A/N: Surprise!!
No long notes this time, just pointing out that I haven't proofread this and it's almost 1am here and I have to be up in five hours to go to work so I ain't proofreading.
Aside from that, I just hope you enjoy the chapter, my lovelies.
I love you guys so much <3
"I'm looking forward to the things we'll accomplish together, Miss Kim," the vice president of the company offered his hand as they got up.
"Likewise, Mr.Jang," Jennie smiled, shaking the man's hand as soon as she got on her feet, feeling all kinds of excited. "I hope this partnership will bring even more better days for us in the future."
"Oh I don't doubt that," Mr.Jang smiled back. "Let's meet again someday."
Bowing her head, Jennie watched the man and his companions leave the table and the restaurant before laughing openly and happy.
"Jesus fuck," she sat down on her chair again, finally having her appetite back.
"Congratulations, Miss Kim."
And then she lost it again. Her eyes darted to one Kim Taehyung, sitting next to her with his irritating aura and irritating smile and irritating suit.
"Thank you, Mr.Kim," she replied dryly. "I believe you got the contract?"
"Safe and sound," the man smiled, patting the folder in front of him. "This is by far one of the most profitable contracts you've managed to get signed."
"I know," Jennie leaned back and crossed her legs, not being able to help the little smug smile curving her red lips. "I've been working for this for six months now, you wouldn't believe the amount of time I've spent researching."
"Oh I would," Kim Taehyung nodded kindly. "I know how hard you work."
Narrowing her eyes, Jennie wasn't sure if he was being sincere or sarcastic. And she was feeling too victorious to try to decipher so she put it on the back of her mind and grabbed her glass.
"Yes," she swirled the wine in it. "So now if you'll let me, I want to celebrate for a bit."
A smirk on his face, Kim Taehyung grabbed his glass too, "Mind if I join?"
Jennie rolled her eyes, "You will anyway."
Reaching out his glass, the lawyer smiled, "To upcoming victories."
Liking the sound of it, Jennie graced him with a pleased smile, "To upcoming victories."
Then she reciprocated his toast with a clear clink sound of her glass and took a sip from the '92 Cabarnet she knew the vice president liked. It was so good that she had to close her eyes for a second. She was feeling pretty relaxed after the things she had been through to get to this contract that'll ensure their company's future with the Mediterranean trade system will go smoothly.
"I must say Miss Kim," the lawyer put down his half empty glass after a couple of minutes of silence. "You're doing much better than I thought you would be."
"Why?" Jennie ached a brow. "Because I'm a little girl?"
A low chuckle came along with the reply, "With a nice memory, no doubt."
"I don't easily forget things."
"Not holding grudges, I hope?" Kim Taehyung's smile was so kind that it had to be fake.
"You never know," Jennie replied, staring at him over the rim of her glass. "If I were you, I wouldn't try me."
"Fair enough," the man eyed her, making Jennie uneasy once again.
She was getting more and more frustrated as the time went by. She had a couple of ideas in her mind about his intentions.
First one was that he planned to use their company to cover some of the things he did in the past. Jennie had known that Kim Taehyung had a ton of dirt and worse on his hands – as any other powerful figure in the business world did. And it was known by everyone in the business world that Jeon Group combined with Lee Group was the ultimate protection what with their connections to the deep roots of the government. So when you considered all of these, it was only natural to assume that. But then Jennie had decided that if the man had managed to get out of the depths of the hell that was America, he would have his own connections to save his ass.
So her second idea was that he was planning to use the company to get into even more dirty businesses. Because the dirtier the business is, the more money it would bring. Jennie had found out that there were a couple of times Kim Taehyung was robbed off of his very profitable deals and Jennie also learnt that he was excellent at holding grudges – and avenging them, at that. All of his so-called 'enemies' that did him dirty were somehow found deep in shit or worse after some time, what a coincidence, right? Just like his poor father. Taking the deals he lost hadn't been a problem after all that happened, with double or triple amounts of money, of course.
Finally, the third one was to somehow root and engrave his name and to create reputation for himself and his company in the deepest and darkest parts of the web that was the business world. Once you were known for something in that deep and dark web, so strong and sticky that it's impossible to get yourself out of, it was permanent. You'd have the ropes of your field and leashes of the some of the most dangerous 'animals' that would protect and cover for you. And what any other better way to reach deep down there than the already established and safely rooted Jeon Group – who helped to create the web decades ago?
Her mind full of these ideas and reasons, Jennie was analysing his every move, every expression, every look in his eyes. He had the audacity to call her a 'little girl' but this little girl had more information about him than he would think she had.
He wasn't the only one with the connections, after all.
Jennie had to learn and dive deep into the filth of this world, her world, almost at the moment she signed her first official paper with her title under her name, it had felt good at the time.
Kim Jennie
Executive Manager
She had to learn how to read people and spot their weaknesses while carefully hiding hers. Though when it came to Jungkook she was failing miserably but then again, she would rather her tendency to burn the fucking world down for the boy known instead of people trying to get their hands on him all the time.
She would rip their heads off with her bare hands.
And it was known that despite her young age, she was someone to be feared of when it came to matters involving her little cousin.
She had made that very clear with the people who had dared to try to reach out to Jungkook all those years ago – throwing their bodies to the front doors of their respective companies during the dark of the night, limp and broken like puppets whose strings were cut off. She had read the headlines of the newspapers with a smile on her face in her car as she watched Jungkook laugh and joke around with his friends, unaware and carefree.
Her only weakness that was known to world was Jungkook and it was also known that meddling with him meant instant death. So to be fair, she had hidden her other weaknesses pretty successfully.
Kim Taehyung could call her a little girl as much as he wanted, but Jennie knew better than to underestimate the true colours that laid beneath his words.
*
It was early in the evening when Jennie and her companions returned to the company. She was sitting at her office with too many people cramped up in the space – the team she personally created for the preparations of this partnership, the research team, the undercover team that collected all the small and big information that would give Jeon Group the upper hand, the PR team that was responsible for the contract, and finally the law team that ensured there was no holes in the contract that could be used against them in any particular time in the future. Overall, it was more than eighty people, and her office wasn't meant to host eighty people at one time.
"Okay," she cleared her throat and everyone's eyes turned to her. Thanks to her reputation of calculating things alone in her mind and putting them in action at instant, she could se that almost everyone was nervous and anxious.
So she smiled genuinely.
"I want to thank you all for working really hard for this important contract that'll surely carry our company to better days."
The collective sigh of relief echoed in the room, making Secretary Yook, who was standing behind Jennie, snort quietly.
Jennie herself chuckled, "As a token of our company's gratitude, you will take the rest of the week off and –"
The surprised murmurs filled the air in the room until Jennie raised one hand up, effectively silencing everyone.
