The Tiger King (Chaelisa)

13| Disapprove

The morning after, Irene and Somi found Jennie pacing about the gym with no Lisa in sight.

"Has she finally gotten tired and bumped Lisa off?" Somi whispered behind her hand.

"Sometimes I find it hard to believe you're nineteen," Irene whispered back exasperatedly. "How could such a thing even cross your mind?"

"Well, explain to me why Lisa isn't doing her workout then."

"We can ask later... but I have a bad feeling, Lisa did have that important match with that rookie rival of hers last night...and Jennie looks a little preoccupied..."

"But....what about their breakfast?"

Irene took the box from Somi and approached the agitated girl walking with brows furrowed.

"Jen?"

Jennie didn't reply as she marched in a straight line back and forth between the bench and the punching bags, her head bent and her finger curled under chin.

"Jennie!"

The trainer whirled on Irene with a start. "Oh unnie! Uh....what's wrong?"

"I should be asking that question," Irene snorted as she handed her the bagels. "What's got into you? And where's your sister?"

Jennie bit her lip. "Lisa...is resting."

"Is she okay?" Somi piped up and joining the elder girls. "Uhm...this girl in class was saying last night's match was...a walk-over..."

"Her parents let her go to such places? On a weekday?!" Irene exclaimed, scandalised. "How can they? What kind of careless—"

"Grandma, it's just a boxing match, get into this century," Somi rolled her eyes, "besides, we're adults, we can go wherever—"

"Oh ho, if you were my daughter you can bet your milkshake you wouldn't step foot in there," Irene retorted with a shudder, "nasty, violent, dirty places, just for people to throw their money away to watch other people get beaten up! It's what makes youngsters violent! It's too impressionable for kids like you!"

"Excuse me? Lisa started fighting when she was younger than me!" Somi protested. "And the place is approved by regulators of the industry, it's all legal!"

"Lisa is different! She had to, but that doesn't mean I approve! Hwangssabu was wrong to raise them that way but he never listened, and look where that got them. Look where that got him!"

A ringing silence fell after Irene's outburst. The three women stared at each other, equally stunned. 

"Hey ladies, sorry I'm late—" Somi's dad stopped short in the entrance when he saw the three of them together and immediately sensed the tense atmosphere percolating throughout the room.

"I'll uh....just get ready....over here..." he said uncertainly and backed away into the furthest corner possible, putting in earbuds and immediately getting started on his routine.

Meanwhile, Irene reached out uncertainly to Jennie. The younger girl was holding tightly to the box of bagels, her knuckles turning white. 

"Jen...I...I..." Irene trailed off, at a loss. 

Jennie shook her head.

"It's okay," she said quietly, "I know you and Matthew don't approve of our lifestyle yet you still respect us...that's all I could ever ask for, really."

She smiled and turned to Somi. "But hey, people used to say video games turned kids violent and those same people turned out to be wrong so...maybe same goes for boxing you know? Do what you wanna do, Mimi, just don't do drugs, is all."

Somi pulled herself up to her full height and slapped Irene's arm. "Take that grandma!"

"I still think it's not right for teenagers to go to those places," Irene muttered.

"You also think people my age shouldn't go to clubs and bars, and that we shouldn't date right now," Somi said dismissively, "I'm not a kid you know."

Irene waved a hand. 

"I'm not gonna win with you," she scoffed as Somi did a little victory jig. "Anyway, so Lisa was....?"

"Slumping," Jennie sighed as she put the bagels on her desk and turned to face the other girls. She leaned against the desk. "I think I've finally gotten to the root of the problem, though I wish I had admitted it to myself earlier. I was thinking on how to tackle it without breaking the bank."

"Well?"

Jennie crossed her arms across her chest. "Stay tuned folks, right now you should both be working out."

"Jennie!" Irene and Somi groaned.

"Sorry," Jennie smiled, "I just really wanna eat my bagel right now."

"Can I go give Lisa her breakfast then?" Somi said hopefully.

"I'm afraid she might bite your head off if you try to wake her right now, Mimi, that's not a good idea."

She gave Somi a kind smile. "You can stop worrying she's fine. I just let her sleep for today since she needs it. And no, you're not skipping anything just because Lisa isn't here."

Jennie winked. "I'll be coming around to see your progress. And as you may have noticed, I'm a lot less lenient then my sister so....take that as you will."

"I know I know," Somi grumbled, walking away and taking a mat. "I'll get started on the jumping jacks."

Jennie's smile widened. "Good girl."

***************

short update sorry :/

thanks for dropping by! :-P

adios and have a good day/night

P.S I miss the pinks :(