S U R R E N D E R

chapter thirty three

The clock keeps on ticking, a sound that you don't pay attention to until it's time that you need in your life. When time is running out and you don't want it to that's when you start caring for every damn second that passes by. Suddenly the voices of everyone around you start to fade away and all you care about it time and that damn clock that doesn't stop counting down to the day and minute you desperately try to avoid. And you sigh again and again as everything rolls in a slow motion, people laughing to cover up their darkest emotions, glasses raising in the air to create a clinging noise that echoes in your ears and annoys you when you're not in the mood to do so as well. The clock keeps ticking and you keep looking around trying to spot a face that is not there even though you'd die to have them by your side.

"Honey?" A familiar voice pulled Jennie out of the trance that she was in, a small innocent nudge that helped her snap out of it immediately. Looking around Jennie smiled as soon as her eyes landed on her mom, the smile on her lips causing a wave of happiness to rush through her entire body. She couldn't really believe that she had fallen for her parents' trick once again. The last time she remembers talking to her dad was a couple of days ago, maybe the same day she lastly spoke to Lisa when the woman was out of Korea visiting Evelyn's parents. She recalls her dad telling her that he was anticipating to see her in a month when she would go back to New Zealand and she vividly remembers her mom asking her to bring Lisa with her. The next thing she knew was that she was brought face to face with her mom when she came back from shopping a few things for herself, Chaeyoung accompanying her.

She found it sweet. Not her parents coming without saying anything but the fact that Chaeyoung seemed to be glued on her since she told her about her plans of going away. Turning around and seeing her friend's face everywhere, getting up to her running around the house or sitting across from her and eating lunch after she would be done with work were all things that she found sweet and if you asked her a couple months ago she didn't expect any of that to happen. It's like they were roommates, years after graduating, they were now roommates out of nowhere and Jennie didn't complain at all. She hated being alone and sleeping alone after all. "Aren't you hungry?" Her mom asked and pointed at the plate in front of her daughter, Jennie following her gaze and realizing that she hadn't touched her food at all.

"Oh right, sorry I was just thinking" Jennie laughed and picked up her chopsticks again, grabbing a lettuce leaf and placing in it a piece of the tender pork they had ordered from a place that Jennie liked to eat from. She was the expert in Korean food after all, she was the one living in Korea and having regular touch with the food. "About work? Or maybe something else?" Her mom teased her and looked at Jennie's father that was looking at her in the same suspicious way, Chaeyoung that was sitting across from Jennie laughing at how the woman's parents had cornered her. "Work, mom, just work" Jennie sighed and stuffed her face so she wouldn't have to answer any more questions, but her mom was not done yet.

"What happened to that wonderful woman? The tall one with the brown hair" Her mom asked and looked over to Chaeyoung now when she saw that her own daughter avoided to look at her again. Instead she kept on eating more and more so she wouldn't have to pay attention to anything being said and blame it on the food. "Lisa, wasn't that her name honey?" Her mom asked again and nudged Jennie one more time causing the pork that was blaming itself between the chopsticks to fall down on the plate. Nodding, Jennie dropped her chopsticks when she heard the doorbell ringing, her heart stopping for a moment when she realized what day it was. And so did Chaeyoung who looked at her with the biggest smile on her face, winking at her best friend who excused herself and got up from the table. Making her way to the front door she took a deep breath, looking through the peep hole so she could mentally prepare herself.

There she was, standing on the other side of the door looking around and almost jumping on the spot while waiting for Jennie to open the door. Jennie wishes she hadn't seen the way Lisa's face lit up when she saw her standing in front of her, she also wishes her knees wouldn't get weak everytime she would see her. "Lisa," Jennie smiled and walked out of the apartment, closing the door behind her her but leaving a small crack so she could go back in later. "I didn't know you were coming over" Jennie said truthfully, gasping when she felt Lisa's arms grabbing hers and pulling her into a tight embrace, her chest ready to explode at that moment. "Me neither," Lisa laughed and let her chin rest on the top of Jennie's head while her hands touched the woman's shoulder blades carefully as if she was going to break.