Lisa tilted her head up and connected her mouth with Chaeyoung’s in a silent acknowledgement of her words, her soft lips pressing gently against the flesh of her girlfriend’s in a delicate kiss. Chaeyoung tightened her hold around Lisa’s frame in response, pulling the younger girl in to her further so that their hips were pressed together, the contours of each other’s torsos moulding to one another as though they were two adjoining pieces of a puzzle. Lisa’s right hand moved up to the back of Chaeyoung’s neck as she deepened the kiss, her tongue finding the familiar depths of the taller girl’s mouth, her fingers entangling themselves in the hair at Chaeyoung’s nape. She twisted the silky strands around her fingertips deliberately and the gesture sent a shiver down Chaeyoung’s spine, making her skin tingle with pleasure as Lisa’ digits unintentionally swept across it.
Chaeyoung’s breath caught in the back of her throat as Lisa’s left hand grazed a nimble path up her right arm to settle on her shoulder, the faint touch more than enough to make her skin burn in its wake despite how brief the contact had been. Lisa lifted it quickly to cup Chaeyoung’s cheek, her thumb stroking her girlfriend’s features soothingly as she leant in to the embrace further, her whole body pressing in to the taller girl so firmly and deliberately that Chaeyoung had to take a step backwards in order to keep her balance. Chaeyoung felt the small smile that formed on Lisa’s lips in response to her sudden movement and the taste of it made the muscles of her own mouth twitch until it’d unconsciously curved up similarly. Lisa’s left hand moved around to join the right hand which was still playing with the hair at the back of Chaeyoung’s neck and she sucked lightly on Chaeyoung’s lower lip as she leant back and out of the kiss, separating their mouths reluctantly, her hazelnut eyes seeking out Chaeyoung’s brown ones almost instantly.
“I love you,” Lisa told Chaeyoung, her features warm and affectionate. The fingertips of her right hand moved to brush Chaeyoung’s brow tenderly as she said it, her deep chocolate eyes unmoving as they continued to examine the soft brown of her girlfriend’s intently.
“You’ve only just met me,” Chaeyoung joked trying to make light of the situation, the weight of Lisa’s words, of the sincerity with which she spoke them making her blush profusely when combined with the intensity of her stare. Lisa’s smile grew wide at Chaeyoung’s comment and she glanced down at the floor between them, finally breaking eye contact.
“Maybe in this life,” Lisa responded bashfully, her voice quiet and timid.
“Oh, you’re good,” Chaeyoung chuckled, her heart fluttering involuntarily at Lisa’s quiet insinuation, the subtle reference to them being soul mates not lost on her. Lisa’s eyes wandered Chaeyoung’s body in an attempt to avoid her gaze and came to a stop on her girlfriend’s left shoulder where one of her dress straps was twisted. She reached forward and used both her hands to straighten it back out again, her fingertips tracing the curves of both Chaeyoung’s shoulders delicately when she’d finished, her brow furrowed in concentration whilst she scrutinised her handiwork. Chaeyoung cupped Lisa’s face with her hands and carefully lifted the younger girls’ chin so that she’d meet her eyes once more. “Look at me Lili.” Chaeyoung instructed Lisa gently, the younger girl having closed her eyes still obviously feeling selfconscious about what she’d said. Lisa shook her head and scrunched her eyes closed tighter as she placed the palm of her right hand lightly against Chaeyoung’s chest in an attempt to keep her at arm’s length. “Don’t be embarrassed,” Chaeyoung reassured her. “It’s just me here Lili. It’s just us.” Lisa tried to lower her head again but Chaeyoung held it firm in place, preventing her from completing the movement. “Babe,” Chaeyoung urged Lisa, her tone soft and encouraging. “Open your eyes.”
“I can’t,” Lisa said, prying open just her right and squinting through it at Chaeyoung.
“Why not?” Chaeyoung asked, the smile on her lips at Lisa’s uncharacteristic coyness making her face ache.
“I think that maybe that was a bit much,” Lisa confessed, making a face which told Chaeyoung that she was less than impressed with what she’d said. “Do I always say things like that?”
“Yes,” Chaeyoung said, unable to prevent her smile from growing even wider at Lisa’s newfound discomfort. “It’s one of the things that I love most about you.”
