Chapter 2
I won't say I love you (if you don't)Move the coffee cup to the left.
Maybe shift the croissant to the right.
Okay, maybe if she moves everything to a 45-degree angle.
Chaeyoung took a step back, her pretty face twisting in dissatisfaction at the breakfast she had set on her boss’ table. She has been struggling for about twenty minutes to make it look ig worthy and hopefully when her boss walks in it’s enough to put a smile on her face.
“Ms. Park?”
“Oh shi-“ If it weren’t for her quick reflex, the steaming cup of coffee would have poured everywhere on her boss’ desk. Thankfully she managed to salvage it, other than a few spills that nothing like a paper towel couldn’t fix.
“Ms. Kim, hello good morning.”
“Good morning, what is-“ Her boss’ cat-like eyes narrowed at the setup. It wasn’t the reaction that Chaeyoung was hoping for, but she could work with that. “All this?”
“Oh!” Chaeyoung bolted straight, like an eager student ready to please a teacher. “Ummm, it’s just my way of saying thank you for ummm… agreeing to go as my da- I mean to go with me to my unnie’s wedding.
Chaeyoung sees her boss’ face remain passive, before turning nonchalant about it.
“It’s not a problem,” She places her bag away, settling herself on her desk. “Anything I could do to help an employee.”
The secretary knows it’s too cocky for her to assume anything, but it still stung to hear that word. But Chaeyoung shakes it all off, she’s here to work and the least she could do is be a good employee.
“Oh. Well, thank you again, Ms. Kim. I’ll go back to my desk.”
“Thank you for this, Ms. Park, I appreciate it.”
“Just call me if you need anything.”
Chaeyoung replies with a gentle smile and an even gentler bow before stepping out of the room.
1,2,3…
The young President waited for a few good seconds before she lets out a gigantic smile. The butterflies in her stomach have already been doing cartwheels the second she walks in and saw her beautiful secretary in her office.
The breakfast set in front of her looks so pretty, she doesn’t even want to eat it. She reaches out for the note, her gummy smile an evidence of how much her heart is just fluttering out of her chest.
Dear Boss,
Here’s a little breakfast to help you through your day. 😊 Hope this could calm your tummy until I grab your lunch.
Always here to make sure you are fed,
Chaeyoung
Jennie buries her face in her palms, holding out the squeal that is going to break from her lips.
“Oh my God, I’m going crazy.”
This is too pretty to eat, but what she could do is take a picture of it.
Jennie pulls out her phone from her pocket, before leaning back trying to find the perfect angle to her perfect breakfast.
Maybe I should stand up.
So, she did, hovering over her breakfast to capture the lighting just right.
“Jennie, I have the reports on-“
A cuss almost slips from Jennie’s lips as her phone almost landed on her coffee. But she caught it right on time before pretending to look over something on her screen.
But it was already too late, she couldn’t see Jisoo’s face but the eating smirk was already drilling on her head.
It didn’t help that her face is flushed with embarrassment.
“Just place it on my desk.” The executive says, trying to regain whatever composure she had left.
“Okay, right here next to your Starbucks coffee?”
Jisoo is taunting her, Jisoo is clearly taunting her.
“Yes, just there is fine. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Do you want me to take a picture of you and your star-“
“Unnie!” Jennie’s tone rises a pitch higher, only Kim Jisoo is capable of sending Jennie to the most embarrassing ride ever.
“What?”
“Nothing. Thanks.”
She expected her bestfriend to just walk away and let her ball herself in the corner in peace. But that’s not who Kim Jisoo is, right?
No. Instead Jisoo just stood there, looking at her like she’s waiting for her to break.
“Can I have some of your-“
“No!” Jennie went as far as almost slapping Jisoo’s hand away, when the girl’s hand reached out for her croissant. “Chaeyoung brought me for me, let your secretary get you something.”
She sounded like a damn kid, protecting her favorite toy.
But Jisoo is hardly unfazed over anything, so she just kept on standing there, but when she realized that Jennie would not say anything about this, she spoke up first.
“So, what are you getting out of this?”
“Getting out of what?”
Jennie goes through her stack of folders, trying to put an impression that she’s ready to move on with her day.
“Of you and Chaeyoung going to the wedding together?”
