The Tiger King (Chaelisa)

37| Confessions: Part 1

continues from last chapter

"So...how did it go?" Jennie asked Lisa as she settled on the mattress after another tiring day.

"The usual," Lisa shrugged as she raised herself on her arm to face her sister. "You? Learned some new yoga pose?"

"Mmm," her sister replied. They were both quiet for a while, lost in their thoughts as they listened to their combined gentle breathing.

"Unnie?"

"Mhmm?"

Lisa seemed to be weighing her words carefully when she spoke next. "How mad will you be if I tell you that I think...I have feelings for Rosie?"

Jennie sighed-she always seemed to be sighing around Lisa.

You sound like a train, Jisoo had commented once. The quick memory made her smile briefly before she shook her head. She couldn't think about Jisoo right now; she had more pressing issues to deal with.

"What else is new, you've been crushing on her since the moment you clapped eyes on her," Jennie said, "you catch feelings for every girl that walks by." Her voice was light, yet the tension in the cramped attic was anything but light-Jennie's words were a warning, a sharp reminder for Lisa to toe the line or else suffer the consequences.

Know your place. Don't step over the line if you know what's good for you.

It seemed that Lisa however was determined to test Jennie, just like a dog testing its owner's patience.

"This is different...being with her...is different," Lisa insisted. "She's-she's sweet and kind and, and honest. She trusts me and opens up to what happened to her, she doesn't hold back on mincing words. She had quite a rough past."

"I'll bet it was. She's just like every self-entitled rich-"

"You wanna tell Jisoo that?" Lisa scoffed, "And besides, she's not self-entitled, not at all, you don't even know half of it Jen. Her ex, Ella's father....well I won't disrespect her and break her trust like that, she confided in me so it's gonna stay that way. But anyway, we talk a lot and I like her. She's... so amazing, putting up with everything to raise her kid." Lisa broke off, sounding wistful. "I feel like despite all that she can still... she can relate to me, in a way. I don't know how to explain it but I feel it."

"You feel it?" Jennie said sceptically. "And what exactly is it that you feel, Lisa?"

Jennie's disbelief did nothing to dampen Lisa's determination. "I know Rosie isn't like all the other girls I flirt with. I want...I want to be honest and right with her. I want to be genuine around her, no pretending. She's so...so amazing Jen, I could never be as strong as she is. I feel like I could tell her anything, she makes me feel understood and less alone."

"Without even knowing what you are?" Jennie sneered. "Lisa, she's just a rich privileged girl whom you know nothing about. So she told you about her ex, big deal. That's nothing. And she knows nothing about you."

Pure venom rolled off Jennie's tongue as she spat out the last word, years of stifled resentment rising up, nearly choking her with fury. "Do you even hear yourself right now? Snap out of it. This isn't some movie. This is real life. You want all our careful work to go down the drain? What do I always tell you? What did Hwangssabu always tell you?"

Silence.

"I warned you," Jennie picked up again. "I warned you about growing close to that girl. I trusted you would be sensible enough to keep yourself in check. I asked you to be careful the day she visited the Vault. I thought we were of the same mind about this. What happened Lisa? What changed? So she said a few sweet words and you fell for that hot air, is that it? Pathetic."