Chapter 36

“Hey, Jennie!” Sumi declares happily as she opens her apartment door to reveal Jennie.

“Hey! I’ve missed you!” Jennie hugs Sumi tightly before following her into the lounge room. She is wearing a cute yellow wrap dress, her hair styled in a French braid. Sumi is wearing a knee-length full-skirt pale blue dress.

Sumi has a variety of snacks available on the coffee table and a streaming service open, ready to start watching a new drama. It has been a few weeks since they have hung out together. However, this weekend they have found time to spend time together, which Jennie was very insistent about.

“What do you want to watch? I’ve been watching this really awesome drama called…”

“Hold on,” Jennie interrupts, “I have something I really want to talk to you about,”

“Oh?” Sumi frowns, sitting beside Jennie and turning her body so she is facing her, “What is it about?”

“Well…” Jennie smirks.

“Wait… this better not be about Yoongi again,” Sumi frowns.

“What? No,” Jennie chuckles, “I haven’t given up, but I have been preoccupied recently,”

“Okay, tell me then,” Sumi asks cheerfully, starting to feel excited as Jennie’s overwhelming happiness becomes infectious.

“Here!” Jennie passes Sumi a small gift box. It is pale green with a lavender ribbon tying it together. It looks like a jewellery box.

“What’s this?” She asks tentatively as she starts pulling the ribbon off gently.

“You’ll see,” Jennie giggles.

Sumi lifts off the lid of the box to find a locket necklace. It is beautifully engraved with vines and flowers, the sort of jewellery you would find royalty wearing. Sumi smiles up at Jennie, tears of happiness in her eyes.

“It’s beautiful,” She smiles, “But you didn’t have to…”

“Open it!” Jennie jumps up and down, getting more and more excited. Sumi opens the little locket to find a picture of Sumi and Jennie together on one side and a message engraved on the other.

Best Maid of Honour In the World

Sumi frowns, reading it a few times before it finally clicks.

“Maid of Honour… wait!” Sumi gasps, looking up at Jennie, “You’re getting married?”

“Bae Sumi,” Jennie beams, “Will you be my maid of honour?”

“Yes! Of course yes!” Sumi cheers, pulling Jennie in for a hug. They wiggle happily, cheering and giggling at the news.

“Oh my god, tell me what happened? Who proposed? When did this happen? When is the wedding?” Sumi starts rapidly firing questions one after another.

“Calm down,” Jennie chuckles, “He proposed,”

…FLASHBACK…

“Namjoon… this is beautiful…” Jennie sighs happily, looking down at the city lights. They have left the restaurant on the second from the top floor and are now looking down at the city as the nightlife blossoms. Namjoon decided to take them out to a restaurant Jennie has been wanting to go to for a long time now.

“It is, isn’t it?” Jennie looks up to find Namjoon looking at her, not the view. She blushes and gently hits his chest playfully.

“Stop it,” She chuckles.

“Jennie…” She turns to find Namjoon holding out his hand for her to take, “One last surprise,”

“Okay,” She grins as he leads her away from the lookout and to an elevator. They head up to the top floor.

“Why are we… oh…” Jennie’s eyes widen as the elevator doors open. They are in an open space full of rose petals leading to a table. They move to the table slowly. On the table are a bottle of champagne, 2 glasses, and a small jewellery box. She frowns at the box, reaching for that first.

She opens it, revealing a small, folded piece of paper. She up folds the paper to find two words.

“Marry me?”

Jennie turns around to find Namjoon on one knee, a ring in his hands, smiling up at her with that adorable dimple smile.

Jennie stares at him for a moment, completely overwhelmed. She nods quickly, lunging into Namjoon’s arms. He stumbles backwards, slightly taken aback by her sudden actions.

He chuckles, wrapping his arms around her as he climbs to his feet, Jennie gripping him tightly.

“So that’s a yes?” He asks, sounding amused.

