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Jennie knows you like her. She also understands that she likes you too. She hasn't said anything because you were always by her side. She also says nothing because she wants you to confess first; it's easier for her when you show your emotions first. It gives her confidence.
That was the foundation of your guys' relationship.. Ever since she met you at the age of seven in front of the park next to her apartment, you had always expressed yourself openly. You also have never left her side. It was annoying at first. To have you follow her like a lost puppy and randomly confess your current thoughts to her, but now she's used to it. It's almost strange when you're not next to her, holding her hand or telling her that you don't particularly like a specific boy or girl who is trying to hit on her.
Today, in particular, Jennie notices that your presence is missing. She didn't like this feeling one bit. It's like forgetting your phone when you go out for the night- a presence that shouldn't be important but your heart just yearns for it when it's missing.
Jennie feels vulnerable.
The burnette checks her phone for any missed calls or texts from you. Nothing. The radio silence from you is deafening
You would always text her at least every fifteen minutes when you were away from her - mostly sending memes but she always found it endearing. She tosses her phone at the edge of her bed and dramatically falls on top of her body pillow. Her arms wrap around the unicorn plush you bought for her randomly. It smells like you, which she's grateful for. It slightly eases the hollowness floating in her heart.
She thinks about her crush on you. She doesn't know when it started, but she figures it is similar to what Rose said about her crush on Lisa: a blizzard that quietly pushes over night when you're sleeping, and when you wake up, it's a pleasant surprise. Pleasant is right, she doesn't mind her crush on you. She knows you wont hurt her- or she knows she can trust you with her heart. Surprise? Is her crush even a surprise? She kind of assumed you two would naturally end up together
For the longest time ever, she was sure the two of you were soulmates. Like, what are the odds that the two of you owned the same couple teddy bear and blanket at the age of seven? Okay. . .maybe the odds were bigger back then due to the couple bear being popular, but still.
Jennie starts to think about your crush on her. You had never openly confessed your feelings for her, but you were obvious, and she knows you know how obvious you can be too. The random gifts you give her, always giving her the last bite of whatever food item you bought for yourself, staying close when the two of you go out to parties; your affection toward her is endless. Jennie knows she isn't great with affection, but when it comes from you, it's almost normal for her to give in.
Jennie then starts to wonder when you developed a crush on her. Was it back when you two first met, or that one night when you comforted her because her dog passed away? Or maybe when you told each other what your dreams were and where you wanted to be in the future? Perhaps it was it when you told her you liked girls as much as you did boys? There were so many moments where your crush could have started, but you didn't let that faze the relationship between the two of you. You always respected her and you never crossed the line she didn't mind you crossing.
Her mind goes off into a trance. She remembers your smile that makes her smile too. She remembers your laugh that would melt the stress of her shoulders and she remembers the touch of your fingers that managed to break down the walls surrounding her heart. Jennie's heart flutters from the reminder that you make her life so much better.
But not right now. Right now you're making her suffer. She misses you so much that it physically hurts. But she won't text you first, that's not her and it won't be her. She's comfortable with you coming to her first. She trusts you to pull her away from her shell more than herself. She hugs your gifted unicorn tighter, as if her life depends on it.
She needs you.
Her phone beeps and she's already unlocking her phone by the time she realizes the text is from Lisa. She groans and tosses her phone away from her again. Lisa was also asking for you, but Jennie hasn't heard from you all morning. Where were you? What on earth were you doing without her?
Another beep comes from her phone, but Jennie takes her time to grab it, thinking it's another text from Lisa. But it isn't, it's from your mom.
Y/N's Mom: Jendeuk! It's Y/N! Sorry, I lost my phone this morning at the park. Come down at five!
Jennie can feel her mouth stretch upwards. She falls back down on her pillow before replying back a quick ,'okay :)'. You finally reached out to her and she feels all the stress of you missing disappear. She looks at the time and she gets up to see you in the lobby.
She sees you talking to the receptionist and even though you're a few meters away, she can feel your warmth just from your smile. But she plays it cool, keeping herself collected so you don't know she's been missing you all morning.
