Chapter 30

Double Update!!!

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Lisa flopped face down on her bed, not bothering to take her fancy clothes off before doing so.

Thoughts swarmed in her head from the night's events, and Lisa groaned into her pillow as she clutched it to her face.

Ugh, it was so embarrassing!

She never expected Jennie to meet her family in a restaurant when she was with her own. If Lisa had it her way, Jennie wouldn't meet her family at all. They wouldn't accept the true nature of their relationship anyway, and Lisa wasn't looking for approval or inclusion. Once she moved out, Lisa was unlikely to speak to them much anyway.

Luckily, Lisa's mother hadn't been too unbearable.

She just sucked up to Jennie's dad once she found out he was a high-ranking businessman. What a harpy.

And the way she introduced Jieun like she was obviously the successful child that made Mommy proud.

Thinking of the whole thing made Lisa want to puke.

Luckily, the whole exchange didn't last super long. And Lisa got to meet Jennie's little brothers, who she obviously seemed to fawn over.

And Jennie herself was so adorable! She hadn't seen the honour student in a dress before, but even a more casual one suited her so well. Still, as cute as the dress was, the person who wore it was the real beauty. Lisa still couldn't believe she'd managed to get such a beautiful girlfriend.

Just seeing her in the restaurant made her want to drag her to the bathrooms and tear that pretty dress o-

Lisa's phone went off, causing her to leap up and almost fall off her bed.

Fumbling for the phone in all the blankets, Lisa held the screen to her face.

Ugh....it's just Chaeyoung.

Not that she didn't like Chaeyoung, but she really wasn't in the mood to text her friends right now.

Her face was already boiling from the train of thought she'd been having before it had been derailed by her phone. It's like she couldn't help herself from acting like an animal. If Jennie ever knew about these vulgar thoughts, Lisa wondered what she'd do. Probably be disgusted.

Lisa sighed, suddenly extremely tired. Still, the text from Chaeyoung reminded her that she'd promised to message Jennie. She'd text her a bit then go to bed early.

Lisa: Did you make it home alright?

It was generic, but Lisa didn't know what else to send.

She didn't see Jennie or her family the rest of that night. It was a rather conflicted feeling - Lisa always wanted to see Jennie, but she was thrilled their families didn't meet again. During dinner, it was all Lisa's mom could talk about, how Lisa finally found a good influence and maybe she'd start shaping up.

Luckily, Lisa's mom didn't seem to catch on to their actual relationship. She'd have to be careful to make sure it stayed that way.

Lisa's phone vibrated. She picked it up, assuming it was a text message, but she was surprised when the screen indicated an incoming call from Jennie. She hurriedly answered and pressed it to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey," the honour student said on the other end of the line, "yes, I made it home okay."

"That's good to hear," Lisa said with a smile, leaning back on the wall as she sat on her bed.

"My dad kept saying how nice your mom was." Lisa groaned. "Yeah, she's good at making people think that."

"I, uh...hadn't seen your sister before."

Lisa tensed a little bit. "Yeah, I guess not."

"I was surprised," Jennie continued, "you two look exactly alike."

"Oh, god, please," Lisa grumbled, "you're gonna make me barf."

"Why? Your sister's pretty."

Lisa found herself tensing up again. Everyone around her always said that about her sister - she was the pretty one, after all.

"...I guess."

"...you are too, you know."

Lisa blushed, switching gears rather quickly. Jennie hadn't really complimented her like that before, and she wasn't sure she knew what to do about that. Her jealousy towards her sister faded away in the face of shyness.

"You think so?" she asked.

"Y-yeah, of course," Jennie stuttered, sounding obviously flustered. "And you were super pretty tonight with your outfit and... you know."

Lisa couldn't fight off the smile that spread on her face.

"Well, you were the real pretty one. I hadn't seen you in a dress before."

She could imagine the redness forming on Jennie's cheeks at that moment.

"S-stop it, you're being embarrassing."

Lisa laughed a little, and there was a pause of silence between the two. During the moment, Lisa instantly remembered the overarching issue that had been going on with Jennie.

"How did today go?" she asked, in a somewhat urgent tone. "You know, with the restraining order and everything?"

The mood seemed to instantly dampen, and Lisa sort of regretted it, but she needed to see how Jennie was doing. She hadn't heard from her about it all day.

"Not the best," Jennie admitted. "We got the temporary protection order, but nobody knows where Kai actually is, so we're going to have trouble getting the order served to him. I have no idea how long something like that will take."

"He hasn't given you any clues as to where he is?"

"No," Jennie sighed.