“It doesn’t make you cringe?” Lisa asked finally opening both her eyes to look at the taller girl. “Quite the opposite,” Chaeyoung assured her, shaking her head.
“You make me feel like one of the characters in those books that you enjoy reading so much, like I’m the centre of someone’s whole entire universe, like I’m special, like I’m worthy of you wasting a hundred beautiful words on. You make me feel like someone Lili. I could achieve nothing else in my life from this moment on and I’d still feel like the most successful person in existence because out of everyone alive at this very moment in time, I was the only one lucky enough to make you fall in love with them.” She wrapped her arms back around Lisa’s waist and pulled her into her body powerfully, connecting their lips together again in a kiss which left no room for any further doubt on her opinion regarding the matter.
“Did that make you cringe?” Chaeyoung questioned, relinquishing Lisa’s mouth but placing another delicate kiss over her scar.
“No,” Lisa answered truthfully. “Quite the opposite,” she added mimicking Chaeyoung’s tone from moments ago. One corner of Chaeyoung’s mouth turned up into a smirk and Lisa stepped back out of Chaeyoung’s arms slightly. “Come with me,” Lisa said simply. Her tone was undemanding and easy, more of a question than a command, but when she held out her right hand for Chaeyoung to take, she was powerless to refuse it.
“Anywhere,” Chaeyoung answered, all playfulness gone as she placed her hand in Lisa’s open and waiting one. “Lead the way.” Lisa closed her fingers around Chaeyoung’s hand and turned on the spot, pulling on her girlfriend’s arm gently as she led them back up the steps in the direction of the building where the dance was still currently underway. They could hear the distant sound of music as it escaped in to the night around them, the deep bass accosting their ears almost as soon as they’d emerged from their private sanctuary along with the sound of Jisoo’s worried voice.
“Lisa!” Jisoo called, evidently relieved at apparently having located her friend. “Where the hell have you been?” she asked, making her way over to the younger girl, closing the distance between the two of them hurriedly. Lisa paused in her tracks and turned to watch as Chaeyoung moved out from behind her and in to view. “Oh,” Jisoo said, finally noticing Chaeyoung was with her. She glanced down at Lisa and Chaeyoung’s entwined hands and smiled to herself. “I see…”
“Jesus Jisoo,” Chaeyoung returned from her position beside Lisa, shaking her head at the obvious leap Jisoo’s brain had made, “seriously?”
“What?” Jisoo asked shrugging unapologetically. “For all I know that’s how you two make up after a fight…”
“Ok firstly, we didn’t have a fight…” Chaeyoung protested and Jisoo lifted an eyebrow disbelievingly.
“Yeah, ok.” Jisoo cut her off, scoffing loudly, evidently not buying it.
“We didn’t,” Lisa supported, casting a brief look in Chaeyoung’s direction before turning her attention to Jisoo.
“Hey! Your speech is back!” Jisoo said happily, holding out her arms to either side dramatically on hearing Lisa’s input in to the conversation.
“No shit,” Lisa responded blithely, shaking her head at Jisoo’s need to state the obvious.
“That was quick,” she said winking at her best friend. “Are you seriously going to try and tell me that you and Chaeyoung didn’t…you know…” she suggested evasively, appearing amused with herself.
“Oh my God,” Chaeyoung grumbled, rolling her eyes just as Lisa spoke. “Jisoo…” she warned and the Korean girl grinned broadly.
“You know I’m only messing with you both,” she said, placing a hand on Lisa’s shoulder. “I was actually really worried about you.” She told the younger girl. “I thought for sure that I’d come out to find my hopes of a Chaelisa wedding destroyed. You two fucking idiots are as bad as each other. I mean, seriously Chaeyoung…what the hell were you thinking asking Lisa up on stage to sing? If you’d told me that’s what you were planning I would never have let you get up there. That’s one sure fire way to seriously scare the shit out of her…”
“Well, I know that now,” Chaeyoung said, her words barely acknowledged, Jisoo ploughing on ahead undeterred. “Once I even tried to get her to enter the school talent competition but she point blank refused. I think her actual words were,
“I’d rather die than subject myself to that.” Jisoo shared. “Then you,” Jisoo continued, addressing Lisa again, squeezing her shoulder firmly in her grasp. “You just up and leave when Chaeyoung is at her most vulnerable? I mean, she just performed a freaking love song for you and what do you do? You run off and leave her well and truly hanging. Great way to make a scene dumbass!” she laughed. “I thought the idea was to try not to draw even more attention to the situation and yourself but, what can I say, you failed there…”
“Alright,” Lisa said, cutting her off. “We get it ok. We’re stupid. Can we move on already?”
