Even though they hadn't practiced together for most of the month, the December evaluation was a complete success with Jisoo in the team. This just showed that the current PINKPUNK lineup was dedicated and compromised with their goal.

Making it seem otherwise, Lisa still skipped the day after. This time to binge-watch k-dramas recommended by Chu, who let her borrow some DVDs she could play on her laptop.

"You have a problem," Jennie had told her once, when she caught Lisa watching an episode before anyone arrived at the dance room.

A few days later, Jisoo's birthday came up on January 3rd. All the PINKPUNK members bought her a small chocolate cake to eat by herself. They had learned that Chu loved sweets and didn't like sharing them in her short time in the girl group. Naturally, Jisoo had easily befriended everyone with her charismatic personality and nicknaming talents.

"You were the one who invented Gamja Seonsaengnim?" Miyeon had asked her. "Legend."

A birthday didn't mean she'd have a free day, so the day passed by like any other. Jisoo told the members that they didn't have to do anything for her birthday, it wasn't that special. Chu didn't like unnecessary attention. Still, at lunchtime, the chefs brought miyeok-guk for Jisoo. Having beef seaweed soup on your birthday was an old Korean tradition and Jennie had told the cooks about it beforehand.

They sang Happy Birthday to her while Lisa just clapped in support, not knowing the Korean version of the song, and then they finished the rest of their classes of the day.

The following week, when Chu and Lisa were alone in Jensoo's dorm because Jennie was out shopping for groceries and the other two were too hooked watching a k-drama to go with her, Lisa paused the video. "So Jennie's birthday is on the sixteenth," Lisa said.

"Yeah..." Jisoo trailed off. "Do you have anything in mind?"

"Something like that. It's more like a personal gift." Lisa looked at her own hands, too shy to admit it face to face. "So I was wondering if you could be the one to take care of the celebration with members, like what we did for your birthday."

"That's fine since it is for Jendeukie," Chu concluded after thinking it over. While she didn't wanna have more things to do besides practice, Jendeukie definitely deserved to have a nice birthday. She was one of the most hardworking members, if not the best.

"Thank youuu!" Lisa exclaimed excitingly. Without thinking much about it, she started attacking Jisoo with kisses on the cheek.

Chu instinctively tried pulling her away. She hated it when people played like this and Lisa knew it after spending a week at her house, so Lisa kept going at it. The maknae was definitely more comfortable around Jisoo now, but Chu wasn't sure if that had been a good choice.

Jennie had arrived at some point during that and for some reason, she had felt her heart sink. Kisses on the cheek, that was something Lisa only did with her in the past. Since Chu and Lili hadn't noticed her yet, Jennie dropped some snacks on Jisoo's bed, right in front of them. "Here you go," she announced bitterly.

"Thanks, Jennie!" Lisa said, finally leaving Jisoo alone.

But Chu wasn't letting her off easily. She started hitting the maknae jokingly. Hard enough she would feel it, but not hard enough to actually hurt her.

Still, Lisa was overreacting to Jisoo's punches.

"Can guys not?" Jennie said loudly. She had picked up her notebook to write some lyrics, suddenly inspired by her jumbled emotions, but it was difficult to concentrate with those two fighting in the background.

"Sorry," Jisoo and Lisa apologized in unison and went back to watching their show quietly.

Jennie began acting a bit cold towards Lisa since then. It wasn't obvious at first because they were always professional during group practice, but whenever they were alone or with a few people, Jennie was more dismissive than usual whenever Lisa tried to tell a bad joke in Korean.

Lisa didn't really know what was going on, but a little distance between the two was alright for now, considering she had to keep Jennie's present a surprise.

Midway through January, the late-night practices started for PINKPUNK. Lisa stayed over at Jennie's dorm tonight. Jisoo was way too tired to join them, so it was just the two of them.

Jennie sat on the couch, taking a break. "Why do you make our dances so insanely good?"

"To make you work harder, of course." Lisa smirked, sitting beside Nini, but her expression changed after looking out the window. "Is that snow?" Lili gasped.

Jennie blinked a couple of times. "Oh my god, it is!"

Lisa tapped Jennie's knee excitingly. "Can we go out? Can we go out? Can we go out?" she said quickly. "This is my first time seeing snow!"

"It's almost midnight... Wait." Jennie paused. "It doesn't snow in Thailand?"

Lisa shook her head with glowing, puppy eyes.

"Okay, okay, let's get dressed," Jennie ordered. She had been ready to tell Lisa how it was too late and how they could check it out in the morning, but... who could say no to that face?

