The Marrying Type || Jensoo & Chaelisa

Chapter 36

A few weeks passed, and the trial set for the 27th of January came nearer with each passing day. With each day crossed off on the puppy-calendar hanging in their foyer, the dread in both their hearts grew a little bit stronger; no matter how great their life together may have been, the shadow of Jennie's past and her parents still loomed over their happiness, seeping through and causing occasional spouts of annoyance and genuine fear. But they overcame those, with Jisoo being mindful of Jennie's occasional solemn moods and going out of her way to ensure that she knew Jisoo was there for her.

Jennie took up the job at Kim&Hwang, and started about a week after New Years', leaving Jisoo with all too much time to herself during the days. This she did not mind; if anything, she relished having the apartment to herself, setting up her studio and painting and drawing with the music as loud as she pleased and being able to consume as many coffees as she dared without Jennie pointing out that she'd die of caffeine overdose if she had a single drop more.

And so it came to be that they developed a routine of their own. Jisoo would rise in the mornings to Jennie's overly loud alarm, and get dressed whilst Jennie still slept, oblivious to the fact that her alarm had rung in the first place. Jisoo soon realized that if she didn't wake her wife, Jennie could have easily slept through the whole day.

But she didn't mind. She rather enjoyed littering kisses all over Jennie's warm skin until she stirred awake, and turned over so that Jisoo could see her beautiful sleepy frown. Jennie wasn't much of a morning person, but once she got going, she was actually very fast with getting ready. She'd be out of the house by 8 am so that she could get to the office by half past, but Jisoo refused to let her leave before she'd given her a goodbye kiss. No matter how much of a hurry she was in, there was always time for a quick kiss.

Jisoo would then put on music and dance around the apartment, tidying up after their breakfast and tending to some mundane everyday things – cleaning, organizing, laundry – before finally changing into her baggy old t-shirt and heading up to her studio to spend the day.

Jennie would often come home around five to find Jisoo still in the studio, sometimes having forgotten about lunch altogether – Jisoo was usually clad in only a t-shirt, with paint stains covering her arms and legs and sometimes her face. There'd usually be a half-finished cup of cold coffee on the floor near her, probably next to another cup containing paint water. The number of times Jennie had seen Jisoo drink from the wrong cup had prompted her to label two mugs in the house with 'paint water' and 'not paint water' but Jisoo still kept forgetting.

On that particular day, Jennie had left much earlier because Taeyeon had wanted to speak with her at the end of the day. She'd spent the whole day knowing very well that the meeting would not be a pleasant one, and even Jisoo's adorable snapchats or their brief phone call during her lunch break had really worked to elevate her mood. And so when she entered Taeyeon's office at precisely quarter to five, she was jumpy and nervous, and Taeyeon saw this and understood.

"I know this isn't very comfortable, but I want you to be prepared for the trial. You are the plaintiff, and thus will take a stand and be answering questions from both me but also from your parents in the cross-examination. I just want you to be prepared."

Jennie nodded and took a seat. "I understand. But you can understand why I'm uncomfortable."

"And that's good. You'll want to show emotion in the trial, it'll win over the jury. Playing a character won't covey your suffering to the judge or the jurors."

Jennie nodded. "Okay. Go for it."

What then ensued was a long half hour of Taeyeon throwing disturbing and hurtful questions at Jennie, questions which they both knew her parents would be asking.