Jennie looked up when she heard the knock on the open office door and saw an exhausted Lisa flop down on the chair in front of her.
"What happened to you? Where's Jiyoon?" asked Jennie.
"She's with Irene. How does a four-year-old have that much energy? They look so small and yet..." Lisa let out a huff.
Jennie chuckled. "What did she make you do? Chase her around the house?"
"Yes. She ran out of the bathroom and refused to put on some clothes."
Jennie laughed out loud. "I swear, she takes after you so much, as impossible as that sounds."
"Hey I never ran around the house with no clothes on."
"You walked around like that once."
"I had to go to the toilet! Then I got thirsty so I went to the kitchen to get something to drink. Is that so wrong?"
Jennie shook her head. "I rest my case. How are we going to tell her about me moving out temporarily though? Without making her think that I'm abandoning her?"
"We'll figure it out. She will still get to see you all the time so she should know that no one's abandoning her ever again."
"What did Mrs. Yoon say about all this?" Jennie asked since Lisa had briefly mentioned her visit to Jiyoon's grandmother's house the day before.
"She's okay with it. Willing to help and sign the necessary papers."
"Just like that?"
"Yeah." Lisa straightened up in her seat. "I guess she's serious about letting us take care of Jiyoon."
"I'm glad to hear that but..."
"I know." Lisa knew what Jennie was thinking. "We've done what we could. I guess we just have to respect her decision."
A loud giggling sound interrupted their conversation as Jiyoon ran inside the room. "Lili!" she shouted excitedly. "Guess what? Guess what?"
"What?"
"Aunt Irene said I could be a flower girl!" Jiyoon was literally jumping up and down while clapping her hands.
"A flower girl?" Jennie asked Irene who calmly strolled inside.
"Yeah. Since I only have one nephew who'll be the ring bearer, I'm thinking of letting this cutie here be the flower girl."
"Can I, Lili? Can I?" Jiyoon looked up at Lisa with her wide pleading eyes. "Please?" She turned her head, looking at Jennie when Lisa didn't respond immediately. "Nini, Please?"
"Well..." Jennie saw Lisa frowning. "I guess it's okay."
Lisa's eyes widened, staring at Jennie with obvious disagreement.
"It's just a short ceremony, Lisa," said Irene, understanding her friend's fear. "She'll walk down the aisle together with the ring bearer, right in front of me. Then when she has reached the end, she'll go to sit with you and that's it."
"Please, Lili?" begged Jiyoon, putting on her best sad expression and the biggest pleading set of puppy eyes.
Lisa finally cracked a smile, unable to resist the cute face staring up at her. "Okay. You can be Irene's flower girl."
The girl squealed in happiness, jumping up and down while clapping her hands excitedly. "Yay!"
"Good thing we already planned on going shopping for your dress tonight," said Jennie as she watched the girl with a smile. "Must the color match your bridesmaids' dresses?" she asked Irene.
"Yeah."
"Okay. Then we're off to hunt you a pretty dress tonight," Jennie told Jiyoon who grinned then ran out of the room again.
"Where are you going?!" shouted Lisa from her seat.
"I'll get her," said Irene, moving to go after the happy girl. "Thanks, Lis."
"No problem."
"Don't worry. It will be fine," Jennie said once she saw Lisa frowning again. "Security would be high since Chu and her family would be there too. You have nothing to worry about."
"Never say never, Jen. We must not let our guard down even for a second."
"I know but it's Irene's wedding. Let them have fun."
Another knock on the door interrupted them.
"Um... your guest has arrived, Miss Kim," said one of the waiters. "I've shown him to the table."
"Oh okay. Thank you."
"Well, let's go." Lisa stood up then watched Jennie hesitantly gather her stuff and shut down her computer. "Hey."
Jennie looked up and saw Lisa smiling gently at her with one hand extended towards her.
"You're doing the right thing and I'm very proud of you regardless of what's going to happen after dinner," said Lisa. "And no, I'm not expecting things to get fixed after one dinner but it's a step in the right direction."
