The loud ringing of my phone jolted me up from my sleep as my hand started to wander around to search for the phone. Rubbing my eyes while trying to stifle a yawn, I slide the button to answer the call. 

"Yeoboseyo?" My voice was husky since I had just woken up.

"Eunjin, it's Halmeoni. Are you awake, my child?" 

My eyes widened automatically as I cleared my throat. Replying to her that I had just woken up, I looked at the clock and realised that it would be noon in 10minutes time. I heard Halmeoni chuckling and teasing me about being a heavy sleeper.

"Would you like to have lunch with me today?" Halmeoni asked as I agreed immediately. "But I want to eat at your friend's place. That tall girl. What's her name again?"

"It's Sooyoung, Halmeoni."

"That's right. I want to eat at her place. Shall we meet there at around 2pm, my child?" Halmeoni requested as she continued to inform that Uncle Park and Aunt Nancy would be joining us too.

Once the conversation ended, I straightened my back and scratched my head. It's been almost a week since Harabeoji was admitted to the hospital. My schedule everyday seemed to be on a repeat mode as I would go to work first before heading to the hospital to visit him. Halmeoni had taken over Harabeoji's position temporarily at the office as the Director for the past few days. For Halmeoni, she would also go over to visit Harabeoji after she had finished work so both of us would meet up at the hospital and have dinner together. 

I would usually stay at the hospital to accompany Halmeoni until almost 11pm everyday before we would leave together. I was already feeling exhausted by the 3rd day but seeing how Halmeoni managed to stay strong all the while, I had to pull myself together. I was planning to have a longer sleep on Saturday but after Halmeoni requested me to go to her office after lunch on Friday, I didn't realised that I might not be able to sleep well that night.

(Flashback yesterday)

I had taken time off from work since Halmeoni requested for me to visit her at Harabeoji's office. She told me to drop by after lunch so here I was at the entrance lobby, waiting for Uncle Park.

Uncle Park was the longest serving personnel to my Harabeoji. From what Aunt Nancy told me, her husband used to work as Harabeoji's bodyguard and had formed a remarkable bond together. After Uncle Park had a minor accident in which he had to do a surgery to his knee, Harabeoji told him to stop working as his bodyguard. Instead, he told Uncle Park to work as his assistant. Initially, Uncle Park rejected since he's not that well-educated but Harabeoji told him to just stick close to him and made sure that he brought Uncle Park along, wherever he go.

When Harabeoji reduced his overseas travelling, Uncle Park volunteered to work as a security guard at Harabeoji's mansion. Of course, the old man didn't agree initially but he changed his mind when Uncle Park suggested to form a security team with 4 other younger men. Obviously, Uncle Park would be in-charge. Even the bodyguard that I saw before, was also interviewed by Uncle Park for his job.

So it was no surprise when I saw workers bowing their head slightly to Uncle Park as he walked past them. They acknowledged his importance to the Director and the company. Uncle Park would just smile and waved his hand at the workers who greeted him.

"Uncle Park."

I smiled at the elderly man who pulled me into a hug. I could feel the stares from others who seemed surprised at our interaction.

"Let's go up. Your Halmeoni is waiting for you." Uncle Park released his arms and led me to the centre lift. "This lift can only be used by the Director and his personnels. It serves level 18 to 21. These four levels are restricted areas. 18th floor is where the conference room are. Important meetings are held here with attendance only from the board of directors, head of departments and other overseas counterparts. 19th floor is where Harabeoji's group of secretaries are. But only the head of secretary would report direct to him. 20th floor is where we are heading to right now. Harabeoji's office."

I nodded my head at Uncle Park's explanation. Both of us continued chatting until we reached 20th floor. When the lift door opened, I was surprised that it actually led straight to the office. Straight ahead was Halmeoni, sitting at the desk. On the left was a huge bookshelf that seemed to cover from one end to another. There was a massage chair somewhere near the corner. On the right, the wall was split into two halfs. The side that was nearer to where Halmeoni was seated, had full panel glass windows that showed a stunning view of the outside. The side that was nearer to the lift, seemed like a mini resting area that had two double-seater couches, a mounted TV and a non-alcoholic mini bar, along with a coffee-maker machine.

"My child. Come in, come in." Halmeoni had a wide smile on her face as she stood up to welcome me and gave me a hug. Leading me to the couch, she asked what drinks I would like to have. 

Both of us took a seat at one of the couch while Uncle Park sat on the other. Halmeoni took my hands and slowly rubbed it. Asking me what I had for lunch and other minor topics, I knew she was taking her time to tell me her real intention of asking me to come by.

"Eunjin, my child. You must be curious as to why I called you here, right?" I nodded my head at Halmeoni's question as I noticed her sighing. "We had a meeting with the board of directors yesterday. They told me that since Harabeoji is still in the hospital, they could understand that I'm coming in as a stand-in Director on his behalf. But I can only do so for 2 weeks. According to the company's law, if something happened to the director, the next person to take over should be the next major shareholder of the company. Sadly, I'm not the person."

