Room 97

Chapter 7

Ever since the night that Jennie let Lisa have her freedom by not tying her sleeves, Jennie never tied her sleeves again. Her colleagues was worried about her idea, they thought that since Lisa had her freedom, there’s a chance she would do something bad to her. Like Jisoo had said before, they didn’t want anyone to die again. But Jennie assured them that she knows what she was doing. They just have to trust her on this.

Today, Jennie prepared a little something for Lisa. She bought a mini cake for her. Once she arrived at Lisa’s front door, she wore a blinding bright smile and unlocked the door. Lisa could be seen on her usual spot and position—sitting on the edge of her bed while gazing outside the window. Jennie first made sure Lisa wouldn’t see the cake so she carefully hid it behind her.

“Lisaaaa.” Jennie singsonged and Lisa turned to her.

“What’s with the big smile?” Lisa said with a suppressed chuckle.

“Well, don’t you know what day it is today?” Jennie asked while slowly walking towards Lisa.

“I don’t think it’s my birthday today.”

“Yeah, it’s not your birthday today. But three weeks is finally over! Yay!” Jennie cheered and showed Lisa the cake.

“And what is that for?” Lisa scoffed.

“A little celebration for your freedom.” Jennie smiled.

“I don’t even think that’s necessary.”

“Maybe for you it’s not that important, but I want to let you know that you’re appreciated.” Jennie took the two plastic forks from her back pocket and handed the other one to Lisa. “Let’s eat!” She sat next to Lisa and shared the cake with her and she was the first one to taste it while Lisa was just watching her. “Hmm, it’s so good!” Jennie said as she savor the sweet taste of the cake. “God, it’s been so long since I last ate a cake.” Lisa started eating as well and Jennie looked at her. “It tastes good, isn’t it?” Lisa just silently nodded and Jennie noticed her silence. Her mind automatically thought that she should think or say something for Lisa to talk more because more talking means more information she would get, and perhaps more talking also means she could get closer to Lisa and earn her trust. “When was the first time you ate a cake?”

“Three years ago.” Lisa answered.

“Your birthday?” Jennie assumed and Lisa just nodded again. “I bet it’s as good as this one.” Jennie said. “I mean, I don’t think there’s a bad cake that’s ever baked. It’s just all good. I actually think cakes are special in every way. You can even design it to your liking, I once saw a cake that looked like a teddy bear on the internet. Cake has no limit!” Jennie chuckled at her own thought and then turned to Lisa. “If you could design your own cake, what would it look like?” She asked Lisa.

“A cloud.” Lisa answered.

“Why a cloud?” Jennie raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t know, I just think it would be cool if you can just eat your fear so it wouldn’t bother you anymore.” Lisa halfheartedly chuckled. It confused Jennie at first but she then realized that clouds carries rain and thunderstorms which scared Lisa. Jennie just nodded when she finally understood what Lisa had said.

“If I could design my own cake, I’d make it look like an umbrella so that I could cover anyone under it if rain is pouring down on them and then I’ll invite them to my house so I could share them my cake.” Jennie softly laughed and Lisa half-smiled. After they finished eating the cake, Jennie invited Lisa to take a walk outside.

“I’d rather stay here.” Lisa said but Jennie crossed her arms across her chest in disapproval.

“How could we call this your freedom day if you’re just going to stay here all day? Why don’t you even want to go outside? Come on, let yourself breathe in fresh air.” Jennie insisted.

“No.” Lisa chuckled.

“I won’t take no for an answer.” Jennie smirked and Lisa shook her head at her quirk. “Now come on!” Jennie held Lisa’s hand to make her come with her and slightly dragged her from her bed. Jennie then realized what she did and quickly let go of her hand. “I-I’m sorry.” She mumbled. Lisa stood up as she sighed.

“Where are you even taking me?” Lisa asked and Jennie’s face lit up.

“Where going to the mini garden.” Jennie said with a smile.

The two went out of the room and started walking to the garden. Lisa felt that all eyes were on her as they were walking and it made her conscious. It was the same looks that everyone gave her when she killed Chaeyoung. Jennie glanced at Lisa at she noticed her head was hanging low. What happened to the fierce Lisa she first met before? Jennie took a deep breath and bravely took Lisa’s hand. Lisa twitched at the unexpected contact and she gave Jennie a questioned look. Jennie just answered with a soft smile and Lisa felt unexplainably at ease.