Jennie took Lisa's hand and let the other woman pull her into a hug. "Thanks. Let's just get this over with," she mumbled against Lisa's shoulder.
—-
The meal started awkward and mostly quiet but Lisa did her best to liven up the atmosphere. She was relieved that Jiyoon was there with her antics that kept her busy. Although she was initially scared of the man, after a few minutes of watching him and hearing him being introduced as Jennie's father, Jiyoon seemed to be able to gradually warm up to him.
She asked him whether he liked ice cream and what his favorite flavor was.
He chuckled, gave her the answer and she began telling him about her favorite ice cream flavor then Lisa's then Jennie's too.
Towards the end of the meal, the man was comfortable enough to even help wipe Jiyoon's hand when she accidentally dipped it in her fruit bowl.
"She reminds me of you," he said, looking at Jennie after Lisa had taken over the task.
Jennie didn't respond. She tilted her head, watching him, gauging his sincerity.
He quickly turned awkward under the stare, cleared his throat and shifted before proceeding to finish his dessert.
"How was she when she was Jiyoon's age?" asked Lisa.
"Huh?"
Both Jennie and her father were caught off guard by the question.
He smiled a little when he saw Lisa's expression, knowing the reason behind the question. "She was a very cheerful girl," he said. "Always doing something either singing, dancing, talking or tinkering with one of our things. I remember coming home to see my wife scolding her for taking our alarm clock apart." He chuckled at the memory. "I thought she was going to be an engineer or something. She seemed to have a fascination for how things work."
"When was this?" Jennie had to ask, unsure of the event her father was talking about.
"You were around Jiyoon's age. Four years old. It was summer, I remember. You had no school and was probably bored."
"Where was grandma then? Or Auntie?"
His smile faded a bit. "They were on holiday so your mother took a few days off to look after you."
"Ah. That summer." Jennie didn't remember much but it was one of the few times she remembered feeling like she had a great summer break. "When she bought me that inflatable pool."
"Yeah. You and your cousins literally ruined it towards the end of summer."
Jennie shrugged. "Isn't that what a kid's pool is for? For kids to play with it until it breaks?" The memory had become more painful than soothing somehow.
He took a deep breath and muttered an apology. After placing his spoon down, he reached out for the napkin, wiped his mouth and told Lisa that he should probably get going.
"When are you leaving Seoul, Sir?" asked Lisa.
"Next weekend, Lisa."
"Oh. Saturday or Sunday?"
"Saturday."
"Oh." Lisa stole a glance at the quiet Jennie before speaking again. "I wish we could see you off but there's a friend's wedding that we have to attend so..."
"It's okay." He smiled kindly. "Thank you for offering. Well, thank you for today." He looked at his daughter, saw the unreadable expression and looked away again, choosing to say goodbye to the little girl instead. He laughed when she bowed from her tall chair and shook his hand.
"You're cute," he said, patting the girl's head before he took out his wallet.
"Don't worry, Mr. Kim. It's on us," said Lisa, stopping the man.
"No no, Lisa. This time it's on me. You've done too much." He signaled the waiter for the bill.
"Don't be stubborn, Dad." Jennie swiftly took the bill from the waiter when it came and handed it to Lisa. "We got this."
He was surprised but his expression softened a moment later. "Thank you."
While Lisa paid for the meal, Jennie tried making small talk, asking her father for his current address because there were some things she wanted to give her sister and family back home. She thought she could send it to the address so he could take it with him.
"Sure. It's like a small guesthouse owned by a friend of mine." He searched his pocket, took out a worn card and gave it to Jennie. "I'm staying here. Room 7."
"Okay. Thanks."
His smile had grown wider by the time he stood up and nodded goodbye.
Jennie exhaled as she sat back down and sipped her remaining drink.
"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Lisa said as she let Jiyoon down from her chair to go play. She sat next to Jennie then held her hand. "You did well. I'm proud of you."
Jennie leaned her head on Lisa's shoulder. "I feel like I've just run a marathon."
