"Whose hearts?" A talking head popped between their seats and Jisoo and Rosé screamed and the car veered off lane into the way of an oncoming honking truck, and the three of them screamed some more while Rosé scrambled to narrowly escape the head-on collision with the truck whooshing by angrily mere inches away.
"Jesus Christ!"
"Holy shit!"
"Oh my god!"
Jisoo clenched the front of her dress, Rosé trembled in shock, and Lisa gasped for breath like in a heart attack.
"What's going on?" Jennie's voice followed, slurry and laced with sleep, making Jisoo swoon on the inside and want to pat those cute dumpling cheeks and kiss between those drowsy cat-like eyes that the brunette was currently rubbing so adorably like a kitten.
Jisoo found herself smiling stupidly at the oblivious brunette, "Nothing to worry about, Jennie. Your best friend simply tried to kill us all."
"Hey! All I did was ask one innocent question!" Lisa whined.
"Creepily out of nowhere!" Rosé was still huffing from her mouth to calm her nerves.
"I wasn't being creepy! Both of you overreacted!" Lisa countered defensively, then narrowed her eyes at the girls seated in front, "Actually... come to think about it, you both are acting weird, talking about hearts and Jennie and then suddenly getting all shaken up. Something's fishy." Her bias towards acting out the bad cop was clearly surfacing as she stroked her chin.
"Oh, what about me were you two talking about?" Jennie let out an amused chuckle mixed with a tinge of shyness, and she leant forward in anticipation.
Exchanging glances with her fellow agent, Jisoo could almost hear their simultaneous gulps in the silence with only the low hum of the engine and the air-conditioning.
"Ah well," Jisoo dragged her words then clucked her tongue nervously, tilting her head sideways as her brain formulated a dozen possible responses, "Rosé and I, we were just, you know, talking about your love for your mother, how you always have her in your heart and cover her shifts like last night. But umm," she scratched her head sheepishly, "I know you don't like talking about your private life so we got really jumpy when Lisa abruptly spoke up, felt like we're caught red-handed or something."
She was not exactly lying, was she?
"Sorry," Jisoo added tentatively, although she was not sure what she was apologizing for.
Smile widening and radiating with warmth, Jennie patted the side of Jisoo's face and laughed, "Silly, there's nothing to be sorry about."
And Jisoo could not stop herself from leaning into the soothing touch that was gone too soon. "Thanks," she gave a sincere smile that was not enough to drown out the guilt pooling in her own heart.
Lisa swooned aloud, "Aww, you silly love birds." It caused the raven and brunette to clear their throats awkwardly and look away from each other.
"So, where does your mother live, Jennie? Maybe you wanna visit her along the way?" Rosé cleverly rode on the wave of Jisoo's answer and the raven threw her a quick glance of impressed approval. They already knew where her mother stayed but of course Jennie did not know that. Neither did the brunette know her mother could be in danger.
"Just a few miles from here actually," straightening her back and beaming with clear excitement, Jennie nonetheless remembered her manners, "but it's really okay, I'll be visiting her next weekend anyway."
"No, it's no trouble at all, in fact it's perfectly on the way with good traffic!" Jisoo gestured towards the empty open roads, before supplementing, "And it's Saturday, no school. May as well make it this weekend, right ladies?" She looked to Rosé and Lisa for support which thankfully was given in eager nods.
"Well... if you girls really don't mind," Jennie shrugged and could not help laughing at the goofy cheers from the rest.
While Lisa and Rosé fussed over the GPS screen which they insisted on using to route to Jennie's home, Jisoo was suddenly reminded of something, "Gosh, it's only a little past six in the morning! Will Mrs. Kim be awake?"
"Yeah, don't worry, she's an early riser," Jennie chuckled with her eye-smile, and by an irresistible force Jisoo reached out to tuck a stray strand behind the brunette's ear, making the girl blush that prettiest shade of pink that Jisoo only wished she could look at every day.
And so lost was she in that beautiful face that she did not even realize she was slowly leaning in towards the girl who had stolen her heart.
There was a tension in the air between them, and Jisoo swore Jennie leant towards her with eyes that flickered down to the raven's lips, but in the next moment Jennie was retreating and clearing her throat nervously and breaking the gaze they held.
Hiding her disappointment, Jisoo did a little laugh awkwardly as she scratched her nape, backing away as well, "Yeah, like mother, like daughter."
And I pray I can keep both safe.
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Within fifteen minutes, they were exiting the highway and navigating the bends into a narrow alley that would lead to Jennie's home. And Jennie could not be more excited at the thought of surprising her mother with this unplanned visit. Her mother loved company.
"It's that building up ahead," Jennie stuck an arm out between the driver seat and the passenger seat, pointing eagerly at an old building about 200 metres away. Although it was a little rundown and nothing like the swanky fancy ones Jisoo must be used to, it was nonetheless a place Jennie and her mother had scrimped and saved up for and they were happy to call it home. In fact, this apartment was already the best one to date.
Suddenly, a loud bang sounded from the right side of the car, making Jennie and Lisa yelp in shock while Jisoo and Rosé cursed aloud.
"D-Did we run over a cat or s-something?" Lisa asked shakily, seeing no other vehicle in view under the dim lighting of the quiet road.
