The Tiger King (Chaelisa)

33| Proposal

note: continues off from previous chapter

Jisoo tossed and turned in bed for well into the night after dropping Jennie and Lisa at their place with her SUV (she had managed to convince Jennie she was fine enough to drive.)

The siblings' hushed conversation in the bathroom nagged her; something about its secretive nature troubled Jisoo, such that at one point she sat up, grabbed her phone and was in the process of composing a message for Jennie when she stopped herself.

She was being irrational. She was being inquisitive and prying into people's business. She shouldn't be poking her nose in Jennie's business-Jennie was her friend, her new friend who was gradually learning to accept all of Jisoo, all of her quirks and eccentricities. And Jisoo was slowly, painstakingly getting to know the real Jennie behind the taciturn, stoic girl.

If she ruined this, it would be all her fault, nobody's else. But from what she understood...Jennie and Lisa could be in trouble.

Somebody out there was after them.

They needed to be protected and they needed friends-they were only two girls, all alone in the world. Surely they could use some help?

So...she should know what was going on, right? But maybe...not right now?

Maybe she should let Jennie sleep. People are usually asleep at three in the morning, unlike weird people like herself that stay awake churning over conspiracy theories and hypotheses in their heads because they overheard a conversation that was not meant for their ears. Maybe she could ask tomorrow....

Which is exactly what Jisoo found herself doing when she drove to the Vault and arrived at seven on the dot just as Jennie was opening the door for a new day.

"Chu?" Jennie said blankly. "What are you doing here?"

"I took the day off because I have something to ask you," Jisoo said without any preamble. She hadn't even bothered with prettying up, too anxious to talk with Jennie to care. Dark circles lined her eyes and her hair was still rather mussed from tossing and turning.

Jennie's eyes widened. "Must be something serious to skip a whole day. In any case, good morning and I'm sorry I don't have anything to offer—"

"I couldn't sleep last night," Jisoo jumped in again impatiently, "I couldn't sleep because I need to ask you something."

"Okay, okay. Calm down," Jennie said pacifyingly, seeing the older girl grow agitated. "Go ahead then. Ask me."

Jisoo took a deep breath, taking in the early morning din of the city as it woke up before she mustered up to the courage to blurt out: "I eavesdropped on you and Lisa by accident yesterday. I don't know what you were talking about but...Jendeukie, are you in some kind of trouble?"

She rushed on when Jennie's face remained impassive. "I know it's not my business but I couldn't help myself and I kept thinking a lot about you two being alone against whoever is out there, and I...I don't want you to be alone. I can help you, I'm sure there's some way I can...I mean, I'm your friend right? Friends help each other...right?" She added uncertainly, painfully aware of how out of depth she was when it came to what friend requirements were.

Living in her own bubble and shunned by people most of the time didn't help in preparing her for such a situation.

Jennie had been standing very still all throughout Jisoo's rapid spiel. She roused herself when Jisoo fell silent and observed her in apprehension.

"Let's talk inside shall we? Lisa's still asleep," Jennie said softly and opened the door for Jisoo, gently pressing a hand to the small of Jisoo's back and smiling reassuringly at the older girl.