You Got Me (JenLisa)

Chapter 24

"So, where to, first?" Jennie asked.

They were walking into the depths of the old Hanok village of Ikseon, along the alleyways, passing by the old traditional houses that were turned into dessert cafès and trinket shops lining up beside the narrow cobbled streets.

Lisa's hand was holding Jennie's as they were walking side by side, their arms brushing against each other, their feet were in perfect sync.

"I thought maybe we could check the vintage store first before we explore the place," Lisa suggested. "What do you think?"

"Sounds cool," Jennie said and clung to Lisa's hand more.

The people, mostly were tourists, that they encountered along the way could not help but stare and take a second look at them. Especially at Lisa, Jennie noticed.

Lisa was towering the other women and Jennie by her ginormous height. Well, okay. Maybe not "ginormous", but Lisa was way taller than other women, herself included, that Jennie had to exaggerate Lisa's height. Plus the fact that Lisa didn't look Korean and Western at all, was grabbing the attention from the strangers that she and Jennie have encountered, mostly from the males. Perhaps they were wondering why Lisa was like a walking Barbie but not Barbie-ish at all. What with Lisa's thick winter fleece, a knitted scarf wrapped around her neck and an oversized beanie on her head. And the only part of her that was bare and exposed for anyone to see was half the portion of her face--from the nose up to the lower half of her bangs.

"They're looking at you, Lili," Jennie commented. She was teasing the nonchalant Lisa, who was oblivious of the attention that she was getting.

But Lisa thought otherwise. "Really? I thought they were looking at you," she said, laughing.

Because it was true. It wasn't like Lisa wasn't paying enough attention to the situation, but she seriously found it funny and fascinating that men and women were staring at Jennie. Some were even crude enough to point their mitten-covered fingers towards Jennie, scanning their curious eyes from Jennie's head to toe and made silent remarks about Jennie's overall being with their companions. None of them wasn't looking displeased, though. Which pleased Lisa.

"Perhaps they're wondering how on earth do we smell like barbecues and are audicious enough to strut it down here," Jennie said jokingly.

And it became clear to Lisa all of a sudden. She was wrong when she thought, back inside her car, that nobody ever pays attention to Jennie. Because Jennie, even while wearing something that wasn't showing her body line was grabbing attentions from left to right. And perhaps she was even more mistaken to think that nobody ever asked Jennie out, Lisa thought. Or had the courage to ask her out. Because Jennie was beautiful. Exquisitely and elegantly beautiful, no doubt about it, that everybody would love to pay attention to her. But there was something about Jennie beyond the beauty and sophistication that she possessed, Lisa thought, that made people look at her cautiously and hushed in whispers their opinions about how beautiful and intimidating Jennie was, in discreet. Jennie was something else.

Yes, Jennie was lacking in height, Lisa thought humorously. She's cute and petite and seemed like a little girl holding on to Lisa because she was afraid that she might get lost in an unfamiliar crowded alleyway. And there was also that irresistibly bright gummy smile of hers that would melt anybody's heart, Lisa's included. And those two qualities of Jennie made her cuddly, like a cute teddy bear.

But there was more to Jennie than that, Lisa realized as she looked at how Jennie was looking straight ahead, her mouth was forming between a relaxed smile, a knowing smirk and a curious pout. Those cat-like eyes were set to a half-squint and half-crescent, as if she was eyeing things with utmost curiosity and the way her eyes would lit whenever she saw something amusing made Jennie look like a little girl who wanted to discover the mysteries of the world. But still, Jennie's aura looked a little aloof and slightly haughty that it made her look like someone whom nobody wanted to mess up with, despite how small she was. Perhaps it had something to do with Jennie's chaebol upbringing, Lisa concluded.