Can I Steal You For A Second? (Jensoo)

Episode 10

Lily got the next single date ('Roses are red, clowns are so silly, I know you like fire, make one with me, Lily?'). She got in everyone's faces about it and was, in general, really fucking annoying, but try as she might – and she truly did try! – she couldn't get a rise out of Jisoo.

I wished she had, to be honest. 'God, Lily Fireball is so irritating' was one of the few genuinely safe topics Jisoo and I had to talk about.

It wasn't like I started avoiding Jisoo. As we'd all well and truly found out over the course of the pandemic, you can't avoid someone you're locked down with. Especially not when you share a bunk bed with them.

But I made a point of spreading my time around. I got in a yoga routine with Kumiko. I asked Jess D to teach me how to bake. I even tried to go jogging with Parisa.

'You know she runs marathons, right?' Jisoo asked, when I collapsed on the floor, unable to move.

'Nnnnggghhhnnngghhh,' I replied.

She laughed and sat down beside me. 'And her legs are about three times as long as yours. No wonder you couldn't keep up.'

'It was stupid,' I said. 'I know.'

'Don't make me get the flashcards.'

'I said it was stupid, not I was stupid,' I replied.

I sat up gingerly and tried to touch my toes. My legs screamed in protest.

'I can give you a calf massage, if you want,' Jisoo said. 'I've got some physio training in my bag of nurse tricks.'

'It's fine,' I said. 'Don't worry about it. I'm being a wuss. I just need to stretch.'

It wasn't a lie. I was being a wuss. The thought of Jisoo's fingers on my body – even if they were digging painfully into my deep tissue – was more than I could stand.

I didn't tell her I'd seen her on the boat with Romeo-Jisoo. I wanted to. I'd planned to, even, as I'd gone back up the hill that day.

But when I finally got an opportunity, later that night, I chickened out.

I wasn't exactly afraid of what she was going to say. I knew what she would say. I'd always known, if I was honest with myself. I would ask her what the deal was, and she would sigh, and say something like, 'What he and I have, it's something really special.'

Well, she probably wouldn't use those exact words. I couldn't imagine that phrase coming out of her mouth. But that was what she would mean. Her and Romeo-Jisoo, together. Me, a third wheel at best.

So no, I wasn't afraid of what she was going to say. But that didn't mean I wanted to hear her say it.

'You okay?' she asked. 'You've got that thinking line between your eyebrows.'

'Oh, fine,' I replied. 'Just wondering what the next group date will be, that's all. They'll have to come up with something pretty special to be worse than Love Jockey Hockey and the love machines.'

'I'm going to be having screaming nightmares about Love Jockey Hockey for the rest of my life,' Jisoo said. 'I don't know what could possibly be worse. It'd have to involve broken bones, at a bare minimum.'

I was glad I didn't have to find out. There were five names on the next group date card ('Roses are red, violets are blue, when Cupid comes calling, is his aim true?'), and mine wasn't one of them.

Jisoo's was, though. Of course it was. 'Have a nice day, Jennie,' she said. 'I might be missing an arm or a leg or possibly my head the next time you see me.'

'Try not to die,' I said, in my sunniest, most nothing-is-wrong-why-would-you-think-that tone.

Jess D, Lily Fireball and I were the only ones left in the Villa. Lily immediately disappeared. 'Want another baking lesson?' Jess D asked.