"Hey Jen, wanna hang tonight? It's Friday." Lisa asked with a hopeful smile.
Jennie bit her lower lip guiltily. "I can't tonight. I umm... have to study for a test."
"Oh, well do you want me to help you?"
"No! I mean... that's really nice of you. But I'll be okay on my own."
Jennie looked awfully anxious, but Lisa decided to ignore it. She trusts Jennie.
"Right then, how about tomorrow?"
"Sounds good!" Jennie said with a beaming smile, and Lisa felt 10 times better already.
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"Omg guys you won't believe this. Guess who I caught snogging in the dance room." Irene's brows wiggled up and down.
Dahyun leaned forward, completely intrigued. She'd always been a sucker for gossip.
"Here's a hint. Her name starts with Jen and his name ends with ai."
"Subtle." Jisoo commented.
"Whatever, cliffhangers were never my thing anyway." The raven-haired girl retorted.
'I'm just glad Lisa wasn't here to hear that.' Jisoo thought to herself before making her way into the classroom.
Upon entering, she witnessed Jennie and Kai, seated in the back corner of the room, visibly flirting with eachother.
She also noticed Lisa sitting at the opposite end of the room, playing with her pencils in vain.
The Korean sighed before approaching her lonely friend. "Are you ok?"
Jisoo winced at Lisa's poor attempt of a smile.
"Yeah! I'm fine. Just umm, thinking about school."
"Right..." Not wanting to push it, the purple-haired girl decided to play along.
"So umm, what are you and Jennie gonna do tonight?" Jisoo decided to ask, in an attempt to lift Lisa's spirits.
You see, Fridays were special. Jennie and Lisa were never apart on Fridays. They would always have sleepovers at Lisa's house, watching movies until their eyes were too tired to continue. They would make dinner together, sing karaokes, or play video-games. You name it, they've done it.
Jisoo knew of this tradition.
However, the mention of this special day had the opposite effect to what Jisoo had expected.
Lisa's eyes washed over with defeat. "Nothing..."
The Korean furrowed her brows in confusion.
"Jennie said that she has to study for a test tonight. So we can't... you know. This Friday is cancelled, I guess."
"What test? We have no upcoming tests."
Lisa pursed her lips together. "I didn't ask. I'm sure she's just under a lot of stress from her parents right now." Lisa tried to reason, she really did. Lisa always tried her best to understand Jennie.
Jisoo knew where this was going. She's sure Lisa did too... deep down.
"Well Lis, how about we-"
"Hey Lisa!" Rosé's chirpy voice brought the conversation to a halt. She seemed to have finally noticed Jisoo's presence. "Hi, I'm Rosé. Pardon my interruption." The Australian apologized bashfully.
"N-no worries. I'm Jisoo. K-Kim Jisoo, Lisa's friend. Haha..." The Korean rambled.
Lisa smirked at her 'straight' friend. "Hold-up, didn't you say that you'd totally bang Ro-"
Jisoo slapped Lisa's shoulder roughly, causing the Thai to wince in pain. "Yah! Kim Jisoo! That hurt." Lisa pouted.
The purple-haired girl simply glared at her friend for almost exposing her.
"Nice to meet you Jisoo." Rosé said with a small smile before turning to Lisa. "Hey umm... I was wondering if you wanted to do something together tonight. You know, as friends..."
Normally, Lisa would reject anyone who asked on a Friday, but now it seems like Jennie would be willing to give up their day for "studying".
"Of course. What did you have in mind?"
"I'm down for anything if it's with you, but I was thinking... a movie maybe?"
Jisoo lightly nudged her friend before whispering: "...ask if I can come."
"Sounds like a plan. Oh and Rosé, can Jisoo tag along?"
The Aussie's smile dropped for a fraction of a second. "I was kind of hoping that we... yeah, sure. Sounds good."
Jisoo's eyes sparkled.
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"Oh my god. Why do I have no clothes?!!" Jisoo ruffled her hair in frustration.
"What are you on? You literally have a closet full of clothing." Lisa responded impatiently while scrolling through Tiktok. "Come on Chu, just wear a hoodie and call it a day. Who even cares? We're just going to the movies."
"It's Park Chaeyoung we're talking about. She's only the most attractive girl in our school."
"Umm, that's your opinion. Personally I think that Jennie is way more-"
Jisoo threw a shirt at Lisa's face.
"Rude." The Thai said before discarding the piece of clothing.
"Stop talking! You're giving me stress!!! I need zen."
Lisa rolled her eyes. "Why? Didn't you say that you're straight?"
Jisoo paused for a moment. "I am... I just- I like to look good in front of attractive people."
"Then how come you never dress up for me?" Lisa asked with an offended expression.
The shorter girl looked absolutely revolted. "Ew no."
"Well cheers mate."
"I'll always be here to humble you." Jisoo said with a smug grin.
"So like are you gonna change or are you gonna go looking like your normal hobo-ass? We've only got 15 minutes left."
The Korean scoffed. "Please, you're wearing a white t-shirt and grey sweatpants."
Lisa simply shrugged. "Comfort > everything else."