My eyes blinked rapidly as I tried to absorb everything that Halmeoni had just explained to me. "So someone else will take over Harabeoji's place if he's not awake in 2 weeks time? Is that person trustworthy?"

Halmeoni smiled and suddenly, she stood up. Patting my shoulders, she made her way back to her desk and left me in confusion. I turned to look at Uncle Park and he pointed his finger at me while mouthing the word 'you'. It took me a few seconds that the person whom Halmeoni was referring to was me.

"Mwo?" I abruptly stood up and looked at Halmeoni. "How can that be?"

"Your Harabeoji holds 40% of the company's shares. The next major shareholder is your Appa with 20%. But since he's no longer around, his shares had been transferred to you by your Harabeoji." Halmeoni explained as she took out a file from her drawer and showed it to me. "I know you're not ready for this. But if you don't take over, I'm not sure what will happen to the company."

"Most probably either one of the shareholders would be taking over since they each holds 15% of shares. I know that Mr Oh is a reliable man since he has known your Harabeoji from the time they started this business. But I'm not sure about the younger Mr Byun." Uncle Park expressed his opinion and added that Harabeoji was friends with the late Mr Byun. "This young chap seemed to have a lot of ambitions but I don't really approved of his methods."

"Wait, wait... Why did Harabeoji transfer the shares to me? I thought he hated me. He could have given the shares to Uncle Park or even to you, Halmeoni. He could even take the shares for himself." I asked as Halmeoni smiled at me.

"Sometimes, things are not what it seemed to be." Halmeoni gestured me to take a seat in front of her. "I hope you can be the better person and show him that you are not what he thinks of. I'm not going to force you to take over his post though. I leave the decision to you."

No one said anything as I took a seat in front of Halmeoni and read through the file that she had handed over to me. "We have one more week, right? Let me think it about it."

(End of flashbacks)

I jumped out from bed and grabbed my towel when I realised that 30mins had gone since I tried to recall what happened yesterday. Rushing everything so that I won't be late, I was almost done when I peeped at the weather outside. It's been getting colder lately since it's already November so I grabbed a flannel shirt to wear over my t-shirt. It was almost 1.15pm when I left my apartment and made my way to my motorbike. Placing the beanie inside my topbox, I put on my helmet and rode off to Twin Towers cafe.

(Imagine this is what Eunjin wore)

************************

Luckily, it was not crowded when I arrived at the cafe as I made my way in and greeted Hyoyeon by the counter. She gave me a high-five and told me that she would inform Sooyoung and Yoona of my arrival while she led me to a table. I had left a message with Yoona, telling her that I'm dropping by to have lunch with Halmeoni, along with Aunt Nancy and Uncle Park. Yoona said that she would reserve a table for us.

"Jinnie!!"

Yoona's cheerful voice brought a smile on my face as she came to sit beside me. I continued to look through the menu while glancing at the entrance to check on Halmeoni's arrival.

"Did you guys plan to have a big gathering today?" Yoona asked as I frowned since I was not sure what she was talking about. Seeing that I was looking confused, Yoona then explained that Yuri and Taeyeon had actually made a reservation at the cafe too. "The two of them are having double dates with Sica-unnie and Fany-unnie at the moment so they wanted to drop by the cafe after watching a movie."

I finally nodded my head and informed Yoona that it was Halmeoni who wanted to have lunch at the cafe. "If it was my decision, I would not come here for lunch. I'm getting sick of the food here since I'm usually here for lunch and dinner."

My teasing caused me to be in pain when Yoona pinched my arm while I chuckled. While chatting with Yoona, I received a message by Halmeoni which she informed that she'll be reaching in 10mins time. Halmeoni asked me to choose the menu for her and that she had no preference. So I left the task to Yoona who gave me an 'okay' sign before she made her way to the kitchen.

Just when I was about to get back to my phone, my attention was grabbed by the familiar voices that had just entered the cafe. Yuri and Taeyeon were bickering while their partners were behind, shaking their heads at them. Tiffany noticed me from a distance and quickly brushed Taeyeon aside so that she could walk to my table.

"Ppany-ah, where are you go...? Eunjin?" 

I smiled and waved my hands at the four of them as Jessica and Tiffany reached my table first followed by Yuri and Taeyeon. 

"Yah, how can the two of you just leave your partners behind and join a table with another girl?" Yuri pouted and folded her arms while Taeyeon mimicked her actions. 

"Firstly, it's not just another girl. It's Eunjin. Secondly, did you just use 'Yah' on me?" It was Jessica's turn to fold her arms and glare at Yuri.

