black ribbons (jensoo)

chapter five

Jisoo was still lying on the floor when Lisa let herself in, but she heard the cat pad out to greet the newcomer on her behalf.

'Hey, you grumpy son of a bitch. Oh, sorry, Astro, it's you. I mistook you for the mopey miseryguts on the floor over there.'

Jisoo didn't realize how tense she'd been until she felt herself deflate with relief at the sound of Lisa's voice. 'You are the least sympathetic person in the world, you know that?'

'I'm actually critically renowned for my insight into the human condition. I just have no interest in wallowing.' There were two muffled clunks as the choreographer shucked off her shoes and appeared in the doorway, with an expression that contradicted her words. 'You okay?'

'You didn't have to do this.'

'Oh, bite me. We both know that's never stopped either of us before.' Lisa strode purposefully into the kitchen, and Jisoo tipped her head up suspiciously in an attempt to see what the sudden clattering and cupboard-banging was in aid of. 'So. One of those days, huh?'

The dancer spread her arms out wide with a sigh and stretched, crinkling her spine one vertebra at a time. 'None of it even seems worth mentioning when I actually say it. It's never going to make a good story. I didn't fall on my head, quite, or get hurt, or make a fool out of myself.'

'I'm sure that's debatable.'

'I genuinely have no idea why I keep you around.'

'I assumed it was for my deliberately un-winning personality.'

Jisoo smiled despite herself. 'Clearly. Anyway, everything was just...off. I don't know if it's the heat, or it's that point in the season, but we were all hating it. Going through the motions till we could get out. I called Sehun a dick.'

'That's my girl.'

'And I told Jinyoung he was the least musical person I'd ever met.'

'OK, that was mean.'

'Exactly, and that's coming from you of all people. See? I fucked up.'

'I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that you're probably not the only person thinking that right now.' Lisa reappeared and squatted down beside Jisoo, mug in hand. 'Drink.'

'What is it?'

'Irish coffee. It's a thing.'

Jisoo wriggled upright and sniffed it dubiously. 'I don't think Irish coffee is supposed to be mostly whiskey.'

'It's your lucky day.'

'Not if it makes me go blind.'

'I didn't distill it myself. I'm not a Prohibition-era alcoholic.' Lisa straightened up with an audible click of joints and headed into the bedroom. 'I'll give you fair warning if the bottom drops out of the choreography market and I have to resort to home brewing to make ends meet. Why the fuck is your closet full of sweaters? It was ninety degrees out there today.'

'I switched in my winter wardrobe when it rained on Wednesday. Optimistically.'

'Jesus Christ. No one would ever believe you were from the South.' Silent rummaging. Jisoo lay back down and closed her eyes, lulled into a false sense of security by the quiet, only to be hit in the face by a pair of denim cutoffs. 'Put those on while I find you a jacket. And drink up.'

The dancer peered into the mug, decided that feeding it to the cat would probably kill him, and drank. She had liked whiskey ever since she and Jinyoung had had a wee dram - behind Dara's back - before their first Romeo and Juliet , but Lisa's addition of the bare minimum of coffee didn't improve it. 'I'm pretty sure this is what death tastes like.'