Lisa borrowed a coat and a pair of gloves from Jisoo, and Jennie put one of her long beanies on top of Lili's head. While Lisa's hair was longer now, it didn't mean that would save her ears from the cold. "Thanks." Lisa flashed her million-dollar smile.

Nini smiled back. "You're welcome. Now let's go."

The girls took the elevator to get down to the lobby, trying not to giggle. It just felt like they were being mischievous. The lights were always dim at this hour because trainees tended to practice overnight at the agency's main building next door. Jennie and Lisa made their way out and the ground was already covered in snow. How did we just realize it was snowing?

Lisa raised her right hand at the sky, catching some tiny snowflakes on her glove. She beamed at the distinct natural shapes, "Whoa, it's so pretty!"

Jennie ran around Lili and grabbed her left hand, spinning them around until they fell on the soft snow surface. They gazed at each other for a second and then laughed, not caring that now their hair and clothes were wet.

Nini started moving her arms and legs sideways, forming an angel in the snow. Lisa imitated her. When they finished and stood up to look at their masterpieces... Well, more than art, it was funny. Lisa's angel was way bigger and the wings colliding with Jennie's made it seem like a mythical creature with two heads, making them chuckle.

"Nini, how do I build a snowman? I always wanted to."

Jennie crouched and began gathering snow in her palms, creating a small snowball.

A heartbeat later, Lisa was hit on the shoulder by that very same snowball. "Hey!"

Jennie took cover behind a tree as she saw Lili form a snowball herself, learning fast from the master.

Lisa moved to the side so the snowball would hit her, but Nini ran off behind a car in the parking lot.

The two shaped their second round of snowballs and attempted to hit each other for what felt like forever. It was game over when Lisa missed a shot and hit a car. That's when they panicked and ran back into the dorms, hoping they wouldn't come across anyone on the way, especially the owner. The car's alarm was pretty loud, to say the least, and it was bound to wake up some people on the lower floors.

Lisa and Jennie returned safely to Lisa's dorm, which was the easiest to reach, considering Jennie couldn't run for long. The Korean girl let Lili shower first since she was the host, and then it was her turn.

Once Jennie was done, she entered Lisa's living room. She had not expected to be stopped by Lili at the doorstep, only to be led to the kitchen counter and sit down in confusion.

Lisa pressed play on her laptop and trotted to the middle of her tiny living room. She started dancing along to one of Nini's favorite songs, Rihanna's latest single, You Da One. Let's just say Jennie wouldn't stop singing it ever since she returned from her mom's house. Jisoo was already done with it, having to live with Jennie, but Lisa loved hearing Nini sing casually.

Jennie's voice tended to be strong and powerful during the practices and evaluations, but listening to the natural soft outcome was always comforting for Lisa. Nini just singing whatever popped up in her beautiful mind was special.

Unlike Jennie, Lisa felt she was bad at showing her feelings verbally. Whether it was in Thai, English, or Korean. The only way she knew how to express herself completely was through dancing, so she made up a cool performance of You Da One for Nini only. Her original plan was to do it in the morning and definitely not at midnight in pajamas, but the idea rose while waiting for Jennie to finish her warm shower.

For some reason, Lisa felt vulnerable. She'd never done something like this for anyone. Dedicating a dance. But reading the lyrics to the song and feeling it through, it was everything Lisa wanted to say tonight.

Meanwhile, Jennie's mind was blank.

Lisa, Lisa, Lisa.

What are you doing?

What are you doing to me?

My heart's pumping so hard, as if it was about to burst out of my chest.

Are you saying what I think you're saying?

Are you confessing...?

"Happy birthday, Nini!" Lisa exclaimed after recovering her breath.

Jennie's mouth remained agape for a moment. "U-um... T-thank you." She wanted to slap herself mentally. Replying the most polite thing in the world? And stuttering? Really? Say something else. "I can't believe you did all this with our individual and group performances on top. I know you're dancing something else for your solo."

Lisa rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment, slowly approaching the birthday girl. "You know it's no big deal."

"How can you say that? It is!" Now Jennie felt even more flustered about feeling flustered. "Or do you dance love songs to every girl on their birthday? You didn't do this for Jisoo, right?"

Lisa stopped in her tracks. Now that hurts. "Why would I do that?"

Nini looked down. "You kissed her on the cheek, even though you only did that with me..." Nini trailed off, too shyly for a call out.

"When you kiss me on the cheek, that makes me feel warm and happy. I want others to feel the same!"

"That's just such a Lisa thing to think. Chu doesn't even like it."

"So you do?" Lisa offered a wide smile and then a thought struck her. "Oh, were you jealous?"