"And," she continued, trying to look at everyone in the eye for a second before smiling again. "You will of course have bonuses, too. Secretary Yook, please attend to the necessary arrangements," she added, talking to her left side where the man was standing behind her.
"Of course, Miss," Jennie could hear the scratching of the pen on paper among the cheerful whispers of the crowd. She looked at the crowd again.
"Thank you for your hard work and have a good time. I'm expecting to see you refreshed and more motivated on Monday," she smiled again.
Creating a chaos in their hurry to thank her and then leave the building, Jennie tried her best to not cover her ears because of the noise. Soon, all who was left in her office was Jennie, Secretary Yook, and for some reason, Kim Taehyung.
Jennie raised her brows when they made eye contact.
"You may leave, too, Mr.Kim. You're the head of the law team, aren't you?"
"I'd like to speak to you a bit Miss Kim," the man glanced at Secretary Yook before meeting her eyes again. There was something displeased in his motions, which irritated Jennie.
"Secretary Yook, you can arrange the amounts of bonuses with the finance department," she turned to look at the man, standing next to her with his usual blank face but she knew him too well to see the distaste he felt towards the lawyer under his mask. So her lips curved with an involuntary smile.
"I trust you to do the most reasonable thing."
The older man bowed his head, "Of course, Miss Kim. Please excuse me."
Jennie waited her secretary to leave the room to turn to the lawyer.
"How can I help you?" she asked, cold and dry as usual. Kim Taehyung arched his brows.
"I was just wondering if it was a wise decision to have half of the company's the most efficient employees take the week off right before an important event to attend in Japan."
There was a tense silence as Jennie stared at the man incredulously. She blinked slowly.
"Excuse me?"
"You must know how crucial that event is for our company's expanding to Asia's health and medical sector. And those people who you so kindly let go for the rest of the week would be very useful to us in preparations," the lawyer spoke high and clear, like he'd thought Jennie would have a hard time understanding.
Her blood boiling in her veins with the increasing amount of anger, Jennie grabbed her pen tighter without realising.
"First of all, Mr.Kim," she talked clear and cold like he deserved. "You're neither in a position to question my decisions nor for me to discuss them with you. Secondly, I am well prepared for that event in all the ways you can think of, since I've been having the people I so kindly let go for the rest of the week work their asses off, don't worry. They all have been working overtime for the last month – some of them until midnight, even."
His face stayed calm and blank, but his eyes were calculating and maybe a little impressed? Jennie was too angry to care now. There was a silence with so sharp edges that it would cut if one took a wrong breath.
Not breaking his demeanour, Kim Taehyung started, "Still, I think we should've taken some of them with us to Japan –"
"Excuse me?" Jennie interrupted him sharply, feeling hot water pouring down her spine. "Did you just say 'we'? You are coming with us?"
His lips curved upwards, causing Jennie to make her hand under the table a fist.
"Of course, Miss Kim."
"This is a family only attendance," Jennie almost growled despite her face staying stone cold.
She couldn't even get rid of him when she went to a fucking different country, for god's sake!
"Well, Vice President Kim – I mean your father – invited me personally," he crossed his legs comfortably. "So I think I'm expected to attend – even though it's a family-only event."
Her nails were sunk into her palm, but Jennie managed to keep her face clear of that rage. The fucking lawyer was looking at her with such a smug smile that she was tempted to rip his face off and then shred the skin into pieces.
"I'll probably have the news from my father," she concluded in a final tone that signalled the conversation was over. "Thank you for your concerns, Mr.Kim. You may leave."
Then, Kim Taehyung chuckled, shaking his head like he was in an amusing situation.
"Still a little girl, I see," he smirked, getting up and smoothing his suit.
"I am NOT a little girl," Jennie positively growled this time, she was on the verge of losing her control.
"If you're having a hard time at controlling your emotions in a displeasing situation for you such as this," the lawyer looked at her, amused indeed. "You are a little girl and still have a long way to go, Jennie."
"Don't fucking say my name," Jennie stood up, her eyes fire and voice glacier. "You can tell your opinion when I ask of you. Get out, now."
Obviously unaffected, Kim Taehyung bowed his head with a smirk, "We have time to work on that, don't worry. Good evening, Miss Kim."
Jennie was holding the pen tight enough to hurt her hand as she watched him leave. Her hold was shaking with the force of her grip.
A moment later the pen broke into two.
*
Taehyung chuckled as he walked out of her office, on his way to his own. She was smart, ambitious and professional when it came to business, yes.
But she was still a little girl when it came to self-control.
Oh how delightful it was to get under her skin, to see the fire in her eyes overtake everything and melt down the calm façade she had, to see the way her red, red lips press into thin lines, to watch her come undone in rage and fire.
She was such an exquisite sight to see.
Almost captivating.
Immensely satisfying.
And so, so, so fucking addictive.
*
Half an hour to the end of the day, Jennie was storming her way to his father's office when she heard he had arrived. She was still angry from her conversation with Kim Taehyung. Remarkably less, but still angry. She couldn't believe her father didn't tell her that he would come with them, of all people. And join them in something that has always been a family only occasion, a chance to show everyone how close-knitted and powerful and indestructible their family was. And now their fucking lawyer was going to attend an event with them? An outsider?
Gritting her teeth, she ignored her father's secretary's poor attempt to stop her and barged into the room. Her father was going through some papers and upon the noise of his door flying open, he raised his head to glance at Jennie.
"Father," Jennie said, closing the door behind her and making him frown.
She never called him 'father' unless she was angry beyond reason.
Kim Jaebum sighed, "What's wrong?"
"I heard Kim Taehyung is coming with us to Japan," she said straightforwardly, walking towards him to stand in front of his desk.
Her father arched a brow, "So?"
"We always go to those events as a family, and only a family," she emphasized, her hands made into fists. "Why is he coming with us?"
"Because he's the head of our law team and we're going to try to create partnerships and contracts."
"We've never taken lawyer Song with us," Jennie reminded, now crossing her arms. "Why are we taking him now?"
"Lawyer Song wasn't the best in our country," her father raised his brows. "You're the one who spends the most time with lawyer Kim, you should know that."
"Yes and I also would like to know its reason," Jennie glared at him. "I understand why I have to work with him in preparations of contracts or for discussions about the legal aspects of our relationships with our partners, but I'd like to know why I have to spend almost every waking hour with him going to private meetings with our, say, partners or potential partners. You know I'm capable of fixing the promise of a contract by myself."
"Jennie, not this again –"
"I've been doing this without him for three years and we both know that I'm so fucking good at it!" Jennie stomped her foot, her voice rising involuntarily. "I please our customers and partners, I can lure the potential ones into doing whatever we want, I'm capable of juggling two crossing parties without them knowing I am – why are you making him stick to me all the time, then?!"
"Watch your tone," her father warned her solemnly, face growing colder. "I think he'll be a great help to you, that's all."
