Circles and Circles || Jensoo

Chapter 10

Jisoo could have died with frustration. Her whole body was on fire and Jennie was standing up, taking a step back, walking away. Jisoo opened her mouth to say something, anything.

Jesus Christ, come back here and kiss me! her head screamed. And then she heard the voices of the others traipsing up the path, nearly at the top. Her hearing must be fantastic, she thought.

Ella was the first to round the corner to the little rock plateau where Jisoo and Jennie were now a few feet apart. She took in Jisoo's knee, with the trouser leg pushed up, and looked concerned.

"Are you okay?" she asked, ambling over.

"Yeah," Jisoo said, moving her knee gently. To her relief, the pain had mostly subsided. "I just wrenched it a little."

The others soon made it to the top and, after everyone was satisfied that Jisoo really was all right, they stopped fussing and spread out over the little area, admiring the view and generally chuckling and carrying on. Jisoo couldn't help but repeatedly glance at Jennie, but somehow she had become a black hole where Jennie Kim was concerned. It was almost as if she wasn't there.

They sat around for a good half-hour before Jisoo tried walking again. She found it acceptable, if a little painful. As they picked themselves up, and got ready to walk down the hill, Jisoo was surprised to find Jennie at her elbow.

"I'll come down with you. You could hurt yourself if you go alone."

Jisoo stared at her and then just nodded, unwilling to argue. They made their way back down the steep path to the lake, Jennie helping her down the larger jumps and Ella helping out where she could. They made it to the bottom as a group and, as Jisoo's knee was aching - in reality, it was even worse than she was willing to admit to - they headed on back to the lodge.

Once there, Jisoo found herself summarily bundled into an armchair by the fire, her knee up on an ottoman, being fussed over by nearly everyone except Jennie, who was standing back, leaning against a wall, her eyes intently watching Jisoo. As the others rummaged around arguing over cold packs versus hot packs and debating whether Jisoo's knee should be raised or bent, Jisoo's eyes found Jennie's. She stared at her, almost as though she were in a trance, as though she could somehow fathom what the brunette was thinking if she could just sink into those beautiful eyes.

Jisoo snapped out of it. What was she thinking? Christ, she wasn't even supposed to like Jennie! Now, she was becoming obsessed.

Correction, her brain intervened. Becoming obsessed again.

It was true. She'd done this before, all those years ago: she had drowned herself in Jennie until she was forced, painfully, to surface, feeling like she'd left pieces of her soul floating away in the other girl. She'd fought long and hard to put herself back together, and to build a shield so that it would never happen again with anyone. Sure, she was lonely at times, but it was worth it.

Dammit, whatever Jennie did, she wasn't going to give in. She's playing mind games, she let herself think, ignoring the obvious falsity of the statement. It was easier to blame Jennie for leading her on, for turning her on.

She busied herself fighting off the eager and yet strangely unhelpful ministrations of her fellow guests. Laughing, she let Kai, who actually seemed to know what he was doing, rub Deep Heat on her knee, and then settled down with everyone to play a board game. The focus shifted back to Ella - the birthday girl once again foremost in everyone's thoughts - and Jisoo was thankful. She avoided looking at Jennie, even after the brunette joined in, and just got on with the fun of playing the game.

By the time dinner had passed, and birthday cakes had been delivered from the oven, sung over, cut, distributed and eaten, and by the time everyone had eventually retired, Jisoo was hoping she'd be tired. She wasn't. She was wired and she knew why.