Jennie was on her best behavior for the next two weeks, trying not to get herself in any more trouble so she didn't add to Lisa's worry. She'd also gave Rosé and Jisoo a stern warning about getting into trouble – or rather, a stern warning about letting Lisa find out they had gotten into trouble. Chaerin had left the day after they'd found themselves getting arrested, and Jennie had waited until the next day to get back to work. Not taking Chaerin's punishment seriously, Jennie had shown up at the office at her normal time and had made it all the way up to her office before she was cut off by Somin, who stood her ground as she refused to let Jennie into her office. After a standoff that lasted a few minutes, Jennie groaned in frustration and had left the office in a bad mood and hadn't been back since.

Chaerin showed up twice for therapy, and Jennie was slightly pissed that her mom had actually taken her company away from her for two weeks, which made for interesting post-therapy dinners. Jennie couldn't argue with her mom's logic though – both of them had half-expected to find photos of Jennie being handcuffed or leaving the police station in the news the following day, and Chaerin was intent on keeping Jennie out of the spotlight if that happened. When nothing came of it though, Jennie became grouchy about being away from J-Corp, and spent most of her days secretly doing work from home that Somin unwillingly slipped her when they met up for game night.

When Jennie walked into J-Corp two weeks later, she was met by a guilty looking Somin, who held out a coffee and newspaper with an apologetic look on her face. Jennie swapped her coat for the coffee, rolling her eyes at a nervous looking Somin. "Relax, Somin, I know you were just doing what my mother told you," Jennie said, accepting the newspaper, "and I don't blame you. I think I'm the only person who never listened to her, purely because I knew it pissed her off."

"I'm really sorry though," Somin apologized, stowing Jennie's coat away and picking up the tablet. "I hope it wasn't too bad, being away from work. I know how much you hate it."

Jennie laughed. "That sounds backwards doesn't it? It was completely boring and I'm sick of shopping – although my wardrobe is probably thanking me. So, how much paperwork have I missed out on?"

"I gave you as much as I could sneak out without your mom's spies finding out, so there's not as much as there could've been, but still a lot. It's all waiting on your desk for you. I put the ones I think you'll be most interested in at the top of the pile," Somin told her. Jennie was actually looking forward to the prospect of sitting behind her desk all day, reading pages of statistics, or schematics for new devices. Setting her coffee down, Jennie smiled as she sat down and quickly picked up the first file, opening it to reveal plans for a new water filtration system that Jennie was hoping to build to help countries in need.

"Thanks, Somin," Jennie said as an afterthought, already lost in the plans. Completely absorbed in her work, it was ten o'clock before she so much as moved, and only then because the sound of her phone ringing shocked her out of her reading. Reaching to pull her phone out of her bag, Jennie groaned slightly, feeling stiff from hours on minimum movements.

"Hello," Chaerin said as soon as Jennie answered.

"Mom," Jennie replied.

"Enjoying being back at work?" Chaerin asked, sounding slightly amused.

Jennie rolled her eyes. "Yes, very much so. Thanks for asking."

"Oh come on, Jennie. I was doing you a favour. You spend far too much time at that place, and you needed to be taught a lesson. Privilege isn't something you can use to shake off responsibilities," Chaerin told her.

"Then how come you used it to get us all out of trouble?" Jennie asked. "Sounds a bit contradictive to me."

Chaerin scoffed and Jennie could picture her mom rolling her eyes. "Of course it's contradictive! But I wasn't going to let my daughter be charged for breaking three different laws for the sake of my morals. God knows it's not the first time I've done it."

"Thanks," Jennie begrudgingly said. "And I promise to not act like a privileged asshole next time."

"Next time?" Chaerin questioned, with a slight warning in her voice.

"You know what I mean," Jennie huffed, and Chaerin made a disapproving sound.

"Are you still mad at me?" Chaerin asked, sounding amused.

Jennie paused for a moment, considering the question. "No, I guess not. I can understand your reasons, even if I don't like being treated like a child."

"Good," Chaerin said. "Maybe next time you won't act so childish then. I'm sure Lisa will tell you the same thing."

