[3] - Behind your high walls

Chapter 3

"Woah! we're already here!" Chaeyoung says with astonishment as she looks around the airport.

"We are going to Seoul for real!" Lisa adds matching Chaeyoung tone, in disbelief.

"God, you two look like a punch of children."

Jennie comments sarcastically looking at them.

- "You must be the parents, then."

Lisa deadpans and points with her head to Jisoo, who's away from them talking to the airport's employee, and winks at her.

Ok.. she must get rid of Lisa, She just needs to find a place to bury the body.

Jennie would have scolded her but Lisa has already walked further to stand next to Chaeyoung and Jisoo finished talking to the employee and now she's on her way to Jennie, smiling as she gets closer.

Jisoo has to thank herself later because she left the matter of choosing the clothes, when they went shopping three days ago, up to the girls, because by that she saw another side for each of them and their sense of fashion.

And all of them were remarkably beautiful; like Lisa's choice that suggest independence, strength and sexiness at the same time, and to her boyish style she wore a loose cut shirt that shows the abdomen with boyfriend jeans.

While Chaeyoung's choice suggests elegance, delicate and it's more feminine, sending the princesses aura. Chaeyoung wore a medium-length black dress up to the knee, narrow at the waist and then becomes loose from the hip and down to the end, accentuating her blond hair and ideal skin.

As for Jennie, she's looking like she's in a fashion show.

She's so good at picking clothes that Jisoo felt like taking a camera with her and take pictures of her all the time.

She was breathtaking, choosing her clothes according to her fashion sense, and not in a way that expresses her personality, giving herself an image of mystery so that people admire her without knowing anything about her personality. She wore black fabric trousers with a tight-fitting black T-shirt cut from the top to show a bit of her upper chest with a long desert jacket.

Something that made Jisoo more protective towards the girls, because there is a high possibility- no.. they will definitely attract attention at where they're heading to and she must protect the girls from those people.

"We're ready to go." Jisoo announces once she gets closer to Jennie.

- "Jisoo, I'm still not sure about this," says Jennie, feeling restless.

"Jennie, we have already discussed this beforehand! I can't travel and leave you here by yourselves." Jisoo replies with a more determined tone than Jennie's, trying to reassure her.

After they had done the shopping, Jisoo had to issue them with passports and some personal documents, which took her these past three days between taking them to take personal photos and registering their information, while being keen to change Jennie's last name to a different one in anticipation of anything and with the help of some parties in high positions, who she has previous knowledge and dealings with, she was able to issue them with passports in this short period.

- "I know. it's just.."

"You don't have to worry, I was planning to take you with me anyway," Jisoo assures her, turning towards Chaeyoung and Lisa and calls out to them.

"Lisa! Chaeyoung! It's time!"

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"So.. Jisoo will return today," Taeyoung starts skeptically and takes a sip of the his glass afterward.

- "As Eun Ji says, yes." Mi Hee responds, sitting on the chair after pouring some wine in the glass of her youngest son, who's sitting in front of her.

"Don't you think my aunt's relationship has improved with Jisoo? I thought she hated her."

- "And still. Your aunt is only thinking about her interests. There's definitely something else behind her interest in the matter of the dance event and Jisoo, something that benefits her." She says surely as if she's stating one of the known facts.

Since the Kim family is one of the invitees whose attendance is confirmed every year and this includes Kim Sehun's wife, Chang Mi-hee, she had knowledge about the change of the event date, which is less than a week, and this was what was written in the message that Jisoo received.

"Let's just hope that she returns to Jeju early. I can't stand seeing her roaming around the company as if she were the owner of the place."

- "And what if she become one?" Taeyoung asks as if he is waiting for negation from his mother or something to relieve him of his worries.

He has always been jealous of Jisoo, spreading rumors about her when they were in school in order to attract attention to him, something beyond the matter of her being the daughter of his father's mistress. Jisoo was good at everything she did, unlike him, she was naturally gifted. Something he managed to hide with the hatred that his mother planted inside of him.