“Yes, of course, yes!” Jennie sniffles, “I would love to spend the rest of my life with you. Nothing would make me happier,”

“Even tickets to Paris for a week?”

Jennie gasps, stepping back to look up at Namjoon.

“You… Paris?” She chokes out.

“Of course… you said you’ve always wanted to go so…” Namjoon smiles, “I was going to propose there but I couldn’t wait,”

“Oh Namjoon,” She wraps her arms around him again, “I don’t care where or how you propose. As long as you are in front of me looking at me like that, I couldn’t be happier,”

Namjoon pushes her away and cups her cheeks. He leans forward, inches from her lips. He smiles, watching her carefully.

“I love you,” He whispers huskily, “More than I can bare,”

“I love you more,” She responds, closing the gap between their lips.

“Oh my god that is the most romantic thing I have ever heard,” Sumi giggles, “It sounds like a scene from a drama,”

“I think he got the idea from one of your books actually,” Jennie smirks as-a-matter-of-factly.

“I thought it sounded familiar,” Sumi responds, feeling quite proud, “Anyway, plans? Should we get started?”

“Sure,” Jennie lifts a plastic bag full of wedding ideas and notebooks, “Let’s get started,”

Instead of watching dramas, Jennie and Sumi spend the next couple of hours researching wedding ideas, venues, themes, and other wedding needs for their big day. Sumi is taking her role as maid of honour very seriously. She wants to ensure that the wedding is everything Jennie has ever wanted. Jennie also has some notes from Namjoon, so the wedding is just as perfect for him. Whilst they do this, they catch up on a few different things that have happened since.

“Also, you are the only person we have told so don’t tell anyone, okay?” Jennie says seriously, skimming through a wedding magazine.

“When are you going to tell everyone?”

“Well, our friendship anniversary is coming up,” Jennie says, “I was thinking of organising a huge vacation to Jeju island to celebrate and tell everyone then,”

“Friendship anniversary?” Sumi frowns, “We don’t have one of those, do we?”

“Yep,” Jennie says proudly, “It is the day we all spent an entire weekend hanging out together as a group,” Jennie explains, “At my house, remember?”

Sumi vaguely remembers the day.

“That was just after Jungkook joined the group…” Sumi frowns, “How do you remember this?”

“My mum told me,” Jennie says proudly, “I… I have been talking to Jungkook recently…”

“Oh? How has that going?” Sumi asks, a little nervous. After how Jungkook treated Jennie, Sumi is worried that they will never be a full friend group again. She understands of course. He has hurt them a lot.

“It’s been fine,” Jennie shrugs, “I unblocked him after talking to Hoseok… and we made up,”

“Really?” Sumi raises her eyebrows, a little surprised. It usually takes a while for Jennie to forgive someone.

“Yeah, he explained what he’s been doing and how he feels… literally what Hoseok said that he said to you that night before he left for Busan,”

“Ah, fair enough,” Sumi shrugs, “It’s just… not like you,”

“I don’t know, I guess I really value friendship these days. Plus, if you can forgive him and want a friendship with him, I can’t hold it against him forever, right?”

“That’s true. I do still keep him at arm’s length, you know?” Sumi explains.

“Yeah, I understand. It’ll take a while to form that friendship bond again, but I’m glad I can start helping him fix things. Namjoon is understanding, but he doesn’t want to message him just yet,”

Sumi smiles at Jennie, happy that her friends are starting to slowly talk to Jungkook again.

“Anyway, let's talk about the trip in the group chat later, okay?”

“Sounds good,” Jennie gasps, “Wait! Did I tell you about Hoseok’s girlfriend?”

“No, but Hoseok told me the other day, I was so surprised!”

Jennie and Sumi begin gossiping about Hoseok’s secret girlfriend in high school, how she had apparently died and come to life, and how she is now Hoseok’s boss.

