When Lisa and Chaeyoung returned to the hotel room later that evening, they came to find Jennie and Jisoo curled up on the bed, fast asleep with the TV still on. Jennie was holding Jisoo as though she were afraid the dark-haired would slip away from her, and the absolute look of content and happiness that seemed to reside in the dark-haired's features was more than enough to show that they were happy.There was an unfinished box of pizza on the table, as well as a bag of Italian takeout, still untouched on the table. Clearly, the pair had intended on eating and watching TV, but fallen asleep instead.
"Should we wake them?" Chaeyoung whispered into Lisa's ear. Lisa quivered when she felt Chaeyoung's breath against her neck, and for the slightest moment forgot she'd asked a question.
"Uh, no. Let them sleep," she murmured when she regained herself. "We can take the car. Lets give 'em a few more hours. They deserve the rest."
Chaeyoung nodded and grabbed the nearest hoodie before walking out of the room. Lisa smirked when she noticed that it was her hoodie, not Chaeyoung's, and was already prepared to point that fact out. She followed her out and down to the car, where they sat down. For a while, neither of them said anything; they only sat there, staring at the dashboard, unsure of what to do.
"Where should we go?"
Chaeyoung shrugged. "I don't know. You pick."
"Like I'd know where to go in Carson City. Google something."
"How about Tahoe?"
"What about Tahoe?"
Chaeyoung rolled her eyes and shoved her phone into Lisa's hand. "How about we go see lake Tahoe?"
"Oh. Right."
Lisa put the radio on to mask her sudden embarrassment, but even so, Chaeyoung noticed.
Chaeyoung always noticed, because somehow, Lisa was like an open book to her.
She rather enjoyed making the brunette flustered and embarrassed, given the fact that Lisa did so to all too often.
The tragedy(and benefit) of the two of them was the fact that they were nothing if not petty and competitive. Lisa, although currently rendered incapable of anything intelligible and non-embarrassing to say, was already thinking up ways she could get back at Chaeyoung. The woman was infuriating to say the least; after the kiss the night before, she had not said a word. Not about the kiss, anyway. They had enjoyed truly interesting conversations, and words had not been lost between them; but neither Lisa nor Chaeyoung had dared to touch the topic of their feelings for one another, because neither of them really knew what to think of the other.
Lisa knew Chaeyoung was beautiful and intelligent, and that the kiss had been breathtaking; whether it had been same for Chaeyoung, she had no idea. But she was not one to worry about such trivial things. What mattered to Lisa was the fact that Chaeyoung was fun, and that flirting and joking with and at Chaeyoung was even more entertaining than she had originally thought it to be.
They stopped by to get takeout before finding their way to a secluded beach at the shore of the crystal blue lake. It was late afternoon, and the sun was already hanging low in the sky; the air had a nip within it, and the wind that blew was sharp and biting. Chaeyoung found herself shivering in the chill, and so she went back to the car to retrieve the hoodie she'd grabbed from the hotel room.
"That's my hoodie, you know," Lisa pointed out. Chaeyoung looked at her curiously, and saw a smile playing at her lips and amusement twinkling in her eyes.
She contemplated leaning in and kissing her then, knowing it would have sent Lisa's head spinning and rendered her in yet another state of embarrassment which Chaeyoung so enjoyed. But instead she just shrugged and sat down across from Lisa, fully aware of the fact that the hoodie she was wearing was hers.
After all, it smelled unmistakably and wonderfully like Lisa, which was one of the reasons she'd grabbed it in the first place.
"Yeah, so?"
Lisa quirked an eyebrow and shrugged. "Nothing. Just wondered if you knew."
"It was the first hoodie I grabbed. You don't mind, do you?"
"Not at all. Just looks funny on you."
"No it doesn't."
No, it most certainly didn't. It looked adorable. But Lisa wasn't going to admit that.
"It does."
Chaeyoung scrunched up her nose and frowned, and Lisa stuck her tongue out at her. In response, Chaeyoung threw a fry at her, but Lisa caught it and ate it instead.
"Don't you dare waste food."
"Clearly, I didn't, seeing as you ate it."
"I rescued it from a cruel fate."
"I'm certain that even if it had fallen to the ground you would have eaten it."
