BREAK THE WALL | JENLISA, CHAESOO

Chapter 8

After finishing her classes, Lisa canceled the extra activities, the French class and violin lessons. She didn't speak a word of French and certainly couldn't play the violin so she couldn't risk pretending to be Jennie. Relieved that she could finally go home, she was just leaving the school when her phone rang. It was Jennie's mom, and Lisa hesitated for a moment, finally deciding that it would be best to answer.

"Yes... mom?" she felt really weird saying that.

"Jen, honey, I heard that you canceled your extra classes today, what's wrong?"

Lisa didn't answer right away. "Wow, just wow, how did she even learn about it so quickly? They really keep Jennie on a tight leash, controlling her every move." her mind was stupefied.

"I wasn't feeling well." she finally said, scolding herself for not being able to think of something more believable.

"Then call the driver and come home right away. You have to get better for tomorrow evening, we have a surprise for you."

"A surprise?"

"Yes. Kai's family comes for dinner."

Lisa didn't even know who he was so she asked:

"Kai?"

"Don't you remember? You met him twice a few years back. He's a doctor, he's cultured and sophisticated. And most importantly, he comes from a respected family-"

By the tone of her voice, Lisa understood what it was really about.
"Mom, I don't want you to choose my boyfriend for me!" she said, gritting her teeth. "Besides, you said he was a doctor, how old is he?"

"He's only twenty seven-"

"Twenty seven!? Mom, I'm eighteen-"

"So what? I'm ten years younger than your father and we go along just fine."

"No, I'm not interested-"

"Listen Jen, I'm not saying you have to go out with him, just meet him and give him a chance. And he's really handsome too."

Lisa had to take three deep breaths to calm down.

"Fine, I can come to dinner and talk to him but don't expect me to date him or anything."

"Don't be so negative honey, he'd be a perfect match for you, with his family status-"

"Mom, I have to go." Lisa interrupted, ended the call and furiously threw the phone into her bag. She felt like screaming, what kind of parents were those!? She thought arranged marriages didn't exist anymore, but apparently those rich freaks were still doing things like that. "Ugh! Poor Jennie, no wonder she turned out all rebellious." she thought, shaking her head.

****

"Hey, it's me." Jisoo heard Rosé's voice on the phone. "I have an idea what might have happened with Lisa and Jennie. Can we meet in the same restaurant as before in half an hour?"

"Sure, I'll be there."

"Okay, see you soon."

"So, what did you find out?" was the first thing Jisoo asked Rosé when she arrived at the restaurant, she barely could contain her curiosity.

"Remember what we said the last time when we were sitting here? The wish?"

"Yeah, I remember, we both wished the same thing, to teach Lisa and Jennie a lesson-" Jisoo gasped, her mouth wide open. "Do you really think our wish came true?"

"Yes. Look at this." Rosé pointed to the wall, where an old photo was hanging. It showed the face of a very old Chinese lady, and in small letters at the bottom a short sentence was written: "Be careful what you wish for."

"Oh god. I normally don't believe in stuff like that but this must be it." Jisoo paused abruptly, noticing that and old lady from the photo approached their table with a mysterious smile.

"Good evening, do you maybe... do you maybe had something to do with what happened to my friend and her sister yesterday?" Rosé asked the elderly woman, who pointed to her mouth and shook her head. "Oh, I'm sorry, you can't talk." Rosé understood. "But you can answer yes or no, right?" she asked and the lady confirmed by nodding.

"So was it you who switched their minds?"

The woman nodded again.

"Why?"

The woman just pointed a finger at the girls.

"Because of us? Because of our wish?"

The lady nodded for the third time, her face still showing an enigmatic smile.

"How's that even possible?" Jisoo couldn't help asking, but the woman's expression didn't change even for a bit. Then she shrugged and pointed to the sentence in the photo. "Anyway, it doesn't really matter, can you switch them back?"

The old lady shook her head again.

"What? You can't do that? So what, they're going to stay like that forever?" Rosé's voice sounded a little panicky. The Chinese woman outstretched her hand and showed them two fingers. Jisoo understood immediately:

"Two days? This switching thing will end after two days?"

The lady nodded and both girls sighed with relief.

"Are you sure you can't do anything sooner?"

But the old lady was already turning away from them. The girls watched in astonishment how she slowly walked away and disappeared in the kitchen.

"I still can't believe that it really happened." Rosé said. "The world is full of strange mysteries."

"Yeah, me neither. I just hope she's right and it will all go back to normal after two days." Jisoo answered, still a little uneasy.

"Don't worry, it will." Rosé's confidence was really reassuring.

"I wonder if Lisa and Jennie will get into trouble during these two days, living as each other."

"Oh, I'm sure they will, but maybe it's what needed to happen to make them understand each other."

Jisoo nodded in agreement. "By the way I can't believe how smart you are, that was brilliant." she blurted out without even thinking and immediately felt flustered about it. "I mean... you really are, you managed to find out what happened and all..." she began explaining awkwardly, when she noticed that Rosé seemed even more embarrassed.

"Thanks." the silver-haired girl cleared her throat, using all her willpower trying not to blush. "Should we meet with Jennie and Lisa today and tell them the news?" she asked to move past the awkward moment.

"Yeah, let's do that." Jisoo replied, relieved with the change of topic.