FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT| JJENINII

12

The dinner had gone better than Jennie could have imagined. By the time they sat down at the table, the earlier tension had all but dissolved, her mom a little less suspicious about the whole ordeal.

Jennie had been nervous about how the evening would go, but seeing her mom's relaxed expression and Taehyung's effortless charm put her at ease.

The three of them ate together, and for a while, it felt... normal. Like they weren't faking a thing.

Jennie twirled her fork through her pasta, the lingering warmth of the flour fight making her smile every time she caught Taehyung's eye.

They exchanged teasing glances across the table, small inside jokes forming between them that made her heart flutter in a way she didn't want to overthink.

"So, tell me," Mrs. Kim began after a few bites, setting her fork down and folding her hands together. "How exactly did the two of you meet?"

Jennie shot a glance at Taehyung, a grin already forming on her lips. This was one of those rare moments where they didn't have to come up with a fake story—they had a real one, and it was far more entertaining than anything they could've scripted.

Taehyung, sensing what was coming, groaned dramatically and immediately placed his head in his hands. "Oh no. Are we really doing this?" he muttered, his voice muffled.

Jennie's grin widened as she turned to her mother. 

"Mom, you're going to love this," she began, her tone filled with amusement. "So, on my first day at the company, I walked into the building, fully prepared to make a good impression, right? It's my first day as head of legal, and I'm eager to get to work."

Mrs. Kim glanced at Taehyung, intrigued. "And then?"

"Well," Jennie continued, shooting Taehyung a playful look, "this guy," she gestured toward Taehyung, "takes one look at me and assumes I'm an intern."

Her mom raised an eyebrow, her eyes flicking to Taehyung, who was shaking his head with a defeated smile still hidden behind his hands.

"Oh, it gets better," Jennie added, laughing softly. "He didn't just assume I was an intern—he actually said out loud, in front of everyone, that I was 'too young for the job.'"

"But you're the same age...?" Mrs, Kim clarified as Jennie nodded.

"Exactly!" Jennie confirmed, her grin widening as she recalled the moment. "Turns out he'd just come out of a heated argument with another company and wasn't in the best mood. He was frustrated and didn't even bother looking at my file before making assumptions."

Taehyung finally lifted his head from his hands, his cheeks slightly pink with embarrassment.

"In my defense," he began, his voice filled with mock exasperation, "I had a terrible morning. The negotiations with this other company had gone completely sideways, and I was not in the right headspace."

Jennie leaned in, still grinning. "Oh, sure, that justifies thinking I was an intern."

Taehyung chuckled, shaking his head. "I knew I'd messed up the moment I realized who she actually was. But by then, it was too late."

Jennie's mom only shook her head. "You must have been mortified."

"Mortified doesn't even cover it," Taehyung admitted, rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish smile. "I spent the entire afternoon eating my words. Especially after she walked into that first meeting and completely turned the situation around."

Jennie's grin softened, but her eyes gleamed with pride as she continued the story. "Yeah, so after Taehyung's little mistake, I ended up joining an emergency meeting to fix the mess that the legal team had been dealing with for weeks. It was a pretty complicated dispute, but I managed to turn things around in our favor."