"You know how my dad takes care of her and prefers her, maybe he will-"

"I'll never allow that to happen!" She snaps at him while adjusting her sitting, "All she can own is that branch and nothing else! It is better for you to work harder so you can take it from her too!" She adds angrily and gets up, leaving Taeyoung alone in the office.

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After arriving in Seoul and their hour and ten minutes travel has ended, they are now on their way to the apartment where they will be staying, which Jisoo had previously chosen.

The trip was not tiring, the road from the airport to the apartment in the car was, and therefore Lisa and Chaeyoung allowed themselves to have a little nap in the second back seat while Jisoo was telling Jennie a briefing about each place they crossed by.

As they're getting closer to their destination, Jisoo points at a well-known restaurant and asks the driver to stop by it so that she could buy lunch for the girls, as they had not eaten anything since breakfast, and Jennie decides to go with her to keep her company and also to move her legs cause she was sitting for a long time.

When they enter the restaurant, Jisoo tells Jennie to sit at a table until she finishes ordering lunch, and so she does. Several minutes pass while she's sitting alone watching Jisoo talking to the cashier when she hears the sound of the restaurant's door opening and then two girls enter and goes to sit at the table that is behind Jennie.

Jennie can't see them as they were behind her, but she can hear them clearly,

"Hey, look..look! it's Jisoo!" says one of them in a low voice, after sitting when she noticed Jisoo.

- "What? What Jisoo?" The other girl replies, not knowing why her friend got so excited.

"What do you mean what Jisoo? How do you not know her? She's Kim Jisoo! Kim Sehun's daughter!"

- "you mean that Jisoo? We don't go to the same university, of course I won't recognize her! Also, why are you so nervous? You act like the boys in my university."

"This is because you are not with me so you can see what happens once she enters the campus, girls hate her because boys only look at her. She's that bitch!" The girl finishes with an English phrase that Jennie understood well, but she still didn't fully understand the girl's conversation, and why is she talking about Jisoo this way?

- "Really? Aren't you exaggerating? I heard she's cruel and rude, with an attitude, is that true?"

"Yeah, for real! Isn't it a waste of her beauty? I mean her face and personality are completely different, there are also rumors about how she deceived one of the wealthy families' sons and played with his feelings for the benefit of her compan- shsh! She's coming! She is coming!"

Jennie was preventing herself so hard so she won't jump on them and teach them a lesson for their words. She can't believe how they were talking about her so blatantly without the slightest truth in it.

Jisoo is rude? Cruel? Are they in their right mind?

Unbelievable!

"Jennie? did something happen? You don't look well." Jisoo says once she arrives, searching Jennie's expressions for an answer.

As soon as Jisoo began talking to Jennie, they knew that this person whom Jisoo had spoken to is one of her friends and had listened to their whole conversation.

- "Oh, yeah.. I'm fine. are you done?" Jennie says she gets up from her seat.

"Yes, let's go."

Jennie takes some bags from Jisoo's hand and before she gets further away from her table, she turns towards the two girls and glares at each one of them.

If looks were to kill, they would have been dead by now.

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"So that's what an 'apartment' looks like according to Jisoo's dictionary," Lisa says once they enter the apartment, looking around, followed by Jennie and Chaeyoung as Jisoo has left them and went to the company, telling them that she has some work she has to take care of and that she will return by evening.

"It's literally a house placed on top of the hotel," Chaeyoung adds in astonishment.

Lisa and Chaeyoung were walking slowly because they were still feeling sleepy before their eyes lied on the place Jisoo chose and their sleepiness disappeared immediately.

Jennie just shakes her head on their words, she can't deny.. this apartment is really luxurious. In addition to the apartment's main space, which is a living room and a dining area at the same time; there're two large bedrooms separated from each other, where each one is located at the end of the apartment on the sides, one large separate bathroom and a separate kitchen as well. One of the two rooms had a king-size bed and the other had two separate beds.

"So.. which room would you choose?" Lisa asks as she threw her body on the sofa, after they have finished touring around the apartment, pulling Chaeyoung with her to lie beside her.

- "What do you mean which room? Any room will do." Jennie says nonchalantly while sitting on the other sofa, facing them.

