Jennie had been right when she told Lisa it would get very humid. Jennie had so much trouble falling asleep every day because she felt uncomfortable and her allergies were hitting her hard during the night. They also had no air conditioner in the dorms, so existing felt like hell at the moment. She even considered moving back to her mom's because it was just that unbearable, but Jennie didn't really wanna lose her minutes of extra sleep by having to take the train. How was practice going? They were working hard, really hard. As leaders, Jennie and Lisa had failed PINKPUNK and they were determined to not let it happen again.

All their new members were very upset to have been transferred, but some of them seemed like they would fit with the group's concept and had trained enough that they didn't need to be taught the basics.

June's evaluation had definitely gone better than their last. Lisa had made the choreographies look easier while they were still cool and polished. Everyone else seemed to be decent vocalists but not the best, so Jennie had to choose small parts that would make all members stand out with their current abilities. Miyeon was now in charge of PINKPUNK's visuals and she was doing surprisingly well, taking some weight off Jennie's shoulders.

This time around, both Jennie and Lisa got As in every category. Fuck yes, they deserved it after all the sweat and backstage tears. Plus, they had to show the new members that they were in good hands now.

As of tradition, Lisa missed the first day of class after an evaluation. Jennie wasn't sure why she kept doing this, but at this point she wouldn't complain as long as Lisa designed the best choreography in the world for them. It was still a bit of a let down not having her input right off the bat, so Lisa better come back tomorrow with tier quality choices for the next PINKPUNK performance.

This was embarrassing to admit, but Jennie had gotten really attached to Lisa ever since she got here. The Thai girl had also been there for her whenever Jennie felt like quitting, she was so grateful for her friendship. Just a few weeks ago, Lisa had bleached and dyed Jennie's hair for the first time, saying she helped her mom cover her occasional gray hairs all the time. They had only bleached the part above the back of her neck, wanting to try a new look for once. It was strange to see herself like that in the mirror, but Jennie was sure this change was good. Otherwise, she wouldn't have had the urge to do it.

This day wasn't different from the usual, but she noticed there was someone she didn't know in the group singing class. This new girl had a supermodel's face, but it was easily shadowed by her red hoodie, plain blue jeans, and white converse, not really looking like what you'd expect from a YG trainee. She was talking to Coach Yoo-Mi in private while the others warmed up.

Jennie was about to mind her own business, but then the new girl began singing a beautiful Korean ballad. Her voice was really interesting. If Jennie had to describe it, she would say she sounded like bubblegum cotton candy. Maybe that was random and specific, but you'd understand if you could hear it. Her pitch was weirdly sweet and you couldn't get enough of it. Jennie just wanted to keep listening, but then the new girl stopped when the coach told her to.

"Jennie!" Yoo-Mi suddenly called her over.

Jennie got up and walked towards them. "Yeah?"

"Since you're staring so much and Lalisa isn't stuck to you like glue today, could you please teach Jisoo how to properly warm-up and anything else you notice?" Coach asked. "I will be right back after checking in on everyone."

Jennie nodded. "Okay." Coach really must trust me. She turned to the new trainee and stretched out her hand. "Kim Jennie."

"Kekekeke," the new girl laughed, taking in the warm greeting. "I'm Kim Jisoo."

"It's fun having the most common last name in Korea, right?" Jennie laughed too. "How old are you?"

"I'm sixteen, and you?"

"Fifteen." Jennie smiled. It was cool to finally meet someone a little older outside of PINKPUNK. Everyone she had met so far was either younger or her age, and the few that were older than Jennie tended to have some superiority complex.

Jisoo was surprised. This girl was very stylish for her age. She had the interior of her hair dyed blonde while the rest of it remained black. Chu always thought that dying your hair was only something grown-ups should do. You had to take extra care of your hair and Chu wasn't here for it. She had to admit though, this trainee looked like she could be in rap music videos already.

"Is this your first class?"

"First singing class ever," Jisoo said proudly.

"So you're self-taught?"

"I am...?" Chu asked herself, putting her fingers on top of her chin. "I've sung a lot of children's songs over the years."

"Oh, really?" That was a first for Jennie. Someone who likes children songs auditioned for YG, the hip-hop idol company, and passed?

"Yeah. I sing all the time, but I don't know any of the technical stuff."

