Lisa didn't want to read into how Jisoo held her face in her car. How amazing it had felt when she brushed her thumb over Lisa's skin. How much she had missed having someone touch her like that. How it looked like Jisoo wanted to kiss her. How she hadn't been able to think about anything else since.
She didn't want to think that Jisoo liked her because what if she was just being nice, being friendly and comforting Lisa when she thought she needed it? Lisa knew she could have been reading into it, she knew she liked Jisoo more than a friend, and that could easily make someone see things that weren't actually there. Ever since Lisa moved to the area, she had thought Jisoo was one of the prettiest girls she had ever seen. She never thought she'd ever get the chance to even speak to her, let alone become friends with her. What if Lisa risked everything by asking Jisoo if she felt the same way and it made her feel weird? She was accepting of who Lisa was, but maybe she wouldn't be so tolerant if she found out Lisa was crushing on her... hard. If she lost Jisoo, she would lose the only real friend she had in Seoul and it would be awful. Worse than awful. First and foremost, Jisoo was the best friend Lisa felt she's ever had. She'd never managed to be so herself around anyone before. She couldn't lose that, no matter how much she wished for more.
She couldn't get the thoughts out of her head even when her mom dragged her to the store. She pushed the cart around aimlessly as she pretended to listen to whatever nurse was pissing her mom off that week. Moving from a big hospital where she barely worked with the same people more than once a week to the one in Seoul where she was faced with the same people every single day she worked was apparently not as welcoming as she had imagined. She would start her OR rotation the next week though so hopefully she would find some common ground with someone there. Lisa knew her mom needed friends, she needed to feel like she was starting to fit in in town similar to how Lisa had felt when she befriended Jisoo.
"Hellooo?" Lisa shook the thoughts of Jsoo from her head as a hand waved in front of her face. "Anyone home, Legs?" Jiyoon chuckled as she pulled her hand back to rest on John's chest. Lisa's eyes shot to her mom who had obviously realized she was in a world of her own and hadn't been paying attention to anything she was saying. She scrunched up her eyebrows and gave her best apologetic smile before looking back at Jiyoon.
"Hey, Jiyoon!" Lisa forced a smile through the blush she knew was on her cheeks, although it was crazy to think she would know that she had just been thinking about Jiyoon's little sister, embarrassment shot through her. Jiyoon was still in the same clothes as she had been last night before only now she had John's jacket over her shoulders instead of her usual leather one. "Sorry, I was just..." Lisa didn't know how to finish that sentence without lying, so she just let the sentence trail off.
"Cool story..." Jiyoon quirked an eyebrow. "You want to come to Mel's? Chu has her first shift and we're gonna annoy the shit out of her the whole time!" Jiyoon shimmied her shoulders with a cheeky grin, John looked like he thought she was joking but knowing Jiyoon it was the absolute truth. Lisa had forgotten that Jisoo started work today, she didn't even mention it the night before or maybe she had and Lisa had been too busy staring and not actually listening.
"You mind?" Lisa turned to her mom as she placed a big bag of rice into the cart. She'd promised to help her carry the groceries inside but Lisa knew her mom was really happy that she was making friends. She shouldn't have used that to her advantage but she wanted to see Jisoo. She needed to figure out if Jisoo actually liked her or not and she wasn't going to manage that overthinking every interaction they had ever had since they became friends.
"No it's fine, just be back for dinner ok?" She held up a finger in Lisa's direction and gave her 'no nonsense' look that always made Lisa smirk. Her mom was on nightshifts for the next few days and so they had agreed to have dinner every night before she had to go into work. Jiyoon and John were waiting expectantly for Lisa to join them, already half turned away to leave the store. Lisa nodded furiously, wrapped her hand around the finger her mom still had pointed at her and shook it. "Have fun!"
Lisa rounded the cart and fell into step with Jiyoon and John as they headed for the exit. John pulling away from Jiyoon to roll a cigarette which he offered first to Lisa, who shook her head and then to Jiyoon who took it and gave Lisa a look that said 'don't tell Jisoo'. She waited with them outside Mel's until they had finished smoking, standing upwind from them so she didn't smell when she got home to her mom. She didn't think her mom would ever let her leave the house again if she thought she had taken up that habit.
