Jennie was like the light attracting the "damn bugs" all over her. Of course, the delegates were the damn bugs in Lisa's mind. He wanted to march towards them and swat all the pests into oblivion. The green-eyed monster within him almost overcame his emotions.
However, he saw that despite the people surrounding her, his baby girl was keeping her distance from them. She wasn't allowing any of them to become too touch-feely with her.
Their eyes met and she smiled, silently reassuring him.
He briefly closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm down. The green-eyed monster within him was still there, but he was starting to learn how to not let it overwhelm him to the point that he lost control of himself.
Grandpa thumped his back hard three times again. It made Lisa feel like vomiting his internal organs once again. Good thing that he was quite sturdy and could take the force. Perhaps that was why Grandpa hit him harder than necessary.
"Very good, my boy! That's the way to go! Too much jealousy is not good! It'll poison the love in the long run!" Grandpa told him in a not so booming voice.
The people in their Corporation group looked at the two of them in confusion.
'What is Sir Kwon talking about?' they inwardly wondered.
It was only Bam who knew exactly what Grandpa was talking about. As for the others, they thought that perhaps the old man was exhibiting his eccentricities once again. He was a genius, after all. Geniuses were a weird bunch. Normal people like them couldn't hope to understand how their minds worked.
In another part of the conference hall, the Kim Industries group looked at Jennie surrounded by delegates asking for her autograph and photo. Now that she had proven herself to be a skilled interpreter and also a student of Madame Schwarz and Hisakawa-sensei, those who were prejudiced against her suddenly changed their minds.
She had amazed all of them so far with her skills and professionalism. As people belonging to Kim Industries, they felt proud of her.
And of course it was a given that Jihoon felt the most proud among them. His daughter's accomplishments felt like his own accomplishments as well.
Hwi also already accepted that his sister was a genius. He was also the one among the Kims who met with her regularly because they were connected by Little Jun and Hoyeon. He was already past the point of feeling shocked by her abilities all the time.
It was only Jay who felt bitter about Jennie's excellent performance in this international business conference. Seeing all the delegates, both local and French, acting like her braindead fans, he couldn't take it anymore.
"Excuse me, Father—I mean President. I need to go to the men's room," he told his father in a low voice.
Jihoon only nodded and waved him off, not really sparing him a glance. He was too busy talking to the COO and the others.
Already feeling negative to begin with, of course Jay would take issue at Jihoon's dismissive attitude. Jay's belief that he was Jihoon's least liked child among the siblings was reinforced.
He left the conference hall with a dark expression. Instead of going to the men's room, he went outside instead to smoke a cigarette.
Back inside the conference hall, Professor Schwarz and Professor Hisakawa finally intervened and sternly drove away the delegates surrounding Jennie. They escorted her away back to the private room they stayed at earlier.
A few minutes later, Jihoon, Hwi and Guang followed them. It took longer but Lisa, Grandpa and Bam also arrived at the private room.
They found Professor Schwarz lecturing Jennie in French while referring to her notes. Jennie was listening intently.
Only Grandpa could understand what they were talking about. Lisa could also understand a little bit.
"They're going over Ruby's interpretations earlier, especially the parts where she could've done better," Grandpa explained to Jihoon and the others. "Kalisha is currently advising her on more accurate translations that she could've made."
"I see." Jihoon nodded. "And here I thought that she did a perfect job earlier."
"She did a great job, yes! That's our girl! Bahahahaha!" Grandpa's booming voice was back. "But her performance earlier wasn't perfect. Besides, your daughter is a Cross Academy student! There is a high standard that she must uphold, that's why Kalisha and Akio are being very strict on her!"
Everyone nodded. Then they began chatting while waiting for Jennie and Professor Schwarz to finish reviewing her performance.
Grandpa was being noisy again, so he got a polite request to lower his volume from Professor Schwarz. Professor Hisakawa only sighed and smiled helplessly.
"Bah! That's because you're taking too long, Kalisha! You should hurry and finish up! How long are you planning on lecturing Ruby? I want to know! We're all done for today! Let's go out and eat dinner! This old man is getting hungry! I want some seafood!"
It was Jennie who replied to him. "Grandpa, please wait for a bit more. I also want to hear Professor Schwarz's opinions about my interpretations today. Even I wasn't satisfied by my own performance. I want to improve more and do better next time."
Ever the doting grandfather, Grandpa immediately changed his tune. "Of course, my girl! Take your time! I'll just 'quietly' chat with your father here!" he replied in his booming voice.
Professor Schwarz could only look at the ceiling and sigh helplessly. Then she chuckled.
"Hon, wait for me, okay?" Jennie told Lisa next.
"En." Lisa nodded. He also had a doting expression on his face.
"Father..."
"Don't mind us. Continue," Jihoon replied before she could finish her sentence. As the father, of course he also had a doting expression on his face just like Grandpa and Lisa.
The mouths of Hwi, Bam and Guang all twitched while watching them. This just proved that Jennie had these men wrapped around her little finger.
Finally, Jennie and Professor Schwarz were done reviewing. Everyone got ready to leave.
Jennie headed straight to Lisa and wrapped her arms around his waist. She inhaled his scent and immediately felt comforted. Of course, Lisa hugged her back and kissed the top of her head.
"Tired?" he asked her.
She nodded but then said, "But I like it."
"Good. You were amazing. I'm so proud of you."
She smiled. "Thank you. But I want to do better tomorrow."
"Just do your best and you'll be fine," he said, stroking her cheek.
"You're also working tomorrow? For which conference?" Hwi asked her.
"The China-Malaysia conference in the morning and then the China-Japan after lunch," she replied. "It'll be all-Asian for me tomorrow, so Professor Hisakawa will be the one supervising me."
Professor Hisakawa nodded.
"Malaysia? Japan? Will you be working on two conferences per day starting tomorrow?" Jihoon asked this time.
"Yes, Father."
"And it'll be in different languages each time. Am I right? I want to know! Wait, I already know! Bahahaha!" Grandpa's laughter boomed throughout the room. "We're already done, right? Can we eat now? This old man wants to eat some lobsters! Let's go!"
Everyone couldn't help but laugh with Grandpa. His high energy was infectious. Jennie didn't feel so tired anymore.
With that, the first day of the international business conference officially ended. There was no doubt that Jennie was the most memorable highlight of the day. Through the delegates, Jennie's name was starting to spread across the business world as a skilled interpreter and as a student of Madame Schwarz and Hisakawa-sensei.
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The Wife Is a Superstar 2
FanfictionA world-famous hacker and daughter of the most powerful criminal family who ruled the international underworld for many generations is killed when their organization is annihilated in a single night. She is reborn into the body of Jennie Kim, a pop...