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Can You Keep A Secret?

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"I asked my parents if I could hang out with Lisa-unnie, and then I asked Lisa-unnie if I could hang out with you."

Those were Ella's exact words when a still slightly stunned Jisoo asked her everything that's needed to be asked. She still can't believe how the kid retorted in just a sentence, so short and so easy, as if her response is nothing but the most obvious thing in the world.

"Where's your Lisa-unnie, then?" Jisoo remembers asking a follow-up in return.

Ella just shrugged, eyes still focused on the giant screen in front of them while her fingers moved swiftly along the controller, flicking the buttons easily with her thumbs.

"She said if she accompanies me to you, you'd probably kill her. So she asked a woman who passed us by in the lobby to take me here."

"She did what?!"

If Jisoo won't be killing Lisa tonight upon learning that information, the brunette was certain Chaeyoung will. And she's definitely looking forward to it.

Jisoo and Ella have already been playing for several minutes— Mario Kart. It gave Jisoo some painful flashbacks, but she didn't realize it could get any worse after she asks Ella what she wants to play next and the little girl exclaims,

"Call of Duty: Warzone!"

It could definitely get much worse.

"Oh, shit— I mean, oh what the hell, how are you so good at this game?" Jisoo exclaims in disbelief as she stared at the monitor wide-eyed, her character once again killed-off so painfully easily by Ella's.

The little girl laughs, flicking the controller buttons in her hands in order to target and haunt for Jisoo's character once again. "I played it many times a couple months back to get the hang of it, unnie."

She finds Jisoo's character behind a stacked wooden cratebox, raining bullets on him out of nowhere and catching the brunette off-guard, making her jaw drop automatically on the floor.

"But, what the— you're kicking my ass good here, kid. I'm actually a bit embarrassed now."

Ella giggles fondly in return.

"I've been practicing long enough. This is Chaeyoung-unnie and I's favorite game."

Jisoo had to stop herself from visibly freezing in her spot, the sudden skipping of her heart inside her chest causing her to chuckle lightly to herself, feeling somewhat absurd.

"I see." She returns softly, earning no more response from the little girl. Jisoo glanced at her, watching the way Ella focused solely on the game, it's quite amusing. And Jisoo wasn't sure if it was just the sight of the little girl that made the flashbacks not too heavy on her chest, anymore.

It was, in fact, eased enough for her to find the courage to add quietly, "You know, your Chaeyoung-unnie and I had our first conversation about you in the middle of a Call Of Duty game," chuckling after and wondering why the small smile on her lips didn't seem to falter even when she finishes off, "Her ass was dying and I was mostly responsible for it."

She expected a little more surprised reaction or commentary from Ella, but much to hers, the little girl just shrugged.

"I know," Ella says, eyes still glued to the screen.

Jisoo raised an eyebrow, grin turning even more amused, "You do?"

Ella nods eagerly, glancing at the brunette, "Unnie told me about it." Jisoo smiles, so does the little girl, nodding in understanding, until Ella adds, "She told me all about you guys," and then turns her gaze back to the screen almost right away, completely missing the way Jisoo's smile falls a little because of the sudden denser weight inside her chest.

"Yeah?" Jisoo asks, biting her lip unsurely as she picked her controller back up, returning to the play, though staying for the little chat. "How much did she tell you?"

"A lot."

"And a lot is...?"

"Enough for me to know that she loves you, Jisoo-unnie."

It was awfully strong, the impact; the damage of Ella's first bomb. First, because Jisoo will learn later on that it doesn't end there.

She almost chuckles at the way the little girl's statement effectively caused the unbelievably rapid beating of her heart inside her chest. An 11-year-old's words, hitting right through her senses; Bullseye.

This kid is something else.

In the end, Jisoo just chose to shrug it off, chuckling lightly on her seat to mask the slight shakiness in her tone when she spoke.