They filtered in and found a booth near the pool table which was currently occupied by the Park brothers but they looked to be finishing up. Lisa's eyes searched for Jisoo and saw her push through the swinging door from the kitchen up the back. She carried a plate on each hand effortlessly as she made her way to a table near the front door before heading behind the counter. She hadn't spotted Lisa or Jiyoon yet. Would she have come straight over if she had? Lisa continued to watch as she served a new customer, totally at ease, being so utterly smiley that had it been anyone else, Lisa would be sure they were putting on an act. Not Jisoo, though. With her it seemed genuine. Lisa couldn't help but smile as she watched her.
Jiyoon offered to go to the counter to get everyone a coke but Lisa stood up first and said she didn't mind. She hoped it came off as casual as she wanted it to but she didn't wait to see. There was one person in front of her in the queue but she caught Jisoo's eye as she fell into place. Jisoo smiled at Lisa, crinkling her eyes before turning her full attention to the man in front of her. His order was long and complicated and for the first time Lisa thought she saw Jisoo's pleasant demeanour falter. When he walked away, Jisoo rolled her eyes before smiling brightly at Lisa. She almost forgot why she was there.
"Thought he was never going to finish ordering!" Jisoo said with a flick of her wrist towards the previous customer. "Hey!"
"Hey!" Lisa wracked her brain for what Jiyoon and John wanted, but all she could focus on was how Jisoo had tied her Mel's t-shirt in a knot at the back, showing off a stretch of skin along her stomach. Had it been like that since she got here? "Uh, I'm here with Jiyoon and John."
"Oh." There was a look of disappointment on Jisoo's face that Lisa instantly felt bad for creating. Did she think Lisa hadn't just come in to see her? She probably wouldn't have had the guts to without Jiyoon suggesting she tag along with them but she was so glad she had thought to invite her. Lisa was definitely there just to see her.
"To see you... obviously." Lisa added as quickly as she could and the crease that had started to form between Jisoo's eyebrows loosened.
"Oh!" Jisoo said again but this time with a smile and if Lisa wasn't seeing things a slight blush. "What can I get you guys?"
"Just three cokes for now." Lisa remembered what Jiyoon had said finally and Jisoo turned around to start filling glasses.
"You still be here in half an hour?" Jisoo asked as she set the drinks down on a tray. "I'll be on my break then!"
"Yeah, definitely!" Lisa smiled and picked up the tray, a queue of three people had formed behind her while she had been talking to Jisoo and when she glanced back over her shoulder, Jisoo seemed happier than ever to be serving.
By the time Lisa made it back to their table, Jiyoon was setting up the pool table and John was doing something on his phone with no interest in playing with Jiyoon. Lisa knew it was going to have to be her that got beat. Again.
Jiyoon let Lisa break without tossing a coin because apparently she needed the head start. At some point John slipped outside for another smoke but Lisa hadn't noticed him actually leave, her eyes finding Jisoo in between every shot she took. She was playing worse than usual and she knew Jiyoon was probably getting bored winning every game without much of a fight from Lisa.
"Alright, Legs. What's the deal? You're on a totally different planet today..." Jiyoon asked while she potted her third ball in a row.
"What? No, I'm... I'm right here." Lisa grabbed her glass of coke and forced her eyes to stay on Jiyoon, who's own eyes narrowed on Lisa making her swallow a little more of the fizzy drink in one go than she'd planned to.
"Of course you are... does she know?" Jiyoon thrust the cue forward and missed, her attention focused too closely on Lisa.
"Does who know?" Lisa feigned ignorance as she reached for the cue in Jiyoon's hand but she held it back out of Lisa's reach.
"Jisoo... does she know you like her?" Jiyoon widened her eyes and held the stick close to her chest, waiting for Lisa to answer her. She couldn't stop the blush that felt like it covered her entire body. Was she that obvious? "I'll take that as a no then... you should tell her." Jiyoon shrugged and finally let Lisa take the cue from her hands. Lisa began lining up her shot, trying to think of the right excuse for why she couldn't say anything to Jisoo.
"I can't... it's complicated." Lisa settled on something that gave little to no information away. She liked Jiyoon, felt she could trust her but she had never thought that she would be having this conversation with her.
"What, you already got a girlfriend or something? I mean it wouldn't surprise me, if I was into that I'd totally be into you!" Jiyoon winked and Lisa rolled her eyes with a groan. She really didn't think she'd ever be having this conversation with Jiyoon.
"No, I don't have a girlfriend. I just cant..." Lisa took her shot and missed, she pushed the cue into Jiyoon's hand a little too forcefully and sat down in her seat, crossing her arms across her chest.