Jennie pouted. "No..."

"Nini, you should know that you'll always be my number one."

Jennie rolled her eyes. "That implies there is a number two."

"Yeah, my cats. But I don't think they would appreciate my dances as much as you. Or my kisses." Lisa giggled, calming the atmosphere. "Nini versus the kittens of Thailand, sounds like a good action movie."

"Everyone would know how it'd end, though. I'd obviously win after putting a lot of effort, but everyone will just see me as the villain for defeating two cats."

"Yo, Nini, here."

Jennie expected Lisa to pull a gift out of her pocket, but instead she received a kiss on the cheek.

"Enjoy your sixteens."

Jennie blushed. Guess Lili makes me feel warm and happy too.

After that, they both headed to bed. Despite the fact that it was her birthday, Jennie had too many thoughts to fall asleep. It didn't help that Lisa was next her.

Lili hadn't explicitly told her she liked her as more than a friend. Was Jennie supposed to assume that's what that whole dance was about? First, Lisa sung that sweet Thai song and now she danced to You Da One.

To anyone, all these gestures or gifts would seem romantic. Hell, Jennie even felt swooned. But a voice in the back of her mind reminded her that they weren't allowed to date anyone if they wanted to stay in YG. Did Jennie want to date Lisa in the first place? It's not like she would be opposed to it, whoever Lisa chose to date would be extremely lucky. But is this what I really need right now? That's... too complicated to answer.

In the morning, they got up a bit earlier than usual to build Lisa's first snowman. Lisa had acted like her usual happy self. It was hard to tell if there was anything going on in her head. Jennie can only imagine her worrying about messing up while speaking in Korean.

Her members gave Jennie a fruity cake and a lot of encouraging words, praising her consistent hard work and dedication. While Jennie was grateful for the recognition, she still felt weird about compliments. And of course, Jisoo paid her back with some miyeok-guk for lunch.

The days to come were full of late-night practices until the 22nd of January. You see, Koreans celebrate New Years on the second new moon after the winter solstice, this time around landing on the 23rd. Therefore, they would have a free day before, during, and after the new year to spend with their families.

Jisoo invited Lisa to her house again, knowing the Thai girl wouldn't be flying home any time soon. Hearing the conversation, Jennie wanted to join them too. Her mom said it would be fine, considering that the two weren't so big on family-oriented holidays since they were apart for a long time, experiencing different cultures. Christmas had felt obligatory to Jennie, even though she wasn't religious, but she had celebrated the holiday for five years in New Zealand.

Spending the new year with her friends sounded like it could actually be enjoyable. Plus, Jennie could keep an eye on Lisa. It's not like Jisoo would snatch Lili from Jennie or that Lisa was even hers to begin with, but Lisa could be really... affectionate and she did say Nini was her number one. That had to count for something. Hopefully not just an excuse.

"I'm home!" Jisoo announced as she closed the front door of her house.

After everyone took their shoes off, they were greeted by Chu's grandfather in the living room. "Oh, two became three!"

"Mhm!" Jisoo gestured towards her Jennie. "This is Jendeukie, my roommate!"

Jennie rolled her eyes mentally and bowed. "Hi, my name is Kim Jennie, not Jendeukie. Thank you for having me."

"And thank you for having me again," Lisa echoed.

"Kim? Are we related?" Jisoo's grandfather joked.

Jennie smiled. "If so, we're related to half the country."

He chuckled. "Jennie, Jennie," he pronounced in a funny way. "Is that your English name?"

She shook her head in response. "Everyone in Korea thinks that, but my name is written in Hangul on my birth certificate, kekekeke."

When Jennie was in kindergarten, her classmates also had trouble saying her name. They started calling her "Jerry" instead, like the cartoon character. It used to bother her a little, people calling her a male name. But Jerry was pretty crafty, so was she.

"Oh my, our language has changed so much. Not only did we start using English words in our vocabulary, now we do in our names!" Grandpa put a palm over his face, as if he was losing hope in the world.

Jisoo was close to stopping him from embarrassing her any further, but Jennie answered quicker than her.

"I actually love that. I grew up with both languages and I'm happy my name represents that. I'm glad languages all over the world are developing and becoming more fun to play with."

Grandpa nodded, sensing this girl was smart. "Do you like acrostic poems?"

"Oh, yeah, haven't done one in a while though."

"Let's do a short one... saehae jeonnal."

"Did Jennie just steal your grandfather?" Lisa asked Jisoo.

