Strumming her fingers on her desk, Sooyoung kept sighing for the umptenth times. Ever since she heard about what happened between Eunjin and Amber, she was placed in a dilemma. Yoona was really angry when she found out that Amber had punched Eunjin in the face.

(Flashback a few days ago)

"Why would Amber stop working at my cafe?" Sooyoung asked as the other girls looked at each other while Yoona and her took their seats.

"Because of me." Krystal replied with guilt written on her face. "She already knew about me and Eunjin seeing each other"

"So, you mean that she's going to quit because she didn't want to see both of you?" Yoona asked as she started to help herself with the food on the table. "You and Jinnie could just avoid going to Twin Towers on those days that she's working."

Yoona's suggestion was agreed by Sooyoung who added that Amber didn't look like someone who would hold grudges just because Krystal and Eunjin were together.

"If she doesn't hold grudges, she won't have punched Eunjin in the face." Yuri intercepted the conversation, shocking Yoona and Sooyoung who was hearing it for the first time.

"She punched Jinnie in the face?" Yoona repeated her sister's question. "But why? What happened that lead to this kind of violence?"

Yoona's attention shifted to Eunjin who took a deep breathe before narrating about the incident at the basketball court which had happpened almost a week ago. 

"That's really unexpected from Amber. Ever since she started working part-time at the cafe, I rarely see her losing her temper no matter how bad the customer was." Sooyoung explained. "But was Amber the one who said that she would stop working at the cafe?"

The rest of the girls shook their heads as Jessica explained that they were just speculating about it.

"Even if it's just a speculation, I don't want to see such act of violence happening in the cafe. Maybe we should stop Amber from coming to work." Yoona turned to face Sooyoung who was frowning.

"Stop her from coming? Are you asking me to fire her?" Sooyoung re-confirmed what Yoona had initiated. Seeing her girlfriend nodding her head, Sooyoung let out a sigh. "But she's been doing well at the cafe and helping out diligently, especially during the weekends. Firing her on basis that doesn't concern the cafe, I don't think it's fair."

"I agree with what Sooyoung had said." Eunjin added on. "The problem is between me and Amber. It has got nothing to do with Twin Towers."

"But she punched my hero." Yoona pouted and folded her arms, turning her body away from Sooyoung to show her displeasure. "I have a share in the cafe too."

(End of Flashback)

For the next few days, Yoona had continued to show her displeasure to Sooyoung. Her girlfriend didn't talk much to her and would avoid bumping into her even at the cafe. Yesterday, when Eunjin informed everyone to gather at the cafe as she had something to inform them, Sooyoung was worried that they might meet up with Amber. Luckily, Amber had something on and was not able to report for work for that Friday evening but she did informed Sooyoung that she would be coming in early on Saturday morning.

When Amber arrived at 10am just now, she seemed to be acting like her normal chirpy behaviour. Since Hyoyeon and Victoria were not aware of what had happened between Eunjin and Amber, everyone was behaving like normal. Except for Yoona who was giving Amber the cold shoulder.

A knock on the door disrupted Sooyoung's thoughts as she looked up and saw Yoona carrying a plate of food towards her. 

"Your lunch." 

Placing the food on the desk, Yoona was about to walk away when Sooyoung grabbed her wrist.

"Are you still angry at me?" Sooyoung asked as Yoona glared at her before nodding her head. "I'm sorry for making you mad but I wish you could understand my position though."

Yoona stared at Sooyoung who then released her grip on Yoona's wrist. Letting out a heavy sigh, Sooyoung sat down at her desk and thanked Yoona for the meal. Seeing the upset look on her girlfriend's expression, Yoona didn't have the heart to walk away.

"I'm sorry. For not being understanding." Yoona finally said as she took a seat in front of Sooyoung.

The truth was, she was already starting to feel guilty since yesterday. When she saw how the other couples were treating their own partners, deep down inside her heart, Yoona had regretted for making Sooyoung feel bad for the past few days.

