Lisa
Dinner was a lovely affair that consisted of my mom rambling about my relationship with Jennie and all of the phone calls between my mother and I, in which she persuaded me to pursue Jennie, gushing about how lucky I was to have Jennie (which also consisted of her endless compliments of Jennie's beauty, success, drive, and overall perfection), and reminding everyone that she was right and she "just knew" that Jennie and I would end up together.
"You just knew, huh?" I asked.
"I just knew it. Honey, I wish you could have seen your own face whenever you would talk about Jennie." my mom answered. "Even your father knew that you liked her."
I looked at my dad, who shrugged and admitted that he thought I did like her.
"Do you all spend your free time talking about me?" I asked. Everyone at the table answered yes.
"Oh honey." Jin said. "It was obvious that you liked her, we were just all waiting for the ball to drop."
"You guys are so rude."
Everyone laughed and teased me all night, telling me they were surprised how long it took for me to figure everything out. I glanced at Jennie, who seemed to have a permanent smile plastered on her face. The way she watched me at dinner made me feel light and giddy, like someone had filled the room with a lightness.
"How long did you know about all of this?" I asked.
"For a while..." Jennie answered. "Your mom talks to me too, you know."
"Mom! You talked to Jennie about me?"
"Of course I did. Jin too."
"Is this the big secret that you all were keeping from me?"
"Yes." Jin answered. My mouth hung open.
"Were all of you in on trying to get the two of us together?"
Everyone hesitated.
"I don't like that you're not answering me."
"Well sweetie..." my mother began. "It was not so much that we were meddling, but more discussing."
"Discussing? Discussing how? Discussing what?"
"We discussed the possibilities, mainly the ones that involved the two of you together. Jennie just told us things that happened during the day: the things you did and said. We were all convinced that you liked her, the only thing we didn't know was when you would realise it and when you would try to make a move."
"Right. I hope that you talked about Jennie too."
"Of course we did." Jin answered. "But not so much. I knew immediately that Jennie liked you and she said as much when I asked her, unlike you."
"When did you ask Jennie?"
Jin tapped his chin in thought. "When did we talk about it?"
"After shopping that one day when I showed you the snow globe."
Jin snapped his fingers. "That's right! You were acting so weird! I just asked her and Jennie told me immediately that she was developing feelings for you. Of course I called our mom..."
"My mom." I cut in.
"Our mom... and told her everything."
"Is that why you were pushing me so hard to ask her out?" I asked my mom.
My mom tried to look innocent.
"By the way..." my sister cut in. "How did this all come about? What exactly happened?"
"You don't know yet? It hasn't been blabbed to everyone here?" I gave the Kim siblings a look. Jennie smiled innocently back but that mischievous twinkle never left her eye. I sighed and told everyone the abridged version of Friday night.
"Ha!" my sister exclaimed. "I win!"
Everyone shook their heads. Jin plucked his wallet out of his back pocket and pulled out a twenty dollar bill and handed it to my sister. My mom stood up and rifled through her purse and also gave my sister a twenty. Jin was handed two ten dollar bills from my sister and mother.
"What the f..." I stopped myself short and smiled at my nieces. "What is going on?"
"We all had a bet going." Jin answered.
"I can see that. What was the bet about?"
"You and Jennie."
"Obviously."
"Oh sweetie, don't be mad. It was all in good fun." my mom said.
"About what?" I demanded, with my face burning red. Jennie was thoroughly enjoying this scene and my embarrassment. She leaned her head against her hand and watched me, with a closed-mouth grin on her face. "Did you know about this?" I asked her.
"I didn't. I promise."
"Well?" I asked, rounding on my family.
"We just had a bet on when you two would finally kiss and then another bet on when you would officially start dating, since you two here basically dating without the labels for the last two weeks." Jin explained.
"I hate all of you."
"We love you too." my sister grinned.
Jennie wrapped her arm around my shoulder and hugged me. "Isn't it nice to be home?"
"I can't help but feel you were somehow involved in all of this." I told Jennie.
She shrugged, a huge grin on her face. "Me? Never."
"Why do I feel like you're lying?"
Jennie smiled mischievously. "The best part about my job is that you'll never know when I am."
"I don't think I like that."
Jennie kissed my cheek and laughed.
"Also, are you best friends with my mom too?"
"Of course I am, Lili."
