Chapter 44

Jennie's POV

"Jen. You're spacing out again." Rosé bumped my shoulder slightly. I blink for a few times and diverted my eyes towards Rosé who is looking at me worriedly.

"Sorry." I muttered softly and went back on where I was staring before Rosé interrupted.

I instantly regretted that I look once again to where I was looking before. I felt my throat became dry and my heart clench at the sight of Lisa flirting with another girl.

"Whoa. That monkey really turn into something. Imagine, she's flirting with almost different girls every day." Jisoo said.

Lisa didn't appear for the rest of our tour in Jeju. We heard from Ms. Moonbyul that she excused herself for the reason that there's an emergency that she needs to attend to. And of course, Ms. Moonbyul being a considerate teacher, she didn't think twice to believe what she said.

I really thought that Lisa left the country but what happened was worse than I expected. She stayed, which was supposed to make me happy because I'll be still seeing her and I still have the chance to explain everything to her. But I was taken aback when we came back to the university.

Lisa wasn't attending our classes. I thought she was just sick or maybe she needed some space. It didn't take me too long to found out that Lisa already change classes. And the painful part is, every time we met at the hallway, she never failed to give me a cold shoulder and worse, I can always see her flirting with different girls that I'm pretty sure is head over heels to her.

I always find myself chasing after her, begging for her time, begging for her to hear me out. But Lisa never did give me a chance. It seems like she ignored my pure existence. I cannot complain though, I am the main reason why Lisa changed. If only I was just one step ahead, if only... Then maybe,

Lisa is mine already.

"Come on Jen. We will be late." Rosé said and held my hand. I gave her a weak smile and nodded.

I took a one last glance to Lisa and I felt a cold shiver run down to my spine when her eyes met mine. That was the first time that Lisa spare me a single look and I wasn't happy with that.

Why?

Her eyes where blank. Emotionless.

And that was the most painful thing that I've encountered.

"I noticed that you haven't chased Lisa for a while now. Did you already give up, Jen?" Jisoo asked before taking her seat. I took a deep breathe before answering her question.

"No. It's not like that. It's more like, I don't have any choice left." I gave them a weak smile and both of them gave me a warm hug.

"Yah. Stop. You'll make me cry." I joked. The two chuckled and pulled away.

"Rosie. You're still living with that monkey right? Why don't you try to talk some sense to her? I'm pretty sure, Lisa will listen to you." Jisoo suggested.

"I'm always trying, but that blonde has a lot of excuses and she has been coming home late this days." Rosé said.

"What?" Jisoo asked. A hint of surprise was visible to her voice. She and Lisa haven't been able to hangout lately since Jisoo is always with me and Lisa was clearly avoiding me and I can't help but to feel guilty.

"It's true! There was a time that Lisa went home past midnight and she was reeking-" Rosé quickly covered her mouth to stop herself from talking when she noticed how my eyes widened.

Lisa was drinking? Is she drowning herself with alcohol because of me?

I felt my heart tighten because of the fact that Lisa was suffering because of me. I chuckled dryly when I realized how pathetic I am.

The class hours passed by without me, paying attention to whatever the teacher was saying. My mind was clouded with thoughts. I left the classroom without saying goodbye to my friends. I have no energy left to bid goodbye anyway. For now, I just want to go home and take a rest.

I was walking down the hallway with my head hung low. A few strands of hair was covering my eyes so I wasn't able to see the way clearly but I don't care until I bumped into someone. I softly mouthed an apology but the person who I bumped into was not moving an inch. I slowly lifted up my head only to gasp in horror.

"L-Lisa?" My voice was shaking. She's just staring at me with those cold eyes of hers, not saying any single word.

I can't count how many times I gulped. Beads of sweats are starting to form at my forehead. My hands are shaking. I closed my eyes and gathered all my courage, this is now my chance to talk to her.

It's now or never.

"Lisa-yah!"

I was on the verge of opening my mouth when suddenly a green-haired girl interrupted. She's not the one that I saw flirting with Lisa this morning. She wrapped her arms around Lisa's neck while wearing a flirty smirk.

"Let's go?" She said in a flirty way. I clenched my fist, this girl is getting on my nerves.

"Yeah." Lisa said.

