Lisa
Jennie stays with me again that night, even though we don't do anything. I pull her back against my chest and bury my face into her shoulder, planting soft kisses while inhaling the luscious floral scent of her skin and hair.
It's in this position that we finally have the talk. I'm the first to bring it up. "Jennie, we don't... I mean... you're protected, right?" I murmur against her skin. I dread being the one to talk about this, but for my own peace of mind, I need to know.
She doesn't move against me. Her chest rises and falls rhythmically. "Yes, Lisa," she finally answers. "Of course I am. I'm not that big of a daredevil." She gives a small snort at her own bad joke.
"Okay," I say quietly. I kiss her skin again. I'm relieved, but I don't say this.
"I wouldn't do that to you, Lisa. Or myself. I'm not ready to have a baby."
"I know," I assure her. A few minutes of silence passes in which I rub her shoulder, trailing my fingers down her bare arm. She loves this. "You weren't worried about me, though?" I wonder, curious. Not that I have anything to worry about, but she doesn't know this.
Slowly, she turns around to face me. She runs her fingers across my face, causing me to close my eyes and sigh.
"We were probably being a little reckless," she says truthfully. "But I trust you. I think you would have told me. Or stopped me."
She doesn't ask me if I would have. She doesn't need to.
I kiss her, and we lie there that way, enjoying each other's presence. I'm already dreading the following day, because it's the beginning of the work week - an entire week that I'll be forced to be away from her.
We text each other a lot while we work. I have flowers sent to her job, which she calls to thank me for. That night I drive back to Seoul and stay with her at her apartment, and the next day she drives to Busan and stays with me.
That's the night we come together again. She straddles me, her hair a curtain between our faces as we come together passionately, and she rides me this way until I flip her over and we both lose control.
On Thursday, Jennie calls me in the middle of the day in a rush of excitement.
"You won't believe this!" she says, her voice a little high. "But there is a very popular author coming into town tomorrow night, and guess who gets to interview her?"
Her excitement practically buzzes through the phone.
"You do?" I ask, though it's not really a question. It's obvious.
"Yes! Me! Can you believe it?"
"That's wonderful, Jennie! How did that happen?"
"The reporter is sick and they didn't have anyone else to cover it right now. One of our other reporters just had a baby, and there's so much shit going on right now that everyone else is busy with something else, so I volunteered and the editor said yes!"
That night, we celebrate.
Jennie shared the news with Jisoo, so she comes along, too. And apparently wherever Jisoo goes, Hae-in follows.
We eat at a brewery resto called Magpie Brewing Co. They serve every kind of beer imaginable, along with wings, fries, hamburgers, and anything else you could possibly want, so long as it's deep-fried and slathered with a few layers of fat. It's nothing I would have chosen, but it's where Jennie wants to eat. And tonight is her night.
We get two pitchers of beer - one is for Hae-in - and toast to new opportunities. Jennie drinks slowly. "I need to go home and get my shit together," she explains. "I can't get drunk."
Hae-in shrugs, chugging half his beer in one go. "Better you than me."
"Stop it!" Jisoo scolds, smacking his arm while he's in mid-chug. "You're driving tonight."
"I drove last time!"
"Jennie is my friend, and I'm getting drunk with her!"
"She just said she wasn't getting drunk!" Hae-in argues. "And besides, Jennie and I are cool, too. We get drunk together. Like PB and Jelly, isn't that right, Jennie?"
He and Jennie fist-bump across the table, but Jennie adds, "But you know it's always a better night for the man if the woman's drunk." She wiggles her eyebrows, and understanding dawns in Hae-in's eyes. Just like that, he concedes.
"I'm sorry, baby. You can get drunk." He kisses Jisoo on the cheek. She smirks.
"Or you could both get drunk and just take a cab," I suggest.
"Nah, I'm getting too old for that 'Dude, Where's My Car'? bullshit. You know?"
I do know. We're getting too old for a lot of things, and we toast once again to growing up. To making better decisions. And when Hae-in and Jisoo are absorbed in the midst of another argument, Jennie and I toast to starting over.
