While the Taennie shippers and many other people were freaking out about Jennie's promise to introduce her fiancé"soon", she put the matter aside for now and continued to work hard. Despite her busy schedule, she didn't forget to spend some time being lovey-dovey with her honey even when they weren't physically together.
She had already stopped monitoring Manoban Corporation's surveillance system because Lisa's assistant, Bam, had begged her not to do so anymore for the sake of the employees' mental health. Almost everyone at Manoban Corporation was now afraid of being haunted to insanity by the evil demon with a robotic voice.
But one thing that she didn't stop was the lunch deliveries to Lisa. It came to a point that they had to hire an extra chef at the mansion because of the increased workload.
Lisa informed her that everyone at the Corporation was now enthusiastic about meetings because they knew that his fiancée would feed everyone. It was a good thing for the company because his employees' productivity increased as a result of the anticipation for food.
Both Jennie and Lisa also started training again in their respective martial arts. Jackson, a.k.a. Fourth Brother, started coming over the mansion to train Jennie once again.
Lisa returned to the karate dojo after such a long time. After attaining third-degree black belt years ago, he stopped training because he became too busy running the Corporation. He asked his second brother, Haruto, to accompany him this time.
Haruto was a fifth-degree black belt and continued to train in karate even when the rest of them stopped. Although he wasn't as active in it anymore, he still made sure to go to the dojo at least once a month or so.
Their eldest brother, Mingyu, reached second-degree black belt but had no interest in karate anymore. He was happy focusing most of his time on his passion: sports shooting.
With all of these going on in their lives, it was quite a wonder how Jennie and Lisa still managed to spend time together. But they did.
Both of them felt very happy.
However, Jennie felt a faint dread at a certain date that was fast approaching. It was the day that Chaerin would be returning to the country. If she was only visiting, Jennie wouldn't think much of it. But this time, the woman would be staying at the penthouse for who knew how long.
When Jennie informed Mei and the household staff that Chaerin would be staying at the penthouse for an indefinite period of time, she could sense their horror even when they weren't showing it on their expressions.
Clover told Jennie that she overheard Mei giving an in-depth doomsday sort of lecture to the penthouse's entire household staff on how to interact with Chaerin—or more like how to avoid being the target of her wrath.
After hearing about her staff's anxiety, Jennie was seriously having second thoughts about agreeing to let Chaerin stay in the penthouse. However, she already gave her promise to the woman.
It ended up being quite a stormy day when Chaerin was scheduled to arrive in the country. Many flights were cancelled. In fact, Mei and the others were hoping that Chaerin's flight would be delayed for another day or longer.
Unfortunately, the woman's flight arrived on time despite the bad weather. The driver picked her up from the airport. Mei and the others had no choice but to welcome their dreaded guest at the penthouse.
Jennie, Lisa, Jae and Clover were busy working so they weren't there to welcome Chaerin when she arrived. Both Jennie and Lisa already decided to stay at the penthouse for a few days to spend some time with her after work.
A sense of uncertainty and trepidation enveloped all of them at the thought of having to regularly interact and even live with Chaerin.
###
Later that evening.
Unlike their usual routine, Lisa picked up Jennie, Jae and Clover at Orchidia Beauty. Normally, they went home on their own because they had different schedules. Jennie especially had an extremely irregular schedule as a celebrity.
Earlier that day, Jennie and Jae were busy with her showbiz work. Afterwards, they dropped by Planet Monkey to check on the gaming company. Then late in the afternoon, they headed to Orchidia Beauty to work. Jennie and the others were extremely busy preparing for the company's first grand product launch soon.
As for Lisa, he originally didn't plan on picking up his baby girl and the others. However, he was informed that his future mother-in-law had already arrived at the penthouse. The two of them hadn't officially met each other yet.
He didn't want to arrive home early and meet Chaerin by himself. He decided that it was best if he met his future mother-in-law in the presence of his baby girl.
###
Gold Heights Condominium.
The delicious aroma of food wafted up their noses, making their mouths water, when the elevator door opened to the penthouse.
"Mmm! Yum yum! Junjun hungwy, Mama!" Little Jun told Jennie, being the first one to react to the delicious aroma.
"Don't worry, Little Jun. We're going to eat soon," she assured her godson. She was carrying him in her arms.
Hoyeon and Little Jun waited for them to arrive at the condo lobby. Jennie invited them to join the welcome dinner for Chaerin. Although the mother and son almost always had their meals at the penthouse, Hoyeon was hesitant in joining the dinner because she wasn't personally familiar with Jennie's mother. All she knew about Chaerin was her unpleasant reputation, just like the Jennie in the past.
However, Jennie insisted that she wanted Hoyeon and Little Jun to join the dinner. She wanted to show Chaerin that Hoyeon and Little Jun were family and that they had every right to go in and out of the penthouse. She didn't want Chaerin treating the mother and son badly. If she did, Jennie would kick the woman out immediately.
So all of them entered the penthouse together.
Then a tall, gorgeous, middle-aged woman wearing a long, flowy, tailored satin jumpsuit stood up from the couch in the living area. Her beauty was undeniable. She was carrying and petting Leo in her arms, but in a way that made the cat look like a designer accessory instead of a living creature.
"Oh, there you are! You're finally here~ I've been waiting for yoooooouuu~ Come hug and kiss your mother, honey—oh my! Who's that gorgeous man standing next to you?"