Three Years - Jenlisa Story

Chapter 5

Jennie woke up happy: she finally had a day off from group rehearsals and could enjoy some time to herself without the hassle of having to see Lisa. She followed her usual morning routine and dressed in a tank top and leggings, ready to go out for a relaxing jogging session with Kuku.

She only had to walk a few hundred metres to feel like a different person: she was back in her comfort zone doing what she did every day before the reunion and, most importantly, she knew for sure that it would be a day without Lisa's irritating presence.

She took a deep breath.

Finally some peace and quiet, she thought with satisfaction, determined to enjoy the day as much as possible.

She ran through the streets around her palace, letting Kuku paw at her side looking around curiously. Her newfound inner peace combined with the music playing in her earphones caused Jennie to pick up the pace and lengthen the route she usually took, taking her past her neighbourhood and on to the next, almost without realising it. She felt as light and full of energy as she had felt in weeks.

She decided to take a sprint and, once she reached the point where she had set her imaginary goal, she decided to take a break. She took some water from her small bottle to give to Kuku and then took large sips herself when, suddenly, the water went down her throat: a giant picture of Lisa in Celine's clothes towered on the façade of the building right in front of her.

"I don't believe it," she barely whispered as she wiped her mouth with her hand.

She quickly put the small bottle away and started to run, leaving the billboard behind only to find herself, a little further on, in front of another advertisement with Lisa. She drastically changed direction again and, after a handful of metres, a vidwall appeared in front of her that was projecting a commercial with a smiling Lisa on the full screen.

Jennie couldn't believe her eyes.

It's a nightmare!

She started running at breakneck speed again, dragging Kuku with her, as if the images of Lisa were chasing her until she had to stop at an intersection. She took advantage of the forced pause at the traffic lights to catch her breath when her attention was drawn to people sitting at a small table in a café right next to her: the closest girl had her back to her and she had long dark hair, a slender build, a pink T-shirt, a visor hat... and she looked alarmingly like Lisa.

I'm also hallucinating now, she thought sourly as she stood on her knees trying to find her breath to get oxygen to brain.

She looked across the bar table and what she saw made her jump: along with that girl there were two other very familiar ones, one brunette and one with pink hair, and, from their expressions, it seemed they were talking about a very serious matter. Jennie, as soon as she recognised them, turned towards the traffic light praying that it would turn green as soon as possible so that she could get away before they could see her but, just before she decided to throw herself into the middle of the road and cross on red, a voice called to her over the music in her ears.

"Deuki!!! Are you pretending not to see us?!" shouted Jisoo to her, giving her a wide nod.

Jennie closed her eyes letting out a huge sigh. She couldn't just blatantly ignore them and leave -even if she wanted to- so she slowly walked towards the small table where two smiling Jisoo and Rosé were sitting, wondering what the chances were of finding them right there at that moment. Lisa, on the other hand, continued to stand with her back turned without a hint of turning around.

"Baby Kuku! How long!" exclaimed Lisa when she became aware of the presence of the little dog at her side. She petted him enthusiastically, enjoying Kuma's happy, festive expression. "Good boy, you're a good boy," she said to him in a childish voice as they continued to cheer each other on.