"Hm, that seems to be case, but it's not too serious. It's probably because Jendeukie likes things their age." Chu had caught Jendeukie knitting once, fixing a hole in one of her old pants. Jennie was also extra enough to light incense whenever she took a bath. Not to mention she liked writing on paper instead of doing it digitally, like a normal person would do these days. "I still have something over her, blood!"

"I heard you, Chu!" Jendeukie exclaimed, but then continued her conversation with Grandpa, who paid no mind to Jisoo's comment.

"By the way, where's Grandma?" Lisa asked Jisoo, not seeing her anywhere.

"How am I supposed to know? I came here with you!" It's not like Jisoo's Grandpa had said anything about it to her, being too distracted by Jennie's charms. "She might have gone out for groceries."

"Aww, she should have asked us to do it for her. I love the market by your house, it has more variety than the one by YG." Of course that wasn't the root of her disappointment. Lisa just wanted to see if Grandma would recognize Jennie from their amusement park adventure. She had been dying with anxiety since they left the dorms.

"You just want those chocolate snacks from our Christmas sleepovers, kekekeke."

"You know me so well..."

Jennie suddenly came up to the girls. "We should go buy them!" If there was something Lisa liked, Jennie needs know about it. For potential gifts, you know.

"Look who remembered us!" Jisoo gasped. "I thought you were too busy becoming my grandpa's BFF."

Jennie hit her on the shoulder playfully. "Stop overreacting."

Chu raised her palms as a sign of peace. "Hey, I'm an actress, you homewrecker."

Jennie put on her best poker face, trying to suppress her laughter and think of a good comeback.

"What does gajeong pagoeja mean?" Lisa asked.

"Oh, I'll explain it to you," Jisoo said mischievously. "It's when someone like Jennie comes into your house and then makes—"

"Everyone love her with her amazing personality," Jennie interrupted, wearing a smirk.

"To break the actual family members apart because of the cursed spell she pulled on them."

"Wow," Lisa breathed out. "I feel like I'm watching a drama."

"The only dramatic one here is Chu," Jennie argued. "I literally had one conversation with the man and she's already saying he'll ask me to be in their Christmas postcards."

"More like Halloween's—"

The front door opened and closed, deafening the rest of Jisoo's answer. Moments later, Grandma stepped into the living room.

"What a plot twist..." Lisa mumbled in English.

Chu scoffed. "Now she's gonna steal my grandma..."

Jennie didn't react to Jisoo's comment, too shocked by the woman's appearance. There was nothing wrong with it at all, except she might hate her. "Um, where's the bathroom?"

"Say hi first!" Lisa said, smiling innocently. "Hey, Korean Grandma!" After staying at the Kim's for a little while, Chu's Grandma had told Lisa she might as well call her Korean Grandma. The woman had taken a liking of Lisa, seeing her as the innocent, charming Thai angel she is. It was kind of funny how Jisoo hadn't mind that but had been shading Jennie for 5 minutes.

Oh my god... This really was a plot twist. Of all people, Lisa set her up. Jennie couldn't run away now, she'd been put on the spot. She wished she had the guts from earlier, but her guilt was messing with her confidence. Jennie bowed abruptly. "Hello, ma'am, my name is Kim Jennie!" she said way too quickly.

"Chu, do all your friends introduce themselves like they are being chased by the police?" Grandma joked.

Lisa patted Jennie's back. Been there, done that.

"Hi, Jennie. Jisoo talked a lot about you. Lisa too. It's nice to finally meet you!"

Jennie stopped herself from looking at the floor and stretched her hand. "Nice to meet you too!"

Jisoo's grandmother looked at Jennie's hand strangely at first but then shook it. "Don't be so formal, it's not like you're Jisoo's boyfriend, kekekeke."

Jennie giggled nervously in response and retreated next to Lisa in the background, linking their arms.

Chu to the rescue. "That's why I'm never bringing in a boyfriend."

"Hey, that's mean, Chu Chu," Grandma answered.

"It's quite literal now, it's in a contract." Jisoo laughed, making reference to their deal with YG.

"It's not like we have time to even think about having a relationship," Jennie added, suddenly forgetting they were fighting moments ago. Maybe she wanted to support Chu because she felt bad about tricking her grandma into believing she was her. What a small world.

Boyfriend... Relationship... The k-dramas Lisa watched used those words a lot. Of course Jennie wasn't looking for anything like that. Lisa should've known already. Still, she couldn't help but feel a little sad about it.

While they weren't allowed to date, it's not like people could stop themselves from falling in love. But either way, romantic or not, Jennie and Lisa were like the yin and yang. They couldn't coexist without the other, at least that's how it felt like right now. The rest of Jisoo's family had arrived shortly, right before dinner time. Everyone was here, even her siblings. After all, New Years' was exclusively a family holiday.

