The next four months were spent in a similar way, minus the getting sick part of course. But a lot of new things happened as well. The rock festival inspired Lisa to pick up guitar. She tried it for a few weeks but gave up when she couldn't do the difficult chords, so she decided to switch to the ukelele instead. It is a smaller instrument, therefore she would be able to reach any chord. Also, Jisoo started taking English classes and now she understood some of the basics.

Training-wise, Jennie and Lisa were doing their best to level out everyone in PINKPUNK. Meanwhile, Jisoo had become one of the best performers in her group. She was even told by Mr. Yang that she was a confirmed member of F21, future 2NE1, YG's only girl group at the moment. Hard work paid off. Well, the fee had been a lot of feet injuries and hospital visits but hey, Chu had never been more motivated to keep going.

Sitting in the main dance hall with PINKPUNK, Lisa noticed how long the judges were taking to give them their November results. She glanced at Jennie. The smaller girl was shaking, so Lisa took her hand and secured its grip. Even after a year, Jennie couldn't calm down during an evaluation day.

Shortly, one of the YG juries began naming each girl and their final grades as if everything was fine. This person had to be evil, Jennie was already feeling sick.

The last girl remaining was called out. She was one of the older girls in PINKPUNK. The judge looked at her with disgust. "Miss, we've seen what you've been doing in Yanghwajin Seongji Park."

The girl's eyes widened and filled with fear. Lisa remembered that was the name of the park where she met up with Jennie for their Hongdae outing.

"You know the rules. No matter how good you are, you're not allowed to smoke. We kept tabs on you after one of our staff members caught you. You do it regularly, Miss, and that's unacceptable." The judge crossed his arms. "Smoking, drinking, dating, tattoos—that's all banned. It's part of the contract everyone signed before joining the agency. You are now prohibited to become an idol under our management."

This wasn't the first time a member got kicked out because they broke their signing contract, but the company tended to take care of all the details behind closed doors. They normally just fast-forwarded this process to members, up to the part where someone was suddenly gone and wasn't replaced unless it was around the end of the month.

Expelling this girl in front of everyone seemed more like a warning for the rest. Don't fuck up or you'll be next.

Jennie and Lisa returned to Jensoo's dorm with a strange feeling. They decided it would be best to just talk it out with unnie, so their feelings would make sense out loud.

Jisoo opened up the front door half an hour later. She was already wearing her normal clothes and she looked like she had run back here, her breath uneven. "Hey, Jendeukie, Gin Dali Lisa, did you hear the news?"

Taking a second to slow down and analyze their faces, Chu realized they look extremely confused. Even a little scared.

"No, what's up?" Why did unnie look so excited? Jennie wondered.

"Is your group debuting?" Lisa asked. Her Korean vocabulary and grammar were slowly getting better, but there was still a whole lot she didn't know.

Jisoo cocked her head back. "No, no. The opposite."

Jennie raised an eyebrow. "Then did your group split up?"

"Kind of, yeah." While Chu had improved her singing and dancing tremendously, the other members just became more and more discouraged by the impatience of debuting. Was that a coincidence? A consequence? Hopefully not. But tons of people had quit as soon as their contracts were over and Jisoo's original formation from July was long gone.

When Chu was told where she would be transferred, she had blinked at least twice. "I'm the new member of PINKPUNK!"

"Oh my god..." Jennie gasped, not really knowing how to react. I had never felt so glad to lose a member? I mean, Jennie had nothing against the girl that got kicked out, but it'd been really careless of her to smoke in such a public place.

Jisoo, though.

Jisoo joining PINKPUNK was like a puzzle piece finally finding its exact place after trying with all the other options. It had taken such a long time, but her persistence had gotten her where she belonged. As far as Jennie knew, Jisoo had always been a part of PINKPUNK.

Jennie hugged her. "Welcome, unnie."

Once they pulled away, Lisa smirked and gave Jisoo a fist bump. "Don't make me dodge too much."

"I'll step on you on purpose," Jisoo answered, but Lisa just offered a genuine smile. She hadn't understood Chu at all.