Lisa chuckled, kissed Jennie's hair and smiled. "Don't exaggerate, Nini."
"I'm not exaggerating, Lisa. That was exhausting."
"You did well."
"Thanks," mumbled Jennie and closed her eyes for a moment. Despite the unsettling feeling she still had inside, she had to admit that it felt good to be able to talk to her father again no matter how awkward it was.
"Lili! Nini! Can we go shopping now?" shouted the girl who ran towards them, throwing herself on Lisa's lap.
Jennie opened her eyes, lifted her head and let Jiyoon crawl her way to her lap.
"Let's go get flower dress," said Jiyoon as she tried to stand, making Jennie frown and groan when the girl began pulling and stepping on her.
"Y-yah. Calm down," Jennie told the girl who now had both hands on her cheeks. "What?" she teasingly asked.
"Get pretty dress," said Jiyoon in all seriousness, staring straight into Jennie's eyes.
She grinned when she saw the expression. "You want a pretty dress that badly?"
Jiyoon nodded. "Will it be pink?"
"Unfortunately, it will be yellow this time because it has to match Aunt Irene's chosen color."
"Yellow? Not pink?"
"Yeah."
"Meh..." The girl flopped down on Jennie's lap and sulked, crossing her arms cutely.
Lisa and Jennie laughed at the cute reaction.
"You're still using it wrong," commented Lisa.
"Why not pink?" Jiyoon asked Jennie again.
"Because for weddings you need to follow the bride's wishes. And Aunt Irene's the bride. She chose yellow."
"It will still be pretty, Jiyoon-ah," said Lisa, helping Jennie out.
The girl cutely sighed. "Okay then."
Jennie couldn't stop herself from hugging Jiyoon and kissing her cheek. "Now go tell Aunt Irene we're going and tidy up your things. Put them all in your bag, okay?"
They watched Jiyoon crawl back down and ran away, shouting for her Aunt Irene.
"That girl, seriously," said Lisa with a chuckle and a shake of the head. "She resembles you a lot indeed."
"What are you talking about? All that sighing and that moodiness are all so typically you."
"Excuse me? She just sulked about not being able to wear pink. Whose fault is that?"
"Hey, she has good taste. Don't blame her."
A loud giggle from the back of the restaurant caught their attention and they found themselves smiling.
"We're lucky, aren't we?" asked Lisa, lacing her fingers with Jennie's.
"Yeah." She kissed Lisa's cheek. "We are."
—-
The days that followed were surprisingly normal. Everyone on the team was on full alert but when nothing happened, they started to find their old rhythm back.
By Wednesday, the work area had clearly become more cheerful.
Lisa had talked to Jisoo, asking for reduced sentencing. The captain agreed and let Lisa come back to work starting on that same Wednesday.
Chanyeol's health had improved and so had Jongin's shoulder so they had now taken into teasing Joonmyun and his cast.
The team had even gone back to their mischievousness during visits from Chanyeol's fan and a surprise appearance by Bambam who claimed he was in town for work.
"Work?" Lisa teased. "Right."
"Ask Senior Inspector Park downstairs if you don't believe me. One of his suspects fled Seoul and ran into trouble in Jeonju. I'm just here to bring him back," explained Bambam.
"Why you? You could have just let your Assistant Inspector do it."
"I like the hands-on approach, you know that," he defended himself.
"More like hands on Chaeyoung," remarked Jongin who earned himself a few high-fives from the other boys and thumbs up from Lisa.
"Shut up! All of you!" scolded the blushing Chaeyoung. "It's just a friendly lunch, okay? You're all welcome to join if you want."
Bambam winced a little too obviously.
"I don't think Hyung wants us anywhere near you," said Chanyeol with a smirk. "Don't worry. We understand, Chaeng. Go ahead. Have that 'friendly' lunch of yours." He made air quotes with his fingers.
"Yes. You have my blessing," said Lisa.
"Never asked for it, Cousin," replied Bambam who gestured to Chaeyoung to hurry.
"You might need my help later on so be nice. Or should I tell Auntie now?" Lisa pretended to take her phone out.
