Days have passed and Lisa went to her college to discuss which topic would be relevant for her Master's degree. She talked with her professor about what she could write about but for now nothing concrete came to mind to neither of them,
"You should come by some other day. Think about what you want to write and we'll discuss it some more. Take your time." The professor said with a smile.
"Okay, thank you, I will." She smiled back and went out.
What to do, what to do? I mean yeah, I have to think about it, but... What to do besides that? The agency hasn't called me in a couple of days and I think I've been stuck in a rut. I don't want to just stay at home for the next four months and do nothing. I want to do something new. Hm. Lisa pondered as she walked down the streets of Bangkok.
Her phone buzzed and it was Chaeyoung:
"Hey Chaeng, what's up?" Lisa answered happily.
"Ohoho! You've outdone yourself!" Chaeyoung replied in a cheerful manner.
"Hm... I think I know what you're talking about." Lisa giggled.
"Oh you do? Well than, are you close to home?"
"No, but I will be in like half an hour."
"Okay... Can you video call me when you get there?"
"Oh, I definitely want to." Lisa replied with a huge grin.
They hung up and Lisa hurried as much as she could to get home. As soon as she got there, she video called Chaeyoung in peace:
"I have received a certain package from someone through the mail. Like the literal mail. Not an e-mail. Mail."
"Oh I know you did!" Lisa grinned heavily. "Did you open it?"
"Nope, not yet. What did you send?" Chaeyoung asked while holding Lisa's package.
"You'll see, just open it already!" Lisa was excited.
"Okay, let's see..." Chaeyoung used scissors to remove everything she needed before opening up the package. She then covered up her mouth with her hand as she said: Wow!...Oh Lisa... No... Aw... Oh come on!"
Chaeyoung was holding a collage frame - 10 frames interconnected that had room for 10 photos. Inside of the frames were photos that Lisa took of Chaeyoung when they were walking through the streets of Seoul.
"These look beautiful... And not just because I'm in them!" Chaeyoung was amazed by the quality of the photos.
"Do you like it?" Lisa asked happily.
"Of course I do, oh Lisa, I wanna hug you right now os bad! Ohh... What is this?" Chaeyoung wondered.
"Oh... Yeah... That's a little note I left inside in one of the frames." Lisa scratched the back of her head, smiling.
Chaeyoung removed the note from the frame and saw that inside of that frame was a photo of her and Lisa hugging and smiling in Seoul. All the other photos were of Chaeyoung only, but Lisa saved that one for last. Chaeyoung smiled when she saw it.
The note that Chaeyoung picked up was written in Lisa's best handwriting, and it contained a small picture of two pokemon hugging - specifically Trubbish.
"Aw, Trubbish... Because we're garbage! Awwww! Lisaaa! Chaeyoung was melting from the cuteness overload Lisa sent her way.
"Hehehe" Lisa smirked mischievously.
Chaeyoung then read the note. In it Lisa had written:
To my sister, faithful guardian and best friend <3
Love, you little trash!
"I will cry, you know, this isn't fair!" Chaeyoung squealed as she read the note. "No seriously, look, a freaking tear." Chaeyoung showed off to the camera that a tear escaped her eye.
"Oh babe, come on! now you're making me cry." Lisa responded.
"We're such softies!" Chaeyoung replied smiling again,
"We are." Lisa responded.
"But... Why did you send this, for what occasion is this?"
"Can't a girl just appreciate her best friend?" Lisa grinned.
"Of course, wow! I mean-"
"And also, did you really think that me coming to Korea was going to be the only present I was going to give you?" Lisa chuckled at the end.
"Oh come on! You going through all that trouble, earning the money to come here... That was my present! To see a fighting Lisa who wasn't afraid to hurt through life and who was willing to sacrifice her time and energy to see me... Who was going through a lot of emotional pain at the time... Seeing my little sister grow up and fight back, that was my present." Chaeyoung responded proudly.
Lisa just sat there in silence for a couple of seconds.
"Lisa?" Chaeyoung was confused.
"I... I'm going to need a second." Lisa grabbed her pillow and started to quietly sob into it.
"Oh babe no... I'm sorry I made you-"
"No... No... It's okay. It's just... It's really nice to hear that. And thank you for being there with me every step of the way." Lisa interrupted Chaeyoung while trying to smile again.
"Always." Chaeyoung replied with a smile, while another proud tear fled her eye.
"Whoa... I didn't expect that we would get so emotional over this." Lisa chuckled while wiping her tears.
"Me neither... But.. Oh... You Lisa! This! This is why I love you so much. Because you're honest and because you really make an effort for people that surround you. This is why I will always support you when it comes to Irene... or any person in your life after her. Or not, maybe she's the one, who knows? But the point is - you being you makes me want to support you."
The two just sat the smiling while still wiping the tears from their eyes. They really appreciated each other's company, even in dead silence.
"So, how was your day?" Lisa asked because she didn't want them to cry anymore. That made Chaeyoung chuckle.
"Oh, the same. A lot of work, a lot of meetings, a lot of going around town. Also, cinnamon bagels should be a trending topic all over the world. I don't know why people aren't talking about it more, but you've hit jackpot with this one Lis!" Chaeyoung responded.
"Oh, is that so?" Lisa asked chuckling.
"I took a couple of people out for brunch this morning after a meeting, and I'm telling you, it's going to be a thing!"
"Ooooh, brunching, how professional!"
"Hahahaha yeah, yeah, you know how I do."
"I'm glad you like 'em." She responded.
"Also news, I wanted to get more training because some days we're just literally just sitting in the office for 8 hours straight and that's exhausting for my posture. So, today I decided that archery is going to be my new thing!"