"Well, warming up isn't technical. It's like exercising, but with your voice." Jennie felt kind of stupid after saying that, it was kind of self-explanatory, but Jisoo was nodding repeatedly. Was she doing it to be nice or did she actually not know that information before a second ago? "Let's try some exercises together."

Jennie coached Jisoo for three hours, as if they'd been her whole ten months of training. Jisoo was a quick learner and she actually understood what Jennie had been explaining, she just didn't know the right terms for everything. That immediately invalidated Jennie's theory that Jisoo had no clue of what she was doing.

After the first hour, Jennie got this extreme sense of comfort while helping Jisoo. She was really easy to talk to and made her feel safe. Maybe it was because Jisoo was new, but Jennie didn't feel like Jisoo had competition on the back of her mind.

"How does the rest of your schedule look?" Jennie asked.

"I have piano lessons and then Japanese."

"Me too!" Jennie had sounded way too excited, but Jisoo just smiled back. Who knew there'd be people who would want to hang out with her?

Okay, Chu, don't be too hard on yourself. You are charming in your own weird way... or at least that's what her mentors told her in the Performing Arts School she attended. Believe it or not, Chu was her happiest when she was in there. She was surrounded by a lot of friends and talented people, she hoped YG would be like this too.

Having Jennie in both her following lessons had been a blessing. While they hadn't gotten to talk more, knowing that Chu had someone she could trust nearby was very welcoming.

That all changed in Jisoo's first dance lesson.

From the second she had entered the dance room, Chu could feel a bunch of judging eyes on her. She swallowed all of her fear and headed towards her group. Sure, Jisoo didn't look anything like them, that was clear. But she also wasn't the kind of person who'd run away from intimidating situations. She liked to face things head-on.

Chu gathered as much information as possible about her members. They all seemed too bothered to be separated from their former groups to make any real progress on their following evaluation. So instead, they decided to interrogate the newbie, Kim Jisoo.

"Are you good at dancing?" one of them had asked.

"I've never really danced in my life," Jisoo admitted. "I made it here because of my acting and singing."

Disappointed, another girl sighed. "What are we gonna do without a choreographer? Lalisa was the only one who could really do it."

This was the second time Jisoo heard that odd name, Lalisa. First with coach Yoo-Mi and Jennie, and now with her group. Chu would make sure to remember it, that Lalisa seems to be really popular.

The fact that Jisoo couldn't dance made her feel like a burden already and there was nothing Chu hated more than that. Being the youngest in the family had always made her want to be capable of taking care of herself so she wouldn't have others worrying about her. This was when Jisoo told herself that she would become great at dancing, she had to.

The next day, Jisoo arrived to her group singing class early. She easily spotted a familiar face sitting by the back of the room. Jennie seemed to be lost in her own sea of thoughts, so Jisoo jumped in front of her. "Nyeongan!"

"Huh?" Jennie gasped, blinking at her friend's random appearance. After her heartbeat slowed down a little, she processed what just happened. "Annyeong backwards?"

Jisoo pointed at her proudly, genuinely impressed. "You're smart, youngling."

"Thanks, Jisoo-ssi. Good morning." Jennie looked at Jisoo with interest as she sat beside her. This felt like deja vu. Jisoo was wearing the same red hoodie and black converses from yesterday, and nothing felt different about her makeup either. She isn't trying too hard like the rest of us. Jennie admired that. Wanting to fit in was everyone's weakest point.

A few minutes before the singing lesson started, an interesting girl arrived. She had short messy hair, a couple of strands sticking out. Her clothing style was urban, but it made her skinny figure look cool. Jisoo wondered what was her height, her legs were past Chu's waistline at least. The girl was also carrying a big backpack, but it didn't seem too heavy. If she wasn't carrying a lot of stuff, why bring such thing? It would definitely be a bother to Jisoo.

The girl was going straight towards Jennie but she seemed confused to see Jisoo on the seat next to her. The girl decided to sit in front of Jennie instead and she turned to face her after leaving her bag on the desktop. "Annyong, Jennie."

"Annyong," Jennie answered. Lisa was behaving more timid than normal. What was the reason...? Oh. Jennie looked towards Jisoo and pointed at Lisa. "That is Manoban Lalisa," she said, sitting back so Jisoo could see the girl properly.

"Lalisa-ssi?" Jisoo repeated, recalling the name from yesterday. That girl wasn't using any honorifics, so was she older than Jennie or was she just outright rude?

"Yeah, she's from Thailand and doesn't speak Korean. Only really basic stuff."

