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

Chapter 39

A few weeks were spent making themselves comfortable in their new apartment before Jennie went back to work. It was mostly for Jisoo's benefit that she delayed going back to YG, although she wouldn't pretend that she wasn't at least a little bit nervous about going back and facing Mr. Yang after he'd made her pack up all of her belongings and leave. She enjoyed her time off all the same, because now she knew she had a job and she had an apartment and she was in a relationship with someone who loved her as much as she loved Jisoo. It was strange, thinking about how her life had come a complete circle in a year, yet had put her in a remarkably better place than she'd been in a year ago. She had everything she'd had then, but she had more , because for everything she'd lost, she'd gained something better.

They spent days wandering through the crowded streets, with Jisoo clinging to Jennie's arm, her chin stubbornly raised as she carefully tapped back and forth with her white cane, cutting a path through the oncoming flow of pedestrians. It had taken a bit of convincing to make Jisoo realise that using her cane was a bit more of a necessity in a busy city, and she'd grimly agreed after a few stumbles and grazed palms. Jennie took her to all of her favourite haunts, enjoying mint chocolate chip ice cream as they walked through the park, sitting at one of the restaurants along the harbourfront, with the sun setting outside the open windows while the briny breeze blew in and they shared pitchers of iced tea and chilli mussels. She took her to the old theatre that only played black and white movies, and Jisoo listened with rapt attention while Jennie occasionally explained what was happening, and took her to the carnival, where even if she couldn't see the drop, Jisoo could feel it when her stomach dropped, or they spun around in circles in colourful teacups.

A lot of their nights were spent with Chaeyoung and Lisa, with Bobby and Hanbin joining them some nights too, and they'd hit up a local bar and drink until one of them was brave enough to take to the small stage and choose a song on the karaoke machine. Jisoo would nurse a lemonade and listen, a content smile on her face while she revelled in the feeling of having friends. Jennie had been pleased by how easily she'd folded into her old life, and even occasionally seeing Taehyung as he bartended hadn't been bad. She'd known he'd be at the bar the first time she'd agreed to go there, and she'd warned Jisoo he worked there, but it had always been their local spot and it felt wrong to find somewhere new. As angry as Jennie had been, she realised that she really didn't care anymore. If anything, he'd freed her. The first time she saw him again, she introduced Jisoo to him, bought their drinks and walked off with a satisfied smile on her face and her girlfriend on her arm.

Her first day back at work, she rose to the sound of her alarm blaring on the nightstand, pale sunlight streaming in through the floor-to-ceiling windows where she'd forgotten to close the curtains before bed, and Jennie fumbled for her glasses, yawning and stretching as she rolled over for Jisoo. The other side of the bed was cold and empty and Jennie frowned as she blinked back sleep, getting one foot out of bed before Jisoo appeared in the open bedroom door with a tray in her hands. The early morning sunlight illuminated her pale skin and caught the white smile as she flashed her teeth, stepping into their bedroom and carrying the tray over to the bed with only the slightest tremble of her hands.

"Morning," Jennie mumbled, nudging up her glasses to rub at her tired eyes, "you're up early."

Jisoo quietly laughed, hovering near the side of the bed with the tray in her hands. "I haven't been to bed yet," she corrected her, the shadowy bruises beneath her eyes corroborating her words, "I wanted to make you breakfast and see you off before you left."

Smiling, Jennie reached up and gently relieved her of the tray, setting it down across her lap and staring down at the omelette with glimpses of ham, tomato and spinach peeking through the creamy yellow of the eggs. Curls of steam rose from a cup of coffee and the smile on her face grew as she reached for her cutlery. Jisoo climbed onto the bed, slowly crawling over to the other side of the bed and climbing beneath the covers. Leaning over, Jennie kissed her on the top of her head, brushing back dark curls with a gentle hand.