Second Overtime | JENSOO & CHAELISA

Chapter XXII

The rest of the day moved strangely after the exam.

Word had apparently spread that Jisoo felt good about her results, and people kept stopping her in the hallway to offer their support. It was strange, being on the receiving end of so much goodwill. A few months ago, she had been the angry girl on crutches, pushing everyone away. Now she was... something else.

She was still getting used to it.

One girl from history patted her shoulder and said, "I knew you could do it," like Jisoo had not spent the last few months glaring at everyone who tried to be nice to her.

It should have been embarrassing. Maybe it was, but it was also... warm.

That was the part Jisoo did not know what to do with.

By the final bell, her leg ached from moving through the halls all day, but it was not the kind of ache that made her want to scream into her pillow.

She shifted her crutch under her arm and headed toward her locker, already thinking of home, ice packs, and maybe pretending not to care when Lisa demanded every detail over the phone later.

Then she stopped.

Jennie was already there.

She stood at her locker, the one right beside Jisoo's, with her back turned, one hand braced against the open metal door. Her head was bowed, shoulders drawn in, as if she were trying to make herself smaller.

For a moment, Jisoo said nothing. She just looked at her.

Jennie Kim: perfect posture, cold eyes, untouchable reputation. And yet here she was, in the almost-empty hallway, looking like she was holding herself together by sheer force of will, like she was trying very hard not to fall apart.

"Jennie?"

Jennie blinked, as if waking from a daze. Her eyes focused, and then she realized who was speaking.

"Jisoo," she said softly. "Hi."

"Hi."

Jisoo moved to her own locker, suddenly aware of how close they were and how wrong it was that it still felt familiar.

"Are you okay?" Jisoo asked.

Jennie looked away. "I'm fine."

Jisoo raised an eyebrow.

Jennie sighed. "I'm tired."

"That sounds more believable."

A tiny smile appeared in Jennie's expression.

Jisoo turned back to her locker, working the combination, grateful for something to do with her hands. The lock clicked open. She pulled out her books slowly, buying time neither of them knew how to use.

"So," Jennie said.

Jisoo glanced over.

"The exam," Jennie continued, her voice careful. "How do you think you did?"

Jisoo leaned her shoulder against the locker and let out a breath.

"I think I passed."

Jennie's face changed. It was so subtle anyone else might have missed it.

But Jisoo saw it: the flicker of relief, chased almost instantly by sadness.

"That's really good, Jisoo." Jennie said.

"Yeah." She shrugged, trying to make it less important than it was. "I mean, I'm not saying I'm suddenly a math prodigy."

"No one would believe you."