"Well she is going to work it out eventually I guess, if she hasn't already! It may come as a shock to you but she's the smart one!" Jiyoon let out a deep belly laugh and potted two balls in one go. Lisa's chest tightened at Jiyoon's words, what if even without Lisa saying anything Jisoo worked it out and didn't want to hang out with her anymore? Would it be better to just tell her about her crush, get it out in the open so Jisoo could tell her she wasn't interested and hopefully Lisa could get over it.
"She beating you again?" There was a hand on Lisa's shoulder and her eyes found Jisoo standing beside her. Lisa swallowed hard and nodded her head with a small smile. She prayed that Jisoo hadn't overheard any of that. "You want a milkshake? Mel said he'd bring some over for us."
"Y-yeah, can I get cream on top?" It wasn't the standard way they served milkshakes at Mel's but it was the way Lisa preferred them.
"Already asked him to put cream on yours!" Jisoo said with a smile that warmed Lisa and sent her stomach buzzing. She took the seat opposite Lisa and when Jiyoon realised that Lisa obviously wouldn't be playing anymore pool until Jisoo disappeared, she came to join them. Lisa sighed when she realized it would mean that Jisoo had to budge up on the bench, but instead of moving along she got out of the booth so Jiyoon could take the inside seat. She sat back down across from Lisa and took a drink from one of the coke glasses, she probably didn't realize it was Lisa's.
"So how's the job going? Enjoying it?" Lisa said trying to swallow down the joy bursting out of her at the small action of Jisoo sharing her drink.
"Already made $20 in tips so, yes!" Jisoo laughed and all Lisa could think of was how she didn't tip Jisoo when she paid for the drinks. Would it have been weird if she had? John appeared at the end of the table and mirroring Jisoo's earlier movements Lisa got out of her seat to let Doc slide in across from Jiyoon. Jisoo continued talking about how she'd hopefully have enough money by the end of the school year so that she wouldn't need to get a job straight away when she started university. She wanted to be able to enjoy herself for a little while.
Mel dropped off the milkshakes and reminded Jisoo she only had five minutes left on her break but with a look that said if she didn't come back right on time he wouldn't be mad. Jisoo pushed the only one with cream on top in front of Lisa and she took a long pull on the straw with her eyes closed, the chocolatey goodness cooling the ever warming feeling all over as she sat across of Jisoo. Her eyes crossed when she opened them again looking at the dollop of cream that had found its way onto the tip of her nose and before she knew what was happening Jisoo had scooped it off with her thumb. Which she then stuck into her mouth. Jisoo's eyes shot wide open, probably realizing what she had just done but Lisa couldn't stop the smile creeping onto her face.
"Sorry..." Jisoo released the thumb from her mouth with a 'pop' and stared down into her own milkshake .
"Totally ok..." Lisa watched as Jisoo looked at her through hooded eyes, licking the remaining cream off her lips. She was sure that words were sitting right behind them, Jisoo took a deep breath and Lisa held hers.
"Are you doing anything later?" Jisoo seemed shy, it wasn't uncommon for Jisoo to ask this unless... this time she was asking something else entirely. Lisa was so close to saying no, to calling up her mom and saying she couldn't make it to dinner but she couldn't do that. She couldn't just drop everything for this girl no matter how much she wanted to. Not when Lisa wasn't sure what Jisoo was actually asking.
"I'm having dinner with my mom." Lisa looked down at the table but not before catching the look of disappointment on Jisoo's face. Twice she had been the cause of that today and she never wanted to be again. "She's working from nine though so maybe we could do something after that? You could come over and find out more about my weird taste in movies." Lisa could feel the flirtatious tone slipping through and she thought about stopping it but part of her really wanted to see how Jisoo would react.
"How about we watch one of my favorites this time?" Jisoo flirted back and Lisa felt her cheeks get warmer as Jisoo's eyes burrowed into her. "I finish at seven so plenty time to go home and grab it!" She had that smile on her face again that made Lisa's head spin.
Jisoo had to go back to work and Jiyoon sent Lisa a wink after she turned back from watching her leave. Lisa groaned and pushed her from across the table.
"Just remember to use protection!" Jiyoon whispered and Lisa picked up her jacket and announced she was leaving. She couldn't sit there and let Jiyoon tease her any longer or else she might actually lose her nerve on spending another evening alone with Jisoo. On the other hand she knew that no one knew Jisoo better than her sister and if she was pushing Lisa to go for it, surely that meant something right? She did seem to be pushing Lisa to go for it. She waved goodbye to Jisoo as she made her way out and smiled, promising that they would see each other soon.