"So what if I would have? It's food, Chaeyoung."
"Food that can give you food poisoning."
"That only applies after the five seconds."
The woman then rolled her eyes, and Lisa grinned victoriously. "That's not even a real thing, Lisa. Bacteria doesn't know how to count."
"I'm pretty sure they do."
"I'm certain they don't."
"What are you, a bacterial arithmetics expert?"
"You're infuriating."
"As are you."
"You're way more infuriating than I am."
"I'm only as infuriating as the person I am with."
Lisa's insufferable grin was wiped away when Chaeyoung darted across the table and yanked her face to hers, their lips crashing almost too roughly; but Lisa had half known to expect this, and so she knew to pull back just slightly to soften the blow, and when Chaeyoung's tongue pushed it's way past her lips, she was more than ready.
Even so, the sensation was overwhelming. Her stomach was doing continuous flips, and she felt like she was free-falling; but Chaeyoung's lips were on hers, and Chaeyoung's tongue was against hers, and she could taste her mouth and god if it did not taste like lust and passion and so many things that Lisa had only encountered in passing before. Even with the rough and demanding manner of her actions, Chaeyoung was incredibly soft, and the juxtaposition confused Lisa to no end. She was also confused by how Chaeyoung was so simply before her, despite the fact that she was leaning across a table and that her arm surely should have grown tired a long time ago. One hand of Chaeyoung's rested on the table, supporting her weight, while the other was firmly placed on the back of Lisa's neck, keeping her in place and guiding her to meet her mouth over and over again.
Lisa refused to be controlled like Chaeyoung was trying to, and so she stood up, only briefly missing Chaeyoung's lips before she pulled Chaeyoung up with her. She yanked Chaeyoung close to her, and surprisingly enough, she let her; Lisa's hands were planted around Chaeyoung's waist, and for a moment, they just stood there, staring at one another, still tasting each other on their own tongues.
"So you're cool with this?" Lisa asked, a sly, daring look in her eye. "Just kissing, no talking?"
Chaeyoung rolled her eyes. "We'll talk later."
"I'm ok with that."
Lisa leaned in and captured Chaeyoung's lips with hers, and was almost startled with the ease with which Chaeyoung let her guide her; Lisa had expected a fight for dominance, for Chaeyoung's competitiveness to come out as it had in so many of their arguments. When one of her hands came up to her neck, Lisa thought Chaeyoung would regain the control and try to take her like she had before; but she didn't, not at all. Instead, she simply reacted to Lisa's actions, and her hand on her neck guided not only Lisa but Chaeyoung as well. When Lisa began feeling slightly awkward about their current position, she turned them the slightest bit, pushing Chaeyoung against the edge of the picnic table. Chaeyoung leaned back and wrapped her hands around Lisa's neck, and pulled away from her lips to run her mouth down along Lisa's jaw and neck, trailing the skin with soft kisses that made Lisa's breath hitch in her throat.
"Chaeyoung, no."
The woman stopped and looked at her, amused at how flustered she saw Lisa had become. "No to what?"
"Wherever this is going. I am not about to bang in the fucking woods."
"Who said we were going to...bang?"
"Well if you keep doing what you were doing-"
"Oh please, are you telling me a few neck kisses is all that it takes to bed you?"
Lisa now glared at her, almost angry at how well Chaeyoung knew her; she had said just the one thing that she couldn't resist proving wrong. Lisa Manoban was a far too easy target for dares, and the phrase that Chaeyoung's lips had just spilled had been dripping with a dare which Lisa was almost too scared to accept.
"There's no bed anywhere here, and I do not want pine needles stuck to my ass. So no more neck kisses."
Chaeyoung chuckled. "Fair enough, I won't press. Although I was thinking more in line with the picnic table, not the ground..."
Lisa bit her lip and closed her eyes, allowing her head to fall back as she forced herself to suppress the desire she had to do exactly as Chaeyoung suggested. She may have wanted it more than anything, but she was also all-too aware of her track record with relationships.
She'd focus on the feelings aspect first, and worry about the sex later.
"Not today, Chaeyoung."
"So you're saying some day...?" Chaeyoung smirked, but there was no actual question in her voice. Lisa realized now that she was toying with her, playing with the fact that her looks and actions made Lisa so flustered.
