jennie felt her face going red as she toyed with her bottle of beer, wondering whether she should tell her sister about Lisa. Freeing up her hands, she started to sign her answer.

'I met someone today. We've met before, but today we actually talked. It's nothing big, but they're really nice'

"Wait, you met someone?" Rosé exclaimed, choking on her mouthful of beer. "Like someone you like?"

"Wait, what" Jisoo asked, "I only got like half of what you said, you know I can't keep up when you sign that fast."

"She met someone, someone she likes, Jennie actually talked to them." Rosé replied, filling Jisoo in on what she missed.

Jennie rolled her eyes and gestured to get their attention.

'Hello I'm right here! I don't like her, we've only talked once, but she's nice and kind, and she didn't even get scared off when I started signing'

Rosé and Jisoo shared a knowing look, before turning back to Jennie. She nervously pushed her glasses up her nose and took a bite of her pizza.

"So what's her name?" Rosé asked.

'Lalisa Manoban'

"LALISA MANOBAN?!" Jisoo yelled, "like THE Lisa Manoban?"

Jennie gave her a confused look and shrugged her shoulders, wondering what the big deal was, and if her Lisa was in fact THE Lisa Manoban, as Jisoo put it.

"Her brother's Leonard Manoban, he's serving 3 life sentences for setting off a bomb in congress last year, apparently his sister just moved here to take over as CEO of the company," Rosé explained, "they're in the middle of rebranding Manoban Corp, they lost a lot of investors after what Leo did."

"You might want to be careful there, Kim." Jisoo cautioned, reaching across to give Jennie's knee an affectionate pat, before turning back to the TV.

Jennie sat there dumbfounded. She weighed this against everything she knew about Lisa, which wasn't much beyond her taste in books. Now that she thought about it, the obscure topics made sense for the kind of research and technology Manoban Corp had produced in the past.

Then there was the fact that Lisa seemed so eager to get Jennie to talk to her. Jennie didn't want to read into it too much, especially after learning that Lisa had just moved to National City. It struck Jennie as quite odd that the CEO of a multi-billion-dollar company would want to talk to a librarian, and then it hit her.

She's lonely.