E | ●
If they had been "well prepared" to meet Irene's family, then the time before meeting Irene's friends was technically like "preparing for battle"— 응, Irene was preparing for battle.
She specially set the venue to be at her own villa and organized an open-air buffet style gathering. To Lisa, this was a familiar setting. Under the sun, in the slight breeze: a setup that could allow one to relax. It decreased as much external environmental pressure as possible for Lisa.
Irene was really scared that Lisa would feel uncomfortable.
After all, she knew that no matter what, she was still technically a famous bachelor in her social circles. There were quite a few people eyeing the position of "Master Bae". All sorts of people. Though she had resolutely rejected them with no room for argument, and though not many of them had expressed particular longing or acted in further ways to express their passion, nobody could say for certain when it came to matters regarding love and infatuation.
Who knew if a secret pursuer would suddenly charge out of a corner and turn everything into a big mess?
Moreover, Lisa had "become official after a contract", after all. These past few years, she had frequently attended several gatherings held by Irene's friends. These friends all knew. In case one of them stupidly said something in jest. Irene obviously wouldn't feel anything, but Lisa had thin skin. It was likely that she would feel embarrassed for a long time.
Her purpose in setting the venue to be her own home had also been so that in case an insensitive person caused Lisa to feel unhappy, she could kick them out at any time.
The good news was, neither of the two types of situations that Irene was worried about occurred.
These past few years, anyone with eyes could understand her actions. Even if they hadn't been able to understand much, they ought to understand now after observing Irene's gaze and body language.
The people here were all experts at reading others.
Aside from being her friends, the majority of them also had several business connections and collaborations with Irene. Who wanted to cause the host displeasure at such a time and place?
The atmosphere was rather nice. It could be considered passionate and unrestrained, joyous and vibrant. Lisa was also elegant and polite. She perfectly blended in; there were no obstacles at all.
The bad news was a problem occurred when Irene least expected it. More accurately speaking, a problem occurred involving a certain somebody that Irene had least expected.
Seulgi, Irene's best friend. Sister who had grown up wearing the same pair of pants, originally said would be bringing her partner along. But unexpectedly, her partner had gone into a fit during the drive over. She could only immediately turn the car over, by the time Seulgi arrived, she had already missed more than the first half of the program and was only in time for the ending.
This was already disappointing enough.
More terribly, when Seulgi rushed over, smiling at Irene apologetically and saying that she would punish herself by drinking three cups, Lisa, who had been excited all night, suddenly whipped her head around. She stared at Seulgi's face for a second before her complexion turned ghastly pale.
The next second, she turned away again.
Lisa took a sip of her alcohol, then adjusted her expression, trying to act like nothing had happened.
But how could she hide from Irene's eyes?
Irene instantly furrowed her brows too. She originally wanted to ask questions, but after thinking about it, realized that Lisa usually only talked about the positive things while avoiding the negative ones. Irene and Seulgi were extremely close. Lisa knew this too. If she directly asked now, even if something really had happened, to save face for her, Lisa would still definitely say that nothing had happened.
It was better to simply start with Seulgi.
Thus, she hurriedly tugged the other off to the side. "What did you do to my Lisa?"
"Huh?" Seulgi had just chugged alcohol in punishment. She was still dizzy from the alcohol intake. Upon being asked so suddenly by Irene, her entire person was bewildered.
"Your Lisa? Me? Wake up, Irene. This isn't a problem of whether or not I want to or whether or not I dare to. Even if I really ate the heart of a bear or courage of a leopard, have I ever had the opportunity to do anything?"
This was true.
Back before Irene had realized that she liked Lisa, she had already kept a close eye on Lisa. Even when she was out fooling around with her friends, she still always kept Lisa by her side, protected. She couldn't bear to have Lisa be teased like the other people her friends brought along were. Because of this, she had been the butt of many jokes.
Lisa's background and contact information were kept even more secret.
Nobody in her social circle could leave her in the dark while privately contacting Lisa.
Not to mention that Seulgi also had a partner at home that, after many years of ups and downs, she was still completely in love with. She honestly didn't seem like the type who would come out hunting for wild prey.
But if this was the case, then why......
"What?" Seulgi stared at Irene's constantly changing expressions and asked while cocking an eyebrow, "You don't trust me? You really value love more than friendship, Irene-ah. Our friendship of so many years......"