“You know that we’ve all been out here looking for the two of you?” Jisoo went on responding to Lisa’s prompt and changing the subject slightly.
“Well you obviously weren’t looking very hard,” Lisa returned emphatically, pointing over her shoulder with her thumb. “We were only down there. It’s not like we’d hopped a plane to Paris or something.”
“It’s not my fault that I couldn’t find you.” Jisoo complained grumpily. “I tried following the sound of arguing but I just ended up coming across Lindsey Martin shouting at Carly Browne behind the fencing over there. Apparently Carly slept with Lindsey’s boyfriend or something…at least, that’s what it sounded like she was screaming…anyway, you have no idea how awkward that was to walk in on,” she mused thoughtfully, getting slightly sidetracked. She shook her head for a moment in realisation that she’d strayed from the topic of conversation before continuing. “Where was I? Oh yeah, so after I’d backed away from that drama I remembered that you couldn’t speak,” she said to Lisa, “and that you,” she continued, turning to face Chaeyoung, “would never even consider shouting at her for leaving because you’d probably feel so guilty about everything that happened, so I just stood around by the door like a moron hoping that you’d come back. I mean, honestly guys, you could at least pretend to fight like a normal couple for me…”
“We fight like a normal couple,” Chaeyoung said offended.
“I’ve never seen you two fight over anything.” Jisoo shared honestly.
“What about when Lili went to rehab?” Chaeyoung asked her.
“You didn’t talk for six weeks,” Jisoo reminded her. “It’s not like you had a massive argument or anything. Lisa just stopped talking to you and let’s be honest here Chaeyoung, part of that was because she probably couldn’t speak for the first week she was there anyway…”
“Jisoo,” Lisa interjected, stepping forward and clamping her hand over her friend’s mouth forcefully.
“Can you please shut up for one minute?” Jisoo mumbled something incomprehensible against the palm of Lisa’s hand but nodded her head in agreement.
“We’re leaving,” Lisa disclosed, removing her hand from its previous position when she was satisfied that the taller girl had ceased with her rambling.
“Leaving?” Jisoo asked; her voice small.
“Yes,” Lisa confirmed.
“You can’t leave!” Jisoo protested. “Don’t let those fucking people in there stop you from having a good time ok? Just ignore them if they say anything to you…”
“We’ll see you later Jisoo,” Lisa said dismissively, her mind already made up.
“You’ll see me….” Jisoo started but Lisa wasn’t listening, the younger girl instead pulling gently on Chaeyoung’s hand and leading her away from the main building towards where the limousine was parked, awaiting their return.
“Wait a minute,” Jisoo exhaled, stepping quickly round in front of Lisa and blocking her path. “Where are you going?”
“Where do you think I’m going?” Lisa asked ambiguously.
“How the fuck should I know?” Jisoo replied lifting up her hands in front of her dismayed at the idea of Lisa and Chaeyoung leaving prom early because of some unwanted attention.
“It’s prom.” Lisa told her plainly.
“No shit,” Jisoo said mimicking Lisa’s earlier words with such precision that Chaeyoung almost managed to convince herself that it had been her girlfriend that had said it. “So it’s prom. So what? What does that even mean?”
“Think about it.” Lisa instructed and Jisoo did, her forehead wrinkling for a mere instant before her features finally evolved in to a look of pure surprise, realisation finally dawning on her.
“Are you going to the beach?” Jisoo asked astonished and Chaeyoung, whose attention had been darting between the two of them, saw Lisa nod her head.
“Yes,” she answered.
“So you’re going to the beach or the beach?” she questioned, looking for clarification.
“The beach,” Lisa answered. “Where else would I go when there’s a school dance?”
