Chapter 28

Jennie's POV

"Did she drink last night?"

"She might be sick."

"She's been dozing off all day!"

I opened my eyes and saw Seulgi and Irene watching me from across the meeting table. "Oh, hey..."

"You do realize that you slept through the entire meeting behind your laptop?" Irene pointed out.

"I did?" I grimaced, covering my face with my notebook. "Oh god. My head's about to explode."

"Did you even sleep last night?" Seulgi asked.

I shook my head and slumped my shoulders. "Not even a bit."

"Wait, so you did go out with Lisa for the rest of the night?" Seulgi questioned in surprise.

"yeah..." I inquired, not that it was a bad thing. I would have told them instantly if I wasn't too caught up in the moment.

"Rosé left like two in the morning" Irene said as she tucked her files under her arms. "What did you guys actually do that you even sneaked on us?"

"Well, we went out," I proudly beamed despite feeling absolutely sick. "Like literally the entire night. I went home at eight in the morning to shower and have a bagel and that was pretty much it."

"The entire night?" Seulgi repeated. "Did you guys...?"

"No,not like that!" I shook my head and chuckled. I have to admit there was a tone of disappointment in my voice. "I showed her around Busan."

Seulgi raised her eyebrow and plopped her elbows on the table. "So she just agreed to do that with you and skip sleep, yeah?"

"She did and I've got absolutely no idea why," I answered, sounding quite dumbfounded myself. "As crazy as I sound, I think she believes me."

"Hold on," Irene sounded like she was stifling her laugh. "You actually told her that you've dreamt about her consecutive times before?"

"I did," I blushed in embarrassment. "She couldn't seem to get her mind around it, but I know she believes me. She wants me to help her with her story that's about us."

My phone started to beep and I saw Lisa's name in the lockscreen with the text message she just sent.

From Lisa: Good Morning, Jennie. Just realized I forgot to text you my address. It's  Yeonghae-gil, Cheongnyang-myeon, Ulju-gun, Ulsan.

I was about to reply to her message when another one came in the thread.

From Lisa: I am literally just waiting for you, not to put pressure on you or anything. Haha. The meal I prepared is the best thing you will ever try in your life.

I smiled to myself as I typed in my reply:

To Lisa: Haha. Just got off work. Will see you in a bit! Can't wait.

"So I'm assuming Lisa texted since you have that stupid smile on your face," Seulgi teased.

"And your assumption is correct," I grinned, pushing the phone back inside my pocket. I grabbed my laptop and the rest of my files before heading for the door.

"You still need to get more sleep!"Irene called after me.

"Oh unnie," I rolled my eyes. "Before I met Lisa in real life, all I wanted to do was sleep so I could see her. I think I've had enough."

* * *

I stepped out of the taxi not knowing what to feel at all. I was in front of the building of Lisa's apartment and I didn't know if I wanted to cry, jump around, throw up, scream or maybe all of the above.

Walking up to the corridor and her door felt unreal. It was one of those moments similar to my dreams wherein I feel like I was going to wakeup anytime soon, but this time I knew I was living it.

I sucked in a breath and rang the doorbell.

Within seconds, the door opened, revealing a casually dressed Lisa by the door. She was wearing a plain white shirt, black skinny jeans, and dark brown flipflops.

"I thought you weren't going to find my place," Lisa smiled. "Even I take a while sometimes."

She looked like she had just showered an hour ago or so. Her long blond hair was still quite damp and the smell of bath soap and her perfume lingered in the room. It was heavenly.

"The taxi knew exactly where the building was," I shrugged. I wanted to greet her by hugging her, but for some reason it felt a bit awkward, so I just literally stood by the couch in her living room.

Her apartment was the perfect size for someone who lived alone. There was a living room, a counter separating the kitchen from the dining area, plus two other rooms which I assumed was a bathroom and her bedroom. The walls were painted dirty white, while all of the furniture was black and blue. It was a typical apartment with a bit of spice.

