BLACKPINK Shorts

[JENNIE] Just Press Play

The day is July 20th. A day that you both look forward to every year, but also slightly dreaded, because—

"Mumma! Wake up, wake up!"

It's your daughter's birthday. She'll be six today.

You can feel her pulling at the duvet slightly, gently nudging your body as she hops into the empty space beside you. "It's time for lunch!" Your eyes crack open slowly, you look over at her and she has an adorable gummy smile adorned on her face. She really did get Jennie's adorable features, didn't she? Your hand comes up and caresses your daughter's chubby cheek, your thumb brushing over and over.

"Happy birthday, baby."

"Hehe... thank you, Mumma."

"Is it really lunchtime right now?"

"... It's really early lunchtime?" You let out a soft chuckle as you find yourself being pulled up into a sitting position. You both make your way over to the bathroom going through the usual routine. Washing your face, brushing your teeth, rinsing your mouth. "Mumma, you brush your teeth funny."

"At least I brush my teeth! Have you brushed yours yet?" She nods at you, motioning for you to bend down to her a little. She huffs out a breath right into your face as proof and you chuckle at her antics. "Good job, baby." She hops onto your back as you both dash from the bathroom to the kitchen with your arms out like a plane. She sits on the stool across from you on the other side of the kitchen island as you get ingredients out from the fridge to make a traditional Korean birthday dish, miyeok guk (seaweed soup). Jennie taught you her super special recipe so that it wasn't just like any standard soup that you could find anywhere else. It was special, it was Jennie's.

"How come I'm only able to see Mummy once a year?" Rolling up the sleeves to your thin long-sleeve, you bend down and lean onto the island between the two of you.

"Well, baby, we've talked about it before. Don't you remember? Your mum had to go away. But she loves you very, very much. Don't forget that, okay?" She shuffles about in her chair slightly, growing a little tired of the same excuses each year on her birthday. But she gets it, she understands the concept of time and busyness. So you give her shoulders a squeeze as she smiles at you and tells you she loves you. "I love you too, baby."

"I'm not a baby anymore!"

"You'll always by my baby, Ella." And so you continue cooking. Your daughter remains seated, coming over and feeding you some breadsticks that she's snacking on occasionally. You're thankful that Jennie and yourself planned things the way that you did all those years ago; it's as if she knew exactly when your daughter would start to become really curious and start rejecting certain reasonings and excuses.

It's been really hard not having Jennie with you every step of the way; you had no idea how to raise a child and it has, admittedly, been really hard. But you're doing a great job as a single parent. You just... forget that sometimes and beat yourself up over it. "Do you ever get sad that Mummy isn't here to help you?"

"Yeah, I was very sad. I love your mum very much and I do wish she was here with us."

"Don't you get angry?"

"I used to. I used to be very angry. But... sometimes things happen that aren't in our control, baby. That's just how life is. You have to choose to not be angry about things for the rest of your life, it's what's best for you. Can you imagine if I walked around and was grumpy all the time? That wouldn't be fun, would it?"

She slumps in her seat a little as she plays with the ends of her hair. "Yeah, that's true."

The soup finishes cooking and you hold a platter with three bowls in it. One for you, your daughter, your Jennie. "Okay, baby. Are you ready to go see Mummy?"