it's always ourselves that we find in the sea || jensoo

Chapter 25

Christmas approached quickly, with torrential rain and cold weather that made their walks along the beach and cliffs bone chilling, and with the arrival of the holidays came a packed house at Minzy's. Chaeyoung, Lisa and Ruby arrived first, with the latter two staying at Jisoo's, and the next day Bobby and Hanbin showed up, making dinner very loud and crowded that night as Jisoo came over to meet Jennie's friends. She seemed to be less on edge than last time, and Jennie was never far from her as they ate and drank wine, enjoying having her friends in town, and happy that she could show off Jisoo and know that she was someone that she could feel slightly smug about dating. Jisoo hit it off surprisingly well with Bobby, stealing him for her team when they played family games after dinner much to Jennie's protests - Bobby was always her partner, and she was offended at the fact that he willingly abandoned her - even though Minzy was a more than competent partner.

            Christmas Eve was better than any Jennie could remember having, all of them packing into the living room eating fruitcake and drinking mulled wine or peppermint hot chocolate. Just the taste of cinnamon and orange made it feel like Christmas for Jennie, and she hoped the strong flavours and smells were enough to make it feel like it for Jisoo too. She'd even gone as far as to buy a candle for all of the rooms Jisoo might go in, as well as buying pine tree incense to burn, which had gone disastrously wrong when Jennie had accidentally set them on fire and copious amounts of pine tree scented smoke made the living room hazy - although, true to its word, it was very pine tree scented and Jisoo said she definitely felt the Christmas spirit with everyone complaining. Things got even more heated when they brought out Monopoly and Scrabble, cutting any games that would exclude Jisoo, and everyone accused everyone else of cheating - in Jisoo's case it was true, but no one pointed out that some of her words weren't real words, considering the fact that she couldn't see the letters. Judging by the slight smirk on her face, Jennie suspected that Jisoo knew exactly how lenient everyone was being, and was willing to let it slide just this once to win, which she did.

            That night, Jennie kissed her goodbye beneath the mistletoe that had conveniently popped up beneath the doorframe, courtesies of Bobby, and she waved goodbye to the trio headed back to Jisoo's house, knowing that they'd be back in the morning for breakfast and a full day of family time. As excited as ever for the holidays, Jennie was in bed before midnight, listening to the sounds of Chaeyoung breath from across the other side of the room and thinking about tomorrow.

            She was up before the sun was, too excited to sleep, and Chaeyoung wasn't too pleased about being woken up by her enthusiastic sister jumping on her at six o'clock in the morning, but even she couldn't fight off an insistent Jennie or the excitement of Christmas for too long. Even still, Minzy beat them to it, and the three of them had a few moments together in the kitchen over cups of coffee before they were joined by the two men, all of them bleary eyed and still a little tired from the night before. It wasn't too long before they got a call off Lisa either, with an excited child to wake her up early in place of her very own Jennie, and they all showered and dressed while waiting for everyone to arrive, before being set to work in the kitchen. Jennie was stuck peeling potatoes for the most part, and a bag of carrots, because even she couldn't mess that up, but they were quickly abandoned at the knock on the door.

            Chaeyoung got there first, ushering everyone in out of the cold, and Jennie went to greet Jisoo, her eyes widening slightly as she watched her shed her black coat to reveal an emerald green sweater in place of her usual muted wardrobe these days. It was almost reminiscent of her old wardrobe - just a little plainer - and Jennie smiled at the memory, kissing Jisoo on the cheek before she gave Lisa a quick hug, directing everyone down the hallway to the kitchen and leaving them alone.

            "Merry Christmas," Jisoo said, reaching out for Jennie and pulling her closer, a smile on her lips as she tilted her chin up, indicating that she wanted a kiss.