What Is - Jenlisa (Book 2)

Chapter 14 - Our Own Version of Truth 2

Flashback...

Lisa watched from the living room as Jennie and Taehyung interacted in the kitchen. At first, everything seemed casual, but Lisa couldn't shake off the feeling that there was more. "You don't act like that with someone you just knew," she thought to herself. She noticed the discomfort in Jennie's body language and the forced smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. There was a tension in the air, subtle yet palpable. She couldn't help but notice the way they exchanged glances, the way Taehyung's hand wrapped around Jennie's wrist, and the way he leaned in a little closer when they spoke. Lisa immediately averted her eyes away when she noticed Jennie's head turned to look at them in the living room, laughing at her friend's joke without even knowing what they were talking about, pretending to be completely oblivious.

A small voice in the back of Lisa's mind whispered a suspicion, a hunch that perhaps there was more but she quickly brushed it off, dismissing her own thoughts as paranoia. A part of Lisa wanted to confront Jennie about it, to ask her if they knew each other, but another part of her hesitated. She didn't want to be that jealous type of girlfriend, acting as if everyone was trying to steal her girl. After all, they had just met, Taehyung tends to be like that, and maybe Jennie was just being friendly. To set boundaries, Lisa called Jennie, "Baby, need help with the plates?" Letting Taehyung know that Jennie is her girl, should be enough for him to back off. And he did.

But suspicions did not stop there, the day Taehyung sent her home to Busan, while she was sleeping in the car she slowly woke up hearing a knock on the car window. Lisa's heart skipped a beat as she heard Jennie's demanding tone, asking Taehyung to get out of the car, and the moment she heard the car close, Lisa opened her eyes and looked at the side mirror to see Jennie and Taehyung and she couldn't help but wonder what was happening outside. Whatever it was, Lisa chose to ignore her instincts and continue to pretend to sleep, trusting that Jennie would confide in her if there was something she needed to know.

When Taehyung finally approached the car and gently woke her up, Lisa resisted the urge to peek at Jennie, pretending she wasn't aware she was there. Suspicions grew, voices in her mind were urging her to pay attention to the signs she just witnessed but Lisa pushed them aside, unwilling to let doubt consume her. They weren't affectionate after all, they were clearly arguing about something she didn't know, so there should be no reason to jump to conclusions. The question that only concerned her was the reason for their argument and whether it had anything to do with her.

She tried asking Jennie indirectly on their last trip before she flew to Jeju if there was something she needed to know, but Jennie told her she wasn't ready to discuss whatever it was. That only confirmed that there was something she needed to know, but Lisa chose to give Jennie the time she asked, trusting that Jennie would eventually open up and share what was going on.

But all bottled-up emotions have their way of eventually exploding, she started to lose it after hearing Taehyung's voice in the background during their call, she was certain it was him, but what made it worse was knowing that they were sharing one hotel room. But then again, she chose to wait, reminding herself every day to trust Jennie and Taehyung. There could be a reason why she's not telling her the whole truth, she thought. And Taehyung was constantly checking on her, making sure she was okay, so she chose to hold onto trust, believing that Jennie and Taehyung would never do that to her. Not Jennie, not Taehyung.

But as the days went on, Lisa's trust began to crumble, and doubts started to overshadow her thoughts. But also she had a lot on her plate, with work and her Dad's situation, it was difficult for her to fully process and confront the mounting suspicions about Jennie and Taehyung. Jennie was the only person who could keep her grounded, and the fear of losing her made it even harder for Lisa to confront the truth. The only thing that she could do was trust her and respect the time asked, she'd talk whenever she was ready.