December twenty-third came faster than expected. Lisa was already packing her bags for her 'moving' into the Kims' house for the next few days. She was honestly excited that she was able to spend those special family holidays in someone's company, even though it wasn't with her own family.
Spending a few days with Jennie close to her would give her the perfect opportunities to proceed with her plan - to finally ask her to be her girlfriend. Lisa regretted wasting so much time after the date in not asking that important questions and she wanted to fix it as soon as possible. She thought that the warm embrace of the holidays would be the perfect time to do that.
Seun greeted Lisa with hugs and kisses when she arrived at the house, saying how happy she was to have her with them for the Christmas break. Lisa was happy to be given this opportunity with Jennie and also to be able to eat actual good food and not something burned, which was the best she could prepare by herself.
The whole family gathered together and spent the rest of the day getting to know each other, especially their welcomed guest, better. Lisa completely adored Seun and Jihwan. They were the perfect example of successful parents that were able to do their parenting right in the meantime and hold the family always strong and united. Everyone could see it reflecting on Jennie's own perfect behavior.
That night, Seun had filled the dining table with countless of different deliciously looking meals that filled the house with additional warmth and pleasant mix of scents. They sat down and devoured the food fairly quickly while making plans for the upcoming few interesting days.
"Well, It already started to get late" Seun started. "I suggest we go to bed now. Tomorrow is going to be a big day and we will need lots of energy" she stood up and started picking up the empty dishes and clean the dirty table.
"Yeah, I'm getting a little sleepy already" Jennie said before turning towards Lisa on her left. "I'll show you your room" she held her hand and pulled her up the stairs towards the second floor.
Lisa's heart slightly jumped at the mention of her separate room. Even though she knew it was almost impossible, she still had some miniature hope that she would be allowed to sleep in Jennie's, but in a house this big it should have been obvious that there were going to be extra guest rooms.
"I don't think my parents would let us sleep in the same room so this one is yours, just across mine" Jennie opened the door and let them in.
The room was fairly big, with a single bed in the far left corner, a big window on the wall touching the headboard, a wooden wardrobe and a bookcase lining along the right wall, a door right opposite of the bed, leading towards the bathroom, and a small opening in the left wall that led to a closed space with a study table and a reading nook on the right wall that closed a window right between them.
Even though Lisa suspected that it hadn't been used in a while, there was not a trace of dust stacked on the furniture or a single crumb on the soft carpet. The room was filled with the amazing smell of the flowery fragrance used for washing the new set of sheets that hugged the bed. It was obvious Seun took a good care of it for Lisa's arrival.
"Wow, it's pretty" Lisa commented as she looked around. "Why wouldn't they let us? They know we have slept in the same bed before and nothing happened, right?" she chuckled but she didn't hear Jennie follow.
Lisa turned around and faced the brunette who was leaning against the door frame. Her face was stoic and did not read a single trace of humor. The girl thought that she must have said something wrong that upset her and was about to apologize when Jennie cut her off.
"After what happened with Jackson, my parents became really cautious with everything and everyone. I understand where they come from, though. If the same happened with my daughter in the future, I would be paranoid and super protective of her too" Jennie lowered her head and played with her fingers. "They were a little scared to even let me at Jisoo's sleepover the other day. They know her, but they just recently met you and they don't know Chaeyoung at all, so I understand why they were scared"
Lisa listened with her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Do they-" she started hesitantly. "Do they really think I'm capable of doing the same as what he did to you?" Lisa shook her head. "I would never force you to do stuff against your will, never would do something with you without your permission first. I would never do anything to hurt you, Jennie! Both you and they should know that"
Lisa slightly raised her voice as she started to take a hint of offense. Jennie sensed the sudden change in the mood and immediately closed the door before cupping both of Lisa's cheeks.
"No, Lisa, listen to me! You got it all wrong. I trust you with that, I do. My parents, they really like you, you know that, you can see it. But they are my parents and I'm their only daughter, they have the right to fear and be suspicious of everything and everyone, even my closest people, especially when all that mess was initiated by someone I trusted so much.
They are still trying to get to know you better and give you a chance, Lisa, even after that happened. Please, understand if they are not trusting you fully yet. They will eventually get there, we both know it. But for now, please forgive them. I'm not mad at what they are doing because it just shows that they care. I don't want you to be mad at them for that. They are just doing their job as parents"
Lisa listened carefully to everything Jennie said and slowly started to realize she was right. They weren't bad for caring and trying to protect their only child, the cruel world was the one at fault for making them like this. Maybe Lisa wasn't able to completely understand simply because she had never experienced such love and care from her own family.
Jennie trusted Jackson, and as much as they didn't like him, her parents did in a way too. None of them would have ever expected something like that to happen. Now, there was Lisa taking his place. She was another person Jennie loved with her everything, but they already knew better than to lower their guards too fast.
