Jennie sighed and dropped back into her chair after hanging up the phone.
Next week was already the charity event, and even though everything had gone smoothly so far, there was suddenly a lot to do. Jennie phoned back and forth with the caterer, the band that wanted to perform and confirmed that the festival tents would arrive by Friday at the latest.
She even had her phone on for such calls during class, which the teachers were of course informed about. No one criticized her when she suddenly jumped up in the middle of the lesson after her phone rang and ran out of class without a comment.
She had sent the other members of the student council away for today; after all, they couldn't help the student representative on the phone. Jennie was checking the weather forecast again when there was a knock and a cute girl with a wolf cut poked her head through the door.
"One coffee and a croissant to Jennie Kim. Am I in the right place?"
Jennie's exhaustion was instantly blown away and she sat up a little straighter.
"Always. Come in, Lili."
Lisa immediately closed the door behind her and placed the coffee and croissant in front of Jennie.
"You're not home yet? School's long over.",
Jennie mumbled and immediately reached for the still hot coffee. Lisa laughed.
"You're one to talk. You sent everyone else away, but you're still working yourself. Do you need a massage?",
she asked, already standing behind her. She began to massage Jennie's shoulders, and the student representative practically melted into the touch as she sighed contentedly.
"Hard to believe I have to give up my assistant next week...",
she murmured softly and closed her eyes.
She heard Lisa laughing behind her.
"That's what I am to you? Your assistant? So you can get free coffee?"
"No. You said yourself that you're my slave, Lisa.",
Jennie said, rolling her eyes exaggeratedly before starting to giggle.
"This is your fault! You give me massages and bring me coffee, now I'm really enslaving you!"
Lisa ran her fingers slowly into her hair, massaging her scalp with pleasant pressure.
Shit, that felt too good.
If Jennie had melted before, now she was nothing more than a puddle of pure joy and giddiness.
Had she really disliked Lisa? Really thought Lisa was a problematic person?
For the umpteenth time since Jennie had learned the truth about what had happened, she wished she had been more critical. That she had questioned the rumors more critically and not just believed what her eyes saw. Which suddenly brought her to another topic.
"The cigarette."
Lisa froze in surprise.
"What?"
"The cigarette. Was it yours?"
Lisa blinked and took a moment to understand what Jennie was talking about, then she grinned.
"You mean the cigarette you punished me for? It was a lame punishment by the way, working on the student council is too much fun."
"Oh? You didn't seem so enthusiastic a few weeks ago.",
Jennie joked.
Lisa nodded.
"I wasn't, but it's really fun.",
Lisa confirmed, which got Jennie thinking. Maybe Lisa would keep working on the student council if she asked.
"It was Bambam's.",
Lisa suddenly confessed, interrupting Jennie's thoughts. Jennie shook her head.
"I should have known...",
she mumbled and looked up at Lisa.
"Do you even smoke?"
The younger girl shook her head.
"No. I've tried it once or twice, but I don't like the taste and it's not worth spending money on. Not when it's putting my health at risk anyway."
"Good, I don't want you to get sick.",
Jennie said sternly.
Lisa grinned, continued massaging briefly and then sat down on the table in front of Jennie.
"Awww. Are you worried about me?"
Jennie didn't hesitate for long before deciding to tell the truth.
"Yes. Please take care of yourself.",
she whispered, before turning her attention to her croissant. When she looked up briefly at Lisa, she could see that her cheeks were flushed. Jennie had to make an effort to stifle her grin.
"So... are you just here to keep me company? Or..."
Lisa shook her head.
"No. Well, that too. It's just..."
She shrugged her shoulders indecisively.
"I thought... if you're alone, it could be dangerous for you. If... you know."
Jennie smiled softly.
"Awww. Are you worried about me?"
Lisa returned her smile affectionately.
"Yes. Take care of yourself, please."
This time it was Jennie's turn to blush, and the mood in the room had suddenly changed. You could literally feel the tension.
The same thing was going on in the minds of the two girls at that moment.
Was that already flirting?
Should I bring it up?
Talk about the kiss?
The hand holding?
The almost confession?
It was Lisa who finally summoned up the courage to speak up.
"Jennie... I think we need to talk. Y-you know, abou-"
When Jennie's phone rang at the same moment, Lisa really didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed. Jennie felt the same way. It was definitely too much of a cliché. Which was exactly why she wanted to fight back against the cliché.
She looked into Lisa's eyes.
"We need to talk. I guess... about what's happening between us?",
she asked.
Lisa nodded with red cheeks. Jennie sighed softly and took Lisa's hand.
"I like you, Lisa. And we can talk about it later. After the phone call?"
Lisa was speechless.
