That night, Jennie made a paper jegi for them to play Jegichagi in the backyard. It was medium-sized, most of it occupied by Mrs. Kim's flowers and vegetables. But there was enough space for the couple to kick a jegi without breaking anything.
Jennie first showed Lisa how you were supposed to kick the jegi and, as expected, her girlfriend learned quickly. In fact, Lisa was amazing at the game and Jennie got competitive. "Okay, the one who loses next washes the dishes while the other takes a shower first."
Lisa gave Nini that cheeky smirk that both annoyed her and turned her on. "You're setting yourself up, love."
"We will see."
And that's how Jennie ended up washing the dishes while Lisa took a shower. They had played for about an hour, Nini insisting on getting a rematch. Even though Lisa gave in to Nini's cute begs, she still failed. Lili was just too good.
When Jennie finished washing the last dish, she felt two arms wrap around her waist.
"Hey, beautiful." Lisa rested her head on Jennie's shoulder and kissed the side of her neck. "You can shower now."
Nini felt shivers run down her spine. She took off the rubber gloves and left them on the side of the sink, leaning into her girlfriend. Lili was wearing some fluffy pajamas that were slowly warming her up. "I don't know, I'm kinda comfortable right now."
"We'll be more comfortable in bed," Lili whispered in a soft voice.
Jennie swallowed. "Y-you're right, let's go." She grabbed Lisa's hand and went upstairs to her bedroom.
This was the first time the Thai girl saw her room. Jennie's walls were painted light, pastel blue. She had a cute wooden bed with Christmas lights on the outlines. There were polaroids, stickers, and posters taped to the wall beside the bed. Nini also had a small bookshelf, a wooden desk, some plants, soy candles, and a music keyboard in the room. It was... extremely Jennie.
"So pretty!" Lisa exclaimed, looking around until she found those dark brown eyes again. "Just like you..."
"Says the prettiest girl in the world." Jennie smiled and kissed her girlfriend. "I'll be right back. Make yourself comfortable."
Nini left to take a shower, and Lisa decided to light up a strawberry champagne candle and put on some music in Jennie's record player. Lili browsed through the vinyl and noticed Jennie had a lot of classics. The Thai could only guess they were Mrs. Kim's, who later gifted them to Jennie.
Lisa played Frank Sinatra's Nothing But The Best album and turned on the bed's Christmas lights before finally lying down. This sure is cozy...
Jennie returned 15 minutes later, only to find her girlfriend asleep on her bed. She sat beside her and gave her a kiss on the forehead.
When Nini pulled away, she saw Lisa smiling. "You're back..." she murmured.
"Yeah, sleepyhead." Jennie patted Lili's head. "You really can sleep whenever you want."
"Anywhere too." Lisa grinned, sounding proud. "I was considering sleeping on the carpet because it looks soft, but I was already by the bed."
Nini chuckled. "Dork."
"Your dork." Lisa put her arm around her girlfriend. "Do you want to do anything before sleeping?"
"I can think of a few things..." Jennie turned towards Lisa and got on top of her, the needed make-out session finally in progress.
Lili was surprised at first but easily followed. Kissing Nini was so natural to her. However, once Jennie moved to her neck, Lisa felt crazy. Crazy good.
Nini didn't realize her hands trailed Lili's chest until she noticed a new expression on her girlfriend's face. "I'm sorry..." Jennie started pulling away, but then Lisa put her hands back in place.
"You can... touch," Lili said shyly. "I want you to."
Jennie's eyes widened. She had never gotten this far with anyone before. Truth is, she's been wanting to for a while. She did her research and everything, even testing what she could on herself whenever Jisoo wasn't around. But she needed Lisa to be the one to say it. Being a year older and a little more experienced, Jennie felt she had to be the one responsible. "Are you sure?"
Lisa nodded. "Yes, Nini. I love you so much."
"I love you too, Lili. More than you know."
Earlier that day, Jisoo and Chaeyoung took the train to Gunpo. During the ride, Chu started preparing the New Zealander to meet her family. "My grandparents are the sweetest. They practically raised me because my parents were too busy working. I don't blame them, having 3 children must be difficult."
"I can imagine, it's hard enough for my parents with two daughters. One in college and another across the world." Chaeyoung smiled, wanting to light things up. "I can't wait to meet your grandparents!"
"Oh, they will love you. Get ready to be offered food 25/8." Jisoo laughed, remembering the time they met Lisa. "They gave the maknae like 20 chocolate bars to take home. I'm surprised the kid doesn't have cavities by now."
"I will have to work out a lot while visiting your house."
Chu shook her head. "Leave the working out for dance practice. Let's enjoy our break!"
