Outline of You | Jensoo

Ch13.

She studies Jisoo picking aimlessly at the ends of the label stuck on the bottle in her hands. At this juncture, this person is not someone she is familiar with -- she is not the amusing architect who bounds into her office with bursting enthusiasm, or the skater who is fun, kind, confident and sensitive, or the annoying friend on the other line throwing witty humour over late in the night when she cannot sleep, or the listening ear who keeps her secrets beneath the waterfall.

No, this person next to her is definitely not the Jisoo she knows, but a side of the Jisoo she finds herself dying to know regardless.

And so her hand moves on its own to gently cover Jisoo's, stopping it from picking further.

"Hey... are you okay?"

Jisoo freezes at the touch. The back of her hand that meets Jennie's skin feels warm and comforting. She wonders if it has always had the same effect on Nayeon, and then her head pounds, as if to warn her not to overstep her boundaries. So, placing the bottle back down, she shifts in her seat, sits up a little straighter, and meanwhile slips her hand out from under Jennie's. She feels her chest tighten like it physically hurts to miss Jennie's touch.

She folds her arms and rests her elbows and gaze on the countertop. Tonight is supposed to be for unwinding or, as her best friend puts it, moping, not plastering on a smile in front of her biggest client and prettiest serendipity and the most distracting person on earth. Tonight, she is both unprepared and too tired to keep up the pretense.

"Thanks, but, I don't really want to talk about it," she forces a smile and a quick glance at Jennie, "it's sweet of you to ask though, but, yeah, sorry." She knocks back a shot, which burns her throat as much as her words did.

Despite the fact that she really, really wants to talk to Jennie like the way they used to, she needs to keep her at arm's length before she falls too deep.

Jennie does not recognize this Jisoo, but neither does she give up trying. She is, after all, good at negotiation.

"That's alright," she coos as her fingers brush Jisoo's hair back behind her shoulder, away from her face. "I just want you to know I'm here for you. Is there any way I can help?"

Jisoo closes her eyes and counts to three, hoping the copious amounts of soju have not devoured her self-restraint. It is dangerous, like a moth to fire, how every part of her automatically finds solace in the softness of Jennie's voice and the gentle graze of Jennie's fingers across her cheek.

"No, not really, I don't know - I mean -" she sighs and, not wanting to be rude, chances a glance at Jennie but regrets it because now, she cannot seem to tear herself away. Jennie's gaze is full of patience and empty of judgment, and it is chipping away at Jisoo's strength of will.

Jennie smiles, angelically, "It's hard, isn't it? Trying to organize thoughts and feelings, trying to sift out what you should say out of all that you want to say."

Jisoo finds herself agreeing inside but stays silent. She watches Jennie stretch to take the only bottle left standing, refill the only shot glass on the counter, and knock it back cleanly. They stay quiet for a while, keeping eye contact so mysteriously intense Jisoo worries her inner thoughts may actually be visible and she averts first.

She can feel Jennie still studying her side profile for a tad longer, before she waves a finger over the scatter of empty bottles lying in front of Jisoo, and picks one out, "A little game may help, are you game for it?"

Releasing a chuckle at that horrible attempt at word play, Jisoo wants to shake her head immediately but she figures a harmless game beats awkward silence any day, so she shrugs with a small, curious smile, "Entice me."