“Wow,” Jisoo said, letting out a long slow breath, as though this confession was something momentous. “Ok…”
“Ok, calm down Jisoo,” Chaeyoung laughed. “It’s not like me and Lili have never been to the beach before…”
“No you don’t under…” Jisoo started but she stopped abruptly when she saw the slight shake of Lisa’s head silently urging her to stop.
“What?” Chaeyoung asked, not having seen the gesture and confused at Jisoo’s sudden cessation.
“Nothing,” Jisoo said, screwing up her face, aware that she’d piqued Chaeyoung’s interest and couldn’t easily back pedal. She narrowed her eyes and took a step nearer to Lisa, staring in to the younger girl’s eyes searchingly as though looking for some answers. “Are you seriously taking her to the beach?” she whispered to Lisa and the younger girl beamed happily, answering Jisoo’s question without the need for any words to be exchanged. “You’re going to take her to our secret place…the place that you’ve yet to go back to since the accident…the place that you’ve been actively avoiding…”
“Umm….Jisoo…” Chaeyoung started with a confused expression on her face at the silence that had fallen between the three of them. “What’s…?”
“Shh…” Jisoo said, holding up one finger to silence Chaeyoung, her eyes never leaving Lisa’s.
“Do you want a picture?” Lisa asked Jisoo loudly, making a face which betrayed her enjoyment of the situation and her continued evasion of her friends’ questions. Jisoo moved her face towards Lisa’s so that they were only a few inches apart, her sudden scrutiny seeming out of place to Chaeyoung who’d not heard Jisoo’s murmured questions. “Jisoo, you do know that if you come any closer than I can only assume it’s because you want to kiss me,” Lisa warned the Korean girl spiritedly for Chaeyoung’s benefit. She whipped her head back from Lisa as she spoke in case she decided to follow through on her threat but still examined the younger girl through narrowed eyes.
“Alright, what happened down there?” Jisoo asked Lisa, all thoughts of trying to keep the conversation between the two of them now forgotten as she pointed back towards the small courtyard that her best friend and Chaeyoung had emerged from.
“Nothing,” Chaeyoung answered, baffled. “We were just talking…”
“No, not between the two of you,” Jisoo interrupted, breaking eye contact with her best friend momentarily to look at Chaeyoung before returning it to Lisa again. “What happened to you?” she questioned, pointing at the younger girl stood in front of her. Lisa just smiled at the question again and Chaeyoung saw Jisoo’s head tilt to one side in response.
“Are you going to get out of my way?” Lisa enquired goodnaturedly, ignoring the question.
“Let me get this straight, you’re going to the beach for the first time in almost a year and you’re taking Chaeyoung?” Jisoo asked quizzically. “I’m not invited too?” Lisa looked at Chaeyoung then back at Jisoo.
“There’s just something really important that I have to do Jisoo,” she said purposefully.
“Holy shit,” Jisoo cursed, the words coming out as a whisper along with the air that she blew out of her lungs. “What the fuck just happened to you? Why are you going there now?”
“It’s time Jisoo,” Lisa said simply and the understanding smile that appeared on Jisoo’s face was like none Chaeyoung had ever seen before.
“Don’t say it like it’s nothing,” Jisoo responded cheerfully, her voice catching in her throat and cracking. “It’s not nothing. It’s definitely something. It’s time? Jesus Lisa. Really? It’s time? That’s all you’re going to say to me… ”
“What’s going on?” Chaeyoung questioned, sensing something bigger was going on here than she was privy to. Jisoo laughed then, a hearty, musical laugh that made Chaeyoung’s stomach flutter in excitement at the prospect of this mysterious elusion.
“You’ll find out,” Jisoo answered, her eyes flicking to Chaeyoung briefly before returning to Lisa. “Ok Lisa…” she said. “What do you need from me?”
“Nothing,” Lisa replied honestly. “Just…let the others know that we’ve left and then go back inside and enjoy what’s left of prom alright?”
“Meanwhile, you’ll be out here stealing the limousine…” Jisoo said knowingly.
“I like to think of it as borrowing.” Lisa chuckled, emphasizing the last word. “I promise I’ll send it back for you guys as soon as it’s dropped us off though. We won’t need it after that.”
“Fine,” Jisoo laughed, glancing between Lisa and Chaeyoung, looking pleased about something.