"Whenever he messages me, it's always just begging to see me again or endlessly complimenting me. I try not to read them at all since they disturb me, but the police have the messages, too, so hopefully they find something in all that gibberish."

"I hope they do." Lisa traced invisible patterns on the bed sheet next to her. "I'm really sorry you have to go through all of this."

She heard the brunette release a shaky breath. "Yeah, well, at least I have a lot of support. Like Dad, and you, and Nayeon and Irene.

"If you ever need me there with you, I'll come running. No questions asked."

"...thank you."

A voice interrupted their conversation from outside of Lisa's bedroom.

"Lalisa, come down here!"

Lisa sighed when she heard her mother's voice. She never stopped, did she?

"My mom's calling for me," Lisa grumbled into the phone,

"If you still need to talk, I can call after, though."

"No, that's alright," Jennie replied. "I've got some homework to catch up on."

"You sure know how to party."

"Shut up."

And with that, they said their goodbyes and hung up. Lisa sighed, changing into more comfortable clothes before she went downstairs. "Lisa!"

"I'm coming, alright?!"

———

After spending an awkward evening with her mother and sister, her mom insisted that Jieun stay the night since she didn't have morning classes tomorrow. The older sister didn't seem particularly thrilled about the idea, but she always did what mother asked of her, so she took refuge in her old bedroom for the night.

Lisa was finally allowed to do her own thing at around 9:30 at night when her mother went to bed. She laid in her bed, fiddling with her phone, wondering if she should just stay up late and deal with the lack of sleep tomorrow at school.

But her internal debate was cut short when she heard a light knock at her door.

"Come in," she said, not so loud as to wake her mother up.

Jieun, for the second time that day, stepped into the room and quietly closed the door behind her. She was dressed in a loose t-shirt and shorts, the most casual appearance that Lisa had seen from her since she lived at home.

"What do you need?" Lisa said, a bit coolly.

"I wanted to talk to you for a minute," Jieun stated. "Without Mom."

Lisa raised an eyebrow, unsure of where this was going.

"Okay?"

Jieun stepped a little closer to the bed, folding her arms over her chest. She had a strange look in her eye as if she was...uncomfortable? Or maybe it was a look of uncertainty. Both were emotions that Jieun rarely put on display.

"It's about that girl," she began.

"The one in the restaurant."

Lisa tensed, already not liking where this was going.

"Yeah? What about her?"

"You two seemed pretty close."

Lisa grits her teeth, annoyed by this combination of prying and dancing around the subject. She sat up in her bed. "Yeah, so? Is there something you're getting at?"

Jieun quickly sensed Lisa' hostility and sighed.

"I'm not trying to corner you or anything. I'm just, obviously aware of your past relationship, and so I was wondering if this was the same sort of thing."

"And why would you want to know anyway?" Lisa demanded. "Are you gonna go tell Mom that you think I'm dating another girl?"

"Of course not!" Jieun raised her voice. Lisa was a bit surprised by the outburst, and it seemed as though Jieun was as well, holding a hand over her mouth.

They were silent for a second, waiting to see if their mother had been roused by the noise. When nothing happened, Jieun sighed heavily.

"Lisa, I don't have any ulterior motives," she began. "I shouldn't have preyed, but you know that Mom's bound to find out sooner or later."

Lisa shrugged coldly. "If she does, she does."

"You know it isn't that simple."

And Lisa, as stubborn of a front as she was putting up, knew she was right. It wasn't that simple. As independent as Lisa pretended to be, she was still a minor living under her mother's roof. Her mother still controlled her life for the next year or so, and it would get very complicated if she knew about Lisa and Jennie's relationship.

"That's all I had to say," Jieun said, turning towards the door.

"Good night."

"Hold on."

Lisa stopped her before she could leave. Jieun, with her hand on the doorknob, paused and looked back at her.

"Yes?" she asked.

"If you already guessed that I was in a relationship with Jennie, then why did you bother to come ask about it?"

The whole thing was rather strange to Lisa. Even if, on the off chance, Jieun was actually worried about Lisa, she normally wouldn't put her suspicions into words. Jieun wasn't a very direct person - it was difficult to understand what she was thinking, and she didn't like to rock the boat with contentious topics like Lisa's sexuality or their strained family relationships.

Jieun turned her face back towards the door. "I-I just felt like I needed to warn you about Mom finding out. It'll be troublesome for me, too, if there's another big family issue."

And with that, the older sister muttered a goodnight and quickly slid out the door, closing it behind her.

Lisa just stared at her door, confused about her sister's uncharacteristic behaviour.