GIVING YOU AWAY

Chapter 8

Jennie & Jisoo - 17/16 - June

"Your performance was flawless, Jiji."

The words are said with a certain softness, but also laced with uncertainty. The brunette quickly turns around in her seat, and when her eyes fall on her ex-girlfriend, Jisoo has to take a shaky breath in. Soojoo is still in costume, and she's looking at Jisoo with a shy and vulnerable smile. The ex-girlfriends didn't have a real conversation since their break up, and Jisoo has no idea how to behave. Soojoo takes a seat next to her, letting a light chuckle out when her eyes meet Jisoo's brown ones again.

"People usually say 'thank you' when they receive a compliment, you know?"

Jisoo's eyes grow wider. "Yeah! I mean, thank you."

Soojoo chuckles and looks down for a moment. When she looks back up, she's still smiling.

"How have you been, Jiji?"

"I-I've been good. You?"

The short haired girl shrugs. "I'm better now."

Jisoo quickly looks down, a fresh wave of guilt hitting her. She knew she was in love with Jennie during her relationship with Soojoo. She knows how bad it is. She knows how much she hurt the ravenette, and it's been killing her. Jisoo cares about Soojoo, and she considers her a good friend. Hurting someone like that is literally the worst thing for Jisoo.

"Soojoo, I'm really sorry."

There's a couple of seconds of silence, and then one of Soojoo's hands cover both of Jisoo's. The brunette looks up, and when she sees the soft smile on her ex-girlfriend's lips, Jisoo feels a little better.

"I'm good, Jisoo. Let's be friends now, okay?" The brunette eagerly nods. "Good. Now, tell me… How is it going with-"

"Jennie!" Jisoo quickly interrupts Soojoo, knowing full well what she was gonna ask and seeing her best friend approaching them.

The short haired girl follows Jisoo's line of sight, and it doesn't take her long to see Jennie's heading their way. The look Jisoo sends to her best friend, and the way her cheeks turn light pink make Soojoo understand that her ex hasn't said anything to Jennie yet.

As soon as Jennie gets close to them, Jisoo gets up from her seat. The two best friends hug for a long moment, maybe even longer than people would deem appropriate. It leaves time for Soojoo to see the loving smile on Jennie's lips and the bouquet of flowers in her hands. The short haired girl is now smiling too, knowing Jisoo's in good hands. When Jisoo and Jennie break their hug, Soojoo stands up and it's only then that the auburn haired girl seems to notice her.

"Oh… Am I interrupting something?" Jennie asks as she looks at Soojoo and then back at Jisoo. "I can leave you-"

"It's okay." The raven haired girl quickly says. "I need to go get changed, so I was leaving."

Jisoo opens her mouth like she wants to say something, and Soojoo waits to know what the younger girl could have to say. Nothing comes out, and the brunette ends up closing her mouth and looking down.

"I'll see you around, Jiji."

"I, uh, yeah." Jisoo says, her voice so quiet Soojoo almost misses it.

Jisoo watches her ex-girlfriend disappear, and silently hopes that they'll be good for real now. It's only when jenniey lightly tugs on her sleeve that Jisoo looks back at her best friend. Jennie is looking at her with what Jisoo would call "stars" in her eyes, and it makes her feel giddy. Things have been so good between them since Jennie's birthday. They're closer than they've ever been.