"But I don't need his help!" Jennie felt like screaming but barely held herself back. "You know that I know how things work, you raised me, you threw me into this, we both know that if you didn't think I'd be good at this you wouldn't do it!"
"Jennie –"
"'You are born to do this; I can see it. And you'll be exceptionally good, just watch me and learn, then you will rule.'" she recited coldly. "These were the words you told me. We didn't know any Kim Taehyung back then."
"Enough," he raised his voice. "I know what I said. I still think like that. But you should also learn how to control your temper. You have a lot to learn yet and he'll be a good example for you –"
"Father, no!" Jennie groaned exasperatedly. "Don't make me work with him, I just–"
"You can't always work with the people you like," her father leaned back on his seat. "You have to learn how to work with the ones you don't like too. Besides, he's the best in his field. I don't know why you don't want to work with him."
"He makes my skin crawl," Jennie fired. "I hate it when he's around. I hate how he looks at me, so sneaky and sly, I hate how he judges me, how he compliments me trying to fool me into doing what he says, I hate how he's always around, I hate how he's always watching me even from afar."
With every word she said, her father's brows raised a bit more, finally reaching almost to his hairline and he had a contemplating expression before he relaxed.
"Sounds to me like he's trying to help you whenever you'd be in need –"
"Father, no, oh my god!" Jennie massaged her temples; she could almost feel the incoming headache. "You don't understand. His eyes are always on me, I can feel it, it makes my skin crawl, I hate it, I just hate it!"
"Enough, Jennie," her father said sternly. His tone didn't leave a room for further conversation. "He'll be a god contribution to our famil –"
He abruptly stopped but it was too late and Jennie just looked at him in disbelief.
"To our family??"
"We'll talk about this later," Kim Jaebum gathered the papers on his desk, obviously displeased with how things turned out.
"Father are you trying to set me up with that man?" Jennie stood still, refusing to leave and her blood boiling with disgust. "With Kim Taehyung?"
"I said we'll talk about this later –"
"Is that why you're forcing me to be with him all the time?" she fired again, her shoulders trembling. "Is that why he's invited to our family business trip? Because you consider him family?"
"Jennie –"
"That's never gonna happen," she concluded, her eyes narrowed, and her face contorted with repulsion. "Do you hear me? Never."
And she turned around when her father opened his mouth to say something and slammed the door after her as she left the room.
*
It took Jennie an hour to get back to her senses. And by that time she realised that she had wrecked her office. Folders and papers were scattered all over the ground, the intercom and the in-line phone were thrown to the wall and broken into pieces, a couple of chairs had fallen down, her desk was a mess, photo frames were thrown on the ground and she was breathing heavily to suppress the rest of the destructive fury in her.
Running her fingers through her hair, she walked over the mess and around her desk to grab a bottle of whisky. But just when she was about to take a swing from the bottle itself, she realised she didn't want to be there anymore – the room was closing on her, she was struggling to catch her breath and she could feel the urge to break down the rest of her surroundings coming back. So she threw the bottle on the ground and grabbed her bag. Stepping on the informative papers about million dollars' worth of contracts, she walked across and yanked the door open.
Secretary Yook looked at her with concern but didn't say anything, just got up like he wasn't listening to her destroy her office for the better part of the hour.
"Miss?" he hesitantly asked and Jennie whipped her head to him, her face making the man grimace. But he controlled his face immediately, "Will you be needing my assistance?"
"No," Jennie curtly replied, on her way out.
"Miss," she heard him talk again and turned on her spot with a groan.
"What?!"
"Your keys," Secretary Yook got closer with her car keys on hand.
Jennie sighed as she took them, "I won't be coming for the night. Inform my parents."
The me man nodded, watching her storm out of the room and possibly the building.
*
Jennie loved her car. It was a present from her Uncle Jeon and she adored her Bentley, a Bentayga – custom made for her with duo-chrome grey body paint and a silhouette of 'Jennie' written with a reflective metallic ash grey paint, it only showed when the light hit it in the right angle. Interior was jet black with a cream console and red flooring. The sound system, the screens and the electronic systems were all custom made for her, too. The plate had her initials and birthday date. It was a present for her twenty-third birthday and she loved it with all her heart.
But at that time, Jennie was so angry that she didn't care about anything. She yanked the door open and slammed it after her, throwing her bag to the passenger seat next to her and grabbing the wheel tight. After a couple of heartbeats, she exhaled loudly and rested her forehead on her hands on the wheel. If she had started driving like this, it was given that she'd get into an accident. And she actually didn't know where to go.
She stayed at the car for a while, inhaling and exhaling continuously to calm down. When she decided she was calm enough, she started the engine. She was going to drive around, surely she would go somewhere if she drove around enough.
And that's how she found herself on the riverside.
"River huh," she murmured as she killed the engine after parking the car. Reaching the glove box of the car, she took the pair of sneakers she always kept in there just in case. Taking off her heels, she slipped them on and got out. Throwing her keys into her bag, she walked down until she reached the river and started to walk.
She couldn't believe her father, of all people, was doing this to her. She had said multiple times how she disliked the man and yet her father was still forcing her to be with him.
And he was also trying to set them up, for fuck's sake!
Never in her life she would've thought that would happen to her. Yes, she knew her Uncle Jeon and Aunt Yooshin had an arranged marriage at first but then they had fallen in love – almost at the first sight. Very much unlike how Kim Taehyung irritated her.
If Jennie was another girl who didn't work with him, say, an employee in their company, she could've swooned over him. She sometimes saw how the young women looked at the man as they walked around in the building, they were almost drooling.
Kim Taehyung was handsome, charismatic, attractive and had this way of holding himself in such a way that it screamed power and dominance and confidence. With his face and his built body, he was the ideal type of half of the country's women.
But his personality shadowed over these facts.
He was sneaky, sly, calculating and making Jennie uneasy. She could feel his eyes on her body whenever they were in the same room, an unpleasant prickling on her skin. The way he would scan her from head to toe with that smirk on, the way he would tower over her petite form, even his shadow swallowing hers, it made Jennie's skin crawl.
To his credit, he had helped Jennie on multiple occasions more than he could have. Like the time she went to see her assaulter. Remembering the lawyer's smooth tone contradicting his dangerous words and his attitude still gave Jennie shivers.
Or like the time he had defended Jennie against some of the shareholders with fire in his eyes when multiple of them came at Jennie, cornering her. She had seen the way the shareholders took a step back instinctively when the lawyer took a step forward to half put himself between them and her. The move itself had left Jennie blinking, for she wasn't used to being protected like that.
But the pros weren't winning over the cons.
Sighing, Jennie wrapped her arms around herself, dodging a rock on the ground. The river was too grey for spring, but she thought it matched her mood. Raising her eyes and looking around, she envied the people walking like her but freely, not having the problems she had.
Then she abruptly stopped over seeing someone she least wanted to see.
