Lisa's arms were like coming home. Even though it had only been that morning, four hours at most when they had last held each other, to Jennie it felt like it had been years. Her heart had ached from stress and uncertainty, but the moment Lisa held her all the frustration melted away. She rested her head on Lisa's shoulder, burying her face in her hair.

This was home. This was where she wanted to return to every day. Possibly for the rest of time.

Eventually they had to pull apart. That was the downside to hugs eventually they had to end.

She leaned back and looked into Lisa's chestnut brown eyes. They had tears in them.

"Here," she said. She grabbed the Cafe Mocha from the desk.

Lisa sniffed, giving a wet smile as she took the cup. "You went to Timmy's?"

Jennie shrugged. Okay, going to Timmy's during a crisis was a bit odd. "I was going to run away again," she admitted. She reached over and brushed away the tears sticking to Lisa's cheeks.

"I didn't get very far before I changed my mind."

Lisa peered at her as she took a long sip from her cup. Her eyes were asking a question, one that she didn't seem to want to voice.

Why? Why did you change your mind?

Words – words were not enough to convey the answer to that. Not right now. Jennie kissed Lisa's cheek before pulling out the doughnut and breaking it in half.

They ate and drank in silence for a few moments. Jennie watched Lisa, just taking in her beautiful, wonderful face.

Lisa cleared , setting the cup on the desk. "So now that you've literally ripped my plan to little shreds-"

"No apology for that," Jennie interrupted with a smile.

"-what is your plan?"

Jennie's smile faded. She sat back, leaning against the desk. She had decided to stay – to face this head on.

That meant she would have to act.

The board would not be impressed. She knew that. Her stomach twisted just thinking about it.

But she also knew there was little she could do to change what they saw, or what they thought about it. There was another issue, though.

"What Hanbin did –" Lisa's face contorted into a snarl. Jennie didn't blame her. "What he did was wrong. And whether or not I am in charge of this company after the merger, I am going to make sure he pays through the nose for what he did to you."

She picked up the phone and punched in the number for the legal department. Lisa gave her a curious look, but kept quiet as the phone rang through.

"Kim Royale legal department, how may I direct your call?"

"Hello. This is Ms. Kim Jennie."

There was a surprised intake of breath on the other end. She wondered if they had heard about what had happened yet. "Ms. Kim! How can I help you?"

"Could Mrs. Kim Sook please come to my office."

"Now?" the man sounded surprised. "She's supposed to be in a meeting in-"

"I need her immediately. I'm sorry. It's very urgent."

"Yes Ms. Kim. I'll have her come up straight away."

"Thank you." She hung up. Lisa lowered her cup, and raised an eyebrow.

"You made a phone call," she said.

"Yes?" Jennie replied, confused. Lisa had been right there, watching her do it.

"I didn't even have to twist your arm about it."

Kim Sook had been in the employment of the company since Jennie had been very young, but Jennie had never had much to do with her. The woman who walked into the office was virtually a stranger to her. She was quite short, but robust, with fair skin and curly black hair. With her red suit and a way of walking and grinning that practically screamed 'EXTROVERT' it took a lot of willpower for Jennie not to bolt into her office through the nearest conveniently placed window. Sook wasn't going to let either of them hide, however.

"You've got a girl!" Sook squealed. It was loud enough that Jennie was sure the whole building could hear her. Sook grabbed the both of them and pulled them into a bear hug.

Wait. What? Jennie looked over to Lisa. The traitor was laughing.

Sook released Jennie and began to fuss over Lisa. "You know Bokyung told me your new assistant was lovely and isn't that just so? Look at this lovely hair, those bright eyes. And doll features! Long long legs and insane proportions! And everyone's saying she's such a nice girl too, and made you come out of your shell a bit. I could barely believe it when Sangwon told me. You," this was to Lisa, "must be a miracle worker. Yes, yes, I approve of you for our little Jendeukie."

Our little Jendeukie?

"Uh... excuse me but..." Sook wasn't listening. She continued to coo over them.

"You two make such a pretty picture! I absolutely have to get you two over for dinner! Halabeoji would be so happy to see you, Nini. You probably don't even remember when you were little and came over with your father..."

"Mrs. Sook..." Jennie moaned. This was almost as embarrassing as the meeting had been. No one had called her 'Nini' since she was seven. Sook ignored her and patted her head.

"Can hardly talk to a room full of stranger, you know, but you've gotten her working on that! Make sure you teach her how to smile, sometimes. You have such a lovely smile, and so does Jennie if she ever thinks to use it."

She was trying to make Lisa leave her. That was it. It was the only explanation.

"And look at those hands. She still bites her nails, just like when she was little, even though I know she has a very well paid manicurist."

"Mrs. Sook!" Jennie finally shouted. "I thank you for your congratulations." Sook opened as if to keep going, "But I really have something urgent to take care of."

Finally, the woman closed . Lisa was biting her lip to keep from smiling.

Well, at least someone is amused. "I presume, since you were present enough to hear what was revealed at the meeting, you took note of how it transpired."

Sook's smile faded.

"Oh, yes," she said bitterly, "I saw what that... unpleasant... man did."

Jennie was 99.9% certain that that was not the word Sook wanted to use. "My biggest point of concern is that it was Lisa's phone that Mr. Hanbin was using – and without her permission, if that wasn't obvious. He must have taken it from her office yesterday. He's been her... pretending to be her friend for months."

Sook looked very interested at this piece of information, as Jennie knew she would. Lisa looked puzzled. She was rubbing her arm where Sook had hugged her. Jennie was sure she'd have some sort of bruise.

"Yeah, he stole my phone, but isn't that missing the bigger issue?" she asked, her voice rising.