“So I’ll talk to you later?” Lisa probed hesitantly.
“Damn right you will.” Jisoo responded conclusively, an amused expression on her face. “I want to know what the fuck happened to you to finally make you realise that you’re still the same goddamn idiot that you’ve always been.”
“Life,” Lisa said evasively in answer to Jisoo’s words.
“Life?” Jisoo asked chuckling as Lisa tugged gently on Chaeyoung’s arm and began to lead her off in the direction of the limousine.
“Yeah, life is what happened to me Jisoo,” Lisa said pausing momentarily when she came shoulder to shoulder with her friend.
“Life couldn’t have happened a little quicker?” Jisoo joked, turning her head to look at the younger girl. Lisa laughed and pulled on Chaeyoung’s arm again in a silent prompt for her girlfriend to follow her.
“Haven’t you heard Jisoo?” Lisa asked, playfully, “Time heals all wounds.” she trailed off in parting, stepping past the Korean, Chaeyoung trailing behind her.
“Well, thank God!” Jisoo called out after her, only half joking. “Shame it’s only taken you almost a year to realise what everyone else already knew!” she shouted after her friend meaningfully, shaking her head in disbelief. She saw Lisa look over her shoulder at her, a smirk on her face.
“We’ll see you at Jennie’s house later!” Lisa yelled back in return, offering her free hand up in a small wave goodbye.
“I won’t wait up for you!” Jisoo responded knowingly, watching Lisa and Chaeyoung as they slowly started to disappear out of sight in the dark, aware that the probability of her seeing either of them again before the sunrise tomorrow was about as likely as her winning the lottery. “Hey, Lisa!” she shouted loudly after the younger girl again. “It’s nice to finally see you again! I’ve missed hanging out with you! Perhaps the next time that you go on an extended vacation you could send me a postcard or something!?” she joked. Jisoo hadn’t expected a reply, believing that Lisa was already out of ear shot, so she was surprised when she saw the brunette turn around and start jogging back towards her swiftly. “What are you doing?” Jisoo chuckled when an out of breath Lisa collided with her, her arms enveloping Jisoo in an enormous hug.
“You…didn’t… get my…postcard?” Lisa panted. She released Jisoo from her hold and moved her hands down to her knees, bending over in an attempt to catch her breath, a mischievous look on her face as she gasped noisily.
“Do I really need to answer that?” Jisoo asked and Lisa pushed herself back up straight so that she was her full height again.
“No…not really,” Lisa replied smiling, taking large breaths. “I just…wanted to see whether…you would.” Jisoo stepped forwards as though she were about to hug Lisa again but had decided better of it at the last minute. “I’m…probably going to have to send…a strongly worded letter to the United States… postal service about this…” the younger girl clowned effortlessly, her breathing finally settling. “I paid…good money for that postcard…it cost me like…at least 25 cents”
“Would you stop joking for one minute?” Jisoo asked halfheartedly.
“I don’t think I can,” Lisa answered honestly. “You can’t…put the genie back in the bottle…once it’s been released Jisoo, you know that…”
“Are you comparing yourself to a powerful spirit?” Jisoo asked, lifting an eyebrow.
“Of course I am. You know every word that comes out of my mouth is magic.” Lisa said smugly, her smile luminous.
“I can’t believe I just said that I missed you,” Jisoo teased. “I forgot just how much of an doofus you actually are.”
“How could you have missed me if I’ve been the ‘same goddamn idiot’ all along though?” Lisa asked, repeating Jisoo’s earlier words back to her.
“Well, because you didn’t know that you were the same person and that made you behave differently…” Jisoo stated as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. Lisa frowned at Jisoo’s words but threw her arms around her friend again and hugged her warmly.
“I knew that you loved me,” she said and Jisoo shook her head and pushed her back.
“What the hell are you talking about?” she asked, feigning displeasure. “You’re like an annoying little sister…”
“Hey, I’m taller than you.” Lisa reminded her.
“Yeah, but you’re also younger than me,” Jisoo pointed out.
“Who isn’t?” Lisa asked mockingly.
“The nerve,” Jisoo said, hitting her lightly on the arm. Lisa shrugged and turned to glance back over her shoulder at Chaeyoung, who was waiting patiently for her to return.
