A/N:

Hello! Back with an update rather earlier than expected cuz I realised that this has been sitting in my draft list for too long.

In this AU, an between Jennie and Jisoo :) It was meant to be chaptered fanfic but I haven't really thought about working on it beyond this chapter. Probably post it here first, maybe as a teaser and if you like it, let me know if you want this to be a series! Maybe a 10 chapter series comeback during the winter holiday XD Excited, fingers crossed!

So far my plan right now would be to work on one-shots and multi-shots until the semester ends. Hopefully 1 more update after this.

Oh, by the way, a story inspired by songs from 'The Album' might take some time, probably will be up a month later (so sorry :( actually really excited to write song inspired stories cuz the storylines are usually different from what my brain can think of. Anyways, hope the previous update was alright, drew a lot of inspirations from the vibe of the MV and the song~).

Anyways, see you all in the next update! Enjoy the chapter~

Note: next 3 weeks will be a little crazy for me since the semester is ending. Anyways have a great week ahead, stay happy and safe!

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"Hey! This coffee is bad," complains a customer as he approaches the staff at the counter who had just served him his drink.

The staff begins to fluster, as though she has made a mistake when in fact the other is just trying to create a problem. She apologises sincerely in a meek tone, "I am very sorry. I will make a new cup for you."

"No need, just give me a refund!"

The man is clearly making a huge fuss as he points to the staff rudely and even the other customers could tell that the big burly man is trying to threaten the poor girl.

The other tries to keep her cool and professionalism even though it is her first encounter. She explains calmly, "Sir, our goods are not refundable. We can offer an exchange, maybe another coffee of a similar price or perhaps dessert?"

Seeing that there is no way he can get a $5 refund, he tries to exaggerate the situation and demands, "your attitude is bad, let me see your manager!"

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Jisoo can't stand it any longer. The way the man demanded a refund when the polite staff clearly stated that she can't do that is really unbearable to stand by and watch. Does he not understand the language or what? For goodness sake, they are also in a University. That guy should behave himself.

"Sir, this is no way to talk to a young lady," says Jisoo, after getting up to stop the man who about to hit the young staff.

"Mind your own business!"

"Sir, I have already called campus security. Either accept the new cup of coffee or leave."

"Just my luck. I will bring this up to your management," seemingly not wanting to just end it like this, he points towards the staff and threatens once more before marching out of the cafe.

"Are you alright?" asks Jisoo. As her eyes meet the young staff, her heart skips a beat, almost like love at first sight. She mentally slaps herself for feeling this way. The girl in front of her seems to be almost 10 years younger than her. She is almost 30 for God's sake.

"Thank you for helping me out," the younger staff expresses her gratitude to the customer who has just helped her out in a sticky situation.

Jisoo almost blushes and cooly says, "he is definitely here to make trouble. Anyways, I am starving. What would you recommend?"

She hopes that by changing the conversation, she can help ease the young staff from the uncomfortable situation earlier.

"The carrot cake is really good."

"I will get one and add another cup of latte."

As she prepares to pay, the young staff declines her payment and insist that this is on the house.

"You are just an employee here. Take the money for the business and you can make it up through other ways," says Jisoo, as she passes the exact amount and her name card to the staff.

"Alright Miss Kim, I will contact you soon."

"Please address me by my name. Miss Kim makes me feel old, in front of you."

"You look really young but sure thing, Jisoo."

After completing the transaction, she takes her order and brings it back to her table to enjoy it while blatantly staring at the staff until her next appointment.

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After the meeting with the board of directors, Jisoo returns to her office. She can't believe herself. She has lost focus just now during the meeting by consistently checking her phone. Thank God for her secretary who has been taking notes and helping her out, else it would have been really unprofessional. Now that the meeting is over, she still has her phone on hand, waiting for a message or a call from a certain someone. She doesn't know how long she has been sitting there, swivelling her chair left and right until an unknown number flashed by her screen. She recomposes herself before answering it.

