CHAPTER 1

Lisa Manoban woke up to the sound of guns firing non-stop. There were also bombs exploding everywhere. She opened her eyes to see where the sounds were coming from but as soon as she opened her tired lids, the gun shots immediately stopped. She was in her room and she was greeted by a beam of sunlight streaming through the window. She's breathing heavily and beads of sweats are forming on her forehead.

𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙚, she thought. 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙥?

She was about to get up but noticed that there's a weight on her left arm and a human figure who's hugging her and stopping her from doing any movement. She glanced at the person beside her and gaad, the girl was sleeping so damn peacefully. She decided to lay down again as she doesn't want to wake the girl up.

The redheaded girl who's sleeping beside her shifted as if sensing that Lisa was already awake. She slowly opened her eyes just to see the blonde looking at her.

"Why are you already up?", she asked softly, almost a whisper.

Lisa didn't answer. She shifted her gaze to the ceiling, avoiding eye contact with the redhead. She doesn't want to tell the girl that she had another nightmare but her heavy breathing is saying it all.

"Another nightmare?", the redhead asked, gently rubbing her hand on Lisa's chest to calm her down. She knew that it's one of Lisa's bad dreams. Lisa has had it for almost 4 years already.

The blonde stayed quiet.

Ms. Redhead sighed. Lisa is really not the type of person to tell someone what's in her mind. She usually just keeps it to herself, as much as possible. "Lisa-yah. You know you can tell me anything. I will always be here for you.", she cooed gently, still rubbing Lisa's chest to calm the girl down.

"I know. But I don't wanna talk about it, Chaeng. I can handle everything myself.", Lisa said coldly, not breaking her gaze at the ceiling. She's not really feeling good about the nightmare but she doesn't want to look weak in front of the redhead either.

Chaeyoung sighed again. She knows that the girl is cold and aloof but at least she tried. She doesn't want to push Lisa and end up in another argument. They had already argued last night when she showed up at Lisa's front door all of a sudden. Lisa forbids her from visiting the blonde's apartment but she can't bear staying away, not knowing the whereabouts of the girl. Lisa didn't even bother to make an attempt to contact her. It's been weeks and she's starting to worry. Good thing that Lisa can't stay mad at her though.

She just nodded to the blonde to let her know it's fine if she doesn't want to talk about it.

"Do you want me to get you water?", she asked and was about to get up.

"No. I'm fine. Stay.", Lisa said silently. She kinda misses the redhead too but of course, she won't say it in words.

Chaeng nodded and lay down again. She then tightened her hug to the blonde, wrapping Lisa in a bear hug. Lisa groaned but didn't stop the girl with what she's doing.

"Gaaad. I've missed you so much.", Chaeng said.

"Silly.", Lisa answered shortly.

"You've been busy these past few weeks and you barely had enough time for me."

Now, it's Lisa's turn to let out a deep sigh. She knew that it's true and she somehow felt bad about it, but Chaeng should also know that she has a lot of other things to settle. Her hands are full of the things she needs to fulfill.

"You shouldn't even be here, Chaeng. I've told you not to go here without my permission. You can't just show up here whenever you want." she said with a blank face.

"You can't blame me for missing you."

Lisa knew enough that she can't avoid the girl forever. It's not possible at all. It's the redhead's safety that she's worried about and that is why she is very cautious. She will never forgive herself if something bad would happen to Chaeyoung.

Just when Lisa was about to say something, her room door burst open, revealing a girl with dark brown locks in a denim jacket and skinny jeans. The girl has fair skin and a really pretty face, like that of a celebrity.

"Yo, Lis-", she called out but stopped when she noticed that Lisa has company.

"What is she doing here??", the girl who entered asked rather loudly causing Chaeng to flinch.

"Don't ask me.", Lisa said, eyes still fixated to the ceiling.

"Last time I checked, I still have the right to see her.", Chaeng narrowed her eyes to the girl. "And why are you here as well anyways? Don't you know how to knock? You scared the shit out of me." She noticed the set of keys the girl was holding with her right hand. 𝙒𝙝𝙮 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙙𝙪𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙇𝙞𝙨𝙖'𝙨 𝙠𝙚𝙮𝙨?

"And the last time I checked, we have classes today, miss. I am here to check if Lisa is getting her ass ready. I have a bad feeling in my gut she's still lying in her lazy ass and guess what? I am totally right. And here you are, cuddling with her. Great. We're gonna make it on time.", the girl said, crossing her arms over her chest. She is kinda annoyed as she doesn't want to be late on their first day of school. This will be their last year in college and she wanted to end school smoothly. They are almost done and after all of this, they can just focus on the business. Of course, learning something in school isn't just the sole advantage of it but she gets to socialize with people too. The more people she knows, the more connections and information that she could gather. That works for Lisa as well.