I saw how she flashed a smile to the flirtatious girl and how she swiftly held her hand. I held tightly both straps of my bag and hung my head low. I dryly chuckle. So this is how Lisa feels every time she sees me and Hanbin? Damn. I didn't imagine that this was going to hurt so much.

--

Days, weeks, and months have passed and still, Lisa's treatment to me was still the same. It didn't change even a single bit. I tried making efforts such as leaving letters at her locker but eventually, I gave up. Lisa never hesitate to throw the things that I gave right into the bin, even though she knew that I was watching.

Lisa didn't care about me anymore.

But no, I still have my last card. I'll try to fix everything right before the graduation ends. If Lisa is still mad at me by that time, then I have no choice but to stay away from her life.

Forever.

"Whoa. What's with the morning rush?" Jisoo asked. Rosé held my shoulders for support as she was trying to regain her breathing. It's still early, I wonder what gotten to her mind and she decided to run all the way to here.

"I- Lisa- gone." Rosé said between her breathes.

"Yah! Speak clearly!" Jisoo yelled, slightly annoyed because we can't understand what Rosé was trying to say.

"Breathe Rosie. Breathe." I said softly and rubbed her back, as if it was going to help her.

"Okay. So this morning, when I woke up, there was no Lisa. I thought that she would be out for a morning jog or what but when I was about to leave, she's still not around. I decided to check upstairs to see if she's on her room but she's not!" Rosé said.

"So? What's with the rush? Lisa might went to school earlier than you." Jisoo said. I saw how Rosé's eyes mirrored horror which made my throat dry. I have a feeling that this is not going to be good.

"The scariest part is, her closet, her uniform was the only one left in there! And her travel bag, it was gone." Rosé said in a shaking voice. Both me and Jisoo, dropped our jaw in surprised. A few minutes of silence engulfed the space between the three of us until Jisoo decided to break the ice.

"What the hell is she doing? The graduation is just a week away!" She exclaimed. I hurriedly run towards the bulletin board and checked the graduation list. There's no doubt that Lisa will graduate but I might as well make sure of it. I sighed in relief when I saw Lisa's name at the list.

"There's her name! But why did she left?" Rosé said.

"There's no need to worry. She'll be back." I said, trying to convince myself that everything will be alright.

"Yeah. That monkey can't miss the graduation right?" Jisoo said enthusiastically and put her arms around Rosé's and I shoulder.

--

"I can't believe you're graduating already." My Dad sniffed as he pulled me for a hug.

"I didn't know that my Dad was still a kid." I teased and hugged him back.

"Yah. I just can't imagine that my daughter is going to leave me sooner." He said and cried loudly.

"Dad. I'm just going to college, it's not like I'm going to leave you forever." I said and pulled away from our hug. "I'm going to visit every now and then okay?" I said. Dad just nodded and wiped away his tears. I laughed, he really acts like a kid even though he's my father.

"I'll be waiting for you at the car." He said and planted a kiss at my forehead.

I took a one last look of myself at the mirror. This is it. This would be my final move. I'll make sure that Lisa and I will be together before this day end.

We've arrived at the school's auditorium where the graduation rites will be held. I quickly roamed my eyes around, trying to find her. My eyes sparkle when I saw Lisa. I'm currently facing her back but that blonde hair of hers, I'm pretty sure that she's Lisa.

I hurriedly walk towards her and tapped her shoulder.

"Jennie!"

"R- Rosé? W-What happened t-to your hair?"

"Oh. I dyed it blonde obviously." She said and rolled her eyes.

"Yah! I mean, why?"

"Because I'm Lisa's twin! And I want to surprise her. Finally, I convinced my mom for me to have a same hair color as hers." She explained. I hung my head low and sighed in disappointment.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"I thought you are her. I was pretty excited though." I pouted.

"Oh shit. Blondsé!" Jisoo yelled which earned our both attention. She was smiling widely as she walked towards us.

"You look a lot prettier with that hair color chipmunk. She added. I saw a tint of blush right at Rosé's cheeks which made me narrowed my eyes at the both of them. There's something fishy going on between this two. But I was stopped gathering evidences when Jisoo pulled me and Rosé for a hug at the same time.

"Finally! We're going to live together after this!" She said excitedly.

"Yeah. But it will be more fun if Lisa will be included." Rosé said sadly.

"Don't worry. We made a promise right? Lisa wasn't the type of person who broke promises." I said and sent a small smile at her.

