Pure Connections

Chapter 23

Mimosas before cleaning seemed like an expressly terrible idea. Yet here Jennie was, topping off her flute of orange juice with just the right amount of champagne. She settled onto the stool she'd dragged to the other side of her kitchen island to give Chu and Zi more room to enjoy their own breakfast and drinks.

"Are we toasting?" Jisoo grinned, chocolate brown curls dangling from her forever messy bun onto the shoulders of her faded I love Brooklyn T-shirt. "We should toast!"

"What are we toasting?" Zia extended her arm, half-filled glass in hand. Half an hour ago, when she'd announced her presence with a tentative knock and a paper bag full of gluten-free pastries, the smile she'd offered Jennie then Jisoo was a mirror of the one she'd worn the day they'd met. Tentative, closed. In the last twenty minutes, Jennie had sensed the nervous energy leaving Zia's body with gradual ease, almost as if Jennie's commitment to making her comfortable had finally set in, along with the realization that Chu was possibly the easiest person to get along with.

"To Saturdays off spent cleaning your friend's apartment!" Chu bopped her glass against Zia's.

Jennie narrowed her gaze. "That felt weirdly targeted. And not in a good way."

Chu tossed her head back, laughing. "Come on. You know I love this stuff. And if Roseanne wasn't holding the fort at Gia today, she'd be here too."

"Roseanne?" Zia took a sip of her drink.

"My girlfriend."

"Your girlfriend works at Gia, too?"

"Her girlfriend owns Gia," Jennie emphasized. "Which she never actually says to people because it feels like a flex."

"Well, damn. I'd flex that."

"You're genetically predisposed to," Jennie joked. "Never mind years of listening to Dad brag about literally everything. Like anyone needs to know our every accomplishment from the second we came wailing out of the womb until now."

Zia clamped a hand over her eyes, then swiftly withdrew it. "Oh my gosh! He does that to you, too?"

"I don't think he can help himself."

Jisoo looked between them. "Okay, your dad is a little intense. I still can't imagine either of you bragging about anything. We were friends for months," she stressed, hooking a thumb toward Jennie, "before I even knew she's practically an heiress. You can't exactly tell with Sehun either. I mean, maybe a little more now that he got that flashy new car."

"SL can be..." Jennie bobbed her head from one side to the next. "Frugal. Mostly because he's obsessed with being able to afford his own restaurant someday with as little help as possible."

"He also has a weakness for obscenely priced cologne," Chu tossed back.

"That is...also true," Jennie conceded with a laugh. Her eyes drifted to Zia to find her stroking the spine of her own glass as she stared into the citrusy blend within. Between their brief attempt at a romance that never materialized and Chu sharing hours in the kitchen with Sehun, her jibes and Jennie's reflexive explanations for her brother's actions were virtually innate. It dawned on Jennie that Zia didn't know Sehun as well, if barely at all. "Sorry, Zi. We get caught up in the banter sometimes."

"No." Zia shook her head, a wistful smile emerging on her lips. "It's just—Before this week, with Dad, you and Sehun were kind of the elephant in the room. I didn't ask, he didn't tell. But this is kind of nice. Hearing what Sehun's like."

"Oh." Of course. Jennie and Zia had been talking the past week, but that probably felt like solving a puzzle with only half of the pieces—of course Zia was curious about her brother. Jennie took a moment to gather her thoughts, caught between an eye roll and a grin before she even opened her mouth. "He's funny. At least, he tries to be. Life of any party, really. Loyal. Once he's in your corner, it's forever, even if it takes him a while to get there. But..." She glanced skyward, choosing her words. "He feels easily betrayed, and when his feelings are hurt, he lashes out. It's usually not pretty when he does. Mostly, though, he's also quick to apologize once he realizes he's wrong."