And, of course, this annoyed her.
"You're kind of a bitch, you know?"
"A bitch you'd more than gladly let have you were it not for the fact that you think it's too soon."
Lisa looked at Chaeyoung, and knew then that the woman saw straight through her. "Do you read minds or something?" She grumbled, pushing herself away from her and sitting back down onto the bench.
"No, I just figured you were feeling pretty much the same as what I was feeling."
"You what?"
Chaeyoung shrugged. Lisa found herself annoyed at the nonchalance she was exhibiting, and grumbled under her breath.
"We're going too fast."
Lisa nodded. "We are."
"But I'm liking where it's going."
"So am I."
"So...slow?"
Lisa nodded again and smiled. "Slow." To emphasize her point, she tossed a fry at Chaeyoung, and it caught in her hair, causing her to huff in annoyance.
"You are literally a child."
"And this is now a date."
"I guess."
"Which means you're on a date with someone you consider a child. Kinda messed up, don't you think?"
Chaeyoung threw a fry at Lisa, and the brunette grinned devilishly. "Besides, you started the whole throwing fries thing."
"That's only because you're an asshole."
"An asshole you're on a date with."
*****
Jisoo and Jennie slept the rest of the day and through the night, only waking briefly when Lisa and Chaeyoung finally found their way back to the hotel room around midnight. Jisoo slept in Jennie's arms, her head resting on her chest and her arm wrapped tightly around Jennie's waist. Jennie's arms were around her, tight and firm, and Jisoo found that she enjoyed the way they made her feel safe. She could feel Jennie's heart beating steadily beneath her cheek, beneath the soft skin of her chest, and felt herself rise just the tiniest bit with each breath which her wife withdrew. Every few hours or so, she found herself waking with a start, only to settle down the instant she felt Jennie beneath her, calm and asleep as ever. Even in her sleep, Jennie was holding her tight, and Jisoo had no doubt that her being there was one of the few reasons Jennie was capable of even relaxing this much.
When morning came, the solace of their sleep withered away, and was replaced by a gnawing, disgusting feeling which both of them could feel in their guts. Neither of the two could get themselves to stomach anything beyond a few bites of cold pizza and a few mouthfuls of coffee before they clambered down to the car and started off to the courthouse. Neither of them spoke during the entirety of the drive; they were too nervous, too afraid, too concerned about the possible outcomes of the day.
They parked in front of the courthouse, but neither of them got out of the car. They sat there, breathing in and out, trying to contain the fear and nerves within one another.
"Jennie."
Jennie looked at Jisoo and offered her a weak smile. "Yeah?"
"Whatever happens today, I'm not going anywhere. You know that, right?"
Jennie leaned in and slid an arm around Jisoo's neck, and the kiss that they shared was as long as it was soft. "I do," Jennie whispered, their noses just gently touching, "And I won't go anywhere either. You can come kidnap me any time."
Jisoo kissed her again, and Jennie wished that moment could last forever. Jisoo's lips on her own were soft and warm, and they made her feel whole and real and at home.
Jisoo was home.
"I'll hold you to that," Jisoo murmured, "But I have faith that we won't have to worry about that. We'll be fine, Jennie. No matter what."
They walked into the court room at different times on opposing sides, both with shaky legs and pale faces and shifting eyes. When the Judge arrived, they stood, and exchanged a look – Jennie was searching for something, for anything in Jisoo's eyes, and the gentle nod and smile which Jisoo gave her made her heart grow warm and her mind grow sure.
We'll be fine.
Taeyeon was beside Jisoo, and when Jennie looked at her, she felt awestruck; this was a woman of power and of confidence, a woman who knew what she wanted and how to get it. This was someone who Jennie knew could stand a chance against her parents.
"The court will now hear the statements from Dr. Jongsuk Lee."
The doctor stood, and all eyes turned to him. He did not miss the hopeful looks held within the eyes of the married pair, and smirked inwardly as he looked over the courtroom and cleared his throat.
"In my evaluation, I assessed not only Miss Kim's and Miss Kwon's mental status and competency, but also those of Mr. and Mrs. Kwon. Your Honor will find a full transcript of our sessions as well as my report before you; feel free to look over them to take into account in your deliberation."