Lisa couldn't help but feel like an outsider. While her Korean had gotten better, these casual conversations were too much to process. Jennie seemed to have noticed that, especially when a question was aimed at the Thai girl, so Nini just held her hand under the table, asked Lili in English and answered for her.

Jennie felt like she was watching the comedy sitcom High Kick. Jisoo's family was certainly fun. Chu's father was trying to be all cute with his wife, but she kept pushing him off because he was too cheesy. Jennie had to agree. The siblings updated everyone with their college achievements and respective relationships, everything seemed to be going well... until they started teasing Jisoo and her decision to become an actress. Chu just kept eating her food, she had already heard this a thousand times.

Jennie rarely got the need to punch someone—okay, maybe that was a lie—but it was really hard to sit through this. Lisa had noticed Nini's grip had gotten stronger, so she attempted to calm her down by massaging her hand with her thumb.

Still, while Lisa kept her from throwing a tantrum, Jennie couldn't stay quiet. "You know that Chu became the best in her group within months? I've been in YG for over a year and I had never seen anyone improve that quickly. She's such a hardworking girl, taking four different dance classes with singing, piano and language on top. I'm so proud of you, unnie."

Jisoo looked at her with a weird face. Where did that come from? She didn't know how to feel. In a way, what Jennie was saying was right. Chu had done all that. It's just, her effort being recognized, it was something new. In YG, training more than you're supposed to didn't seem like a big deal, it was what was expected from you. Not even when Mr. Yang told her that she would be in their future girl group had made her this... emotional. No one had ever stood up for her like that, her mom was usually saying "Cut it," to her siblings when it became too much, but she'd never defended her with the fear of having to pick one over the others. Jisoo wanted to be as strong as Jennie to face them like that. "Thank you, Jendeukie. When the CEO told me I would be part of the next girl group, I couldn't believe." Yes, she could. She had done everything for that to happen. But she wanted to boast.

"I don't like that you're going to the hospital too much," her mom interrupted, dismissing her achievement.

"Well, you are the one that gave birth to me with weak feet." Jisoo sipped her sikhye.

Jennie was impressed, to say the least. So far, Jisoo had been making small talk during dinner, so Jennie couldn't really tell how she spoke to anyone in her family besides her grandparents, who were the loveliest.

"What is this? I love it!" Lisa suddenly chimed in.

Jennie smiled, suppressing her laughter. Perfect timing. "Sikhye, it's like a traditional sweet rice drink that we have in New Years and other holidays."

"Ah, I see. It's very good."

"You're such a sweet tooth," Jennie joked. Her explanation in English distracted every monolingual on the table and the topic was changed afterwards.

When everyone finished eating, the family decided to play a Korean board game Lisa had never seen in her life. Even though she'd been invited to play, the instructions sounded way too complicated. Lisa hated acting like a downer, normally being the life of the party, but this wasn't her holiday to celebrate. Songkran, the Thai New Year, had been on December 31st. She was so upset she couldn't attend the water festival. Her mom had sent her pictures that day and she had cried for hours.

Past midnight, the adults had started drinking soju, Korea's native drink, and the kids were sent upstairs after wishing everyone to have a great year. Jisoo's bedroom was spacious and quite simple but, for that very reason, you could tell it was hers. There were a lot of weird animal plushies that looked kind of cute if you stared at them for a tad too long. There were piles of console games, movies, k-dramas and music CDs on a shelf.

"Jendeukie," Jisoo called after they all sat on her bed. Jennie was ready to apologize, even if she didn't feel sorry, but then Chu just said, "Thank you."

"Anytime, unnie."

"I'm not sure what happened, but Nini was ready to flip the table," Lisa commented. She had spaced out halfway through dinner, only paying attention whenever Jennie spoke. She had found Nini's hand way more interesting. It was soft and small. It had been cold when she first held it, but her temperature had balanced with Lisa's shortly. To avoid letting go, Lisa had used a spoon instead of chopsticks, gaining her strange looks from the family that hadn't met her on Christmas.

Jennie, on the other hand, had served herself a small amount of food and had eaten it fully as soon as the oldest person started eating. So, in conclusion, she hadn't needed to use chopsticks for the rest of the dinner, only drinking the delicious sikhye with her free hand.

"I really wanted to..." Jennie whined, marveling at the thought. "It would've been cool!"

Lisa sighed happily, seeing Nini so enthusiastic about something so destructive. Maybe she was in love.