“Nothing. I’m just- I want to- well, to help out.”
“I don’t know if anyone told you, Jen. But it’s not bad to want something or more specifically someone for yourself.”
Jisoo spoke in a hushed tone that let Jennie knew right then and there that the older girl wasn’t playing around.
“No, I’m just… Chaeyoung has been a wonderful secretary for years. It’s just my way of saying thanks.”
Jennie didn’t bother looking away from her emails, but she could already feel the judging gaze on her bestfriend’s face.
“Okay, so just to let you know, it’s a wedding. And basing on the fanfics I read, other than coffeeshops, weddings is where most people fall in love. And oh yeah, in universities too. They fall in love during college too.”
Jennie’s pretty fingers paused midway when she heard those three words.
Fall in love.
Unfortunately, it’s a little too late for that in her case.
“So, if you just go there and treat Chaeyoung like you’re just thanking her for being an employee. Then, she meets someone who thinks she’s the best thing in this entire universe, and she falls in love with someone else right in front of your eyes. Are you saying you are okay with that?”
Her heart broke in a matter of a few seconds.
If they’re like her, there could be more than one or two people who would just fall in love with Chaeyoung at first sight. That was to be expected, but what if….
“I’m okay with it.” She lies, but she thinks that she did a good job of letting it out, considering that deep inside, she felt like she’s dying.
Jisoo lets out a sigh that sounded a little out of defeat and a whole lot of exasperation.
“Okay, whatever you say. But just to let you know, Lisa never puts any hearts on my coffee.”
*
Yesterday it was a T-rex.
This time her bestfriend is trying to draw what looks like a pirate on her boss’ coffee cup.
“Lisa?”
“Shhh…” Lisa hold out a finger, shushing her bestfriend before she could ruin her artistic flow. “I’m in my zone here.”
“Okay.”
“And I’m still mad at you by the way.”
There it is, it finally came out.
“Lisa… I’m so sorry about…”
“I forgive you!”
Chaeyoung back away as Lisa was quick to offer her a forgiving hug and a bright smile.
“I’m going to win bestfriend of the century for giving up my chance in finding happiness, so you could have it.”
Chaeyoung raises a brow at her, “Me? There’s really nobody there. Everyone is mostly the ones I grew up with.”
“I don’t mean them, I mean,” Lisa leans closer, those huge eyes glancing everywhere as if making sure no one else in the office hears their little secret. But Chaeyoung ends up with a bruise when Lisa nudges her a little too hard on her arm.
“-your date.”
Chaeyoung grimaced both from the pain and Lisa’s suggestion. “You mean Ms. Kim?”
“The President. The heiress. The Chaebol. The mofo queen. The boss ! The Jennie Goddamn Kim and your future wifey.”
Of course. Her hopeless romantic bestfriend is going to think that this is a love story waiting to happen. It’s both a good and bad thing that Chaeyoung is much of a realist to even believe in that.
“You can’t be serious.”
“Ohhhh… but I am,” Lisa’s face sour. “Why? She’s not your type?”
“She i-“ Chaeyoung managed to stop herself before she could let out anything else. It’s better not to say it out loud, hearing it makes it real. “I mean, c’mon seriously.”
“What?”
“You said it yourself, she’s Jennie Kim. I can’t even afford her to be my type.”
Lisa is looking at her like she has the word stupid plastered on her forehead.
“What? Cause she’s rich? You are letting that bother you?”
“She’s not just rich. You know how much she’s worth and… I… I see the offers she gets. Fashion Week all the those models just-“
“Thirst for her? But still, she’s never interested in them.”
This is one of those rare times that Lisa has a point. Fashion week is nothing more but a headache for them, models and designers and just people with money flocking around to get a chance with their boss. This year, the company sent out a memo that anyone caught peddling information about their President to this thirsty admirers would be terminated.
Unfortunately for her, as Ms. Kim’s secretary, she is called the last line of defense. There is one specific incident this year where a top European model showed up to their office, strutting her way to the President’s office when Chaeyoung had to stop her. The model didn’t even let her finish, her face twisted in a nasty snarl before shoving insults at her. The entire office just watched in horror as this stick thin Cruella de Ville just degrade her.