The doctor took a brief pause, and the judge turned his attention to the neatly stapled pile of papers on the table before him.
"After studying Miss Kwon's records and the statements from my colleagues regarding her mental state which led to her being declared mentally incompetent, I noted a great difference between what I had seen and what was written in her records. Her records state that she is "incredibly self-destructive to the point of threatening her own life" and that "her mind is so severely broken that she can barely construct a sentence". However, these statements as well as everything in those reports were disproven by my talk with Miss Kwon. She is, in my professional opinion, perfectly within the limits of good mental health. I was also provided with proof by Miss Kim's attorney which I took into account in my assessment of her parents."
Jisoo could see the Kwon' tense up when the doctor said that, and could not help the smirk that emerged on her face.
"While this is of course subject to deliberation and more professional evaluations, I judged Mrs. Kwon as a borderline sociopathic personality, while her husband exhibited signs of a severely sadistic mentality bordering on psychopathy. Both of the two also showed traits of an abuser, and after hearing Miss Kwon's own details of the abuse which they have extended to her, I have no doubt in saying that abusing their conservatorship to end a marriage of which they disapprove is in no way out of their character. The establishment of this conservatorship was, in my opinion, based on their sadistic and possessive needs alone, and not based on any real mental incapacity on Miss Kwon's part. My official statement then stands as follows; I believe that the grounds for conservatorship of Miss Ruby Jane Kwon are, and never were, valid, and thus the arrangement should be dissolved altogether."
He nodded and waited for the judge to allow him to sit, and after he'd done so, the court remained silent for a long while. Everyone was looking at Judge Lee now, waiting and praying for whatever he said to be what they wanted. Jisoo was positively ill, and Jennie looked as though she were about to faint; but then the judge spoke, and all else disappeared altogether.
"Does the Petitioner have a statement regarding what we just heard?"
The attorney, whose name Jennie refused to learn, stared at him. Jennie knew she had nothing she could say. There was nothing left to say, all that they could truly do now was wait.
But the attorney stood nevertheless, and Jennie stood as well, despite the fact that the room spun when she did so.
"Miss Kwon is not capable, not in the slightest – the fact that she was sent to rehab for four months is more than enough proof. These claims about abuse are not in any way pertinent to the case, nor is whatever her parents may be; what is pertinent is the fact that this marriage happened on a false basis and should thus be ended before more damage can be done to Miss Kwon's fragile psyche. That is all."
I'll do damage to your fragile psyche if you don't shut up, Jennie growled in her head, I'll hurt you all.
They sat down, and soon after Taeyeon and Jisoo stood. The victorious grin on Taeyeon's face gave Jennie hope, and when she opened her mouth, Jennie knew they'd won.
"Miss Kwon's attorney referred to her stint in rehab. I would like to point out that the reason she was sent to rehab was an abusive scheme committed by her parents, for which we have proof which should be on the table before you. But she is also right in one thing; that is not really pertinent to this case. What is pertinent is the fact that Miss Kwon is entirely mentally competent and thus the grounds for conservatorship are rendered invalid, and also the fact that neither Miss Kwon nor Miss Kim want an annulment. They are happily married and in love, which is obvious to anyone who sees them together; it would, in my opinion, be wrong to even attempt dissolving this beautiful union on the basis of homophobic discrimination and abuse."
She did not have to state that she had concluded; the silence that fell after she'd stopped was heavy and powerful, and Jennie felt so overwhelmed she was sure she'd cry. She looked at Jisoo, and saw she was practically beaming at her, those beautifully brown eyes shining with tears; for a few seconds, it was as though there was no distance between them at all, as though they were standing not a foot apart.
But then Judge Lee spoke again, and they turned their attention to him.
"I agree with the Respondent. The conservatorship is hereby dissolved, which allows me to ask Miss Kwon to stand and answer one question."
His eyes peered at Jennie, who stood up hurriedly, feeling flustered and terrified at this unexpected turn.
"Miss Kwon, do you want your marriage to Miss Kim dissolved?"
Jennie's eyes flickered to Jisoo, and she smiled gently.
"No, your Honor."
"Then that is all we need to know. This petition for an annulment is hereby declined. The court is dismissed."
©artsypolarbear