I built this Home for me, for you

Chapter 25

"Where's Jennie?" Lisa murmured to Rosé, frowning slightly as she scanned the room, "and Seolhyun? Are they arguing somewhere."

"Oh, uh, no," Rosé said, "they, uh, went to get some ice."

Lisa narrowed her eyes at her sister, "we have a whole freezer full of ice, Rosé, where are they?"

Sighing, Rosé shrugged, glancing down at her watch, "I don't know. She's been gone for almost two hours. I thought she'd be back by now."

"Wha-"

"Time for the cake!" Yuri excitedly said, taking both of her daughter's by the hand and pulling them towards the middle of the room. Everyone gathered around while Ryujin and Doyeon carried in a massive cake between them, lit up with dozens of candles and beautifully decorated.

Lisa plastered a bright smile on her face as everyone burst into a chorus of happy birthday, standing around her in a circle while she awkwardly waited for them to finish. She couldn't help but feel hurt though, and her eyes prickled with tears because Jennie wasn't there and neither was Seolhyun. Despite everything, they were a family, and it hurt Lisa more than anything to think that they'd just left, for no reason, and hadn't come back. Apparently birthday parties weren't important when you were fighting, and Lisa swallowed the lump in her throat, blinking quickly as the song came to an end and she blew out all of her candles. Smiling brightly as everyone clapped, she took the offered knife and smiled as Rosé took photos of her cutting the cake.

Yuri and Jisoo took the cake back into the kitchen to cut it into slices for everyone, and Lisa smiled and hugged her friends, chatting animatedly to Eunwoo, Joy and Mino, before turning to thank other people. She couldn't help but feel ridiculous though, wearing the dress she'd picked out specifically for Jennie, hoping she'd like it, and the red lipstick that Jennie usually favoured, even going as far as to wear contacts for a change, just to look different for her wife. And she wasn't even here. Lisa felt even worse for not realising sooner, but Jennie had wanted to keep her distance, so Lisa had left her alone all night, not wanting to pester her by constantly popping up, because she didn't want them to argue later on. Now she wondered if maybe she'd made more of an effort, Jennie would've stayed.

"Lisa," Somin said, looking panicked and pale as she pushed through the crowd, "there's police here, at the door. They're asking for you."

"Police?" Lisa scoffed, "we have a whole estate, we can't have gotten a noise complaint. I doubt I'd even hear us from the third floor."

Shrugging helplessly, Somin gestured vaguely towards the door and Lisa sighed, draining her drink and quickly brushing past guests, she walked out into the foyer, shivering slightly as cold air flooding in through the door hit her exposed arms and legs. "Officers, hi, how can I help you?" Lisa politely asked.

"Roebuck? White? What're you doing where?" Jisoo's voice rang out from behind Lisa, "shouldn't you be... dealing with that problem you called me about?"

"Captain," the older officer said, giving Jisoo a quick nod, "we, uh, we did, but... we got a call, and, we'll, considering the personal nature to you, we thought we'd come ourselves. We weren't sure how long the hospital-" he took a deep breath, turning back to Lisa, "Mrs. Manoban-Kim, we received a call at ten-nineteen this evening about an accident on Fifteenth and Richmond involving two passengers identified as a Mrs. Jennie Manoban-Kim and Miss Seolhyun Manoban-Kim."

"What," Lisa hoarsely replied, feeling faint as the words registered in her mind.

"Both of them are currently being transported to Metropolis City Hospital to be treated. I can't say what condition they're in, but you should be expecting a call from the hospital to inform you-"