The first time they meet, it is in a recording studio during that part of her life that Jennie is not feeling herself. Kim Jisoo is the lead actress in the drama she is singing a soundtrack for—a beautiful, petite girl whose eyes sparkle as she watches from behind the two-way glass.
She winks and smiles when Jennie catches her gaze and it almost causes Jennie to falter and stumble mid-song, the lyrics the producer gave her suddenly nothing more than a cloud of meaningless words. She has heard of Kim Jisoo before. While her popularity as an actress is by no means unprecedented, tales of how beautiful and kind and smart and funny this woman have more than once cemented her reputation. Jennie has only ever seen her in passing but the stories of their mutual acquaintances had been enough to assure her that this woman is definitely beautiful and kind and smart and funny. Seeing her heart-shaped lips widen into a bright smile only proves all these as pure truth to Jennie.
For the rest of the session, Jennie suddenly feels more like herself that she had in the past year. The whispers (crazy, untalented, whore) is now merely a muffled backdrop at the strums of guitar in her headset. All throughout the three songs she records that day, she finds her own gaze returning to the girl behind the glass who cocks her ears in concentration and smiles at her like they have known each other their entire lives. For the first time in a long time, Jennie hears the music clearly and she feels like the voice when she sings is coming from her heart again.
Reality only washes over her once Teddy calls it off and commends her for a job well done but the lightness does not completely disappear because Kim Jisoo immediately approaches her and throws her arms around her. It is the type of hug that one gives to a lifelong friend, not to a stranger who was chosen to sing the songs for your next project. But it feels so right that Jennie allows herself to breathe in Jisoo's natural flowery scent, unmarred by the lack of perfume.
"You were amazing!" Korea's Top Actress openly gushes, clutching Jennie's hands when they pull apart. "I knew you are good. but seeing you in action is just different. All that I heard from Spotify does not give you justice."
"Oh." And Jennie feels her face break into a slight smile. "I watched some of your dramas too. You are a sight to watch."
Jisoo's hearty laugh resounds in the cramped room full of staff and recording equipment and it is then that Jennie know that the other woman is being sincere—that her words are genuine and not the well-veiled insults and empty compliments that she got used to hearing in the past year. Jennie finds herself smiling wider.
Because after an entire year of nothing but hate and judgment from people who do not know her, it feels good to be complimented by such a beautiful and talented woman whose good reputation precedes her. She still receives praises from fans of course but lately, it has been drowned by those that call her ugly, untalented, lazy, a whore, a bitch, a clout-chaser and a hypocrite who does not even write her own songs.
For a single moment, Jennie almost lets Jisoo in to the painful truth—that all she had been doing until now was just going through the motions and that it was not until today that she started to hear music again, when heart-shaped lips beamed at her from across the glass. Once upon a time, she had enjoyed performing like no other. Once upon a time, lyrics wrote itself as she hummed a tune. Once upon a time, she was called beautiful, talented, pure and sweet until people inevitably knock down what they built up so that nothing but toppled bricks remain.
She wonders if Jisoo would meet the same fate. If this seemingly beautiful and kind and smart and funny girl would later be called names that are a world away from all these. Because no matter how hard one tries, lies would still be spread and words would still be twisted until you are perceived into something you are not.
