Wait for me to come Home

Chapter 31

"You did very well tonight," Chaerin said, breaking Jennie out of her thoughts. She turned to look at her mom, surprised at the compliment. "You should be proud of yourself."

Jennie nodded, giving Chaerin a small smile. "Thank you."

"And, well, I'm proud of you too," Chaerin told her, smiling back at her. Jennie nodded again, mumbling another thank you.

They were in the back of the car, on their way home after having just left J-Corp and the launch party. The city flashed past them as they sped towards the outskirts, and Jennie was sat in the back, feeling slightly smug that the night had gone perfectly. Chaerin's words had gotten to her, and she'd had her best coders working around the clock to fix the bugs. They were fixed, for the most part, and still in time for the Friday launch that Jennie had insisted on.

"I was thinking that maybe we could go out for breakfast tomorrow, before you leave," Chaerin said hesitantly.

"I'd like that," Jennie agreed.

The rest of the car ride passed in relative silence, and it was getting late by the time they got home. Jennie followed Chaerin inside and, after fussing over Kuma for a moment, she headed over to the staircase.

"Wait," Chaerin called after her, causing Jennie to turn around, arching an eyebrow at her mom. "I was-, we should have a drink. To celebrate."

"Celebrate? It was just a new operating system, it's that big of a deal," Jennie said, laughing dismissively.

"Oh... well I think it deserves some recognition," Chaerin said, her smile faltering as she replied.

"Wasn't that what tonight was for?" Jennie laughed quietly before sighing. "Fine. Let me get out of this dress. I'll be two seconds."

She didn't wait for a reply, she just carried on walking up to her bedroom, quickly changing into her pyjamas before remerging. Jennie walked into the living room as her mom walked in with two glasses and a bottle of champagne.

"Dom Pérignon?" Jennie asked, raising her eyebrows in surprise.

"Mhm. Twenty years old," Chaerin replied, handing the bottle to Jennie.

"Quite the celebration," Jennie snorted, popping the cork and taking a glass off Chaerin to fill it up. She filled the other one up for herself and set the bottle down on the coffee table, before sitting down on the sofa.

"To you then," Chaerin said, smiling at Jennie as she raised her glass slightly.

"Right," Jennie mumbled, taking a sip of the champagne. "Actually, no."

"No?" Chaerin replied, arching an eyebrow at Jennie.

"I just-, the past five days... they've, uh, I don't know. I think it's been good for me, and for you too, maybe. For both of us," Jennie muttered. "That's... I don't know, meant more to me than some stupid software."

"I'm glad you think so," Chaerin said with a small smile, and Jennie sipped her champagne as she shrugged self-consciously. She rarely overshared, and never with her mom, and if things were like they used to be, Jennie would've been mortified at revealing that she actually cared. Then again, if their relationship was like it used to be, she would never have found herself in this situation to begin with.

They chatted whilst they drank their champagne, refilling the glasses when they got too low, and Jennie was surprised to notice that she was having a real conversation with her mom, and she was enjoying it. Somewhere over the past five days' things had stopped being polite and distant, and morphed into genuine interest and a more relaxed feeling around each other.