"Jendeuk!" You smile, wrapping an arm over her shoulder. Jennie frowns a bit, wanting a bit more than a shoulder hug.
"How did you lose your phone?" She asks. Your hand slips down and perfectly fits into hers. She casually brings you towards the elevator.
"Ah, ya know. . .went bike riding with my cousins, realized I lost my phone halfway during the bike ride, and couldn't find it." You reply as if this was a normal situation. You squeeze her hand, which makes her heart flutter. "Sorry I didn't text you until now."
"Are you going to get a new one?" She purposely ignores your apology, but the both of you know she's already forgiven you. She drags you out of the elevator and the walk to her apartment door starts to feel comfortable, like Jennie could do this all day, everyday, with you in her hand.
"Dad already ordered one before I came here. Should be on Monday." You casually slip your shoes off once Jennie closes the door behind her.
"Monday?" Jennie's voice rises slightly and she hopes you don't catch that. She doesn't think she can handle you not texting her for the next two days.
"What? You gonna miss me?" You tease as you go to her fridge and grab the pint of milk flavored ice cream. "Don't worry Jennie, it'll go by fast."
Jennie rolls her eyes, not because of what you said, but because you don't know the intensity of her feelings for you and that two days will actually feel like years for her. Jennie goes into her room, you following close behind, scooping ice cream in your mouth.
Jennie turns around to tell you something, but she finds herself in shock when her cheeks almost knock into the spoon of ice cream you were going to feed her. She could feel cheeks flush and she quickly took the ice cream in her mouth, hoping it would cool her cheeks down. It doesn't, in fact, it makes it worse because you use your thumb to wipe off the excess ice cream on the corner of her lip. Her heart speeds and she quickly dives into her bed, internally screaming her lungs out.
"What did you do all day, Jendeuk?" You sprawl over her floor, using her big teddy bear that she got from her parents, as a head rest. You notice it's a bit humid in her room, Jennie probably hasn't left her bed to turn up the AC.
I thought about you. Jennie wants to say, but she holds her tongue. She's not quite sure she wants to confess first- even though your crush on her was well known.
Jennie shrugs and rolls her body off the edge of her bed so she could sit on the floor with you, her legs barely touching yours. You pass her the pint of ice cream and roll to your side so you can face her. The silence between the two of you should be comfortable, but Jennie notices this time that it's a bit intimidating. "Lisa was asking for you." Jennie brings up, so she can get her mind off of you- just for a second.
"Oh yeah, I told her I'd text her more details about the dance competition." You lay back down on your back, your hands clasp under your head as support. "You should come! I'm dancing, your support would help me."
Jennie bites her lips. Are you being casual or are you flirting with her? Maybe the latter. Yeah, it has to be because you like her so much. She holds her breath when you sit up and scoot over to her. She wonders if your heart is beating as fast as hers. Are you feeling nervous too? You answer that when you nudge her shoulder with a light laugh coming from the back of your throat.
"Jen, I can feel your anxiety rub off on me. What's wrong?"
"When did you start to have a crush on me?" Jennie asks. Her question startles her. She did something she wasn't used to. When she looks at you, you're smiling like an embarrassed five year old who's been asked about their crush.
"I'm that obvious?" You chuckle and wiggle your toes. You take Jennie's silence as a yes. "Maybe back when we were 15? When you convinced me to go to that lame winter dance during high school."
That long? Jennie is suprise that you're honest with your crush about her, but when are you never straightforward? That means, you've liked her for a little over six years now. But what made your feelings stay?
"You've liked me for that long?"
"Well, my crush on you has been neutral. I guess it's safe to, I don't mind having a crush on you; I can trust you with my feelings."
Jennie feels her heart swell. You trust her as much as she trusts you. This is why Jennie likes you. This is why Jennie doesn't mind her crush on you too.
"You're not scared of one-sided feelings? What if I hurt you? What happens if I like someone else?" Jennie feels braver now, especially since you technically confessed first. She studies your face. She swears she sees something sad flash in your eyes, but you give out a little pout before looking at her.
