Jennie
A few hours later, Lisa, Jennie, Jin and the rest of Lisa's teammates were on a plane to California. She was sitting in between Lisa and Marcus, drifting in and out of sleep on Lisa's shoulder, letting her scent wrap around her as she snuggled against Lisa. Jennie had curled herself into a little ball in the seat, leaning most of her body against Lisa while Marcus draped an arm over her legs as if she were a human armrest.
Her tired eyes fought against her as sleep came and went throughout the long flight, but Jin's voice slowly pulled her from her sleepy state, making her more alert with every word he spoke as she eavesdropped. He was talking in a low voice with Bambam and Don in the seats directly behind her.
"Exactly that could be my in and once they view me as one of their own I could hand them over to you one by one." Jin said.
"It's fucking risky and you'd be putting a huge target on your back. I'm not crazy about it, but we can keep it on the table for discussion." Don replied.
Keep what on the table for discussion? What exactly are they discussing?
Lisa cleared her throat loudly, indicating to Jin and her teammates that Jennie was eavesdropping.
How did Lisa even know I was awake?
The row of seats behind her quickly went silent, causing every part of Jennie's curiosity to want to speak up and demand to know what they had been talking about, but the bottom line was, she was exhausted. Unable to make the head space to process Jin's conversation with Bambam and Don, Jennie resigned to the fact that Bambam and Don were highly trained and would be the last ones to put Jin in danger or make irresponsible decisions.
Giving in to sleep once more, Jennie slept through most of the flight, only waking to take her medication and eat a small snack that Lisa had packed. Once the plane had landed, the entire group unfolded themselves from the uncomfortably small seats and groaned as they stretched and stood. Filing out in a straight line, Jennie stood in between Marcus and Lisa who had assumed their protective roles as they all moved through the terminal and out towards the baggage claim.
Bambam quickly picked up his pace and led the team towards the baggage claim area, which wasn't out of character for him at all. It was normal for Jennie to see Bambam take charge and lead the group, but his pace was so fast he was leaving the group behind. Jennie watched as he shrugged out of his large duffle bag, letting it drop to the floor as a small brunette launched herself into his chest.
Mina.
Bambam lifted Mina off the ground with a smile that Jennie had never seen him wear before and it made her insides warm to watch the two of them together. His dominant, controlling demeanour melted into pure affection as he allowed Mina to pepper his entire face and neck with light kisses. She clutched his face by the scruff along his jaw to manipulate his head, turning it from side to side as she made sure that she had covered every inch of his skin with kisses, giving the scar beneath his neck tattoo a few extra kisses for good measure.
"Jesus get a room" Jong-kook scoffed as he passed them. "Jealousy isn't a good look on you, brother." Bambam teased, planting Mina on her feet. "Oh I'm jealous alright, but those right there aren't easy to find." Jong-kook said, motioning to Mina and Jennie.
"Where's Ji-eun?" Hoony said, looking around nervously. "Haven't seen her." Mina said with a suspicious shrug. "Seriously Mina, where is she?" Hoony said with his tone losing all of the playful energy that Jennie was so used to hearing.
"She's in the gift shop with Eric and Claire, calm your ass down." Jackson scoffed, giving Hoony a playful eye roll. As soon as Lisa stepped to the side, putting Jennie in Mina's direct line of sight, Mina's face stretch into a smile so wide that it made her nose wrinkle and her eyes squint.
"Jennie!" she squealed, wrapping her arms around her in a big hug.
"Oh my God sweet girl, I am so glad you're home. We have been thinking about you non-stop and counting down the hours until you'd get here!"
Home? Did Mina just say home?
"Fellas, this is Jin." Marcus said, taking Jin around and introducing him to the other members of the team as they exchanged handshakes.