Jennie chuckled. "We won't go easy on you."

"I'm not scared." Jisoo had seen them train for months now and had joined them multiple times. If anyone was ready to adapt to Jennie and Lisa's pace, it was her.

But since the year was ending soon, Jisoo only got two weeks of proper training with PINKPUNK. You see, classes were suspended during the Christmas holidays to spend time with their families and it would be quite illegal to overwork minors all 365 days of the year. It was a bit of a bother after getting used to a routine, but everyone could use a break from the competitive atmosphere. That didn't entirely free them from the December evaluation though. You were supposed to practice in your time off, which seemed kind of pointless. But at least they didn't have to think about their language and performance lessons.

Jennie didn't have a big family, so she would just hang out with her mom. Since her mother was single, the holidays could get a bit lonely. Well, it's not like her mom really needed her after Jennie was away for four years in New Zealand and fifteen months training, but I think that's more of a reason to be with her. That's what was in Jennie's mind when she left the dorms. She had said quick goodbyes to Jisoo and Lisa, and then was out the door.

Jisoo was considering staying a bit longer in the dorms. The reason she had moved out was to, you know, have some space. Of course she would be with her family on Christmas, but the day seemed miles away now. Being here felt like a workplace somehow, her mind in the right place. Chu had to perfect the group performance, Lisa's choreographies were pretty tough to say the least.

Speaking of that maknae...

Lisa got up early, ate in the cafeteria, and arrived early to the practice room. It was when she had spent too much time dancing on her own that she remembered no one was coming.

She was fine on her first day alone but, because she's too energetic, she got bored easily. So Lisa decided to explore Seoul by herself. It was sort of fun in the beginning, but having no one to share this with was... underwhelming. Her mind always went back to Hongdae with Jennie. Lotte World with Jennie. Music festival with Jennie.

That's when Lisa went back to dancing by herself. Music is what could always cheer her up, but things never tended to go her way. For some reason, she felt very emotional when Singular's Bao Bao played on shuffle.

This one heart, why does it have to want so much and be so complex? If you care a little about me, that's enough for us to do a lot of things together now.

Sometimes it's okay if you are far. Sometimes I understand if you've forgotten me. "Sometimes" is discouraging but don't regret it, just let it be.

Think of me when you're not thinking of anyone else...

Lisa's chest felt heavy, her world suddenly angsty. Maybe this was part of being a teenager, she had heard girls normally had mood swings because of their hormones. Lisa never had a problem with them in the past, being constantly happy and full of life. She wasn't sure how to deal with... whatever this was. One was thing was clear though, she couldn't stop thinking about Bao Bao.

At some point, she picked her ukulele from the instrument storage and returned to the practice room, looking for tutorials online. She didn't know how much time had passed, but she learned the song that evening. Lisa often struggled to learn a whole track quickly, but Bao Bao was within her capacity.

"Tur gup chun yung dtaung dern tahng glai, kong mai sai pai hai welah gup jai dai rian roo..." Lisa sang softly as she played the ukelele.

"I was sure I heard something!" someone exclaimed in Korean, standing by the doorframe.

Lisa turned towards the voice. "Chu?" The Thai girl honestly thought Jisoo had left a week ago, just like Jennie.

"What are you doing here?" Jisoo walked up to her, kneeling beside her. "I thought you'd be in Thailand right now."

Lisa shook her head. "I can't afford that. I talk to my mom on the phone every day though."

"Hmm..." Well, Jisoo had pretty much stayed in her room practicing and playing games. She only went to the YG cafeteria whenever she felt hungry, which was at odd hours. It would make sense how she hadn't come across the maknae.

After having a late lunch meal, Jisoo had been passing by and heard music on her way out to the dorms. Chu's a curious girl, so she decided to check it out. Who would be in YG on Christmas Eve...? Someone who didn't have anywhere else to go.

"Pack your things, let's go."

Lisa tilted her head to the side. "Huh? Where?"

"My house."

