The Five Steps | Jensoo

Chapter 23

Jennie

I duck inside the library, completely soaked from head to toe. Nothing like biking down a hill in a torrential downpour to make you feel alive.

As I'm drying my squeaking shoes off on the entryway rug, a hand wraps around my arm, pulling me into a small alcove just next to the front doors.

"Ew," Jisoo says, rubbing her hand against her new Levi's jeans. "You're wet."

I roll my eyes then pretend to squeegee the edge of my shirt onto her. She jumps out of the way, glaring at me. "Yeah, well, I would've waited out the storm in the chem building if it weren't for someone texting me every ten seconds asking when I was getting here."

I crane my neck, looking past her into the main room, my eyes landing on a rectangular table by the café where Lisa and Chaeyoung are already sitting, books open in front of them.

"Did you go over yet or have you just been creepily standing by the front door this whole time?"

"Creepily standing by the front door," Jisoo replies, hoisting up the straps on her enormous backpack.

I give her a once-over. Not only does she clearly own an umbrella, but she looks pretty good. She's got her new jeans on and a cute graphic T-shirt we picked up from H&M, her black hair in a messy bun to protect it from the rain.

I nod, slightly impressed. It's a definite improvement from her usual four outfits. "I like your jeans!"

Jisoo's cheeks redden slightly. "Thanks." She glances down at her clothes. "Took me like an hour to decide on an outfit. Wanted to save the best stuff for a real date."

"Nice. I like that kind of thinking. Now..." I grab her arm this time, spinning her around to face the main floor of the library. "Let's see what Chaeyoung thinks."

We head over to the table, and Chaeyoung and Lisa look up as we arrive.

"Hey!" Chaeyoung says, scooching her books closer to make room for us. Lisa follows suit, hoisting her enormous dance textbook out of the way, a sea of brightly colored highlighters sitting in front of her.

"Hey," Jisoo responds as she... plunks down in the chair farthest from Chaeyoung.

"Cute shirt!" Lisa says, and Chaeyoung nods in agreement which... is better than nothing.

"Hey Jisoo," I say, tapping her chair leg with my foot. "Don't you need to use the outlet?" I nod to the open seat directly across from Chaeyoung, hoping she gets the hint.

Thankfully, she does.

"Oh! Right. Yeah," Jisoo says, her eyes wide with nerves as she switches seats.

Pull it together kid. The whole team is counting on you.

"You do the reading for John's class?" Chaeyoung asks, holding up a copy of 1984.

Jisoo and I nod, and I give her a look that screams, say something.

"Yeah, uh, thought we left that in high school but I guess not."

Good, finally some progress. The joke hits and Chaeyoung laughs, shaking her head. "Tell me about it. Once was more than enough."