"Hello, this is Director Kim Jisoo," says Jisoo, with her usual greeting. She is hoping that it is from someone she is expecting but she can't help but to be formal as it could be a potential business call.

"Hi Jisoo, I am Jennie, the girl you have helped out earlier," says Jennie, who sounded as if she startled by the formal greeting.

"Oh, hi there. How are you? Are you done with work?" asks Jisoo, letting down her formal mode as she begins a casual conversation with the other.

"I am great. I just finished work and I am wondering if you would like to meet for dinner later?"

Jisoo looks at her calendar, noticing that she has nothing on after office hour and replies, "I am free. I will pick you up. How about that?"

"Great. See you," says Jennie and Jisoo swear that she can hear how sweet the other's voice is and her heart starts to beat so quickly as if it is a long-awaited date.

"See you," with that she tells Jennie to hang up and throws a fist bump to the air, but to her luck, her cousin enters her office at an untimely moment. Her cousin laughs almost too loudly at the sight.

"Unnie, what's with you?"

"Yah! Park Chaeyoung, do you not know how to knock?"

"Unnie, it is after office hours and you should thank me for saving your just now during the meeting. You have been awfully distracted. Anyways, I am wondering if you want to have dinner later together and hit the bar afterwards."

"I can't today."

"The ever so sociable Jisoo unnie is not free? Are my ears playing tricks on me?" says Chaeyoung, with her eyes almost popping out in shock. Her cousin has never said no to her before.

"This social butterfly has an appointment later," says the director in a sing-song manner and this leads to her dear secretary and cousin raising a brow.

"Unnie, I am your secretary. I know your schedule inside out. You are free later."

"I've got a call just now. Dinner appointment."

"A dinner date?" asks Chaeyoung carefully. After seeing that huge grin on Jisoo's face, it is definitely not some regular appointment or business dinner.

"Maybe. I got to run. Bye, my favourite cousin." The grown lady blows a goodbye kiss to her cousin before flying out of the office before being interrogated. She heads off to the parking lot almost at the speed light. Once she is inside her car, she receives a text from Jennie and heads off to the said location.

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Jisoo is really excited and thanks God for the smooth traffic. She actually reaches the said location within 15 minutes. As she is driving to the pickup point, she sees that Jennie is already there and pulls over in front of the other. She gets off the car and heads over to the passenger side to open the door for the other.

"Hello," Jisoo greets the other with a huge smile although only 4 hours had passed since their last meeting. She ushers the other to enter and with her hand over the other's head so that the other doesn't bump onto the roof of the door frame. After making sure that the other is comfortable, she closes the door and enters the car from the driver's side.

She turns to face Jennie and smiles really widely, really really glad to see the other again.

"So, where are we off to?" the director has her left hand on the steering wheel as her body is skewed to the right, facing the cafe staff.

"Do you like Japanese food?" Jennie asks, hoping that it is a good choice for a thank-you meal.

"Of course."

"There is a great sushi place."

Jennie tells Jisoo the location and before driving off, the older leans towards Jennie, buckling the seatbelt over the younger's petite frame. While doing that, Jennie's light citrus scent penetrates her nose and she likes it so much that she unwillingly pull away. She quickly drives off, not noticing the apparent blush on Jennie's cheeks.

The car ride isn't that silent as Jisoo starts the conversation.

"So, are you a student or staff at the cafe?"

"I am a student here, 2nd-year fashion design. I work part-time to earn some quick cash. They pay once the shift ends."

"Really? This is a first. I used to do part-time jobs while in college but they usually pay monthly. It . In the end, I worked for school events. At least they transfer the payment at the end of the week."

"Times have changed," Jennie laughs and slightly teases the other.

"You know I can tell that you are teasing me. But I have to admit that I am old." Jisoo chuckles not being offended. She has to admit that she is pretty old, considering that fact that is almost 10 years older than the other.

"As I said earlier, you look really young."

"Take a guess at my age."

"23?" asks Jennie with an unsure tone and that made Jisoo laugh.

"Thank you. It's an honour but I am approaching 30. 29 this year."