"Nice one, mom. Use my fiancé against me. I believe Megan would use the term triangulation if we were in therapy right now," Jennie said, teasing Chaerin.

"Since when did you become a therapist?" Chaerin scoffed.

"Since you tried making me see one when I was fifteen, and the two years I saw one for myself," Jennie laughed. "I may have learnt a few things. Apparently I use avoidance as a defense mechanism - I don't think anyone would've ever guessed that one."

"I can't imagine where they go that idea from," Chaerin laughed, and Jennie smiled slightly. Who would've ever thought she'd be making jokes with her mom about things that had caused so many problems for them in the past.

"Hey mom," Jennie said after a moment, hesitating slightly before she spoke.

"Yes? Is everything okay?" Chaerin asked, all traces of humour vanishing from her voice.

"Thanks for not giving up on me. I know I never made it easy for you, but thank you for fighting for me," Jennie said quietly, because her therapist had been right of course – she did use avoidance as a defense mechanism. She'd used it throughout her teens to avoid seeing her mom – after she'd given up on any hope of winning Chaerin's attention – and she'd used it since Chaerin had come back begging Jennie to let her make amends. Still, if Chaerin hadn't been so insistent, Jennie knew without a doubt that they wouldn't be here right now. For once she was grateful for her mom's stubbornness – not that she'd ever admit it.

"I'll never give up on you," Chaerin promised. "You're all I have."

"Thanks mom," Jennie said in a small voice. She felt a flicker of happiness inside, and she smiled slightly.

"I, um, I've been thinking... I know I said that you should come and visit with Lisa, but I miss you, Jennie. I was thinking about you coming to visit with Rosé and Jisoo at some point. Just for the weekend or whenever you're free," Chaerin said slowly.

"Oh!" Jennie exclaimed softly. She hadn't given much thought to visiting her mom again, but as Chaerin mentioned it, she didn't think it was a bad idea. Especially if Rosé and Jisoo came with her. The only issue would be Jisoo, who would lose her mind over the Kim's estate, and it wasn't like she needed any more reasons to tease Jennie. "Yeah, that, uh, sounds great. I'll speak to them about it and see if they want to come, but, um, if they don't then I'll just come anyway."

"By yourself? Really?" Chaerin asked, sounding surprised.

"No need to sound so surprised, mom. I came by myself last time and things were... not as civil as they are now," Jennie said, laughing slightly at the memory of her and her mom arguing about the company. It felt so long ago, and it had been months, but the people that they'd been then were very different to who they were with each other now.

"Right. Of course. Well I hope they can come, but I'm glad you'll come either way," Chaerin said happily.

"Well I'll call you and let you know when as soon as everything gets sorted out," Jennie told her. "We'll probably visit in the next few weeks, if that's okay."

"Any time you want to. I know you're not overly fond of the place, but it used to be your home, Jennie," Chaerin reminded her. "You can visit any time you'd like to."

"Right," Jennie said. "Um, well I should probably get back to work. I'll see you Thursday?"

"Of course. Have a good day," Chaerin said, before pausing slightly. "I love you."

Jennie blinked, hesitating slightly before replying. "Yeah, I love you too, mom."

-----

Jennie finished her second business meeting of the day, and by that time it was midday. She was in a good mood after the success of the second meeting, and was looking forward to talking to Lisa while she ate her lunch. Somin was just bringing in Jennie's salad when a notification popped up on Jennie's laptop for an incoming video call. With a wide smile, she immediately answered and patiently waited for the video to connect.

As Lisa's face came on screen, Jennie let out a loud exclamation of surprise. "LISA MANOBAN WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"

Looking sheepish, Lisa gave Jennie a helpless shrug, adjusting her glasses which did nothing to cover the huge black eye she was sporting. Her lip was split too, and Lisa's teeth worried at the cut as she stared at Jennie. "Okay so it wasn't my fault," Lisa started, and Jennie let out a bark of laughter.

"Why does that sound familiar? Oh wait, because I said it and it was my fault," Jennie said, raising her eyebrows at Lisa. "What the fuck have you been doing? Are you okay? Just tell me you're okay."

"I'm fine, Jennie. It, uh, it wasn't from combat," Lisa said slowly.