And they did. Staying at Jisoo's gave Chaeyoung a lot of nostalgia. She would do these activities growing up in New Zealand and Australia but, as they got older, they were slowly forgotten, adapting to the new culture. Now that she was here in South Korea, having big dinners and playing silly games, she felt at home. That's probably the first time she felt like that since she arrived. Call it the place or call it the company but Rosie was happy right here, right now. She didn't want this weekend to end.
Neither did Jennie and Lisa. After their... midnight activities... it felt like a lot of things had changed. Wants became needs and needs became urges. They felt more mature after doing it, but also immature for being unable to control themselves. Sometimes they wish they hadn't done it, for the sole reason that it was gonna be extremely hard to repeat in the dorms. Not to mention that security was gonna be more strict in the dorms. Curfew was an hour earlier due to various trainees falling asleep in class. Roll calls wouldn't be at random anymore but daily. Dorm searches would also be more frequent, meaning it would be more challenging to hide snacks... or people. Thankfully, cameras only remained in the main lobby and elevator, so emergency stairs were still an option. But there were so many more risks now. Time alone would almost be impossible.
A week and a couple of days later, Jisoo was chilling in her bedroom playing a video game on her laptop. It was almost time to get ready for practice, so she would have to finish soon. She was wearing her red hoodie over her pajamas. It was October 9th, so summer was already gone and autumn had begun.
To her surprise, Jendeukie had gotten up really early and said she had to "get some tea" in English, which confused Jisoo very much. Chu just assumed she was feeling cold too. That mandu seemed to be very frustrated lately. Not just about practice but about everything.
Speak of the devil, Jennie burst back into their dorm room. "Hey, Chu. Do you remember Lee Ha Yi-ssi?"
Jisoo raised an eyebrow at the random question. "That girl from singing class that stopped coming for a few weeks?"
"Yeah, well, I 'accidentally' came across her today and she told me that the dieting has been making her sick." Jennie sat down on Chu's bed. "She's been on and off the hospital."
"Oh no, that's awful. Is she okay?"
"The nutritionist changed her diet, so she should be getting better." Jennie sighed. "I've seen this many times by now, girls usually quit training after their first hospital visit."
"But not the broken ankle squad!" Jisoo joked, raising her foot under the blanket. Both she and Jennie had weak ankles and had to go to the hospital every so often. Their choreographies just kept getting more intense.
"Kekekeke," Jendeukie giggled. "But also not Lee Ha Yi-sii. She told me she's allowed to eat meat today in celebration. Epik High just released a single featuring her. I listened to it last night, a little after you went to sleep, and I'm obsessed!"
"Wow, and she's only been here a few months, just like Chaeyoungie. They really are amazing singers." Chu handed her laptop to Jennie. "Let's hear it!"
Jennie wrote, So Cold - Epik High, and the search results completed: ft. Lee Hi.
Jisoo sparked with curiosity, "So Lee Ha Yi-ssi's stage name is Lee Hi? That's so much more fun to say!"
"Mhm." Jennie pressed played and Lee Hi's chilling voice filled the room. Jennie started vibing to the song once the beat kicked in, trying her best not to sing along just so Jisoo could fully immerse herself in the atmosphere built with instruments.
"I almost forgot how beautiful her voice is," Jisoo said as soon as Lee Hi sang. "The song's really good too, I'd love to be in a song like that."
"I know right, me too. I love the mix of soft vocals and rap lines with orchestra." Jennie got an idea. "What if we cover it together for this month's evaluation? You on vocals and me on rap."
It wasn't common but trainees could choose to cover songs together if they wanted to. Almost no one did due to the fear of having the other person ruin your score. You really had to trust your partner for this.
"Are you sure, Jendeukie?" Chu asked. Jennie's been here 2 years longer than her and was more experienced, so this could definitely be a win for Jisoo. At the same time, the rap verses would be very long because Epik High has two rappers and Jennie would have to do it alone since Jisoo can't rap. There was also the possibility of running out of breath or screwing up the lyrics.
"We can try it and if it doesn't work, we can just do our own thing," Jennie proposed. She started being mentored by G-Dragon yesterday, so she was confident he could give her advice to nail the rap.
"That sounds good to me!"
"Then let's give ourselves some time to learn the song and practice in a couple of days. But anyway, I didn't tell you about Lee Hi for that." Jennie suddenly made a feisty face. "So Lee Hi-ssi also told me she would be debuting as a soloist early next year, with a full album. Can you believe that?"
"Wait, wait. A soloist? A full album?" Jisoo repeated. All that could happen that quickly?
"Well, she never had the girl group vibe, and her vocal skills are more than good enough." Jennie sighed. "What worries me is, PINKPUNK was supposed to debut early next year too. Daesung oppa is releasing an album too and YG doesn't really release two albums within the same month."
"So you're saying our debut might be delayed again."
