Chapter 48
Lisa was right. Jennie breathed out with relief as she and Jisoo went out of the building and headed straight to Jisoo's car.
There was still no sign of anything unusual on the street, except maybe for Bobby who ran outside the studio to have a better look at them both. He was probably wondering who went down from his boss' apartment on the second floor after he saw the unfamiliar shiny, big, black car parked outside. And when he saw that one of them was Jennie, he bowed politely and immediately went back inside.
"Who's that?" Jisoo asked as she pulled the door open.
"Bobby. Lisa's assistant," Jennie replied as she pulled her door, too, and settled herself on the passenger's seat. "Your car smells funny," she commented and wrinkled her nose.
"You're currently inhaling Doona's vomit from last night and her attempts to remove the odor this morning," Jisoo said as she started the engine and maneuvered away from Lisa's building. "She emptied a cannister of air freshener. Imagine that."
Jennie snorted. "Not surprising at all, really. I mean, she called you Jesus, by the way. Or Jisoos? I'm not sure which. But she said she's frightened of you," Jennie after as she buckled her seatbelt. Her eyes were fixed on the side mirror. She was staring at Lisa's building through it as it started to look smaller as the car gained speed, going farther and farther.
Jennie felt her heart grew heavy by the minute. She missed Lisa already. She was feeling empty now that Lisa wasn't on her side. She sighed and shook her head. Maybe Jisoo was right? It was a little weird to still be calling her Lili, Lisa, when she wasn't Lisa after all.
Pranpriya.
The sound of it spoke like a prayer even on her head, Jennie thought. She should've asked Lisa what her Thai name means when she had the chance. Then she wouldn't have been wondering about it by now. That, and the fact about Lisa being a real-life princess. Jennie had been curious about Lisa and the air of mystery that surrounded her because Lisa had always been vague with the details when she would talk about her life in Thailand and her family. Jennie thought it was probably because Lisa wasn't really the type of person who would talk about herself. And now that her being an important member of the Thai royal family had been finally revealed and Lisa confirming it to her, some things kind of made sense to Jennie finally. But not quite, though.
"Jendeuk?"
"Hmm?" Jennie muttered distractingly.
"You weren't listening," Jisoo said.
"I'm sorry, Chu. What were you saying?" Jennie said.
"Has it sink on you yet? Lisa being a princess?" Jisoo asked as they hit the main road.
"I don't know, Chu," Jennie said and managed a half-hearted chuckle. "The sound of it didn't feel overwhelming when I was with her a while ago."
"But?" Jisoo asked, sensing that there was a 'but' somewhere when Jennie paused and released a sigh.
"But now that I'm about to face my mom and everyone in the company later today, most definitely, I feel like it's such a huge thing to explain to them, Chu. I don't even know where to start. Or how to start, for that matter," Jennie replied.
"About her being a princess or about your relationship with her?" Jisoo inquired.
"Both, I suppose," Jennie resigned with a sigh.
The gravity of the whole situation was starting to weigh down on Jennie, now that Lisa wasn't with her. Because it definitely was a huge thing, this whole thing. Lisa being a member of a royal family and her finding out about it through a malicious article about them; her relationship with Lisa; their cultural differences; the homophobia that haunted both of their respective countries. But at least Lisa's home country was somewhat tolerant about it, as far as Jennie knew. South Korea, on the other hand, was another story. Especially to the likes of her. Because whether Jennie would like to admit it or not, she wasn't just another South Korean woman who fell in love with another woman; she was sure she wasn't just the only one experiencing this whole fascinating thing about falling in love, in general. No. She was a young CEO of a multi-billion company that mostly composed of uptight, cutthroat, misogynistic, conventional men who would never hesitate to take everything away from her the moment she would commit a mistake.