"No shit, Lisa! I know what it looks like when someone gets punched in the face," Jennie said, rolling her eyes. "What the fuck happened? Who have you been brawling with?"

"So there's this soldier, and well, we've never really gotten along. We went through basic training together, and she's always been kind of a bitch to me - I think she thought I liked Taehyun. Anyway, so she doesn't like the fact that I'm a higher rank than her now, and she's always trying to find ways to undermine me or ignore my orders. I have to yell at her like almost every day and I guess today was one time too many because instead of taking it like she's supposed to, she swung at me," Lisa explained.

"Lisa Manoban! Wha-, I-, agh! Oohh, you are so lucky I'm not there. Where is this bitch? I will kick her teeth in, I swear to god. How fucking dare she lay a finger on you? What's her name? I will literally fucking kill her and her entire family. Did you hit her back? I swear to god, Lisa, she better be looking worse than you right now or I will personally see to it myself. I am fucking pissed!" Jennie ranted, her anger boiling up at the thought of someone attacking Lisa.

"Jennie! Calm down. She only managed to get two punch-"

"Two? TWO! SHE HIT YOU TWICE? She's going to wish she'd kept her hands to herself when I find out who she is. What's her name?" Jennie asked, seething with rage.

"Jennie, I'm not going to tell you her name! I'm fine, honestly, it's just a little bruise. I didn't hit her back because then I would've been in trouble too. I'm her superior officer so she'll get taken to court, they'll sort her out, I get to keep my clean record because I didn't retaliate. It's a win win for everyone," Lisa calmly explained.

"IT'S NOT OKAY LISA! I now not only have to worry about you getting attacked by rebels, but now I have to worry about your own soldiers attacking you! This war is shit and you're getting hurt! Honestly, what on earth possessed you sign up in the first place? I will never understand," Jennie replied.

"It's just a black eye, Jennie!" Lisa reassured her.

Jennie scoffed as she looked at Lisa in disbelief. "Well when I got into a fight it was the worst thing that had ever happened since the beginning of the world apparently! Did I start it? Well... that's arguable because I guess I smashed a glass over his head first, but that's beside the point. You can't expect me not to get pissed about the fact that you're hurt! You shouldn't be there in the first place, you should be here, with me, safe."

"I-I know, and I'm sorry that I'm not there, but this isn't the same as you and my sister getting yourself into trouble. I didn't mean to get punched in the face – not that you meant to either – but I feel like it's different circumstances. There's no point in you getting angry over it when there's nothing you can do," Lisa said, and Jennie opened her mouth to protest. "Come on, Jennie, be reasonable."

Shutting her mouth, Jennie knit her eyebrows together in a frown as she stared at the dark bruise ringing Lisa's eye. Her jaw tightened and she ground her teeth together in frustration. "I don't like this."

Lisa let out a snort of laughter. "Well neither do I, but it's not too bad."

"Have you told your mom or Rosé yet?" Jennie asked, and Lisa shook her head, grimacing slightly.

"I'll call them before I go to bed," Lisa told her.

Jennie sighed, looking at Lisa with a pained look on her face. Now she understood what Lisa must've felt when looking at Jennie's face – and Jennie felt a bit guilty as brushing Lisa's concerns away. "I just-, I hate to see you like this," Jennie choked out, her throat closing up.

"You better not start tearing up on me," Lisa laughed, trying to lighten the mood.

"Me, crying? Not likely," Jennie joked, swallowing the lump in her throat. They both laughed for a moment, before Jennie tilted her head to the side and studied every inch on Lisa's face. "You're okay though, right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Lisa murmured. "Now, tell me about your day."

"I think I'd rather hear about yours, it sounds awfully exciting," Jennie said, rolling her eyes as she smiled slightly.

-----

"Pizza's here!" Jisoo yelled as she barged through the door to Jennie's office.

"What the fuck, Jisoo, can't you just knock like a normal person?" Jennie said, looking up from the pile of paperwork she was still doing.

