A day passed by, and Jennie grew much sicker than Jisoo was. By the next evening, her fever was at an all-time high, resulting in extreme discomfort for Jennie. She was hot and cold at the same time, and she felt grossly sweaty – and it didn't help that in her state, she really wanted to be held. Jisoo was less sick than she was, though her headaches made her very grumpy, and she was more than happy to comply with Jennie's need for closeness. To ward off the excess heat they were generating, they'd shed their clothes and reverted to using ice packs wrapped in towels to provide them at least some coolness even when they were cold. It was a strange thing; they were cold, but at the same sweaty, and under the covers it was hot and stuffy. Ice packs balanced everything out nicely.
Despite all her efforts to stay away from Jisoo and Jennie, Lisa had fallen ill as well, and so it was left to Chaeyoung to take care of all three of the idiots. Lisa she found a surprisingly easy patient; she basically just slept, only waking up periodically to grumble and demand food, and Chaeyoung found it absolutely endearing how soundly she slept. Jisoo and Jennie, on the other hand, were absolute messes; Jisoo had headaches which Chaeyoung's pain killers could only somewhat help, and that made her very pissy, whilst Jennie just hated the entire premise of the world and everything in it.
But she soldiered on anyway. That day she'd visited Jisoo's and Jennie's apartment four times to make sure they had eaten and were alright. When she'd received news of Jisoo's lab results, which had been negative for anything that would have given rise to further worry, she'd gone over to find the two of them sleeping soundly in each other's arms. Finding the scene so endearing and serene, she had written Jisoo a quick note and left as quietly as she could, deciding she'd give them the rest they needed.
She headed out for a little while to pop over to her own apartment to get some fresh clothes, and when she came back, she entered Lisa's apartment to find Lisa sitting in the kitchen, waiting for her.
"Where'd you go?"
Chaeyoung shut the door behind her and shrugged. "Got myself some fresh clothes."
"You were gone a while."
Chaeyoung studied Lisa's expression, and found it odd; she looked anxious, stressed even, and Chaeyoung had no idea what it was about.
"Why do you look like that?"
"While you were gone, your phone rang."
A quick pat of her pockets revealed to Chaeyoung that her phone wasn't with her, and she looked at Lisa in confusion. "Did you answer?"
"Yeah."
Lisa was quiet, and Chaeyoung felt very unsettled by her silence.
"Lisa, you're kinda scaring me."
Lisa raised a hand to rub at her temple and sighed. "Sorry, I'm a little out of it."
"Let's get you back to bed." Chaeyoung walked over and promptly picked Lisa up, and Lisa let her; she slung her arms around Chaeyoung's neck and buried her face in her shoulder, and when Chaeyoung tried to lay her into the bed, she wouldn't let go – instead, she yanked at Chaeyoung so that she fell beside her onto the bed.
"Lisa, I-"
"The call was from Doctors Without Borders," Lisa began, "Some woman named Anna? I don't know, but she told me to tell you that there's some urgent need for a leadership position to be filled."
"And?"
"Abroad."
"What?"
"She told me to tell you what it was, because she wants an answer by tomorrow and she's out of the office for the day."
"Tell me what?"
Lisa sighed. "It's some...project leader position, for like a month I think, in Chad."
"And they want me?"
"Mhm."
Chaeyoung sighed and laid onto her back, thinking Lisa would want her space - but instead, she was surprised when Lisa climbed onto her, nuzzling her face into her neck, her arm wrapping around her waist and pulling her close.
"But what's wrong?" Chaeyoung asked quietly.
Lisa sighed, and her breath was hot against Chaeyoung's skin – a little too hot, even. She still had a little fever, even though the medicine had helped get it down. "It's nothing."
"No, something's wrong. Tell me."
"It's stupid."
"You're stupid anyway. Tell me."
Chaeyoung had to wait a long while before the brunette in her arms spoke again.
"I don't like the thought of you going away for a month."
Lisa sounded so vulnerable, her voice quiet and small, that Chaeyoung couldn't help but wrap her arms around her even tighter and pull her close. "That's not stupid at all."
"Are you going to go?"
Chaeyoung sighed. "If the position is what I think it is, I'd be stupid to decline."
"Oh."
Lisa trembled just the slightest bit, and Chaeyoung looked down at her in surprise. "Lisa, are you crying?"
The brunette wiped at her eyes and hid her face further into Chaeyoung's neck. "No."
"Lisa..."
"I'm sick and tired and emotional, and I just spent the past hour imagining what it'd be like to be all alone again, and I just-"
Chaeyoung sighed and brought her hand up to stroke Lisa's hair gently. "That's alright."
"But you're going to go."
"I have a career to think about, Lisa."
"I don't...no, I'm not going to say I don't want you to go, because it's your career. But I won't like it."
"I won't like it either."