"Oh fucking hell," she muttered when they made eye contact.
Lisa Manoban was looking at her from a bench close by with a can of beer in her hand and her roommate sitting next to her. Frozen in her spot, Jennie considered walking past them but if Jungkook learnt that he would be upset, and she had promised to let go of her hatred towards the girl. And also, she remembered clearly the things Lisa Manoban told her about staying in this country solely because Jungkook asked of her. And also the way she helped Jennie when she was being assaulted, how she took her home and tended to her wounds.
She wasn't too bad and Jennie had thought over this multiple times since they had last seen each other.
And now she sighed again when Lisa Manoban hesitantly got up after her friend (Park Chaeyoung from Australia, a classmate of Jungkook's and also Lisa Manoban's best friend and roommate since last autumn) whispered something to her.
"Hello," Lisa Manoban said hesitantly after nearing her.
Jennie nodded without a word.
"Um," the honey-brown haired girl glanced at Park Chaeyoung before turning to Jennie again and took a deep breath. "Would you like to join us?"
Arching a brow, Jennie stared at her before glancing back at Park Chaeyoung who was getting up from the bench and coming towards them. She turned to Lisa Manoban after meeting Jennie's eyes briefly.
"I'll be going Liz. See you at home?"
"Yeah," Lisa Manoban nodded, accepting the kiss her roommate planted on her cheek. Then they watched Park Chaeyoung leave.
"So?" the honey-brown haired girl turned to Jennie again and pointed the now empty bench behind her. "You coming?"
Shrugging, Jennie walked past her towards the bench. Why not, right? It would please Jungkook.
"You can at least talk, you know," Lisa Manoban said after they sat down. "It's not like you don't know how to."
"Of course I do," Jennie rolled her eyes. "I just don't know about what we can talk."
"That's true," the other girl sighed, leaning back and taking a sip from her can of beer and pulling up one leg. Jennie eyed her outfit.
She was wearing a pair of sweatpants from adidas 2019 Spring/Summer collection combined with a Gucci hoodie from 2016/2017 Fall/Winter collection and adidas sneakers with a supreme bag. Stylish but comfy. Jennie had never looked closely at her fashion. It wasn't too bad. Though Jennie herself would combine the hoodie with Chanel sweatpants and some Chuck Taylors.
"Stop staring," the girl turned her eyes to Jennie. "I feel like you're judging me or something."
"Not you," Jennie leaned back too, crossing her legs. "Just your fashion sense."
Rolling her eyes, Lisa Manoban took another sip, "Thanks."
There was a silence where they both stared at the river for a while before the younger girl turned to Jennie with hesitation again.
"Is there something wrong? You're not as toxic as you usually are."
Jennie narrowed her eyes – the audacity this girl had, seriously.
"Is this your way of showing care for people? Not very encouraging I must say."
"Cut me some slack, I'm trying here," the girl eyed her. "Trying to be civil with you is not easy as it sounds, you know."
"Considering our past encounters, I feel the same," Jennie crossed her arms this time.
She had conflicting feelings about this girl. On one hand, she disliked him because of what she put Jungkook through but on the other hand she was making Jungkook so happy, happier than Jennie saw him be in a very long time. She also seemed like a more faithful person, according to the reports and photos Jennie got, she hadn't seen her spare a glance to other men that threw themselves on her feet. Jennie was of course having her followed, too. Duh.
"I made a promise to Kook," Lisa Manoban turned to her completely, her face was very serious now. "Normally I wouldn't even look at you twice or bother to talk to you after everything that happened between us. It wouldn't worth, really."
Jennie arched a brow to this.
"But I made a promise to Kook and I promised him that I would try because he said you're really important for him, that you're his sister," the younger girl looked at Jennie in the eye, dead serious. "So I'm trying. I'm trying to be civil."
"Impressive," Jennie replied lightly. "Daring to talk to me like that. But don't worry. I made him the same promise. That I'd try to be civil with you for him, I mean."
"Then be civil and fucking talk to me," Lisa Manoban demanded with a glare.
Jennie let out a small, involuntary laugh but she quickly stopped herself. She turned her eyes to the river. First that lawyer, then his father, and now Lisa Manoban.
What a bizarre this day had been.
"Why are you here Manoban?" she asked the younger, who rolled her eyes at her.
"The fuck is 'Manoban'? Just call me Lisa. And I'm here to cheer myself a little up. I come to riverside whenever I feel down."
Jennie really didn't want to ask why.
"Why?" she sighed.
Because she didn't have any choice.
"For various reasons," Lisa looked over the river, too. "One of them being Kook going to Japan with you."
Jennie gave her a look of disbelief.
"You're upset because Jungkook is going to a business trip?"
To this, Lisa's cheeks got pinker a bit and she shrugged, "I'm used to him being around all the time."
"You sound really needy and clingy," Jennie shared her observation with a scrunch of her nose.
"He spoils me a lot," Lisa admitted reluctantly.
"I can see that," Jennie eyed her. Then sighed, "He has always had that tendency towards the people he loves."
"Yeah," Lisa softly replied, smiling even softer. Her eyes were unfocused like she was reminiscing something. Jennie watched her a couple of second before clearing her throat. She decided to be honest as a step towards being civil.
"I appreciate what you've done and what you do for Jungkook," she said quietly. Lisa slowly turned and looked at her. Jennie continued, "He has been the happiest I've seen him in a long time. And that's enough for me."
As she stayed silent, Jennie thought Lisa was figuring out her words and the intention lying under them. And a small smile appeared on her face.
"Thank you," she replied softly again. "He makes me happy, too. I just try to give as much as I get. He deserves the world."
"Yeah," Jennie chuckled. "He does."
There was a strange silence then, in which Jennie felt a strange combination of the urge to say something to ease the awkwardness and staying silent. But Lisa broke the silence a couple of moments later.
"What's bugging you?"
Jennie looked at her, wondering for a second if she really would understand her problems and then decided against it. She wouldn't get. Besides, to make her fully understand, Jennie had to tell her everything – which she would never do. So she chose the simplest thing possible.
"I fought with my father," she sighed, the fight and the reason briefly reminding themselves.
Amidst her gloomy reminiscence, she heard Lisa snort and her head whipped to the younger girl sharply, in disbelief. She had just shared her problem with her and this was what she got?!
"Sorry, sorry!" Lisa bit her lip. "It's just –"
"What?" Jennie narrowed her eyes.
"It's too mundane," Lisa looked at her. "You're like a manager in the company –"
"Executive manager," Jennie corrected her reflexively, her voice flat.
"Yeah, whatever," Lisa dismissed it with one hand. "And you meet important people and play with millions, probably. You manage a whole company and all. But you're just sulking about your fight with your dad. It's just a weird reality – that you can have normal problems, too."
Thinking about it for a second when she put it like that, Jennie's lips curved upwards to the absurdity of the situation, too.
