Fire Lodge ( jenlisa )

Part 9

While Dahyun slept, Lisa leaned against the tree and watched the storm. The swirling snow outside matched the turmoil she was feeling inside. This was also going so fast, and in ways she'd never expected. And since the whole thing was happening during a storm when she was having to babysit someone who was, quite frankly, totally clueless about wilderness skills, this was the first chance she'd had to really think about things.

She had enjoyed kissing Dahyun. She knew that. But beyond the fact that Dahyun was part-owner of a travel agency and had just gone through a bad breakup, she really didn't know all that much about her. Well, she knew that she was pretty and had lips that looked like they were just begging to be kissed, but that much was obvious just by looking at her. Lisa thought some more. Part of her mind kept wandering back to her time kissing Dahyun, but she kept dragging that part back to paying attention to other things. If she did stay involved with Dahyun, which she wasn't even sure she wanted to, did she want to be just a weekend fling? Or did she want more? And what are the odds she'd actually get more if she tried for it? From what Jennie had said, Dahyun and her Chaeyoung had a history of splitting up and getting back together. That could be something really nasty to get in the middle of, especially since she'd be at a major disadvantage if it came down to any sort of competition with the mysterious Chaeyoung: Lisa didn't have that history with Dahyun, and plus she'd be far away while Chaeyoung would be right there.

She tried to imagine what Jennie would do in this situation, and realized that she already knew, or at least knew the basic summary of: Jennie and Park Chaeyoung had dated, but one or the other or both of them had figured out that they weren't a good match, and so they'd split up, but split up in such a way that they were still good friends and still working side by side every day.

Lisa felt Dahyun stir next to her and she knew what she had to do.

"Dahyun, you awake?"

"Yeah. What's up? Any change in the storm?"

"Not yet, but I need to talk to you about something."

Dahyun turned to face Lisa. "I recognize that tone of voice - I've got a feeling you're about to tell me something I won't like."

Lisa nodded. "You probably won't. I've been thinking about you and me - about us. And I'm not really sure we should be an us. In fact, the more I think about it, the more confident I am that we shouldn't."

Dahyun stared deep into her eyes. "Can you explain?"

Lisa took a deep breath, closed her eyes for a moment, then tried to return Dahyun's gaze. She took another deep breath and began "You gave me my first kiss, and that will always be something that ties us together, but I need time to stop and think about things. I'm not sure you and I will ever be more than friends, but I do hope we'll be friends. And if we ever are more than friends, it won't be right now."

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Jisoo washed her face and checked her hair in the mirror. Should she put on makeup? She decided to put on eye makeup but nothing else. A few quick swipes and everything was ready.

She went down the stairs to the basement and found Chaeyoung sitting on a stool by the stove.

"How's it going" Jisoo asked. "Any news?"

"Not yet. It's still snowing, the same as it was."

Jisoo came and stood by Chaeyoung.

"How are you handling everything?"

Chaeyoung took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Pretty well, all things considered. How about you?"

Jisoo shook her head. "No, I mean literally - how are you handling everything? How do you do all the things that need to be done when you know that Lisa and Dahyun are stuck out in this storm?"