"A..An...Anni.. What I meant is.. hhhmm.. I.. You.. Mianhae." Yuri started stuttering as she scratched the back of her head while me and Taeyeon laughed at her. 

"Are you alone, Eunjin? Do you want to join our table?" Tiffany asked as I shook my head before explaining to them that Halmeoni was on her way to the cafe.

Hyoyeon came over soon and showed the girls to their table which was not that far away from mine. Sooyoung and Yoona also came out, bringing my food before they went to the other girls table to take their orders. I rearranged the food on the table and didn't have to wait long for Halmeoni to arrive.

Taeyeon and Tiffany saw Halmeoni and they came by to my table. Halmeoni was surprised to see them there, asking them to join our table. Yuri and Jessica were then introduce to Halmeoni and after a few chattings, our tables were placed side by side.

"There's two more empty seats. Who else is coming?" I asked before grabbing a glass of water to drink.

"Your crush." Taeyeon answered as I choked on my drink.

Halmeoni, who was seated beside me, rubbed my back slowly to calm me down. "So, who's this crush that you've been hiding behind my back?"

My cheeks automatically became warmer as the girls teased me for blushing. Jessica informed Halmeoni that the person whom the girls were talking about was actually her younger sister. Halmeoni kept shooting questions at me while I pretended to be busy eating.

"Is that her?" Halmeoni asked as she pointed to the entrance and I automatically looked up but there was no one there. "I've never seen such a fast reaction from you before. I'm really interested to meet this girl."

The rest of the girls laughed when they saw Halmeoni teasing me as I pouted. 5 minutes later, Halmeoni repeated the same question but I refused to be tricked again so I just focused on my food. Until Halmeoni commented something about the icy glare.

The moment I looked up, I couldn't stop the smile that appeared on my face as Sulli and Krystal made their way to our table.

Both of the girls bowed their head and were about to sit down when Yuri suddenly stopped Krystal from sitting down and asked me to stand up instead.

"Wae?" I asked but I still stood up and a grin appeared on Yuri's face.

"Both of you are wearing something similar." Yuri pointed out as everyone started to look at me and Krystal. "Krystal with red flannel shirt and Eunjin with blue flannel shirt. Couple look. Especially with the beanies that both of you are wearing."

I looked at Krystal who was biting her lips and noticed the blush on her face. She quickly sat down and removed her glasses before taking the menu and covering her face. I took my time to sit down as I gritted my teeth at Yuri who was giggling by herself.

"Not bad. Good taste." Halmeoni's remarks caused everyone to burst into laughter as I sighed and covered my blushing cheeks with my hands. "So until when am I suppose to wait for the introduction?"

I blinked my eyes in confusion as Jessica took the initiative to introduce her sister and Sulli to Halmeoni. Krystal even apologised for not being able to visit Harabeoji along with the other girls because of school.

"It's okay, my dear. Eunjin will bring you there sooner or later. Even if you visit him now, he won't be able to see how beautiful you are since he's still unconscious." Halmeoni commented as silence took over the table. "If Eunjin's parents were still alive, they would be very happy to see you."

"What?!!"

Tiffany's sudden loud remark, caused everyone to look at her before they turned to look at me. Tiffany, Jessica, Krystal and Sulli had an obvious look of surprise on their faces as Sooyoung and Yoona suddenly ran out from the kitchen. The two of them had heard Tiffany's loud exclamation so they came out, thinking that something bad had happened.

"They've just found out about my parents." I said as Sooyoung and Yoona finally nodded their head before I sighed.

"Your friends don't know about it?" Halmeoni looked at me as I explained that not all of them were aware of it. "Ohhh.. I'm sorry. I didn't know that some of you were not aware about it."

"You don't have to apologise, Halmeoni. Eunjin should have informed us, herself. Don't you think so, Eunjin?"

The intense stare from Tiffany, caused me to swallow my saliva as I took a deep breathe and apologised. Just when I was about to continue talking, Victoria and Hyoyeon came to the table with the remaining food as everyone started to eat without saying anything else.

************************

"Are you okay?" 

I turned to my side and saw Krystal standing beside me as we both stood by the road side. The rest of the girls were still in the cafe when Halmeoni excused herself to return home. I had accompanied her all the way to the car and was observing the car moving off when Krystal appeared. She and Sulli had left the cafe much earlier than Halmeoni.

I smiled at her as she stared at me blankly. "Why are you here? I thought that you and Sulli were going home."

"Only Sulli is going home. I'm suppose to hitch a ride with Yul-unnie who will be sending me and Sica-unnie back to the apartment." Krystal replied before she turned to face the road again. "I... I... could never have imagine that something tragic had happened to you if you didn't tell us."

After everyone was done with their lunch just now, I had explained to them about my parents. How they were killed in that accident, how I managed to survive the accident and what happened to me since then, especially with regards to my amaxophobia. Tiffany, Sulli and Jessica broke down into tears. Even Yoona, who was hearing it for the second time, cried again. Krystal kept looking down to hide her tears from others.