She heaved a deep sigh and held Jennie's hands as the guilt seeped through her. "I'm so sorry" she said quietly and lowered her head. "I shouldn't have reacted like this. I just don't like them thinking of me as a potential abuser who just wants to do horrible stuff to their daughter. I'm not like him, Jennie, and never will be"
"I know. I know you are not, Lis. You are so much better than anything he would ever be in his miserable life"
"I understand if they can't fully trust me after him, but I will work hard for it until it happens"
"Yes, you can do it. I believe in you, and that they will see what a good person you genuinely are. Just give them some time, please" Lisa nodded, giving Jennie's hands a light squeeze. "It's time to sleep now, though. You can unpack your things if you want, just to be able to find everything you need later" the brunette parted their hands and stepped back, ready to leave.
"Everything I need will be in the room across from mine" Lisa softly said.
She heard Jennie shyly giggle before the door completely closed.
"Good night, my love"
Lisa grabbed her bag and dumped its contents on the bed before putting everything on their assigned places around the room. She changed into her sleeping clothes and dived under the extremely soft blanket, ready to finally get some sleep. But instead, she stood awake for the next hour, thinking of how the big day of her plan was slowly approaching.
Lisa woke up around nine on the next morning to the amazing smell of a delicious breakfast being freshly made in the kitchen downstairs. Her empty stomach grumbled loudly at the thought of devouring the food. Lisa got up from the bed and stretched before heading toward the door that supposedly led to her bathroom.
Surprised, she stopped in her tracks when she noticed Jennie already brushing her teeth by the sink. "Oh, good morning" she said slightly confused.
Jennie looked at her through the mirror and quickly washed her mouth from the excessive foam before turning back. "Good morning. Before you think of anything in the wrong way, just know that our rooms share one bathroom" she quickly said and pointed toward a door at the other end. "See? That leads to my room. If you want to take a shower, lock both doors, just in case"
Lisa chuckled. "Okay, then. I thought you decided to be a creep and stalk me while I sleep. Glad to know I'm wrong" she nestles next to Jennie and started brushing her teeth also.
"No, I'm not a creep!" she said too quickly, which made it sound suspicious. Lisa glanced at her and lifted a brow. "Okay, I may have peeked a little earlier, but just because you are so cute when you sleep. I swear it was just for a second!"
Lisa laughed at her blushing face. "I didn't expect to share a bathroom with someone" she changed the topic.
"Yeah, the house is a little weirdly build, I guess, but we really loved it before buying it. We don't really have any guests so it's not usually a problem"
"The house is absolutely beautiful. I also don't think that's such a big problem anyways. I can live with it for a week"
Once they finished, Jennie made her way into her own space with Lisa trailing behind her curiously. The room wasn't anything big, but was just enough for her. Everything inside screamed 'Jennie'. It had a study desk stacked with books and framed picture pushed under a window on the right wall, a wardrobe and a small bookcase and shelves on the opposite wall, and the exit door just on the other side of the double bed placed against the left wall. The walls were painted in light baby pink while the furnitures were mostly colored white. The whole place sent a warm and comfortable vibes and Lisa understood why Jennie liked it so much.
"Cute room, I like it" Lisa said as she looked around. She stopped by the desk and picked up the picture. It portraited a young version of Jennie holding a small puppy Lisa wasn't able to recognize.
"Yeah, I haven't changed a thing since I was little. It just holds too much memories from my childhood" Jennie turned to Lisa and noticed her looking at the picture. She walked closer and put her head on her shoulder, her arm snaking around her waist. "That's Kai. I once told you about him"
"When was that?"
"That was taken the first months after we got him. My parents gifted him to me on my seventh birthday. I'm almost twenty now. Time really flies" Jennie chuckled slightly as she reminiscent her life with him. "We brought him to my first school day, celebrated holidays, played at the beach and all day around the house and backyard, slept in my bed at night and he would cuddle closely to protect me from the monsters, I talked to him about anything a seven years old could talk about. He was a great listener, by the way" they both chuckled as Jennie snuggled closer.
Seun's voice was suddenly heard from downstairs.
"We should go down. Come on" Jennie untangled herself from Lisa and pulled her by the hand. The island in the kitchen was ammased with tipical Korean breakfast dishes consisting of vegetable omelet, tofu with seasoned soy sauce, rice cooked with red and black beans, radish kimchi and Korean coleslaw.
"Come on, girls. Eat because we have a lot of things to do today and you'll need the energy" Seun said as Lisa and Jennie accommodated on the kitchen stools comfortably and dug in. They were immediately hit with the immaculate taste of the mixed ingredients and the fresh spices from the very first bite, extracting muffled moans from both of them. Gosh, this woman definitely knew how to cook.
"Wow, this is amazing, Seun" Lisa smiled at her before turning to Jennie. "Definitely better than Jisoo and Chaeyoung's breakfast from the other day" they laughed together.
Later on, Jihwan joined the rest of them and after breakfast, they walked out together to look for new Christmas decorations for the exterior of the house. They spent hours hopping from store to store until the time to go back home finally came.