always have been, always will be | jensoo

Does Your Heart Echo Like A Hall

"Do you want to come in?"

I'm still shaken from our fight. So much was said, harsh words. And there's still so much left to say, so much left to speak that I have to say yes. But the tension in the air has relaxed and I know she's not inviting me in to argue with me.

"If you want me to."

She pushes open my car door, giving me an obvious smile. "Come on, silly."

The inside of her house is even nicer than the outside. Everything is perfectly pristine, it looks like everything has its exact place to be. I don't want to touch anything.

"Wow, this is..."

"Sterile?"

"Oh, it's not that bad."

"Soojin designed it, picked everything out. The furniture, everything."

"Well, then, it sucks." I say, earning the first genuine Jisoo laugh of the evening.

"It's just her taste, you know."

I look at the walls, which are mostly bare. Large, uncomfortable looking chairs are scattered throughout the living room, and Jisoo sits in one of them, motioning for me to take on across from it.

The hardwood floor makes every footfall almost deafening. Never liked wood floors.

"So, where is your failed fashionista now?" I cock an eyebrow, trying to get comfortable in the chair.

"She's away. On business. I think she's in China right now. Something like that." Jisoo says, nodding. "The norm. She's something big in the music industry."

"Sounds...lucrative." I don't particularly want to hear about Seulgi, so I give the room another once over. There's a small table by the entrance to the hallway, the only table in the house with any decoration on it. Pictures sit, side by side, in giant, tacky frames. "Is that her?" I ask, standing up to get a better look.

"Yeah. The one in the red jacket."

I peer at the picture. A tall, blackhaired girl with a big smile and what looks like an even bigger attitude giving the camera devil horns. "She looks charming." I make a face and put the picture back, preparing to return to my seat, but something catches my eye. A smaller picture, towards the back. "No way." I say in disbelief, picking up the photo to give it a closer look. "I remember this."

Jisoo gets up to look over my shoulder. "Yeah." She sounds a little shy about it. Ten year old Jisoo and Jennie peer up at us from the photo, with cheeky grins and mouths red from popsicles. "It was at the fair, remember? We won the popsicles in the - "

"In the hula hoop competition. You out hula hooped twelve other girls and won - "

"Dun dun dun..."

"An entire box of cherry flavored popsicles!" I exclaim, and we dissolved into laughter. I gaze back at the picture. "I wanted grape, but you - "

"Insisted on cherry, because grape is gross."

"Ah!" I act offended, setting the picture down delicately. "Grape is so not gross."

"Keep telling yourself that. One day, you will learn..." She nods wisely, then her eyes light up. "Oh!" She disappears into the hallway for a second, and I assume she went into her room for something when she comes out with another picture, this one bigger and in a classy, steel frame. "Remember this one?" She hands it over to me.

"We have to be about sixteen, but...I have no idea where we took this." I look at her, frowning, but she's just grinning at me.

"Me neither. I have no idea where that picture's from." She giggles, and I stare at her, then look back at picture.