"Archery?"
"Archery."
"Okay, wow, that's different, I like it!" Lisa responded happily.
"Me too! They told me at the uh... archery place? I don't know, I really have to learn the terminology... Anyway, they told me that, if done properly, it can be a great exercise for the back and upper shoulder muscles... After the soreness ends, that is. I'm probably going to be sore fr a couple of days, but after that, I should be good!" Chaeyoung responded excitedly.
"That's so great! How did you even come up with archery?"
"Oh, some people at work mentioned it, and I was like "Why not?" and we went there after work, so yeah... There you go!"
"That's so cool! I'm going to have a friend who's an archer... I mean... Like freakin' Robin Hood, awesome!" Lisa was excited for Chaeyoung.
"After I really get good at it, I'm going to send an arrow with some perfume to Bangkok so I don't feel you stench anymore!" They both laughed when Chaeyoung said that. Then Chaeyoung asked:
"How about you, have you been up to something these days? What about your Master's thesis?"
"Yeah, I will have to think about it more these days. I've talked to my professor about it and we concluded that I should think about what I want to write properly and then we can discuss more about it later."
"Reasonable enough, do you have anything in mind?"
"No, not for now."
"Anything that could potentially involve Irene Bae?" Chaeyoung teased cheekily.
"Oh!..." Lisa's eyes widened. "Huh... Well, that would be interesting."
"Oh wow, I didn't know that could be a thing!" Chaeyoung was surprised.
"Yeah... I mean, I don't know if it could be a thing, but I'll definitely keep it in mind, thanks Chaeng!" Lisa happily replied.
"No problem!" Chaeyoung then put the frame on the table next to her and asked Lisa:
"Anything else new?"
"Well, actually, yeah... I mean, nothing big."
"Oh?"
"It's interesting you mentioned archery because earlier, I wanted to find something new to do. You know, for the last couple of months, maybe even a year, I've been focused on my studies, Jennie, on my work, travelling and so on... But... I want to have something new and something cool. Something like archery, but not archery because I don't want to poke my eye out." Lisa chuckled at the end and Chaeyoung joined in.
"Because I love photography, it is my greatest passion... But you know... I wanna hang out, work out, do stuff! I mean, I do read, I do play video-games, I do make hilarious jokes about your foul stench as well... But I wanna do something outside of my apartment. It can be indoors. Just not my indoors!" Lisa then added.
"I got ya, okay! Sounds exciting."
"It is... It can be a whole new me!"
"Anything you had in mind?"
"Actually... Yeah."
"What is it?"
"Dancing!"
"Dancing?"
"Dancing."
"Oh, wow! That's awesome! I mean, you do have a sense of rhythm and I've seen you bust a move plenty of times... But yeah, dancing, awesome! What type of dancing?"
"Well... Ugh, this is going to sound corny-"
"Mmmm coorn." Chaeng interrupted Lisa by making he Homer Simpson impression, teasing Lisa about the way Irene and her did that.
"Oh you! And that's actually where I was going, it's Irene-related."
"Oh!"
"Yeah... I told her that I wasn't much of a dancer. And now... I want to improve on that. I want to be able to do her choreography flawlessly at her concert... You see, she told me that she would love to see me dance in the pit where the press and the photographers will be situated. So...I kinda wanted to take as many photos as I could, and then when Dumb Dumb comes up, I could stop for like 15 seconds and do the choreography for the chorus, and then obviously, continue with the photography."
"Wooow... That's uh...some next level seduction technique!" Chaeyoung chuckled and Lisa joined in.
"Hehe... Well, I'm not sure about that... I mean, I am, but the main reason why I want to do it is because I don't want to look bad in front of her."
"Oh... I get it. So... Where will you go to...work on this?"
"Well, there's this dance school that teaches a lot of hip-hop related dances. I figured I could go there for a while and do some group sessions, and then when I feel I'm able to "level up", I will explain to them that I'd like a private session where I can learn the choreography."
"Sounds like a plan to me."
"Yup, it sure does. On my way home I searched on my phone and I found one that teaches everyday, so yeah..."
"Well, good luck with that!"
"Thank youuu!"
"Hey, what about the agency though?" Chaeyoung then remembered to ask.
"Oh, they haven't called these days, but I'm guessing they're waiting for some project that they could give me." Lisa responded. "Sometimes there's a lot of work and no people to do it, and sometimes there's chill days like this one." Lisa relaxed on her chair.
"And... My favorite question because, you know, captain's duties... what about Irene?" Chaeng smirked as she asked that question.
"Oh uh... Well, you saw the photos of us online."
"Oh yeah baby, talk of the day!"
"Well... not much after that. I still want to find out if she's seeing someone before I get too involved. But I'm too afraid to ask directly because then it's just "yes" or "no"... And I'm not ready for that yet. So, I know it's weird and counter-intuitive... But, I'm taking my time with it."
"Okay, fair enough. Just don't let it eat you from the inside, please." Chaeyoung said worriedly.
"I won't. I'm just... Preparing myself."
"Fair enough-"
"But" Lisa interrupted. "If I do come up with the courage soon... Well, it will be mostly because you stuck by me all this time and showed me support." Lisa said frankly.
"That's my brave girl!" Chaeyoung cheered.
The two then continued to talk for a while before they had to end the conversation.
Lisa then sat on her bed and thought about what she said about Irene.
I want to ask Irene about her relationship situation. Chaeyoung didn't have to tell me to do it and to ask Irene about it soon, but I know that it's the right thing to do and I know that when Chaeng thinks something is right, it usually is. I just don't want it to be awkward. Or at least too awkward. Lisa mused.