"Of course I trust you," Irene hurriedly responded. "Only......"
"Only what?"
"Lisa's face turned pale when she saw you. Why?" Irene decided to simply cut straight to the chase.
Seulgi rolled her eyes. She whipped her head around. Just in time to meet Lisa's panicked gaze that was in the middle of shifting away.
She had taken care of Sunmi for several years. After being tested by the symptoms of Sunmi's condition over and over again, her observation skills were much better than those of the average human. As soon as she noticed Lisa's behavior, she instantly understood.
"That's a question for you."
"Me?" This time, it was Irene's turn to be confused.
"Of course you." Seulgi tsk'd with great disdain. "What have you said or done? Your little baby probably thinks that you and I have a little something going on......"
Before Seulgi could finish speaking, Irene already couldn't stop herself from miming out 'vomiting'.
🤮🤮🤮
Seulgi was even more scornful. "What the fuck is vomiting at me going to do?"
"Go go go, don't block the way."
Irene pushed Seulgi off to the side and walked over to Lisa with big strides. She grabbed the other, turned around, and trapped her in between herself and the wall.
"Lisa-ya, are you jealous?"
"N-no. What are y-you talking about......" Lisa shook her head while also sneaking glances in Seulgi's direction.
Seulgi purposefully raised her glass at Lisa. Lisa instantly froze in place.
Irene furiously held up a middle finger at Seulgi.
"Lisa, look at me. There's nothing going on between her and me."
"Ah, oh. 응......" Lisa nodded, but her expression was still very tense.
"Really. We're only childhood friends. Haven't you already seen her several times...... Rather, I should ask, why are you suddenly thinking that she and I are a couple?" Irene leaned down and easily wrapped her arms around Lisa.
Lisa lowered her gaze. Irene stroked her back, waiting.
A moment later, Lisa's hand secretly clenched onto the corner of Irene's shirt. She mustered up the courage and said, "You smell like her."
"Mwo?! Mworago?"
Irene hadn't thought that this would be the reason. She immediately said, "My office and her office are only a block apart. We're also collaborating on a project. It's inevitable that I would get some of her scent on myself......"
While speaking, she also found it strange, Lisa wasn't the unreasonable type who blindly drank vinegar. In actuality, she was the exact opposite. She was always very well behaved. Why was it that now that things were regarding Seulgi, she was so...... Could it really be because Irene's relationship with Seulgi was too great? That didn't make sense, though? Lisa had clearly already seen Seulgi many times in the past without any problems? Why all of a sudden?
"T-that's not it." As expected, Lisa immediately denied this in panic. "Not how she smells during the day." Her brows knit together. There was a big wrinkle in Irene's suit from how hard Lisa was clutching at it.
Irene patted her again. "I know you're not that unreasonable. Don't be nervous. Take your time." After thinking a bit, though, she realized something was off. "But how come you know what Seulgi smells like at night? (¬_¬ )"
This question was already laced with the smell of vinegar. However, for fear of scaring Lisa, she forced herself to remain calm. She held her temper back and did her best to make herself sound gentler.
Fortunately, Lisa was also feeling very jealous. She didn't notice Irene's strange tone and that legendary RBF.
"You went out that night and came back smelling like something really fragrant. The exact same smell that's on her right now...... And your arms were all scratched up......and stuff......" She immediately answered.
In actuality, Lisa only had so much courage. As soon as she noticed that Irene's expression had changed, her voice got softer and softer. She didn't really dare to keep speaking.
Irene could tell that there was a hidden meaning behind these words. She hurriedly followed up with, "I went out? And my arm got scratched up? When?"
That shouldn't have happened.
Why would she leave Lisa alone at home and go out in the middle of the night...... Ah, but...... Wait, it seemed like...... Irene remembered. She immediately named a date, "Was it that day?" For fear that Lisa wouldn't understand, she added, "The day I saw you at Rosé's exhibition and brought you back?"
When she heard the name "Rosé," Lisa froze momentarily. She lifted her gaze to sneak a glance at Irene.
"Even if I planned to drink vinegar, I wouldn't be doing it now. You answer first. Was it that day or not?" Irene pressed a soft kissed on Lisa's cheeks.
Lisa bit her lips and nodded.
Her hand squeezed even tighter around the corner of Irene's blazer. "I... that..."