"I'm saying it will." Jennie groaned in frustration. "It's so frustrating. At this point, it's gonna be a full year after the members' announcements when we finally debut."
Jisoo closed her laptop and crawled over to Jennie, hugging her side. "Don't cry, Jendeukie. We're gonna make it someday, and that day, the world isn't gonna be ready."
With that information, PINKPUNK made sure to be at the top of their game on Evaluation Day on the last Friday of October. Jennie and Jisoo's performance of So Cold had definitely been the highlight though, it had been forever since trainees dared to be evaluated together so it was very refreshing. Jisoo nailed Lee Hi's parts and Jennie killed Tablo's and Mithra Jin's rap verses, making sure to inhale at the right times thanks to GD's advice. Jisoo also learned some of the rap lines and harmonized with Jennie, her soft bubbly voice making the rap more impactful. They were praised by the judges and it looked like other people would start pairing up from now on, inspired by the talented duo. This might lead to either their success or their doom.
Lisa had been in awe looking at her girlfriend and one of her best friends performing together. She wondered why Jennie had never asked her to. They always practiced together and gave each other feedback. Lisa definitely knew it wasn't a lack of skills, considering Lisa has been holding a straight A record ever since she arrived at the company.
Then a thought came to mind... Their relationship. Could that be it?
That didn't make much sense to Lisa. Covering a song together would be the less obvious thing they could do in front of everyone. There wasn't a person at YG who didn't know they were inseparable the moment they met, so Lisa decided to ask her girlfriend when they got a chance to be alone after celebrating their grades with the PINKPUNK members.
"Can we walk by the Han River before we go back?" Lisa said, looking at her Nini.
Jennie smiled and nodded. "Sure."
Ahh, my girlfriend is so beautiful, Lili thought to herself. She linked their arms and decided to take a moment to breathe in the cold air. Lisa had been overthinking the matter while the other members happily ate food they weren't supposed to. Lisa needed to clear her mind because, otherwise, she would make Jennie feel guilty.
The night had almost taken hold of the sky, some stars visible above them. Lisa wondered if the stars knew they made beautiful constellations when they were 5 light years apart from each other. Either way, at the end of the day, two stars could never be truly alone. They needed others around them to create a constellation. Crux is the constellation that has the fewest stars in the universe, consisting of only four stars. Maybe Lisa was exaggerating this situation, but she still needed to get these negative feelings out of her system.
"Today you and Jisoo were amazing..." Lisa started. "It kind of made me jealous."
"What...?"
"Not because of our relationship," Lili interrupted. "Why have you never asked me...?"
Her girlfriend's question almost sounded like a whisper, a muffled sound that could've easily been taken away by the wind. But Jennie had heard it loudly. The crack in her voice, the vulnerability. Lisa was hurt.
"We're always together, practicing and learning from each other. In group performances, we compliment each other and even the judges have said it more than once."
"It's not that the thought never came to mind..." Jennie stated, stopping in her tracks to look at her girlfriend. "You're literally the best one in our group. Hell, even the whole company. But because of that, I don't wanna risk you getting a bad grade because of me. You're better than me at dancing and you always figure out a way to make your solo performances harder and more impressive. I don't think you'd want to go for an easier dance for me with your high standards."
"We can always adapt..."
"Lili, I know that. You always do it whenever I can't in group performances, but when I'm too stubborn to adapt I'm on the brink of hurting myself. I don't wanna worry you... or worst, disappoint you."
The Thai looked down, thinking that Nini hurting herself was the last thing she wanted to happen. When Lisa was about to say something else, she was interrupted.
"As for vocal covers, we would have to be very picky about the song's concept." Nini blushed. "I don't think we could sing a love song without exposing ourselves. The way you look at me... it makes me want to melt."
"Same over here." You could tell Jennie had really thought it out before Lisa even found out they could do duo performances instead of solos. "And for the record, I wouldn't be disappointed in you. I know how hard you practice, okay? That's all that matters."
"In that case, shall we find that picky song?" Jennie asked, the moon illuminating her eyes.
Lisa nodded. "I would love that."
Nini laughed, the tension gone. "The song is gonna end up being about clubbing, getting bitches, and flexing shoes, isn't it?"
Lili put her arm around her girlfriend, forming a smile. "How'd you know?"
"Because I love you."
Damn, Lisa really wanted to kiss her right there. "Um, wanna go to the Swan paddle ride again?"