"Yeah, I guess so."
"I totally can understand how it affects you, you know," Lisa sighed this time. "My fights with my dad are disasters, too. It used to take me days to get over them."
"About what do you fight?" Jennie couldn't help the curiosity.
"Usually they were about our work of field when I was living in Thailand," Lisa took another sip from her beer. "You know, the usual stuff. Like, he would claim aluminium was a crucial factor for vaccines and I would insist that formaldehyde was more important – which I still defend, by the way. Or, I don't know, I would say complex disorders, mainly schizophrenia, don't result from abnormal function of individual genes but from dysfunction of entire molecular networks and dad would argue that the main cause could highly be environmental factors like advanced paternal age, along with cerebral hypoxia and other severe pregnancy and perinatal complications."
Jennie just stared at her, having zero idea about what she was saying and to be honest she didn't understand the half of what she said. But Lisa continued like she was talking about water shortage and like Jennie just had to have knowledge about what she was saying.
"And it would be real bad, you know. We wouldn't talk for days until one of us just offered to work on something different or show the other an experiment in progress," Lisa sighed before turning and looking at Jennie sympathetically. "So I can understand why you're sulking."
"Mine is just trying to set me up with someone I hate," Jennie arched a brow, feeling like her problem was too simple compared to what Lisa just said. Still, Lisa jerked back like she was burnt, and her eyes grew comically bigger.
"Holy Jesus fuck, really?!" she asked, terrified.
"Yeah," Jennie bit her lip.
"That's so fucking horrible, oh my god," the younger frowned, her expression was too sincere to be fake.
"I know," Jennie ran her fingers through her hair.
Lisa looked at her for a second before offering her beer, "Want some?"
Glancing at the can half a second long, Jennie grabbed it, "Yeah."
Then they just sat there, leaning back and watching the river silently – Jennie felt oddly comfortable and to her shock, slightly better.
Lisa Manoban wasn't half bad, yeah.
*
The next day, Lisa was walking as fast as possible for her 'rendezvous' with Namjoon and she was late. She hated when someone made her wait and so she now hated herself for making him wait. But it wasn't her fault that the parking lot was as far from the heart of Apgujeong as possible. But thankfully, she was rounding the corner of the street where the café was just five minutes later. And Namjoon was already sitting there with a cup of coffee on the table and his fingers drumming.
"I'm so sorry," she said as soon as he was on the range of hearing her. "The parking lot is so damn far."
"It's okay," Namjoon smiled, as kind as always. "It hasn't been too long since I've come here anyway."
Lisa first eyed his half empty cup and then him silently. He shrugged.
"I'm a fast drinker."
"If you say so," Lisa smiled again. "How've you been?"
"Fine," his eyes darted around again, his nervous attitude coming back instantly. "I've been worrying a little."
"There's time," Lisa said softly. "We'll handle it, don't worry."
Namjoon gave her a small smile that looked more like a grimace than a smile. Lisa decided to take the matters to her hands.
"Okay," she said, bringing out a small notebook from her bag. She turned the pages until she found the one she needed, "I did some research. Mostly a list came up –"
"A list?" Namjoon's voice was small. Lisa raised her eyes from the page to him and laughed at his pale face.
"Don't worry oppa, most of the steps are already done for you. Like, first step of them all is 'make sure they're the one' and you've been madly in love for what? Six years now? I'm pretty sure you would've figured it out by now."
To this, Namjoon dimple-smiled, "Yeah, that one's for sure."
Lisa returned to the page, "The second step is 'be confident with your relationship' and again, six years. Third is 'consider asking their parents' permission' and I'm pretty sure they would've done something if they weren't okay with you two. I actually heard Jin oppa's mom adores you," Lisa eyed Namjoon, and the man bashfully smiled.
"That one's true, too."
"Yeah," Lisa looked at him fondly. "Our thing starts now. It says to decide when, where and how you will propose."
A sigh came from the other side of the table. Lisa just ignored that and started to read from her notebook.
"Everything I came across was grossly romantic and overboard. Like, a forest stage – how would you even do that in Seoul – and decorated arbours – where would you find that in a city like this – fires and flaming letters – we would prepare this but what if your schedules ruined it or an emergency happened at the hospital? So I thought of something – oppa?"
The silence stretched so long that Lisa had to look up and she saw Namjoon just stare at her blankly.
"When did you even do all of these – it hasn't even been a week since I've told you –"
"Late at nights," Lisa grinned. "There wasn't another way to hide this from Chaeng. She would've thought it was about Kook and me."
"This is just a lot to process," Namjoon rubbed his face with both hands. His face was red when he made eye contact with Lisa again, "I feel so lost."
"Don't. I have a couple of ideas," Lisa turned the page, eyes scanning the writing. "There are simple ones and some flashy ones that include other people – and by other people I mean us," she added with another grin. Namjoon chuckled.
"Simple ones, fire away."
"There is the private one: at your house. It can be either a room or your rooftop. You can decorate the room with those polaroid photos in your scrapbooks. Add in some fairy lights if you want. And pop the question. Or we can prepare a rooftop picnic or one of those reading sessions you do with the same pattern, but I think you'd be tired for that," Lisa underlined the steps she wrote beforehand. Then moved onto another.
"The second includes your library. You know his favourite books. Write a part of poem on a sticky note and put it on the page he's on," Lisa glanced at him to make sure he was listening before turning to her page again. "Then put something on the note that signals the next one. You must have had put the same kind of sticky note in that one too. And he goes and finds that. And after a couple more, do something that hints at the proposal and then pop the question."
She saw Namjoon thinking carefully over what he heard, drawing invisible patterns on the table with his finger. When she was done talking, he murmured, nodding.
"I like the library one. Jin hyung loves that kind of games. What are the flashy ones?" he added.
Lisa returned to her 'paper'. She had taken this as seriously as an article she would submit to a medical journal.
"He kissed you for the first time by the riverside, right? We can go back there," she grabbed the cup of coffee the waiter brought before and took a sip.
"We have two options with that: one is on a ferry and the other is on land. Ferry one we have to plan carefully, it includes water shows so the timing must be perfect. We decorate the ferry with paper, candles and fairy lights –"
"Nope," Namjoon cut her words. "No to candles. I definitely will trip on one of them and set everything on fire. Then we would have to jump into the water. Land one, please."
Giggling, Lisa crossed the ferry one.
"It's around the exact place you've kissed before. Or somewhere close because we need a bench. And balloons – lots of balloons."
"Balloons?" Namjoon looked at her sceptically.
"Have you watched the movie Up?" Lisa grinned. "Balloons like that – helium balloons. We're gonna tie little notes or letters on their ropes. Either can notes lead the moment to the question or the letters can form the question – then we bring the last balloon with the ring tied on it."
"How are we going to fly the balloons to where we want?" he questioned.
