The Five Steps | Jensoo

Chapter 24

Jisoo

I place my hands firmly on either side of her shoulders, looking her square in the eye. A bead of sweat rolls down my forehead as the voices around us grow more and more muffled until it's just me... and her.

"Jen, I need you to focus. Do you hear me?" I say, more seriously than I've said anything before. She nods, firm, like she understands the gravity of the situation.

"Are you two going to make out or are we going to play?" Soojin asks, pulling us out of our huddle and back into the Jayoo Hall common room. They have a challenging smirk smeared across their face as they bounce the ball off the worn Ping Pong table.

"Just serve the ball," I say, doing my best to swallow a laugh and keep a straight face for the sake of the competition. Jennie looks at me and then across the table to Soojoo and Soojin, our opponents.

"I have never seen her like this," Jennie says through an amused chuckle.

"Twenty, eighteen. Game point," Soojoo announces as Soojin serves the ball, and just like that we're in it. All four of us are laser-focused as we volley back and forth.

I was pretty nervous to come to the first game night by myself, but even though I know Jennie is on a deadline, I'm not at that point with Chaeyoung yet, so naturally, I asked Jennie to join me. The nerves wore off surprisingly quickly, though. Something about getting my blood pumping playing a game that I love really set me at ease and helped me to just be myself.

Jennie is holding up her side of the table pretty well considering how little she's played but Soojin is good. If we're going to beat them I need to pull out a few tricks that Jin taught me over summer breaks when he was home from college.

As the ball comes flying off Soojoo's paddle and over to me, I attempt a return with backspin but it falls a little flat... right into Soojin's corner.

"You trying for this, Jisoo?" they ask, sliding the paddle at a perfect angle, along the bottom of the ball. It sails over the net to Jennie who is not at all ready for the abrupt backspin. She swings her paddle right through empty air and the ball goes bouncing onto the floor.

Game over.

"Dang!" I yell, before a smile spreads across my face. "Good game, good game."

"Sorry, Soo," Jennie says.

"We'll get 'em next time," I reply, loud enough for our opponents to hear.

"Like hell you will," Soojoo says with a laugh as the two girls who live across the hall from me take our paddles to play the winners.

Jennie and I head over to the "potluck table," which is just a bunch of incredibly low quality snacks spread out across a pool table that's so old, the green felt is practically gray. We were all asked to bring something. I managed to cut up a block of cheddar cheese and put it with some crackers on a paper plate, and Jennie brought two bags of crisps.

"Oh my God, who did this?" I ask, directing Jennie's attention to an open tub of milk ice cream, a plastic spoon stuck into the top.

"I don't know but I think I might marry them," she replies as I twist my face up in disgust, watching her cut off a slab from the end and pop the whole thing into her mouth.

"That is so gross." I reach for a couple of crisps.

"Hey." Jennie pauses to move the mass of milk ice cream into her cheek so she can talk. "You're like... really good. I thought you told me you weren't a 'sporty lesbian.' " She says the last bit with air quotes.