"Ah." Jisoo nodded and looked at the Thai girl with a little more ease. She had been ready to throw a fist fight. Okay, maybe Chu didn't have the physical strength for that, kekekeke. "Naneun Kim Jisoo-ibnida," she introduced herself.

"Naneun Manoban Lalisa-ibnida," Lisa said in a tiny voice.

"So how do you guys talk with the language barrier and everything?" Jisoo asked Jennie.

Jennie seemed a bit hesitant to answer, but then decided it was okay. Jisoo didn't know they weren't supposed to talk to Lisa in other languages. "English."

"Oh, you speak English, Jennie-ssi?"

"Yeah, I lived in New Zealand for five years before coming back to Korea to become a singer."

"Wow, that's so cool," Jisoo commented. "I've been here my entire life."

While the two kept chatting, Lisa turned back towards the front, feeling left out. It was bound to happen at some point, Jennie getting new friends. There was nothing wrong with that—in fact, Lisa was happy for her—but why did she feel so lonely? They had been side by side ever since Lisa joined, and seeing her act so calm and free in the agency with other people was a rare sight. Jennie tended to put her guard up with everyone else, especially her group members, because she didn't want people to look down on her.

Lisa wished she could distract herself with the coach's words, but she didn't understand her either. She took her Thai novel out of her backpack and couldn't read a word. Maybe Lisa was more upset with herself for not learning Korean beforehand than the fact that she couldn't make new friends.

Glancing at the back of Lalisa's head, Jisoo noticed the two hair ties holding a few strands of Lalisa's hair. Choo had originally assumed Lalisa didn't have time to do her hair today since she was late to class, but the Thai girl had done that hairstyle on purpose. What a weird kid.

By the end of Jisoo's third day, she came across Jennie after her dance practice. As always, she was with Lalisa trailing behind her.

"How was practice?" Jisoo asked, seeing how drained they were.

Jennie let out a deep breath. "I'm dead."

"Seems like we're both in the afterlife then. I didn't really exercise before YG, so it's been hitting me really hard."

"Hey, Jennie," Lalisa suddenly said in English. "I'm really tired, so I'm just gonna go to bed."

"Oh, alright," Jennie answered, quite surprised. They usually headed back to the dorms together and had occasional sleepovers at Lisa's when Jennie was too exhausted. It felt really unusual to separate after practice. "Goodnight..."

"Night."

Jisoo didn't understand what they were saying, but Lalisa just left and Jennie looked very confused about it. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, she's younger, so it's around her bedtime..." Jennie trailed off. Her sentence didn't make sense. Lisa was always so full of energy it scared Jennie, who gets tired after twenty seconds of running. It took her a moment to get back into the conversation. "And I get it. I have no physical resistance at all, even after almost a year of training. My mom says I inherited that from her."

"That's the worst thing you could've inherited, kekekeke."

"I know, right? Thanks mom!" After saying that out loud, Jennie felt her muscles ache, as if she wouldn't be able to stand at any moment. She sat down, her body weakly landing on the floor. "I wish I was in a sauna."

"Let's go to one."

"Right now?" Jennie gasped. "It's kind of late."

"Kind of is the keyword." Jisoo smirked.

"You know what? Sure. Let's go." I deserve it, Jennie wanted to add, but that felt too cocky for her. It's not like I'm getting any sleep anyway.

They took a cab to the closest jjimhilbang available. It has been forever since Jennie went to a bathhouse. New Zealand simply didn't have that kind of culture or at least it was really uncommon. Being naked in front of others would be too embarrassing to even think of. In Korea, it was normalized. After all, we are all human, there was nothing to be ashamed of.

When they'd arrived, Jennie and Jisoo left their shoes in the reception's lockers. After they paid, they were given their keys, towels, and cotton pajamas, ready to enter the women's changing room. It was a weekday, so the place wasn't crowded, which made their surroundings really quiet. They proceeded to calmly undress and store their clothes in lockers.

"You're in good shape, Jennie-ssi."

"Thank you." Jennie blushed. She checked out Jisoo's naked body too. Seeing her without her basic choice of clothing made Jisoo more appealing to Jennie. "Damn, I wish I had your curves."

"Really?" Jisoo pinched the side of her own waist. "Thank you... Also, I wanted to say this when I first saw you, but we were quite busy, kekekeke."

That was definitely sparking Jennie's attention. "Oh, what is it?"