Chaeng shot up from bed upon hearing about school, remembering she has classes too. Not just that, she couldn't even believe the fact that Lisa is agreeing to this school thingy again as she knows how the blonde hates school. Knowing Lisa's business, she even doubted that Lisa can handle both things at the same time. The first three years for Lisa's degree was hell for the blonde and Chaeng wouldn't even be surprised if she'll end up quitting the fourth one. Well, Lisa is Lisa after all. There's not a thing that she's not good about. She's happy because it will really help the blonde divert her attention to other things. She mentally forgives Lisa for going MIA for the past few weeks.

"How come you haven't told me about this?", she asked in excitement.

Lisa who's now sitting at the edge of her bed and rubbing sleep off of her eyes, just shrugged her shoulders like it's not really that interesting. 𝙁𝙪𝙘𝙠 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙚.

"We should get going! I'll cook some breakfast for the three of us! What do you want Lisa-yah? Hot dogs and eggs? Pancakes? Oh, I should not forget about beacons!", Chaeng said excitedly as she imagines all of the foods she can think about in her head. She also knows that Lisa barely eats home-cooked meals nowadays as she's living alone. Usually, the blonde just eats outside in some unhealthy fast-food restos.

"Whatever you want.", Lisa said blankly.

"Okay, leave it to me. I am starving like hell." Chaeng said then kissed Lisa's cheek before getting off the bed.

"Eew." the girl in the denim jacket cringed at the sight. "And hello? There isn't a second that you are not starving, moron."

Chaeyoung faced her. "It's either you'll be nice to me or no breakfast for you, Jisoo-yah."

"Geez geez. Mianhae... I'm just surprised that you are here and I just really don't want to be late for school you know.", Jisoo explained quickly, thinking that having breakfast before school is a nice thing and she didn't want to waste the opportunity.

Chaeyoung eyed her for a minute. "Okay, fine. Apology accepted.", she finally said and headed for the door.

Jisoo sat on Lisa's bed. "What the fuck are you thinking, Lisa? Why is Chaeng here?", she questioned the blonde.

"I don't know. She just showed up last night.", Lisa answered shortly.

"What are you planning? Having her around will not do her any good. Especially now that-"

"Do you think I don't fucking know that?!", Lisa snapped, cutting Jisoo's sentence. "I will figure this one out. You don't have to worry about it."

Jisoo nearly flinched. It's scary when Lisa is mad but she is so used to her best friend being like this. If she haven't known Lisa for years, she would have shitted on her pants right now under Lisa's gaze. But she knows the blonde too well. Lisa is short-tempered, always grumpy and cold but she truly understands why the girl is like that.

"Okaaay. Fine. Just fucking calm down. I'm just reminding you. I'm not your enemy here.", she said calmly, doesn't really wanting to trigger the grumpiness first thing in the morning.

Lisa relaxed a bit and sighed.

"Go ahead and take a bath. I can fucking smell Chaeng all over you. I'll be downstairs.", Jisoo said, trying to lighten up the mood.

"Fuck you.", Lisa cursed, throwing a pillow to Jisoo's face. She then stood up and headed for her bathroom to shower as she indeed smelled like Chaeng's perfume. She needs to clear her mind as well from the nightmare she had earlier.

---------------

Jisoo made her way downstairs towards the kitchen. She can already smell the scent of the food Chaeng is cooking, causing her stomach to growl rather loudly. She's starving.

"Oh there you are. I was about to call you. The food is ready. Dig in.", Chaeng called.

"Wow. That looks great.", she responded as she eyed the food served on the table, her mouth watering in the process. "I think we should wait for Lisa.", she said.

"No, it's fine. She wouldn't mind anyways.", Chaeyoung insisted, patting the vacant chair beside her.

Jisoo hesitated but eventually nodded and joined Chaeng. Don't get Jisoo wrong. She doesn't hate Chaeyoung. She just doesn't want Lisa to lose focus on her priorities because of Chaeyoung. Not that the redhead is some kind of a hindrance to their goals but she knows how Lisa can be so protective towards Chaeng. Plus, she doesn't want to be alone with the girl. The girl always asks too many questions that's too difficult to answer. She always has to think about her answers first before responding otherwise, Lisa might kill her if she happens to say something that's not allowed to be shared. Plus, they always bicker a lot even over small things. Like a lot. There's just these seldom moments that they don't, like what's happening right now. Ever since she met Chaeyoung, Jisoo always feels this weird tension going on inside of her for some unexplained reasons. She's surprised at the fact that Chaeng is actually being nice to her by offering breakfast.

𝙊𝙧 𝙢𝙖𝙮𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙧𝙞𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙚 𝙗𝙮 𝙥𝙪𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙙.

"I didn't put anything in your food. Stop staring at it as if you're thinking that I wanted to poison you.", Chaeng said while munching on an apple.

"How'd you fucking know what I was thinking?"

"Because you're like hesitating to eat it."