At first, Lisa doesn't respond and just looks at her with a sinister smile, to then she follows with a teasing tone,  "You know what I mean, there are two rooms and we are four, that means in each room there're two.."

- "Yeah?  I didn't know that, what a surprising information!" Jennie interrupts her sarcastically, but this doesn't deter Lisa from continuing her teasing.

"..And there is one king-size bed..." Lisa says stressing the last word, and Jennie just rolls  her eyes on that.

"I mean, if you want your own separate bed, I have no problem and so is Chaeyoung. The royal bed is ok, isn't it Chaeyoung?"

Chaeyoung nods playing along.

Jennie would be lying if she said she doesn't want the room with the royal bed because it would probably be the room that Jisoo would choose, right?

At the same time, she doesn't want to give Lisa the entertainment she aims for.

- "No, really, you can choose which of the two rooms. It's just a room," says Jennie, pretending not to care.

"Oh.. just a room,"  Lisa exchanges looks with Chaeyoung , smiles and she smiles back at her before her face goes blank quickly.

"Well, Lisa if you're done playing around, can we have lunch now?" says Chaeyoung glaring at Lisa impatiently.

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Jisoo enters her subsidiary, heading to the top floor where her office is located, ignoring all the employees who greet her and bow to her, leaving them in a shock from her sudden presence. All eyes follow the sound of the high heels steps she is wearing.

Somi, Jisoo's secretary, was on her way out when she stopped in amazement once she saw her boss pass by her side. It took her seconds before she starts striding after her.

"Ms. Kim! Welcome!" Somi greats enthusiastically as she tries to keep up with Jisoo.

"Call Jackson from Wang's holdings quickly! Send the call to my phone." Jisoo says in an authoritative tone, ignoring Sumi's greeting, enters inside her office and closes the door behind her without letting Somi go in with her.

Moments until Jisoo opens the door to find Somi still in her place, dumbfounded.

"When will my father return from his trip?" Jisoo asks firmly.

- "Aa- after tomorrow, ma'am."

"Tell him that I'm back." She says simply and closes the door in Somi's face again.

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The sound of raindrops crashing into the glass.. the darkness.. the cold wandering around her exposed arm.. her heavy eyelids open a little to see the city lights permeate through the window and return to close again, trying to open them again to become more aware of her surroundings, but it seems that she was in a deep sleep. She blinks more than once with her eyes narrowed until her vision becomes a bit clearer, hints the digital clock on the table in front of her and sees that the time has passed nine o'clock.

After having lunch with Lisa and Chaeyoung , Jennie told them that she was tired and that she would go to sleep and went and left them in the living room, and in order to avoid Lisa's mockery, she decided to sleep in the room that has two separate beds.

She isn't aware of what just happened, but the coldness that she was feeling earlier has now disappeared and her arm that was exposed, is under the cover now. Perhaps she was imagining that the weather is cold, she doesn't know..

She's about to go back to sleep when she hears a thudding sound in the room followed by the movement of something.

She slowly turns around to check, after lying on her right side, and sees the door of the room is slightly open, leaving some light entering from the outside into the room and there is someone sitting at the edge of the other bed, bending their upper half down and up.

This time Jennie lifts her upper half a little and prompts herself on her forearms, wipes her eyes to focus more and clarify her vision.

It's Jisoo, seems to be trying to take off her shoes, tiredly. The thud from earlier must have been after removing her other shoe.

Wait. Jisoo is here? In this room? What is she doing here? Aren't she supposed to be in the other room?

Lisa and Chaeyoung must have chosen that room then, so they left Jisoo no other choice but to come here.

Yeah, there's no explanation other than this.

While Jennie is overwhelmed with her thoughts, Jisoo suddenly gets up, turns around, and winces when she sees Jennie awake staring into the void with blank expression, which causes Jennie to come back to her senses and return her attention to Jisoo.

"My god, Jennie! I was about to have a heart attack!" Jisoo exclaims, putting her hand on her chest, to then she digresses after calming down, "Sorry, did I wake you up?"

Jennie doesn't answer her at first, still looking like she's on another planet, she must be a heavy sleeper.

