Jongin had his girlfriend in his arms as they cuddle in the couch whilst watching whatever series his girlfriend chose to binge watch when his phone went off.
He had no plans of answering it honestly and made a mental note to put it on silent next time but his girlfriend nudges him by her elbow.
"Babe, I think you need to get that."
He nuzzles the tip of his nose against her hair, he had grown way too addicted to it recently. "No. Let it ring."
"I would say that too but it's Lisa. She never calls you when we're together. That's proba—" he didn't even let her finish as he quickly reaches out for it — carefully not toppling his girlfriend over by the sudden movement.
She just smiles, gets off the couch and moves to the kitchen to give him privacy. She treats Lisa like a sister now plus she never gave her any headache unlike her boyfriend, unfortunately.
"Hey, what's up?"
He heard a sniff, it instigates panic in him.
"Were you crying? What's wrong?" He stands up and starts looking for his jacket he threw somewhere.
Lisa clears her throat. "Where are you?"
"Noona's, where are you?"
"Oh. Just somewhere. Forgot that you were with her, sorry to disturb you."
"Nonsense! Where are you? What's wrong?" And he couldn't somehow find his jacket, luckily for him, his girlfriend comes out of nowhere and hands it to him.
"What's wrong?" She asks silently, she saw the panic in Jongin's eyes and knowing how close these two are, she couldn't help but worry for Lisa too.
He shrugs. "I don't know but she's crying." He mouths back, now wearing his jacket.
A sniff. "I don't know what to do, Jong."
He frowns whilst grabbing his set of car keys. "Hold it. Let me go where you are. Please."
Another sniff. "Condo."
"I'll be there in a jiffy. Don't go anywhere! Don't open your door unless it's me."
Lisa chuckles. "Yes father."
"I am serious."
"I know. Drive safely."
"Stay there. Bye."
"Bye." He quickly heads straight to the foyer to wear his shoes.
"Noona, sorry. Lisa needs me."
She's already leaning against the wall whilst looking at him, smiling. "Go. She rarely needs your ass."
He chuckles, lands a kiss on her forehead before he sprints out of the unit. Jaws clenching and when the elevator took like forever, he makes a quick detour down the staircase.
"Hang in there."
***
"Lisa. It's me." Jongin says after punching in her passcode but couldn't get in because it's locked inside.
He heard a soft thud before he twists the knob. He removes his jacket and shoes before striding himself inside his bestfriend's house.
Nothing seems unusual though until he saw the gloomy look of Lisa's face, staring basically to nothing.
"Hey." He says, Lisa didn't even look up.
He hangs his jacket before moving closer, sitting right beside but with enough space between them to give her air to breathe and be calm. "What happened?"
Lisa didn't say a word and Jongin lets her. He knows her way too well to not pressure her about anything that bothers or hurts her. Lisa will always tell him anyway.
After minutes of silence — well save from the AC's soft buzz sounds and Lisa's casual sniffing, Lisa sighs.
"I guess karma finally got me."
"Huh?"
"I should've followed your advice."
Despite being confused because Lisa isn't making sense now, he stays quiet.
"She knows."
"Who knows what?"
"Jennie knows who I am. She knows what I did. She knows me all along. And yet.."
The last words came out so soft and so broken that it made him panic, he once promised himself that he doesn't want to see or hear her get hurt like this again but here they are. His jaws clenches. Irritation slowly surfaces.
"She knows that I was that dumb girl back in Auckland. You were right. All the things I did to her and how mad she was when she talked about it, in no way hell she'll forget me. How dumb do I have to be to think that we could start in a clean slate."
Now Jongin is pissed.
"What did she do?" He tries not to get spiteful but his voice betrayed him.
Lisa seems to give no care about it. "I overheard her conversation with her cousin. Before you judge me, it wasn't on purpose. You know how big and tall the back rest of the couches in Jigglypuff café. I didn't know I sat just right behind their table."
Lisa stops to take a deep breath. "I was about to get out there, trust me but I heard my name and I got curious. Turns out to be a blessing and a nightmare in disguise. She had it all planned. She made me walk straight to her trap."
