➴ hotel。

@cha eunwoo. had she not come directly from a tedious shoot several hours ago, jennie would be in high spirits for being in the west for the second time. she would've taken pictures of herself the way her fans asked her to when she arrived at incheon for her flight, or recorded a short reel for later once she's seated in the aircraft. instead, all she did was try to keep awake for appearances at the airport— waving at the fans who’ve gone there to bid her their goodbyes and good luck for her photoshoot— then steal only a few hours of sleep during the flight just so she could read the script she brought with her without her vision reading it double.

she was just so tired— so exhausted that despite wearing a mask, the aura she exudes was worrying the team she came with for that trip. she couldn't even count the many times they've turned their heads towards her, concerned looks on their faces, then reaching out a hand to give her a comforting squeeze on her arm at each interval.

by the time they reached the hotel lobby, she watched hyunwoo (her manager) barreling towards the receptionist with hurried steps, sharing hushed whispers towards the staff to give them her room once her identity was verified. yurim, who’s standing beside her through the whole ordeal, came to his aid as well and the desk started to panic just to accommodate them quickly.

chills from the lack of sleep (51 hours, the last time she counted) had settled upon her body by the time yurim handed her the keys, whispering the room number reserved for her before ushering her towards where the elevator is; and she followed suit without question as to why they wouldn't be coming with her upstairs, her brain zeroing towards the closing elevator doors— going on full auto-pilot, barely unaware of her surroundings.

something must’ve turned a light switch in her brain, however, when the same presence that was with her in the elevator seemed to follow her heels in the hallway where her room is located, the sound of luggage wheels on carpeted floors echoing the one that she's dragging herself.

now, jennie is no idiot when it comes to dealing with stalkers even when half asleep, so she's quick in halting in her steps, (trembling) fingers reaching towards the pocket of her bag— where she hid the pepper spray she bought solely for that trip— and turns around, swallowing the fear just so they know that she's not unarmed or vulnerable enough.

“don’t even think abou—” she cuts herself off, squinting her eyes until recognition sets in. she's seen this guy before. a face like him would be hard to forget especially if it looked at you like you were an animal in an enclosure. it had been so random it was hard not to be suspicious of its nature. now, however, seeing him so up close, the bubbling discomfort that's settling on the pit of her stomach is replaced with anger. she raises the pepper spray higher. “don’t even think about it,” she repeats, venom dripping in her words.

@kim jennie. bidding the front desk employee a farewell and good night, eunwoo takes the keycard to his hotel suite and leaves. pulling his suitcase behind him, he walks to the elevators. it was good to be back in the home city, although it would only be for a few days at most, before he had to take off again. usually, when he was finished with an intercontinental flight, he would normally go home to his apartment like anyone else would, but this time his layover was shorter. it would only be 2 days as opposed to his usual 4 days; he had picked up a short, domestic flight to fly tomorrow afternoon. the commute time back and forth wasn't worth losing sleep over, especially after a long flight.

arriving before the elevators, eunwoo pushes the button for it. while waiting, he looks down at his phone, responding to some
unanswered text messages from friends and family. once he's done, he pockets his phone, continuing to wait for the elevator. it arrives a few seconds later. eunwoo enters, and then scans his keycard on the reader of the button panel, allowing him to select the floor of his suite. the doors are in the midst of closing, when he sees a figure dart into view. eunwoo prevents them from closing, with a push of a button. the doors open up again, and in walks a female—a very familiar female.

despite her mask covering the lower half of her face, eunwoo knows—he knows exactly who it is, and what the entirety of her face looks like. he's seen her before—all day in fact, starting from jfk; john f. kennedy international airport, new york. the very first time he had laid eyes on her was the vip airport lounge at jfk. he had been on his ipad, going over his flight details. she had taken a seat some distance away, diagonally across from him, with two other people (one male and one female) seemingly hovering around her at all times. the female she seemed to be friends with, or at least friendly with, while the male less so. objectively, she was attractive; her looks celebrity worthy. subjectively, she was cute, her facial expression at the time representing something like that of a sleep-deprived angry cat. he had given her a polite smile of acknowledgement, before returning to his work. then, at customs, they had started at different lines, but somehow had ended up right behind each other. from there, to now—here.

eunwoo gives her another (second) polite smile. he notices that she's alone this time, without her previous company. he's about to ask her which floor she needs to be pressed, but he doesn't need to, as she glances at the button panel and then proceeds to just move to the farthest corner on the elevator. the elevator doors close. the other's actions make the pilot feel awkward; it's only in this way that he realizes that her room is probably on the same floor as his.

the respective floor is reached, the doors opening. being polite again, eunwoo smiles and motions with an arm for her to exit first. hopefully after today, they wouldn't run into each other. the female rushes out with her suitcase. eunwoo follows suit, leaving the elevator. he then looks at the signs; his room is down the hall on the right... where the female is headed as well. what a coincidence! he walks behind her.