"I know you're angry at Amber's behaviour for punching Eunjin. I'm upset too since Eunjin is also my friend. But like what Eunjin had said, the problem is between her and Amber. If I was to fire Amber because of that, then it'll feel like I'm being bias. Unless, Amber herself was the one who wanted to resign." Sooyoung explained her position to Yoona in the hope that she would understand. "Amber has been doing her work well even though she's only a part-time staff. I have no good reason to fire her."

"I know. I'm apologising for making you feel worse with the way that I've been treating you lately." Yoona bite her lips as Sooyoung smiled.

"I knew you were feeling bad about it which was why you brought lunch for me. Anyway, with Eunjin going back to work at the workshop, do you think she would want to start the live band again?"

Sooyoung's question caused Yoona to shrug her shoulders. Ever since Eunjin's harabeoji was hospitalised, the live band performance at the cafe had been put on hold. Eunjin didn't have much time to spare since she was busy going to the hospital and also handling the company. A lot of the customers had been enquiring about the live band and Sooyoung had to explain that it had been suspended temporarily until further notice.

"But even if Jinnie wants to play the live band again, it shouldn't be a problem right? Since she doesn't sing on weekends, so the chances of her meeting Amber would be much lesser." Yoona said as Sooyoung nodded her head subconsiously.

"Let me discuss with Eunjin again about this." Sooyoung replied as Yoona gestured for her girlfriend to eat her lunch.

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

"Arranged  marriage?!!"

I nodded my head at the four girls in front of me before letting out a sigh. 

"Is he crazy? In which era is he still living in? Arranged marriage? Woahhh!!!" Yuri suddenly banged her fist on the table and stood up.

"Seobang." Jessica grabbed Yuri's hand lightly and asked her to sit down. "Calm down."

"How can I calm down? You've only seen her Harabeoji on the bed, lying unconscious and looked like a fragile old man. But that old man is the most cruel person I've ever seen." Yuri continued to show her anger until Jessica pulled her down to sit and gave her a side hug.

"Please don't be angry. Let's talk things calmly. I hate to see you in anger." Jessica pleaded before Yuri finally let out a sigh.

I had sent Krystal back to Jessica's apartment after having breakfast together. Coincidentally, Yuri, Taeyeon and Tiffany were also at the apartment so I told them about Uncle Park's visit last night.

"Is your Harabeoji really that bad?" Tiffany asked as I shrugged my shoulders.

"Worse than bad. Like what Yuri said, he's the worst. I've not talked to him personally but from stories that I had heard from Yuri and Eunjin, I don't think he has the right to make that kind of decision." Taeyeon shared her point of view.

"Her Harabeoji really seemed cold and heartless." Krystal's comment caused everyone to look at her as I just chuckled a little.

"You must have had a very bad first impression of him." I said as Krystal nodded her head cutely. "I don't blame you though. I've never had any good impression of him either."

"Soojung-ah, you've meet her Harabeoji before?" Jessica asked as Krystal started to tell about what she saw on that day she had followed me to the hospital. "He reprimanded Eunjin for the work she had done for him during his absence. How snobbish can he be?"

"Sicababy, let's talk things calmly." Yuri said with a teasing tone as everyone laughed when Jessica pouted. "Even you won't be able to suppress your anger if you knew the characteristics of Harabeoji. You should listen to what he did to Eunjin after her parents passed away. He.. "

"Yul, andwae." I quickly intercepted Yuri's sentence and shook my head vigorously. "I don't want so many people to know about it."

"What is it that you don't want others to know? What did your Harabeoji do to you?" Krystal placed her hand on my arms as I turned to look at her. 

Seeing Krystal's sincere eyes, I gave in.

(Flashbacks)

> When I was 10yrs old. A day after the funeral of my parents. At Harabeoji's house.

"Thank you so much for helping with all the necessary procedures."

I observed as Grandma bowed her head to Halmeoni and Harabeoji. Halmeoni walked up to her and placed her arm on Grandma's shoulder. The two elderly ladies were consoling each other over their losses until Harabeoji coughed out loud.

