Second Overtime | JENSOO & CHAELISA

Chapter XXVI

For the first week, no one knew.

Not Lisa or Rosé. Not Jisoo's other friends. Not even Nayeon.

Nayeon suspected, of course. She had been watching Jennie change, noticing the way her best friend carried a lighter kind of happiness. She wasn't complaining. For the first time in a long while, Jennie looked alive.

So for one week, it belonged only to them. A tiny, impossible thing. 

On Monday, Jennie found a note folded inside her locker. For one terrifying second, she thought it was from Jihyo. Her hands went cold before she even opened it.

Then she saw the messy handwriting, the scribbled words too confident for no reason. It was Jisoo's. Relief and warmth tangled inside her chest as she read the note:

YOUR ONLINE EDUCATION BEGINS TONIGHT. Underneath, in smaller letters: Bring the laptop and prepare yourself. You are about to meet World of Warcraft and become awesome like me.

Jennie stared at it for so long that Nayeon nudged her with an elbow. "What is that?"

Jennie folded it quickly, slipping it into her notebook. "Nothing. Homework."

Nayeon's eyebrows rose. "From Jisoo?" Jennie's face warmed. Nayeon smirked. "That definitely wasn't homework."

"Nabong..."

"Just saying."

"Let's just go to class."

Nayeon leaned against the locker beside her, smiling like she'd won something. Jennie should have been scared. She was, a little. But beneath that, something light fluttered in her chest.

That night, Jennie sat at her desk with her new laptop open, headphones on, bedroom door locked. Jisoo's video call filled one side of the screen. She was propped against her pillows with her crutches visible against the wall behind her. Her hair was messy, her hoodie too big. She looked tired, but her eyes were bright with the kind of intensity she usually reserved for basketball and arguing about food.

"Okay," Jisoo said. "Welcome to your first lesson."

Jennie adjusted her headphones. "Why do you sound like a cult leader?"

"Because MMORPGs are basically joining one."

"That sounds concerning."

"It is. But in a fun way." Jisoo gestured at the screen. "Now. Choose your race as long as it's not Alliance."

Jennie looked at the options. "There are so many buttons."

"Yes."

"Why are there so many buttons?"

"To humble you."

"I don't like being humbled," Jennie said.

"Then you should have picked an easier game."

"You picked this without my consent."

"And I have excellent taste."

"That one is questionable."

Jisoo tilted her head. "Questionable, huh? Bold words, considering you already know I'm into you."

Jennie laughed, cheeks warming. Jisoo's grin widened.

"What?" Jennie asked.

"I knew I could still make you laugh."

Jennie shook her head, smiling despite herself. "I don't know what I got myself into."

Jisoo leaned back, smug. "Into late nights, bad jokes, and me teaching you how to survive this game. No refunds."

Jennie rolled her eyes, but her smile lingered. "Sounds like trouble."