She remembers holding Lisa back as her bestfriend was ready to bulldoze her down. She remembers it all in, telling herself it’s just one bad day and she’s not going to lose her job over this.
And above all, she remembers her boss steps out with a seductive gaze and a motion of her finger for the model to join her in her office.
The thing about Ms. Kim is she never yells. Instead, with her deep, hushed tone she could make even a 300 pound man cry. (seen it first hand when top male executives come out of a meeting with “dust” in their eyes) But at that moment, the entire floor heard her scream, that Kiwi accent coming out like shrapnels, each word jagged, slicing through the model’s already deflating ego.
The model storms out of the office in tears but not without sending a death glare over Chaeyoung’s way.
“Chaeyoung? You got me?”
“Oh,” Chaeyoung tries to brush away the bad memory. But those are things that stays with you. She could still remember how Lisa was extra gentle with her. She treata her for lunch and dinner that day just to make her forget it. “Yeah, I do. But no Lisa, just no.”
“Oh c’mon,” “I mean- it’s not like me and my boss talk about how Ms. Kim doesn’t even bother with them but-”
Lisa stops and lets Chaeyoung try to figure out the rest of what she needed to say.
“Anyways, Ms. Kim might be a billionaire, but she’s still just a girl.”
“Ready, Lisa?”
They look up to see Jisoo finally stepping out of her boss’ office.
“Oh! Oh! Sure sure! This is your coffee and this is how your schedule for the day looks.” Lisa turns to look at Chaeyoung before trailing behind her boss. “Remember what I told you.”
Chaeyoung just responds with a weak nod, their VP was just grinning widely at her before giving Chaeyoung two thumbs up. Part of her wished that her relationship with her boss is just like how her bestfriend is with hers. A part of her wishes that she and Ms. Kim could just be dorks together, laughing over stupid stuff instead of walking around broken glass like they do.
She stole a glance over her boss, but almost flew out of her seat when their gaze met. Her boss’ shocked reaction didn’t help either, until Chaeyoung just looks down on her keyboard, struggling to keep her smile from breaking.
She slowly looks up and this time her boss looks composed, raising her hand to wave at her. Chaeyoung replies with a shy wave as well.
And maybe they will never act dorky together, maybe they won’t even share a laugh, but Chaeyoung knows that there is no one that she’s willing to walk around or even step on broken glass other than her.
*
“Boss?”
Chaeyoung wished she could see through those dark sunglasses so she could see her boss’ eyes. Despite of her protest that she didn’t have to go there until Sunday, her boss was adamant in driving her to the place.
Her unnie and her future wife chose to get married at their old summer home, a good two hour drive from the city. The skyscrapers are slowly dwindling into a small peaceful town that never failed to ease Chaeyoung. For her, this place has always been an escape from the hustles and bustles of the city.
The drive there wasn’t as stifling as Chaeyoung thought, her boss kept a polite conversation, and they never veered out of the topic of work, most of their conversations were in agreement of how Jisoo and Lisa kept them both mental.
“Hmmm…”
“Thank you for driving. I mean you didn’t need to come over today. The wedding is not until tomorrow so-”
“Well, if we are going to pretend, might as well go all out, right?”
“Right.”
“And besides, I have heard about this place. So, I really want to see how it is.”
“Oh. Me and my cousins usually come here every summer. So, if you like I could take you to some places to eat.” Chaeyoung stops when she realizes she’s sounding way too eager. “Well, only if you want to.”
“I would love too.”
Chaeyoung’s lips parted wanting to address the elephant in the room/ car about how they’re going to go through this arrangement. Fake girlfriends, they need to have a backstory, right? They need to get their stories on the same page.
“Is that Chaeyoung?!”
“Oh God, here we go,” Chaeyoung mutters under her breath when they park in front of a rustic but well maintained two story log cabin. The laughter from the four girls in the porch welcomed them home.
“Are you sure that-“
“It’s okay, Chaeyoung. Stay here.”
“What?”
Jennie steps out of the car first, and even from where she is, she saw how her families expression changed into fangirl mode. Even her cousin Joy, who is usually unfazed by anything and anyone couldn’t hide her reaction.
Chaeyoung was too amused watching her family’s reaction that she didn’t even realize when the door opens.