Slowly, she shakes her head, nods and shakes her head again, most likely she still feels sleepy because she's still completely carried away. Sitting up, she ruffles her hair, and brushes it back and directs her gaze to Jisoo.

"When did you come back?" Jennie asks with deep sleepy voice.

- "A little while ago, good thing you decided to sleep in the room. Lisa and Chaeyoung, found them sleeping on the sofa, in a such uncomfortable positions, they won't be able to move muscle later," says Jisoo and then proceeds to take off her blazer.

Jennie nods and stills afterwards.

'Lisa and Chaeyoung are asleep on the sofa?'

This means the other room is empty, then what is she doing here?

Jennie's awareness is now ten on ten as she thinks about the possibilities that made Jisoo choose this room and they all lead to one thing..

"You didn't have dinner yet, did you?" Jisoo interrupts her thoughts as she walks out of the room.

Jennie gathers her energy, carries herself up and walks after Jisoo after stumbling a little with the bedsheets. Leaning against the door frame, she sees Jisoo walking barefoot towards the mini refrigerator, opens it and takes out a bottle of water.

She's still in the same clothes since morning; tight light-blue jeans and a black shirt with its hem tucked inside the jeans. She's not listening to what Jisoo is talking about right now because her mind is busy studying the movements and language of Jisoo's body as she massages her forehead nervously from time to time and looks around as if she's looking for something, as if she's trying to remember something she forgot about.

She looks tired.

"Jennie?"

Here, Jennie realized that Jisoo, for the past few days, hadn't calmed down and was working around the clock.

"Jennie!" Jisoo calls her again to get her attention, she finished her rambling and Jennie didn't notice it, "Did you hear what I just said?"

- "Ah..y-yeah.." Jennie nods slowly.

"So? what do you think? Do we order from them? Or from the restaurant that we previously ordered from for lunch?"

Good, she can guess what Jisoo's talk was about.

Jennie moves away from the door and saunters toward Jisoo.

"Jisoo, I had intended to talk to you about this since morning, but I didn't find the right time.. and you also seemed very busy," Jennie says calmly as Jisoo looks at her squinting and at the same time nodding as a sign for Jennie to continue, "There is no need to order from restaurants anymore, I will cook from now on. I know how to cook.."

At that Jisoo's expressions change from confusion to surprise and disbelief as she returns her head back a little with a raised eyebrow, as if to say 'really?', her face hides a challenging smile that Jennie doesn't miss.

"Kim Jisoo? Are you doubting my cooking abilities?" Jennie says mirroring Jisoo's expressions.

- "I didn't say anything." Jisoo defends lifting her hands in the air, in surrender.

"You didn't have to say anything, your face says it all!"

Jennie's tone was playful talking to Jisoo, which was acting like she doesn't know what Jennie is talking about.

- "I'm just surprised."

"Yeah..yeah.. now go and lie down or take a shower or something and rest and leave dinner on me." Jennie dismisses holding Jisoo's arms and directing her on the path to the bathroom with a slight push.

Jisoo smiles at her and wanders to go when she stops and turns back around and looks at Jennie, who started searching inside the fridge for ingredients to make dinner and adds,

"It's better for it to be better than my peanut butter sandwich."

"Ugh! you didn't have to raise the bar so high!" Jennie jokes after moving her head away from the fridge, wearing a fake troubled expression as if Jisoo had put her in a difficult position, "There isn't much of ingredients here, importantly, no chicken. You have to manage with omelette only. " This time, she make a sad expression looking at Jisoo.

Before Jisoo could reply, Chaeyoung raises up from the sofa, half asleep, drawing their attention.

"Chicken! I want some chicken too!" Chaeyoung gushes unconsciously, then lies back again, back to sleep.

Jennie and Jisoo stay still for seconds, looking at each other shocked, before they both burst out laughing at her.

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Jennie stands behind the glass that separates the dance hall from the outside corridor inside the studio, watching Jisoo talking to Sunmi and another dance teacher. They were waiting for Jackson to come so they could catch up and finish the dance once and for all.

She was surprised by Jisoo's suggestion that she should come with her this morning, and when she asked her about it, Jisoo told her that she was part of the dance practice from the start and it was normal for her to follow the matter until the end.