"We – as in the rest of us – will bring them of course," Lisa tilted her head, stating the obvious.
"Jisoo would lose one," Namjoon sighed. "I'm 300% sure she would."
Lisa laughed for a second before quickly frowning, "Come to think of it, yeah she would."
"I think I like the notes-in-books one most," Namjoon lightly hit his cup onto the table. "It's simple, private and like us."
"The library one it is," Lisa fidgeted excitedly, circling the right option. "Now all we left is when and the poems. Do you have anything in mind?"
"Yeah, the night of the day I graduate," Namjoon downed the rest of his coffee before wiping his mouth as he looked at Lisa. "If I delay it Jin hyung will be the one to do that, I'm dead sure of it."
"Oh my god that's so soon!" Lisa pressed her hands onto her cheeks that were reddened from her excitement. "Did you buy the rings?!"
"Yes I did," Namjoon finally grinned, reaching for his phone. "They're from Cartier. They are not flashy, simple and elegant – just like Jin hyung. Though, he is really flashy and eye catching, so they're not exactly similar."
Lisa watched him go through his gallery excitedly. He looked so eager and happy. And his face when he talked about Jin was just the proof that Disney romances were real.
"Look," he turned the phone to her finally, his eyes bright and shining, his dimples showing.
The rings were really simple, just two classical wedding bands but with a few small diamonds engraved on them. Inside was going to have their initials and the date, obviously.
"24 carat white gold. I ordered it already. He likes simple jewellery but diamonds too. I actually wanted it to be emeralds instead of diamonds – his favourite is emeralds – but they said it would take more time, so it had to be diamonds. Anyway, I can always get emeralds for the wedding."
"This feels like a dream," Lisa grinned, closing her notebook. "It's just so fun and exciting, I don't know, thank you for sharing this with me."
Namjoon smiled fondly at her and reached to pinch her cheek.
"Of course I would share it with you Lisa, we've had this conversation."
"Okay, okay," Lisa smiled wide and bright.
"The poems," Namjoon scratched the back of his head. "Let's find a bookstore and pick up a couple books."
After Lisa's nod they got up to walk along the crowded streets of Apgujeong. They were talking about different poets, Korean ones and foreign ones alike when suddenly Lisa stopped on her track, eyes fixed on a restaurant.
"What?" Namjoon frowned, looking at her in confusion.
Lisa narrowed her eyes, "Is that... Jisoo unnie?"
Turning his head, Namjoon saw the girl, too. She was glowing and her heart shaped lips were wide with a smile – to a man sitting across her at the table. She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and grabbed her cup of what looked like coffee to take a sip.
"Yeah. But who's that?" Namjoon raised a brow.
"What was his name – Junmyeon?" Lisa glanced at Namjoon hesitantly. "I bet it's him."
Lisa looked really carefully at the man and watched the way he moved around Jisoo.
The man looked – expensive. His clothes, hair style, accessories, he way he held himself screamed money. He had the face of a rich, relaxed man with fair skin, a pair of almond-shaped almost black eyes, but a sweet smile and admiring gaze on his model-like face.
To be honest it was nearly impossible to look at Jisoo like she was an ordinary girl because she was too gorgeous to be not looked at in awe. Every time she walked around, people – men and women alike – took a double take at her. So Lisa wasn't surprised. What surprised her was how gone the man already looked. He had this amazed looked, almost like he was in reverie as he watched Jisoo laugh wholeheartedly.
Lisa quickly grabbed her phone from her bag and took a couple of photos. Namjoon glanced at her upon the shutter sound.
"What are you doing?"
"Evidence for future interrogations," Lisa replied calmly, zooming in. After getting a couple more shots, she dropped her phone into her bag and grabbed Namjoon's sleeve this time, tugging lightly.
"Let's go oppa. It wouldn't be good to disturb them – especially when Jisoo unnie is laughing like this."
Eyeing Jisoo one more time, Namjoon nodded.
"We are so asking her about this."
"That's why I have the photos," Lisa grinned. "She can't deny it even if she tried."
*
"I really want to come to the airport," Lisa tugged Jungkook's jacket with a sigh.
"My parents will be there," Jungkook rushed her hair back gently. "It would be absurd if you met them like that."
"Yeah," she bit her lower lip, having conflicted feelings about everything.
"Besides, I'll be back in the blink of an eye."
"Three whole days," her voice was small as she looked down at their feet.
Jungkook laughed, "What are you so cute for, Jesus god. My clingy baby."
Sending him a weak glare despite her blush, Lisa wrapped her arms around his waist in his jacket and then leaned her head against his chest – his arms embraced her instantly.
They were standing at the door of her apartment. It was the day the Jeons were to fly to Japan and Jungkook had come to say goodbye to Lisa. He had a car waiting for him downstairs with his luggage and it had been there for approximately two hours now because Lisa was immensely reluctant to send him.
"I just have a bad feeling about this," she murmured to his shirt.
"There's nothing bad that can happen baby," Jungkook pressed a kiss on the crown of her head affectionately. "I'm just gonna go, meet some people and participate in some deals. Then I'll be back to you."
"If that's all why is it three days..." Lisa sighed, troubled and sad.
She was being so fucking clingy, she knew it, but she couldn't help it. She was so used to Jungkook being around her, always with her, they were always together. She hadn't come home for a week before that day – practically living in his place with her having half of her clothes and toiletries and makeup in his house.
She had her own towel and toothbrush there.
(Chaeyoung complained a lot, though. She had been saying she didn't appreciate being cheated on so blatantly like this.)
"You can go to mine," Jungkook offered, unwrapping one arm to tilt her chin up and kissing her briefly. "You know the password and you have the key."
(He had to have a literal lock installed on his door, too.)
(Jennie had made fun of him a lot.)
"It's not the same without you," Lisa mumbled, looking away for a second. Then she rose on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face into his neck.
"Come back early?" her voice was muffled but it was impossible to not notice the hope in it.
Jungkook smiled softly, pressing her to himself with his hold around her tiny frame, "I'll do my best, love."
Pulling back, Lisa kissed him hard and wet. Parting their lips to taste each other, Jungkook couldn't help walking forward and pushing her against the door, hands roaming on her body and grabbing her legs to lift her, she wrapped them around his waist immediately. Her hands were pulling at his jacket and grabbing the hairs on his nape to bring him closer.
She wanted him close, closer, blended into her body, wanted to lose herself in him.
He wanted to get more of her, get more and more than enough but it was never enough.
Lacing his hand in her soft brown locks, he grabbed them tight to yank back and bare her neck to himself where he lowered his kisses, following a wet path before closing his lips around her delicate skin and sucking hard to mark her again and again until she was a panting mess – over and over until she writhed and whined under his hands, a barely audible moan leaving her lips as she came undone.
"I'm going to wreck you when I come back," Jungkook growled against her skin, grazing his teeth on her neck and bit the taut muscle when she turned her head and arched her back for him.