"Yeah. But I haven't seen Lisa yet. Do you think she will come? Because if she didn't..." Jisoo didn't have the chance to continue what she was going to say because suddenly someone announced that the ceremony will start and we need to go to our respective seats.

The graduation rites come to an end and Lisa was still nowhere to be found. Her name was called earlier, but there was no sight of her. I guess this is her way of saying that I need to stop bothering her.

--

"Dad, can you please stop crying?" I said.

My Dad has been crying for minutes and doesn't want to let me go. Today is the day that we're going to Seoul, the day right after our graduation. There's no time to waste, since the entrance exam for the university that we choose is getting nearer.

"I still can't believe that you will be far away from me." He said.

"I already told you, I'm going to call and visit you every once in a while." I said. He was going to whine again when a honk of a car interrupted. I hurriedly went outside and saw Rosé and Jisoo waiting. I saw the car same as Lisa's, I believe it was Jisoo's. She repeatedly asked her parents to buy this kind of car.

"I need to go. Bye!" I said and dashed towards the car.

"Are you ready?" Jisoo said.

"Seoul, here we come!" Rosé said excitedly. Jisoo turned the music on and drove the car to Seoul.

I crossed my arms and diverted my attention at the scenery outside the car window. Even though the scene was relaxing, I still can't stop myself from wondering why Lisa didn't show up yesterday. It was pretty odd to think that Lisa would miss such an important event.

"Are you okay?" Rosé asked from the passenger seat.

"Yeah. Why?"

"You're spacing out. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yup. Anyway, how did you find the place that we're going to live Chu?" I asked.

"Someone sent me an email about it." She said casually.

"And you agreed in an instant?"

"Yeah. It says that we should just take care of the house instead of paying a rent. Who wouldn't say no for free rent right?" Jisoo said confidently. I scoffed hearing what she said, I can't believe Jisoo will be this easy to deceive.

"Yah! You're such an idiot! What if we get in trouble?! Damn. You're not using your mind Jisoo!" Rosé angrily yelled. I bit the inside of my cheeks to stop myself from laughing. Jisoo can't protect herself from Rosé's hits because she need to focus on driving so she can't do anything but to scream in pain and repeatedly asking Rosé to stop.

The sun is still up when we arrived at the front of the house. Our jaw dropped when we saw how beautiful it is. It was simple, but yet, elegant. I still can't believe that got this type of house for free.

"There's something wrong going on here." Rosé said and narrowed her eyes.

"What? Having this kind of house for free? There's nothing going wrong here chipmunk. We're just lucky!" She exclaimed and spread her arms while smiling widely.

"If this house is haunted, I'm out." I said and glared at Jisoo but the latter didn't care and walk towards the door.

The door wasn't locked and that thing surprised us. Maybe the one who offered this house was waiting inside. That person must knew that we're coming. Yeah, that must be it.

We went inside the house and the interior was breath taking. It seems like it was designed by a professional.

"Oh. Hi." A dark-brown haired girl, wearing a black shirt greeted us. Her smile reaches her eyes. It was so bright and refreshing.

"Hi. You must be the owner?" Rosé asked.

"No. Wait, you must be her friends! Come in!" She cheerfully said. The cheerful girl, led us to the living room.

"Wait here, I'll go get her." She said and went upstairs.

We freely scanned the whole living room and our jaw dropped again in amusement. It was very clean and bright. The owner must be a meticulous one. There's no sign of any single dirt.

I was startled when something brush of against my feet. It was a cat, but my eyes widened in shock. With shaking hands, I carefully picked it up and put it in my lap.

"What a cutie." Rosé said and started petting the cat.

"I think I've seen that cat." Jisoo said and rubbed her chin while thinking thoroughly.

"This is Lisa's cat." I said which made the both of them gasped.

"What? Are you sure? Cats looks almost the same." Jisoo said.

"Yeah. You must be mistaken Jennie." Rosé added.

"No. I'm not. I'm pretty sure this is Leo. I'm the one who bought him, I can't be wrong." I said.

A clattering sound coming from the kitchen made us jumped in surprise. The three of us threw a knowing look at each other. I carefully put Leo down, and walked towards where the sound came from. Rosé and Jisoo followed me, they must be curious on what I said about Leo.