Reverie

14

After Mrs. Oh left, we all returned to our usual spots. This time, Rosie sat at the end of my bed, while Jisoo stayed on the carpet, grabbing a book to keep reading. I lay down on my bed, and Rosie sat casually at my feet with her sketchbook and pen. I stared at the ceiling, trying hard to remember my childhood memories. Earlier, I thought I was right when I felt that Jisoo and Rosie were a part of those memories, or at least that's what I remember.

Out of the blue, Rosie asked, "Can you describe what Jennie looks like?" Her question made me shift my attention to her, feeling confused.

"Why?" I asked.

"You've been feeling down for days, and it's tough for Jisoo and me to cheer you up because we're going through the same shitty times as you aka this war. I don't know, maybe I can draw Jennie. It might help lift your spirits," she said, trying to offer some comfort.

As I continued describing Jennie's beautiful features, the room grew quiet. Jennie had eyes that were shaped like almonds and looked really captivating. Her nose was small and finely shaped, and her lips were full with a hint of color. I painted a clear picture of her in my words.

Rosie, focused on drawing Jennie, asked for some silence so she could concentrate. The room fell into silence again, except for the sound of Rosie's pen moving across her sketchbook.

"Don't you two wonder why I'm always drawn to her and why I'm so excited to see her every time?"

There was a moment of thoughtful silence, interrupted only by the sound of pages turning. Rosie, always honest, briefly looked up from her artwork and said, "Well, as long as none of us are seriously hurt because of the war, why should we worry about where we find happiness? "

"No, that's not quite what I mean," I said, my nerves creeping in as I pondered how they would perceive me after my confession. "It's like having a deep, unexplainable bond with someone. You know that feeling?" I shifted my gaze back and forth between Jisoo and Rosie, hoping they would understand. I trusted them as my friends, but I knew this revelation would be far from ordinary. Not only because Jennie was technically a "hallucination," but also because my feelings for her, a woman, defied societal norms.

"Lisa, there's nothing more peculiar than a war that puts us all at risk without our consent. You're not the odd one in this situation," Jisoo reassured me, her words washing over me like a soothing balm. In that moment, I exhaled a sigh of relief, grateful for the understanding and acceptance.

Once again, a comforting silence settled in the room, embracing us like a warm embrace, different from any other silence we had before.

"Doesn't this look familiar?" Rosie broke the silence, her voice filled with curiosity. Jisoo's gaze shifted towards Rosie as she placed her sketchbook in front of her. Intrigued, I became eager to see what Rosie had captured on paper. "Does she look like someone from our school?" Rosie inquired, her words kindling my curiosity even further.

"I don't think so," Jisoo replied, her tone pensive.

"Let me have a look," I chimed in, my eyes fixated on Rosie's sketchbook. She turned it around, revealing a striking resemblance to Jennie's face—the same face I encountered almost every day. "It does bear a striking resemblance to her," I murmured, a mix of awe and confusion swirling within me.

"She does look familiar," Jisoo pondered aloud, her mind working to place the puzzle pieces together. "But I'm certain she's not a student at our school," she added, deep in thought.

"You might be hallucinating too," I playfully suggested, hoping to lighten the mood. Rosie chuckled, but Jisoo remained lost in her thoughts. I tilted my head back, gazing at the ceiling, allowing the weight of silence to blanket the room once more. Suddenly, Jisoo abruptly left my room in a hurry, leaving both Rosie and me confused. After a few minutes, she returned, clutching a couple of newspaper in her hands.

"Return those to my dad, please. He tends to read and reread his newspapers countless times," I requested, realizing that Jisoo had retrieved them from outside, indicating that they belonged to my father.

"Wait a moment," Jisoo interjected, her eyes fixated on the newspapers she held. I sat up, anticipation coursing through Rosie and I as we waited for Jisoo to unveil what she had discovered. With a sense of urgency, she sifted through the pages, one by one, as if searching for a specific thing.

After a few newspapers, Jisoo's hands halted abruptly, her gaze locked on a particular front page. There was a sudden stillness in the room as she seemed lost in her thoughts, captivated by the contents of the newspaper. Then, just as swiftly, she snapped back to the present and made her way towards the bed, her expression filled with curiosity.

Jisoo carefully placed the newspaper on the bed, revealing its dated pages. "This is from a few days ago. My dad always reads the newspaper in front of me during meals, so I catch a glimpse of the front page," she explained. I leaned in, captivated by what she's about to say.

As my eyes scanned the headline, my curiosity increases. "General Dae, Major General Kwon, Lieutenant Colonel Jung, Major Kim in a refugee camp," it read, the words etching themselves into my memory.

"Jennie's a girl, obviously," Rosie quipped, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. Jisoo, however, shook her head vehemently, pointing with intensity at a particular black and white picture on the page.

"The girl standing next to Major Kim," Jisoo declared, her finger pointing directly at the image. We all focused our gaze, our eyes locked on the face in Rosie's drawing and the face that had occupied my mind for so long. They were one and the same as the woman featured prominently on the front page of the newspaper.

"Jennie..." I uttered softly, the name escaping my lips with realization. Jisoo and Rosie turned to me, their eyes meeting mine, their expressions seemingly confirming—that the girl I had encountered in the woods, the girl who had become an integral part of my life, was none other than the figure now staring back at us from the newspaper. Jennie is a real person.