His jaws are clenching really hard now. He's getting mad, like really mad.
"She planned to lure me in and when she thinks she got me good, she's set to hurt me. None of the things she did were true. All this time, she toyed me. She was playing with me and she successfully did so."
Lisa places her elbows onto her lap and buries her face against her hands. She starts to silently cry and each sob and hiccup she produces is equivalent to a jab in Jongin's heart. He had never heard her cry this bad, this broken and this sad.
He immediately engulfs her into a hug. Though Lisa refuses to move from her position, his warmth and comfort are enough to finally break her down.
"Let it out. Damn it." Jongin whispers, he wants to say something but that won't probably help so he stays quiet and continues to hold Lisa as she cries her heart her.
He knew it, Lisa got it pretty good and bad. Lisa is helplessly head over heels with Jennie hence the breakdown. Jongin knew all of Lisa's exes, both men and women, and she never cried when they broke up. To keep it real, Lisa never went serious with them and that's probably why they got less to zero reactions from the woman when they broke up.
This time, it's different.
This is the longest and the most heart breaking cry Jongin had ever heard from her.
He should've been more careful. He should've been more vocal and not let Jennie have her way in but he also knows he can't baby his bestfriend all the time — not like Lisa wants that plus his protective stunts could only go a certain way. He knows that. One way or another, Lisa needs to be on her own but doesn't lessen the amount of guilt, pain and anger he has right now.
Guilt for not doing his best to protect her.
Pain by seeing her this broken.
And anger towards the world because why Lisa has to suffer this? Isn't the pain her parents had caused her enough? Why does it feel like the world is turning against Lisa? Why!
Does he hate Jennie? He doesn't know because part of him understands why she did all that but a huge chunk of him doesn't understand why it had to be like this.
It would've been done and over if these two just sat down, talked it out and called it quits in a different way.
Both are stubborns.
Pathetically stubborn.
And now he's forced to see and hear his bestfriend crying in his arms.
***
"No classes?" Taemin says soon after he sees Lisa on the dance floor, stretching and wearing sweatpants and loose shirt.
"Good morning oppa and no. I have no classes today."
He sets his bag inside his locker and grabs his own dancing gear. "Got nothing to do at home then?"
Lisa nods, refuses to answer more than just that as she continues stretching. After her breakdown two days ago, she became restless and the only way that could set her at ease is either working or dancing. Their shift will not start until evening and she doesn't think she'll be able to stay home til then.
She also kind of like tiptoed her way to the university and the club room, wary and crossing her fingers to not meet Jennie somewhere along the way. She's not ready to meet her and she doesn't think she will ever be ready.
She does not hate Jennie, no matter how hard she tries to, she just can't although she resents her, way more than she should. It's best to avoid Jennie with all the living being she has than having a confrontation because there is no use for that.
Lisa is suffering and in pain, Jennie got what she wants. She got all the fun she wanted.
Lisa and Taemin shared and taught each other some pieces of their old choreographies for about an hour before Seulgi finally comes in.
"Oh? No class?" Taemin asks before chugging from his water bottle.
Seulgi shakes her head but never removes her eyes from the dazed and panting figure sitting on the floor near her bag. Seulgi is already aware of what happened two days ago and she felt guilty.
Jisoo followed by Chaeyoung soon walked in. Their eyes immediately went straight to Lisa's direction who just stands up and probably had no idea they're inside.
"Jisoo? Chaeng? What brought you here? What's up?"
Taemin's voice snaps Lisa out from her reveries and immediately meets the three pairs of eyes looking at her apologetically and with worries. She suddenly felt sick.
The conversation of Jennie and Jisoo's sister hit her so hard like a canon ball once again. That woman said Jisoo talked to her about Lisa. That means, Jisoo knows Jennie's plans.
It does not take a genius to piece two and two together.
They fucking knew all of it. They know.
All this time, she treated all of them as her friends and yet they were all up against her, ganging up and toying her.
She feels pathetic.
She feels suffocated.
She clenches her jaws and moves straight to her locker to grab her stuffs, she needs to get out of there as soon as possible.
"Lis—"
"Don't." Lisa cut Chaeyoung off before she could finish whatever she wants to say.
