Thistle and Stone [Chaennie]

Chapter 13

NIGHT

"I'll just be a tick," Jennie smiled and waved off Chanyeol. Baekhyun and Roseanne were already waiting outside, while Chanyeol had to run back to his room and grab his coat. Jennie made her way to the corner of the inn where a black and metal payphone hung against the wall. She took a deep breath and quickly plugged in the numbers she had memorized by heart. She had only called the number once before, but she remembered Jungkook telling her about their new landline and how excited Taehyung was to be able to chat with his mum when she called from France. It was still early enough in the morning that she might catch him before he left for the day. The phone rung for a few moments, finally clicking on the other end.

"Kim-Jeon residence," the familiar voice clipped formally through the receiver.

"Hi Taehyung, it's me."

"Oh, hi darling. Everything alright? Has the Weasel managed to botch things up enough and you're finally calling for a lifeline?" Taehyung's tone brightened at Jennie's voice and she grinned into the phone.

"Sorry to disappoint, he's done brilliantly."

"Well, the trip isn't over yet," Taehyung surmised, and she could picture him on the other end of the line, sipping his morning tea, inspecting his nails carefully.

Jennie laughed, holding the phone tight to her ear. "I'll be sure to keep you posted. I don't have too long, but I was wanting your opinion on something quick."

Taehyung paused, his breathing even. "Go on."

"It's Roseanne."

"Ah," Taehyung sighed, "has she managed to botch things, then?"

"No, no, nothing like that. We, er, well the other night..." Jennie trailed off, feeling her ears go red.

"Dear Merlin, Jennie," Taehyung mock-gasped, "has that nasty Slytherin coerced you into bed already?"

"Oh cut it, Taehyung," she sighed, "I just, I needed someone to tell."

"And Chanyeol wasn't up to the task?" Taehyung asked.

Jennie nibbled on her lip and glanced down the hallway, checking it was still empty. "I think Chanyeol knows. Or he suspects, at least. Which is fine. And it was great, it was perfect. But after...it was almost like...like it never happened? Like it's just normal again?"

"And you want my advice," Taehyung concluded, filling in the gaps in her story.

"Yeah, I think so. You know her. Is this something she does a lot? Do you think she's treating this casually?" Jennie questioned.

"What, does she get trapped in ancient bonds and begin a strange and rather untoward journey into discovering who she is and what she really wants out of life?"

"Taehyung," Jennie—exasperated—tried not to laugh. "I'm serious. This is serious!"

"Alright, alright. Well," Taehyung exhaled into the receiver, "she's rather elusive about her love life. Suzy was the first person she formally dated, at least that she told us about. But I'm sure you know that by now. She's not the most emotionally available person I've met, not like our Jungkook."

Jennie rolled her eyes, equal parts frustrated but soothed by Taehyung's comfortable chatter.

"And I do think she regularly engages in...shall we say, casual trysts? But I don't know, Jennie, I don't think she takes your situation lightly. Have you tried talking to her about it?" Taehyung tread carefully, his voice light.

"Er," Jennie switched the receiver to her other ear, buying time, "a bit? I don't know, Chanyeol and Baekhyun are here, we haven't had a ton of alone time together. Before it seemed like that's all we had, and now that I feel like I'd really like a minute alone, they're always there. And we've been focused on trying to figure out this bond."