『JenSoo Short Stories』 - Chapter 51: Chapter 51

"Yes! Finally!" Jennie exclaimed. After hours of traveling, she had finally arrived in the beautiful city where the sky was filled with clouds dyed orange by sunset: Paris.
As an 18-year-old girl, she felt lucky to be able to travel in France when other students of her age were still in school. Jennie had always been smarter than other kids so she skipped two years of school and the genius had already graduated. She was therefore on holiday and decided to go to Paris.
Before she could even get out of the airport, a girl with yellow dress ran towards her with her hands spreading like wings.
"JENDEUKIE!!!" she shouted, almost ripped her throat out.
Jennie opened her mouth in surprise. The girl was none other than her best friend, Jisoo.
The two did agree to meet in Paris, but Jennie didn't expect her to come so early. She clearly said to meet at the hotel and obviously Jisoo didn't want to wait anymore. Of course, it wasn't a bad thing — Jennie was literally dying of happiness.
"Unnie! Why are you here so early? Did you wait for a long time?" Jennie asked excitedly. The other immediately hugged her before she could utter other things. In a low voice, she mumbled, "I missed you, Jen. We haven't seen each other for months-"
Jisoo started to squeeze Jennie even tighter. Although the younger one felt out of breath, she didn't stop Jisoo from hugging her. Jennie missed her too. Too much.
"I know you do, unnie. And thank you for coming." Gently, she whispered in Jisoo's ear. The other giggled. Jennie slowly leaned on Jisoo's shoulder, allowing herself to feel the other's body heat and to smell her scent, pleasant as always.
Ever since her parents lost their job, Jennie had to study and work at the same time in order to survive with her family. It exhausted her. But Jisoo had always been with her, trying to cheer her up whenever she felt sad or upset. Jennie really liked her. She was smart, sensitive, caring, understanding and incredibly good-looking. In other words, she was the definition of perfection.
Now that everything is fine, somehow, she felt like she had a special feeling for Jisoo after being with her for a long time. It was something above their friendship, a stronger and more intense feeling.
Love. She loved her.
But it seemed like the older one didn't feel the same. She considered Jennie as a friend, as a sister, a member of her family. This made Jennie unable to confess. She could only chuckle in sadness whenever Jisoo says 'we are best friends forever! " in front of everyone. Jisoo would never have feelings for her in that way.
Of course, she knew the reason. Loving a person of the same gender as yourself had always been a sin, according to her family, and Jennie remembered that. But love has no boundaries and people don't decide who they fall in love with. So the girl planned to confess to Jisoo after dinner. Even if the other doesn't accept her, it didn't matter, she had been waiting for this day too long.
Everything was ready, she just needed to wait for that moment to come.
Jennie was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even realize they had already walked out of the airport, got into their car and arrived at the Eiffel Tower.
"Hey Jen, why don't we eat first? It's already night time." Jisoo pulled Jennie's sleeves and put the girl out of her thoughts. Jennie shook her head and looked around her, figuring out the situation.
"Oh sure, unnie. Let's find a restaurant around the Eiffel Tower to eat. The view is so beautiful."
Jennie was right. The tower takes on a gold sheen as soon as night falls and everything was glamorous as a fairyland. The two found a restaurant in a luxury building where there is a huge balcony. From there, we can see the whole city at a glance, with the tower at the center.
It was the best place to eat dinner but reserving a table there costs a fortune, the waiter told them.
"Well, it isn't a problem, we just want to eat calmly. Here you go, I think the money should be enough to reserve that table." Jisoo said while sitting down, and the waiter immediately nodded and gave them the menu.
They ordered their food and asked for two cups of hot chocolate. Jisoo, as always, got herself some chicken skewers. They stood on the edge of the balcony, admiring the view and waited for the food. And of course, they both didn't forget to take a bunch of selfies and pictures of themselves.
Emm, Jennie considered. Maybe it's the moment now.
Or maybe not.
"U-"
"Jen, you know, people often call Paris 'La ville de l'amour'," Jisoo said all of a sudden. She clearly didn't realize she cut Jennie's words. The younger was very awkward, but Jisoo continued, "now I think I understand why. Everything is just so beautiful. No wonder everyone finds their love here."
Jennie was speechless — Jisoo brought up the topic of love one step ahead of her and Jennie didn't expected that coming. Her plans have just been interrupted. Furthermore, there's something she didn't catch in Jisoo's sentenses and it bothered her. Meanwhile, the older didn't notice the slight change in the atmosphe between them. She simply looked at Jennie, waiting for her to speak, and then looked back to the Eiffel Tower.
"La what?" After a while, Jennie asked in a confused tone. She was trying to get the words while avoiding Jisoo's suspicion.