The tranquility and resentment in Lisa's voice sent shiver down their spines, even Taemin caught that — he ended up looking at the four women back and forth.
"Lisa, let us explain."
Lisa slams the door of her locker, effectively startling the now wincing trio. "Explain what? Explain how all of you deliberately enjoyed the fun of toying me? What else do you want to explain? Ah. Or maybe you're just here to see the fruit of all your hard work!"
Lisa grits her teeth and finally looks at them. "There you go. Feel free to look at it, want to take a picture as souvenir? Go ahead. Too bad your fun had to stop this early, huh? Good acting though. You convinced me."
Jisoo shakes her head. "Lisa. Please, let us explain our side. We tried our best to prevent this from happening bu—"
Lisa laughs to cut her off, it was fake laugh but the pain is there, Chaeyoung noticed it. "Good try then. You know what, I don't want to see all of you." She looks at Taemin. "Oppa, I am resigning from the club. I am sorry."
"What?!"
"No!"
"What?! No! Lisa!" Seulgi starts to panic, she was about to take a step forward when Lisa's glare stops her from doing so.
"So you're still up for it huh?"
"Lisa, that's not why we are he—"
"Get out of my way."
Lisa is now glaring at them, effectively making Chaeyoung take a step back.
"I'll sign the resignation form later, oppa. I don't think I would be able to stay here and act like everything is okay when it's not." Lisa chuckles dryly, this was a painful decision but she has to. "Good riddance. Good riddance, huh?"
"Lisa ple—"
"Just don't go near me. Don't talk to me. Don't."
She didn't even bother looking at them and accidentally bumped into Joohyun's shoulder in the hallway. She was about to apologize but when she saw who it was, she grits her teeth and walks away — ignoring the calls from the four women behind her.
***
Mina and BamBam immediately caught up after Jongin filled them in. It's not the entire story for sure but those two knew just enough for them to not talk or mention Jennie's or her friends' name when Lisa is around.
It's been a week since then and Lisa had never set her foot in the dance club room. After her classes, she would head straight to the café to either clock in early to help or heads straight to their lounge area to catch some sleep she fails to have the night prior.
Jongin knew about the resignation and he had been trying his best to get her back there because no matter how disappointed he is with Seulgi, Lisa needed not to resign. Of course her resignation form was never signed by Taemin and Seulgi so she's not officially out from the club, but Lisa had mastered the art of ignoring him whenever he brought it up so he just gives up.
It's Monday and the café is unusually quiet so the four of them settles either behind or across the counter area to take a rest, they still have an hour left before the shift ends.
"You have any plans for the break?" BamBam asks.
"How about you worry for the finals first before that?" Mina replies.
"Shesh. Such a fun killer."
She shrugs. "Was just being practical here. The higher year students once mentioned that the Final exams in this school is harder than any collegiate schools out there."
"I heard that too. They said it's part of their plan to lessen students every after freshmen year." Jongin replies, wiping up the counter in front of him.
"They should've screened the applicants and make the entrance exam harder." Mina replies.
BamBam groans. "I barely passed the exam so no thanks to that but I totally agree with the application screening."
While the trio are talking, Lisa busies herself cleaning the bar top and arranging mugs and teacups. BamBam quietly calls for Jongin's attention and when the latter looks up, BamBam nods to Lisa's direction but immediately got a shaking head and a 'Let her be' silent reply from Jongin.
Despite everything that happened, Lisa goes to work without a miss and hangs out with them every after shift but there are moments like this throughout the week — unresponsive, dazed and on auto-pilot. The three of them could only sigh and wished they could take some of those burden and pain off of their friend but there's nothing they can really do other than always being there for her.
Lisa excused herself, saying she needs to get new paper straws before disappearing at the back.
The chimes placed at the door made a sound, signaling new customer. BamBam hops off the bar stool reserved for employees followed by Mina only to stop when they see who came in.
"Uh. Jongin, new customers." Mina says.
"I know that." He replies before he looks up, his jaws clenches right immediately but he steadies himself, he has work that needs to be done.
"Hello. Welcome to our café. What's your order?"