She hears the sound of the door as it opens and turns towards it to see two men enter afterwards, one of whom is wearing black jeans and a leather jacket, he looked like one of the smugly and chaotic boys and the other one is wearing an elegant formal suit, looks quite the opposite of his friend, he seems firm and more sedate.

Although his friend was talking to him, the man in the suit was staring somewhere else and not listening to what his friend was saying. She follows his gaze and finds he's looking at Jisoo.

**

"Girls hate her because boys only look at her."

**

'Is he one of those boys? Why is he looking at her like this?'

The man continues to stare, and his friend doesn't stop blabbering and he doesn't turn his gaze away until his phone starts ringing.

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After picking up the call, Jin Young returns the phone back into his jacket and whispers in Jackson's ear that he has to go somewhere else and heads out.

Jackson then enters the dance hall, announcing his arrival.

"Mr. Jackson! You have arrived!" His dance instructor welcomes him and walks to greet him

- "Oh yeah, a little while ago actually

," Jackson replies.

"Let me introduce you to your dance partner, Miss Kim Jisoo," she says, pointing to Jisoo.

Jackson reaches out to shake hands with Jisoo, and she accepts it and shakes his hand back.

"Jackson Wang, glad to finally meet you." He says smiling.

- "Kim Jisoo, glad to meet you too"

"Now that's off the table, can we start already? You know, we don't have much time," Sunmi says amusdly as she walks and stands by their side.

-"Of course!"

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From what Jennie is seeing now, Jackson is a good dancer but he's still not quite as good as Jisoo. There was clearly something missing when they danced together, Jisoo was dancing with passion, while Jackson was dancing as if he was trying hard to dazzle everyone, he was only dancing to show off.

Another thing that Jennie noticed is that he has been missing up a few steps or not performing them properly, she can see that Jisoo is uncomfortable dancing with him but she doesn't let it show.

She must be thinking the same thing too..

this Jackson, was not practicing the dance as seriously as Jisoo was when they were on Jeju Island.

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"So what about this, chicken strips with pickled rice.. looks delicious, doesn't it?" Jisoo says holding her phone, browsing dinner recipes.

- "Hmm, what about a meal that doesn't contain chicken?" Jennie responds sarcastically as she continues cutting vegetables.

"Okay.. well, what about grilled meat with barbecue sauce and chicken? I can imagine Chaeyoung wiping it out." Jisoo jokes and laughs on her own joke.

- "Jisoo, When I told you I knew how to cook, I meant the common local dishes we know and also why are you looking for tomorrow's dinner from now?"

"I'm just excited to see the skills of Chef Jennie!" Jisoo defends playfully.

-"fine, I will try." Jennie adds helplessly, smiling to herself.

"Great!"

  After finishing practicing previously, Jisoo suggested that her and Jennie should go shopping and buy groceries for dinner since Jennie will be cooking for them starting today, something that Jisoo was pleased with because she prefers homemade food over restaurants food.

She's sitting in one of the chairs near the kitchen counter and in front of her, at a distance, Jennie standing preparing for dinner with her back facing Jisoo.

Sitting quietly, Jisoo was watching her move from one place to another inside the kitchen with her hair lifted in a messy bun and her sleeves folded up to her forearm, very focused, taking out some plates, washing the vegetables, putting the pot on the fire to heat it while wearing the kitchen apron.

Whoever becomes her husband will be very lucky.

A random thought that came to her without being aware making her realize something she hadn't thought of before this time; Jennie will go in her own path eventually.

Jennie, Lisa and Chaeyoung will all choose their own path away from her in the end; This's life and this's reality. They cannot stay under her wing forever, one day they would meet the person they will share the rest of their lives with.

Which made her feel bitter at the end of her tongue and a knot in her throat, which she swallowed with difficulty, and a slight pain in her heart.

One of the things that Jisoo hates about herself is that she's way too much realistic, she can't but ruin her happy moments by anticipating things beforehand realistically.

Never mind.. if this is going to happen then she should live the best of their time while they are still together.