"La ville de l'amour - the city of love, it's French, you little fool. I thought your French was very good." Jisoo answered jokingly, taking a sip of her hot chocolate drink.
Usually, Jennie would have punched her. But this time, the younger girl only breathed a sigh of relief.
Thankfully, she didn't ask questions about me being so silent, Jennie thought.
"Emm, speaking of love, unnie, I have-" Jennie stuttered, thinking that her plan could still work and... she immediately regretted afterwards.
Unfortunately, Jisoo heard her.
"What, Jen? Just say it already, I'm not going to eat you," the other was chuckling, but Jennie knew she was serious.
"No it's just that..." Jennie stopped, thinking of her words, "I'm going to confess to my crush and... I'm kinda nervous." She finally said, scratching the back of her head.
"Omo really!? Yah Jen it's a good thing! You shouldn't be nervous." Jisoo exclaimed, jumping like a fool. The awkward atmosphere between them disappeared in an instant. "So that's what you were hiding from me huh? You know, I can always help you. If you want, I can even help you to practice!" She said excitedly.
Jennie was shocked - things were turning in a way she never thought.
That's just insane, she wants to 'help me practice' how to confess to my crush, who's - actually her, Jennie thought. In this case, either Jisoo is too naive and actually wants to help her or she just wanted to make fun of her.
She never knew there was another possibility.
Well, I'll go for the first option, Jennie made a decision, I should take this as an opportunity to tell her my real feelings, speaking out is always better than holding back.
"Eh ok? Why not." The younger one spoke and Jisoo holded her hands.
"Go on then."
"Emmm... I eh..." Jennie said hesitantly, dodging Jisoo's stare.
"Yah Jendeuk, be more confident! You're not a coward." Jisoo burst into laughter.
Oh no, wrong choice.
Jennie was sweating like hell. Sh*t, how can I be calm if I'm literally confessing to my crush who knows nothing?? She thought.
Jennie tried her best to look at Jisoo, and took a lot of deep breaths. The older was still holding Jennie's hands, laughing like a cute baby.
Jennie panicked.
It's usually hard to avoid feelings when it started raining outside. At this point, even Jennie ended up calming down, and...
She eventually managed to say those three words.
"I love you." Jennie breathed a sigh of relief.
Finally, I did it.
The corners of Jisoo's mouth curved up, "I love you too, Jennie." Jisoo responded with her gummy smile, and then hugged the other who was blushing like a red tomato, "see? It's not that difficult! Now you can go and confess to your crush without any problems!" Jisoo stated, smiling widely.
Jennie couldn't help but look away.
Yeah, she did it, but what's the use if the other doesn't understand anything? She smiled bitterly.
"I have already confessed." She whispered, looking up in the sky, almost in tears.
She didn't know that Jisoo heard her, again.
It was then that the older reached out and turned Jennie's face, slowly caressed her cheeks as she cried.
"Hey Jen. Please, don't cry." Jisoo murmured, "I know you love me, I knew it for a long time. And by the way, I already answered. I love you too, Jennie." The older smiled warmly, before her lips brushed Jennie's, softly.
The sudden kiss caught Jennie off guard like a storm. Her mind went blank and she forgot to think. The younger girl closed her eyes obediently, as if everything was taken for granted.
It was only after the kiss that she suddenly felt a heat on her face and realized everything. Thinking of it just now, her heart jumped uncontrollably.
"Wait Jisoo- What?" Jennie asked in astonishment while Jisoo just laughed softly.
"I love you too, as simple as this." The other said.
"But- I can't believe that."
"Yah, don't forget I'm Kim Jisoo, how could it be so easy for you to guess what I'm thinking? I was just waiting for the right moment." Jisoo said, and smiled.
After a long silence,  she spoke again, "oh wait, I have something for you."
The girl then knelt down.
Meanwhile, Jennie was completely at a loss. No way, she thought, her heart almost stopped.
No, that's impossible.
"Wait a minute-"
"Shh Jennie, just listen to me carefully." Jisoo said, while taking out an exquisite little box.
Jennie couldn't speak anymore.
"Kim Jennie, would you like to be my girlfriend?"
Raindrops stopped falling.
The restaurant was no longer noisy.
The sound of the car driving disappeared.
Time seemed to stand still, it was as if Jisoo and Jennie were the only two left in the world.
Jennie's brain stopped working. She almost fainted.
"I- I," she said hesitantly. Jisoo waited.
"Yes, I would love to." Jennie finally answered before collapsing in Jisoo's arms.
Paris was indeed the city of love, Jisoo was right. And apparently, her plan worked perfectly, while Jennie's plan failed miserably.
However, it didn't really matter, because the story would end happily anyway.