Snuggling into the side of Lisa, Chaeyoung keeps her eyes closed, still stuck in dreamland as she inhales the familiar scent of her girlfriend. She hums in her exhale and flings her arm behind her, patting the sheets in search of another warm body.

When her hand sweeps nothing but the soft fluffy comforter, she pops her eyes open and abruptly sits upright.

Oh my god, did I finally kick her off the bed?

She makes sure to check the floor before jumping out of bed, just in case she accidentally tramples on poor Jisoo. Only when she pads briskly out of the room does she spot Jisoo, sitting on the couch with her back towards her, but from Jisoo's profile, Chaeyoung can see the dreamy smile on her tragically pale face.

"There you are!" She loudly proclaims, startling Jisoo half to death. "Are you okay? You look so ill!"

"Chaeyoung," with a hand clutching her chest, Jisoo replies with ragged breaths, "at this rate of deafening shock, I'll really become ill."

Chaeyoung scoots next to Jisoo on the sofa, scanning the mountain of balls of used tissue paper on the coffee table and shaking her head. "You definitely are on your way, if not there already. Why did you leave the warm cosy bed?"

Jisoo rolls her eyes and blows mucus into another piece of tissue. "Because it was too cosy for comfort. Lisa and you basically morphed into a gigantic spoon in the centre of the bed." She leaves out the real reason, which is that she wanted to spare the couple of any more third wheeling.

"You can join in the fun and spoon Lisa, I don't mind," Chaeyoung laughs and smooths down the strands of bed hair poking out of Jisoo's head. "Well at least you have sense to get this thick fluffy comforter, it seriously freezes in the night."

"Ah. Yeah, about that...," Jisoo breaks eye contact and scrapes the back of her neck, looking somewhat shy and sheepish, "I uh, I didn't get it myself, frankly. I think... Jennie did."

Chaeyoung frowns, unable to catch the last words that Jisoo just mumbled through. But when she manages to connect the dots, her eyebrows shoot up and she excitedly hip-bumps Jisoo, almost sending the girl flying.

"Oooo! No wonder you were smiling to yourself like a complete idiot!" Chaeyoung bursts with a clap of her hands together.

"No it's not because of that!" Jisoo shakes her head quickly and corrects, "I mean, no, I wasn't smiling to myself at all!" Her eyes inadvertently flit to something on the coffee table for only a split second but of course Chaeyoung catches on.

"Ah, now I see it," Chaeyoung flashes a mischievous smirk as she slowly reaches for the note tucked under the metal flask, "so it's because of this." She reads it and her smirk grows into a splitting grin, her fingers flipping the note annoyingly back and forth, "Is this from Jennie?"

Jisoo tries her best to suppress the strange stir within her, but her cheeks dust pink anyway.

She clears her throat and sniffles her mucus back, her voice nasal as she blabbers, "Yeah, but don't read too much into it. I mean, she's just concerned as a friend, right? And like, it's not uncommon for friends to worry for other friends, so she probably does this to a dozen of her other friends when they are under the weather, and I just so happen to, you know, fall a little sick, so she is showing friendly concern."

She shrugs but it looks like a neck spasm, and Chaeyoung resists the urge to laugh.

"Alright, alright, I'm not saying it's anything," Chaeyoung winks, then grabs an apple from the fruit basket on the coffee table and begins munching. "But seriously though, where did you both elope to yesterday night?"

"Shouldn't you wash that before eating?" Jisoo scrunches her features in mild disgust.

"Oh? Oh yeah you're right, I should. But I forgot, so, meh," Chaeyoung shrugs and takes another noisy bite of the crunchy apple. "Don't change the subject."

"I'm not changing the subject," Jisoo refills her cup with hot water from the flask. "I'm just worried about your hygiene practices. Anyway," she leans back on the sofa and sips, the cup covering the smile that dances on her lips as she recollects, "we went to explore that concavity I told you about on the map."

Lowering the cup, she clears her throat, meets Chaeyoung's curious gaze, and commences her recount of what happened the night before.

She debates on holding back on a few details, but ends up telling Chaeyoung everything anyway, rationalizing that her best friend will be better equipped to dish out better advice after knowing the full story.