"I'm all grown up now. I'll be lying if I said that it doesn't affect me anymore but I have to continue living. Even if there's no one left for me." I said as I took a deep breathe and smiled at Krystal. "Let's go in. It's getting cold outside."

Unconsciously, I placed my hand on her shoulders and led her back into the cafe. As we sat down at the table, Tiffany looked at me and grabbed my hands suddenly, causing everyone to be surprised.

"If there's anything that you need from us, please just tell us. We're all here for you."

The sincerity in her eyes caused me to smile again as I nodded my head before I started chuckling. I explained that the Kwon siblings, Taeyeon, Sooyoung and Sunny also said the same thing to me when they heard the story the first time round.

"You said that you can't be in car but I thought that the 3 of you will take turns to drive the tow-truck at work?" Jessica asked. 

"My condition has improved slightly over the years. I can be in a car, provided that I'm the one driving. Even so, I still have to take my medication before I drive. Just to calm my nerves. I'm not that good when I'm in an enclosed space." I explained further and coincidentally, Tiffany blurted out about the haunted house.

"What haunted house?" Taeyeon asked as she, Yuri, Yoona and Sooyoung looked at me with unreadable expression.

I was also taken aback when Tiffany blurted it out. I didn't expect her to mention about the haunted house incident in front of everyone. I had known that Jessica and Tiffany were aware of the truth but I didn't had the chance to ask them about it. 'Did Krystal confessed to them?'

"If you think that I'm the one who told them, you're wrong." Krystal, who was seated beside me, said in a soft tone as I jerked back slightly since she was able to read the thoughts out of my mind. "Sica-unnie knew me too well. She suspected that I was not alone when I was in the haunted house so I had no choice but to tell her the truth."

"And we are still waiting to know the truth too." Yuri said in a sarcastic tone as she folded her arms.

Before I could say anything, Krystal intercepted me and narrated the whole story to everyone. No one said anything and just focused on listening until the end of the story.

"Soojung-ah, how did you manage to remember everything so well when it had happened a few months back?" Jessica asked as I noticed a blush appearing on Krystal's face.

"Precious memories?" Yoona commented in a teasing tone. "But seriously, Han Eunjin. Even if you like her so much, putting yourself in danger is a big NO."

I pouted as Yoona pointed a finger at me while Yuri, Taeyeon and Sooyoung nodded their heads. 

"If I had known about her condition, I would not have allowed her to go through all that. Mianhae." Krystal gave a solemn look as she apologised. "Thinking back, I shouldn't have foolishly put myself in that situation at all too."

"Gwenchana. Nothing happened. I ate my medication once you left the haunted house. I could even skate with you after that." I grinned at Krystal who seemed to be thinking of something.

"When I said that you looked pale and asked if you're fine, that was when you're having breathing problems, am I right?" Krystal asked as I nodded my head. "Yah!! I really thought that I had put on weight and even went on a diet for one week. All because you said that I was heavy."

Krystal pouted as she started to beat my shoulders continuously. I chuckled at her child-like reaction until I grabbed both her hands and meronged at her. She pouted and tried to pull her hands away as I continued laughing. We didn't realised that our interaction was being keenly watched by a few pairs of eyes until Tiffany commented something.

"Both of you looked cute together."

I immediately released Krystal's hands as both of us turned to face outwards. We didn't even realised when we started to face each other as I noticed the smirks on the other girls faces. I coughed out slightly to clear the nervousness in my system while Krystal grabbed her drink and took a sip.

"Too bad Krystal is already taken. You're too late, my friend."

Yuri's comment caused my eyes to widen as I suddenly remembered what Taeyeon had told me on the night that I had left the club early. I was too caught up in my thoughts that I didn't noticed the eye signal that Yuri was giving to everyone else.

"You should have seen how Amber propose to Krystal. It was done on the stage and everyone was cheering. It was super grand." Sooyoung's added comments caused me to release a deep sigh as my head started to drop and my eyes were now on my shoes.

"But even if Eunjin was there, I don't think she would confess her feelings to Krystal." Taeyeon's comments caused me to glare at her.

"I was on the verge of confessing when I had to stop and help Yuri with that drunk girl." I said through gritted teeth, feeling upset with the situation. "And then I had to rush off to the hospital."

"If you were there, what would you have done?" Jessica suddenly asked as I turned to look at Krystal beside me.

"I would ask her to give me a chance to date her. If she thinks that Amber is still a better choice for her, then I would accept her decision." I replied before pouting. "But I don't have the chance anymore."

My head dropped again as my shoulders slumped while I leaned back into the chair. I was surprised when all of them started to laugh at me.

"You can ask me now since I rejected Amber."