YOUNG LOVE || 𝐉𝐄𝐍𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐀 ✔︎

eight

“Oh, my,” Irene said as she fanned herself. “Is it hot in here?”

Lisa laughed. “You wanted to know.”

“As I said earlier, this is the best first-time story I’ve ever heard.”

“What would have happened had you gotten caught?” Seulgi asked.

Lisa's smile faded. “Her mother would have killed me.”

“What about your mother?”

Lisa's smile returned. “My mother would have killed me.” She nodded at Irene who silently asked if she wanted more coffee.

“I think it’s romantic,” Irene said.

“Romantic? Raging hormones at sixteen? I don’t know how romantic it was,” Lisa said. “Neither of us knew what we were doing.”

“You apparently learned quickly,” Seulgi said with a laugh. “I suppose this was before you could just Google anything you wanted to know.”

“Twenty years ago? Yeah. We were on our own.”

“But Mino was still in the picture. How did you reconcile that?”

“It was what it was. Mino was always in the picture. I knew my place. Despite what I may have wanted for us, I knew it could never be.”

“What do you think she wanted for the two of you?”

Lisa looked at Seulgi thoughtfully. “I thought you said you weren’t going to put me on your couch, Dr. Kang.”

Seulgi smiled. “Sorry. I just find your story very intriguing. I’m surprised you were able to handle it as well as you did at that age.”

“Like I said, I knew what my role was in her life. Yes, I was in love with her. Madly. She was in love with me too. But that was as far as it could go. We had no future. Hers was already planned out. We had stolen moments, that’s all.”

“That’s so sad,” Irene said.

“Yes. It was difficult. I tried not to think about her dates with Mino and what she was doing. I no longer asked. I didn’t want to know.”

“So who did she lose her virginity to? You or Mino?”

Lisa remembered that night well. It was one of those special memories she would carry with her always. “Me. It was a Saturday. I was seventeen.”

* * *

It was a rare occasion that they had the mansion to themselves. Well, except for Hyun, but he would never come up to Jennie's room. Her mother was at a baby shower, and the Kims had left early that morning for an overnight trip to Chicago. She and Jennie hadn’t had much alone time in the last two weeks, and she missed their closeness. She was looking forward to spending the day with her. When she knocked on her door all she heard was a mumbled “come in” from the other side.

“Jennie?”

“In here.”

She headed to the bedroom, surprised to find her curled on the bed, a tissue clutched in her hand. Lisa stopped in her tracks, seeing tears in Jennie's eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

Jennie rolled onto her back and patted the space beside her. Lisa sat down, her eyes searching Jennie's for a clue to explain the tears.

“I went out with Mino last night.”

Lisa nodded. “I know.”

“He wants to have sex.”