"What even makes you say that?" She flicks the control buttons on the joystick in her hands, mirroring the little girl's gestures, turning her attention back towards the screen as well. "You're 11. Do you know anything about romance?"

Ella smiles.

"Just enough to figure out a bit of what's going on."

"Is that so?" Jisoo retorts with a grin, but Ella just shoots off her character again, making Jisoo chuckle in utter disbelief.

Something else. The brunette had to shake her head.

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Nayeon roams the small vintage wine shop, both hands inside the pockets of her coat as she strolled along the aisle slowly, taking her sweet time in scanning the bottles arranged beautifully on the expensive wooden wine racks.

"Ms. Im," the store owner approaches her with a smile, "Wonderful day. I'm assuming, a big event? Or the wedding, perhaps?"

Smiling back at the familiar old man, Nayeon retorts kindly, "It's okay, Jacques. Nothing too important."

Jacques nods his head politely, "Stunning. I'll be leaving you alone, then," he says, waiting for the raven-haired girl's approval before walking away. When the French man left, Nayeon continued to scan the display, deciding on picking up a bottle of Merlot in the end.

Satisfied by her choice, she was just about to walk up the counter when the bells of the small shop chimed, a familiar pair of natural crescent eyes instantly meeting Nayeon's impossibly wide ones the moment she turned around, unexpectedly facing the newly-arrived customer.

"Hey," Momo was the first to break the painful silence, gaze falling down the expensive bottle resting in the older girl's gloved hands. "Shafer. Good choice," the Japanese comments, a small smile making its way to her lips.

Nayeon, although still a bit stunned, forced to swallow the lump inside her throat.

"Yes." She returns, breathless. "1996. You remember, no?" Momo chuckles softly when the older girl adds, nodding her head. Nayeon finally returns the smile.

Seconds after trying their best to avoid each other's gazes, it was Momo's turn to gulp, a hand gesturing towards the older girl as she muttered unsurely, "Can we talk? Or do you have somewhere you need to be?"

Nayeon had to ignore the twitching of her insides, blinking and silently reminding herself to breathe in order for her to manage a response.

"No," she nods lightly to Momo as well, letting out in faint stutters, "I have some time."

Momo smiles tenderly, "Perfect."

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"You hungry, kiddo?" Jisoo asks, standing up from the beanbag and offering her hand for Ella to take, which she did with a rather eager nod.

When they reached the kitchen, Jisoo got two huge tubs of Ben & Jerry's out of the fridge and a bag of candy spoons. Ella's eyes instantly lit up, but she stuttered a bit when she spoke, a little uncertain.

"Oh, I don't think I'm supposed to, unnie. I just had ice cream yesterday," the little girl says, grinning sheepishly.

Jisoo chuckles, an eyebrow raising, "What's the matter?"

"Chaeyoung-unnie will get mad at me." Ella fumbles in her seat.

Jisoo pulled a vacant kitchen stool next to Ella's, reaching over in order to hand a spoon to the girl with a grin.

"Don't worry," she meets Ella's gaze, glancing at the spoon in her hand before raising both of her eyebrows at the little girl, "I promise not to tell."

It emitted another giggle from Ella, smiling up at the grinning brunette and taking the candy spoon in her hand. She immediately worked on her tub, Jisoo in hers, and they sat in silence for a while, stuffing their faces with chocolate ice cream, the sounds of the game they were playing echoing from the living room in the background.

It was until Ella spoke again that Jisoo had to pause.

"I saw you on TV yesterday." She glanced at the little girl, who also turned to face her, "With that girl, should I call her Nayeon-unnie?"

Jisoo sighs, shrugging her shoulders as she turned her attention back to her tub once again.

"I guess. Sure." Jisoo grins playfully, "Do I look good on TV?"

Ella just giggles shortly, and then tilts her head to the side, "She's your girlfriend." She stated, more than asked.

It left Jisoo breathing out a chuckle, the lump inside her throat failed to keep her from muttering out, "She's my fiancé."