Three days later, Lee Hi debuted with the single 1,2,3,4. The song was a mix of pop and R&B, which was a change for a YG artist. The single was a bop and the release was successful, even though Jennie personally thought the music video didn't fit Lee Hi's essence. The video was very colorful, kinda gangsta, and very... K-Pop. Ha Yi is a timid person that has a hard time opening up to others. While she's on the quiet side, she speaks loudly through her fashion style and confident singing. Lee Hi needed something simple, some visual storytelling. It was something Jennie hadn't thought about before, but now that she's actually been in a music video and spoken to a director, she understood how much the concept impacted the listener's feelings. Regardless of opinion, everyone in the company was proud and kept humming Lee Hi's debut single as they moved around the building. That's how catchy it was. The month ended on that high note and the PINKPUNK members wished it'd stay that way, but everything started going downhill from there.
Naturally, Eunbi and Euna decided to do their solos together, just like Hannah and Jinny. Miyeon, Jennie, Lisa, Rosé, and Jisoo decided to stay solo this month. Jennie and Lisa hadn't found anything that they truly liked yet. They wanted to listen to a new song and think to themselves, This is the one. That moment hadn't come yet.
On the other hand, PINKPUNK's group practices stopped running smoothly. Members were arguing during their duo practices which affected the group's chemistry, making the atmosphere tense and uncomfortable. Jennie and Lisa weren't monitoring the duo performances since it should be fine with two people but it seemed they all needed a third eye. The couple became overwhelmed and the members that weren't arguing started stressing about the final group performance, causing them to mess up a little in their solo performances during the November evaluation.
When it was Eunbi and Euna's turn, the skill difference was enormous as Euna had a shorter training period. Eunbi was belting like a pro while Euna was wrongly placing her breathing in the rap verses. Jennie had told her where to breathe when she noticed in the monitor session, but it seemed like Euna got too nervous and forgot.
Jinny and Hannah's case wasn't too different. You see, Jinny is a sub-vocalist and sub-rapper while Hannah is far more experienced as the lead vocalist of PINKPUNK. Jinny's strong suit is dancing, so Jennie was confused about the reason Hannah would pick her as her vocal duo. Jennie had a one-on-one conversation with her after reviewing their performance and Hannah had, well...
"I understand you guys are friends," Jennie said. "You guys work amazingly in the group, but I'm not feeling the same energy in this performance."
Hannah crossed her arms, tone cold. "Are you saying we should split up?"
"That would be the best choice for your scores." Nini sighed. "I know how the judges think and they will not like it. At least at the level it is now. You guys only have a week left before the evaluation and I don't believe you will make it, I'm sorry-"
"No, I'm sorry you don't believe in us anymore. What a leader, pfft," Hannah spat out, storming out of the hallway and returning to the practice room.
Jennie had never seen her friend this upset. Sometimes she forgot how much the truth hurt.
Nini still remembered the first time a leader told her something similar about the time she wanted to cover a song with a lot of high notes during her first months. She wasn't great at them when she first started; "very unstable," the leader told her. Jennie felt judged and small, but she had always been taught to stay strong and fight, so she did the high note anyway. Jennie had been so anxious the whole day that she screwed up her breathing and put pressure on her chest instead of the abdomen. Her voice had cracked in a single second. It had been horrible, even traumatizing, but at least she could say she tried. Jennie imagines that's what Hannah was feeling when she accidentally went off-key when Jinny ran out of breath during the pre-chorus of their cover.
After some bad solo and duo performances, PINKPUNK felt insecure. No unity was felt in the group cover, it felt like 9 soloists dancing at the same time and taking turns to sing. Without a doubt, the judges were brutal and absolutely destroyed them. PINKPUNK was supposed to be an example for other trainees, but now they felt like a huge letdown. Mr. Yang made some rash decisions, kicking Euna and Jinny out of PINKPUNK. He told the remaining members that the group's debut would be delayed because of this and that he would focus on promoting them individually in the meantime while he looked for other potential members for PINKPUNK. That statement didn't come without a warning though, "You girls better get your act together for the next evaluation. I don't care if I have already announced you to the public, this cannot ever happen again. Don't disappoint me anymore."
Just last month they were all celebrating, looking forward to their debut. Now it felt far from reach. Whenever members were kicked out, Jennie felt as if someone had died. That kind of pain should be incomparable, but after years of seeing people leave you with fake promises of keeping in touch, it felt just like that. Sure, Euna and Jinny would just be moved to other groups, but they had been doing so well for almost a whole year. Why now?
Why is it never enough? Jennie wondered, sobbing in Lisa's arms once they exited the room.
Lisa knew Jennie was grieving and stayed by her side at all times. Of course Lisa was upset too, Jinny being one of her closest friends, but she had to act tough to keep the group together. Jisoo saw right through her, but she also needed to support the maknae while Jendeukie was in this depressive state. It's been a while since a member left the group so seeing Nini discouraged as if it was the first time was heartbreaking.