At the end of Jisoo's narrative, Chaeyoung surprisingly does not erupt like Jisoo expected she would; instead, she hums pensively and continues munching her apple, calm and collected. The inconclusive silence gnaws at Jisoo until she finally cannot hold it in any longer, "So, what do you think? Like, is the note as simple as it is, for example?"

"Mmm... maybe she hates you," Chaeyoung jokes but of course, it totally flies by Jisoo.

"Oh my god why??? Why would she hate me?" Jisoo suddenly becomes hysterical, almost throwing her cup on the coffee table and then grabbing her friend by the shoulders. But Chaeyoung remains solidly unaffected.

"Gosh you're so into her."

Jisoo does not hear that though. Preoccupied with the shocking probability that Jennie might actually hate her, she has jumped up and started pacing back and forth in a worried frenzy.

"Could it be the way I dress? Or am I too smelly but I'm unaware? Oh! Maybe the marshmallow I roasted was too absurdly raw! Or was it the bicycle ride? Or perhaps -"

Out of nowhere, Chaeyoung stands in front and stuffs a fresh apple between Jisoo's teeth, effectively halting the woman's rambling. "I'm just kidding, Jisoos Christ, get a grip," she pushes the cup of refilled warm water into Jisoo's hands. As she turns around and walks towards the kitchen, she throws a final tease over her shoulder, "Because I think she's into you too."

A surge of heat warms Jisoo's cheeks and she hangs her mouth agape and speechless, until she realizes something and shouts a reply at Chaeyoung's back that disappears into the kitchen, "Wait, wait! What do you mean by 'too'?? Chaeng!"

---------

As the attendees stream out of the spacious meeting room, Jennie remains in her swivel seat at the front of the long, oval, mahogany table. Her fingertips tap gently against the polished wood as she twirls her phone in her other hand.

Today is Wednesday, but in light of the late campfire yesterday, her weekly meetings with Jisoo will only resume next Wednesday.

Sighing, she regrets not leaving her personal phone number on the note she wrote for Jisoo, because now the curiosity is eating her alive. Is Jisoo okay? Has she seen a doctor? Does she need the jet out? Has she had her lunch?

The room is quiet now, except the low droning of the air conditioners hidden in the ceiling. Realising she has been vacantly staring out the window without actually heeding the panoramic city view, Jennie shakes her head and stands. She has just closed her notebook and pocketed her pen when Yeri, her assistant and secretary, knocks on the open glass door.

"Are you okay?"

Jennie blinks at the question in surprise. "Yes... Why?"

"You don't usually linger after meetings, let alone spend 15 minutes idling thereafter," Yeri pushes the bridge of her glasses and smiles, half in concern and half in amusement.

"Ah," Jennie abruptly realises she does not have an explanation, but luckily Yeri offers one.

"I know. You must have stayed up late entertaining everyone, haven't you?"

So Jennie just rides with it, chuckling as she tucks her hair behind her ear, "Yeah, sort of." She adds a little shrug. "You know how it is."

"Uh-huh, and your schedule today certainly isn't helping," Yeri pushes her spectacles again and glances at the screen of the laptop in her hands, "which is also what I am here for." She clears her throat and goes on to detail Jennie's agenda for the day, also updating Jennie of any calls and new meetings she has just received.

Satisfied, Yeri closes the laptop screen with a snap and grins at Jennie through those round-rimmed glasses. "And that's about it for today!"

"Ah, I see. Thanks, Yeri," Jennie returns the smile and subconsciously taps the notebook she is holding. "Was that all of the calls? No one else dialled in?"

Her assistant purses her lips and takes a moment to think. "Yes, that should be all. Why? Are you expecting someone?"

"Oh, no, no, I'm just...," Jennie trails off, not quite sure of how to complete her sentence.

Thankfully, Yeri does not notice as a thought suddenly strikes her and she snaps her fingers, "Ah, I forgot to mention that Jisoo called too, sometime during your second meeting, and oh, there's this coffee for you that arrived a minute before I came in. Here." She slides over a cup that Jennie did not see her placing on the table when she entered.

"What did Jisoo say?" Jennie's fingers wrap around the cup on the table absentmindedly, the gears in her brain stuck at the words 'Jisoo called'.

"Oh she just called to ask if the appointment next Wednesday is confirmed, and then she followed up with a bunch of off-tangent questions about you, which I think is kind of... I don't know, funny? But yep, that's really it." Yeri shrugs and waits for Jennie to perhaps move on to other topics like meeting agendas but Jennie simply raises her brows as a prompt for Yeri to elaborate.

