Love in the Time of Quarantine | Jensoo

Chapter 1

The email came through at 11:03 am on Wednesday. The entire student body was directed to pack up and go home. Campus was closing because of the pandemic. It wouldn't have been so alarming had the students not been told to actually pack up all of their belongings. It felt final, like the end, but there was still meant to be months of school left.

Of course, classes would resume in one week online, but it left little time for Jisoo to figure things out. Where was she going to go? Coming to college had been a pipe dream growing up, her foster parents weren't particularly kind and, as expected, once Jisoo turned eighteen they were gone from her life completely - another child fostered and a new check in their bank account. Jisoo fought for everything she had, including the full-ride scholarship she'd received from Seoul National University.

Freshman Year, Jisoo spent the summer with her cousin, Seulgi, but at the time, Seulgi was a senior and she had an apartment off campus. Jisoo didn't even meet Seulgi until she was 17, didn't know she had any family left, until, after one particularly bad fight with her 'parents' Jisoo had spent hours scouring the internet for her aunt and uncle - people she hardly remembered. Now, Seulgi was putting her degree to use fighting big corporations and, as a result, was halfway across the globe holed up in a hotel under quarantine.

"I'm sorry, Jisoo. I really am, but I can't leave. I'm living out of a hotel for crying out loud - I can barely get out to get food. This is a fucking nightmare. I wish I could help, you know that. I'll cashapp you some money, just let me know how much, but that's all I can do for now."

February of her sophomore year had been the best month of her collegiate experience, or well, that's what she thought at the time. It was the month she met Soojoo. Jisoo had never felt anything like that before, like the love she felt for Soojoo. She had big, beautiful brown eyes that were so full of wonder, and it was exciting exploring new things with her. And it had been amazing, but Soojoo wasn't interested in staying at Seoul National and, even though Jisoo knew that, she wasn't prepared for the day Soojoo transferred to a college on the other side of the country.

"We'll be okay, Jisoo, I promise. People do the long-distance thing all the time!"

The long-distance thing. Their entire relationship had been reduced to a thing, and Jisoo knew then that it was a lost cause. But, in true Jisoo fashion, she held on. She kept hoping, kept calling and texting, kept up the charade for as long as she could, until one day she got a phone call.

"Jisoo. Listen. I'm so sorry, but... I met someone and I still love you, like, I always will love you, but it's just... it's too hard to keep doing this."

That summer, she had planned to spend it with Soojoo. Seulgi was out of the country on her first big case and Jisoo had nowhere to go. Her luck turned around when she found an advertisement for a local summer camp in need of counselors - it was a sleep-away camp and she would have somewhere to live all summer long; it was the perfect solution. Jisoo had planned on returning this summer, had it all squared away, but now the damn apocalypse had decided to come in the middle of March and she was completely and utterly screwed.

She read and re-read every news article she could find, she searched roommate finder apps hoping something would pop up, but nobody, it seemed, wanted a stranger moving in right now, not with everything going on. So, even though Jisoo knew it was a long shot, she had to try.

And that is how Jennie Kim, her obnoxiously outgoing and way-too-attractive roommate, found her that afternoon - on the phone with Soojoo.

"I get that, Soojoo, I'm not saying... No, I know we broke up... No! This is not me trying to get back with you, Soojoo, come on!... I just need somewhere to stay, that's all!... Okay, no I get it, Soojoo... It's fine... Yeah, thanks for nothing."