“Can we continue this argument later?” She queried hesitantly, facing Jisoo once again who was looking at Chaeyoung over the younger girls shoulder. “I’ve got to go.”
“Yeah, get the hell out of here,” Jisoo encouraged, waving her hand dismissively. “I don’t really understand why you bothered running back to be honest. You’re such a dork.” Lisa smiled and embraced Jisoo again. She felt the taller girl’s long arms envelope her small torso easily within them in return and the pair of them remained there like that for a moment, both of them reluctant to let the other one go.
“So does this mean what I think it does?” Jisoo asked hopefully when they still stood in each other’s arms. Tears were stinging her eyes as she squeezed Lisa’s body tightly, the reality of the situation dawning on her at last. “This is it now? It’s finally over?”
“Yeah,” Lisa answered. “I think so Jisoo.”
“You know the only person that ever thought you’d really changed because of the accident was you Lisa,” she said sadly.
“Yeah, I know that now,” Lisa admitted.
“You didn’t change though,” Jisoo told her, feeling the need to say it anyway. “Not really, not deep down, where it mattered…” Jisoo let out a slow breath and Lisa knew she was trying to stop herself from crying. “You’ve always been the same person to me Lisa, always…” Jisoo continued after a moment’s pause. “You’ve always been my best friend. I know that the accident took a lot from you but it never took that…not even on the bad days…not even when we were fighting…”
“I know,” Lisa said, hugging Jisoo back comfortingly. “I’m sorry for everything that I’ve put you through the last twelve months. If I could take back anything it would be how much you had to go through because of me.” She paused for a moment and leant back to meet Jisoo’s eyes. “You know that I love you, right?” she asked as if she wasn’t a hundred percent sure Jisoo did. Jisoo released Lisa stunned by the question.
“Of course,” Jisoo said, planting a quick kiss on Lisa’s forehead, a wide smile on her face. “I love you too sis,” she told her sincerely. “Now would you please just fuck off already?” she asked jokingly, attempting to stem the tears which were still threatening fall and tapping Lisa lightly on the backside. “Some of us are still trying to enjoy prom and I’m getting sick of looking at your face.” She finished rubbing beneath both eyes carefully with her index finger trying to preserve her makeup.
“Ok I’m going,” Lisa said, nodding her head decisively.
“Good,” Jisoo acknowledged laughing.
“I really will see you later,” Lisa said, walking backwards and away from her friend.
“No you won’t,” Jisoo told her shrewdly. “That’s ok though, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“No you’ll see me later,” Lisa disagreed. Jisoo shook her head but didn’t argue any further. “Can you do me a favour?” she asked instead, watching Lisa carefully walking away from her. “Can you please stay the fuck away from any cars from now on?”
“No.” Lisa answered, grinning. “Sorry.”
“Well can you at least wear the hat that Chaeyoung got you for Christmas?” she pressed.
“I’ll think about it,” Lisa promised.
“That’s all I ask,” Jisoo chuckled. Lisa didn’t say anything else in response, but she lifted up one hand and wiggled her fingers in a silent gesture of goodbye before turning around and making her way back towards Chaeyoung.
“Is everything alright?” Chaeyoung asked when she reached her.
“Everything’s perfect,” Lisa answered, her hand reaching down and taking Chaeyoung’s reflexively.
“Are you sure?” she questioned. “That was kind of weird.”
“Yeah, well Jisoo’s kind of weird.” Lisa chuckled lightly. Chaeyoung knew that Lisa was purposefully keeping something from her, but she didn’t press it further, understanding that, whatever it was, she’d probably soon find out.
“So we’re seriously going to steal the limousine?” Chaeyoung questioned, nudging Lisa in the side as they continued towards where their ride was waiting. “The beach is like a fifteen minute walk from here you know…”
“Yeah I know but we’re not going straight there,” Lisa told her as they came to a stop just outside the vehicle.
“We’re not?” Chaeyoung asked, turning to meet the younger girls’ gaze squarely.
“No,” Lisa replied cagily.
“Let me guess, you’re not going to tell me where we’re going first?” Chaeyoung asked as Lisa opened the door and gestured for her to enter.
“No,” she repeated.
