The night is passing quickly. Time flies when you're having fun, as they say. We're not drinking in order to get drink. We're just having a quiet, sociable evening together. I'm actually enjoying myself much more than I thought I would.
"You girls wanna play some pool?" Mino asks.
"Yeah, come on." Jisoo stands up.
I awkwardly smile. "I don't play pool."
"No problem, just give it a try." Mino hands me a cue. "You hold it like this." He demonstrates using his own cue across the pool table. I try to copy, but I'm beyond useless, putting the cue in the wrong place on my fingers. "Here...let me help you." Mino says from behind me. I'm leaning over the table as he leans closely behind me. Mino's one arm is tightly around me, holding the cue near the top. His other hand is holding mine near the bottom of it.
"I'm telling you now...I'm terrible at this." I giggle.
I feel the heat of Mino's breath on my neck when he laughs. "So, you have the white ball here. You're going to hit the red ball, here. You line it up straight, trying to hit the red ball using the white." He slowly pulls the cue back, hitting the white ball. It kisses the red and goes straight down the middle pocket. I'm laughing loudly and so is Mino. As we stand up to high five one another, out of the corner of my eye, I see Lisa standing motionless in the doorway.
Her pursed lips and displeased frown both point at Mino and me, before storming towards the bar. We all momentarily and awkwardly look at one another. Her mere presence instantly weighs me down. Fuck!
"Okay, to make this fair. I think we should pair up with each of them, Mino. Otherwise, they've got not a bloody hope in hell." Jisoo laughs.
I'm glad she's the one who has pulled us out of the Lisa stupor that is currently dragging us all down. We were all having such a great time until she showed up. I am not going to let her ruin another fucking evening for me.
Mino agrees. "Okay, I'll stay with Jennie. You can be with your lovely Rosé."
We continue to play pool and I dare not look over at Lisa, but I can feel her seething eyes upon us. I can just feel her there; an oppressive presence, just hanging in the air. I try to damn hard to act like she's not in the room. I know I'm not doing anything wrong, yet her being here makes me feel like I am.
I dig deep...stubbornly deep. I don't have to explain what I am doing here and with whom I am doing it. In fact, I don't have to answer to her at all.
"Now, remember what I told you, Jennie. Line it up and keep it straight." Mino smiles at me, looking down at the balls on the pool table.
"What colour are we again?" I ask, slightly confused.
Mino rubs his forehead. "Oh Lord." He looks to the heavens, shaking his head.
"Are we yellow?" I ask. I'm now giggling so much; I can't even hold my cue straight.
"Yes, ma'am, we are yellow." Mino rolls his eyes with a smirk.
"Okay, I'm going for this one." I lean over, biting my lip hard, trying to concentrate. My cue hits the white ball, which then smashes into a random red, hitting a yellow that magically by chance drops into the top right pocket.
"WOOOO!!!!" Mino screams, picking me up in an excited hug.
"Oh my God! I did it!" I squeal in his ear.
"Yes, you did!" Mino is laughing as he lowers me down to the ground. We continue to celebrate my potting of ball with boisterous high fives.
"Excuse me, Jennie. Could I just have a moment, please?" Lisa is standing behind us. I turn around to be confronted by her disapproving face. The smile on my face quickly leaves me. I'm frozen to the spot. Her disappointed glare continues to assault me.
Mino steps forward. "It's just a game of pool, Lisa."
"I know that, Mino. I would just like to privately talk to Jennie, that's all." her eyes don't even blink on me.
My voice seems to have frozen too. I have to clear my throat before I begin to speak. "What's wrong?" I quietly ask her.
Her emotionless eyes begin to thaw. "Can we talk outside...please?" she asks, more pleading this time.
I sigh loudly. A clear indication that I'm not happy. "Okay, I'll be back in a minute, guys." I glance at the disappointed faces of Mino, Rosé and Jisoo before turning around to follow an already walking away Lisa.
My heart is in my mouth. I'm confused, yet angry. I begrudgingly continue to follow her, wondering what awaits me once outside. We step out into the night air. Tonight is certainly cooler, only more so because of the coolness emanating from Lisa herself. She gingerly walks away from the pub into the surrounding dark shadows, our only light being from the clouded covered moon above us. The pub noise fades as we leave it further behind us. She eventually stops beside a large tree. The frosty silence that surrounds us is slowly killing me. I decide to break that unbearable silence.
"What is this all about, Lisa?" I ask sharply.
