The Love We Had | JENSOO [18+]

Chapter Eleven: No More Drama

Jennie swam the length of the lake twice the next day. She was no stranger to finding other physical outlets for her sexual frustration. The images of Jisoo coming undone under her mouth and fingers, and of her refusing to look at her after, acted as fuel for every aggressive stroke her arms made through the water.

She had apologized, god dammit. What more does she want?

Jennie huffed and sputtered as she pushed away the thought that Jisoo was going through a messy divorce and perhaps not ready for some rebounding woman to molest her while she worked.

She replayed every moment they'd shared, growing more confident that she hadn't imagined the connection. She had a good head on her shoulders and could read social cues. The woman was into her.

As Jennie analyzed deeper and deeper, it became clearer that Jisoo just wasn't ready for her. That's what she'd tried to tell her when they were interrupted by her father.

Well fuck that, Jennie thought. I'm not chasing after her. I came out here to get over someone, not dive head first into some new drama.

She spent the afternoon playing cribbage with her mother, and not thinking about Jisoo, or Taehyung, or anyone else who was causing her grief.

Not in the mood for a campfire, Jennie holed up in the boathouse that evening. She hauled the sofa into position in front of the old tube TV in the corner and rummaged through a bin of VHS tapes. She snuggled up with a blanket and The Little Mermaid, and felt delightfully like a ten year old again.

She drifted in and out of sleep, making sure to open her eyes for the musical numbers. The sound of the trees scraping against the siding, the smell of the old sofa and wooden floorboards, everything about the boathouse comforted her. It was a safe cocoon, a time machine that brought her back to happy times when the worst thing she worried about was running out of pink thread for her friendship bracelets.

A young girl with long hair chased Jennie across the lawn, shrieking and gnashing her teeth. Jennie ran, terrified at the very real threat of velociraptor attack. She grabbed for a fallen tree branch and turned and swung as hard as she could.

THWACK!

The girl was crying, hand to her brow, as the blood began to flow.

"MOMMY!" She screamed and ran into the trees.

Jennie awoke with a start, the credits rolling across the TV screen. She rubbed her eyes and sat upright.

Bastard has really worked herself deep in there.

Jennie popped another tape into the VCR and settled in again, hoping for more distraction.

A crackling noise from across the room caught Jennie's attention. She paused the tape and listened. More crackling and static. She stood and prowled the area looking for the source of the sound.

Click, shhh, click.

Then she could have sworn she heard a voice. She froze on the spot, scanning the room with her ears.

What the hell is that?

"Jennie, come in."

What the f...?

She zoned in on a cardboard box sitting by the door. The flaps were open and she saw it was full of random junk. She moved closer.

On top of the pile of stuff lay a green walkie-talkie, adorned with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It buzzed and hissed, a little red light flickering on the side.

"Jennie? Pick up. I know you're there, I can see the light through the window."

She picked up the handset hastily and pushed the big black button.

"Jisoo?"

"Heeeyyy! You found it! Good for you! Over."

"What the hell are you doing?" Jennie chuckled.

"What the hell are you doing, OVER." Jisoo corrected.

"Sometimes I think you're still ten years old, OVER."

"I realized I don't have your phone number, not like it would work out here anyway, so I decided to do it, old school. OVER."

Jennie laughed, unable to control the giddy rush permeating her body at hearing Jisoo's voice, lively and joking again. She grinned to herself. She wasn't going to make this so easy on Jisoo.

"So you can see the light on, huh? You creepy peeping tom. OVER."

The line crackled back to life in the middle of a husky laugh on Jisoo's end.

"The call is coming from inside the boathouse! OVER," Jisoo growled in a surprisingly scary serial killer voice.

Jennie chuckled but didn't let Jisoo hear it. She pushed the button, putting on her best Valley Girl voice.

"Like, oh my god, I guess I should, like, just get naked then!"

Silence from the other end. Jennie's joke had been bombed. She waited a moment.

"Jisoo? You there? I'm sorry I didn't say over, OVER."

A crackle as the line came alive again.

"Sorry, I was just getting out my binoculars, OVER."

Jennie let Jisoo hear the laugh this time.

"Pig. OVER."

"Listen," came a more serious tone. "I'm sorry about yesterday."

Jennie crossed the room to the sofa and curled up with her blanket again. She was still angry and slightly confused, but decided she would hear Jisoo out.

"You didn't say OVER."

Jisoo sighed. "Seriously, Jen. It was a real dick move. I know that."

"Yep. Over."

"It's just those photos in the press...they eat that shit up, and now that they have a new angle I'm afraid they'll keep pushing, and..."

Jennie waited as the line clicked off, then on again.

Jisoo continued."...they'll start messing with you too now."

For a moment Jennnie struggled to inhale. Jisoo was worried about her. Not herself.

"They don't even know my name, Jisoo." She said. "I wouldn't stress about myself too much. Over."

"You're a trooper. Over."

"Listen," Jennie went on. "This kind of stuff fades away so quickly. No offense, but nobody will care about this in a week when some other celebrity idiots take over the cover stories. Soon it will all be over. Over."

"No offense taken. I hope you're right," came Jisoo's voice, now softened as she absorbed Jennie's wise word. "I just hate being portrayed as a hypocrite, of all things."

"That's the last thing you are."

The line went dead for a few moments and Jennie wondered what Jisoo was doing over there, two cottages away, all by herself.

CLICK.

"Do you guys have internet access?"

"Nope. My dad is steadfastly against being connected out here."

Another quiet moment.

"Come over. OVER."

Jennie could feel her pulse suddenly pounding in her neck. She went to the window and looked out across the darkened lawn. Through the trees and past the Dongs' property she saw a faint light glowing, high off the ground.

Jisoo was in the treehouse.