Jisoo immediately grows uncomfortable just by the way Jongin stares at her, stares at them. It was so empty, distant and cold.
"Uhm." Instantly forgetting the drink she wants to order, she turns around to buy some time and get away from his stare by asking the others — who are also getting fidgety — their desired mix.
"Espresso Macchiato for me, Venti." Says Joohyun.
"Matcha Green tea, grande." Says Seulgi.
"Iced Americano, venti." Says Chaeyoung.
"Black Chai, tall." Jennie says.
Jisoo nods, turns her head back to Jongin's piercing eyes to relay their orders and followed by her own.
"Sugar level for coffees?" He replies, his attention is now at the register, expertly encoding their orders in.
While Jongin is typing in their orders, Lisa reappears from the back, holding bags of straws and cups. Totally not aware of the new additions in the building. "Hey Jong, remind me to include paper straws and Ventis in the inventory later. We're running out of—"
Lisa halts a bit after seeing all five people she's been desperately avoiding for the past week especially the one in between Joohyun and Chaeyoung whose eyes are looking at her full of longing, regret and pain? Just how dare her.
She takes one silent deep breath. Greets them like a normal employee would and stacks everything she took in and on its designated places.
Lisa is hyper aware of the stares she's getting while helping Jongin getting their orders done. She knows this is a public café but she couldn't help but feel getting set up and trapped. There are a lot of cafés in the block they could get in and yet they decided to invade her space, just how much torture do they want to see her go through for them to stop all of this?
She's so close to messing up their orders like adding too much sugar or no sugar at all just so they'd never go back but all of them had been there prior to this so doing all that in purpose will never drive them off.
On the other hand...
It hurts to see Lisa not even looking at them, at her. Jennie decided to stop lying to herself and act on what her mind and heart wants. She woke up one day crying after dreaming about them and that's when she realized how badly her plans turned its back against her.
She misses everything about Lisa.
She misses the good morning and random text messages and calls.
She misses seeing her before and after her classes.
She misses waiting for her shift to end in this same café so they could get late dinners together.
She misses seeing her smile.
She misses hearing her laughs.
She misses her face.
She misses the care.
She misses the affection.
She misses her gentle touches.
She misses Lisa.
And seeing Lisa not even looking at her hurts more than it should but she knows she deserves all of it. It hurts to see Lisa this hurt because of all the things she did. She should've listened to Nayeon and others even more, maybe they would've been far better off than what they are having.
Karma is a bitch.
Lisa starts calling out their names and their orders without looking at them. "Black Chai, for Jennie." That's the last order.
Lisa fought all the urge to look up when Jennie's intoxicating scent invaded her. She resents how much of her still knows Jennie, how much of her still craves for Jennie but no, she can't be like this. She can't let Jennie hurt her again like this.
Jongin was observing behind the register because there's another customer. BamBam and Mina were both observing few tables away to get the other tables ready for new customers but all three are ready to get in the middle and protect Lisa if there's a need to be.
"Lisa.." the voice came out so vulnerable, so soft and so gentle and Lisa was no longer able to stop herself from looking up.
Jennie smiles, she doesn't care how desperate and pathetic she may have look like right now. She misses Lisa so much.
"What do you want? Did I get it wrong?" Lisa replies.
Jennie shakes her head. "Can.. can we talk after your shift? Please?"
"About what?"
"About.. about everything." Lisa's unreadable gaze almost made Jennie look away but she stops herself from doing so, also literally gripping her thigh in hopes of stopping them from shaking.
"I believe we have nothing to talk."
"I don't. Please, let me explain everything."
Lisa frowns, she's now glaring at Jennie. Jaws clenching and Jennie knows she's trying to stop herself because they're not in the right place to get hostile.
"I heard enough. Now will you please move. We have new customers to serve." Before she turns away to prepare the other orders.
Jennie walks back to her friends that are waiting outside, her tears start to fall right immediately after Jisoo wraps her arm around her shoulder as they walk away from the building.
BamBam and Mina saw that and couldn't help but feel bad for her. Unfortunately, the damage has been done and if Lisa doesn't want anything to do with Jennie, they can't do anything about it.