It was hard getting back up for the next evaluation, but Jennie always felt better when she retouched her vanishing STAY STRONG tattoo. She had been so close this time... If she gave up now, what were these last two years for? Christmas and New Year were also coming up, so she felt a little better knowing she would have a needed break.
Jennie considered having Lisa over for Christmas, but the maknae hadn't left her alone for a second this past month. Nini wanted some space, Lisa being a reminder of the hardships of idol training. Also, apparently her girlfriend had plans already to watch K-dramas with Jisoo's grandparents. Lili said that now that she understood and spoke Korean better, she was excited to actually communicate with Jisoo's family properly and thank them for everything. Meanwhile, Jennie was a little worried about Lisa possibly getting in the middle of a fight between Chu and her siblings, remembering how Lisa fought with Chaeyoung as soon as they met. At least Jennie knew now that Jisoo could stand up for herself pretty well without help.
Chaeyoung's family would travel from Australia to South Korea to celebrate Christmas, her parents missing the country a little too much after being away too long. Christmas was big for the Parks, falling hard for the Western culture so, according to Chaeng, spending the holiday without those traditions would be extremely depressing. Jennie understood it perfectly, but growing up with both Korean and Western culture, celebrating it either way didn't matter as long as she was with the people she loved. These last Christmases, she had spent it with her mom and Nini had no plans of changing that any time soon. She loved cooking together, going to Christmas fairs, and making handmade gifts with childish school materials.
The first step to get PINKPUNK back on track was to get rid of the negative feelings. No one here is a stranger to a bad grade, but the arguments prior to the last evaluation were the main cause of their distress. Jisoo sat everyone down on the practice room's floor, the remaining six members next to each other like a hexagon.
"So I gathered you guys here because, before we decide on anything, I want us to have a feedback session," Chu started. "Normally it is the leader and choreographer that give individual feedback, but I believe it's necessary that we can all hear how we can improve from each other. Nobody here is perfect, but we can get close if we keep working hard." Who wants to start?
"I was really mad at you Jen," Hannah revealed to the group. "But you were right. I should have trusted your judgment, so I'm sorry for how I treated you after our fight."
Jennie was scared at first, expecting the members to blame her for their failure, but the members seemed to blame themselves instead. "You had a point though," Nini admitted. "I am the leader. I should've encouraged you instead of bringing you down."
Similar things were said to Lisa. Even Jisoo said at the end, "I know I almost stepped on you like three times during the group performance, but I knew you could avoid me just fine and you did. Congrats!"
That seemed to break the tension, everyone cracking a laugh at Chu never apologizing for almost stepping on Lili. Jennie felt like she hadn't laughed this hard in forever. The group decided to go out for dinner after picking a new song to cover and practicing for as much as possible. PINKPUNK felt more in sync now than ever, and they kept that energy for the last evaluation of the year.
When the group performance finished, CEO Yang looked pleased, which was refreshing after the hell they went through last month. While that was the case, Nini knew she couldn't go over her head and claim victory yet when Mr. Yang called her over after the members left the dance hall.
"Our secret weapon does it yet again. Congratulations to you and PINKPUNK!" he exclaimed, in his weird voice. "i wanted to let you know your effort isn't going unnoticed, so I want you to prepare a new rap for the mid-month recording and, if it meets our standards, it will be posted to our YouTube channel. Your first video did pretty well, so we now want to introduce you as a YG artist rather than a trainee. That is for a reason, of course, and I'll let you know once all the details are settled. See you soon."
"Thank you, Daepyonim!" Jennie barely got that out before the CEO dismissed her and joined the rest of PINKPUNK with a look of confusion.
"Yo, Nini, what happened?" Lisa asked, waving her hands, after seeing Jennie come out of the dance hall. Truth is, the Thai had been secretly glancing at the door every 5 seconds waiting for her girlfriend to come out.
"Um, I think I just got promoted?" Jennie said, bewildered.
The voices of the group started layering each other, and not in a harmonic way, fangirling or asking more questions.
The leader raised her hand so they'd let her speak. "I don't know much at the moment, but I'm considered a YG artist now."
"What? Oh my god, congrats!" Chu chimed in.
"Aaaaahh, I knew this would happen soon enough!" Lili squealed, suppressing her need to kiss Nini and hugging her instead.
Jennie received more congratulatory comments and then Miyeon asked, "Does that mean you're not a trainee anymore? Haven't seen any of my friends get this far."
"Yes and no," their leader replied. "I'm still gonna be training until the group debuts, but this opens more opportunities for solo work and collaborations."
"Wait, if I've done a collaboration, am I an artist already?" Chaeyoung asked, suddenly confused.
"Your name was never revealed, so I don't think so."
"And what about..."