"So, how did you learn to cook?" Jisoo begins kicking out those thoughts and putting on her usual smile.

- "I learned from my mother, or rather she was cooking while I was standing on the chair next to her, watching her," says Jennie, and then chuckles softly as she remembers those days with her mother. She takes a handful amount of the vegetables and puts them inside a hot water saucepan to boil them.

"You must have been a troublesome child," Jisoo jokes.

- "Oh, I was such a headache, and she used to scold me often."

"You're talking as if you are much mature now."

- "Kim Jisoo, the knife is still in my hands." Jennie warns her playfully in a serious tone without looking away from the pot, gaining a laugh from Jisoo.

There is silence between them after that, although Jennie is more comfortable talking about her memories now, this particular topic was creating on her face another expression, not sad or angry, but something of nostalgia overwhelms it.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" In a calm and gentle tone, Jisoo asks her after seeing Jennie has finished the preparation, closed the pot, left it on the fire and started cleaning the counter.

Jennie stops what she's doing, stays still for moments and turns her head to Jisoo, exchanges meaningful looks with her before she weakly nods and turns back. If she talks about he mother while facing Jisoo she will surely end up crying and she's tired of crying. She wants to talk about her with a smile, without making the sadness to prevail or to ruin the atmosphere.

"In my old house, we used to have a small garden, which my mother made for me," Jennie starts in a steady tone, "because one time I went home and asked for one like the garden my schoolmate had, or rather, what she was claiming to have in their house."

Jennie chuckles at herself as she remembers her old self and how she was a demanding child.

"Whenever I saw something that my schoolmates owned, I would go back to our house and throw a tantrum, demanding the same, and in every time my mom fulfilled my demands for these except that most of the time they were handmade or were from home appliances and yet they were made very beautifully.

She looked weaker than the rest of the women at her age, and when I asked her, she told me that she was born like that, weak and fragile, but this doesn't mean that she is sick or anything. She didn't tell me that she had become even more weak after she decided to give birth to me, and this is what I discovered later on from my father after her death."

Jennie was talking calmly and pausing to take regular breaths between one phrase and another, "He told me that the doctor advised her to abort the fetus because it posed a risk to her health but she didn't listen, she didn't listen because she wanted to have a child in this life so badly."

She falls silent, and Jisoo notices her hand as it rises from the counter edge toward her face and goes back in her place, one of the tears must have escaped from her eyes against her will.

"I never saw her complaining, not even once. Always smiling.. always cheerful. Now I know that she was accepting what she had chosen and was satisfied with it, giving me everything she could give in the time left for her."

Seconds of silence pass, and when Jennie notices that Jisoo was silent all the time and didn't say anything afterwards, she turns around to find Jisoo supporting her arm on the counter and resting her head on the palm of her hand, pretending to be asleep.

"Jisoo! I can't believe you!" Jennie exclaims and Jisoo then pretends that she has just woken up in a shock.

- "Huh? What?" Jisoo mumbles, she's still acting.

Jennie glares at her, wearing angry expression, turns her eyes to the counter looking for something until they lie on the vegetable basket, takes a carrot and throws it at Jisoo, which she smoothly avoids and catches it.

"You missed!" Jisoo says amusedly with a smile and takes a bite after.

- "I'll make it next time," Jennie promises and turns back around, her face hiding a weak smile.

She knows that Jisoo's joke is not a lack of interest or a ridicule, and she also knows that Jisoo was listening to every word that came out of her mouth. Rather, this is Jisoo's way of telling her that it's okay..

It's okay to make our most sad topics the brightest, that her talk about herself and she revealing her weak side didn't change anything from the present and didn't diminish.

Jennie is still Jennie in Jisoo's eyes.

Jisoo gets up from the chair and walks to stand beside Jennie, leaning her lower back on the edge of the counter without looking at her, wearing serious expression.

"One day when we get the chance," Jisoo starts softly, "Let's go and visit her."

At that Jennie looks at her surprised with her eyes glistening and Jisoo follows, "Also, I have to give her my thanks."

She pauses for moment before she looks at Jennie and smiles,

"Because she made the right choice."

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To be continued

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