“Rosieeeee!”
Jennie turns to Chaeyoung, face running blank. “Rosie?”
“Oh, that’s my English name.” She whispered to her boss. “Roseanne.”
Jennie was expecting greetings with warm hugs and kisses and compliments. So, when she saw the girls gave Chaeyoung a headlock, Jennie realized that she probably doesn’t know Chaeyoung that well at all.
“Oh wow… it’s the Jennie Kim.”
Chaeyoung could understand the fascination people have with her boss. It wasn’t just her family that’s fascinated. There has always been an air of mystery that the chaebol has that had the entire nation groveling under those red heeled stilettos. Rich and beautiful like something out of a modern fairy tale.
“Is that your nickname for each other? Boss?” Count on her cousin Yeri to point this out.
“,” And of course, Joy has to join along.
“Stop you two! Rosieeee.”
“Unnie.”
Chaeyoung couldn’t contain a giggle when her boss’ face looks stomp with confusion. She’s probably wondering how she’s calling someone shorter, like much shorter than her unnie.
“She’s your unnie?”
“I know. Rose got all the height in our family. Well, I hope you guys are hungry cause I made sure I cook a lot. I’m Wendy, it’s so nice to finally see my baby sister find someone to love.”
“Unnie please.” Chaeyoung groans out in sheer embarrassment.
“What? You are an amazing girl. You are very lucky, Ms. Kim.”
“I don’t know, unnie,” A shorter girl with mischief written all over her face spoke up. “She’s worth billions, she is more than lucky. I’m Yeri by the way, her favorite cousin.”
“Nice to meet you, you could just call me Jennie.”
“You look much shorter in life.” Yeri states
“It’s not like your tall yourself,” Her taller cousin speaks. “I’m Joy, the beautiful one in the family.”
“And this is the woman I’m going to spend my entire life with, Irene.”
Jennie had always been surrounded by beautiful ladies, but even she had to admit that Chaeyoung’s future sister in law was just on a whole different level of stunning.
“Hi, nice to meet you.”
“We are one cousin down.”
“The dumb one.”
“Yeri seriously.”
“C’mon you guys, I got lunch all ready.”
“She’s been cooking all day.”
Chaeyoung looks back at Jennie before she looks at her family. They didn’t even bother to be discreet about watching them.
What do girlfriends do?
She turned over to her unnie and her future wife and caught them holding hands. She doesn’t know how her boss would react and she just has to apologize about it later. Chaeyoung reaches back and holds her boss’ hand. They work together for years so it’s understandable when their hands brush or they shake hands, but this is the most intimate that they have to have her hand just wrapped around hers.
People always have this vision of Jennie Kim, that she could slay dragons and crumble empires so to hold her hand and feel how soft and little it is in hers, made Chaeyoung feel like she should protect Jennie from the world.
“Are you two just going to go all googly eye on each other or are we gonna eat?”
*
“Where are my teddy bears?”
“Eunae had to work tonight, and you know Seulgi unnie can’t handle those three. So, they’re just going to come tomorrow.”
“Teddy Bears?” Jennie turned to her in surprise.
“Oh, have you watch that short film from Pixar? They’re like little Bao babies. All round with little eyes like their mom.”
“And there’s like three of them.”
“But, they got taller now. So, they’re not as round as before.” Wendy defended. “They’re going to be the most adorable flowergirls in the whole world.”
“So, maybe not Baos anymore, like dimsums maybe.”
“Awwwww… I want them to stay as Teddy cubs.” Chaeyoung pouts and whines, she jumps back in surprise when she sees the amused smirk on her boss’ face. “Ummm… Here you go.”
Chaeyoung starts placing some barbecued meat on her boss plate.
“So, Jennie unnie,” Yeri spoke up first. “Can I call you, Jennie unnie since we are basically family?”
“Ummm yeah, sure.”
“So, Jennie unnie, is it true that you went out on a date with the maknae from Red Velvet?”
Chaeyoung’s face flushed in embarrassment. Her boss makes its clear that she doesn’t want her name associated with anyone. Chaeyoung saw first hand what she did when rumors started about her dating a member of Twice, her boss had an entire publishing company wiped out.