"But it's your career."
"It's my career," Chaeyoung agreed. "But we'll worry about that later. For now, you need to rest."
"Can you stay here?" Lisa asked. "In bed, with me?"
"Even though you might get me sick?"
"Please?"
Chaeyoung just smiled. "Well if you insist..."
*****
Jisoo awoke in the dark of night, finding her mouth parched like a desert. There was no water in her glass, and so with a groan she crawled out of bed and to the bathroom to get some water to soothe her sore throat and dry, cracked lips. She wasn't feeling so bad anymore – the headache was still there, but her fever was lessening, and she was sure that she'd be just fine in a matter of days.
Jennie, on the other hand, had taken a worse hit, and was most likely going to be ill for at least a week – as according to Chaeyoung, anyway. And so Jisoo took care to refill Jennie's glass too, and tiptoed back to the bed as quietly as she could, despite knowing Jennie wouldn't wake even if the ground was shaking.
She had just settled down on her side of the bed when she felt Jennie stirring, and turned around to find her staring at her with wide eyes.
"Jennie, you okay?"
Jennie mumbled something incoherent, and reached over to turn on the light on her nightstand. Jisoo blinked at the sudden brightness, and failed at first to notice the confusion on Jennie's face.
"What..."
Jisoo finally regained her ability to see. "What do you mean what?"
"Are you an angel?"
Jisoo almost laughed when she heard that; she could still distinctly recall the first thing Jennie had ever said to her, and now she'd said it again. But the confusion on Jennie's face told her that Jennie wasn't joking, and she smiled gently.
"No, I'm not an angel."
Jennie frowned. "You sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure. Now put the light out and go to sleep."
Jennie stared at her for a while after she'd put out the light; it was only slightly dark in their room, and Jisoo could still very easily see the expressions on her face.
"Hey..."
"Would it be weird if I kissed you right now?"
Jisoo stared at Jennie for a while, surprised as ever, before finally regaining her senses and answering. "No."
The brunette shuffled closer, and paused for just a moment, their lips just a breath away from each other. "Wait. Are you single?"
Jisoo smiled. "Nope."
"What?"
"I'm married to you, you idiot."
Jennie blinked, her sleepy daze still very much clouding her mind. "Wait..."
Jisoo kissed Jennie gently and allowed her the time she apparently needed to process this huge bit of news.
"I'm married to you?" Jennie asked in awe.
"Yes."
"Holy shit."
Jisoo couldn't help but laugh as she laid her head down onto the pillow. Jennie laid her head down as well, so close to Jisoo's face she could feel her breath tingling her skin; the brunette was staring at her, eyes wide with awe and admiration, and Jisoo found it infinitely hilarious. She was obviously either sleep-talking or in any case not fully awake – clearly, Nyquil or whatever Chaeyoung had given her to help her sleep didn't pair very well with her mind.
"You're my wife."
"That I am."
"I'm your wife."
"If I'm your wife, that would mean that you're my wife, yes."
"Fuck."
"What?"
"I hit the jackpot."
Jisoo let out a laugh, and leaned in to kiss Jennie quickly. "That's adorable. Do you know what your ring says?"
"...no?"
"Jackpot."
"Huh?"
"As in you hit the jackpot, you idiot. Now sleep, Jennie."
Jennie furrowed her brows, but said nothing; she closed her eyes a little while later, but didn't fall asleep entirely at first. Only once she'd found Jisoo's hand and laced their fingers together did she fall asleep, and Jisoo watched her for a little while before she, too, slipped back into sleep.
*****
When Jennie awoke the next morning, she could not recall a single thing about what had happened during the night. As Jisoo gave her a detailed rundown of her drugged daze, Jennie's face grew redder and redder until she hid her face into a pillow and grumpily told Jisoo to never mention it again.
Jisoo, feeling significantly better now, climbed over Jennie and leaned in close, her lips grazing Jennie's ear as she whispered: "Never."
"Jisoo."
"It was so adorable!"
"Shut up."
"You were so confused!"
"Shush."
"Never."
Jennie threw a pillow into Jisoo's face. "Please."
Jisoo just laughed, and got up to fix them some breakfast. While she was cooking her infamous 'not-so-disgusting' eggs, Chaeyoung entered the apartment.
"Glad to see you're alive and well," she commented. "How's Jennie?"
"Grumpy."
"Any better?"
"I think her fever's gone a little down, but she did wake up in a drugged daze last night. Didn't remember we were married."
"That's probably just the fever dreams. She might've actually been sleeping the whole time."
"I know."
Chaeyoung remained there in the kitchen, shifting uncomfortably on her feet for almost a minute till Jisoo noticed.
"Is something wrong?"
"I need advice."
"About what?"
Chaeyoung sighed and sat down onto a barstool. Her head she leaned on her hand, and Jisoo now saw that she was truly troubled with something.