“I don’t know how much I’m going to like meeting Lisa if she’s this shady,” Chaeyoung teased playfully.
“Trust me you’ll love her,” Lisa reassured her. “She’s hilarious.” Chaeyoung put a hand on to the top of the car door and edged nearer to it as if she was about to get in.
“We’re seriously not just going to walk there?” she asked, pausing. “You really want to steal the limousine?”
“Firstly, we’re not walking there,” Lisa repeated. “Secondly, we’re borrowing it,” she laughed. “I can’t drive a car.” She reminded her looking amused. “I don’t know why you and Jisoo seem to think that I’d be any good at stealing one.”
“Hey, for all I know you used to boost cars for your allowance back before your accident.” Chaeyoung kidded. “Perhaps that’s what you’re just about to tell me.”
“Well, if you just got in the damn thing then you’d find out what I’m about to tell you, wouldn’t you?” she said, gesturing emphatically with her arm again. Chaeyoung rolled her eyes but finally relented and descended in to the limousine, Lisa following quickly after her.
“Just so we’re clear though, I didn’t steal cars….” Lisa complained, making a face as she closed the limousine door behind them. “I only robbed banks. I mean, God Rosie. Give me some credit. Do you know how hard it is to shift a stolen car?”
“You’re such a fucking dork,” Chaeyoung laughed lightly.
“Yeah, yeah, I know.” She accepted as she fastened her seat belt. The limousine driver lowered the partition separating the main compartment from where he sat and asked them both whether they were waiting for the rest of their group before leaving.
“No,” Lisa answered. “It’s just us.” The driver asked the girls where they were going and Lisa gave him Jennie’s address, explaining to him that once he’d dropped them both off, he’d have to return here to wait for the rest of their group. “No problem,” the driver said, raising the partition between them again and setting the car in motion.
“We’re going to Jennie’s house?” Chaeyoung asked Lisa.
“Yeah,” Lisa replied.
“You know we don’t have a key right?” Chaeyoung laughed.
“Yes, but I’m an amazing burglar remember?” Lisa teased, reaching over and taking Chaeyoung’s hand in her own. “I’ll show you how good I am at picking locks.” She shared, her eye’s lowered to their joined hands and her thumb stroking the back of Chaeyoung’s rhythmically as she spoke. “I’m a little rusty but if I can’t get us in that way then at least you know where Jennie’s parents keep the spare set.” She finished smugly.
“Have you always been this annoying?” Chaeyoung questioned cheerfully, leaning in to Lisa’s side and getting comfortable for the journey.
“The word you were looking for is smart,” Lisa informed her, “but, in answer to your question yes, I’ve always been annoying.” Chaeyoung shook her head and dropped it to rest on Lisa’s shoulder.
“Why do I feel like something is about to change?” Chaeyoung asked her anxiously.
“Maybe because it is,” Lisa answered honestly.
“Is it a good thing?” Chaeyoung questioned tentatively.
“No Rosie,” Lisa said. “It’s not good.”
“It isn’t?” Chaeyoung asked surprised, tilting her head up to look at Lisa.
“No, it’s not good.” Lisa said, turning her gaze to look out of the window. “It’s so much more than that.” Chaeyoung followed Lisa’s eyes and felt the familiar sensation of butterflies in her stomach at her girlfriend’s words. She knew they were true and that Lisa wasn’t lying. She knew that whatever happened next it was big, if not for her, then for the younger girl sat beside her. She knew it by the way that Jisoo had interacted with Lisa, the Korean seemingly struck profoundly by something she’d said to her. She knew it by the way that Lisa herself had alluded to finding the girl that she thought she’d lost again, by the way that she’d asked Chaeyoung if she’d wanted to meet her.
As they continued to make the journey back to Jennie’s house, a comfortable silence falling between them both, Chaeyoung couldn’t help but feel like it was the end of something, like a chapter in the book they’d been slowly writing together was coming to a close. As much as it would pain her to say goodbye, Chaeyoung knew without a shadow of a doubt that this wasn’t the end, that it was just a new beginning, a chance for them to start over again. The idea of getting to rediscover the many reasons that she loved Lisa, to be able to write a new chapter in their story, a better one than the last, was something that Chaeyoung was looking forward to more than even she had realised.