“You know, they were going to just try and be friends, but Hoseok asked her to be his girlfriend within a week!” Jennie explains, excited by the love drama in their friend group.

“Aww, that’s adorable!” Sumi sighs, “Did she say yes?”

“Of course, Jiho is absolutely in love with him. Her first love that got away… feeling any novel inspiration?”

“Oh shush,” Sumi smacks Jennie’s leg playfully, “But yeah, it is quite inspiring,”

“Speaking of girlfriends,” Jennie eyes Sumi cautiously, “Jungkook has a new friend in Busan,”

“I know,” Sumi frowns, “What does that have to do with girlfriends?”

“Well… because Jungkook has feelings for her,” Jennie emphasises.

“Aww, I’m so glad…” Sumi smiles.

Hopefully, he has worked on his issues before starting a relationship.

“Yeah, but he met her at the group therapy and he keeps trying to push her away and it’s very frustrating,” Jennie smirks, “Almost as frustrating as you and Yoongi,”

Sumi ignores that last part, turning to her laptop.

“Anyway, I found this really cute wedding venue, want to see it?”

“Sure,” Jennie agrees, knowing that Sumi is intentionally changing the subject.

They spend another hour planning before stopping for the day.

JEN: GUYS! Our friendship anniversary is coming up! Let’s go to Jeju Island!

Jen added Jeon Jungkook

Jen changed Jeon Jungkook’s name to kookie.

HOBI: Jeju island? When?

HOBI: Wait, we have a friendship anniversary?

SUGA: Why is Jungkook here now?

RM: @Hobi Yeah, Jennie found out the day we all officially formed a group.

SUMI: It’ll be fun! Let’s go to Jeju!

KOOKIE: Is it… should I really be coming?

JEN: Jungkook, we talked about this. I wouldn’t have added you if it was a problem. It won’t be for another few months because of work schedules, time, and money.

RM: Jennie and I will organise it. We’ll get a quote and send you all a request for your portion. We’ll organise it all so don’t worry about it 😊

SUGA: Does Jungkook really have to come?

JEN: Does anyone have a plus one they want to bring?

HOBI: Me!

RM: Of course 😉 Is Jiho okay with paying her part?

HOBI: It should be fine. I’ll let you guys know what she says!

KOOKIE: Can I bring someone?

JEN: Sure! Do you want to bring Sara?

HOBI: Oooooo finally ask her out huh?

KOOKIE: No! She’s just a good friend.

JEN: Sure sure 😉

SUGA: Am I being ignored?

SUMI: It’s okay, Jungkook, you can bring Sara 😊 just let her know about splitting the trip.

RM: Actually, I was thinking that Yoongi and I will pay for most of it. We’ll just need a few additional things to be paid for.

SUGA: What? I didn’t consent to this!

SUMI: I’ll put in a lot too!

HOBI: Yah… we’re not broke you know…

RM: Sorry, Hobi. Are you sure you want it to be split even?

SUMI: How about Yoongi, Namjoon, and I will pay for the resort and you guys can pay for your plane tickets, okay?

RM: I like that idea

HOBI: Hmm, okay! We can stay at a super fancy resort then, right?

SUGA: Hello?

JEN: You right, Yoongi?

SUGA: Oh, now you respond to me. Are we really going to go on vacation with Jungkook?

JEN: Anywayyyyy Namjoon and I will look into resorts. Jungkook, do you want to look into your tickets? It’ll be different from Busan.

KOOKIE: Yeah, I can do that.

SUGA: Oh, real mature Jennie.

JEN: Yoongi, if you’re going to be a rude jerk, go rant to Namjoon or something. But in the group chat, you remain respectful, got it?

SUGA: …

SUGA: I don’t wanna go.

HOBI: Come on, Yoongi. It’ll be a wonderful friendcation!

SUGA: Whatever.

JEN: Alright, I’ll update you guys on a time and date! I’m so excited!!!!!!

HOBI: YESSS LET’S GO!!!