babe? ● blackpink oneshots collection

for the course of true love never did run smooth • jenlisa

"The world has never felt this beautiful," said Jennie. Her arms could not bear to move, not even a tiny bit, for every little motion was a sharp needle coursing through her nerves. She was white, nearly as pale as snow. The warm weather could not reach the cold skin of the one lying on her bed with no power to even adjust herself. She wished no one, not even her worst enemies, the pain she had to endure. If she could, she would sow that very agony to the deepest room in hell, to save the world from this suffering. "Don't you think so?"

"It is only because you're here." Lisa held her lover's arms into her chest, brushing her fingers with her lips. Her heart was heavy, burdened with guilt and melancholy. There, she wished to breathe slower so the clock would tick slower and so the sun would not rise and set and so she would never have to part with her dearest. There, she reckoned there were so many to be healed from the heart and the mind, but not losing ones love. There, she finally understood that beauty is one thing that could only be achieved by the beholder's love sake.

Jennie were to pass across the Styx in three months, as her doctors told her three months earlier. Her doctors had given up the treatments to her cancer that started from her lymph nodes and to her lungs and every single part of her body. The stage had already been set up for her to perform her very last breath. The illness was supposed to take over her and win the battle to lead her into reincarnation.

With the smell of lilies all across the room, it was not enough to fill the two with peace. Not even the huge view from the wholly open window towards the Gangneung beach was enough to accomplish any joy for the two. There was nothing to be achieved when all hope had been gone. What could be done when the white flag had been put to the ground?

Jennie's voice wavered as she tried to summon a smile. "You seemed to always know how to make the worst days seem like they're worth living. But we both know that truly the sands are slipping." She gestured faintly at the glass clock on the bedside table, its rhythmic ticking cutting through the silence of the room.

Lisa tightened her grip, as though by grasping Jennie closer, she could tether her to this world a little longer. Her tears fell, once again, soaking into the fragile fabric of Jennie's sleeve. Her eyes felt like well that was soon enough to be dry.

"Don't talk to me like that. Not today," Lisa whispered. "We still have time."

Jennie curved her lips into a smile. A poignant smile. Her eyes shifted from her lover to the beach. There was a family playing together. The vibrations of their laughter seemed to be sent well to Jennie's ears. She never prayed but if God would let her, she would do anything to have what that family had.

"Our time is finite," said Jennie with her soft fragile voice. Jennie let her gaze finally meet Lisa's again. "Flowers have to fall in order for the fruits to grow. The moon has to set to let the sun rise. Rivers have to let go of some of themselves so that rain would bless the earth over and over again. A song has to end in order for another to start."

"The beauty is in the end," said the two in tandem. "Even when we don't want it to end," whispered Lisa. How much more sorrow did the two have to take?

There was so much ache. There was too much misery. There were grief, endless and exhausting.

Jennie's breath came slower, shallower, as if the weight of her words had finally claimed her remaining strength. Lisa cupped Jennie's pale face, her fingers trembling. Lisa was never one to become a scaredy cat, for not even an earthquake could shake her nor ghosts and snakes could move her. Lisa was never the one to fear even the most difficult of exams and interviews and people's anger. But when the devil could not reach her through those fears, it touched her with the terrifying truth that made her quiver from the core.

The summer sunlight spilling through the window cast an ethereal glow over her lover, making her appear almost otherworldly-a fleeting angel on the brink of departure.

"You've always been the poet," Lisa murmured, her voice breaking. "Even now, you make this unbearable thing seem almost beautiful."

Jennie chuckled faintly, the sound barely audible. "You have always been my muse. Therefore, I am grateful that you also made me your muse, as you write me into your memories."

The two fell silent. Sharp and burning aches started to drown Jennie's senses, but she would rather feel the pain than to be numb and not feel Lisa's gaze and touch and voice and smell.

"Thank you for making my life beautiful, even now and especially now."

Lisa leaned closer, pressing her forehead to Jennie's. Her tears fell freely now, mingling with the scent of lilies and the salty sea breeze. "I don't know how to do this," she whispered. "How do I let you go?"

"Don't miss me," Jennie's voice were barely heard. Jennie's lips parted to say more, but no sound came. Her strength was waning, and her body, fragile as it was, seemed to melt into the bed. All she wanted was for Lisa to go on, as the one who lives shall live. Her gentle brown eyes, still filled with love and pain, spoke volumes that could be heard only by one's heart.

Lisa understood.

With infinite tenderness, she cupped Jennie's face, her thumb brushing against her cold cheeks. Lisa lowered herself, her lips finding Jennie's in a kiss so gentle it was almost a prayer. Time seemed to stand still as she poured everything into that moment-all the love, all the pain, all the gratitude for the fleeting infinity they had shared.

Jennie exhaled softly, her body relaxing completely beneath Lisa's touch. The room fell silent, save for the rhythmic crash of waves in the distance.

Lisa pulled back slightly, her forehead still resting against Jennie's. The stillness of Jennie's form was deafening, a quiet finality that struck Lisa like a tidal wave. Yet, in that silence, there was a strange peace-a fragile, bittersweet beauty.

"The world has never felt this beautiful," Lisa whispered a lie to herself but a truth to Jennie's disappearance of pain, her voice breaking into the emptiness.

Outside, the ocean continued its eternal dance, indifferent to the ache within the room. But to Lisa, the world had stopped, holding its breath alongside her. It's as if the wave of the ocean crashed her with the soreness and flooded her still and not moving. She clung to Jennie's still-warm hand, pressing it to her chest, vowing to carry her love's light forever.

For the course of true love never did once run smooth, and never would run smooth.