For the next few days, Lisa and Jennie acted as if the other didn't exist. Their room became a silent war zone, with invisible battle lines drawn down the middle. Lisa buried herself in her books, earphones in, pretending that the girl across the room didn't irritate her with every perfectly polished move. Jennie, meanwhile, carried on like Lisa was some unfortunate background noise to her life.
But no matter how much they tried to ignore each other, the tension was palpable. Like a balloon waiting to pop.
Lisa couldn't help but mutter under her breath sometimes. "Who brings a humidifier to a dorm room? It's not a spa."
Jennie, catching wind of her comment one evening, smirked without looking up from her laptop. "It's called taking care of your skin. Maybe you should try it."
Lisa's jaw clenched, but she refused to take the bait.
It wasn't until the following week that the silent war erupted into chaos.
Lisa was lying on her bed, scrolling through her phone after class, when Jennie stormed in, her eyes blazing.
"You have some nerve," Jennie spat, slamming the door behind her.
Lisa sat up, confused. "What are you talking about?"
Jennie marched over to Lisa's desk, rifling through her books and papers. "Don't play dumb! Where is it?"
"Where's what?" Lisa demanded, getting off the bed and pulling Jennie's hands away from her things. "Stop touching my stuff!"
Jennie turned to face her, furious. "My bracelet. The one my boyfriend gave me. It's missing, and I know you took it."
Lisa's mouth fell open in disbelief. "Are you serious right now? Why would I want your stupid bracelet?"
"I don't know! Maybe because you're jealous of me?" Jennie shot back, her voice rising.
Lisa laughed bitterly, crossing her arms. "Jealous of you? Please. You've been nothing but a nightmare since I got here."
"Oh, I'm the nightmare?" Jennie stepped closer, her anger matching Lisa's. "You're the one who—"
The door suddenly swung open, cutting Jennie off. Both girls turned to see a tall, broad-shouldered guy standing in the doorway, holding up a silver bracelet.
"Hey, Jennie. You left this in the library," he said casually, walking in and handing it to her.
Jennie blinked, her anger evaporating in an instant. "Oh." She took the bracelet, her voice softening. "Thanks, Jinyoung."
Lisa stared at the boy, then back at Jennie. "You mean this bracelet?" she asked incredulously, gesturing toward it.
Jennie's cheeks flushed, but she tilted her chin up defensively. "Well, how was I supposed to know where it was?"
Lisa let out a disbelieving laugh, throwing her hands in the air. "Unbelievable. You come in here accusing me of stealing, and it was in the library the whole time?"
"Okay, okay, my bad," Jennie muttered, clearly embarrassed but trying to play it cool.
"Your bad?" Lisa echoed, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "That's all you have to say?"
Jinyoung, sensing the tension, held up his hands in a peacekeeping gesture. "Whoa, uh, maybe I should go..."
Jennie shot him a quick smile. "No, it's fine. Thanks for finding it."
Jinyoung nodded, glancing awkwardly between the two girls before backing out of the room. "Good luck, I guess," he mumbled before closing the door behind him.
The silence that followed was deafening. Jennie fiddled with her bracelet, refusing to meet Lisa's gaze.
"You owe me an apology," Lisa said finally, her tone firm.
Jennie looked up, her jaw tightening. "Fine. I'm... sorry, okay?"
Lisa raised an eyebrow. "Wow, that was heartfelt."
Jennie rolled her eyes. "Don't push it, Manoban."
Lisa shook her head, a reluctant smirk tugging at her lips. "You're something else, Kim."
Jennie crossed her arms, trying to suppress the small smile forming on her own face. "Yeah, well... so are you."
Neither of them said anything more, but the air between them felt... different. The loathing wasn't gone, but maybe—just maybe—it had shifted ever so slightly.
