Infinity: A Jenlisa AU

Chapter 3

Back in the corridor, a half-dozen workers are busy walking and talking and murmuring some theories to themselves. Jennie even heard someone talking to himself as he tries to compute for one millennium prize problem.

When they saw her, they all begin to applaud.

A woman shouts, "Welcome back Dr. Kim!"

Jennie shyly passed the crowd. Confusion taking over because people kept calling her Dr. Kim. It's been years since someone called her that, even Lisa stopped calling her that because she knows how much Jennie missed her research. Also, after their marriage and with years of teaching, Jennie got used to being addressed as Professor Manoban.

Yang-something leads Jennie into a stairwell, and they ascend, the metal steps clanging under their footsteps.

"You all right on these?" he asks.

"Yeah. Where are we going?"

"Debrief."

"But I don't even—"

"It's better if you just hold your thoughts for the interview. You know— protocol and shit."

Two flights up, he opens a glass door that's an inch thick. They enter another corridor with floor-to-ceiling windows on one side.

Jennie drift toward the windows to get a better look, but Yang-something guides her instead through the second door on the left, ushering Jennie into a dimly lit room, where Jisoo, still wearing her lab coat, is standing behind a table as if awaiting her arrival.

"Dr. Kim" she says.

"Hi."

Her eyes captures Jennie's stare for a moment as Yang-something straps the monitoring device around Jennie's left arm.

"You don't mind, do you?" he asks. "I'd feel better keeping tabs on your vitals a little while longer. We'll be out of the woods soon."

Yang-something gently presses his hand onto Jennie's back and urges her the rest of the way inside.

Jennie hears the door close behind her.

Jisoo looks older than before and that's a lot of saying because Jennie saw her a few weeks ago. Short, black hair just skirting striking eyes that somehow manage to be concurrently kind and penetrating.

The lighting is soft and unthreatening, like a movie theater moments before the film begins.

There are two straight-backed wooden chairs, and on the small table a laptop, a pitcher of water, two drinking glasses, a steel carafe, and a steaming mug that fills the room with the aroma of good coffee.

The walls and ceiling are made of smoked glass.

"Jennie, if you have a seat, we can get started."

Jennie hesitates for five long seconds, debating just walking out, but something tells her that would be a bad, possibly catastrophic, idea. So she sits in the chair, reach for the pitcher, and pour herself a glass of water.

Jisoo says, "If you're hungry, we can have food brought in."

"No thanks."

Finally taking her seat across from me, she pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose and types something on the laptop.

"It is—" She checks her wristwatch. "—12:07 a.m., October 23, I'm Kim Jisoo, employee ID number one-nine-nine-five, and I'm joined tonight by..." She gestures to the other girl.

"Um, Jennie Kim Mano-" she was cut off by Jisoo.

"Thank you, Dr. Kim."

"Just call me Professor Manoban please" Jennie pleads, holding onto Lisa's memory. Jisoo frowns at her statement.