"Hey hey! I've always been supportive about you and Jennie there." He gestured at the smiling Jennie with his head.
"You told Umma about me and Jennie. I feel like I should return the favor," teased Lisa.
"She asked! What was I supposed to do? Lie?"
"Yes."
"This kid..." He shook his head. "Goodbye. I'm hungry." He waited for Chaeyoung to walk past him before he followed her out, waving goodbye to the rest.
"Well, that was fun. What are we having for lunch?" asked Jongin from his desk.
"We have a lunch appointment so you guys go ahead," Lisa said as she stood up and walked over to where Jennie was sitting.
"Minyoung?" asked Seulgi. She was well aware of the adoption process her friends were about to undertake. They had asked her to be one of the witnesses should the court require it.
"Yeah. Then we're off to see Mrs. Yoon," said Jennie as she shouldered her bag. "Wanna come along?"
"Nah. That sounds like work. I prefer hanging out with the boys," said Seulgi loud enough for the others to hear.
"Yeah! We're fun and cool like that," said Jongin with a grin.
Lisa rolled her eyes. "Kids."
"Ahjumma," retorted Seulgi before waving goodbye to her friends.
—-
"This is the place?" Minyoung asked in slight disbelief when she walked out of the small alley.
"Yeah. And you'll understand why we told you to bring spare clothes after this," said Lisa. "Although it's a lot better now." She pressed the rusty doorbell and waited.
The door opened a short while later, revealing a tired looking old woman.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Yoon," greeted Lisa. "Are you okay? You look pale."
"I'm okay. Just tired," said the woman, opening the door wider for her guests.
Lisa stepped inside and sniffed the thick smell of frying oil. "Have you been going back to the market?"
The woman didn't respond, going straight to the kitchen instead.
Lisa placed the food and herbal medicine she brought on an empty space somewhere on the littered counter before going to the living room where Jennie and Minyoung were.
They waited until the woman had come out of the kitchen and sat down before they took their seats.
"Mrs. Yoon, this is our attorney Lee Minyoung," Lisa introduced the two. "She's helping us with Jiyoon's adoption."
The young attorney bowed. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Yoon. You might see me a few more times during the entire process," she said with a friendly smile.
"What do I have to do?" asked the old woman.
"Nothing much." Minyoung opened her briefcase and took out a form. "You need to fill out this form but no worries, I will help you. Then you would have to write a formal letter, acquiescing your guardian rights to Lisa unnie. I will help you with that too." She then went on to explain the decision to let Lisa adopt Jiyoon as a single parent.
"Okay, I understand," said Jiyoon's grandmother as she took the form from Minyoung and searched for her reading glasses in her apron pocket.
They spent the rest of the next hour helping the woman while Minyoung asked her questions about Jiyoon's parents and background.
Once they left the small house, the young attorney took a deep breath and cringed when she sniffed her clothes. "Okay. Now I understand why you told me to bring extra clothes. I'm just glad that there's a gym in my office building where I can shower," she said. "And to think that a child had to live under those conditions..."
"She's not a bad person," said Lisa. "Life isn't exactly easy for her too. She has to make ends meet."
"I know. It's just... oh well. I've seen worse, to be quite honest. I thought I'd get used to it over time but I don't think I can," replied Minyoung. "Anyway," she began to smile, "I'm just glad you guys are taking care of her."
"We should probably talk to her about my moving out," Jennie said, looking at Lisa. "Ease her in so she won't panic when the time comes."
"Well, I'll be back to take Mrs. Yoon's statement later this week. I plan to make sure that everything's in order by... say... next week?"
"So I have to move out by next week?"
Minyoung nodded. "Or if you want to wait a bit longer, I don't mind. I'll hold off submitting everything until you're ready to move out. How's that?"
"That would be better," said Lisa. "Let's ease Jiyoon into this. I don't want her to get the wrong idea."
"Okay. Just give me a date and I'll take care of the rest," said Minyoung with a smile.
"Thanks, Minyoung."
"No problem, Unnie."