"You know, questions like 'how is Jennie', 'did she make it to work on time after the delayed flight', 'has she caught the cold', stuff like that."

A warmth pools in Jennie's chest, like enjoying hot chocolate on a snowy day.

"I see," Jennie nods and sucks in her lips to stop them from curling upwards.

Apparently moving on to more pressing matters at hand, Yeri checks her watch and reminds, "Your next meeting is in 15 minutes, in the last boardroom down the hall. Anything specific you need?"

"No, thanks a lot Yeri."

After her secretary has exited the room, Jennie picks up her cup of coffee and is about to follow suit when her eyes catch the text inked on the side of it.

"Your Wednesday coffee, without fail. :)"

---------

"Boo."

From the familiar voice, the aroma of coffee and the uninvited plonk of weight in the guest chair on the opposite side of her desk, Jennie recognizes who it is and cracks a smile before she even lifts her head from her documents.

"Hi, Jisoo," she chuckles and leans back in her seat. "Skipping the formalities already?"

"Just saving you the whole trouble of getting up just to welcome me, like you always do," Jisoo grins and her sole dimple appears.

"How kind of you."

"Like I always am." For emphasis, the architect places a cup of coffee in front of Jennie.

Jennie laughs and picks up the drink. "Thanks, as always." She remembers something and adds, "And for the coffee last week too. It's... really sweet of you."

A tinge of pink brushes Jisoo's cheeks and Jennie cannot help smiling at how cute she looks. She wonders if architects are usually this easily abashed.

"Ah, that, I hope the taste was alright," Jisoo dips her head and scratches her nape, "I mean, I was on the island so my friend agreed to deliver that coffee for me, but on one condition: the coffee has to be from her cafė, not Starbucks."

"It's better than my usual Starbucks, to be honest. Besides, I can't possibly choose my free cuppa now, can I? That would be ungrateful."

"Most certainly so," Jisoo splits a sunny smile and Jennie's lips subconsciously follow. It's contagious, really, Jisoo's pretty grin.

Shocked at how her eyes have wandered to Jisoo's lips, Jennie hastily looks away and sips her coffee, before meeting the architect's gaze again, "So, your friend's cafė. Is the food as good as the coffee?"

"It's my favourite in town, not because she would kill me if I say otherwise, although I'm pretty sure she would. I'm not kidding."

Jennie laughs in a way that turns her eyes into adorable crescents, widening Jisoo's smile.

"I was going to suggest having our coffee, or dinner if you prefer, date there on Friday, but now that the lady boss sounds so murderous...," Jennie trails off on purpose, to observe Jisoo's predictable blush and fumble for words in that endearingly clumsy manner.

"She won't bite! I'll make sure of that," Jisoo chuckles nervously and fidgets in her seat. "So, umm, it's uh, it's a date then? Dinner? This Friday?"

Date. A social or romantic appointment. Either or.

"Mmhm, if you care to share the address?" Jennie pushes a sticky pad and a pen forward, as she pushes the thought of what a date could mean to the back of her mind.

For a moment, the scribbling sound fills the silence, and she takes the time to watch how the architect sits upright, how she moves the pen over paper, how her fringe falls forward in a wave, and how she silently mouths the words as she writes.

"Here."

Jennie takes the little paper square and reads it once. "It's not too far from here. Let's meet there on Friday at... seven, is that okay?"

"Perfect." And Jisoo flashes that sunshine single-dimpled smile of hers that is, well, perfect.

---------

"Have a great weekend, Miss Kim."

"You too," Jennie smiles and nods in acknowledgment of the doorman's courtesy as she steps out of her office building and on to the busy sidewalk.

She takes a deep breath and exhales the day's tension from her body and lifts her wristwatch, pleased to see that she is right on schedule. It is a short walk to the café so she has decided to commute on foot, enjoying the soft breeze against her face and the orange-pink hues of the retiring sun.

Midway through her stroll, however, her phone starts ringing in her pocket.

"Hey," She picks up with a smile that drops fast, because all she hears on the other end is crying.

---------

A/N: double update to thank you for still being here. <3 depending on time zone, merry christmas eve y'all!