"Where is jisoo? She was never absent before" Mr. Seokjin, the math teacher asks

Lisa and Rose look at each other

Is Jisoo still crying? She told us to leave her alone but she bunked class. She never does that. Jennie looks around too

"Huh, the new boy isn't here as well," she says

Taehyung looks around too. Jisoo and Yoongi are missing from the class. Jisoo never bunked a single class when Taehyung asked her to. He wanted to go on a date by bunking a math class once but jisoo rejected the idea. Where is she now?

"Huh, seems like she made her move on him.. I didn't think that Jisoo is such a slut. Jumping from one guy to another. She just broke up and already found herself a new guy?" Irene says

Taehyung looks at the clock. 5 more minutes and the class is over. Jisoo really bunked the class to be with that guy?

"Probably she is stuck somewhere," he thinks to himself

The bell rings and everyone comes out of the classroom

"Lisaaa" Jisoo screams from far

"Where were you? We were soo worried about you" Lisa says

"Ohh I was just... I mean. I wanted to be alone. So I went to the library" Jisoo says

"You bunked a class. FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER" Rose says

"I know. And somehow--- I feel GREAT" Jisoo says with a jolly voice

"Sooo, I was thinking about what you said. You know, about going shopping? And I think I am ready for a change" jisoo says

Both Lisa and Rose smile at jisoo...

"What are we waiting for? Let's go," Lisa says and the three of them leave

*************************

It's almost afternoon when Jisoo finishes shopping. She had a great time with the two of them.

Lisa drops Jisoo home

"Say hi to aunty from me," Lisa says

"Sure.. See you at college," Jisoo says and waits till Lisa drives away

Jisoo rings the bell and keeps ringing till someone opens the door

"God, what has gotten in you?" Mrs. Soyoung, her mother says as she opens the door

Jisoo smiles at her with her hands filled with shopping bags

"Did you-- did you go shopping? Is this real? My daughter went shopping on her own?" her mother says

"I wasn't alone. Lisa and Rose were with me. Now move and let me go inside, please. Mom you're such a drama queen " Jisoo says

Her mother chuckles and makes way for Jisoo

"Are all these for you? Do you know how long it has been since you last went shopping? All you do is stay in your room and study all night. Girls your age go to parties, hang out with boys but look at my daughter. A true nerd" her mother says

Jisoo puts her bags on the sofa and says

"Shouldn't you be happy that I study all day?" Jisoo asks

"Are you kidding me? I want my daughter to enjoy her life" her mother says as she takes a peek at the shopping bags

"Mom, sit down. Let's open them together" Jisoo says

Her mother gets excited like a little kid. Both of them open the shopping bags together and see all the shoes and outfits that Jisoo bought

"I've never seen you in such outfits. My daughter is going to look the prettiest" her mother says

She helps Jisoo take all the shopping bags to her room and both of them rearrange her closet. They throw out a lot more than expected. Both of them spend a good mother-daughter time together

"Uhhh it's been ages since I spent such quality time with you," her mother says

"I am so sorry mom," jisoo says and lightly kisses her cheeks

"Oh btw Jeongyeon called. It's her anniversary.. She invited all of us for dinner.. The whole family is going to be there. Take some rest and then get ready" mother says

"I don't want to go" Jisoo nags

"It's not right to skip family events. Since you bought new clothes, wear one of them. I should also show my pretty daughter off. She always compares Jennie with you. I'll brag a lot about you today. " she adds

Jisoo chuckles "let her compare us. I don't care about them. I'll study hard and make you proud one-day" jisoo says

"I know baby. I am already so proud of you. Get ready soon" she kisses Jisoo's forehead and leaves

Jisoo opens her closet and takes the jumpsuit out. It is not something that she usually wears. She'd usually wear some baggy hoody with a pair of denim pants and leave like that. And Jennie's mother will brag about Jennie's dress and how amazing she is doing in her cheerleader group etc etc

But today, Jisoo isn't going to wear anything baggy. Jisoo smiles at herself. Somehow, she feels excited to get ready

"It's been a while Jisoo," she says as she puts the dress on. She puts on very light makeup, nude lipstick and lets her hair down.

Jisoo is putting on the heels when her mother calls her from downstairs

"Coming," jisoo says as she takes her purse and leaves

Jisoo's parents open their mouth wide as she walks down the stairs

"It's my daughter, right?" Jisoo's dad asks her mother

"She is looking so gorgeous.." her mother says

"What is wrong? Why are you two whispering like that? Is there anything wrong with my dress?" Jisoo asks nervously

"You're perfect" her dad says

"Let's go then," Jisoo says and smiles

***

Jennie's mother, Mrs. Somin opens the door. Jisoo is holding a flower bouquet as a gift

"We've been waiting for you. Come in. Everyone is here already" she says as she makes way for them

Jennie's mother's eyes shift to jisoo

"Omo, is that our Jisoo?" she says being surprised

"Congratulations on your anniversary, aunt" Jisoo says and hugs her

"Come in come in" she leads them to the dining room.