Just like what Lisa told Jennie before, some patients could be seen doing basic yoga, some young patients could be seen playing with their nurse, some are just laying on the ground while their nurses are nagging at them, telling them the ground is dirty.

Jennie smiled at the sight of them and at the thought of Lisa finally having her freedom at the asylum. She realized that she had been holding Lisa's hand for too long so she let go of her hand as she shyly smiled.

“I’m sorry.” Jennie said as she sheepishly chuckled and quickly regained her composure. “So, it’s nice being outside, right?” Lisa didn’t answer and it made Jennie turned her head to her. She grew worried when she noticed sadness in Lisa’s eyes. “Is...something wrong?” She cautiously asked. Lisa shook her head but her was saying otherwise. “You really should work on your lie, you’re terrible at that.” Jennie joked, trying to lighten up the mood.

“It’s just that...I don’t have any idea what we’re doing here.” Lisa said, trying to sound casual.

“We can just sit and talk, we don’t really have to tire ourselves.” Jennie suggested and dragged Lisa to the bench near them under an enormous tree. “No wonder why they chose to do yoga here rather in the court. It’s peaceful here.” Jennie said as she breathed in, appreciating the air. “Do you play any sports?” Lisa just shook her head, her eyes on the ground. “Same, I’m not really a sporty person.” Jennie chuckled and she felt a drop of water landed on her forehead. She furrowed her eyebrows and looked up. “Really? It’s going to rain? But it was so sunny this morning.” Jennie complained.

Jennie couldn’t take Lisa’s silence anymore. She knew something was bothering her but she felt helpless that she couldn’t do anything to make Lisa feel better. Jennie felt guilty, she shouldn’t have brought Lisa to the mini garden. Maybe if they only just stayed in the room then Lisa wouldn't be like this. Jennie sighed and soothingly rubbed Lisa’s shoulder.

“We should get back, it’s starting to drizzle.” Jennie said and leaned closer to Lisa to get a better look at her. She was shocked to see that Lisa was silently crying and she felt stupid for not actually noticing it. “Why are you crying?” She tried to sound calm although her deep inside she was already panicking. Lisa just shook her head and when the rain was already pouring hard, she began to sob. “Let’s go inside or else we’ll catch cold.” Jennie said and they stood up and ran back inside.

When they finally arrived at Lisa’s room, Jennie sat her down on the bed and left her for a while to get a towel for her. She quickly wrapped it around Lisa and she was becoming more worried because Lisa wouldn't stop crying to the point that it was making it hard for her to breathe. Jennie took a deep breath, there’s no need to panic. She sat across Lisa and put her hands on Lisa’s knees.

“Hey, Lisa.” Jennie said in a soothing voice. “Breathe. Relax.” Lisa looked at her and did what she was told. “Great.” Jennie smiled.

Lisa was starting to relax and her breathing was slowly getting back to normal. She got really drawn in Jennie’s eyes. She could actually hug her right now to thank her but something in her told her she shouldn’t. She shouldn’t let her feelings take over her. Her mind was already a mess before and meeting Jennie made it messier, making her crazy.

Jennie sighed in relief when she saw that Lisa was slowly starting to relax and her feature was starting to softened as well. But that relief was swept away immediately when Lisa knitted her brows while she was looking directly in her eyes. The sadness quickly turned into...anger? It confused Jennie, what was wrong with Lisa?

“Lisa—” Before Jennie could even finish her sentence, Lisa pushed her hard, making her fall from the chair and her back slammed against the cold floor. Fear was evident in Jennie’s eyes. She tried to get up using her elbow but it hurt as hell.

“Get out of here.” Lisa said, her voice that once was cold turned into fire.

“Lisa...” Jennie got up using her uninjured hand and tried to walk closer to Lisa in attempt of calming her down.

“I said get out!” Lisa shouted and Jennie was taken aback.

Jennie didn’t say a word and left the room quickly, leaving the door unlocked. She didn’t bother to go back just to lock it, she just wanted to be away from that room. Her eyes were filled with tears as she was running and it’s almost making it hard for her to see since her vision was blurry because of the tears. While on her way to the office, ready to call it a day, she bumped into Jisoo. She quickly wiped her tears.

“Sorry.” Jennie said, not meeting Jisoo’s eyes.

“Wait, are you crying?” Jisoo asked, growing concerned.

“N-no.” Jennie’s voice broke. “Excuse me.” She said and continued running, leaving Jisoo puzzled.