Tales | jensoo

Kinda Fake Dating - IV

Christmas break came around and Jisoo was suddenly aware of the fact that she had one more person to miss during the three weeks she's at home.

And she finds that, for some reason, it's worse with Jennie than it ever was with any of her other friends. She'll miss Hyoseop and Jinyoung, of course, but she's gotten so used to have Jennie in her life every day that she's not sure what she'll do without her. And it's all made worse knowing that Jennie will not be having a merry Christmas.

"What are you doing for Christmas break?"

"Going back to the family mansion," Jennie answered and Jisoo noticed how she didn't say home.

"So you'll get to see your mother?"

Jennie scoffed, "No, she's out of town on business for the next three weeks. I'm pretty sure she planned it around my break. It's probably better that way though."

"So you'll be alone?"

"Yeah, pretty much. It's okay though. I'm used to it."

Jisoo didn't get it. She doesn't think she'll ever understand how Jennie can be so okay with being mistreated, with being thrown aside.

It's all foreign to Jisoo who has always been loved and cared for. Sometimes she thought about how parallel their stories run.

Both adopted, both lost parents they loved, but in the end, the big difference was that Roseanne and her family were loving and kind and they made sure Jisoo never felt alone. Jennie never had that.

She didn't talk about her mother much, but it's clear that the woman has done nothing but push Jennie away since she was young. And Hanbin may have been kind to her but he turned out to be even worse than her mother.

Jennie has lost the only person who ever truly cared for her. She spoke of her father fondly but rarely. The memory of his death seems to be fairly painful to her, even years after it happening. Losing him had meant more than just losing a father. His death had left her alone in a way that, despite having lost her parents, Jisoo never had been alone. It may be a little late but Jisoo resolved to make sure Jennie never felt alone again.

"Well, we'll text every day. I promise. Tell me what your home address is so I can send you a present."

"Oh, you don't have to," Jennie argued, brushing her off.

"I know that, but I want to. Please Jen, let me do this for you."

Jennie blushed and grumbled a little but eventually hands over her address, but only once Jisoo promised to tell her hers. They stared softly at each other for a bit and Jisoo did her best to memorize the curve of Jennie's cheekbones, the fluffy rosey cheeks, the lines of her plump lips, and the brown of her cat-shaped eyes.

When she's convinced that she won't forget, Jisoo allowed herself fall into Jennie's lap and curled up against her. Jennie's hands immediately go into her hair, running through the soft strands.

"I'm really gonna miss you," Jisoo said sadly.

"I'll miss you too. But it's only three weeks. We'll be back before you know it."

All the same, when Jisoo waved goodbye to Jennie at the airport, she still felt a little like crying.

-

They text almost constantly. Jennie didn't have anything better to do, and Jisoo misses her with an intensity that bordered on painful. Roseanne made it better, of course, by doing her best to keep Jisoo busy.

They went to the beach, though it's a little chilly out, and collected shells. They went ice-skating at the indoor rink. They made cookies and ginger bread houses. But Jisoo spent most of the time thinking about how this would be way more fun if Jennie were there. She thought about how it's not fair that Jennie couldn't be here.

On Christmas Day, she opens one of the presents under the tree to find a hello kitty onesie that she's been mooning over, a box of her favorite chocolates, and a gift card to the Chinese place near school that she liked to order hotpot from. She's in the hello kitty onesie in a split second and sent a picture of her beaming in it to Jennie. She'd only sent Jennie a scarf, red and handmade and very warm, and a handwritten note and she hoped that Jennie would love it as much as she loved her gift.

She got a picture back half an hour later of Jennie curled up on her couch in her pajamas, a mug of hot chocolate in her hand and her chin tucked into the scarf. It's captioned with the words "It's perfect. I love it. Thank you" and Jisoo's heart soared.

The days between Christmas and New Year's Eve seemed to last forever. Roseanne had gotten bored or tired of dragging Jisoo around everywhere and Jisoo's friends from home were all with their families.

She felt like she's going crazy and missing Jennie was only making it worse.

By the time she and Roseanne boarded the plane back to boarding school, Jisoo was practically vibrating with excitement.

The flight, which was only a few hours long, seemed to last forever but eventually they touch-down and Jisoo was up and out of her seat as soon as the fasten-seatbelt sign was off.

"Jesus Jisoo, chill," Roseanne said grumpily as she's dragged through the airport. "Where's the fire?"

"Jennie's flight got in an hour ago," Jisoo replied. "I want to see her."

Once they got past baggage claim, Roseanne and Jennie made their way over to where the bus will meet them at eight to take them back to school. Jisoo saw Jinyoung first because he's bigger and takes up a lot of space. But when she caught sight of Jennie sitting in the seat next to him, he faded into the background.

"Jen!" She called and abandoning her suitcase with Roseanne, she rushed forward to hug her.

Jennie blinked in surprise but hugs her back just as tightly.

"I missed you," Jisoo whispered into Jennie's ear and Jennie tightened her grip.

"I missed you too, Jisoo."

"And what am I?" Jinyoung asked, grumpily like a kid. "Chopped liver?"

Jisoo giggled at him and quickly hugged him as well, having to stand on her tip-toes to reach.

"I missed you too, Jinyoung. How was you break? Did you see Suzy's dad? Does he still hate you?"

"Yeah," Jinyoung said. "I went over for dinner on Christmas Eve and he definitely still hates me."

"How can he not like you?" Jennie asked seeming genuinely confused. Her friendship with him was still tentative. Jisoo knew that Jinyoung has gotten over any rancor he had for her in the first place, but the way he treated her initially still hangs between them. They've been making progress though and Jisoo was immensely happy about it.

"He doesn't like that Suzy is dating a football player. He thinks it's a pointless sport and thinks that I should be spending my time bettering myself. To be honest, I'm pretty sure he would be against anyone she dated though, so I try not to let it get to me."

"Well, he's an idiot," Jisoo said forcefully. "You are wonderful and any girl would be honored to date you."

"What did you get up to for break?" Jinyoung asked as a change in conversation, because Suzy's dad was really the main sore point of their relationship and he didn't like talking about it. Jisoo got the hint and went into a full-blown rant about her break.

She slid into the seat on the other side of Jennie and took her hand without thinking about it. The ache in her chest that had built up over break, dissipates as Jennie leaned close enough that their shoulders touch. She didn't say much, preferring to listen as Jinyoung and Jisoo swapped stories but her presence alone was enough to make Jisoo happy.

They chit-chat until it's time to board the bus. In previous years, Jisoo had always shared a seat with Jinyoung in order to catch up with him while Roseanne found someone from her year to sit with. But this year, without having to talk about it, Jinyoung went to sit by Roseanne so that Jennie and Jisoo could sit next to each other.

They didn't say much. They've been in such constant contact over break that there wasn't really much to say.

They sat close instead, putting up the arm rest that divides them so that Jennie could rest her head against Jisoo's shoulder and intertwine their hands. She smelled comfortingly like home and Jisoo felt whole for the first time in three weeks.