"I'm so glad you were able to join us for breakfast." Dara invited them inside.
"We are too." Jiyong replied. "I'm just happy we found some free time." The spouses chuckled.
"I believe Jin will be joining us."
"Oh, he will." Dara smiled to cover up her annoyance. "They'll be coming down soon."
As if on cue, they heard Lisa's heels clicking down the stairs. Jisoo was right behind her.
"Speak of the devil." Seunghyun muttered under his breath.
"Good morning!" Jisoo brightly greeted everyone, mostly aiming at Jennie who gave a polite smile back.
Not enough. She quickly walked over and tucked out a chair for Lisa, surprising all of them.
Dara gritted her teeth as Lisa gave them a bashful smile. The rest of them looked at her in confusion and shock.
"Is there a problem?" Jisoo asked. Both Kim family members shook their heads. They went back to their conversation.
Lisa suppressed a yawn. The girls had woken up late and rushed to dress up when they remembered they had breakfast with the Kims.
They were previously crouched near the stairs, listening in on their conversation and walked down when they heard their names.
Jisoo smiled in victory at the surprise seen on the Kims' faces. She did it on purpose. She knew it was a family breakfast and Lisa, as her assistant, wasn't supposed to be seated.
But there was no way she's going to let the girl stand by like the rest of their workers while she eats.
And this felt like the first step to make sure they knew Lisa is important to her so she wouldn't be disrespected in the future.
"I'm not sure. I don't think it's such a good idea."
"They need to get to know eachother one way or another and this feels like the perfect opportunity." Jiyong exclaimed. Dara didn't protest anymore.
"Are you fine with this, Jin?" Jiyong got no response.
Jisoo was too busy beaming at Jennie and Lisa was too focused trying to see how much pancakes she can finish to at least nudge Jisoo back into focus.
He cleared his throat loudly, taking Jisoo's attention away from Jennie and making Lisa choke on her pancake.
"I'm so sorry. Can you please repeat that?" Jisoo's ears were bright red in embarrassment but the slight upward turn on Jennie's lips were all that mattered to her.
"I guess you're eager to leave already." Jiyong chuckled. "I was asking if you're fine with accompanying Jennie on her first business trip. She'll need some guidance and I believe you would be a good choice."
"Oh, of course." Jisoo turned to look at Jennie. "Are you okay with me accompanying you?"
Her question caught Jennie off guard. She was ready to go along with whatever her dad had proposed as usual. She didn't expect Jin to ask for her consent to accompany her.
"Of course she is." Jiyong spoke for Jennie as usual.
"Yes, but I would like to hear it from her." Jisoo strictly shut him down.
Jennie ignored Jiyong's daggers and faced her fiancé. The soft eager eyes waited for her answer. She fought back a smile and slowly nodded her approval.
"Then we're set. When will we be leaving?" Jisoo turned to Jiyong. "I'll have to postpone my meetings.
"The day after tomorrow." He mumbled, a bit irritated.
"Alright." Jisoo pushed off her chair, cueing Lisa to follow. "Lisa and I will pick her up."
She bowed and left for the company before Dara and Seunghyun could question her.
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"A whole week with your fiancé? What if you send Jennie back pregnant? Aren't they worried?"
They were walking into their office.
"I can't. Even if I try."
"They don't know that." Lisa shrugged, taking her seat on top of Jisoo's desk as usual.
"Who's gonna take care of the company while we're gone?"
"Probably Mr.Kim." Lisa nodded, already on her phone.
"Did your cheque come in yet?"
"Yup!" Lisa excitedly showed her.
"Big numbers." Jisoo chuckled.
"It's like I'm getting paid to be hot."
"You're my assistant. Assist me or something."
"You're in my presence. I'm already assisting you with my godly visuals." Lisa flaunted her body.
"Seen better." Jisoo blew her bangs in her face.
"I'm the hottest, okay?" Lisa exclaimed. Jisoo ignored her whining.
"Whatever, did you get the Yoongi guy?"
"Nope. I need intel from inside. Someone who's been here during Jin's time."
"If you had cut off connections with everyone when you left, who's gonna help us?" Lisa frowned.
A knock on the door interrupted their conversation. Jisoo smiled, excited to meet again.
"That's our help." She signalled for Lisa to open the door.
Lisa quickly strutted over and slowly opened the door. She saw a very attractive man glare at her. Unlike the rest of them, he was in very casual clothes instead of boring business attire.
Moving out of the way, she watched him peer in before walking inside. His hostile expression quickly changed at the sight of Jisoo.
"Sooya!"
"V!"
The two hugged and started catching up for their missed years together. Lisa cleared her throat to acknowledge her presence.
"Right. Lisa, meet Taehyung, artist and professional furry.
"That's not true." He shook Lisa's hand with a soft smile.
"He used to growl at people." Jisoo giggled.
"Shut up, that was a long time ago." Taehyung blushed. "You used to eat paper."
"Hey, I was a child! You were 17 and growling at people you didn't like."
"Please ignore anything she says. You know how she is." Tae sat down on the couch.
Jisoo excused herself to check on the staff.
"So how do you know Jisoo?"
Taehyung gave her a melancholic smile. "We were best friends since we were kids...before she left."
"Oh." Lisa felt horrible. Jisoo did say she had to leave immediately without notifying anyone.
