it's always ourselves that we find in the sea || jensoo

Chapter 9

They saw each other three times over the next week, spending hours sitting in Jisoo's living room or at the kitchen table, trading stories for piano songs, and learning more about each other. The days when Jennie got to see Jisoo brightened them considerably, and she would walk home along the beach in a daze, thinking about something Jisoo had said, or the song she'd played, or even just the way her eyes had looked when she smiled. Each time she'd catch herself and chase the thoughts away, a flicker of uneasy confusion crossing her mind at the thoughts she'd been having, and she'd spend the rest of the night trying not to think about Jisoo's laugh or her fingers splayed across the piano keys, or warm on Jennie's arm when she'd casually touch her as she laughed.

"Jennie," an impatient voice snapped, making Jennie jump, sloshing some of the milk she'd been heating over the sides of the metal jug.

Blinking in surprise as she came back to reality, Jennie turned to look at the woman giving her an expectant look. Brushing a few stray strands of hair out of her face, Jennie gave her a tight smile. "Sorry Lily, what were you saying?"

"I said you can go," the other girl bluntly replied, "my mom wants to close early today. I've got it from here."

"Oh," Jennie murmured, "okay. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then."

Lily didn't reply as Jennie finished off the coffee she was making, taking it over to an elderly woman sitting by the window, soaking up the sunlight streaming in, and then she walked back over to the counter, pulling her coffee stained apron off and fetching her jacket and bag from beneath the till. With a small wave at Lily, who was scowling at her from the other side of the serving hatch as she refilled sugar pots in the kitchen, Jennie wound her way through the tables and chairs and stepped out into the mild day, swapping her glasses fun prescription sunglasses as she set off down the street, denim jacket slung over her arm and her bag crossing her torso. It wasn't even lunchtime yet and it had been a slow day in the coffee shop, and Jennie perked up at the thought of the rest of the day to herself, trying to think of something to do. The beach was the obvious choice, but she spent every night at the beach anyway, listening to Jisoo play the piano on the dry sand, or venturing up to her back door to slip inside and sit on the piano bench beside her. As her thoughts turned to Jisoo again, Jennie hesitated, her pace down the cracked sidewalk slowing as she reached into her bag and fished out her phone, quickly finding Jisoo's number and dialling.

She picked up on the seventh ring, and Jennie smiled at the sound of her voice. "Salinger."

"Mozart."

"You've already used that one."

"Ah shit. Well, it's harder to think of pianists than it is to think of authors," Jennie sighed, biting her lip as she nervously tucked her hair behind her ear, her sunglasses slipping down her nose slightly. "What're you doing?"

Jisoo quietly laughed, "you should already know the answer to that."

"Piano," Jennie laughed, "well, perhaps if you're not too busy with that, we could maybe do something?"

"Please God, come and save me from my mind. I've had this melody stuck in my head all morning and I've been trying to figure it out. Still haven't, just by the way, and it's driving me insane. I'm going to whack my head on the keys any second and see if that helps."

Letting out a snort of laughter, Jennie shook her head slightly, "try not to bruise that pretty forehead of yours before I get there. I won't be long; I've just finished work."

They hung up and Jennie quickly ducked into the nearest supermarket, filling up a basket with everything she needed and impatiently waiting for the cashier to scan everything, unable to keep the smile off her face as she buzzed with an excitement that was almost tangible. As soon as she'd been handed her change, she was off out the door, her quick footsteps eating up the pavement as she made towards the beach, following the familiar path, breathing in the strong smell of pine needles and the beach as she was hemmed in on both sides by an endless stretch of blue waves and craggy grey rocks, which she knew led to cliffs further down the shoreline, where she'd first met Jisoo, and a small wooded area of pine, aspen and birch trees. Following the path between them, Jennie clutched her shopping to her chest, listening to the melodic chirping of little blue-breasted swallows flitting in and out of the trees, and the faint echoing cried of gulls a storm petrels on the water, almost swallowed up by the blue waves crashing on the beach. Taking turns looking out over the beach and squinting into the dim forest, Jennie quickly made her way towards Jisoo's, taking the right hand turn and following the rocky earth packed path, bordered on by yet more trees and the autumn flowers that were bursting to life. Cutting across the overgrown front garden, instead of walking all the way around to the path, Jennie walked up the steps and knocked on the door.