"That's not what you said when Jennie first asked you to meet her parents."
"Yeah, and look how that turned out." Lisa sighed.
Jisoo patted the taller girl on the shoulder. "It's fine, us Kims are hard to impress."
"Yeah right. You can be swayed with one chicken skewer."
"Yah! That's cheating..."
"Shut up and choose your outfit."
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Rosé greeted the duo with a cheerful smile. The Aussie was rocking a flowy floral dress.
"I thought we agreed on casual!" Lisa complained childishly, causing Rosé to giggle.
"This is casual..."
Lisa felt her eyes bulge. "B-but... you look so pretty. I feel like a bum next to you."
"Don't say that Lisa. I... think you look rather dashing." Rosé bashfully lowered her head. She didn't even know where that confidence came from.
"What about me? How do I look Chaeyoung-ah?" Jisoo asked with her bright shimmering eyes.
"You look great too, Jisoo unnie." Rosé responded with a warm smile, and Jisoo felt her ego inflate in all types of ways.
"Yeah and it only took her an hour to pick-"
Jisoo covered Lisa's mouth in a hurry. "We better get those tickets before they sell out. Right Lisa?" Jisoo forcefully asked.
"Y-yeah. Totally." The Thai choked out.
The trio made their way over to the front desk; a small line had already formed in front of them. Familiar brown locks with airy Chanel perfume could be detected.
Unaware of the ruckus she was about to cause, Rosé decided to greet her classmate. "Jennie! Fancy seeing you here! Lisa, Jisoo, and I are catching the same movie!"
Jisoo looked absolutely dumbfounded, while Lisa's eyes were mixed with thousands of different emotions.
"That's... nice..." Jennie responded, barely above a whisper.
"Greetings, Jennie-ssi."
The flat, formal tone of Lisa's voice confused the Australian girl endlessly.
Rosé wanted to speak, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything. She could feel the thick tension engulfing the room.
Jisoo cleared her throat. "Hey Jen." She turned to the boys beside her cousin. "And Kai... and his friends?"
Jennie swallowed hard at Lisa's lack of response. "We were just-"
"Looks like we're studying for the same test tonight. Ain't that right Jennie?" Lisa quipped. She was not happy at all, and she didn't try to hide it. Lisa felt so betrayed. She was never one to be short with Jennie. But right now, she couldn't care less.
The Thai had rejected countless people on Fridays because she knew how much it meant to Jennie. (She would pick Jennie over anyone and everyone.) But now she wonders if it was even that significant to Jennie in the first place.
'Perhaps it was never as special to her as it was to me.' That thought inwardly crippled Lisa. The feeling was almost worst than rejection.
The Thai couldn't believe that Jennie chose a boy that she's known for a week over her. She can't believe that Jennie lied to her. For him.
"L-Lisa- I can explain." Jennie reached for the taller girl's hand, but Lisa retracted as if she had been burnt.
Jennie felt her heart sink, a twinge of guilt settling in the pit of her stomach.
"Have fun with the boys. I hope they're better company than me." Lisa coldly stated before walking out of the theatre.
Jennie turned to her cousin helplessly. "Jisoo can you please tell her that I'm sor-"
"Jen. I'm not your babysitter. You did this, now you fix it. I won't fault you, but I can't say I'm on your side either. You know Lisa hates liars." Jisoo stated with finality in her voice.
An utterly perplexed Roseanne was dragged out of the theatre by her purple-haired classmate.
Lisa looked at the Australian girl apologetically. "I'm sorry about my outburst earlier. I've ruined the night... haven't I?"
Rosé couldn't bare the overwhelming sadness and guilt in Lisa's puppy dog eyes (that she's grown quite fond of). "Don't say that Lis. The movie's probably boring anyway."
"You're just saying that..." Lisa mumbled.
"No no, she's right. That movie only got a 79% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It's definitely trash. Garbage. Flaming shit. A waste of time and money." Jisoo added.
The Thai giggled at her friends' cute attempts at making her feel better.
"Thanks guys. I'll make it up to you two. Dinner's on me; let's go get some pasta!" The fog in her hazel eyes cleared up, and she was back to her usual bright and sunny self.
"Oh. My. God. How did you know that I was craving pasta this entire week?!!!" Rosé gushed.
"...I know you're trying to cheer me up and all... but that was a bit excessive-"
"I'm seriously starvinggggg. Food is life. Not to break your bank or anything... but can I get two servings?" Rosé was jumping up and down in excitement. "Or perhaps... three?" She mumbled before shaking her head. 'Bad Chaeyoung. Don't be greedy.' She mentally scolded herself.
"Umm... Lisa... I don't think she's trying to comfort you... I think she's genuinely starved." Jisoo sheepishly scratched her nape.
"O-Oh. In that case, let's go to The Cheesecake Factory."
Rosé squealed. "THAT'S ONE OF MY FAVOURITE RESTAURANTS-"
"Ok. Yeah. That's enough chit-chat. Let's go before she spontaneously combusts." Jisoo stated with concern before dragging her friends towards Lisa's car.