"I'll be waiting," Lisa panted, her body shivering in anticipation and she turned to look at him through her hooded eyes. She looked completely debauched with her lust clouded gaze, swollen lips, and the darkening red marks all over her neck.
Surging forward, she pulled his lower lip between her teeth and pulled the soft flesh until it was stretched so bad, he had to come closer. Then she smoothed it, licking along before kissing him hard again.
"Come back soon," she whispered in between her pants, chest heaving. He was breathing as hard as she was and let out a low groan when Lisa squeezed her legs around him, pressing her whole body onto his.
"I will. I love you so bad, baby."
"Mmm," Lisa's eyes fluttered close when he nuzzled his nose along her jawline. "Love you too, sweetheart."
Needless to say, it took Jungkook longer than it should be to leave the house.
*
Jungkook turned his hair to look out from the window. Sunset in Osaka was a sight to see, really. He was thinking about how they should come here with Lisa after the finals and maybe go to Tokyo, too, when his father called for him.
"Jungkook."
His eyes went to him immediately.
"Yes dad?"
They were sitting and having dinner at the roof restaurant of the best hotel in the city with all his family – his parents, his aunt and uncle, and his cousin. Though he heard more people was going to join them for the next day's reception. And apparently that was the reason why Jennie had this ominous aura around her – almost a visible black cloud – and her face was stone hard.
"Tomorrow we will have Nakamura Hinata, his wife Nakamura Hani and their daughter Himari with us at the reception," Mr.Jeon looked at him after patting his napkin on his mouth briefly. "They have the biggest company of the medical sector in Japan and the biggest chain of hospitals across the country. They are really important."
Suddenly Jennie's head whipped to her uncle with a scandalised expression. Glancing at her with a frown, Jungkook then turned to his father and nodded.
"Darling," her mother joined the conversation with a kind smile. "We want you to accompany their daughter during the dinner and the reception after that."
His brows raising and a sense of trouble settling in his body, Jungkook stared at his mother.
"And why is that?"
"We think it would be really nice if you were to be – friends with her," Lee Yooshin stressed the word with the same kind smile.
"Aunt, no," Jennie intervened with an angry voice.
And Jungkook realised where this was going. Snakes started to writhe in his stomach, ruining the food and a heavy feeling sat on his heart.
"I assume you don't mean just being friends," he asked, his heart beating almost in his mouth with a panic and Lisa's face flashing in front of his eyes – he was so fucked.
"Who knows?" his mother tilted her head, the same damnable smile was still on her lips. "It can always develop into something more."
"No it can't," Jungkook said curtly. "I have no intentions of any kind of relationship with her."
"Nakamuras will be an important step for our plans to expand to the Asia-wide market," his father's voice was stern. "We're going to hint an arranged marriage between you and Nakamura Himari during the reception. I'm sure they'll be interested, too."
"Dad – what the heck – no," Jungkook dropped the spoon and chopsticks in his hands and leaned back instinctively to put a distance between them.
"Oh my god, no!" Jennie raised her voice in shock, causing her mother to frown at her sharply with a you stay silent warning.
"It'll be a profitable arrangement," his father ended the conversation.
"Dad –"
"Of course not right away, honey," his mother tried to calm down Jungkook with her the sweetest voice. "After you graduate, and we ensure it'll go absolutely smoothly."
Jungkook's hands curled into fists unintentionally and a hiss left his lips, "Mom!"
Lee Yooshin sighed, "Honey –"
"I don't want it and I'm not going to marry some girl just because it's profitable – what does that even mean – and about a marriage of all things," he pushed through his clenched teeth, voice poisonous and firm.
His father frowned, "Jungkook –"
"I'm full," Jungkook cut his words – something he had never done till that before and pushed himself back, getting up. "Enjoy your meal."
He was still in shock and rage was starting to build up in his body even when he entered his room.
*
"This is ridiculous," Jennie glared at her uncle and aunt. "You can't force him to marry someone just because it's profitable," she stressed the word, turning to his father at the end of her sentence – to which Kim Jaebum raised his brows.
"There's nothing wrong with that my dear," his Aunt Yooshin smiled at her affectionately, like she was too young to understand things. "Your uncle and I married with an arrange marriage, too."
"Still," Jennie clenched her fist on the table. "It doesn't change the fact that it's bullshit –"
"Careful with your words," her mother almost snapped at her.
And Jennie was in no condition to care about that, "You can't do this to Jungkook –"
"It's not up to you to decide that, Jennie," her father stared at her warningly.
"I won't let this happen," Jennie raised her voice. "I know that girl – she's a complete bitch –"
"Jennie!" her mother raised her voice too as Jungkook's mother arched a brow at that.
"I won't let this happen," Jennie said decidedly. "And if you care about Kook even a little bit you won't either –"
"I understand that you want the best for Jungkook," Mr.Jeon looked at her flatly. "But this is for ensuring our future and in the long run it'll be good for everyone."
"Except Jungkook!" Jennie couldn't help standing up with a smack of her fists on the table. "Nakamura Himari is the most disgusting bitch I've ever seen in my life and I won't let her lay a finger on Jungkook over my dead body! Wait and see," she almost hissed at them in rage.
She shook off her mother's firm grasp on her arm and stormed away from the table, almost flying on her heels with her wings made of fury and the people jerked away from her to make way for her as she passed them.
Her mind was brimming with the ghosts of possibilities, she just had to do something to prevent this bullshit, she just didn't kn–
She stopped abruptly when she arrived at her room, her hand grabbing the door handle, a possibility throwing itself forward and the more she thought over it, the better it sounded.
She swiped her card along the lock and the door opened with an automatic, annoying sound.
A menacing little smile was curving the corners of her lips upwards.
*
Somehow, Jungkook was feeling like he was sixteen again. It was humiliating as fuck, really – considering he had left those days years ago, but he couldn't help it.
It was almost evening, the time for reception, and he hadn't left his hotel room except for the breakfast and lunch they had with his family and for some weird reason, their company lawyer Kim Taehyung – which made Jennie all the more snappier and seething.
Come to speak of her, that day she had found a way to wiggle out of their parents' and Kim Taehyung's grip and caught him before he could lock himself in his room again.
Jennie had smiled at him sweetly with that dark and dangerous smile of hers that worried Jungkook every time he saw her wear, and she had fixed his hair and then caressed his cheek before patting it softly, making him gape at her.
"Don't worry, Kook. I won't let them force that bitch on you."
Arching a brow at those unexpected words, Jungkook had looked at her, "How?"
"I have a plan," her eyes had darkened, making Jungkook even more worried. "I always have a plan. You'll see tonight."
Unsure of whether to tell her to stop or stay silent, Jungkook had missed his chance to say something when Jennie had given him a gummy smile.
"Don't bother yourself, my little Kookie. Leave it to me, noona will handle everything."
