Outline of You | Jensoo

Ch11.

"Mmm... C'est délicieux as always, Chef Kwon."

"Merci beaucoup, Miss Kim."

Jennie places her tasting spoon down and admires her head chef garnishing the starters, when the buzzing in her pocket pulls her away. She subconsciously holds her breath at the name on her phone screen.

Quite frankly, she has been kind of avoiding Nayeon since that evening at the apartment, because she hasn't fully wrapped her head around what Nayeon has said.

Why is Nayeon regretting her decision she once was so sure of? And, after more than 3 gruelling months of forcefully psyching herself to accept their relationship turned friendship, is Jennie now supposed to forget all the pain in a snap and switch back to lover mode just like that? Can she switch back at all? She thinks she is supposed to be happy to return to the way they were, but then why is she struggling?

"Everything okay, Miss Kim?"

"Hm?" She pockets her phone without opening the text and turns around, "Yeah, all's good, not as good as your cooking though."

She nudges her chin towards the dishes and winks at her chef, "Come on, let's bring these plates out before I devour them all."

She stows the troubling cloud of questions away for later.

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"Ladies, dinner is served!" Jennie's voice goes unanswered as she places the last of the starters on the table. Wiping her hands on a towel, she looks around for her guests.

Hmm, where are they?

Right when she is about to dial Jisoo's mobile, she hears footsteps and turns to spot the trio approaching from a distance away.

"There you guys are!"

"Hey, we're back!" Lisa waves and chuckles but it sounds off. Tired, maybe?

Even Chaeyoung's smile appears a little awkward. And Jisoo - her face seems pale.

"Did you all just run a marathon around the place?" Jennie teases with a laugh and a hand on her hip, as she runs her eyes over them. She drops her smile though when they reach the dining table and she notices just how drained Jisoo's face is.

"Gosh, Jisoo, are you okay?" Instinctively, she holds Jisoo by the arm and perhaps it is a figment of her imagination but she thinks she feels Jisoo flinch.

"Hey, I'm okay," Jisoo grins and pats Jennie's hand on her arm, "just faint from hunger, is all." It is a joke and they laugh but somehow it still disappoints Jennie when Jisoo slides her arm out of Jennie's grasp.

"Oooo everything looks sooooo yummy!" Lisa makes a slurping sound and is all ready to grab a slice of bread when Chaeyoung hits her on the hand.

"Hygiene, darling," chides Chaeyoung with a tsk, before all three of them head off to wash their hands, ruffling Lisa's hair and laughing along the way.

They're goofing around and nothing seems out of place. Jennie shakes her head, wondering if she is overthinking.

To her relief, dinner goes smoothly and conversation is flowing easily, without any of the awkwardness that her overly sensitive mind detected earlier on.

Standing with a bottle of wine in hand, Jennie clears her throat in faux drama while Lisa taps her empty wine glass twice with her dessert spoon.

"Hi everyone, we are gathered here tonight to celebrate our 50% milestone in Project Villa, and may I say, I have never been more satisfied with the work that this bunch of talented goofballs, I mean, architects has delivered," Jennie pauses and they jeer and pretend to flip the table, all in good-natured humour.