“Yerrrrriiiii…”
“What? I’m just curious! It was a blind item but kinda obvious.”
“No. I actually don’t know her.”
“Okay, that’s good.” Joy points out, waving around her chopsticks. “Cause if there is someone who you should date in red Velvet, it’s the actress she’s hot and beautiful and doesn’t look like she just graduated from high school.”
“Guys c’mon, that doesn’t matter no more,” Wendy placed two more plates of steaming, flavorful meat that got Chaeyoung clapping gleefully and had Jennie smiling in amusement at her reaction.
“What matters now is she and Chaeyoung are together.”
“So, when did you guys first started dating?”
Oh … Chaeyoung felt like she looked extra stupid with meat hanging in and a lost expression on their face. Her boss still has her signature cool expression, but Chaeyoung could already imagine the gears in her brain going haywire.
“Ah for like 3-3?”
“Three? ummm Four? Around four months?”
“Really? And you have been working together for like four years? So when did you two start like really liking each other?”
“Ummm,” Chaeyoung and Jennie exchange looks, this conversation will either cement their status or expose them for the liars that they are.
“Ummm well, I fell for Chaeyoung the moment I saw her.”
Chaeyoung spun her head quickly at what she just heard.
“Really?” Joy leans over the table, watching Jennie consciously after that cliché answer.
“Ummm yeah. She came in the interview, wearing this matching black blazer and this pencil skirt and she had her hair all up in this bun- but I couldn’t even focus on anything else because she looks so nervous. She was stammering a bit and playing with her fingers a lot the whole time, but among all of the candidates she was the most genuine. So, ahhh I decided to take a chance on her and ummm… she works very hard, but it’s ummm… more than that. It’s the small things that she does, her smile when I walk in, her voice that I just couldn’t stop listening to and before I knew it, she became someone I look forward to.”
There was something careful almost to the point of apprehensive about how her boss spoke. It was like Jennie was weighing every word making sure every letter and every syllable is measured just right so it doesn’t tip over this pretense of their fake dating. But Chaeyoung believes that it’s a little too late for that, every word and every detail that spills out of her boss’s gorgeous lips does nothing but make Chaeyoung’s heart pound mercilessly inside her chest. For once the realist in her gave way to what her heart wants to feel. She just doesn’t want to hear those words, she wants to feel it on her lips, to pull each confession closer to her with every kiss.
It didn’t help that her boss now looked away from her plate and gazed right through her, before her last words came out no louder than a whisper.
“And I have been falling for her ever since.”
It’s a miracle to see her entire family quiet for once, so right this very second, while they are staring at them tongue tied, is nothing short of an epiphany.
And it’s a miracle she is still alive when her heart ceased beating for a moment.
“Oh my God, Chaeng, you ing lucky, lucky, lucky girl.”
“Ahhh yeah. I…I…I am.” She let out a breath, she glances at her side, seeing her boss’ gaze back on her plate, playing around with her noodles.
“You finally found your princess charming, Chaeng.”
“Princess Charming?”
“Oh, it’s just that our cousin here is like a hopeless romantic, always imagining, that her life is like the fairy tale.”
“I grew out of it, okay?” Chaeyoung says, her tone clearly sets it that she’s not interested in diving in her teenage whims.
“So, anyways, tonight. Since our future brides are old as and refuse to have any strippers. We are just gonna stay in and have like an adult sleepover.”
“Yup. The only strips we will see are bacon and meat.”
“Oh c’mon, it won’t be that bad,” Wendy says reassuringly. “I’ll make my famous margaritas. What you guys think?”
Joy and Yeri exchanged dissatisfied looks. The two of them despite growing up trying to murder each other, always have this certain connection between them. A conversation that only their two dastardly minds could formulate.
“Okay, but we are in charge of the games.”
*
“Are you sure you are okay with this?”
Her boss asked her, those usual fierce eyes gazing softly back at her as she asked.
“Yes sure. Unnie is busy preparing last minute stuff for her wedding. I’ll be more like a distraction than help. So, ummm… would you like to go bike around?”
“Go bike?”
Jennie was going to tell her no, global warming is at it’s worse and staying outside felt like being shoved inside an oven cranked to 400 degrees. But then, she looks at Chaeyoung’s face, her cheeks look extra squishy with how happy she is, so how can Jennie say no to that?