"I love the mole under your eyebrow. I wish I had a flashy mole like that."

"For real?" Jennie was taken aback. She used to dislike it, but over the years she had come to terms with it, and now she was quite fond of it as well. She just hadn't heard it from anyone else.

Jisoo nodded continuously. "I also like Lalisa's, the one next to her left eye."

"Me too, it really suits her." Jennie reminisced a few of their sleepovers. When Jennie couldn't sleep, she decided to stare at Lisa to keep her mind clear from any complicated thoughts. Jennie got to appreciate her bare face and also her drooling face, kekekeke. Sometimes Lisa fell asleep in the most hilarious position ever.

Once Jennie and Jisoo finished complementing each other a little more, they washed up before finally getting in a hot tub. They chose an open-air one, wanting the balance of the cold wind and the boiling water after Jennie admitted she couldn't stand high temperatures for long. In response, Jisoo had rolled Jennie's towel like a sheep, placing it on the younger girl's head.

Now both laid back on the hot tub, they allowed their bodies to give in to the heat, their tense muscles slowly relaxing.

The first one to break the comfortable silence was Jisoo. "Jennie-ssi... when did you know you wanted to become an idol?"

"Hmm... Well, my mom wanted me to go to America to study and get a job. That person she wanted me to be, it wasn't me. I suddenly realized that I wanted to be a singer in Korea. I've always been really into YG's music, they're really different from other artists. I want to create music like that, music no one has ever heard before."

"You can do it," Jisoo encouraged, offering a timid smile. "I wish I had a greater story like yours."

"What's your story?"

"I'm studying performing arts, acting in particular. My teachers told me I should get experience by doing auditions and my first one was YG's." Jisoo glanced at Jennie's dead serious expression. "Told you it's not that interesting."

"No, no, no, keep going. I'm just thinking." Jennie paused. "How did you get around to singing?"

"CEO Yang was in my audition. He said I had a great face and that he could see me acting or doing commercials in the future. I sensed there was a but coming, like he was looking for something more than just appearances. I thought I wouldn't pass the audition." Jisoo sat up straighter. "Then I'd remembered reading that YG was a record label as well, so I asked if I could sing."

"What did he say?"

"At least you can sing on key."

"Oh, my god, no, kekekeke. At least you had a better audition than me."

"What are you saying? No way."

"I used to be really shy around strangers. I still am, but I've gotten better a little after having to meet dozens of trainees over the last year. When I entered the audition room, I was so anxious I could barely introduce myself. The staff had to ask me to speak louder because the camera wasn't picking up the audio." Jennie had covered her face with her hands, too embarrassed. "I only calmed down when the music started playing. I sang Take A Bow by Rihanna and come on, who can hold themselves back when they hear Rihanna's songs?"

"She has such a beautiful voice. I'm glad she pulled you through, kekekeke."

"Me too. Also, Jisoo-ssi..." Jennie held her hand under the water. "You can do it too."

"That means a lot coming from you. To me, you're already a star. I can see you performing in arenas when you debut."

"I'm already like a star? Jisoo-ssi, I honestly thought you were a supermodel in disguise when I first saw you. You're so pretty."

"That's the first time someone ever calls me pretty..." Jisoo trailed off, being too vulnerable for her own liking here. "At home, my family would always call me ugly, monkey, or ugly monkey."

"Huh? I don't understand why they would." That sounded terribly awful. Jisoo started explaining it was because her ears used to stick out while she was growing up, but Jennie could only imagine how all those nicknames had affected Jisoo's confidence and self-esteem over the years. And the fact that it's her own family, people she can't get away from unless... "Do you wanna be my roommate?" Jennie blurted out suddenly. "If you can afford it, of course."

"Oh!" Jisoo gasped. That was really unexpected, to say the least. Moving out had never seemed like an option. Her family was more of the finish school, go to college, find a good job, get rich, get married, and have kids type, which sounded really boring to Chu.

"You don't have to give me an answer now," Jennie added. "It's pretty much out of the blue, but I think it would be cool to share rooms with Jisoo-ssi."

"I think so too." Chu didn't believe money would be a problem, her grandparents would probably say something like, Oh, you're really at that age already, aren't you? and let it slip like that. The rest of her family though, they acted like they were in a sitcom. Her parents would make a big deal out of this, especially now that Jisoo's older brother and sister were in college. Her mom will dryly say Jisoo is sick of them and her dad will dramatically claim Jisoo is leaving them in a nursing home next.

