jisoo was confused on what to do. was she supposed to meet him somewhere? was his final statement an invitation? was he going to pop out of nowhere and surprise her christian grey style?
the last one may be a bit unlikely than the others, but that doesn't mean it couldn't be a possibility.
"야! kim jisoo!" jennie snapped her fingers in front of her older friend. jisoo immediately receded from her thoughts and sent the heiress a smile.
"were you listening?" jennie asked, a bit annoyed that she wasn't paying attention to her anecdotes.
"...no?" jisoo grinned sheepishly. jennie pouted, but continued digging into her vanilla sundae. jisoo followed suit and casually greeted her with a "congratulations on your engagement, by the way."
jennie clapped her hands triumphantly and asked in a giddy tone, "how did you know?"
"you've been flaunting your left hand more than usual, plus that big diamond encrusted ring on your hand is a dead giveaway." jisoo replied in mock disinterest. she then grabbed jennie's hand and scanned the prized engagement ring. it was very sophisticated, much like the woman wearing it.
"so, tell me," jisoo started with an encouraging beam, "how did he propose?"
"oh, you won't believe it, unnie! it was so romantic! he called me up for dinner, and there was this rose petal covered path that led to a beautiful gazebo where our family members awaited our arrival. he popped the question when we were standing there."
jisoo could only imagine the state of euphoria her best friend was in as she fawned over her fiancé. jennie was such an avid storyteller that she reiterated the whole event in complete detail and with no missing a single puzzle piece.
the ringing of her phone cut the conversation short, however. jennie allowed her to take the call while she ordered another serving of the creamy, vanilla-flavored dessert.
"hello, 압바," she greeted once she answered the phone call.
but before chairman kim could reply to his daughter, her mind was already being whisked away by the thoughts of seokjin's last statement. jisoo gasped. could her father be calling to invite her to dinner with him?
no.
no.
she chuckled in disbelief. that was impossible.
"jichu? are you okay, dear?" her father asked in concern. by now, she was sure she was acting like a lunatic.
"yes, 압바. why did you call?" jisoo shoved her spoon into her ice cream.
"oh, we're having dinner tonight with mr. and mrs. kim from S.J. enterprises."
"hm. do i need to be there?"
"well, yes. you presence is needed. their son, seokjin, will be joining us, by the way."
holy mother of vanilla sundaes. she almost chocked on her delectable treat. jisoo cleared her throat and composed herself. "okay."
out of all the things she could have gotten right, why did it have to be this?
...
as jisoo pulled up her car at their family's driveway, she wasn't done berating herself. maybe this seokjin wasn't the seokjin she encountered earlier. after all, there was no mention of his last name, and being in a country like south korea, there could be many people with the exact same name as yours.
yes. that was right.
"miss kim?" their family butler, mr. jang, tapped on the window of her vehicle. "miss kim, are you alright?"
jisoo looked at him with wide eyes and hastily exited her car. with an apologetic grin. she handed him the car keys. "sorry, i was a bit preoccupied."
"no need for an apology, miss. your parents are in the living room waiting for the guests."
"thank you, mr. jang."
she listened as her heels crunched against the rocky pathway leading to the stairs. it hurt her feet, but since her mind kept straying away to the topic of this 'kim seokjin', she didn't mind the pain. when she reached the top of the marble staircase, she pushed open the double doors and was greeted by the sight of her parents who were busy on their phones.
"hello, darling," her mother, kim soohyun, greeted with a dazzling smile, "the guest should be arriving any minute. take a seat if you like. how was your day?"
"ordinary. you?" jisoo plopped down onto the couch.
"likewise. i heard jeon jungkook and kim jennie are getting married?"
"oh, yes. i was with jennie earlier." she blew on strands of hair billowing in her face.
"oh isn't that wonderful? what about you, dear?" her mother placed the phone face down onto the coffee table. an expectant look already on her face as she waited for jisoo to answer.
"what do you mean, 엄마?"
"well, when are you getting married? we need grandchildren and we aren't getting any younger."
"stop over reacting! you just turned 55."
"and you'll turning 30 in 3 years. it'll be harder to carry a baby by that time."
"but i'm still busy with work."
"oh we could always tell your father push the date of his resignation by a few years."
jisoo looked at her father. chairman kim's eyes widened at the suggestion. he shook his head to jisoo as a plead of salvation.
"but 압바 is getting old too."
"oh, he's been doing his job for three decades. i'm sure he can handle a few more years."
jisoo's eyes travelled to her father's figure yet again. his hands were formed in an indignant 'x'. thank goodness he was sitting behind her mother, or else she would have thrown a pillow towards his direction.
the doorbell rung and chairman kim swiftly stood up from his seat. "look, our guests are here!" he said with an awkward chuckle before opening the door widely and greeting the two kim men with handshakes.
...
"you have a very lovely home." mrs. kim complimented when they all sat at the dinner table.
soohyun looked up from her meal and sent a smile. "thank you. i'm sure your home is lovely, as well."
"well, it's home. by the way, soohyun, i couldn't help but adore your christmas decorations." mrs. kim spoke up with the most genuine smile.
"decorated them myself. it's nice to know that someone appreciates my hard work, these two never compliment my craft."
"i can relate. say, do you have any tips of christmas decorations? i'm a bit late on embellishing the house this year."
a small amount of dread started to settle in the pit of jisoo's stomach. since mrs. kim and her mother were hitting it off with a discussion regarding Christmas ornaments and since the patriarchs had a conversation among themselves, it meant that the guests would be staying longer.
which meant she had to stay longer.
which meant she would be forced to strike up a conversation with kim seokjin.
great.