"Nah, I think it's just a flat," Rosé turned around to rub her girlfriend's hand reassuringly, and for a moment Jennie wished a certain raven would do the same for her. It was a silly thought but she could really use a hug right now to calm her frantic heart down from the fright. Instead, she took deep breaths to steady herself.
When she peered over at Jisoo, she found the raven wordlessly solemn, surveying the surroundings with intimidatingly sharp eyes. A cross of worry and alert was etched across Jisoo's otherwise soft features and Jennie would have reached out to smooth them, if she were not a little afraid of this side of Jisoo.
Before Rosé could unlock her door to step out of the car, Jisoo intervened with a firm hold on Rosé's arm, "Wait."
There was a thick, tense silence. Jennie subconsciously swallowed hard. Is something wrong...?
"It's... just a flat tyre right, Jisoo?" Lisa enquired innocently and tried to loosen the raven's nerves, "I know how to replace a flat! Besides, Jennie's apartment is right up there, so if we don't have a spare, we can at least stay the night."
Releasing a breath that she seemed to be holding, Jisoo shook her head and scoffed lightly, "Right, sorry ladies for the stern face, I think I'm getting a bit too old and paranoid." The rest chuckled and she smiled, "So, which floor is it again?"
"Third," Jennie smiled back in relief, "not too far a climb even without the elevator." And she was proud of herself when Jisoo chuckled in return, but it was short-lived, because the raven soon turned then frowned out the windscreen, "Jennie, are you sure Mrs. Kim is awake at this time?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Because unless my counting sucks, your floor is pitch dark."
A shiver instantly coursed through Jennie's spine and prickled goosebumps everywhere on her skin. She hurriedly pressed herself against the window to verify Jisoo's statement. And it was true, even the corridor on level three had blacked out.
"Hmm, maybe the bulbs outside fused, and my mom is probably sleeping in because of the cough," Jennie gulped and articulated her most rational thoughts, hoping to convince herself more than anyone else.
She jumped when she felt something on her knee but immediately calmed upon realizing it was Jisoo's warm hand, followed by a decisive yet comforting husky voice, "I agree, so let's go surprise her now, shall we?"
Jisoo's soft smirk and understanding eyes were all it took for Jennie to follow the raven unquestioningly, like countless times before. So, with a nod, Jennie exited the car along with everyone else.
The sky was still dark and the air was chilly. Together, they decided that Rosé would assist Lisa with the tyre replacement while Jisoo and Jennie headed up first to surprise Mrs. Kim with an invitation to breakfast at a popular café a couple of miles away once they got the car up and running.
Jennie had chanced upon several glances that Jisoo and Rosé had wordlessly exchanged between themselves, but it was only when she was walking alongside Jisoo now and watching her jam a Bluetooth device into her ear the way Rosé had one in hers, that Jennie finally voiced her thoughts in an amused chuckle, "You and Rosé can seriously pass off as secret agents, you know that?"
Then, Jisoo faltered in her steps and her breath hitched, but the recovery was all too fast that Jennie honestly could not decide if it was just a figment of her imagination. Regardless, Jennie reveled in the melodious low laughter that Jisoo emitted in response, and the way Jisoo cocked an eyebrow playfully at her, "Are you accusing us of being shady and dodgy?"
"Mysterious and private, if you'd like," Jennie rolled her eyes as her lips parted into a grin.
"I have to keep it this way, unfortunately," Jisoo winked and smirked, "Because if you knew everything about me, you would get bored and find someone new, wouldn't you?" Her gaze softened but she kept up her smirk, "And I can't have that."
Shy and distracted all of a sudden, Jennie broke the gaze and nudged the raven's shoulder, choosing the cheeky answer, "Possessive." It sounded neutral enough, neither too flirtatious nor too distant.
They had reached the building and were trudging up the stairs now. Jisoo had flicked on the torch on her phone, ready for the darkness on the third floor, while Jennie clutched her keys, eager to open the apartment door.
It was dark and frankly a bit eerie but having grown up the way she did, Jennie was not spooked easily. However, there was an unrelenting chill that shook the brunette's insides as she found the keyhole and turned the key in it to open the old wooden door.
Her hand wandered to the switches by the entrance habitually and turned on the lights, basking the little space in an ironically warm glow that was of no help to chase away the shivers.
The dinner table was set with a bowl of half-eaten ramen, a couple of banana peels, and an almost empty bottle of water. It looked nothing out of the ordinary, except for the fact that her mother hardly left food unfinished or dishes unwashed, and that the wooden chair had been strangely toppled on the ground.
"Mom?" Jennie called out as Jisoo locked up behind them.
As she moved nearer, she gasped and felt her soul leave her body at the sight before her. There, behind the fallen chair, was her mother lying unconscious and as pale as a ghost.
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Jisoo heard Jennie gasp and quickly turned around. Horrified, she took in the sight before her and in an instant rushed next to Jennie who was kneeling by her unconscious mother.
The raven really did not need any other distractions right now as she checked Mrs. Kim's weak pulse and other vital signs while Jennie urgently commenced CPR on her, grasping at the last straws of life.
But her phone buzzed a text she could not ignore. It was short enough to be captured entirely in the preview: "Which damsel will you save now?"
Just then, a shout rang from the device in her ear.
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A/N: sorry for the wait guys, i've been overseas for most of the month and everything was just clashing together so, yeah. Still ever thankful for all the reads and comments and votes and messages that keep coming, oh and all the care and concern :') big love