Maybe Jisoo should've thought this through a little more, but seeing Lisa so depressed had made her feel like she had to do something about it. "So, do you celebrate Christmas?" Chu asked on the train.

"Kind of. Like, not for... um... the usual reasons." Lisa didn't know how to say religion in Korean yet, she would have to look that up later. "Thais just like having a reason to party."

"It's quite similar here since most people aren't Christians either. Christmas is more of a couple's celebration, but anyone can still eat a nice dinner with their family and give gifts."

"Ooh, interesting..." Lisa got half of that. Christmas was something for couples here? How strange. But dinner and gifts sounded great.

"Did you ever believe in Santa?"

Lisa shook her head. "We don't really believe in those things... He's more like a tourist attraction."

"Ah, I see. I only thought so until preschool. I'd caught my parents putting the presents under the tree one night, but I pretended I didn't see it so they would keep doing it."

Lisa giggled. Jisoo suddenly got up and it seemed they had reached their destination. Chu's house wasn't that far from the station, so they only had to walk a little.

The Thai girl started feeling nervous as Jisoo opened the door. She hadn't been to anyone's actual house since she came to Korea, just the dorms. Was she supposed to act a certain way?

Jisoo's house was quite big. She had mentioned something about previously living with her grandparents, parents and older siblings, so it was understandable.

"I'm home!" Jisoo said when she entered and then took her shoes off.

Lisa followed her steps shyly. When she came across Jisoo's grandparents in the living room, she bowed down instantly. "Annyeonghaseyo, jeoneun Lisaibnida!" she said quickly.

Jisoo laughed at her. "She's the maknae from our group."

"Hey, I'm more than that!" Lisa exclaimed, pouting her lips. "I'm the choreographer in PINKPUNK. Also, I'm from Thailand, so I'm sorry if my Korean is bad."

"That's alright, come sit down." Jisoo's grandmother led her to the couch. "The food's still cooking, so make yourself at home. Chu, go set the table."

"Yep, yep," Jisoo mumbled and disappeared into the kitchen.

Jisoo's Grandma seemed awfully familiar. You see, Lisa had a great memory for faces. Where could she have met her? It wasn't at the coffee shop, plus, she lived quite far from the agency. It wasn't at Hongdae or the festival either, so then it would have to be... the amusement park.

Huh? That didn't really make sense. Why would an old lady be at an amusement park? Suddenly, it hit her. This was the poor woman Jennie had lied to, saying she was her granddaughter. Damn, how I wish Jennie was here. It would be so much fun.

Where Jennie and Jisoo that alike? Enough for Chu's Grandma to confuse them? I mean, even Lisa considered they could be sisters. Their personalities are definitely different, but they're around the same height, similar hair color, and... no, that was it.

After swimming out of her sea of thoughts, she realized Chu's Grandpa was watching TV. He was sitting on another couch, drinking hot chocolate with marshmallows. Whatever he was watching looked really intense. Was it normal to air dramas during Christmas Eve? Or was it like Thailand, where they didn't consider Christmas a holiday? That couldn't be, otherwise the trainees wouldn't have a short break.

Lisa turned around when she saw Jisoo setting the table. She only put four sets of cutlery, meaning no one else would join them tonight.

Grandma told Chu that her parents were on a date and that her siblings had stayed in their college campuses. They studied in other Korean cities, so it made sense if they couldn't make it. That was alright though, Jisoo didn't wanna scare Lisa too much. Her family could be overwhelming.

When Chu finished, she sat down next to Lisa. "What are we watching?"

"49 days," Grandpa answered.

"Ooh, I never got to see the lasts episodes." Jisoo looked at Lisa. "Have you watched any K-dramas yet?"

The Thai girl shook her head and Chu gasped.

"You have to!" Jisoo grabbed her hands enthusiastically. "They are so good and the acting is amazing. This one is actually very cool. This girl has an accident and becomes a type of ghost. She has to get three tears of pure love or else she will die!"

Okay, too many words. But the bits she understood sounded interesting enough. Lisa remained watching, not getting a lot of the dialogue. But you could sort of understand what was going on with the context, facial expressions, and actions.

