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“So wait, Jennie, you’re just gonna let these people try to catch your pet cat, Snowy, so they can win your hand in marriage?” Jisoo said as they sat down in their seats after meeting up with one another. “But why a cat?” was Rosé’s question to her. “Well, that’s the tradition of my family; a family pet is used, and even if I don’t want to, I can’t do anything about it,” she explained to Rosé. Then they noticed Lisa was silent on this matter. “So, Lisa, are you going to contribute to this conversation?” Jisoo said with an amused tone, looking at the girl who is usually loud.
Those words made Lisa realize they were staring. “So wait, you’re gonna get the cat hurt? Like, you know the guys here will do anything to get your hand in marriage, right?” Lisa worriedly told Jennie, who lightly smiled at her. “I understand your worry, Lisa. I have taken measures to protect my cat from harm,” she reassured Lisa, who wasn’t comforted by what she said. “Wait, I didn’t know you owned a cat,” Rosé said. “Oh, uh, yeah, I adopted her years ago,” Jennie explained to Rosé, who nodded. “But why haven’t we seen her whenever we visit your house?” Lisa then asked her. “Well, she mostly stays at my mom’s house, and Jisoo can vouch for me,” Jennie said, looking at her cousin, who nodded.
After seeing that Jisoo knows, Lisa wanted to know more about Snowy, but she’ll ask her about that later. After they hung out, the four of them then left the place, and Lisa and Rosé started walking to their shared house. “So, what are you gonna do?” Rosé asked her. “Huh?” Lisa said in a confused tone. “You’re not gonna take this to get Jennie’s hand?” Rosé questioned her. “Chaeng, I don’t think I even deserve her, but I promised myself to try and protect Snowy from anyone who will harm the cat while they try to catch it,” Lisa replied to Rosé, who wanted to say something but kept quiet about it.
--
It was time, and Lisa went to the designated place where the challenge would take place. There, she saw what Snowy looked like; it was a very fluffy cat. Then the game began, but before that, everyone was informed about the security measures: if a suitor tried to harm a cat, whether they caught it with or without traps, they would be immediately disqualified from the challenge. It didn’t surprise Lisa to see men and women at the event since everyone loves Jennie. When it began, they let the cat out, and it immediately ran off, with everyone following where the cat was heading. Of course, Lisa followed but reminded herself that she was there to protect the cat and wasn’t a participant. She hoped people would try to humanely catch Snowy.
Lisa was a bit disappointed to find that most of the suitors were men who were trying to hurt the cat so they could get it. A few tried to grab it aggressively, leaving Snowy to attack them. Thankfully, the security was there to stop and disqualify them, and Lisa felt pleased to see them go. She silently took the harmful traps away and was glad to see other challengers (suitors) using harmless traps to try and attract Snowy. She felt amused whenever she saw Snowy avoid the harmless traps and the humans trying to attract her. As she sat on the bench, wondering how Jennie was since Jisoo told her that she was sick, she decided to visit her later while she was thinking she then heard a meow.
It was Snowy who came out of her hiding place and was now face to face with her. All Lisa could think of was, “What if i'm the one who catches Snowy?” She put her hand out and saw the cat slowly approach her but retracted it in hesitation, believing that she didn’t deserve it and didn’t know if she was worthy. However, she noticed the cat was still walking towards her. Before the cat could do anything, a voice said, “The cat is there,” and with that, the cat immediately bolted off. “Oh, she left,” one boy, whom Lisa recognized as Taehyung, said in an annoyed tone. “It’s because you’re too loud,” she thought to herself. “Oh hey, Lisa,” he said as he acknowledged her.
Seeing him, Lisa did not know whether to ignore or greet him, but she decided to greet him. “Yeah, hello! Anyway, I’m gonna go because I’m going to get Snowy. It’s high time for me and Jennie to date; we deserve each other,” he boastfully says as he runs away. Lisa scoffs, “I doubt that,” she says, and stands up to check on the others. As she watched everyone trying to get her attention, she noticed that Snowy kept trying to go towards her but would leave whenever someone appeared. Maybe the cat trusts her, but she isn’t sure. While she disliked most of the suitors, there are a few she doesn’t mind, like Kai and Hyunji, as she thinks they’re a good match for Jennie. Although she thinks she could be a good match, her hesitation gets the better of her.