"Don't worry, I'm no longer upset about it." His deep chuckle lifted the mood. "I'm glad she got out. And her absence allowed me to build some courage and get out too. Otherwise, I would've been stuck in some office like this doing work I can't stand."
"Yeah, I get it."
"How about you? How did you and Jisoo meet?" Lisa informed them of their friendship.
"Photography? She never told me she was interested in it?" Tae chuckled. "I bet I'm better though."
"She wasn't. Jisoo wanted to pursue acting." Taehyung nodded at the familiar word Jisoo used to utter. "But she couldn't be recognized publicly by her parents"
"I guess it's a bit too late for that, huh?" Tae joked.
"I don't know. I think she can land a male lead role in a Kdrama anytime soon." Lisa joined in with his laugh.
"Am I being made fun of right now?" Jisoo walked in to see both of her best friends getting along pretty well already.
"Definitely."
Jisoo hopped over the couch and sat beside Lisa. "So are you in?"
"You're looking for Min Yoongi and the man with him was Jung Hoseok. But getting them to talk will be a bit hard…"
"Why is that?" Lisa asked.
"They're Jin's best friends. Your parents only know them as his business partners though."
"Of course. Expect them not to care about their kids."
"If they really know where Jin is, which they definitely do according to what you told me, he already knows someone is here in his place. It's either he figured out it's you or thinks they hired someone else to play his role."
"Either way he's not coming out of hiding any time soon." Jisoo concluded for him. "Our only hope is to get answers from Yoongi and Hoseok ourselves."
"It's just us three against them. Maybe we should just let you get married to Jennie and live happily ever after." Lisa suggested.
Tae high fived her. "Take one for the team, Sooya."
"So she could freak out on the Honeymoon and get me killed? No thanks."
"You'll be with her the whole week starting the day after tomorrow, we can convince her otherwise."
"Wait, you will?"
"Yup. Jisoo's father-in-law arranged for her to accompany Jennie on a business trip. I'm being dragged along."
"You're willing to third wheel the future spouses?"
"Not like I wanna." Lisa groaned at him.
"While we're away, do you think you could get some intel on the two guys?" Jisoo asked.
"I don't work for free."
"Whatever you want from the new Gucci collection."
"Deal." He gave her a thumbs up. "And fund my next exhibition?"
"Fine."
"Yes!" He pumped his fist up. "I'll see you later."
"Bye Lisa." She waved back at him.
Following the artist's departure, Jisoo and Lisa got back to working. They made calls and emails and managed to push back Jisoo's schedule for the next week.
As expected, Seunghyun and Dara were waiting for Jisoo in the study when they returned home from work.
She let Lisa go to their room while she left to see them.
"You already know what we're gonna say. You better act accordingly if you still wanna see that sweet innocent smile on her face." Seunghyun warned.
Jisoo flinched at his words.
"Jennie will not know anything about what's going on. If I find the girl suspects you even a bi-"
"I know. Can I leave now?"
"Be careful, Jisoo."
"Same to you." Jisoo replied to him.
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Lisa left work, drained and hungry. They were finishing last minute work and instructions for the staff in Jisoo's absence.
"How are you not tired?" Jisoo was still full of energy.
"I'll need it for the bunny." Lisa was too worn out to question her words.
Jisoo got their driver to stop at a café and got him to inform Dara they'll be eating out tonight.
"A café? I said I'm hungry, not thirsty." Lisa whined.
Jisoo was quick to get Lisa a snack from the bakery near them to keep her occupied.
They walked into the art studio Jisoo was here for. It was empty as expected at the closing time.
"Yo, Vante." Jisoo called out to Taehyung who was busy wrapping up in the dark.
"We're closed." Taehyung replied without turning
Jisoo walked closer so he could see her. "Even for me?"
"Sooya!" Jisoo helped him pack up so they could hang out faster. They closed up the studio together
"Let's go, let's go. Lisa's hungry!"
"Ignore her. She learned what Aegyo is and won't stop terrorizing me with it."
"She'll be so excited to see you but be ready to take a few hits." Tae warned.
"More like a boxing match." Jisoo snickered.
"Vante…you still remember." Tae softly whispered.
"Of course I do." Jisoo smiled. "You don't understand the countless apologies I've said in my mind for you to forgive me."
"We were still kids. I was angry at my only best friend for leaving me. But as I grew up, I realized you were right. I wanted to leave too."
"My protests resulted in my parents sending me to live with grandpa at the farm." Taehyung chuckled.
"They sent you to clean up after cow shit?" Jisoo laughed.
"And horses. Those things are vicious." Tae shivered in the memory of getting punted by them.
"I was so glad to learn you managed to pursue art. It worried me that you would've been stuck in a hellhole like this."
"You told me I would always be an artist, remember?" Tae beamed proudly. "I can't just let that be a lie."
"God, I remember all the boring exhibits you dragged us to. Both of us fell asleep after five minutes."
"Don't remind me. We had to take turns carrying the big bunny home because she refused to wake up."
They laughed at their almost foreign memories. They let Lisa go into the restaurant they arrived at first.
They stood there, letting it all sink in. It has been years since they were able to enjoy each other's company so freely.
"Do you think Lisa broke her already?"
"The bunny probably tried to kill her by now."
They decided to walk in to make sure Lisa was still alive.
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Gonna keep writing and see if I can make it a double update.