Something Peculiar

2.2

She stepped into my room in one graceful move, as if entering through bedroom windows were nothing out of the ordinary. Her orange hair was gone and was replaced with sort of gray - ish that was slicked back impeccably, and was cut just right above her shoulders, making her look even sexier. Her eyes were so dark they were nearly black, and she took one discerning look at Wooseok before settling them on me, making my heart forget to beat entirely.

Lalisa Manoban had snuck into my room.

She still managed to stun me the same way she always did. I was so happy to see her that I almost forgot how angry I was with her.

The last time I had seen Lisa, she was sneaking out of my bedroom in Förening, per her deal with my mother. Hye-kyo told her that she could spend one more night with me before leaving.

Forever.

We had only kissed, but Lisa had failed to let me in on Hye-kyo's plan. She didn't even bother to say good-bye. She didn't fight it or try to get me to run away with her. She just crept out of my room, leaving Hye-kyo to explain to me exactly what had happened.

"What are you doing here?" Wooseok asked, and Lisa pulled her eyes off me to glare at Wooseok.

"I came here to collect the Princess, of course," Lisa said, but irritation saturated her words.

"Well, yeah, but . . . I thought Hye-kyo reassigned you." Wooseok seemed thrown by Lisa's anger and he fumbled for a minute. "I mean . . . that's what people were saying around Förening, that you weren't allowed around Jennie anymore."

Lisa tensed noticeably at Wooseok's words, her jaw flexing, and Wooseok look down at the floor.

"I'm not," Lisa admitted after a moment. "I was preparing to leave when I heard that you two had vanished in the middle of the night. Hye-kyo was deciding who would be best suited to track Jennie, and I thought it would be in her best interest if I went after her, what with the Vittra stalking her."

Wooseok opened his mouth to protest but Lisa cut in.

"We all know you did a wonderful job of protecting her at the ball," Lisa said. "If I hadn't shown up, you might've protected her right into getting murdered."

"I know the Vittra are a threat!" Woosoek shot back. "I just . . . we came here to . . ."

Hearing his confusion, I got up off the bed, moving to intercede before Wooseok figured out why he'd let me talk him into coming here. The truth was, Wooseok didn't agree to come here. He wanted to meet Taehyung, but he was adamant about my safety and had flat-out refused to let me leave the security of the compound. Unfortunately for Wooseok, I had persuasion. When I looked at people and thought about what I wanted them to do they would do it, whether they wanted to or not. That's how I convinced Wooseok to go with me when we ran away and I needed to distract him before he caught on.

"The Vittra lost a lot of trackers in that fight," I interjected. "They're not eager to repeat it anytime soon. Besides that, I'm sure they're sick of trying to get me."

"That's highly unlikely." Lisa narrowed her eyes, studying Wooseok's bewilderment, and then she looked darkly at me. "Jennie, do you care nothing for your own safety?"

"I probably care more than you do." I crossed my arms firmly over my chest. "You were leaving to go on to another job. If I had waited one more day to leave, you wouldn't have even known I was gone."

"Is this about getting my attention?" Lisa snapped, her eyes burning. I had never seen her anger directed at me this way before. " I don't know how many times I have to explain this to you! You are a Princess! I mean nothing! You need to forget about me!"