Can I Steal You For A Second? (Jensoo)

Episode 2

I wanted nothing more than to take Jisoo aside, sit her down and rub her back like she'd done for me at the auditions, but there was no time. 'Okay, that's a wrap up here!' someone called. 'Girls! Hand your necklaces back to the PA!'

'We don't get to keep them?' one of the other women asked.

'You think they have that kind of budget?' Lily said. 'Cute.'

'Don't patronise me!'

'Don't say stupid shit and I won't have to.'

'Girls!' producer Carrie snapped. 'Necklaces! To the PA! Now!'

Don't call us girls, Jisoo didn't say.

Lily, shut up, she didn't say either.

Instead, she just stood there, clutching at her elbows, nostrils flared, breathing shallow, looking like she'd seen a ghost.

I reached out and unfastened my necklace. 'Hey,' I said quietly, touching her arm. 'Jisoo. Your necklace.'

'Oh. Um.'

She fumbled with the clasp, but she couldn't get it undone. 'Here,' I said. 'Let me.'

Her skin was warm under my fingers, and I could feel her shaking. I had the strongest urge to press my lips to the curve where her neck met her shoulder. Hey, I'd whisper in her ear. It's all right. You're all right.

WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING JENNIE GET YOURSELF UNDER CONTROL.

I took her necklace off and handed both of them to the PA. 'Here's mine and Jisoo's,' I said.

'Already so possessive?'

I blinked. 'What?'

'Mine and Jisoo's,' Lily said, in a high-pitched, sickly sweet voice. 'Getting the first necklace doesn't mean shit, sweetheart.'

'Oh,' I said, realisation dawning. 'Not that Jisoo. I meant—'

'Shut up, Lily,' Jisoo said hoarsely.

One corner of Lily's mouth curved upwards in a smirk. 'Getting the second necklace doesn't mean shit either.'

'Getting the last necklace does,' I blurted out.

Lily's eyes turned on me, and I instantly regretted my words. There was something incredibly terrifying about the smile that spread over her face.

But, 'You're lucky the cameras didn't catch you saying that,' was all she said.

'Can someone please tell us what the hell is going on?' asked Parisa, the tall Persian woman who'd been standing next to Jisoo at the Necklace Ceremony. 'Stage Four restrictions? What does that mean?'

There was a murmur that rose to a roar as everyone started asking questions, before producer Suzette stuck her fingers in her mouth and whistled. 'Girls! Listen up!'

I glanced at Jisoo. We're adult women, she didn't say. Her jaw was clenched.

'I know you've got a lot of questions about the Stage Four restrictions and what they mean,' Suzette said. 'We're going to do a proper briefing for you tomorrow or the next day, but for now all you need to know is that it's not going to change life in the Villa that much for you. All it means is that once you're eliminated, you can't leave the set.'

'What does that mean, though?' asked a Japanese woman I was fairly sure was named Kumiko.

'We're going to repurpose the Romeo Residence as a space for the eliminated Juliets,' Suzette said.

'Wait, what?' another woman asked. 'The Romeo is going to stay with the eliminated girls?'

'No, of course not!' Suzette said, a note of exasperation in her voice. 'We'll put him somewhere else. Look, we're still figuring out the details, but you don't need to worry about any of this. Things will proceed as normal in the Villa. The only difference is that when you get eliminated, instead of going straight home, you'll go to the Convent until the end of the filming period.'