black ribbons (jensoo)

chapter three

Jennie didn't appear at Jisoo's rehearsals with Lisa for the next couple of weeks, and Jisoo, to Lisa's visible delight, didn't quite manage to look as though this didn't bother her.

'I know your tell,' the choreographer observed solemnly, after Jisoo asked if that designer was coming and pretended not to care when the answer was no. 'You have a special moping face. Your eyes get all huge and tragic. Like a dog, or a Pixar character.'

'It's because I have to apologize. You know how I am with apologizing. I don't like having it hanging over me.'

'Believe me, I remember. But it definitely isn't the whole truth.'

'It is.'

'It isn't.'

'Why not?'

'Because that designer is insanely hot and you're too gay to function.'

Jisoo looked up from tying her new shoes and fixed the choreographer with the death-glare known in the company as 'the Lisa'. 'You make it sound like I throw myself at every passably attractive woman who crosses my path.'

'Oh, honey. The opposite. You just pine and overanalyse and think you look all stoic when actually you look mopey. And that's exactly what you're doing now.' Lisa's eyes followed Jisoo critically as the dancer straightened up and tried a few steps to check the fit. 'Frankly, it would be good for your health if you did do a bit more throwing. More fun for me, too.'

'It's not a spectator sport.'

'Hey, kiddo, I've been keeping you straight for ten years. I deserve a little fun.'

'If you were meant to be keeping me straight...'

'...then I failed spectacularly, yes, I know. Hilarious. You know what I mean.' Lisa sat down briskly and folded her arms, suddenly all business. 'OK, let's get to work. Some journalist is coming tomorrow, so I want to get your solo locked down.'

The new ballet was coming together fast, and Jisoo had rarely been so happy in the studio. The joy of being able to dance again was so fierce that it almost scared her. This is me, she realized, in the split-second of weightlessness at the apex of a jump, this is what I was waiting for. She loved being choreographed on, too, almost more than anything else she did on stage. It was rare and wonderful to be the first to do a part, with no one comparing her to the last great company ballerina, or the one before, or the ones who had been legends since before Jisoo was even born. Lisa knew what suited her. These steps were hers, and she danced them like herself.

If she was totally honest, that was really why she had been such a brat to Jennie Kim. Even without the worry over her ankle, she wasn't used to creatives talking about her as though she wasn't there. She knew, logically, that fashion designers weren't used to their models having opinions, but it had been irritating all the same. Especially - damn you, Lisa - because this fashion designer really was insanely hot, and Jisoo really was too gay to function.

She was disciplined enough and happy enough to concentrate while she was dancing, but another thought struck her as they finished up. 'How did you know she wasn't coming today?'

'Wouldn't you like to know.' Lisa leaned back luxuriously in her chair and somehow managed to look even more smug than she had at the start of the rehearsal. 'She texted me.'

'She texted you.'

'Yeah. It's like carrier pigeons, only quicker and without the feathers.'

'Har har. No, I mean she texted you. You two text. Recreationally.'