And with that, she had turned around on her heel, her smile still bright with wickedness, and left him to wonder over what she was going to do.
Jungkook sort of knew that Jennie had no limits when it came to him; his safety, his happiness and his well-being.
No limits, no morals, no forgiveness.
She loved him fiercely and possessively in her own way – in her own way which could be very dangerous and reckless. She told him on multiple occasions that there was nothing she wouldn't do for him – which worried Jungkook a little (a lot). He didn't want her to do something illegal or that would get her into trouble, so all his life he had tried to stay away from the things that would bring trouble – well, aside from that one time when he tried to kill that Wonwoo guy. Though Jennie had managed to handle even that problem, too – making sure it clearly seemed like Jungkook had nothing to do with the situation even as a passer-by.
And sometimes Jungkook wondered what was the biggest thing she could do, what was the biggest thing she would sacrifice for him, the limit she would face. He didn't dare to question it though, a little afraid of the things he would hear and see.
So when she spoke like that it gave Jungkook a mixed sense of panic and worry.
Now gnawing on his lower lip, head full of the wild things Jennie could've done, he was fixing his tie. Not knowing the things that would happen here, he had packed his best and the most expensive suits – the jet black one, the burgundy one and the deep navy one. He liked the black one, Jennie liked the burgundy one and his mom liked the navy one. Therefore, in a childish manner that he didn't care about, the navy one was out of question.
He was wearing the black one.
The suit was from Stuart Hughes Diamond Edition and it was a gift from his aunt and uncle for his 21st birthday – it was the most expensive fucking thing they could gift him since 'the suit was completely handmade with taking 600 hours to create and it had 480 diamonds strategically positioned around the suit, and also each diamond is 0,5 carats, colour G,VS2 quality so it's a priceless one and oh also there are only three of them in the world but of course, only the best for Jungkook' – these were his aunt's words, not his. And when he looked it up online out of curiosity, he found out that it costed ninety fucking million won. So it really was the most expensive thing someone could ever possess.
But he just liked how he fit him and the colour.
Sighing, he checked his appearance once more. Not a strand of hair out of place, his skin smooth and glowing, his suit fitting him like a second skin – making him look out of reach, untouchable, rich, powerful and like the heir he was. Fixing the cufflinks of his that had their family crest, he inhaled and exhaled loudly to calm himself down.
His alarm tone coming from the phone on the bedside table filled the air bitterly.
It was seven p.m. and the time for the dinner.
*
The dinner was a fucking disaster.
Especially for Jennie, who had to sit between her father and fucking Kim Taehyung of all people and watch from across the table how that Himari bitch lay herself all over Jungkook with that sickening smile of hers and making Jungkook uncomfortable as fuck. Jennie thought that maybe she could break something if she didn't control herself. So she had been trying to keep her face carefully blank despite her eyes burning holes into the bitch's face.
"Good job," Kim Taehyung had whispered into her ear sometime middle in the dinner.
"What?" Jennie had snapped at him quietly, too tense to bother understanding him.
"With controlling your emotions," he had replied in the same quiet manner, acting like he had to grab the salt. "Though maybe you should look away from the girl once in a while."
"Mind your own business, Mr.Kim," Jennie had fired, finally looking at him to find the guy amused and appreciative. "I didn't ask for your opinion."
The lawyer had clicked his tongue then, "I thought we had left that behind, Jennie. Breaks my heart, really."
"Don't fucking say my name," Jennie had hissed quietly, her fury doubling and tripling. "We're not even close. Leave me alone."
Smirking, Kim Taehyung hadn't replied to her, much to Jennie's relief, and she had finally focused on the task on hand.
She had been seething, really, but she did pay attention to what had being going on the table. Her mind had been working with two separate parts for a long time now. One side was busy with her plan and the other was busy with the real purpose of this event.
She had still managed to smile at the right people and say the right things that would help her hold in her palm and bend them to her will later.
Now at the reception, her eyes were still following how Nakamura Himari walked around smugly in Jungkook's arm. The boy looked disgusted and pained to the eyes that knew how to look and Jennie definitely knew how to look.
"Look at that filthy bitch," she quietly hissed to her own. "I'm going to fucking end her."
"Jennie," her mother scolded her for the thousandth time since they arrived at this fucking country.
"What, mom?" Jennie finally snapped what with being at the end of her patience.
"It's not up to us," Jeon Jungrae looked at Jungkook and the girl a little concernedly.
"By the way, that's really two-faced of you mom," Jennie laughed darkly, making her mom's head whip towards her in shock.
"What?"
"I thought you supported Kook's relationship with Lisa Manoban," Jennie scoffed coldly this time, taking a sip from her flute afterwards. "Or was it all a pretence? I must admit you're really good at it."
"Don't be disrespectful," her mother snapped this time. "I like Lisa genuinely. Do you really think I've been just sitting still? I tried talking to Yooshin to get her call off this nonsense last night. But it's hard to make her understand without bringing Lisa and Jungkook's relationship and Jungkook doesn't want us to tell them. What else can I do?"
The more her mother talked, the more Jennie's eyebrows rose. So she wasn't as bad as Jennie thought, huh. Then another thought crossed her mind for a fleeting second – if her mother had thought this was nonsense maybe she would also think what her father was trying to do with Jennie and that lawyer. But it wasn't the time to think about her problems, so she blinked the thought away for further thinking.
"Oh really?" she chose to eye her mother, still in distaste. "Then you're going to like it."
Jeon Jungrae frowned, "Like what?"
"You really didn't think I would just sit still while Jungkook suffered, right mom?" Jennie giggled, her shoulders even shaking a bit. "Of course I did something."
"Jennie," her mother looked at her in worry. "What have you done?"
Her lips still curved upwards, the menacing little smile coming back with the dark glint in her eyes, she casually sipped her champagne in silence, eyeing the clock on the wall to see it was almost ten p.m. But her mother kept watching her with growing worry and Jennie giggled again.
"Oh, don't be like that, Mom," she glanced at the door expectantly. "You'll see in a minute."
And as if on cue, the doors opened loudly, making the people close by turning their heads to see the newcomer, who was awfully late to the reception.
And there she stood the almighty Lalisa Manoban.
~~ end of the chapter 22 ~~
A/N: I'm sorry you're going to wait again but I really don't have time to even read a book, let alone write :( *cries in busy* Still, I'll try my best, I promise.
Like I said, I haven't proofread this so please forgive any mistakes you come across. But point them out because I'll edit it later.
EDIT 1: LOOKS LIKE I FORGOT TO INCLUDE THE SMUT OH MY GOD GUYS I'M SO SORRY SKSJJSJDJS I CAN'T BELIEVE I DID THIS, I'M SORRY, I'LL MAKE UP FOR IT IN THE NEXT CHAPTER●︿●
xoxo,
Olivia