Jennie's house is no less than a mansion. Like a huge castle where it is easy to lose your way. Jisoo doesn't like the vastness of this house. She thinks that a house should be small enough to let the people living inside of it connect with each other

"Jisoo did you lose weight? You look very different today" Jennie's mother asks

"No. She has always been like that. But she never showed it off because she used to wear loose fitted clothes" Jisoo's mother tries to brag a bit

Mrs. Somin tries her best to maintain the smile on her face

"Yes yes, our jisoo is so pretty," she says as they reach the dining room

Jisoo's family walks inside the room. Jisoo looks around and suddenly she stops.. Her eyes quiver by the familiar figure standing across the room

It's Taehyung. Jennie and Taehyung

They see jisoo too. Jennie upon seeing Jisoo holds Taehyung's hand tightly trying to show off

"Look at her. What is she wearing? She is trying to get noticed by you. Irene is never wrong. What a slut" she says to Taehyung

Taehyung just stares at Jisoo. He has never seen her like this

"Let's say hi to her," Jennie says as they walk towards jisoo

Jisoo tries to compose herself seeing them walk towards her.

"Hi Jisoo" Jennie says with a wide smile on her face

"Hi" jisoo tries to fake a smile

"You must be surprised to see Taehyung here, right? I mean, he is my boyfriend.. So obviously he'll attend my family's functions. WITH ME. Like duh" Jennie says

"Well good for you. But guess what? I don't care" jisoo says and walks towards her family

Jennie just stands there dumbfounded

"What a bitch" she says out loud

Taehyung is raging with anger. No one has ever dared to look down on him like this.

"Dinner is ready," Mrs. Somin says as all of them sit on the dinner table

"Jisoo noona caught my breath away when she walked in. Noona, you're best" Jennie's little brother, Jinyoung says

"Truly, Jisoo looks prettier than ever," grandma says looking at Jisoo

"You're just being kind" jisoo replies

Jennie glares at her mother

"Oh i had something to share. Jennie is going to be the leader of the cheerleader group in the upcoming inter-college championship" Somin says proudly

"What about her result? What did she do in her fresher year final exam?" grandma asks

Colour drains from Somin's face

"I heard that noona barely passed the exam" in young says and everyone tries to hold their laughter

Grandma looks at jisoo

"What about you?" she asks

Before Jisoo can say anything, her mother brags

"She became the topper, again. Honors marks on all the subjects" she says and looks at Somin. Somin forces a smile on her face

"That's our Jisoo. Beauty with brain. You really make me proud" grandma says as she takes a bite of the steak

"Taehyung, that's your name, right?" she says

"Yes. Kim Taehyung" Taehyung replies politely

"You're on the same class as jisoo and Jennie?" grandma asks

"Yes"

" I heard you're the captain of the football team?"

"Oh yes. I'll be leading the team in the upcoming championship" Taehyung says

"I like you. You don't look that bad either" grandma says being straightforward

"Grandma, all the girls in college are crazy about him.. But he only cares about me and supports me" Jennie says looking at Jisoo

"What about you jisoo? Do you have anyone you want us to meet?" grandma asks

Taehyung looks at jisoo. They are sitting opposite to each other.. Jisoo doesn't even bother to look at him

"No grandma. No one. I am focusing on myself right now" she says

Grandma smiles at her

"You do know that a lot of my friends have asked your hand for their grandson, don't you?" she says

Jisoo almost chokes on her food

"Grandma, I am not ready for marriage," she says being caught completely off guard

"You will be. One day" grandma replies as everyone chuckles

The only two who are not laughing are Jisoo and Taehyung.

Jisoo didn't even spare a glance at Taehyung throughout the entire dinner. He noticed that but kept quiet

"So, how long have you two been dating?" Jennie's father asks towards the end of the feast

"Has it been 2 months already?" Jennie looks at Taehyung

Jisoo, for the first time, looks at Taehyung but he is already looking at her. He can see her eyes slowly getting filled with tears

"yeah it's been almost two months" Jennie replies to her dad and continues eating.

Jisoo puts her spoon down. She takes her eyes off of Taehyung

"excuse me" she says as she gets up and walks upstairs

"What happened to her all of a sudden?" Jisoo's mother gets worried

"Let her be," grandma says as they all continue with their food

Jisoo doesn't come down after a while and Taehyung gets impatient

"Can I use the washroom for a bit?" Taehyung asks

"yeah sure.." Jennie's dad replies

He then also heads upstairs. He finds jisoo in one of the rooms. She is sitting on the bed looking down, she looks like she is lost in her thoughts

He gets inside the room and closes the door behind him. He needs to talk to her.. Jisoo looks up and sees him

"what are you doing here?" she asks as she gets up from the bed