The youngest woke up with a raging headache the morning after. She found herself in her own bed at the hotel penthouse, still clothed with the hoe outfit she wore the night before, but now sporting a hangover from the deepest pit of hell.
Lisa can't seem to remember how she got back in the hotel in one piece no matter how much she skimmed her memory of what transpired the night before.
All she remembered though was how much she wanted to jump Jeon Jungkook all night.
That little shit was too sexy for his own good. She grimaced at the thought.
Since she can no longer go back to sleep, she decided to get out of the skimpy outfit, splash cold water to her still numb face, and wear comfortable pajamas before dragging herself towards the marbled kitchen for some much-needed caffeine.
She stopped short when she came face to face with Jung Hoseok who was unceremoniously lounging around their living room.
"Hoseok oppa, what the heck are you doing in here?" She uttered in disbelief as she looked at the handsome face of the Bangtan Son.
"Oh, great. You're awake!" He gave her a grin before pushing the bewildered girl to the dining room. "Just wanted to check up on you girls after last night and figured I should bring you four something to eat, too. It's almost lunchtime anyway."
She began salivating at the sight of blueberry pancakes, crisp bacon, scrambled eggs, bottles of orange juice and cups of brewed coffee laid out in front of her. "Thank you. You're an angel!"
"You're welcome, Lisa. I'm surprised you even managed to get out of bed in the first place. You were pretty out of it last night," the guy gave her an amused chuckle.
"Who brought us home, anyway?"
"You don't remember?" He chuckled again when the girl shook her head no. "Yoongi hyung and Taehyung did, after we successfully pried you away from Jin hyung that is."
"Please tell me you're kidding." She uttered in complete horror, her headache was ten times worse now.
"Sorry, I wish I was. You won't stop following hyung around and telling everybody how he's the most beautiful person you had ever seen. It was pretty cute, actually."
"Oh my god. Please tell me that's the only embarrassing thing I did." She would absolutely jump off the nearest cliff if she did something cringe that involved their Golden Maknae.
"You also mentioned how illegal Jimin's jawline is. But aside from that, you were pretty much just drinking like there's no tomorrow."
She heaved a sigh of relief. "Okay, I think I can live with that."
"My head hurts so much..." a worn-looking Kim Jennie made an appearance. "Oh, hi there oppa."
"That's what you get for drinking too much." Hoseok handed Jennie the glass bottle containing the bright orange liquid. "Here, drink this. It's my homemade hangover cure."
An unusually disheveled Chaeyoung then went out of Jisoo's room, "does anyone know where Jisoo unnie stayed last night? She's not in her room."
"I have no idea," Jennie replied before taking a sip of the orange liquid. "What the heck is this?! This tastes so bad."
"I know, but it works like magic."
"Me neither." Lisa quipped in for Chaeng's benefit before shoving creamy scrambled eggs into her mouth.
As if right on cue, the purple-haired beauty finally graced them with her presence when she stumbled inside the penthouse, still wearing last night's clothes and her caramel brown eyes shielded by large Gucci sunglasses.
"Speak of the devil..." Chaeyoung announced.
"I just can't get a fucking break, can I?" Jisoo rolled her eyes upon seeing the four people staring at her from the dining room.
"Well, well, well, look who we have here. Where have you been, young lady?" The bride stood up and folded her arms in front of her.
"Let's just do this later, okay? I need to get out of this dreadful dress," she groaned before slipping inside her room.
"Later, girls. Have a meeting with the boss in thirty minutes." Hoseok said, looking at his watch. "Oh, and Jen, Yoongi hyung said he'll pick you up at seven tonight." Then, he left without another word.
"I totally forgot about your date with Yoongi later. Do you have something to wear already, unnie?" Chaeyoung asked; she had always been Blackpink's ultimate fashionista.
"For the last time, it's not a date Chaeng. And no, I don't have anything to wear yet."
Chaeyoung rolled her eyes at Jennie's denial. "No worries, I got you fam," she said before scrunching her face up when she finally had a taste of the orange liquid. "This is the most disgusting drink I've ever tasted."
•••
The more Jennie saw Yoongi in person, the more he got attractive in her eyes. And the notion gravely unsettled her...
The two of them were seated in a small table at a quaint five-star restaurant in Gangnam.
During their dress shopping earlier, Chaeyoung found the perfect outfit for Jennie to wear. It was a flattering white Chanel sequined jacket which she wore as a dress and matched it with a glittery belt to accentuate her petite frame. She also wore her black pumps and decided to let her hair down for a more casual look.
"How did you know about this place?" Jennie was quite astonished at how beautiful and vintage the restaurant looked despite its small size.
"A good friend of mine owns this restaurant. Jin hyung sometimes helps in managing it."