“Let’s go.”
*
her flying yoga, biking under the heat is where it’s at.
She has no idea how her secretary does it. Chaeyoung looks like something out of a music video riding her bike along the riverside with that smile on her face. She won’t be surprise if she sees a boy group come out of nowhere and just starts singing. Jennie made a mental note to herself, do more cardio.
She let out a praise to the heavens when Chaeyoung finally found a cozy bench tucked underneath the trees. Jennie almost tumbled out of her bike. She could pretty much throw the bike off the river, if only her legs don’t feel like they’re about to fall off.
Chaeyoung was holding out a towel for her and before she could reach for it, Chaeyoung has started patting the beads of sweat trickling down her forehead. Jennie could swear she is sweating for a whole different reason.
“It- it’s okay, Chaeyoung, I could do it.”
“No, it’s okay, boss.”
“Jennie.”
“What?” Chaeyoung blinks surprisingly at her.
“We are supposed to be dating, so you can call me, Jennie.”
“Jennie.”
This was the first time Jennie felt her heart flutter just by hearing her name.
“Not a lot of people call me Jennie. Probably just Jisoo if I think about it.”
“I’ll call you Jennie then,” Chaeyoung said with a nudge on her shoulders. “Like when you call, I’ll be like, Yes Jen?”
“And I’ll be like, yeah Rosie?”
Chaeyoung answered her with a whine that’s way too cute on her, but definitely deserves a stapler on their face if it’s other people.
“Roseanne Park.”
The lilt in Jennie’s smile grew wider, “Jennie RubyJane Kim.”
The two girls turned to the river, their careful smiles turning more carefree every second.
“Ummm Jen?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you want to get a hotel room?”
Jennie never gets flustered, but that second she could feel like her head is about to explode.
“W-what?”
“No! no. I meant like since we’re staying in the same room and ummm… I saw your bed in your penthouse, this one is like half a size so ummm… I could get you a hotel room for tonight and-“
“No, I don’t mind sleeping with you.” God, that sounds wrong in all levels. “I mean like- ummm.”
Chaeyoung looks like she’s trying to resist the urge to smile.
“Yeah, it’s okay. I understand. But are you sure though?”
“Yeah.”
“I promise I don’t move a lot.”
“It’s alright.” She reaches for her water bottle, but biking might have taken all of her strength when she can’t even twist the cap off. Chaeyoung reaches for it and with one hard yank, Jennie could just watch in awe as Chaeyoung opened it. “Ummm thanks.”
“Your welcome, thanks for loosening it for me.”
Jennie could only answer her with a roll of her eyes. “I ummm… here.”
Chaeyoung’s brow raised as she sees an envelope. She looks at it like a snake is about to pop out of it.
“It’s your birthday gift.”
“But six of them though?”
“I don’t know which design you prefer, so I just got them all.”
“They’re all so pretty,” Chaeyoung says as she goes from card to card.
“Yeah.” Jennie doesn’t know if she’s talking about the card anymore.
“You know what I feel like doing now?”
Please don’t say anything that has to do with moving.
“Getting some tea. C’mon.” Chaeyoung pulls Jennie up on her feet, before waving her giftcard mischievously. “My treat.”
*
The plan to stay in turned out much better than they all thought. Even if Joy came out of the most rated games ever and drinks were poured even before their cups are halfway gone, the night still felt light with their loud laughs to play a melody.
For Chaeyoung it was just fun to see another side of her boss. To be more specific, to see the competitive streak of her boss. But that explains why the girl’s bank account has way too many zeroes. You can’t be a billionaire by playing it safe. But billionaire or not, what’s cuter is the little grunt or hiss, Jennie does whenever she messes up, her face (flushed from the alcohol) has the cutest fighting expression ever.
It was close to 2 am now and they decided to wind down by playing truth or dare. Adult version per Yeri (new adult’s) rule. The only rule is that when you choose to skip you have to take off your shirt.
“Okay, truth or dare, Chaeng?”
“Ummm… Dare.”
Joy and Yeri did that devilish facial expression again that had Chaeyoung gulping nervously.
“Okay, Chaeng show Jennie your talent.”
