Letterman

Chapter 9

Jisoo's new hobby is mildly concerning.

Technically, it's not a new hobby. Jisoo has been painting and drawing for what feels like forever, so that aspect of it is old, but what's new is who she's started drawing. She blames Frank entirely for this. It's all his fault, really. The first drawing she did of Rosie was at his request. Doing it had sparked some sort of odd, insatiable need inside of her, rendering her practically unable to do anything outside of drawing Rosie and, then, drawing Rosie again. She only paused briefly to wolf down dinner with her parents, lightning quick, before returning to her bedroom to start on drawing number four. Then, drawing number five...

She felt almost as if she would never go through another artist's block again. It was wonderful and rather horrible at the same time, because her desk is now decorated with pages and pages of a girl that she's claiming not to like very much.

It's all a bit embarrassing.

Jisoo takes a moment to admire her work and give her aching hand a break, shaking it out until the stiffness loosens somewhat.

One page is the original drawing, in crayon, and is probably the least detailed. Another is just of Rosie's hands, long, slim fingers clutched around a football. There's one of her in Jisoo's jacket and another that's a close-up of her face, so that Jisoo could get the details of her features - the baby hairs that often escape her ponytail during practice, the round highs of her cheeks, and the expressive, full pair of lips that Rosie always seems to be pouting. Jisoo looks at the last one for a little longer than the others, remembering Rosie leaning towards her under the dim light of the locker room, remembering heavy breaths and wandering hands.

She hurriedly looks away, oddly flushed from the memory.

Fine. This is very embarrassing. Completely and totally humiliating, if she's honest.

This is all Frank's fault. It's Rosie's fault, too, somehow. Jisoo hasn't figured out the logistics behind it, but it's everyone's fault but her own.

Jisoo carefully tucks the drawings away, into the top drawer of her desk, where they can no longer steal her attention. She half-worries that they will come to life during the night and burn holes into the wood, just to escape, but another blink of her eyes reminds her that that idea is ridiculous, and probably the result of a lack of sleep.

Right. That's something she needs to do. Jisoo had almost forgotten.

The air is cold and damp as they head out onto the field for practice the next day, the grey sky suggesting that it will rain sometime this week.

Dreary weather always tends to drain the energy right out of Jisoo before the day even begins, so it's times like these that coffee becomes her best friend. The caffeine helps pump energy into her veins and the warmth of it soaking through the thermos soothes her cold hands. She takes a sip, feeling a comforting heat flood her body, and sighs pleasantly. The rest of her team isn't acting so pleasant, coffee-less and bitter about Jisoo's reluctance to share her drink.

"Please." Jennie bats her eyelashes, like that will help. "Just a sip."

"Sharing is caring." Seulgi adds.

Jisoo rolls her eyes. "No way. You two will drink it all."

"You're a cruel, cruel woman." Jennie remarks as she slowly drops to the ground to stretch, doing a half-assed version of touching her toes, where she barely brushes her ankles with her fingertips.

They all start to stretch. The team is hushed, the general rowdiness amongst them set aside, like a wet blanket had fallen over the entire field. The usual insults and jeers that normally pass between the Vipers and Seahawks are gone. If Jisoo were an outsider, she might not guess that there are two teams there at all, just one team, united briefly in their exhaustion. She sweeps her eyes over the sea of differently-colored jerseys, letting herself linger on Rosie for a second. Rosie is next to one of her friends, sitting on the grass, her face a touch softer, slightly puffy in the morning haze. It's cute.