artistic experimentation || chaelisa

noodling and canoodling

Chaeyoung was lying in bed, on top of her covers, trying to make sense of a book about Richard Avedon. In the corner of her dorm room ceiling, a spider was spinning its web, and she kept feeling her eyes being pulled up from the page to watch it make its way from wall to wall, weaving its home.

Eventually, the spider stilled, and, realizing she was finding an arachnid more interesting than her studying, Chaeyoung rolled over and grabbed her phone. One unread message, from Lisa, and one she had been dreading all week.

Lalisa Manoban
so r u coming tonite?

Park Chaeyoung
coming where?

Lalisa Manoban
to life drawing duh

Park Chaeyoung
I hadn't really thought about it

•••

That was a lie.

Chaeyoung had been thinking about almost nothing else all week, weighing up the pros and cons of showing up in that classroom and getting to see Lisa again. She didn't want to make the other girl uncomfortable, didn't want to do anything to risk the new growth of their friendship. Not that there was any reason Lisa should feel uncomfortable. Or that Chaeyoung should feel uncomfortable. No reason that Chaeyoung could think of, at least.

Lalisa Manoban
noo come along

save me from jennie

help me obi chaeng kanobi youre my only hope

Park Chaeyoung
how can I resist my princess leia?

Lalisa Manoban
take it back I am not the leia here

ur leia i'm han solo

Park Chaeyoung
if you want 🙂

Lalisa Manoban
NO EMOJI!!

see u there

without emoji

or else

•••

Chaeyoung dragged out the journey from her dorm room to class as long as possible, going over possible conversations in her mind, trying to plan for every eventuality. By the time she reached the room, tucked away on the top floor between broom closets, Lisa was already there, standing by the little stage in her bath robe. She caught Chaeyoung's eye as soon she walked in, shooting her finger guns from across the room.

"Knew ya wouldn't let me down", she said, pulling Chaeyoung into a hug.

"Hey, I'm just here for my art, okay?" Chaeyoung replied, "nothing to do with you."

"That's fair, I of course, am here for Jennie's company."

"Did I hear my name being mentioned?" Chaeyoung almost jumped out of her skin as Jennie appeared silently behind her.

"Jesus!" she exclaimed, "do you always appear when summoned?"

"Naturally, now why were you two discussing me? Aside from the obvious fact that I am the most interesting thing in either of your lives."

"Is she still like this?" Lisa asked Chaeyoung, half annoyed.

"You learn to tune it out."

"Excellent, you're already here!" The Professor interrupted them, hurrying into the room with a mug of coffee in one hand and a stack of papers tucked under the other arm. "We can get going right away. Everyone find a seat!"

Chaeyoung and Jennie settled into their front row spots and Lisa started limbering up again, rolling her shoulders and shifting her weight from foot to foot.