“You mean her singing?”
Chaeyoung’s expression changed completely when she saw the reaction of her cousins.
“Oh no, the other one.”
Chaeyoung shook her head, sending a warning look over to her cousins, only for them to wave it off, knowing the worse that she can do right now is whine and pout about it.
“What Chaeng? You never showed your girlfriend your unique gift?”
“No, and she will never will.”
“I’m curious now, what is it?”
“It’s nothing, really.” Chaeyoung waves it off, hoping they drop the subject.
“It’s not nothing Chaeng, only one person in the world possessed that talent and that’s you.”
Jennie turns to look at Chaeyoung, with a look of curiosity on her face.
“Well, if you don’t show her, we have videos of her doing it- Do you have it, Yeri?“
“Of course,” Yeri pulls out her phone, swiping through her videos, ready in case Chaeyoung decides to keep playing hard to get. “Let me see-“
“fine! Fine! Stop please. I ummm… I could ahhh… make a sound of someone trapped inside a box.”
Jennie her head closely, wondering if it’s the alcohol or if she’s hearing it right. “What did you say?”
“I ummm, I know how to make a sound like someone being trap inside the box.”
“You got to see this, Jennie. Asia’s got Talent don’t know what they’re missing.”
“This is what you’re going to whisper,” Joy’s lips curved as she whispers those words that got Chaeyoung’s jaw to hit the floor.
Shinee is right, her whisper is the Lucifer.
“Okay, and Jennie you have to guess what she said.”
“If Jennie doesn’t get the right words, Chaeyoung is going to take her shirt and pants off.”
“What?! You can’t just make up rules as you go. Unnie,” She turns to her Wendy unnie for back up, but everyone knows that Wendy is just as soft too.
“It’s okay, Rosie. you can do it.”
Chaeyoung in a deep breath, before facing her boss. She took another deep breath, hoping her boss would be too drunk to remember what she’s going to say.
She bubbles her cheeks, earning a cute smile from the President before she starts mumbling in .
And her boss just lost it, her laughter ringing around the room.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry- I can’t.” Jennie apologizes, even if her smile showed that she still finds it hella amusing. “Can you do it again?”
Jennie purses her lips this time, clearly struggling to hold out a smile. Her reaction was just too adorable for Chaeyoung that even if she’s embarrassing herself to the highest degree, she still finds herself smiling.
Chaeyoung was holding back a chuckle now, forgetting how absurd this was until she sees Jennie’s expression changed.
“Okay, ummm… Wait… did you say Jennie, I want to make a baby tonight?”
“Oh yeah!” Yeri yells out, exchanging highfive with Joy.
Joy starts hollering louder while both Wendy and Irene’s jaws both hit the ground. Chaeyoung wished she took the shot instead.
“Dare.”
It was Jennie’s turn now, after what felt like forever the corona bottle finally pointed at her. Chaeyoung was finding it hard to contain her eagerness. It didn’t surprise her at all that her boss would pick dare, but it’s going to be interesting to see how far her cousins could push her.
“Okay, I dare you to give me a 1 billion dollar check.”
“Yeri seriously,” Chaeyoung shrieks.
“Okay fine. Just 100 million.”
“Shut up, you gold digger.” Joy shoves Yeri out of the way, her lips curving into a smile that turned Chaeyoung’s eagerness into panic. “Okay, I dare you to kiss Chaeyoung right now.”
Oh . Oh . Oh . Oh . Oh . Oh … Chaeyoung is pretty sure she’s gonna run out of oh s from this dare.
Jennie could pretty much take her shirt off but if they want to keep this façade, why on Earth would she not kiss her “girlfriend”?
Before Chaeyoung could come up with an excuse, she felt a slight bump on her lips. It took her a few good seconds to figure out that it was Jennie’s attempt on a kiss.
She looks up and caught the dissatisfied look of her cousins.
“What the heck was that? My dog me on the cheek is ier than that.”
“Is it too late to sign that 100 million check?” Jennie asked, Yeri’s eyes gleamed looking like she’s ready to say yes.
“Why don’t you wanna kiss Chaeng?”
“My bo- I mean Jennie just doesn’t like to- I mean she’s just not PDA that’s all.”