Did that mean... what she thought it meant? Did it mean that Jennie had feelings for her? Romantic feelings?
Jennie tried to ignore her heart beating like crazy and took a deep breath before answering the call.
"Jennie Kim."
Lisa could only watch as Jennie's mouth dropped open in surprise and she frowned before she began to smile and nod slowly.
"That would be possible?",
she asked.
Lisa leaned forward, hoping to catch at least snippets of the conversation, but was pushed away by Jennie.
Lisa pouted, but dutifully sat down a little aside and watched Jennie, who was completely absorbed in the conversation.
"Yes. Of course, this is a serious matter. I'll talk to the principal and see what's possible, but I don't think there'll be any problems."
Jennie nodded.
"Right away."
She pressed speed dial on the landline phone to the principal. Lisa could only marvel at how confident Jennie was on the phone, she herself already stumbled over her words when she wanted to make appointments with the dentist.
"Good afternoon, sir. ... No, there's no problem, I've just got the police on the phone. I'll give you the exact information later, it's just a question of whether we would be willing to cooperate with them for an investigation."
Lisa immediately leaned forward again.
Was it about Jennie's stalker? About the assholes who sold photos of minors?
"Thank you sir, have a good evening.",
Jennie said after a short pause and hung up. Then she turned back to her phone.
"The school administration agrees. I'll forward them the email address in a moment, then they can discuss the details with him."
Jennie said, very professionally, as she quickly wrote it down on her notepad so she wouldn't forget it later.
"Oh, no, I have to thank you. That takes a great weight off my shoulders. Have a good evening."
After Jennie hung up this call too, she took a deep breath before looking Lisa in the eye. The girl who had been so incredibly self-confident while she was on the phone suddenly gave Lisa a vulnerable look.
"Where were we?"
"D-do I need to know what the call was about first? Was it the police?",
Lisa asked nervously instead.
Jennie hesitated, then finally nodded.
"Yes. They got tips that members of this weird organization were trying to sneak into the fundraiser and drug some girls. Celebritys too."
Lisa thought hard about whether the group had a name. Constantly calling them 'stalkers' or 'organization' was getting kind of annoying.
"And that's why some policemen, dressed as civilians, will be keeping watch in the crowd. Provided the principal agrees, what he did."
The younger girl blinked in surprise, then beamed.
"That's perfect. Then you can finally feel truly safe.",
she said and took Jennie's hand.
"I'll stay close to you anyway. Just in case.",
she decided.
Jennie giggled.
"Are you asking me to be your date for the party?"
she asked with a grin.
Lisa was speechless.
"...We're back on the subject.",
she realized in astonishment.
Jennie nodded seriously, even though her nervousness was still evident. She cleared her throat sheepishly.
"What did you originally want to talk about? It would be... embarrassing if I guessed wrong.",
she mumbled.
Lisa shook her head quickly.
"No. You guessed it right...",
she confessed.
"What do you mean by... liking me?"
Jennie was silent for a few seconds before she slowly answered.
"I mean that I like you as a person. I enjoy our dates, and love spending time with you... And I'd really like to get to know you better."
She looked Lisa in the eyes who nodded immediately, looking relieved that there was no but in the sentence. Nevertheless, she wanted to make sure again.
"I feel the same way! But do you mean that in a purely friendly way, or...?"
"N-no!",
Jennie stammered and bit her lips.
"Well... also. But not only."
She looked nervously at Lisa, who could barely withstand the intense eye contact.
"Does that mean you find me attractive?",
she asked with a cheeky grin.
She didn't manage to dodge Jennie's blows.
"Ow, you can just say no...",
Lisa mumbled sulkily.
Jennie rolled her eyes.
"I think you're attractive, I just don't want to have to say it."
Jennie was being far too direct again. Lisa wasn't used to that. Was Jennie perhaps ill?
"I... find you attractive too. Honestly, I even think that Jisoo should give up the title of beauty queen to you.",
she said with a grin.
Jennie laughed.
"No, my cheeks are too puffy."
"But your eyes!"
Jennie grinned immediately.
"That's right, you like cat eyes~"
Lisa more or less ignored it, and started poking Jennie's face with a grin.
"And your fluffy cheeks are ultra cute!"
Jennie looked at her with wide eyes, blushed, and finally started hitting Lisa.
"Yah! Don't make fun of me, you idiot"
Lisa laughed with relish and dodged blow after blow until she suddenly managed to intercept Jennie's hand and pull her towards her.
"Gotcha.",
she said softly, looking Jennie in the eyes.
Jennie held her breath. Lisa's face was right in front of her, and she could just admire her face at her leisure. Big, warm eyes, perfect skin and a cute mole under her left eye.