Thinking about it a little more, moving out didn't sound bad at all. There were more pros than cons—for example, Jisoo wouldn't have to wait for the last train to get home. Second, if she needed help with singing or dancing, she would have Jennie by her side. Also, Jisoo would have more free time in the mornings. She could use it to practice or play games.

"I'll talk with my parents," Jisoo concluded.

Jennie squealed, hugging Jisoo's side in excitement.

"Get off!" Jisoo pushed her away carefully. "You're too hot!"

"That's what they all tell me," Jennie joked. That sounded like something Lisa might say and it worried her how that came into her mind.

"Then everyone might think you have a fever."

Jennie whined like a child, "Aniyo!"

"Too late now, you're a virus!"

"The hell?" Jennie burst out laughing. After a moment, she gazed at Jisoo. "I'm glad we did this."

"Me too."

"Jisoo-ssi, one more thing." Jennie looked at her nervously. "Can I call you unnie?"

Being called older sister would give some sense of responsibility to Jisoo. Maybe she should play the part for now. "Of course."

While they had only known each other for three days, Jennie had felt Jisoo unnie was someone she wanted in her life. Jennie rarely got that gut feeling with people so, whenever she had it, she had to hold on to it and hope for the best.

The next day, Jennie was surprised to find Lisa in the dance studio. You see, the Thai girl tended to be one of the last ones to arrive. "Good morning," Jennie greeted her. They were alone, so she felt free to greet her in English.

However, Lisa did so in Korean, "Joh-eun achim." She ran up to her bag and grabbed a drink container that was next to it. Lisa handed it to Jennie. "Coffee."

"Oh, why, thank you..." Jennie took it and started drinking it. Lisa had ordered Jennie's favorite again. After having multiple sleepovers and breakfasts together, Jennie had eventually told her how she liked her coffee. But it was a bit weird for Lisa to have brought her anything at the agency, considering they were only here to train. "I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Why?" Lisa asked shyly.

"Me and Jisoo unnie ended up talking for hours. It was really nice."

"Ah, cool." Lisa got back to her laptop and played the song they had picked for the group performance. "So I was thinking your part could be something like this."

Lisa waited a few beats until Jennie's section came up. On queue, the Thai girl began dancing. Her moves were pretty sharp and there were some krump techniques they had recently learned. It seemed doable until Lisa did a quick spin and dropped down on her side to stretch one of her long legs sensually against the floor. Then she retrieved her leg and jumped up, slowly kneeling down to jump up again, ending on a perfect stand.

"I think my motion sickness might kill me," Jennie commented when Lisa stared at her for feedback. The judges would be really impressed if Jennie could pull this off, just like how Jennie had been agape during Lisa's showcase. "Let's do it, it's badass."

"You'll be okay?"

"As long as you're here."

Lisa smiled. After that, the rest of PINKPUNK members arrived for their dance lesson.

Jennie and Lisa ate quietly at the YG cafeteria. Dancing so early always made them very hungry at lunchtime. In times like this, when it was just the two of them, Lisa still used a spoon as her main choice of cutlery, but she tried using chopsticks when they were with other members.

"Can I sit here?" a bubbly voice asked.

"Of course, Jisoo unnie."

Interestingly enough, Lisa was able to understand Jennie's answer. Was Jisoo actually her older sister? I mean, it was possible, they both had the same last name and they seemed quite close. It doesn't explain why Lisa had never met Jisoo before though. Lisa would ask Jennie later.

"I have an announcement to make!" Jisoo exclaimed after sitting next to Jennie. "Drumroll, please."

Jennie lightly hit the table repeatedly, using her pointer fingers as drumsticks. "Bbang, bbang, bbang!"

"You have a new roommate!"

Jennie covered her mouth to not squeal out loud. Instead, she hugged Jisoo unnie's side. "Oh, my god," she whispered in English. It was definitely strange, her excitement about this. Let's just say that Jennie from three months ago would be very confused right now.

Lisa watched the duo in front of her, it was as if Jisoo had told Jennie she would be debuting. Otherwise, Lisa couldn't imagine Jennie being this happy about something.

Jisoo noticed Lalisa while being hugged by her new roommate. Lalisa looked... lonely. "Hey, Lalisa. Why are you eating with a spoon?"

Lisa only understood her greeting. "Annyong, Jisoo."