She didn't know for how long they had been watching, but she had to blink at least twice to realize Chu's grandmother was calling them over for dinner.

"You liked it, didn't you?" Jisoo teased. Her friend had been paying a lot of attention and she also reacted to a bunch of the surprising scenes, eyes fixated on the screen.

As you all know, Chu loved acting. These kinds of series are what inspired her to pick it up. She would often impersonate characters with her dad for fun and it had become her thing.

Once Lisa sat down, she beamed at the shiny food served on the table. It was a mix of everything she had tried with Jennie, like bulgogi, japchae, and kimchi. There were also rice cakes and fruits, which reminded her of her mom's cooking. "Jal meokkessumnida!"

Jisoo smiled. Lisa had really learned a lot. It was always fun talking to her while pretending she could understand you. Chu would say the weirdest shit and Jennie would just laugh in the background as Lisa doodled in her notebook or danced around the bedroom. One day though, Lisa had commented on one of her stories and Jisoo had been shaken.

"This is delicious!" Lisa exclaimed after having her first bite.

"Have you been enjoying Korean food?" Grandma asked.

The Thai girl nodded. "I love everything I've tried so far. I've tried these dishes before and you can tell these were made with love."

Jisoo wanted to make fun of Lisa for the cringy sentence, but her family had seemed to appreciate her words.

After that, Chu's grandparents asked Lisa the typical questions about Thailand. How the food was, the people, festivities, etc. It was always interesting to hear her speak about her hometown. You could tell Lisa really missed it.

Must be strange for her, having to use chopsticks and be forced to learn another language. But like Jennie once told Chu, they couldn't really complain they'd chosen this life.

The dinner conversations were over around 9 o'clock. It was still pretty early in the night. "Can we watch that series from earlier?" Lisa had asked her shyly.

Chu nodded. "I have the DVDs, kekekeke."

Lisa raised both arms in the air. "Yaaay!"

They binge-watched the first episodes until they got tired and fell asleep. Turns out the two got really obsessive with shows. Lisa usually finished them in one sitting while Jisoo wouldn't be able to sleep unless they reached an episode where there was a break from all the drama.

Jennie had felt weird when she got back home. I mean, it had been nice to get rest and everything. She also had time to create handcrafted jewelry and prepare homemade kimchi with her mom. While Jennie genuinely enjoyed all that, training had always been in the back of her mind. She just felt like she was ought to have a busy life. Doing simple things seemed plain and a waste of time. This had been the reason she had moved out in the first place. There were too many distractions here, things that weren't going to be useful to achieve her dreams.

"Jennie..."

Jennie finished dancing, just noticing her mom in her full-length mirror. "How long have you been staring?"

"Just enough to say you need a break." Mom walked towards her. "Remember you can't push your body too hard."

"But I have to!" Jennie snapped. For some reason, she had felt like her privacy had been invaded. "I don't want anyone to tell me I'm not good enough for this. Not anymore."

Mom sat down on her daughter's bed and motioned Jennie to do the same. "Don't lose confidence, don't let them break your confidence. Always be confident. Show them how it's done."

Jennie took her words in. Despite all the critics, she had tried her best to not let the YG staff and the mean members get to her. When the judges used to tell Jennie she was too slow or too quiet or too loud, it had felt like blades piercing through her chest after a month's efforts. It was unfair and heartless but at the end of the day, time and effort didn't matter. Just the final results.

Mom pinched Jennie's cheeks, interrupting her thoughts. "But do it when you're not on vacation."

"Okay, okay, but stop it!"

Lisa and Chu stayed over at Jisoo's house for a few days to finish the show, which had twenty episodes in total. In the meantime, Lisa met Chu's parents and the dynamic between them was hilarious. It reminded her a bit of her own parents, which made her nostalgic. It was sad to not have them around.

The two returned to the dorms, ready to get back in action after practicing together every now and then. When Lisa first saw Jennie, she hugged her tightly and kissed her cheek. "I missed youuuu!"