A straight nose, and such beautiful, full lips.
Jennie didn't realize that she had been holding her breath, nor that Lisa's face was now even closer and their noses were practically touching.
Once again, Jennie realized that Lisa smelled amazingly sweet. A little vanilla, but not too sweet. Perfect really...
Jennie was ready to kiss her. Really.
But the sudden sound of someone clearing their throat made her jump up, her forehead bumped violently against Lisa's and she stumbled to the side, startled. Lisa whimpered in pain and held her forehead, Jennie was too embarrassed and overwhelmed to even notice her own pain.
"Oh. Did I disturb you two?",
Irene asked with amusement, standing calmly in the doorway and watching the two girls. When she took a closer look at Lisa, her gaze softened a little.
"Did Jennie hurt you?"
Jennie, who had been frozen until then, reacted immediately and turned to Lisa.
"Oh God, shit. I didn't mean to.",
she said guiltily.
Lisa shamelessly took advantage of the situation and pouted a little.
"It hurts, Nini. Can you blow?"
Jennie nodded immediately, took Lisa's hands and blew gently on her forehead. For a few seconds Lisa was satisfied and closed her eyes, then she pouted more.
"That's not enough. I need a kiss, Nini!"
Jennie's eyes widened and she blushed fiercely before giving Lisa a sudden, albeit very gentle, slap.
"Idiot. Irene's here.",
she grumbled, glancing at her friend, who was watching the scene with all too much relish.
"Don't mind me, I've seen more than that.",
she joked laughing.
Jennie bit her lower lip and turned back to Lisa, who looked up at her indignantly, still a little shocked that she had been slapped instead of kissed. Jennie leaned forward briskly, brushed the bangs to one side and pressed a gentle kiss to Lisa's forehead.
"Better?"
"Much better."
Lisa replied.
Even though a kiss on the lips would have helped just as much, if not more. But she wasn't going to complain.
Jennie reached for the rest of her coffee and pressed it into Irene's hand.
"Drink it. Then maybe you'll learn to knock."
Irene laughed.
"You know I don't drink coffee."
Jennie took the coffee back from her and drank it herself.
"That's good. Lili bought it for me."
Irene rolled her eyes, but didn't respond to it.
"And by the way, I knocked. Twice. What were you doing that you didn't hear me? I'm probably lucky you were both still dressed..."
Both girls blushed and avoided Irene's gaze. Lisa was the first to regain her composure.
"Uh... Do you need something from Jennie?"
Irene shook her head.
"I was actually going to take her home. We agreed she wouldn't stay at school alone anymore, just to be safe. But if you're already there..."
Lisa shook her head.
"No, it's all right. I'll stay longer, I have plans."
Jennie sighed out in relief. So she didn't have to choose between one of her closest friends and her crush.
That was lucky.
"Then... I'll go. I don't think I really have anything else to do today. Thanks for keeping me company, Lili."
Lisa smiled back and gently kissed her cheek.
"Thanks for talking to me, Mandu.",
she said and said goodbye to Irene too.
"Bye, Irene. I'll see you tomorrow."
As soon as the door had closed behind the tall girl, Irene turned to Jennie.
"And you really once said you didn't like her.",
she stated dryly.
Jennie crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.
"Shut up. You knew that was a lie as well as I did."
Irene immediately sat down next to her.
"So?"
"So what?"
"You said you weren't sure if she liked you too. Are you together now? It pretty much looked like it."
Jennie hesitated, then shook her head.
"No."
"What, wait, seriously? Jennie, that just looked different. Then why did she ask you for a kiss?",
Irene asked, shocked.
Jennie quickly cleared up the misunderstanding.
"No. She likes me too. But... I don't think we'll get together any time soon... At least not right away."
Irene continued to stare at her.
"Go on."
"I'm just saying... There have been so many misunderstandings between us that have affected our opinions of each other. I want to make sure that everything is settled before we really start to date each other. I really want to get to know her before we get together. If we do get together. And not rush into anything."
"...But you like her?",
Irene had to make sure.
Jennie nodded without hesitation.
"Very much. I think I could really fall in love with her.",
she admitted and smiled gently.
Irene smiled and took Jennie in her arms.
"That's so mature of you, Jen. Just..."
Irene grinned.
"I think the falling in love part has already happened."
"Shut up!"
Meanwhile, Lisa was training alone again in the gym, which had long since been repaired and whose key Lisa still had, even if she would soon hand it in. Soon, right after the charity event. The charity event that was already taking place next week.
The countdown was on and the tension was mounting. There was no doubt that next week would be extremely interesting.
A/N
It's not a double update, but close enough?