Playing with Fire: A BLACKPINK Story

Chapter 19: Consequences

2019.

The antibiotics must have worked, because when morning came, I was feeling much better. I had vague, indistinct memories of suffering through the night, of Jisoo coming to comfort me. I knew that I would make it now, that the worst of the danger had passed, but that didn't mean we were completely in the clear. The problem was that the girls couldn't let any of the YG staff know that I was in the room, or it would bring some... awkward questions. That meant I needed to get out of the main suite and into one of the side rooms just in case someone came bursting in. 

Thankfully, the girls had already thought of that. Rosé and Amelie were helping me to Lisa's room, where they said I could hide out until they made sure that things were safe.

"Are you sure she'll be okay with this?" I asked. I felt a little uncomfortable just going into Lisa's room uninvited.

Rosé didn't seem worried about it. "Jisoo is still sleeping and Jennie is changing. Lisa is up and dressed. We heard her on the phone."

I shrugged. "As long as you're sure."

Amelie excused herself and stepped away. She never had liked being around strangers for too long. It made her uncomfortable unless it was for a job, and this time, Blackpink wasn't the job anymore. I needed to sit down and talk with her about what we were going to do next, but for right now, I was more worried about making it through the next day.

"Are you okay?" Rosé asked me after Amelie had left. "This is weird."

"I promise I'll talk later," I said. "And yeah. It is weird."

Weird didn't even come close to covering it. I felt like I was living in another reality. The last twenty-four hours had been a blur. I had nearly died, was still recovering, and now was about to be hiding in Lisa Manoban's room? What the hell was going on?
I also didn't understand why Rosé had been so insistent on having me hide right away. But after she nodded, smiled, turned, and left, I heard a noise that explained everything.

It was the sound of someone knocking on the main suite door, speaking in Korean. It meant YG was here. Rosé must have known that someone was coming and hadn't wanted to alarm me. It was rather sweet, but a little inconvenient. I would have much rather been told the truth so I had time to prepare myself.

I hurriedly knocked on Lisa's door. I could hear her talking on the other side, but as far as I could tell, she made no move off the bed to come and open the door. I knocked again, and then the Korean coming from the suite door got louder.

I was out of time. If I didn't want YG people to see me, I needed to be in Lisa's room right now. I reached out, grabbed the door handle, and applied all my strength to it. The frame didn't stand a chance. The door cracked and swung open, splintering near where the lock had been.

As I entered, I saw Lisa laying on her bed, face down, legs up in the air, idly crossed behind her. She was on the phone, staring ahead and laughing. <Kookie, you are bad,> she said with a giggle. Then she noticed me and her face went pale. <I'll call you back,> she said hastily, hanging up the phone and jumping off the bed, looking furious.

<What are you doing in here?> she demanded. She could be scary when she wanted to be.

Meanwhile, my mind was trying to comprehend what I had just seen and was jumping to conclusions that couldn't possibly be true. Who was Kookie? Had I heard that right? The name sounded familiar, and yet I couldn't quite place it. Rosé and Jisoo had both hinted that they thought Lisa was hiding something. Could it be a secret relationship? It wasn't really my business or anything I needed to know right now, but I couldn't stop the questions from popping into my mind anyway.