"Have a seat please," Lisa ushered me towards the small dining table for two. "I was thinking we could eat while going through my story, if you don't mind."

She pulled the chair for me to sit on, just like the perfect gentlewoman that she is.

"That's totally fine," I nodded with a smile. "I can't wait to taste what you whipped up."

"Okay, it's nothing extravagant but I just made some - "

"Wait!" I held my hand up in excitement. "Can I please guess what it is?"

"Why?" Lisa frowned.

"Just let me guess," I insisted.

"Fine," Lisa rolled her eyes. "What did I make then?"

"Lisa's Orgasmic Surprise," I beamed with pride, before I actually realize what I had just said. I covered my mouth with my hand as my eyes widened in surprise.

"My what?" Lisa nearly spit the bottled water she was drinking as she stared at me in bewilderment. A bit of water was still dripping from her mouth down to her lower lip.

I shook my head and burst into laughter. "That was supposed to be an inside joke with you, well not you, but - nevermind. I meant to say, did you make grilled sandwiches with cheese, tomato and basil?"

"How'd you know?" Lisa scrunched up her nose, perplexity completely taking over her expression.

"I uh..." I darted my eyes around the room, trying to figure out how to explain my sudden burst of eccentricity. "I can smell the basil."

Lisa's eyebrows met, as if she was trying to decipher me right then and there. I returned her cynical stare with an innocent shrug.

"You are an interesting person, Jennie" she remarked. "You never cease to amaze me."

"Glad I'm keeping things interesting," I smiled sweetly.

She gave me one last strange stare before turning her back against me to serve the meal she had prepared. She came back with a tray in her hands and placed it on the table.

"Need any help?" I offered.

"I'm good, I'm good," she shook her head as she tried to balance a wine bottle and two glasses in a smaller tray. When she was finally settled, she sat in across me and lit the two, tall candles in the middle of the table. "There we go."

I opened my mouth to say something when lifted her hand to stop me. She rushed back to the counter top and took two fancy looking bowls of soup and placed them on each side of our plates.

"I forgot the pumpkin soup," she smiled as she smoothened her shirt before sitting back down. "Now we can eat."

I waited until she took a bite of her sandwich, and that's when I had a go at mine. I closed my eyes as I savored the taste of the tomato and cheese that meshed well in my mouth. That crazy feeling when you know you've already tasted something before and you're trying it again - but for the first time.

I was only talking about food. What more if fate reminds me of how good Lisa's lips taste?

I swallowed my food before I could think of anything else that was inappropriate.

"Sometimes Rosé came here, she visits me since i moved out of her house. Well there are times i stayed at her house when i somewhat feel lonely." Lisa began.

"I see. Isn't she coming today?"

"She has to meet someone. Im not sure but i think its Jisoo."

"Jisoo? You mean our workmate?" I asked and took another spoonful.

"Yeah. Well Rosé told me that Jisoo ask for her number." She chuckled. "And i guess they start seeing each other."

"Wow i didn't expect that to happen." I cleared my throat as I wiped my mouth with a paper napkin. "Anyway, How does this whole story go? How are you going to finish it?"

"I'm still trying to figure that out," Lisa admitted. "But right now, my main focus is the current story. Im planning to finished it for one month," she explained.

"Do you have a new scenarios?" I asked.

She slumped her shoulders as she circled her spoon around the bowl of soup.

"Well, since I'm going to be helping you in a way..." I smiled as I paused to take a sip of my wine. "... I can be your co-writer."

"Really?" A grateful smile spread across Lisa's face. "Because I'm really going to need it, but of course there's totally no pressure at all. I know you have a job too and it's going to be hard to balance everything but I love being with you and I - "

"Hold on, I didn't think you could actually talk fast," I giggled. "Slow down, to your normal speed." Suddenly, my pulse started to race when I realized what she had just said.

"Wait," I quickly said before she could react. "You love being with me?"

"I do," she answered without hesitation. "I really do, Jennie."