"If you don't mind me asking, what kind of businesses does Bangtan operate, well, aside from your family business?" Aside from running an underground mob, the Min family also owned a real estate company.
"Our legitimate business ventures include casinos and nightclubs across the country and a few abroad." Jennie nodded but dropped the subject completely. She didn't want to know about the illegitimate ones just yet.
Done with her inspection of the restaurant's interior design, she noticed that they were the only customers in the vicinity.
"Did you close down the whole place tonight?" She looked at Yoongi who was busy scanning his menu.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Are we doing some kind of twenty questions right now?" He sighed before looking up to her. "This is the first time the two of us are out together in public and tomorrow's our wedding day. There is no immediate danger, but I still needed to take precautions."
That was when Jennie also noticed a few men lurking outside of the restaurant, guarding them. "You're quite over the top with this security situation, aren't you?"
"I know I was a dick to you last night. But like I told you, I'm never compromising when it comes to your safety."
A male server then approached their table to ask for their order. When he was gone, Yoongi asked her, "tell me, Jennie, were you ever told about what happened to the war between Bangtan and EXO seven years ago?"
The topic made her uneasy. "Not really. All we know is that things were getting out of hand in here so the four of us had to fly to New York. A year later, I was informed that I was engaged to you to keep the peace. I was sixteen."
Yoongi slowly nodded, sipping his wine. "The rift between the mobs already existed decades ago. But it was only seven years ago when an all-out war began. I won't get into too much detail, but too many lives were lost because of it... including my older brother's."
Jennie stifled a gasp; she knew Yoongi's older brother passed away years ago but she should've known it was because of the war, too. "I'm so sorry."
"That's in the past now." He looked her straight in the eyes. "My point is no one was winning the war then and for two years, things just got worse. My brother's unnecessary death pushed my father to strike an agreement with EXO. A marriage between two important people of the mobs to settle the conflict."
Hearing Yoongi's story made Jennie teary-eyed. There were also significant people from EXO who died because of the war including her cousin Kim Jong Dae who she was very close to. The girls didn't even get the chance to pay their respects during his funeral for they weren't allowed to go back home in Korea.
It took everything in her to stop the tears from falling. She didn't want to look weak in front of the mobster.
"Jennie, I need to keep my end of the deal for my family." The intensity of Yoongi's stare made her flustered for a second.
"I— I understand. I have to do this for my younger sister, too." She didn't know what happened for her to share so much personal information to Yoongi, but the words came out of her lips anyway. "When Appa told me about our engagement, I refused, of course. But, he threatened to force Lisa to marry you in my place instead. My baby sister was only 14 years old, I had no choice but to relent. I would do it again if I have to."
Yoongi laughed humorlessly, "this is such a fucked up situation straight out of a cliché drama. Your father is one hell of an asshole, isn't he?"
"He's worse than Darth Vader," she kidded to lighten up the mood.
The mobster frowned as he sipped more of his wine, "after what happened six months ago, I can't help but agree."
Jennie visibly stiffened; his words shocking the bride out of her mind. "What did you just say?"
"I know what happened in New Jersey six months ago," he stared.
The girl suddenly felt lightheaded. It felt as if all of her blood was rushing into her head at that very moment. She didn't want to be reminded of what happened then but the memories flooded her mind like an overflowing sink.
Jennie met Taeyong Lee, an auto mechanic located in New Jersey, nine months ago. She met him in some bar she didn't even remember the name of and quickly got smitten with his laid-back aura and sense of humor.
A month later, he finally asked her out and she impulsively said yes. With Taeyong, she felt bold enough to break the rules.
However, two months into their relationship, he suddenly broke up with her and left Jersey altogether. She didn't even have the chance to fall in love with him.
Worse, her father still found out about them. It was the stupidest mistake of her life and she was afraid that her younger sister will have to pay the price for it.
"And?"
"Your father was going for blood. But, I convinced him to spare your ex-boyfriend's life. It was my men who approached Lee and told him to leave Jersey as soon as possible." He shrugged nonchalantly.
Jennie had a hard time processing this new information. He basically saved her ex-boyfriend's life and she didn't understand why he did that at all. The two may not have a real relationship, but at the end of the day, she was still engaged to him.
"What— how— why did you do that?"
There it was again, his muddy brown eyes looked like they were staring straight into her soul. "I did it for you. I didn't want that shit in your conscience. The moment you became my fiancèe, you became part of my family, too. And I protect my family, Jennie."
His words and intense stare left her speechless.
Thankfully, their meals finally arrived and both ate their dinner in awkward silence. She didn't think she can take any more of his revelations.
One thing was for sure though, she didn't hate Yoongi anymore. Right then and there at a small restaurant in Gangnam, she had a change of heart.
End of Chapter 4