Saying that out loud still feels alien to Jisoo, feeling as if she wouldn't get used to it anytime soon, and she didn't like it at all.

Ella was silent for a short second, just studying the brunette as she continued to poke on her ice cream with her spoon. Later, Ella shrugs too.

"She's pretty," she decides, almost to herself, but Jisoo caught the words just fine.

Turning to the little girl, she raised an eyebrow, "You think so?"

Ella nods in confirmation, scooping ice cream from her tub when she asks, "Are you gonna marry her because she's pretty, Jisoo-unnie?"

Jisoo almost laughs, is this the second bomb? Kinda. She guesses she needs to brace herself more for whatever's going to come out of the little girl's mouth next.

"No, Ella."

"Then is it because you love her?"

That. Jisoo was now certain that is the real second bomb.

Ella turns to the brunette once again when she didn't get a response, feeling the need to elaborate, "Mom and dad says people want to be together when they love each other so much. Is that why you're getting married, unnie?"

This time, Jisoo chuckles fully, turning her stool around in order to face the little girl properly. Ella mirrored her gesture, staring up at the brunette in anticiption. Jisoo smiled.

"Can you keep a secret?" Ella nods, blinking several times in curiousity. Jisoo whispers, "That's not it, either."

"Then what's the reason?"

And it's not like Jisoo could tell her just like that. It's too much, and Ella's just a kid, (although it doesn't really seem like it.) But she also knew she couldn't lie, especially because of how smart Ella obviously is. In the end, she simply settled for a short sigh.

"It's complicated," she dismisses, turning to her tub once again, making Ella pout. "And you're 11 years old. I shouldn't really be discussing things like this with you over ice cream."

"We can discuss it over wine if you adults prefer it that way—"

Jisoo almost chokes on her candy spoon, eyes wide as saucers when she turned to the oblivious little girl, "Absolutely not!"

-

"I'm promoting you."

Chaeyoung had to blink repeatedly as she tried to register her boss' words.

"Wait, what?" She hears Jeongyeon laugh over the phone, knowing she'd be getting this exact reaction from the blonde. Chaeyoung frowned. "Yoo Jeongyeon, are you playing some silly prank on me again because if you are—"

"Rosie, I'm not. Don't be ridiculous." Chaeyoung rolled her eyes, although she knew Jeongyeon couldn't see it, anyway. "You've been working your ass off since you became a part of this company and I've seen all of it. Besides, with you, there's not a single issue or irrelevant business drama I have to deal with. My time's too precious, and you're making it way easy for me." Jeongyeon has her signature shit-eating grin on while she spoke, and Chaeyoung could almost hear it. "To simply put, you're not a pain in my ass, and I'm giving you a well-deserved credit for that."

She was certainly out of words, her heart seemingly stops functioning, but in the best way possible, "Oh my god, Jeongyeon, you're amazing!" Chaeyoung lets out, hands over her mouth as she felt her tears starting to build up at the back of her eyes. All her hard work, her sacrificies, slowly paying off. It's a treasured feeling.

However, it all came down at once when Jeongyeon chuckles behind the line once again, thrilled, adding in a jokingly manner,

"Don't thank me yet. I still haven't even bought you your tickets."

Chaeyoung was confused, the same way that night at Jisoo's birthday party, when his father was about to announce her engagement with Nayeon. The familiar dense feeling inside her chest, almost drowning her alive. "Tickets?" She had to mutter out, tone uncertain, and Jeongyeon could hear the hesitation in her voice.

But she payed no mind. Instead, letting out, "You're being assigned chief of operations in my newest company branch in Sydney."

"Sydney?" Chaeyoung lets out shocked and breathless, almost as if wishing for Jeongyeon to tell her she heard it wrong.

But she didn't.

"Australia. The Land Down Under." Jeongyeon confirms playfully, instead, and Chaeyoung's heart drops. "You're going home, Rosie."

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Writer's Note:

Last chapter next! Are y'all excited?

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