Circles and Circles || Jensoo

Chapter 14

Jisoo figured that she knew every nuance of Jennie's front door by now. In the first place, she had been standing in front of it staring for a good two hours now. Second, she'd done the same thing for the last three days. The one time that she had actually had the courage to ring the doorbell, no-one had been home.

Three days.

It had been three days since she had woken up, warm and content, next to Jennie; three days since she'd hurled accusations at the girl and then found out the truth; three days since her know-it-all older brother had, once again, turned out to be right.

Now, if she could only get her nerves under control.

"Get a grip, Jisoo," she muttered under her breath.

The soft pink dusk of the evening was descending. Jennie lived in a nice part of town, in a relatively modern townhouse. It was not the first place that Jisoo would have picked for a girl who had grown up in a mansion. The garden was neat and would have been completely impersonal if it weren't for a small collection of garden gnomes placed discretely around the place in amusing positions. Jisoo had nearly laughed out loud the first time she had spotted one of them peering at her from around a corner. They weren't lewd, just placed in such a way as to look almost alive, like they were watching you.

The rest of the house seemed so nondescript, so not Jennie that Jisoo prayed she had the right address. It had been fairly easy to persuade Joy to give her Jennie's home address. After all, she and Jennie were close, right?

If only.

Jisoo took another deep breath and stepped up to the doorbell, her hand extended, ready to ring. She pulled back.

What if she won't see me? she thought, dread creeping into her. What if she does? What will I say?

Jisoo thought about giving into her rising panic and turned to leave, then stopped and turned back. She swore again. Just then, the door opened, startling Jisoo so much that she took a step back and nearly lost her footing on the stairs.

Ella raised her eyebrow and leaned against the doorframe, arms folded across her chest and a strange look on her face. Jisoo steadied herself, and looked at the young girl.

"Uh, hi," she began, not really knowing what to say.

"You've been standing here for hours," Ella pointed out. "Do you, by any chance, wanna come in?" She grinned, and Jisoo felt her panic level drop an inch.

"That would be good, yeah," she grinned back.

Ella stepped aside and showed Jisoo in. Well, at least she had the right house. It was, surprisingly, quite nice. The townhouse had an airy feel to it, with light flooding in from various sun wells and skylights in the roof. It was modern but with a comforting touch. It looked well-lived-in, like a proper home. Musical references were dotted throughout the place: instruments and sheet music, paintings, posters and books. It was clearly Ella and Jennie's home. Suddenly, Jisoo felt like an intruder.

Ella grinned again, and then threw her arms around Jisoo in a spontaneous hug. "I thought I might not see you again."

Jisoo returned the hug warmly. "Don't count your chickens before they're hatched," she parried.

She was rewarded with Ella poking out her tongue, and then leading her to the living room.

"Can I get you something to drink?" she asked, sounding something like a waitress, almost as though hospitality had been drilled into her by brain washing.

Jisoo held back a chuckle. "I'm fine, thanks."

Ella's expression, fluid as the ocean, changed from her easy grin into serious, and she sat down on the couch next to Jisoo. "She's upstairs, you know."