"What is it, Chaeyoung?"
"I got offered a job."
"That's great, isn't it?" Jisoo asked as she divided the eggs into two and laid them out on two plates.
"No, it's not."
"Why not?"
"The job's in Chad, Jisoo."
"Chad?"
Chaeyoung rolled her eyes. "A country in Africa?"
"Yes, I know what it is, I'm just surprised."
"It's a month-long gig, they need an answer by today because apparently it's an emergency..."
"Does Lisa know?"
"She answered my phone when they called. Jisoo, she cried. I mean she claimed she wasn't crying, but still – she's upset about it, and she doesn't want me to go."
"Do you want to go?"
Chaeyoung sighed. "I...no, I don't want to leave Lisa, but...it's a promising job. This could fast-forward my career by years."
"Then go."
"Really?"
"Lisa will understand. She does now, I'm sure. If she cried, it's because she knew you'd go, and was probably already imagining you being gone."
"But I don't want to hurt her."
"And yourself, don't forget. You care about her, right?"
"Of course I do."
Jisoo smiled. "It's one month. You can handle it, and Lisa can handle it. It'll be that much better when you get back."
Chaeyoung sighed again. "I just..."
"You're worried about Lisa."
"My job's never been a problem, you know? I've never had to worry about anyone but myself, but now..."
"Hey. I've lived with my mom going off on various gigs all my life. It's just what she likes to do, and it's perfectly fine. Lisa will be fine."
"I'll miss her."
"Of course you will."
"So you're sure she'll be alright?"
"So long as you don't dump her, you're golden."
Chaeyoung was quiet for a while, and Jisoo gasped.
"You're dumping her!?"
"God, no!" Chaeyoung said quickly. "I just...ah, nevermind."
"No, tell me. What?"
"I just...Lisa's had bad breakups, hasn't she?"
Jisoo furrowed her brows. "What do you mean?"
"She's...her heart's been broken before?"
"Yes, sadly," Jisoo admitted. "But why do you need to know about that?"
"I don't want to do that."
"Do what?"
"Break up with her."
"Then don't."
"I won't."
"Good, now stop being stupid and worrying about stupid things like breakups when obviously you two are going to get hitched in a year or two."
Chaeyoung laughed. "We'll see whether marriage or murder comes first."
Jisoo laughed. "Fair enough. When do you leave for Chad?"
"In three days, if I take it."
"Then go to Lisa, and tell her that you're going. But don't forget to reassure her that you're coming back, and that your relationship isn't going on hold or whatever. Because she will worry about that, and I want you to make sure she doesn't go overboard with her stress. Just little things. Phones and Skype exist for a reason, remind her of that. She's a worrier."
Chaeyoung smiled. "Thank you."
Jisoo took the two plates and headed upstairs, where she found Jennie still buried beneath the covers. When she sat down beside her, the covers were thrown off, revealing a grumpy but extremely hungry Jennie. She took the plate that Jisoo was offering, and flashed a grateful smile before delving into it.
"Holy shit, either I'm starving or you can actually cook."
"Hey!" Jisoo interjected. "I can make eggs."
Jennie smiled. "Fair enough. You can make eggs."
For a while, they ate in silence.
"Who were you talking to?"
Jisoo swallowed her mouthful of eggs before speaking. "Chaeyoung."
"Why was she here?"
"She needed advice about a...thing."
"What thing?"
"About Lisa."
"They're okay, are they?"
Jisoo pondered for a while whether she should tell Jennie, and ultimately decided that Jennie was her wife and deserved to know.
"Chaeyoung's going away for a month. To Africa."
Jennie stared at her for a while. "Oh."
"And she wanted advice on what she should do."
"About what?"
"About Lisa. Whether she should go."
"What'd you say?"
"I told her to take the job, it'll better her career, and honestly, it'll make their relationship stronger."
"Or it'll break them apart."
"It won't. Lisa's patient."
"Chaeyoung is too."
"And Lisa will have us to make sure she's not entirely alone."
"So basically we get to babysit her for a month?"
"Hey, she's not a baby. An idiotic child sometimes, maybe, but she's wonderful."
Jennie laughed. "I know, I was just joking. She's the only person I've met who can remain childish and yet be so grown up sometimes."
"That's her best quality, I'd say. Even though she's still pretty much an asshole."
"You love her."
"I do."
"But not more than you love me."
"No, don't worry," Jisoo chuckled. "I love you the most."
Jennie grinned. "I love you the mostest."
"God, you're an idiot."
"It's these eggs, I'm pretty sure you spiked them."
"The secret ingredient is lo-ove," Jisoo teased.
"Well then I'm drunk on your love, Jisoo."
Jisoo paused for a second. "That's actually really cute."
"I know. I can be cute sometimes."
"More like always."
©artsypolarbear