IS IT TIME FOR ME TO GIVE UP?

8

Lisa rose early and headed directly to the kitchen for a coffee, encountering Jennie already ready for work.

"You're up quite early," She remarked without glancing in Jennie's direction, fixated on her mug. Jennie halted, appearing slightly taken aback as she didn't notice Lisa was in the kitchen.

"I have a meeting scheduled with one of our investors," she stated, showing little inclination to engage in conversation with Lisa.

"Ah, i see." Lisa responded with a nod.

"You mean the appointment with Kai," she wanted to say aloud to Jennie, but she deemed it too early for an argument, choosing instead to keep her thoughts to herself as Jennie started walking away.

However, Lisa couldn't resist adding "By the way..." causing Jennie to halt in her tracks, though she didn't bother turning to face her, waiting for Lisa to continue.

"Have you heard about Kai's return to Korea?" Jennie didn't respond verbally, but a deep sigh escaped her lips, indicating her desire to end their conversation.

"Don't push me to say things you won't like hearing, Lisa," Jennie warned as Lisa wanted to retort, but all she could do was watch her wife walk away. Gripping her mug tightly, she averted her gaze, trying to distract herself from the thought of her wife with her most despised person. "Ugh! No, stop..." she hissed, forcing herself to banish the image of them together, happy.

"This is torture..." she muttered to herself, overwhelmed by the emotions swirling inside her.

***

Lisa Pov:

"Pranpiya! Just so you know, your coffee shop is in good hands," he boasted as we sat inside his car, still undecided on where to go.

I called Bambam to distract myself from my paranoia, just an hour after I heard him honking outside my house.

"I know, Bam. I trust you, and Seulgi and Jisoo unnie too," he winked at me, which made me chuckled.

"Do you want to go there?" he asked. I simply smiled in response as he started the engine.

Bambam and I conversed about various topics until we reached the coffee shop. Everything appeared unchanged since my last visit. Stepping inside, I felt a sense of calm wash over me. The ambiance evoked a feeling of home, a genuine sense of belonging. This coffee shop held the last memories of my mom. She adored coffee as much as I did. I was still in high school when we lost her. The police investigation revealed she was involved in a car accident caused by faulty brakes, leading to a collision with a dump truck. The resulting explosion left no chance of rescue. Since that tragic day, I've never felt whole again. However, this coffee shop has been a sanctuary, easing the weight of grief and longing. Adorning its walls are pictures of her, a constant reminder of her presence.

Lost in my thoughts, I was abruptly snapped back to reality by Bambam waving his hands in front of my face. I instinctively swatted them away, only to realize he was accompanied by two girls. One of them seemed oddly familiar.

"Finally, the aliens returned you, huh?" I muttered, rolling my eyes at him. This guy always enjoys annoying me.

"By the way, do you already know her?" he gestured to the tall girl beside him. I bit my lower lip, trying to recall where I met her, but Bambam clicked his tongue impatiently. This guy really knows how to get on my nerves.

"This is Sana," he said. Oh, right, I remember now! I glanced at her for a moment and offered a smile.

"Hi! I'm Lisa, Bambam's best friend, but..." I leaned in to whisper, "are you sure?" She looked puzzled by my remark, and I smirked at Bambam because he seemed confused too.

"What I mean is, are you really sure about him? You still have a chance to run away though," I said, feigning concern. We exchanged glances and chuckled when she understood what i meant.

"Pranpiya!!" Bambam whined, grabbing my arm and pulling me away from Sana.

Sana giggled and brought her friend forward. "Oh! And by the way, this is also my best friend. She's Mina," she introduced.

I turned to look at her best friend, who was obviously Japanese, just like Sana.

"Hi, I'm Lisa. Nice meeting you," I smiled at her.

"Mina," she introduced herself shortly and shyly. Her gummy smile appeared, looking adorable, just like my Nini.

All of us were having a little chit-chat when Seulgi and Jisoo arrived. Bambam invited them over.

"The turtle-rabbit and bear are here," Bambam said, looking at the two as they walked towards our spot.

"Hi guys!" Seulgi greeted us, and Jisoo simply bowed her head as she approached us.

"Guys this is Sana-"

"Her crush," I teased Bambam, watching his face turn red as he gave me a death glare.

"Y-yah! It's not t-that," his stuttering voice only made us laugh harder.

"Whatever, coward horse!" Jisoo interjected, causing even more laughter.

"I'm Jisoo, and this is Bear," Seulgi playfully slapped her shoulder.

"Introduce me formally," she whined.

'When would they act according to their age, aish!' I thought to myself.

"Introduce yourself then," Jisoo said as she sipped her coffee.

"Yah!" I chuckled as Seulgi shook Jisoo by the shoulder.

"Kang! Stop it! I'm gonna get dizzy!" Jisoo protested, but Seulgi persisted, shaking her even more.

"This is Kang Seulgi, guys," I intervened, trying to halt their antics. Seulgi withdrew her hands from Jisoo's shoulder and bowed formally.

"Oh gosh! You guys are spinning," Jisoo exclaimed, covering her eyes.

"It's just you," Seulgi smirked.

Aish! Sometimes I don't understand these two, but when it comes to PS4, they're like-minded. They'd even kill anyone just for the sake of it.

"By the way, I'm Mina," Mina shakes hands with them.

"Hi! You guys are beautiful," Seulgi praised them.

"Thank you," Jisoo replied, giggling after recovering from dizziness. Seulgi just leered at her and mouthed 'not you'.

We spent the whole day full of laughter, mocking each other and teasing. Bambam bid his goodbye first to send Sana and Mina to their house.

"Aunt Amelia looks so pretty indeed," Jisoo commented while staring at the photo of me and my mom. It's only the three of us left, and I looked at the same picture she's looking at.

"Just like me," I proudly said, but they both winced in disgust. Look how devilish they were!

"Don't include yourself, Manobangs!" Now Seulgi spoke. In this situation, they reconciled, as if they hadn't almost killed each other earlier just because of 'introducing shitty'.

"Yeah..." I surrendered. Two versus one was unfair.

So, I hope you understand. I can actually defend myself from them if Bambam were here, though.