"Whatever.", she rolled her eyes then started digging in for some pancakes.

There's a long awkward silence between them and you can only hear the sound of the utensils they are using. Jisoo is sensing that Chaeng wanted to ask something about Lisa, but she can't figure out what's stopping the redhead from doing so.

"Ji..", Chaeng started.

Jisoo froze. She doesn't know why but there's this kind of effect on her whenever Chaeng is calling her 'Ji'. No one ever calls her by that nickname but Chaeng.

"Y-yeah?", she tried to muster a straight 'yeah?' but ended up with a lame and a nervous one. 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙘𝙠 𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙆𝙞𝙢 𝙅𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙤?

"Are you sure you're looking out for Lisa? Remember you promised me before that you'll take care of her whenever I am not around.", the redhead asked.

"U-uh yeah.", she stuttered. Chaeng looked at her curiously as if trying to figure out what's wrong with her. "I mean yes. Yes, I do remember that.", she repeated. She cleared her throat to shoo the weird feeling away and luckily, it worked. "Why?", she asked.

"I've noticed some bruises on some parts of her body and a cut under her right eye. I know I don't have to think too much as I'm pretty sure she can handle herself but you know, I can't help but to worry sometimes.", Chaeng said in a really worried tone. "Has she gotten into fights lately?"

"Oh. That one. She got it in a sparring match. You know how she is. She would pick the best recruit whenever she wanted to then challenge the recruit in a hand-to-hand combat. She said she feels good doing it as it could be considered as part of the recruits' training. The latest match got intense. New boy is really good. He managed to throw a solid punch on Lisa's face. That's how she got the cut. It's really nothing to her actually. You don't want to know what happened to the poor boy." Jisoo said, remembering the scene as she finishes her plate of pancakes.

"Oh my god. Is he still alive?", Chaeng asked. Knowing Lisa, whoever it is that she had sparring with, he or she would never stand a chance.

Jisoo chuckled and nodded. "Still breathing. Lisa broke the poor kid's rib though. But he's totally fine now."

"Geez. I hope she just takes it easy sometimes."

"If there's someone here who knows Lisa more than I do, it should be you, Chaeng. You know that she never takes things easy. Even if I am always with her, reminding her of things as her best friend, you know that when she decides to do something, she will do it without hesitation. She will have it her way. No one, not even me or you, can stop her."

Chaeng is having goosebumps upon hearing all of this from Jisoo. She knew what Jisoo said was true but it feels more disturbing having the words come out from someone's mouth.

"You do know as well that she doesn't like to be treated as a baby. She doesn't like to be told what to do. Sometimes, I forget that and she ends up snapping at me. But there are times as well that she listens to me. So yeah, you don't have to worry much about her, Chipmunk. That's why I am always here.", Jisoo added. She doesn't want to be cheesy but she needs to reassure Chaeng about Lisa.

Chaeng's worried face relaxed.

Just when she was about to say something, Lisa entered the kitchen.

Lisa, who's now looking fresh and is wearing a black V-neck shirt, ripped skinny jeans and a pair of combat boots, shot them a questioning look. The two girls looked like they were deers caught in headlights. 𝙒𝙏𝙁?

"Oh great, there she is. We thought you'd be having your shower forever.", Jisoo said rather quickly before Lisa could ask what was going on.

Chaeyoung stood up and cleaned the table by putting her and Jisoo's plate in the kitchen sink. She then grabbed a new clean plate and fixed Lisa some food. "Come and eat. I'll go upstairs and prepare. I'll just be very quick. Give me like 15 minutes.", then she ran for the stairs.

Lisa just nodded and started eating her food.

Lisa doesn't really like to talk much so Jisoo just spent her 15 minutes tapping on her phone. She even started a 15 minute countdown on her phone as if girls like Chaeyoung would really consume just 15 minutes of the day for a quick prep. 15 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙖𝙨𝙨. 𝙈𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 15 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨. Chaeng came down after a while, consuming 14:36 of Jisoo's time. She's wearing a white off-shoulder blouse and a skirt which is not too short and not too long but just perfectly hugging her figure. Jisoo gulped. She can't deny the fact that Chaeng is stunning with those outfits. Not that she cares about how the girl looks right now but.. 𝘿𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙚𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩? She looked at Lisa to see any reaction but the blonde doesn't seem to mind.

"Let's go?", Chaeng called.

Jisoo blinked, then mentally slapped her face and nodded to Chaeng. Lisa stood and grabbed her keys.

"Take her to school. I'll see you there.", Lisa ordered Jisoo. Lisa will be riding her bike and she doesn't want to ride it with Chaeng.

"What? No----", but Lisa already left before she could even protest. 𝙐𝙜𝙝. She then turned to Chaeng. "I guess I have no choice then. Go grab your things.", she said to the redhead and sighed.

This whole Chaeng-being-around is making her feel weird and she doesn't know why.

𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