When everyone stopped bombarding Jennie with questions she barely knew how to answer, she felt the need to escape from the group for a while. Because it was the end of their evaluation, they tended to go out to celebrate together but Nini dismissed herself, saying she had "Western New Year" plans. Lisa quickly made an excuse too, saying she wanted to call her parents and tell them how the evaluation went.
"As if you ever got bad scores, sillyeogpa maknae!" Chu yelled at her, thinking it was suspicious they both were leaving.
Lili chuckled, "You should see my math grades!"
Jisoo hit her playfully on the shoulder before the maknae ran away. "Say hi to your parents for me!"
"Yeah, yeah!"
Maybe it would be more suspicious if Jennie and Lisa weren't going together, Chu thought to herself before she turned back to the group, her eyes landing on Chaengi.
"Those two are really good friends, aren't they?" the Chaeyoung commented, wearing a dumbfounded look.
"They can't be away from each other for more than 5 minutes, makes me puke rainbows."
Chaeyoung, still in the process of relearning Korean, didn't understand the last part of Chu's sentence. She decided not to ask about it to seem wiser, focusing more on the fact that Jisoo looked extremely beautiful under the sunlight.
Lisa didn't have trouble reaching her girlfriend shortly. "Annyeong, pretty mandu girl."
Nini turned around to find her happy place. "Hey, beautiful."
"So... those Western New Year plans include me?" Lili asked shyly.
"Of course." Jennie smiled. "I just needed a break. My social battery ran out."
"Do you want me to leave then?"
Nini shook her head, interlacing their arms. "Join me."
Lisa smiled and they walked together toward the dorms to shower, pack, and change clothes. Jennie told her to wear warm clothes since it may snow tonight.
The Thai went for a black beanie, an oversized black sweater, blue jeans, and white sneakers. A simple outfit for a winter night.
On the other hand, Jennie wore a mustard plaid scarf, a faint green sweater with a black coat, midnight blue pants, and white Timberland boots. Nini looked straight out of a K-drama Lisa watched with Chichu last week.
"Flies may get in your mouth if you keep it agape," Jennie smirked.
Lisa blushed. "Oh, it's just- You know, you look stunning."
"I know," Nini giggled. "I'm just messing with you. You look cute too."
"Thanks."
The couple left together, feeling a bit more safe now that they were wearing more clothes. They held hands once they were at Hapjeong Station, Jennie's scarf covering half her face and Lisa's beanie hiding her signature bangs.
"It's a 10-minute ride," Jennie informed. "Then we have to walk a little and then take another train."
"So are you gonna tell me where are we going?"
Jennie shook her head. "It's a secret."
Lili pouted her lips. While she wanted to know, she also loved surprises, so she tried her best not to ask again.
They got off at Chungjeongno Station and then walked to Seoul Station. Once they were inside the train, Jennie mumbled, "You can get cozy, it's a 3-hour ride."
"So... you were gonna do this alone if I didn't follow you?"
"Hmm..." Niini hummed. She was totally capable of traveling alone but possibly encountering strangers gave her some anxiety and she didn't need more. Jennie felt that she would've reached out to her girlfriend last minute. "I wanted to go together, but at the same time I feel so tired from all the training stress."
Lisa wrapped her arm around her girlfriend, letting Nini cuddle on the crook of her neck. "You can rest now."
"But you don't even know where we get off..."
"Just tell me. I won't recognize the name anyway."
Jennie sighed, giving in to her girlfriend's warm nature. "Yeosu Expo Station."
"Okay." Lili started repeating the name of the station in her mind to not forget it. When she memorized the word Yeosu, she ran her fingers through Nini's hair, massaging her scalp. Jennie closed her eyes and found the dreamland quite easily, which was rare for her racing mind.
Normally, Lisa was the one falling asleep. Sleeping during subway trips had become a tendency for her, considering she trained pretty much all day. Not to count the improvised dances throughout the day. The Thai could practically sleep anywhere at any time, and if it was by Jennie's side, then the better.
Lisa scheduled an alarm on her phone for a little less than three hours just in case. She knew it would be inevitable to not fall asleep with her girlfriend in her arms. In fact, she was already...
Ring, ring, ring! the phone's tune blasted off the Thai's phone She quickly turned it off, not realizing beforehand that an alarm might scare other passengers.
The alarm woke up Jennie too. "Are we there yet?" she asked with a yawn, brushing her hands against her eyes to clear her vision.
"Uh..."
Nini looked out the window and she saw yellow and blue. The sea was hugged by the warmth of the sunset, a few clouds tanning in the fair sky. "We're near."
Instinctively, the two reached out towards Lisa's backpack and grabbed her camera. The two laughed before Jennie let Lisa open her bag. The Thai first took a photograph of her girlfriend being hit by the sun's rays so beautifully. Then she handed the camera to Nini, wondering about the way her girlfriend saw the world. Lisa could only hope it was just as pretty.