I blushed and bit my lip nervously. "Not to flatter myself or anything, but do you mind telling me why?"

That was a bit embarrassing for me to ask, but I wanted to hear the words come out of her mouth. I wanted to know what I was doing right. I wanted to know how and why I ended up being this lucky with second chances.

"Because you're different, Jennie," she said. "I've only known you for three days and we've already done more things together compared to anything I've done with anyone. Being with you inspires me to write. It reminds me why I loved my second life in the first place. You caught me by surprise, Jennie - and it just might have been the best surprise of my second life."

I knew I should say something in return but I couldn't help but just stare at her in disbelief. It's been a few days and I still feel like none of this is real.

When I finally snapped back into my system, I suddenly felt the sense of hunger for food in me. I realized I've only taken two bites of my food and spent the rest of my time just gazing at Lisa.

I brought the spoonful of soup to my mouth and casually asked her questions. "So do you have plans on publishing it if you finished?"

"I haven't think of that yet. It wasn't a profession of mine. Its just my time killer."

"I think thats what every beginner said.," I confidently shrugged. "You're talking to someone who works in PR,i  can help you with that if you want. This is going to be good."

"You know what?" she smirked. "I am absolutely loving the confidence. I think it's sexy."

"I try," I pursed my lips as I stifled a chuckle. it.

We spent the rest of the night talking about what Lisa wanted to do with her story and how we could totally plan her career. I convince her to publish it aleast in a blogsite so we could atleast have feedbacks. The latter was so much fun to laugh about. As much as I wanted to delve deeper into her story, I told her that I wanted to show her how our story was, and not exactly tell her.

I expected her to react negatively towards it, but surprisingly, she was all for the adventure I had proposed.

Towards midnight, I started to feel the wooziness take over my body. I think my system was starting to beg for its much-needed sleep.

"I think I might have to head home now," I sighed, feeling extremely tired and groggy. "I have another work day tomorrow and I haven't had any sleep."

"I can drive you home," Lisa offered after we finished our dessert. "So I can finally know where you live, that way I can surprise you from time to time."

I felt chills tingle all over my body despite the drowsiness. "That would be lovely, thank you."

I wasn't even surprised to see Lisa's White Mercedez Benz, just like her car in my dream. I was starting to get used to all the similarities and mind-blowing moments of my life now.

The ride didn't take long since there weren't much traffic. When the car stopped in front of my building, I placed my hand over her. "Thank you for tonight. I had such a great time with you."

"Same here, as usual," she smiled. "This has to be a regular thing, you and me."

"What do you mean?" I sucked in a breath.

"We need to see each other more often, business or no business," she shrugged. "Mind if I walk you to your place?"

"Oh, you don't have to. I know you're tired. . . ."

"I want to, Jennie," she insisted. Before she knew it, she was already out of the car and on her way to my side to open the door for me. "After you."

I took her hand and led her inside the building. We went up to my floor in silence. It's like we both knew that we didn't have to say anything to know what was going on.

"Here we are," I said when we finally reached my front door. "Thanks again."

"The pleasure is mine," she gave me a nod, before leaning forward to give me a kiss on the cheek.

I swallowed, not knowing what to do after aside from wishing she kissed me longer and imagining that I turned around to kiss her on the lips instead. But right now, I'll take what I can get.

I didn't say anything after the kiss. I just smiled. Like an idiot, maybe.

"So, I'll head back home now," she said, looking back down the hallway. "I'll see you again tomorrow?"

"I'd love that," I gave her a little wave. "I might have some plans for us this time."

"Looking forward to it," she winked before waving one last time. "Good night, Jennie."

I watched as her figure disappeared down into the staircase. A part of me wanted to invite her inside, but I knew I was already being too forward in the first place so maybe I had to slow down a bit.

I was about to unlock the doorknob when I noticed a card inserted underneath the door. I had no idea what is it. I first unlock the door and went inside before i open the card.

It's from Kai.