Jennie is shocked and almost exclaims her bewilderment, "wow, you don't look like you are almost 30. You must have hacked your age."

"A lingo that I am unfamiliar with. It's fun to be around you young people."

Soon they reach the said location and after parking, Jisoo quickly strides over to open the door for Jennie and helps the other out of the car.

-----------------

Once they are at the sushi place and seated comfortably, Jennie passes Jisoo the menu before saying, "feel free to order what you like."

"Alright then, thanks," says Jisoo but deep down, she knows that she is not going to let Jennie pay for the meal. Jennie must have decided to bring her here because of her status. To the older, it doesn't matter where or what she eats, but who is her company. She is glad to have Jennie as her company for the evening.

"So, what are you having?" asks Jisoo as Jennie is done looking at the menu, after mere seconds.

"Just a California handroll," says Jennie.

"Just one?"

With Jennie's nod, she looks through the menu even thoroughly, deciding to order more for Jennie. After looking at the menu, she calls the waiter and begins to order.

"Can we have 2 California handroll, 2 softshell crab handroll, 2 unagi roll, an 8 kind sashimi platter and a premium sushi platter? Oh, 2 cups of hot green tea and 2 glasses of warm water. Thank you."

After the waiter repeats the order, Jisoo confirms the list. With that, the restaurant starts to prepare their meal. Noticing how tense Jennie is when she was ordering, she reassures the other,  "come on, loosen up. I am paying."

"But... it is supposed to be a thank-you meal for just now," the younger sounds really disappointed to have the other pay the meal.

"Jennie, your presence is enough. Let me pay, alright? Just eat comfortably."

"But..."

Jisoo begins to think of a way to reassure the other again and suggests, "how about ice-cream later? You will pay alright? I like ice-cream better."

In response, Jennie unwilling nods and soon the food and drinks have arrived. Jisoo ushers the other to take the first bite and she smiles as she sees Jennie's face light up after eating the California roll. She then put other food on Jennie's plate, "have the sashimi and the sushi too." She gives Jennie a warm smile too so that the other would eat comfortably.

Instead of eating, she continues to observe the other happily enjoying the food and mentally pats herself on her back. Soon, she is brought back to reality when Jennie places a few slices of sashimi and some sushi onto her plate, telling her to eat too.

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After the long dinner, they are now walking around the mall to digest their dinner before heading to Macdonald's for ice-cream.

"Jisoo, are you sure you want to have ice-cream from Macdonald's? Other places sell better ice-cream."

"They have the best ice-cream, I love their vanilla cone," replies Jisoo and she holds onto Jennie's wrist pulling the other to the desert kiosk once it is insight.

After getting their ice-cream, they sit on the benches outside, enjoying it.

"This ice-cream is really really delicious because you bought it for me. Thank you, Jennie," says Jisoo with utmost gratitude.

Jennie giggles at Jisoo and says, "you know, you could have enjoyed better ice-cream if you let me."

"This is really good. I think the sweetest vanilla cream and the crispiest wafer cone. You know, like what I said, the company matters more and thank you. You are a really good dinner partner. We should have meals together more often."

Jisoo stares at Jennie with sincerity and a smile so warm and genuine that Jennie is stunned by the response. She thought that this would be the last time they would interact given Jisoo's status and their . There is no way she would meet the director again, let alone another meal together. But, with how Jisoo says it, it seems that the older would want to see her more often. She feels her face starting to heat up and blushes really hard. No one has ever had an effect on her. She looks away, hiding her reddened cheeks but unfortunately for her, Jisoo has seen it all.

"Hey, I want to see you more often, be it for a meal or just a walk outside, or just looking at you. Would you say yes?" asks Jisoo, as she uses her fingers to turn Jennie's face so that the other is looking at her.

Jennie gulps, unable to respond. Thoughts race through her mind. Is Jisoo asking her out? Is this for real? But one thing for sure is that her heart wants to say yes.

 She nods.

Jisoo beams and gives her a pat on the head and responds with glee, "great!"