Instead of focusing on the sun, Jennie shot the waves crashing against the snowy shore. She found the waves more interesting, full of emotions. Right now... they were happy.
Now that they were outside the Yeosu Expo Station, the bright colors in the sky were almost gone, making the train ride feel like a daydream.
Jennie asked a taxi driver if he could take them to the Impo Maeul Village 'Hyangiram' area. Lisa didn't catch any of those words but got in the cab excitingly.
"Annyeonghasimnikka~!" he greeted in a lower tone. "Samsipbun geollimnida~"
The more he spoke, Lisa realized he was a little hard to understand. I guess that's what Jisoo unnie meant when she said there were different dialects in South Korea.
Jennie seemed almost just as lost as Lisa. While the Korean girl was born here, she hadn't spent much time traveling around the country. The Southern Jeolla dialect was interesting to hear though.
Jennie took a look at the scenery of Dolson Island. Even though it was getting dark now, you could tell this place had greenery wherever you turned, high mountains in the distance, the sea visible almost all the time. The night lights were colorful, especially when they passed by the Geobukseon Bridge that illuminated the waves below.
The 30-minute drive passed quite quickly, their surroundings entertaining them. Jennie knew they were near when she saw a lot of cars parked nearby.
"You have to walk to the entrance of the hermitage from here," the taxi driver said at this stop. "No cars allowed. Enjoy your visit!"
"Thank you!" As soon as they got off the taxi, snow started falling down. Thankfully, it was light snow. This area had a ton of undulating roads, so going up felt like a workout hike and the streets getting wet wasn't going to be safe. Jennie grabbed Lisa's hand, scared that they would fall forward if she let go, the snow becoming a beautiful problem.
After passing by some shops and restaurants, they reached a set of stone stairs heading towards their destination, coming across stone turtle statues by the Iljumun Gate.
"So from here we'll start seeing lots of turtles," Nini informed. "The island is shaped like a turtle, so naturally the monks were inspired to put them all over the hermitage."
Turtle Island, Lisa nodded in understanding. Taking a closer look at these turtles, she noticed people had left coins on top of them for good luck. The Thai in Lisa handed Jennie a coin so they could put one each.
While Jennie didn't have the chance to visit a lot of Buddhist temples in her childhood and didn't really believe in any religion in particular, she wasn't used to all the traditions behind them. The main reason she was here was in the title.
Regardless of her beliefs, Nini placed a coin on the left cheek of the turtle and Lili put hers on the right. The two laughed at the now super kawaii turtle.
The trail up the mountain was a real hike but with some nice Buddha statues and more pretty gateways along the path. Jennie had brought a flashlight to see in the dark just in case. She was grateful she hadn't forgotten it.
"These stairs never seem to end!" Jennie groaned at one point. Sure, Jennie's endurance wasn't that weak, but going uphill made her legs want to give up. Even Lisa, who had the energy of a toddler, seemed to be breaking a sweat.
Halfway through, they found the ticket booth to enter the Hyangiram Hermitage. It was still early in the night, so there were only three people on the line.
"Two tickets please," Nini said in Korean once it was their turn.
"That'll be 3,000 won."
She paid the lady and now they were welcomed by a big stone turtle and two paths.
"Left or right?" Lisa asked.
"Right." Jennie raised her dominant fist. "Because you're my right hand."
Lili blushed, forming a silly smile. She secretly loved clingy comments like that. "Lead the way."
The path ahead, well, it wasn't the scenic one. Jennie knew that because she was saving the other path for later.
The entry to the hermitage was very claustrophobic. You see, they were walking through a cleft in a rock. The thing is, it was nighttime. Yes, things were lit up outside the rock, but it felt like Jennie and Lisa were trying to find their way out of a cave. Clinging to each other, they did their best to endure the uneasy feeling.
After a turn, guess what? There were more stairs!
Jennie suddenly regretted not taking the alternative route. She had heard hiking was the best way to go, but was it really? This was super scary, Lili might hate her for dragging her along.
"You know..." Nini trailed off. "There are seven caves here and it's said that if we pass through all seven, at least one of our wishes will come true."
Lisa's eyes sparkled. "I'll have to think of my wishes very well, then."
Jennie smiled. Seeing her girlfriend enthusiastic again gave her the strength to continue.
Closer to the top, Lisa, who was a little further up than her, yelled, "They have necklaces!"
Was Jennie too drained to understand Lisa's statement? Definitely.
She looked up to her girlfriend and saw Lili was looking at the wall to Nini's left rather than the cliff towards her right. Indeed, there were stone turtles 'climbing up' the wall wearing cute necklaces.
Nini chuckled. Yeah, the necklace turtles definitely made this route worth it. "Let's take a picture with the damn turtles."
