babe? ● blackpink oneshots collection

basil • jensoo

The manor lay in a hushed silence, its grand halls cloaked in shadows as Jennie Kim, Lady Moreland, paced by the dim glow of her chamber's candlelight. The silence in the estate felt oppressive; the world around her was orderly, proper, and cold—a fitting reflection of her life since her husband's passing. It was a life bound by duty, bound by family expectations, and bound, perhaps most profoundly, by loneliness.

But that loneliness began to wane the day Jisoo arrived.

Jisoo, a soft-spoken servant with a serene grace, had been hired as Jennie's personal attendant in the weeks after her husband's death. From the beginning, Jisoo’s presence had brought a gentleness to Jennie’s life, an unspoken comfort that soothed her in a way she hadn’t known she craved. Where others saw only a dutiful servant, Jennie saw warmth and a quiet strength in Jisoo’s eyes.

It began with small glances, shared smiles, and lingering touches—innocuous to any observer but electric to them. Jennie had felt herself slowly uncoil under Jisoo's touch, drawn into the solace of their connection. There, in the privacy of her chambers, Jennie found a kind of peace, a love that felt like liberation. As their bond deepened, those glances and touches turned into whispered conversations that stretched into the late hours of the night, each word carefully chosen as if their lives depended on it. And in many ways, they did.

“Lady Moreland,” Jisoo whispered one night, her voice soft, lilting, as if the words could vanish in the stillness of the room. “Do you not wish to be free of this life?”

Jennie had looked away, her eyes fixed on the flickering flame of the candle between them. “More than anything,” she had replied, her voice barely audible.

"Sadly, they only think that basils can grow in pots like these instead of wild free soil."

And in that moment, Jennie realized that she wasn’t merely speaking of her widowhood or of the burdens her family placed upon her. She was speaking of the aching desire to break free from the hollow expectations that dictated her life. She was speaking of her love for Jisoo.

But the world was not kind to lovers like them.

As days turned into weeks, rumors began to spread. Servants whispered of Lady Moreland’s late-night conversations with her personal maid, of the way she seemed to soften when Jisoo was near. The walls of the manor seemed to close in, and Jennie felt the weight of society’s judgment bearing down on her. It was only a matter of time before her family would take notice.

The confrontation came sooner than she’d feared. Her mother, a rigid woman of unyielding propriety, approached Jennie one evening, her eyes harsh and unforgiving.

“Jennie,” her mother began, her voice cold like ice and coarse like sand. “I have heard whispers. Whispers that tarnish not only your name but our family’s honor. Tell me, is there truth to this...this improper friendship with your servant?”

Jennie’s heart pounded in her chest, but she held her gaze steady. “I don’t expect you to understand, Mother. But Jisoo has brought me happiness—she has been my light in a time of darkness.”

Her mother’s face twisted in anger. “This ends now,” she hissed. “Enough is enough. I have gone through so much embarrassment from you and your lustful and unholy acts. I will not allow you to disgrace us further.”

Jennie felt a surge of desperation. She knew that to defy her mother meant risking everything—her family, her status, even her safety. But what was a life without Jisoo?

That night, Jennie clutched Jisoo’s hands in the secrecy of her chambers, their fingers entwined as if holding on for dear life. “They’ll try to separate us,” Jennie whispered, her voice breaking. “Promise me, Jisoo, promise me you’ll stay with me.”

Jisoo looked into Jennie’s eyes, her own filled with quiet determination. “My lady,” she said softly, “I am yours, in this life and beyond.”

They stayed like that for hours, hearts bound together in a silent vow. But unbeknownst to them, the decision had already been made. Jennie’s parents, determined to erase what they saw as a disgrace, had arranged for Jisoo’s removal in the most brutal manner imaginable.

The night fell dark and silent when the assassins came. Jennie woke to a feeling of dread, a chill that settled in her bones as if the manor itself had turned against her. She hurried through the halls, her heart racing as she made her way to Jisoo’s quarters.

But when she arrived, it was too late. Jisoo was gone.

“They took you from me,” Jennie whispered, her voice choking with tears. “They took the only light I had left.”

In the days that followed, Jennie wandered the manor in a daze, a shadow of the woman she had once been. She mourned Jisoo in secret, her love forced into silence even in death. To the world, she was Lady Moreland, a widow grieving a nameless sorrow. But in her heart, she was simply Jennie—a woman who had loved and lost everything.

In the quiet hours of the night, Jennie would sit alone, her thoughts drifting back to the whispered conversations, the stolen glances, and the gentle touch of Jisoo’s hand in hers. She clung to those memories, even as they faded with time, the only remnants of a love that had burned too brightly for the world to bear.

But, one ghostly night, a whisper called Jennie in her dream. The nectarine voice she used to hold in her ears was there pulling her in like an equestrian to their horse. She let herself sink in.

"Maybe in another lifetime, we will meet again, Lady Moreland," said Jisoo, smiling softly as she showed Jennie a red string tied on her finger and connected to Jennie's.

"But I miss you. I don't think my life is worth living in sorrow without you. I merely served my husband as that's where I belong in society, yet I mourned him. I love you dearly, Jisoo, and I don't know if I can stay sane while I long for you for the rest of my short life."

There was this cold silence afterwards. As the wall between the supernatural state and the worldly beings began to fade, Jisoo walked over towards her Lady and pressed her lips against Jennie's. "Yes, you can," she replied, hauntingly, "my body is beside this oak tree behind the manor. Meet me under the tree and I'll be next to you for the rest of your life until we walk to our reincarnation, my Lady."

When Jennie finally awoke, she hastily ran towards the tree. There, she retrieved her beloved's body lying cold hard under the soil on the ground. Jisoo’s lifeless body lay on Jennie's hands, her skin pale, her eyes closed as if in peaceful slumber. Jennie fell to her knees beside her, a cry tearing from her throat as grief consumed her. She clutched Jisoo’s cold hand, her fingers trembling as she traced the lines of her face one last time.

So, Jennie brought her to the garden. With one last belief to be unified once again, she put Jisoo's head in a hand carved pot, the one they made together while Jisoo tried to help Jennie stand on her feet again during her difficult days. There, she planted basil seeds to water with her tears every day.

And in the end, though life had taken something that's rightfully hers once again, Jennie found solace in the belief that, somehow, somewhere, Jisoo was waiting for her. That one day, when the weight of this life was lifted, they would be reunited, free from the chains that had kept them apart.

For in life and beyond, Jennie belonged to Jisoo, as Jisoo had belonged to her.