Hmm... The screws in her head ran at full speed. Chu pointed at her own spoon. "Sudgalag." Then she pointed out Lisa's unused chopsticks, crossing her arms. "Jeosgalag."

Lisa shrugged her shoulders. "I'm from Thailand," she said in Korean. Nonetheless, Lisa made a mental note of the new words Jisoo had taught her.

"Ah!" Chu didn't really know much about Thai culture, but it was definitely unusual to see someone eat meat with a spoon.

Lisa decided to grab her own chopsticks. "Jeosgalag." Then she held them the way Jisoo was doing. "Isanghan."

Funny? Jennie looked at Lisa and then back at Jisoo. Oh, kekekeke. Jisoo was holding her chopsticks really unnaturally. It was like she was using four fingers to hold a single stick and one for the other instead of distributing them correctly.

Jisoo turned to Jennie very seriously, acting as if she was very intimidating. "You have to control that maknae over here."

Jennie couldn't help but laugh. "You do hold them very funny. Even Lisa holds them properly." Jennie proudly high-fived Lisa. The Thai girl had been very sassy in Korean, even with her basic knowledge.

"I know, I know," Jisoo sighed. "So... if Lalisa-ssi can use chopsticks, why doesn't she?"

"She says she doesn't wanna lose all her Thai-ness," Jennie explained.

"I see." Jisoo nodded in understanding, finding common ground. Chu would never want to lose her Korean-ness, for sure.

"Let's request the moving arrangements after lunch." Jennie took a sip of her pear juice. "It shouldn't be too complicated, you just have to sign a lease and I have to give my approval."

"Sounds good." Chu was happy to hear that, she wanted to move as quickly as possible. If she lived here, then this would motivate her to get better. Yeah, that made sense in her brain.

Alone in her living room, Lisa danced along to the song they had chosen for July's group performance. She was figuring out the final moves to teach each girl the following day. Lisa's first guide was the original performance (if it had one) and then Lisa changed everything to make it less of an eyesore.

Lisa wrote some notes in case she forgot certain parts. Managing nine girls at the same time was hard, especially having to imagine it all in her head, but she was getting used to it. While there was no easy way to describe dance moves with words or drawings, Lisa understood herself and that's what mattered. She mostly relied on her muscle memory though.

Ugh, I miss Jennie... Okay, that was really random, but it'd be a lie to say it wasn't true. Jennie usually helped Lisa see how the dance would look from a third-person perspective, but Jennie had said she would be busy tonight. Was Jennie catching up on her studies? Was Jennie hanging out with Jisoo again? Well, Lisa wouldn't know. But what she did know was that she wanted to see those dumpling cheeks.

The next morning, Lisa decided she would visit Jennie and have breakfast with her. Knock, knock, knock. She heard light steps coming her way, but the person that opened the door wasn't the one she was looking for.

"Oh, it's you," Jisoo said in Korean, ignoring the fact Lalisa wouldn't understand her. "Are you here for Jennie-ssi?"

Something, something. Jennie. Something, something. "Yes," Lisa answered in Korean and Jisoo let her in. That felt like she had told Jisoo a secret passcode to enter, 5555.

Lisa took off her shoes and left them at the entrance. Thinking about it, she had never been in Jennie's apartment even though they'd been friends for four months. Jennie's dorm was way bigger than hers, considering it had an extra room. It made the Thai girl wonder why Jennie kept practicing her dance at Lisa's.

"Who was it?" Jennie asked Jisoo, coming out of a room. "Ah, hey Lisa," she greeted in English.

"Hi..." Lisa felt small, not sure why. Maybe it was the piles of boxes sitting in the living room that made her trapped. "Um, can we talk?"

"Of course." Jennie sensed Lisa wanted to be alone with her, even when Jisoo couldn't understand English and was moving around all over their dorm. Jennie knew the feeling too well, Jisoo was pretty much a stranger to Lisa.

The Thai girl was led to the opposite room where Jennie had come from. While they weren't allowed to decorate, Jennie had put some posters of Rihanna, BIGBANG and 2EN1 on the walls. Her room was really clean and tidy, as if Jennie was like those old ladies who couldn't stand the sight of dust anywhere. She also had a small dresser desk with a laptop, some notebooks, fashion magazines, and makeup. The mirror had a few sparkly stickers spelling JENNIE in different colors. Her blanket was plain dark gray though, which was a bit too depressing for Lisa's taste. Still, Jennie's room looked chicer than hers.