Two more high pitched squeals sounded from behind Jennie and broke her concentration as Claire and Ji-eun joined in, creating a gigantic group hug. "Finally! We've been so ready for you to get here." Ji-eun said with Claire nodding in agreement. The small group of women were hugging her so tightly that Jennie could hardly breathe. They weren't just glad she was there, they were ecstatic which gave Jennie the most unexpected sense of comfort and calm... like she belonged there.
"And what am I? Chopped liver?" Hoony said, moping over the fact that Jennie got a hug before he did. Ji-eun registered Hoony's voice immediately and broke free from their hug to turn towards him only to find him standing there with his bottom lip curled out in an over-exaggerated sad pout. "Aww don't give me that face." Ji-eun said, walking towards him with one hand behind her back.
"She got you a present from the gift shop, Hollywood." Eric said with a sly grin on his face, that got everyone's attention. The entire group watched as Ji-eun playfully pulled a small book from behind her back and held it up so Hoony could see the cover.
Lisa's big contagious laugh was the first thing that Jennie heard as she nearly doubled over at the sight of the book. "Is that a French translation book?" Lisa asked between fits of laughter.
Jennie must have missed the joke, because the entire group roared with laughter at the sight of the book, cackling and howling at Hoony's expense.
"Fuck every single one of you... except Jennie." Hoony said, pulling Ji-eun in for a hug and extending a middle finger out to the rest of the team.
"Even me?" Ji-eun said pulling her head from Hoony's chest to see if the 'fuck you' he had just delivered was meant for her as well.
"Oh especially you... you're the only one I really want to fu..." Hoony stopped mid-sentence with his hand laced in Ji-eun's hair, preparing to give her an aggressive kiss, but noticing the families that were scowling at him.
"Jesus! Hoony there are kids running around here." Claire said, giving a family of four an apologetic smile that wasn't well received.
"Ah let them watch." Hoony said against Ji-eun's mouth as he delivered a playfully aggressive kiss.
I've never seen such tough men turn into complete mush before.
Mina and Ji-eun had single-handedly melted the badass operatives into puddles and Jennie was loving the change in dynamics. She figured they'd be different around the women they loved, but she had no idea the extent of the tenderness and affection. It was definitely a different side of the men who she'd shared her home with, but she was loving this side of them. "We'll let Bambam and Mina explain the French story to you." Lisa said to Jennie as she wrapped Jennie up in her arms from behind.
"It's hysterical." Mina assured her. "But one that definitely needs to be told over drinks."
"Speaking of drinks, we were planning on having a welcome home party for Jennie at our house tonight, but if you'd rather be alone, we totally understand that and can easily call the whole thing off. It's your call sweet girl. You just let me know what you're comfortable with." Mina was asking Jennie, but kept looking at Lisa for approval as well.
"Give us a sec, Mina." Lisa said, giving Jennie the opportunity to voice her true opinions to her privately in order to make her feel more comfortable. "That's your call sweetheart. We can do whatever you want. If you'd rather be alone there's nothing wrong with that. You've been through a lot and everyone will understand." Lisa said softly, giving her an out if she wanted it.
Jennie stood there and thought about it for a second or two, but she had already made up her mind the second that Mina and the girls had hugged her. "You know what? I've spent most of my life alone without genuine friends, I think it's time to change that. I'd love to go to the party tonight and I think being around a large group of people I feel comfortable around will be a good thing." Her words caused a smile to stretch all the way across Lisa's face and she loved the way Lisa was looking at her.
"Then party it is. Honestly I don't care where we go baby, I'm just so glad you're here." Lisa said, planting a soft kiss on Jennie's lips before turning back towards Mina who was grinning ear to ear.
"Party's on." Lisa said, eliciting hoots and hollers from the entire team.
Jennie watched as the group in front of her instantly took Jin in as one of them and loved the way the girls had swarmed her. In the few minutes they had been in California, Jennie felt more at peace and more at home than she'd ever felt anywhere else. She knew deep down it had nothing to do with geography and everything to do with the people she was surrounded with.
This feels like home. This feels like family.