Chapter Text
a lot of people talk about kim jennie.
like, a rumor went around a while ago that one time after school, she beat up three guys who had been catcalling her in the hallway that day. someone once said she volunteers at the library and reads to kids during story hour, and according to no less than four reliable sources, she possesses the uncanny ability to speak loudly and clearly with her mouth closed.
at this point, it’s uncertain whether anyone has ever managed to get a decent grasp on her character, but people talk anyway.
it’s not like jisoo really pays attention to what people say. to be fair, she’s not exactly what you’d call perfect - just a couple weeks ago she somehow got caught in the middle of some drama involving the basketball coach’s daughter and the head cheerleader - but she likes to think that she’s fairly innocent when it comes to high school gossip. most of what she’s heard is pretty out there, like that one story about how jennie’s dad used to be in a gang and killed three guys, and taught jennie how to fight with knives and stuff. like, yeah, it’s a good story, but it’s truly astounding how people actually believe everything that’s been said about her. and a lot of it is really… out there. cute stories like the library one go around from time to time, but the majority of them are about jennie’s secret life as the daughter of a crime lord, so…
jisoo, personally, thinks most of it is bullshit. yeah, jennie is a little intimidating, the quiet and reserved type, and jisoo would be lying if she said she’d never gotten nervous about being in close proximity to her. but that’s a different story. on the whole, she’s just too cute to be as badass as everyone seems to think.
not that jisoo knows her personally. or has ever spoken to her. or has ever been acknowledged by her on any level. but she’s cute, okay. she kind of reminds jisoo of a cat? anyway.
it’s actually a lie that jennie has never acknowledged jisoo’s existence, if she’s being completely honest. during lunch today, while some guy on the student council was making an announcement about homecoming tickets over the loudspeaker, jisoo looked up from her overpriced pizza slice, and jennie was kind of… staring at her. from across the whole cafeteria. and then she immediately looked away, of course, which jisoo understands, because she knows from personal experience how embarrassing it is to get caught looking at people, but it was cute. whether she meant to be looking at her or she was just spacing out is an unsolved mystery, but, like… jennie was looking right at her.
jisoo doesn’t really pay much attention to rumors, but one thing she hasn't been able to get out of her head is that one story everyone was telling a few months ago about how jennie kissed a girl in sophomore year.
there’s something you should know about kim jisoo, if you haven’t figured it out by now: she has a bit of a crush on kim jennie.
there’s something else you should know about kim jisoo: her “bit of a crush” on kim jennie is maybe a lot of a crush. she’s maybe liked her since maybe 8th grade. maybe.
okay, actually, she’s been secretly admiring jennie for the better part of four years. lisa thinks it’s cute. jisoo thinks lisa is being really annoying about the whole thing, but she also thinks jennie is cute, so she mostly just ignores lisa.
however, with how very little jennie actually talks at school, and with how very much people are always talking about her, there’s not really anything solid that jisoo can say she for sure, 100% knows about her. and that’s…
that’s kind of sad. as lisa has pointed out many times.
jisoo isn’t too torn up about it, though. her crush isn’t this big, huge, massive problem in her life. she doesn’t think about jennie 24/7. like, sometimes she gets butterflies when she spots her in the halls, or turns around during ap chem and sees her working in the back row, or passes her when she’s walking to her bus at the end of the day. it’s not a big deal. but it’s still there, and jisoo is only human.
so she can’t concentrate in any of her classes for the rest of the day, because she’s still overanalyzing the little incident that happened at lunch, and the only thing her brain manages to come up with by 7th period is “wow, jennie is cute.”
well, at least she can’t argue with herself about that.
…
“unnie!”
jisoo hears the squeal and braces herself just before lisa comes running out of nowhere and tackles her in a hug. the momentum is still too strong, despite jisoo attempting to stand her ground, and both of them would have been thrown to the ground if jisoo hadn’t frantically grabbed onto the conveniently placed pillar in the hall that’s saved them from certain tragedy too many times to count. lisa is just a bit… excited. all the time. and she likes hugs. that pillar is probably the only reason neither of them have been seriously injured at some point during the past two years.
“oh my god, lisa,” jisoo whines. “i saw you, like, three hours ago. don’t you have any friends?”
“i missed you,” lisa pouts, leaning closer.
“no, lisa, no kisses.” jisoo shoves lisa away from her body and, thankfully, she stays too far to safely give one of her infamous pecks on the cheek. “bad girl.”
lisa just giggles, her smile taking over her whole face.
“i’m not actually a dog, unnie,” she says.
“yes, you are,” jisoo insists. she reaches out to ruffle lisa’s thick black hair. “you’re my cute little puppy and you do what i say like a good dongsaeng, right?”
“okay, unnie.”
“good girl,” jisoo coos. “but no kisses.” she holds up a finger and shakes it scoldingly.
lisa sighs. “okay, unnie,” she agrees, following when jisoo turns to walk down the hallway to the door.
“do you want ice cream?” jisoo suddenly offers. “i really want pistachio. i’ve never had it. it sounds weird.”
“are you buying?”
“of course i am.” she’s honestly offended that lisa thinks she’d make her pay for her own ice cream. “you’re a puppy, i have to take care of you.”
“you know that half the school thinks we have some weird pet kink, right?”
jisoo scoffs. “you’re, like, twelve. you’re too young to have any kinks. besides, who cares what they think? most of them still believe kim jennie shot a mafia boss in the knee with the last bullet left in the gun. i wouldn’t trust them if they told me the sky was blue.”
lisa is silent. when jisoo opens the door and looks at her, both of her eyebrows are raised.
“what?” she scoffs.
“nothing,” lisa says innocently. “just… that’s the third time this week that you’ve randomly mentioned jennie in one of our conversations.”
“okay, so?”
“it’s only tuesday, unnie.”
jisoo scoffs again.
“it’s not like my feelings are a big secret, lisa. it would take anyone about two seconds to figure out i have a crush on her.”
“yeah, but you’re just…” lisa trails off frustratedly. “yesterday you started getting really… obvious?”
jisoo stops at the end of the sidewalk, grabbing onto lisa’s shoulder and stopping her, too. she looks around, making sure no one is paying attention to them, before leaning in conspiratorially.
“okay, yesterday, at lunch,” she explains in a hurried whisper, “jennie was looking at me.”
lisa stares at her.
“there are hundreds of people in the cafeteria during each lunch hour,” she points out. “is it really that unlikely that some of them would look at each other sometimes?”
“no, no, i mean, she was looking at me,” jisoo groans. “like, right at me. i’m pretty sure it wasn’t an accident, too.”
she crosses her fingers, hopes, prays, that lisa won’t immediately shoot down her enthusiasm. this is the first glimmer of hope she’s seen in a long time, since that rumor started that jennie might like girls.
lisa takes in a breath. jisoo does, too. lisa lets out her breath slowly. jisoo holds hers.
“that’s pretty cute,” lisa admits. jisoo sighs in relief and starts walking again, threading her fingers between lisa’s to pull her along.
“isn’t it, though?” she gushes. “she’s so cute, lisa, help. i’m gonna die if she gets any cuter.”
“don’t worry, unnie, i’ll be sure to say lots of nice things at your funeral.”
“bad girl, lisa, so disrespectful,” jisoo scolds, tugging her hand free once more. “see if i ever buy you ice cream again, brat.” lisa grins.
jisoo gets pistachio, and two scoops of strawberry for lisa.