Forbidden: Two Worlds [Jennie x Reader]

S3C2: Coffee

Season 3 Chapter 2

-Coffee-

Y/n POV

My blank sleep became interrupted by the rising volume of something that felt and seemed unusual and foreign. Almost like a siren cutting through the still, quiet air. I felt myself being pulled closer and closer to consciousness. The more I woke up, the more the sound became familiar. That cycle continued until I realized that I knew exactly what that sound was. It was a sound that no person on Earth could honestly claim they liked hearing. My heavy, still tired hand moved from under the pillow to my phone, swiping to shut the alarm off. I took in a deep breath then heaved it out in a sigh.

My body nearly refused to move, still tired from the sleep I had just come back from. I picked my heavy body up from the sheets and sat up, taking the in the quiet home and reminding myself why I had even woken up early to begin with. The meeting.

Before I got up to get ready, I checked the messages on my phone. The only messages I got were from Yeonghwan telling me that he would see me soon and the messages that came to the group chat after I went to sleep. Nothing from Jennie. Chunhei would be heading to bed fairly soon. I sent her a message, anyway.

Before getting up I stretched, allowing my joints to pop. The rest was just as always. Wash my face, brush my teeth, toast. I then grabbed my bag and left the house. Despite my worry and stress, the weather lifted my mood again. It continued to be as it was the day before.

Even though I was awake, I could feel the tiredness nagging at the back of my mind. I think we all tend to miss our beds after we leave them in the morning. There's something about the warm cocoon we build ourselves in our unconscious lapse that's comforting and inviting. Unfortunately, though, I needed to wake up.

Coffee. I began scanning my surroundings for a cafe to stop into. Didn't take long. This is South Korea, there's a coffee shop on every street corner. It's familiar, too. The very one I went to on my way to YGE when I had to meet them there.

The bell rang, announcing my entrance as I walked through the door. The familiar smell of their house blend filled my nose the closer I got to the counter.

"Hello, what can I get for you?" The smiling female employee behind the counter asked.

"Just a French Vanilla cappuccino."

"Will that be all? We have a deal where you can add a cinnamon roll for a dollar more."

"You know what, yeah. I'll take one."

"To go or for the dining room?"

"To go."

I gave her my debit card to pay for the coffee and cinnamon roll.

"Great, name please?"

"Y/n"

"It will be right out."

"Thank you."

She handed me the receipt and I turned to find a table to wait at. My eyes landed on a familiar face. Lisa. I made my way over to her.

"Hey!" Her eyes lit up. "How are things?"

"Great. We've been really busy, though. We actually have an interview tomorrow live on TV. I was just getting ready to go and look over the questions with managers." Her smile was as infectious as ever. "We've missed you!"

"Yeah, I haven't heard from any of you in a while."

I don't know what changed, maybe it was what I said, but her expression fell from the smile. It was almost as though she realized something that made us meeting here a bad thing. Usually, Lisa is pretty easy to read, but this was going to be an exception. I had no idea what was going on in her head.

"What's wrong? Everything's okay, right?"

"Uh... yeah. Everything's fine!" Her smile was back, but it wasn't a genuine one like earlier. It felt as though I had put her in a very awkward position.

"Lisa, what's going on? What's wrong?"

She froze. This was an expression I was familiar with. She was thinking. Maybe a little too hard.

"Y/n?"

My order.

"Stay here, I'll be right back."

I went up to the girl and grabbed the cup and bag that contained the cinnamon roll I got as a last-minute decision. I shifted my weight and pivoted to return to Lisa. She was gone. I looked around to see if I could find her, but she wasn't in the shop. She had already crossed the street.

Great... Something is wrong...

I couldn't let the thought linger too long. I had a pretty important meeting I needed to attend. As much as the thought of something being wrong with the Blackpink girls, or Jennie specifically, that Lisa wouldn't tell me about killed me. I needed to focus now. I hadn't heard back from YGE at all about anything. So, Namkyu and Yeonghwan are right. I may as well add this to my payroll and continue making a living when and where I can. Who knows, my money stream from that album could disappear next week.

I did my best to make the most of the walk to the GH building, which wasn't too difficult because the weather was nice, even though it had gotten humid. I took note of that. Often times when it's humid or hot, people are usually a bit more on edge. Though the buildings of these companies are usually comfortably air-conditioned. I also had my coffee and cinnamon roll. When has either of these things not put someone in a good mood?

I don't know what I was expecting the building to look like, or if I had a mental image of it at all, but it wasn't really this. It wasn't an old or dilapidated building as some of these small companies tend to start in, it looked well taken care of. However, the building was really plain. Sure, it had the company name on the front, but that was it. It didn't have the fancy architecture you usually see from other entertainment companies.

I shrugged off the small surprise and made my way into the building. The inside matched the outside. Very business-like, to the point, and nothing really fancy. No complaints. Often times when a company doesn't put the money into the look of the company building, it means they're putting it into the artists. A must if you're a small company.

I went straight to the front desk and waited for the woman to finish her phone call. She wasn't long and softly placed the phone back on the receiver.

"Hi, how can I help?" Her voice was bright and happy. It actually calmed my nerves some.

"Yeah, I'm here for a meeting with Mr. Park about the producer position."

"Absolutely, what's your name? I'll let him know you're here."

"Y/n. Yeonghwan called to refer me yesterday."

"One moment."

She picked the phone back up from the receiver and dialed what I assumed to be the extension for the CEO's office. The conversation was short before she hung the phone back up and told me to head up to his office.

"Don't worry, Yeonghwan will meet you at the elevator. He knows where to go."

"Thank you, Ma'am."

I bowed, then turned to continue my small journey to the GH CEO's office. The elevator doors opened, and standing there in an otherwise empty elevator, was Yeonghwan.

"Well, hey there, my fellow GH producer."

"I haven't even had the meeting yet." I stepped into the elevator shaking my head with a smile.

"You're getting the job."

"Even if I do, I still need to decide if it's good for me or not."

"We'll see."

To be conditioned...