Affection | Jenlisa

Playground Crushes ★

"Now, what did I say about fighting with your friends?" Jisoo lightly lectured the middle schoolers and the two girls mumbled a half-hearted reply. Jennie had her arms crossed and her lips were set in a stubborn line. Beside her, Lisa had an equally defiant expression. Jisoo had to sigh at the two. Never in her life had she known two children that fought as much as Jennie and Lisa did.

"She's not my friend." Jennie said and threw Lisa a scowl. A fire sparked between them and Jisoo quickly intervened before they could fight again. Even though Jisoo was only a volunteer, she was often called upon whenever the two fought because she was the only person that could deal with them. She placed a hand on both of their shoulders and spoke softly to them.

"You two are classmates at least. If you two have a disagreement, you should use your words to work it out. You'll never solve anything if you're too busy fighting with each other. Now, tell me what this is all about and we'll find a solution together." Of course, that was easier said than done because the two immediately started screaming over each other.

"She stole my crayons!" Jennie cried. "I was using them and she took it from my hand without asking!"

"They belong to the class!" Lisa was quick to shoot back. "And you just hogged them all."

"This is about crayons?" Jisoo groaned but she tried to keep her voice calm. "Jennie, you need to learn how to share. Those crayons are for everyone to use. Lisa, you cannot take things without asking. Even if she said no, there are a lot of crayons in the bin and you could've found another colour."

Jisoo heard the door open behind her and she turned to see a woman enter the small classroom. She recognized Rosé easily because she picked up her sister whenever she got in trouble- which was very often. Lisa grinned widely when she saw her older sister and ran into her waiting arms. She stuck her tongue at Jennie from the safety of Rosé's arms. "I get to go home first. I win."

"Can't deal." Rosé sighed when Jennie tried to kick Lisa and Jisoo had to hold her back. She turned to Jisoo and bowed slightly to her. She forced Lisa to lower her head as well. "Sorry about my sister, Jisoo. I'll have Wrath talk to her when we get home."

"Maybe you should talk to her. Lisa loves you and respects you so you may get through to her." Jisoo suggested and Rosé didn't look convinced.

"If this little troublemaker loved me, she wouldn't get into fights so I can stay home for once." Rosé pointed out and playfully ruffled Lisa's hair. The small girl puffed her cheeks at her sister's teasing and tried to mess up Rosé's hair in revenge. Jisoo had to smile at their banter because it was blatantly clear that they loved each other.

"You complain about having to pick me up but you love seeing Jisoo-unnie! You should be thanking me-" Rosé quickly covered her sister's mouth and tried to salvage the situation.

"The things kids say these days!" Rosé laughed shakily with a blush. Jisoo nodded in agreement and giggled. Seeing her smile, Rosé's heart jumped a little and she did the only thing one could do in that situation. She ran. Still covering Lisa's mouth, she turned away and said over her shoulder. "Well, we need to get going before mom starts to wonder where we are. Bye, Jisoo."

She waved bye to the pair before she turned back to Jennie who was sulking. She knelt in front of her so they were eye levelled with her. "I'm sure your mother will be here soon. Do you want to do something while we wait for her? We can finish colouring that picture you were making for her. Lisa's not here to steal your crayons so you'll be able to get it done."

Jennie nodded and ran to her desk to take out her drawing. Her parents were often busy because they were famous performers. They loved their daughter but their jobs didn't allow them to be with her as much as they wanted. Jisoo would often stay behind to watch over Jennie. She sat next to Jennie as best as she could in the small chair and looked at her drawing. "That's a beautiful. Your mom will love this picture of you."

"It is me." Jennie beamed, happy that Jisoo quickly recognized what she drew. She tapped a doodle in the corner of her picture. "And I'm protecting Mr. Kitty from this demon."

"... That looks an awful lot like Lisa." She frowned but Jennie innocently nodded. Jisoo knew that girls often fought with each other when they were young but she couldn't let them continue. "Jennie, why can't you try to be friends with Lisa?"

"Because her face is stupid and it makes me feel weird." Jennie told her but Jisoo noticed the small blush she had on her face. "She's just dumb in general. Remember the time I fell and hurt my knee? She hugged me instead of getting you. Somehow, she made my stomach feel weird like there were butterflies. She made me eat butterflies! I don't know how but she did."

"She didn't feed you butterflies." Jisoo couldn't help but laugh. It was obvious that Jennie was experiencing her first crush but she was too young to understand her feelings. She also concluded that Jennie was one of those kids that picked on their crushes without knowing better. But Jisoo knew that it would be best to curb that behaviour. "I think Lisa was trying to comfort you."

"She was?" Jennie looked up at her but then shook her head. "But she's a stupid."

" You should try to get along with Lisa from now on? I'm sure you'll become close friends. Of course, that will mean no more fighting. You and Lisa will make a great team, don't you think?"

"But I don't know if Lisa likes me."

"She does." Jisoo said reassuringly. "How about we start out with small steps? When you get home, you should write her a letter telling her how you feel. It doesn't have to be long but you should be honest. If you feel shy about giving it to her in person, you can leave it in her locker."

"A note..." Jennie mumbled and then smiled. "I'll tell her exactly how I feel!"

-

"Unnie!" Lisa ran to Jisoo with a piece of paper clutched in her hand. She held it out to her and said, "I found this in my locker today! I don't know who put it there."

"I think I have an idea." Jisoo tried to contain her smile as she took the note from Lisa. She was glad that Jennie took her advice and wrote Lisa a note. Hopefully, this would mean that they would stop fighting. But when she read the note, her hopes were dashed.

I want you to get out of my school.