--
It has been a few Hours since the challenge started, and it shocked Lisa to find out that halfway through the challenge, most of the considered suitors were gone, including Kai and Hyunji. Only the people she disliked, including Jennie, were there, and now they were getting desperate in trying to catch Snowy. To Lisa’s horror, the others started to set very harmful traps to catch the cat, and Lisa was frustrated seeing this. “These people don’t deserve Jennie,” were her thoughts as she took the traps and alerted security about this. As she sat near the tree, she then heard a meow coming from the top of the tree. It was Snowy, and Lisa was glad to see she was safe up in the tree and that she hadn’t been caught yet.
Lisa then walked back when she saw Snowy decide to jump down from the tree. “Oh, I’m glad you’re safe,” she said as she watched the cat stare at her for a minute before slowly walking towards her. Lisa stood there, watching Snowy’s every move until she stopped right in front of her, sat down, and did a small meow. As Lisa stared at her, she noticed Snowy wasn’t doing anything, and Lisa was tempted to catch her. However, in a moment of self-doubt, she started thinking if she truly deserved someone like Jennie. But her thoughts quickly disappeared upon realizing maybe she did and wouldn’t let fear consume her anymore. As she made her decision, she stood up and slowly walked to Snowy, who didn’t run away but stayed where she was. When she caught her, a part of her felt pleased until she fell down. “I’m glad it’s you,” a voice said, and Lisa recognized it as Jennie’s.
Lisa was understandably shocked as she didn’t expect to see Jennie, who was on top of her. As she sat up Jennie told her everything. “I’m a shifter, Lisa. I was born with the ability to switch between animal forms, and that form was a cat,” Jennie said as she started to explain to Lisa, who was listening. “It was tradition for my family to do this thing to find someone to marry,” Jennie then said, holding Lisa’s hands. “I’m glad that you were that someone; I didn’t want it to be anyone else,” she said with a smile. Hearing this made Lisa smile back as Jennie lightly hit her arm. “You know how long I was waiting for you to join the challenge? I was getting irritated you weren’t doing anything,” Jennie said with an adorable pout.
Seeing that made Lisa laugh. “I’m sorry,” she apologized to Jennie. “It’s just that I thought I didn’t deserve you, and there could be others who deserve someone like you.” Lisa then told Jennie, who frowned at what she said. “Lisa, don’t ever think that you don’t deserve me because I always thought you were the best person for me, and I was glad when I watched you decide to catch me,” she told Lisa as they now held hands. “Are you okay with the arranged marriage?” Lisa asks Jennie, who smiles. “As long as I’m getting married to you.” Her response made Lisa smile back. “Hey, can we just stay here for a while? I’m kinda tired because I’ve been running around the whole day,” Jennie asks Lisa, who nods. “Sure, and if someone sees us, you can say that I won,” Lisa then says, making Jennie laugh as they head to the tree.
As Jennie laid her head on Lisa’s neck, all Lisa could think about was the future with Jennie. She was ready to take this step with her, but they decided at the tree that they would start dating first before getting married, as they were still young. Lisa feels happier now, knowing she made the right choices and that she deserves Jennie’s love. At the moment, she is going to enjoy the small moments of peace between her and Jennie before they return to reality.
--Epilogue--
“Hey Lisa, why weren’t you surprised when I revealed I was Snowy?” Jennie asks curiously as Lisa looks at her. “Well, it’s because,” she says as she stands up and shows Jennie, who watches in awe as she turns into a duck and then back again. “Yeah, I’m a shifter like you, but I only shift to that duck form if I want,” Lisa reveals with a chuckle. “But unlike your family, we don’t have those marriage things,” Lisa explains while Jennie chuckles. “Well, I can guess that Rosé was that golden retriever I once saw outside of your house?” Jennie says, making Lisa nod. “Was Jisoo the white rabbit I saw once?” Now it was her turn to ask Jennie, who nods. “Well, at least we know now,” Jennie says as the two then laugh.
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