Jennie sat on her bed and patted the spot next to her. She was still wearing her sleeping clothes, but she had her pretty hair brushed.

Lisa joined her. "What's with the boxes?"

"Jisoo unnie just moved in. I was helping her unpack."

Lisa glanced at Jennie, quite glad she brought up that word for her. "Are you and Jisoo... sisters?"

Jennie tried holding in her laugh but failed. "God, no. We only met a few days ago."

"Oh... then why do you call her unnie?" Lisa asked, her voice still full of confusion.

"Unnie is an honorific for girls older than you, you don't necessarily have to be related. It's quite common, especially within girl groups. I'm surprised you hadn't figured that out."

"That makes sense, I guess." The only person their age Lisa listened to was Jennie, if she was being entirely honest, and Jennie hadn't used unnie with anyone before. "We also use honorifics in Thailand, but it's not like... obligatory."

"That's so interesting. In Korea, it's a big deal. It's kind of disrespectful to not address someone with an honorific."

Lisa panicked. "Have I been offending you all this time?"

Jennie shook her head. "Not in the slightest. I didn't have to use honorifics in New Zealand, so I didn't think much about it." Maybe she should have. While it was fine for her, others might've thought Lisa was being rude. But that was very unlikely, everyone knew about the badass Thai dancer who only got As ever since she arrived. "I can teach you some. The most common one is ssi. You can use it for anyone you don't know that well. You can get away with unnie too, you're the youngest in our group."

Lisa put her hand over her chest. "Me?"

"Yeah, but... they might start calling you maknae instead."

"What does that mean? I heard Jisoo say that."

"The youngest."

"Well... I don't feel comfortable calling everyone my older sister, it's kind of strange." Lisa couldn't see Jennie as her sister, the way they interacted was way too different. Sisters were supposed to fight, steal each other's clothes and annoy the hell out of you, Jennie did anything but that.

"That's fine. There's actually a lot of people who aren't comfortable with unnie, so it's just better to ask if they're okay with it before you use it." Jennie smiled. "That was your Korean lesson of the day."

"Gamsahabnida!" Being here with Jennie like this, it made Lisa wonder why Jennie never asked her to be her roommate. It was a dumb thought, Lisa already had a dorm of her own, but that also didn't explain why Jennie never invited her here. Lisa pushed Jennie's shoulder lightly, whining in a high-pitched voice, "How come you keep coming to my place to practice when you have more space?"

Jennie giggled. "My teacher is really funny!"

"We would've been so much comfortable up here!" Lisa hovered over Jennie, tickling her sides. "You saw me stretch my long leg in my small ass living room and I almost hit my toe against the kitchen counter!"

"Kekekeke, but you didn't!" Jennie couldn't help but grin, she was a ticklish girl.

"That's because I'm a pro!"

It was getting hard to breathe. "Stop, please, I can't take it anymore!"

Lisa immediately sat up, still on top of the Korean girl. Lisa kept her gaze on Jennie as she caught back her breath. Her forehead was sweating a little and she was still smiling from cheek to cheek. Last night's research had said something like... "Mandu bol!" Then Lisa kissed Jennie's cheek briefly.

"Eh?" Jennie gasped, stuck in place. She didn't know how she should feel about being called dumpling cheeks. It sounded cute, sort of. But at the same time, it implied that her face was bloated. About the kiss... she hadn't been prepared at all. It was fun when Jennie did it because she was the one in control, but right now she felt pretty vulnerable. "You didn't leave lipstick on me, did you?"

"Maybe just a little bit." Lisa licked her finger to clean Jennie's cheek, but she was stopped.

"I can do it myself." Jennie sat up and moved Lisa off her. She grabbed a wet wipe from her bedside table and started rubbing it softly on her face, glancing at her mirror to get the right spot.

"I like your room," Lisa stated happily.

It was so bizarre to hear that, considering Jennie hadn't spent a lot of time here lately. When she originally got her dorm room, she'd been really excited. It would be her first time living without any adults. Jennie's first roommate had been really nice to her, even when Jennie was still a shy mess, she got her to open up. A few months later though, the endless cycle of losing roommates had started. Tired, Jennie stopped asking people. Maybe she was cursed or something. Yes, that's why she had said she preferred being alone, but she'd realized some people were worth the effort. "Thanks, me too."