Black, Blue, and Gold (Book 2)

One Step at a Time (Part 25)

Jennie looked up when she heard the knock on the open office door and saw an exhausted Lisa flop down on the chair in front of her.

"What happened to you? Where's Jiyoon?" asked Jennie.

"She's with Irene. How does a four-year-old have that much energy? They look so small and yet..." Lisa let out a huff.

Jennie chuckled. "What did she make you do? Chase her around the house?"

"Yes. She ran out of the bathroom and refused to put on some clothes."

Jennie laughed out loud. "I swear, she takes after you so much, as impossible as that sounds."

"Hey I never ran around the house with no clothes on."

"You walked around like that once."

"I had to go to the toilet! Then I got thirsty so I went to the kitchen to get something to drink. Is that so wrong?"

Jennie shook her head. "I rest my case. How are we going to tell her about me moving out temporarily though? Without making her think that I'm abandoning her?"

"We'll figure it out. She will still get to see you all the time so she should know that no one's abandoning her ever again."

"What did Mrs. Yoon say about all this?" Jennie asked since Lisa had briefly mentioned her visit to Jiyoon's grandmother's house the day before.

"She's okay with it. Willing to help and sign the necessary papers."

"Just like that?"

"Yeah." Lisa straightened up in her seat. "I guess she's serious about letting us take care of Jiyoon."

"I'm glad to hear that but..."

"I know." Lisa knew what Jennie was thinking. "We've done what we could. I guess we just have to respect her decision."

A loud giggling sound interrupted their conversation as Jiyoon ran inside the room. "Lili!" she shouted excitedly. "Guess what? Guess what?"

"What?"

"Aunt Irene said I could be a flower girl!" Jiyoon was literally jumping up and down while clapping her hands.

"A flower girl?" Jennie asked Irene who calmly strolled inside.

"Yeah. Since I only have one nephew who'll be the ring bearer, I'm thinking of letting this cutie here be the flower girl."

"Can I, Lili? Can I?" Jiyoon looked up at Lisa with her wide pleading eyes. "Please?" She turned her head, looking at Jennie when Lisa didn't respond immediately. "Nini, Please?"

"Well..." Jennie saw Lisa frowning. "I guess it's okay."

Lisa's eyes widened, staring at Jennie with obvious disagreement.

"It's just a short ceremony, Lisa," said Irene, understanding her friend's fear. "She'll walk down the aisle together with the ring bearer, right in front of me. Then when she has reached the end, she'll go to sit with you and that's it."

"Please, Lili?" begged Jiyoon, putting on her best sad expression and the biggest pleading set of puppy eyes.

Lisa finally cracked a smile, unable to resist the cute face staring up at her. "Okay. You can be Irene's flower girl."

The girl squealed in happiness, jumping up and down while clapping her hands excitedly. "Yay!"

"Good thing we already planned on going shopping for your dress tonight," said Jennie as she watched the girl with a smile. "Must the color match your bridesmaids' dresses?" she asked Irene.