The Girl Behind The Mask | Chaelisa

Chapter 18

Thursday afternoon wasn’t spent with textbooks and notes but rather with Jisoo, lounging by the poolside at the Manoban Mansion; a much needed and well deserved break from the turmoil she had found herself in. Tiffany had retreated to the common room to watch endless hours of her favorite soap opera, leaving Lisa and Jisoo to enjoy the blazing sun undisturbed.

“It’s not too late to change your mind, Lili…” Jisoo spoke after about an hour of stretched, heavy silence between the two. “Let’s go out tonight. Just you and me. We can hit up your favorite strip clubs, just like old times. No pressure, I promise. Might do you some good…”

Lisa processed her words but offered no reaction to it; simply continued to stare straight ahead with hooded, uninterested eyes hidden behind her aviator shades.

“I have to study, Jisoo.” She finally responded minutes later. “And I already told you to stop bugging me about going out… not in the mood.”

Jisoo slurped the rest of her frozen margarita loudly. “Alright, alright… I’ll put it to rest. It’s just… well, I’ve never seen you this bummed before, ya know. It’s sorta worrying Tiffany.” She stood, empty cup in hand. “Worrying me too, leashy.”

Lisa chuckled faintly. “It’s nothing. I’m just worried about these exams… I need to ace them. I need to graduate. I’ll be good once it’s over.”

Jisoo just nodded. “Yea sure… I’m sure that’s all that’s been eatin’ at ya…” Jisoo was semi-tempted to pull the truth out of Lisa, well aware that by doing so, she’d equally risk pulling her wrath along with it. So she dropped the subject. Another matter for another time, she figured. “Hey, I’m gonna make myself another one of these bangin’ margaritas. Want one?”

Lisa shook her head. “I told you, I’m done drinking, Jisoo. You can stop trying me.”

Jisoo shrugged and trudged back to the bar. “Jeez, just asking. Why so serious?!”

Lisa relaxed back against her chair and shut her eyes, blocking out the stinging rays of the blazing sun. If only she could block out everything else as well, she thought… she’d start with the incident Saturday night, erase that burden from her memory bank.

But… would that be enough? No… what else was she willing to delete? What other moments was she ready to part with for the sake of her well-being and sanity? What about the moment she met Roseanne…? Or the moment she undoubtedly fell in love with her, would she? Could she?

“Lisa! Door!” Jisoo shouted from behind the bar, clearly insinuating that she was far too busy with her frozen margarita to answer it herself.

A consecutive range of knocks against hard wood greeted her as she approached, and through the glass panel she saw a police officer standing just beyond it, a hand on his hip, impatiently waiting for a response. Perplexed, she pulled open the door, only to come face-to-face with a friendly stranger she never expected to see again.

“Miss Manoban? Pardon, your porter granted me permission into your property… I hope this is a good time?” The officer, a seemingly kind and proper young man, spoke. Lisa nodded, exchanging looks with Jiyong who, for someone currently in handcuffs and being escorted by an armed police officer, looked incredibly at ease. The odd situation brought a smile to her face.

“Miss Manoban, we caught this gentleman here sleeping inside a vehicle we think belong to you.” The officer continued, shooting a look over at Jiyong, who simply crinkled his brows and smiled, entirely undisturbed.

“Mr. Kwon here claims you gave him the vehicle? He blatantly denied it when we accused him of theft and insisted you had handed it over willingly, so we are just stopping by to verify these theories. We weren’t really sure what to believe since the property is still under your name.”