Jennie squinted her eyes, not expecting this much attention upon her arrival. "I was just gone for two weeks, Lili."

Lisa pulled away. "Lili?"

"You see, I made these bracelets and I didn't have a lot of letters... A lot of L's, I's, and N's left. I remembered that time you called me Nini, so I thought you could be Lili. Our own cute names or something. Um, so... I also wanted to give you something after you bought me that bracelet in Hongdae." Jennie handed her a small present bag after that nervous speech, but she had to be bold and stay confident at all times.

"Oh my god, this is so pretty!" The bracelet had a golden chain with letters spelling LILI. It also had a sun, an elephant, and a dolphin charm attached to it. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." Lisa gave her more kisses on the cheek with each thank you.

"I read that Asian elephants and Irrawaddy dolphins are really popular in Thailand, so I wanted to give you something that would remind you of home. And the sun is because... Well, you light up every dark atmosphere," Jennie explained. She was really ranting at this point, but this was her first time in a while giving a close friend a gift. "Wait, are you crying? Don't cry or you'll make me cry too."

Lisa had watery eyes and was trying to blink her tears away. Jennie had been so thoughtful while Lisa had just been moping around, being lonely. She should have prepared something like this. It's just, Buddhists didn't really celebrate Christmas, so that hadn't even crossed her mind. Gifts were more for a birthday occasion. "T-this means a lot. I'm so happy I've met you, Nini."

"Lili..." Yup. Jennie was definitely crying now. "I'm happy I've met you too."

Once they'd calmed down, Lisa didn't wanna say thank you with words only, so she dragged Jennie into the instrument room. Since Lisa hadn't planned any dance for Nini, she decided she would play a song for her instead.

Lili checked if her ukulele was still in tune and then began performing Bao Bao for Jennie, pouring out everything she'd been feeling since that April day. Luck. Passion. Love. Happiness.

Dedicating a song to someone takes a lot of courage. It's like a confession of love. Imagine the person doesn't like you back and then that song is completely ruined for you forever, no matter how much it used to mean to you in the past.

This was the first time Jennie couldn't understand Lisa. Besides the fact that she was singing in Thai, what was her intention? Just saying thanks? That seemed too dull for Lisa, considering she didn't like playing in front of others. Lisa was still new at playing instruments and after her guitar fail, she felt a bit embarrassed.

"That was beautiful..." Jennie would be lying if she said Lisa's Thai song hadn't made her heart flutter. Whatever Lisa had meant, it'd made Jennie feel warm and whole.

Jennie had never heard Lisa sing a ballad that wasn't from a Disney movie. Her voice was full of emotion and went well with the ukelele.

Seeing Lisa smile so brightly, it made Jennie believe that she might be overthinking this. Maybe Lisa just wanted to sing a song to her because music made her feel happy and she wanted to share that feeling.

When Jennie returned to her dorm, she caught Jisoo playing a game on her laptop. "Hey, Chu!"

Jisoo paused. She got a different vibe from Jennie already. Had something happened at her mom's place? "Hi..."

"So..." Jennie held something behind her back, swaying her body from side to side. "I made you a gift."

"Oh?"

"Here." Jennie gave her the present bag and Jisoo had a lot of things going through her mind once she saw what it was.

It was a nifty silver bracelet... spelling CHICHU.

"I had a couple of C's and H's, so I said why not?" Jennie commented, her nerves from earlier totally gone.

"You could have written Chu, you know."

"Well, I first made one for me and Lisa with our cute names, so I felt like I had to stick to the theme."

Jisoo stepped forward and lifted Jennie's wrist. "This doesn't say Jendeukie."

"Too long." Her roommate rolled her eyes. "Next time I'm only giving a gift to Lisa, she has better reactions. She cried and played a Thai song for me."

Jisoo squeezed her wrist. "Hey, I'm grateful, even though you know I hate Chichu. Thank you, Jendeukie." Pause. "Wait, Lisa sang to you?"

"Yeah, it was very sweet." Jennie turned around and smiled as she sorted some of the things she had taken to her mom's.

Chu giggled. They really have it bad.