"Hmm, I'd be okay. You wouldn't play me like that- which is why I'm fine with you knowing about my crush. Besides, I think just knowing I'm your friend is enough for me," You pause which makes Jennie curious. Jennie thinks this is the first time you hesitate with what you want to say. What's making you hesitate? "Is there - do you like someone right now?"
Jennie feels her eyes widen and her mouth is left ajar. Are you asking if she likes someone? Her heart swells in a weird way, and it's not like the swelling she gets when she feels the butterflies in her stomach. It's more of an anxious swelling, like something was wrong.
Jennie can't possibly think of liking someone besides you right now. The thought of liking someone else makes Jennie feel like she's cheating on you. It kind of hurts her heart.
"No!" Jennie shouts, but she feels her face flush. She can imagine how red her cheeks must be. "I mean, I do. But you don't have to worry."
She sees your eyes sadden, but also sees how quickly you adjust yourself with a smile.
"Hmm, this person must be special if I don't have to worry," you look down to your lap. Jennie sees the sadness growing in your face. Goodness, you were never good at hiding your feelings.
Jennie can't stand you like this. She knows you said you would be okay if she likes someone else, but she also knows that it isn't easy getting over such feelings too.
Jennie decides she will do something she thought she wouldn't do so soon. She grabs your hand but still doesn't build the courage to look at you.
"Y/n," Jennie starts and clears her throat, "the person I like is you."
"Oh."
After a pause, Jennie decides to look up at you and you have your stupid toothy smile plastered on your face. Jennie lets go of your hand and looks away.
"Don't give me that look. I know that means you're going to tease me!" Jennie starts to get up on her feet, but you pull her back down.
"No! I'm not going to tease you. I just - when did - it's nice to see you admitting your feelings truthfully," You stutter and it makes Jennie laugh, "hey! Don't- stop laughing!"
"You've never stuttered like that before," Jennie smiles. She can feel her smile stretch up to her ears.
"Yeah because you just confessed you like me! You know what that does to a person? Especially someone who has waited for six years for their feelings to be reciprocated? It does a lot!" You smile back, your tone never holding any malice or anger.
"What makes my confession any different from yours?"
"Nothing! I just," you pause and scoot closer to her, "when it comes to this type of stuff, you always seemed. . . sensitive? Embarrassed?"
"We'll, I guess I realized there's nothing to be embarrassed of when it comes to you. I mean, look at your socks," Jennie looks at your mismatched holiday socks - Halloween and Christmas are months away yet you wear them in the middle of summer. For being best friends for so long, she would hope her fashion sense would've rubbed on you too. But she guesses it's one of the perks of being friends with you.
Friends. . . Now that the two of you have confessed to each other, where does your relationship stand?
"As long as I'm wearing socks," she hears you mumble as you defeatedly criss-cross your legs to hide your feet. "so. . . what are we then if we both like-like each other?"
Oh, so you're thinking about the same thing too.
"Well," Jennie starts off again, "we've technically have been on dates ever since we've met. We also know so much about each other. . ."
What would one call this new arising relationship? Nothing has really changed besides the fact the two of you like each other way more than the term best friend.
"Hmm, maybe nothing changes," you say. You rub your chin like a detective on a tv show. Jennie could see the gears shifting in your head, "I mean, Lisa practically says we're a couple, along with Jisoo. And our parents always tease us about getting married to each other. So maybe we just confirm their teases and continue like we always do."
"I get what you're saying," Jennie nods in agreement. She understands your thought process. Irene and Rosé are the same. Always stating how the two of you are practically a couple without the label, "yeag, maybe we don't do anything. I mean, regardless of labels, I know you and I are always meant to be with each other."
"I like that," you smile and scoot closer to Jennie and give her a quick peck on her cheek, "since I kissed you first, you don't have to wait for me anymore. Just do it whenever you feel comfortable."
Jennie blushes at your statement. You know her too well. But she's glad you did that. It gave her more confidence about being more open with her feelings towards you.
The burnette also gives you a quick peck on the cheek and she laughs at how fast your ears turn red.
"When did you get so bold!" You say hiding your face in the palms of your hands. You shake your head in embarrassment.
"Only for you, Y/n," Jennie says as she gives you another peck on the top of your head.