A few steps up, they finally reached the main hermitage courtyard. You were greeted by colorful architecture in the small temple buildings. The grand view over the edge showed the ocean and more pathways you could explore. There were some stage props for the upcoming Hyangiram Sunrise Festival, which would start in an hour. Jennie only realized that it had stopped snowing since they went through the caves.
"3 years ago, this hall and the bell pavilion caught fire and burnt down," she said after Lisa took everything in. "The monks started reconstructing these sections last year and now it's finished."
"It looks so beautiful, I can't believe it even burnt down," Lisa commented. "I wonder what this looked like before."
"Me too..." Jennie had looked into the history of this place because, well, if Lisa joined her she wanted to be her insightful girlfriend. "This was built in the year 644, during Queen Seondeok's reign of the Silla Kingdom and King Uija's rule of the Baekje Kingdom."
"Wow, that's so long ago." Lisa blinked, trying to process the rest of the information. "Those are a lot of names I won't remember."
"All you need to know is that Queen Seondeok was the first reigning queen of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea." Nini held up her pointer finger. "She was the first female monarch in Korean history, meaning she was badass!"
"Sounds like it!"
"So, as you can see, this temple is a prime spot for watching sunrises. Hyangiram translates to 'temple facing the sun.' Monks have long meditated here during sunrise." Jennie flashed a smile. "So we're watching the New Year's sunrise from here!"
Lili approached the biggest building, paid her respects to the Bodhisattva of Compassion, and grabbed two golden leaves. "We can write our wishes here and hang them on the balcony around the courtyard."
Nini knew that, of course, but she didn't know her girlfriend would straight up do it. I guess it was common in Buddhist temples to make wishes.
They went through seven caves, so it made sense to write seven wishes. The couple hung theirs together under a turtle overseeing the ocean. Jennie took a picture of their wishes and the two kept exploring the place. Their wishes more or less said the same things, but that fact itself was memorable to Nini.
1. I wish to debut with my group
2. I wish to be a successful person
3. I wish for me and my loved ones to have good health
4. I wish to adopt a dog
5. I wish to perform on big stages
6. I wish society would let people live and love freely
7. I wish me and my girlfriend stay together forever
Soon enough, Jennie and Lisa found their way back to the main area where the Sunrise Festival would be held. There were a bunch of folk street artists presenting. Jennie didn't know if Lisa would be into it, but either way, she knew her girlfriend would appreciate the musical aspects of the genre.
"This is so different from Thai folk music," Lili commented as if reading her thoughts. "But I like it. It's actually kind of soothing? The dance is also very impressive."
"Right?" Nini felt relieved. But she was more excited about what was coming before midnight.
Naturally, with the countdown, Jennia and Lisa screamed with the crowd. "10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1..."
Boom.
Fireworks exploded right before their eyes by the ocean in the distance, the colors reflecting beautifully on the waves. Even if Jennie knew the fireworks were happening, she still got scared by the loud sound for a second.
Lisa seemed to have troubling thoughts. Before the moment passed, she decided to ask, "Can I kiss y-?"
Jennie pulled her in before Lisa could finish her sentence, secretly hoping people were too busy celebrating to notice two girls kissing—not to mention, in a Buddhist hermitage. The kiss had lasted a few seconds but it'd felt like an eternity to them. "Happy New Year, Lili."
"Happy New Year, Nini."
They continued watching the fireworks for as long as they could and then participated in the wishing lantern event. They picked red lanterns, letting go of the past hardships and hoping to get good fortune this year.
The folk musicians continued with their sets and the couple sort of fell asleep for a few hours while waiting for the sunrise, Jennie's head resting on the crook of Lisa's neck. Thankfully, an elderly woman woke them up for the beautiful sight. After the light snow earlier, Jennie had considered that the sky would be too cloudy to see anything, but it seemed like the night cleared her worries away.
The sun appeared slowly, the rays a bit too strong for the girls that had just woken up.
"I'm glad we came here, Nini!" Lisa exclaimed. "I'm so happy we got to see this together."
"I'm happy too." Jennie pulled out her camera and took a picture of the sunrise and her girlfriend.
In good ol' fashion, Nini asked a stranger to photograph them together.
"Thank you!" the couple told the stranger.
Now that they had seen the sunrise, they had to take the first train back to Seoul. They still had training to do. Even if this was supposed to be a worldwide holiday, South Koreans only considered the Korean Lunar New Year in their schedules.
Hiking down the hermitage was definitely way easier, the adrenaline of needing to be back at YG probably helped too. Once they were on the train back home, Jennie and Lisa could finally take a breather.
Lisa browsed through the pictures they had taken on this trip as Jennie fell asleep on her shoulder.
Damn, she couldn't wait to make more memories like this with the girl she loved.