Irene jumped in fright. She hurriedly pulled Lisa closer.
"It's not what you think. Seulgi has a significant other. They've already been together for over a decade. Haven't you seen her before too? She's not in great health. That night, her condition suddenly worsened and Seulgi couldn't handle it alone. That's why she called me over to help. The smell was from the incense that Seulgi had burned for her partner. It's a calming incense. The scratch marks were also because of an accident...... Even if I had......you know, the scratch marks wouldn't be on my arms......"
Irene quietly explained. Being the rapper in her group, she spoke very quickly, but her tone was very gentle. After every few sentences, she would also observe Lisa's reaction. Upon noticing that Lisa had slowly recovered, she finally heaved out a secret sigh of relief.
"What? Don't believe me?"
"Of course I believe in everything you say." Lisa leaned in and wrapped her arms around Irene's neck. But she didn't actually sound much happier.
Irene thought everything through. "You weren't asleep that night?"
Lisa's gaze flitted away.
"This is the reason you ran away the next morning?" Irene asked again.
Lisa didn't dare to look at her. The furry head buried against her neck nodded.
"Were you really scared? Thought that I had a new lover and didn't want you anymore?" Irene smoothed a hand down Lisa's back.
Lisa didn't answer. The arms looped around Irene's neck slightly tightened. She softly muttered out, "Sorry."
Irene pulled Lisa out of her arms and cupped the other's face in her hands while asking, "Why are you suddenly apologizing again?"
"I didn't even ask you any questions before randomly wronging you. And then, I selfishly ran away, causing you to feel so worried and sorrowful. And you even lost weight." The corners of Lisa's eyes were slightly red. Her expression was very serious, though.
While speaking, she instinctively stroked Irene's back again. "Also......I clearly said that I would work hard to stand next to you, but when I encountered this situation, I still immediately ran away. Clearly I'm the one in the wrong, but in the end, you still have to clean up the mess......and stuff like that......"
"Is that so?"
Irene offhandedly answered. In her heart, she was busy thinking about how this incident would seem from Lisa's perspective: her lover leaving after receiving a phone call at midnight and disappearing for a whole three hours. Her lover coming back with a foreign scent on her, and scratch marks......
She thought of the contents of her phone conversation, of her own attitude, of Lisa's gaze that day. The more she thought about them, the more her heart hurt. At that time, she and Lisa had still been in such an unequal relationship. How panicked and scared must Lisa have felt?
Thus, her heart twinged with pain. She also blamed herself a lot. There was regret that she had been too dull.
She hadn't expected for Lisa to be apologizing first at all. The other's attitude was sincere and her reasoning was logical. However, from start to finish, she had been analyzing it from a different point of view. So Irene couldn't really react in time.
Lisa cautiously observed Irene's reaction. After carefully pondering her word choice, she replied, "Yes. I won't do it again in the future. I'll change for the better. 응......at the very least, I won't immediately run away. I'll ask you first......"
"We'll talk about the future when it arrives. What should we do about this situation?" Irene couldn't stop herself from teasing Lisa upon noticing how the other looked. She lifted a hand and exaggeratedly covered her heart. "Little Lili wronged me. I've been hurt."
Lisa instantly became nervous after hearing Irene say this. But when she saw Irene's mischievous eyes, she knew that the other was just joking. Thus, she laughed too. Obediently, she placed both her hands together in a please-arrest-me position.
"You can punish me."
"So good?" Irene singlehandedly grabbed onto both of Lisa's thin wrists and took a step forward, drawing Lisa's entire person into her shadow.
Lisa took this opportunity to curl up in her embrace. She whispered, "I've always been good." Purposefully making sure that her exhales were blowing into Irene's ears.
Half of Irene's body felt numb because of this teasing. She abruptly picked Lisa up. "You're the one who said you'll accept punishment. No regrets."
"No regrets." Lisa took the initiative to wrap her legs tightly around Irene's waist. She was completely glued against Irene's body. Her voice sounded out from within her thin chest cavity, "I'm not planning to get out of bed tomorrow."
▬ 19 ▬
cut version:
L : "Punish me, baby. I've been bad girl."
I : (has no idea what to do) Umm, OK. You are grounded for a week.
L : "What? Wait--"
I : "No TV, no phone. Don't even ask about going to Cocobono Hotel."
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