“Well, it’s truth or dare. If you don’t do the dare, you just take your shirt off.”
Chaeyoung sees Jennie’s pretty eyes fluttering from her lips to the drink, to the drink then back to her lips again. With all the alcohol in her system, it robbed Chaeyoung the ability to lie to herself and if she’s being honest, she had to do admit, that there is nothing that she wants more than this kiss.
If only her boss wants it too.
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
And in one swipe, Jennie took her shirt off. Everyone’s jaw hits the floor, as she reveals that perfect slim body, that flying yoga could only bring you.
But Chaeyoung instantly sobered up and it wasn’t because her boss is sitting next to her half . It was more of the thought that she would rather do this, take off her shirt in front of people she just met than play along with a kiss.
It only taught Chaeyoung one thing about her boss. It was easy for someone like Jennie Kim to concoct a lie, to form some sort of fairy tale but to go further, even she can’t fake that. But could she really blame Jennie though? This girl could have European models in her bed, why on Earth would she try and kiss her secretary?
*
“Hey, you.”
“Hey.” Chaeyoung started helping her unnie picked up the empty plastic cups littered all over the coffee table. Nothing change, it’s still her unnie who cleans up after everyone. “You should be relaxing now.”
“I know, right? But I don’t know… doing nothing is just gonna make me more nervous.”
Chaeyoung smiles softly, “You’re still nervous?”
Wendy turns back to her little sister, that squishy smile runs in the family. “I know, right? Almost twenty years together and here I am, the excitement is getting to me I guess.”
“You and Irene unnie are practically married.”
“I know. It’s really more for practicality sake, like when we someday buy our house and if one of us gets sick, you need like a spouse for that. Irene always says that it’s just a piece of paper, I had to fight her for it.”
“She gave in?”
“She did. But yeah, relationships, they’re not always perfect.”
Chaeyoung looks at her unnie’s eyes. Her unnie was never the type to pry in her business, but even she could see how much her unnie wants to talk about it. About her so called relationship.
“I’m sorry unnie if I didn’t tell you about me and Jennie.”
“Hey, I completely understand. She’s… she’s bigger than life. I mean, Yeri is right, she is shorter than we all thought but other than that… you just read her in business magazines but now she’s like taking my baby sister to my wedding.”
“I ummm… Can I tell you something?”
“Yeah sure, anything.”
She sat back down, not knowing if her knees could even handle what she was about to say.
“It’s about ummm… me and Jennie, we are not really- she’s not my girlfriend.”
“What?”
“it’s just when I was in starbucks, I saw your friends and then they just started bugging me if I’m dating, and then Ms. Kim was there and she kind of step in and said, we are dating and that’s why we are here.”
She anticipated a reaction from her unnie, like horror or maybe a shake of her head from disappointment, but she should have known better. Her unnie is definitely one of the kindest people in the world, her gaze at her still full of love and understanding.
“You two could have fooled us, you two looks so in love.”
Chaeyoung couldn’t bother holding out a scoff.
“She’s just acting.”
“Or maybe she really just-“
Wendy smiles wistfully at her little secret. When Chaeyoung excused herself during lunch, Jennie approached her while she was setting up some stuff in the kitchen. She always thought that the girl was going to be intimidating, like the tigress that articles made her seem to be, but up close, Wendy has to say that Jennie is nothing more but a kid.
Like strip her away of her billions and you’ll see the nervous girl, hoping to impress the girl she likes.
Jennie asked her nervously what Chaeyoung loves to eat, saying how she’s so busy to take her sister out on a date, that when they go back to Seoul, she plans to cook a homecook meal for Chaeyoung.
This girl who could hire top class chefs or take her sister to the priciest restaurants money can get, is willing to learn how to cook for Chaeyoung.
Chaeyoung could say what she wants to say, but Wendy believes that Jennie is utterly in love with her younger sister.
“She looks like she’ll pluck the stars out of the sky, so she could give it to you.”
“I don’t want the stars.”
And at the back of Chaeyoung’s mind, she says,
I want her.
TBC
I'm so thankful for the people who drop by and check this fic out. I know I promise just a two shot but it turned out longer than I thought so I split it.
Thank you again for reading and enjoy the rest of the day!
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