"Somin let me in," Jisoo shrugged walking over and placing the pizza down on Jennie's desk, before making herself comfortable in the chair in front of the desk. Reaching forward, Jisoo picked up the photo frame Jennie kept on her desk and looked at the picture in it. She stared at the photo of Lisa smiling widely out of the frame before putting it back down. Opening the box, Jisoo picked up a slice of pizza, taking a bite and reaching for one of the files on Jennie's desk. Jennie's hand clamped down on Jisoo's stopping her mid-movement, and she gave her an exasperated look.

"Can't you just sit there and behave for five minutes," Jennie sighed, rolling her eyes.

"I'm bored! I just want to see what you're working on," Jisoo argued. Jennie let go off Jisoo's hand, and she shook her head as Jisoo quickly picked the file up and flipped it open. She read through the file as Jennie carried on working, interrupting every few moments to ask a question, and eventually Jennie threw her pen down and sighed with frustration.

"You are infuriating! How on earth does Rosé put up with you? You've gotten greasy fingerprints all over the paper!" Jennie grumbled, running a hand through her hair.

"I'm helping!" Jisoo protested, smirking slightly. "This thing needs to not blow up and then it'll work. See? Helping." Jennie rolled her eyes and flipped her off, before reaching for some pizza.

"Get your dirty fucking boots off my clean desk!" Jennie scolded her, poking Jisoo's leg and watching her grumble as she obeyed. "What time will Rosé be finishing?" Jennie asked, leaning back in her chair.

"At ten," Jisoo said, looking down at her watch. "What time are you finishing? You know that Lisa doesn't like you staying here late."

Jennie rolled her eyes again. "I get stabbed one time and now I'm not even allowed to put in a full day's work."

Jisoo laughed, shaking her head as she picked up another slice of pizza. "Getting stabbed once would be enough for most people. And don't try and act like you haven't been here since seven o'clock. That's over twelve hours. Honestly, don't you have a life?"

"Hm, well I tried having a life and I got myself beaten to a pulp and arrested, so I figured I may as well just risk another stabbing at this point," Jennie smirked while Jisoo laughed. As Jisoo reached for another folder, Jennie's eyes widened and she tried to yank it back off her.

"Not that one!" Jennie yelled, panicking slightly, and Jisoo pulled it out of Jennie's reach, raising her eyebrows as she smirked.

"Well now I'm intrigued," Jisoo grinned wickedly. "What is this? Your secret fantasy scrapbook. It's not sex fantasies is it? I don't think I could look Lisa in the eye ever again if it is." Jennie glowered at Jisoo, crossing her arms over her chest as she watched her open the folder.

"Oh, it's just wedding stuff," Jisoo said, pouting in disappointment. "Well that's boring. Although, I have to say, you've put a lot of effort into this over the past couple of months."

"Shut up," Jennie muttered, holding a hand out for Jisoo to give it back. It was gently slapped aside as Jisoo continued to flip through the pages, much to Jennie's embarrassment. "Okay, that's enough. Give it back please."

"Does Lisa know about this?" Jisoo asked, raising an eyebrow as she carried on flipping through it.

Jennie blushed and cleared her throat slightly. "No. I was making it to show her when she gets back. Just some ideas that I think she might like. Obviously it's a bit stupid to be planning already when we won't be married for a few years, but... you know."

"Looks cool," Jisoo said, before pointing at one of the pages. "Are you not having a white dress? I thought you were a traditionalist – not that you're the epitome of sweet and innocent or anything. No offence, Kim."

"Um, well I don't know if I want a dress of a suit, but if I do have a dress, it'll be white," Jennie explained. "Um, those were some ideas for you and Rosé. I thought nude would be a nice colour scheme, and Lisa agreed."

"Why can't we pick our own? Although I do like the idea of nude," Jisoo said, smiling while she winked at Jennie, who rolled her eyes. "Is it like that ridiculous Kim and Kanye wedding where they forced everyone to wear white?"

"What? No, that's absurd," Jennie scoffed. "You have to match the scheme if you're bridesmaids, otherwise it'll look ridiculous."

"Bridesmaids?" Jisoo echoed, her forehead wrinkling in surprise.

Jennie blinked at Jisoo's reaction and her mouth fell open. "Oh! Oh no, I forgot to ask didn't I? I mean, I figured that Lisa would've already asked Rosé to be her maid of honour, but um, well,