"He completely outed you in front of the company!"

"And sadly, that's not illegal," Sook said, scowling.

"But, it could hurt her career!" Lisa's voice was outraged as she the woman. "Isn't it slander or libel or something like that?"

Despite herself, Jennie smiled. Lisa was so indignant on her behalf. Sook looked to Jennie, waiting for her to take the lead. "I can't press charges for defamation," she said, looking Lisa straight in the eyes. "He told them I'm gay, and I am. I'm not going to go before a court and deny that."

Saying it out loud, Jennie felt a small trill of surprise. She hadn't wanted to be outed. She hadn't wanted anyone to know. But now that they knew, she wasn't going to drag herself back into the closet. She was going to be who she was, the rest of them be damned. Lisa's face was a confusing mixture of happiness and anger. Jennie smiled, her eyes crinkling. "Don't worry, the law isn't the only one who can deal out consequences. I happen to know that this company has extremely strict safe-space policies. I know because I signed them myself."

"You signed them?" Lisa asked.

"Did you think my father did?" Jennie replied, skeptically.

Lisa's mouth popped open in surprise. She must have known about the protections, but Jennie guessed that she just hadn't thought about them, or where they came from. It had been a petition – Jennie was somewhat ashamed that she hadn't come up with them herself, but at least she'd had the presence of mind to agree to them, even if she hadn't felt that they should apply to herself at the time.

"And stealing your phone is more than just stealing a piece of equipment," Jennie added. "That would only be a minor charge – theft underneath the value of $5000 – but he stole the information on the phone."

She looked at Sook for confirmation. The woman had taken out a pad of legal paper and was scribbling notes furiously. Jennie's father had always said she was the best lawyer in the province. She was terrifying. Which also explained why she was the only person in the office permitted to use paper. Hoseok had tried to steal all of it from her once. Only once. She put him under citizen's arrest for four hours on the window-cleaner's scaffolding on the 24th floor.

"Theft of information – important information for the company, I presume as you are Ms. Kim's personal assistant – as well as invasion of privacy. The respect for privacy laws might be in a deplorable state, but I know the court won't bend it for some money-grubbing corporate climber. Especially one whose actions are so clearly homophobic."

Lisa shook off her surprise. "I hadn't thought of it like that," she said. Sook smiled, jabbing a period on her notes with a flourish.

"That's why I'm the lawyer, so I can tell you these things. There are enough charges there to ruin Mr. Hanbin's career and raise a hefty fine, if not earn him jail time."

Lisa considered this. Jennie wondered what she was thinking. Hanbin had been her friend, and she knew that Lisa must be hurting from the betrayal. But how was she handling this?

The silence stretched. Lisa was staring at her cup, now empty, lost in thought. Jennie cleared .

"The only question then," Jennie prompted, "is if you wish to press charges, Lisa."

Jennie bit her lip and waited. She wasn't going to pressure Lisa into it. It was her decision – the crime has been committed against her, technically. And Lisa was so sweet... but she had to see that Hanbin needed to be punished for his action, right?

Lisa blinked a few times. " yes?" she said. It was a question. Like she couldn't believe Jennie would have thought the question worth asking. Jennie released the breath she hadn't known she was holding.

"Oh good!" Sook exclaimed, she clapped her hands. "You know, after what my Namjoon said I wasn't sure you would!"

"Your Namjoon?" Jennie asked.

"He's my son." She caught the brief surprise that must have shown on Jennie's face. "Fostered, along that rascal Yoongi." She smiled, her eyes twinkling.

"What did Namjoon say?" Lisa asked, her eyes narrowed.

"Oh, it's not important..." Sook waved a hand and pulled out her laptop.

"I'm going to have to smack him, aren't I?"

Sook ignored her. "We should get to work on those papers you're going to serve Hanbin."

Jennie left them to it. They'd sort out the problem of Hanbin, she was sure. Now she had to sort out her own problem. She took Lisa's laptop and went to her desk.

She pulled up the scheduling programme. There were a lot of schedules to change.

Lisa watched Jennie's hands tremble. She was trying to hide it. Her face had taken on that cool, ice queen mask that used to be so familiar. She was arranging and rearranging her notes, waiting for the board members to arrive.

Despite the gravity of the situation, Lisa was impressed with Jennie. She had called the meeting on her own, had prepared her materials and made numerous phone calls and emails all while Lisa had been discussing Hanbin with Sook.

Sook had come with them, at Jennie's request. She was sitting at the far end of the room, being inconspicuous as she could, which was not very. She was not an inconspicuous woman.

The sound of the elevator opening alerted them to the arrival of the board members. Jennie dropped her phone on the table.

"I'll take you to dinner tonight, no matter what happens," Lisa said quietly, trying to give a reassuring smile despite the butterflies in her own stomach.

"It's a date." Jennie sat down at the head of the table just as Mr. Yang and company began to file into the room. She nodded to each as they came in, but she said nothing. Her lips were pressed tight together and she was faintly green.

Please don't puke. That would not help whatever Jennie had been planning to say in the slightest.

Or it might. Lisa didn't actually know what she was planning. Probably explaining herself.

But how was she going to explain? She said she was done hiding, but was it really true? It was a big leap, to admit it to everyone like this. Maybe she would deny what Hanbin said after all.

She could do that, if she tried. It might be believable.

Lisa's stomach twisted. Stop it. She won't do that to you.

All the seats were filled. What little chatter there had been died off. Mr. Yang looked to Jennie.

"Thank you for coming," Jennie said, quietly. She was looking at her hands. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience that this may have caused in your day but I felt it imperative to clear the matter as quickly as possible."

Oh, baby, come on. You can do it. Look at them.

Jennie's hands flexed where she he