"Since everything is settled, let's proceed to the next issue. Who's going to take care of that kid?" Harabeoji pointed his finger at me as I could just blinked my eyes rapidly. "I'm a busy man and I don't have time to look after all these small issues. Since I paid everything for the funeral, don't you think you owe me a favour by taking care of that kid?"

Grandma turned to look at me and I saw the pity in her eyes before she nodded her head slowly, agreeing to bring me back to Tokyo with her.

> When I was 14yrs old. At the funeral of Grandma.

"Poor kid. She's left all alone again."

"I heard her parents died a few years back in an accident in Seoul. Her father's parents didn't want to look after her so her mother's mom brought her back to Tokyo. Pity her. My daughter is her classmate and she always told me how the other classmates would always make fun of her because her Japanese was not as fluent as the rest."

"That's what I heard too. On Parent's Day, no one came for her since her grandma was busy with her food cart shop. So she will be alone, sitting at a corner."

"Now that her grandma is no longer around, what do you think would happen to her?"

All these murmurings were from the neighbourhood ladies who came to pay their last respect to my grandmother. Once again I saw the sympathetic look that they gave to me as I just smiled a little and bowed my head at them. I was surprised when I saw Halmeoni walking in with Doctor Ahn into the funeral hall when the ceremony was almost done.

"Halmeoni."

I called out to her as she opened her arms to give me a hug. That was then I felt my tears trickling down my cheeks as I let out my emotions. Halmeoni my head softly and kept ensuring me that everything would be fine.

A week later, I was escorted back to Seoul with Doctor Ahn beside me, to ensure that I would have a safe flight since Halmeoni was afraid that I might have a relapse with regards to my condition. But Doctor Ahn had prepared some medications for me to take before the flight so I was fine. I entered Harabeoji's house for the 2nd time as I saw him waiting for me at the living room with Halmeoni.

"You." He pointed at me the moment I sat down. "Since it's almost dinner time now, you will stay the night here but tomorrow morning, Uncle Park would bring you to the school dormitory. I have arranged for your studies and your accomodation there so be thankful for everything."

> When I was 18yrs old. At Harabeoji's house. After my graduation ceremony.

"I'm really proud of you, Eunjin."

I smiled at Halmeoni, who seemed to have teared up as I scooted closer to her, placing my arm on her shoulders.

"Wae, Halmeoni? Why are you crying?" I asked as I rubbed her shoulders gently.

"Your parents would be so proud of you. I wished they were still around."

Halmeoni's sentence struck a chord in my heart as I smiled at her while trying to hide the pain in my heart. I didn't want to cry in front of her and made her more worried. I wanted to show her that I was strong enough on my own. The sound of the main door closing, caught my attention as I saw Harabeoji walking in. He didn't even stopped to say anything at us and proceeded to the dining area after Aunt Nancy came to take his briefcase from him.

"Harabeoji is home. Let's eat our dinner. I want to show him your excellent results." Halmeoni smiled widely at me as I could sense her eagerness.

At the dining table, Harabeoji was already seated at the head of the table as I sat on his left side while Halmeoni took a seat on his right. No one said anything as Aunt Nancy brought out the food. The silence continued until 10mins later, when Halmeoni took my certificate and showed it to Harabeoji.

"Yeobo, look at Eunjin's excellent results. She can enter any university with this grades." I saw the wide smile on Halmeoni's face but I didn't dare to show any reaction when I saw the expression on Harabeoji's face. He didn't look amused or even bothered at my results.

Frankly, I didn't expect much from him but when he continued to eat his dinner as if nothing had happened, I felt terrible inside. He made me feel like I don't belong in that place at that moment. I noticed that he took a glance at it before pushing the certificate away. I saw the disappointed look in Halmeoni's expression before it changed to sympathy when she looked at me. I just smiled and stared at my food.

"What are your plans after this?" I was taken aback by Harabeoji's question about 5mins later as I quickly replied that I'm planning to enter Seoul University. I smiled a little when I saw him nodding his head but my smile disappeared with his next question. "How do you intend to pay for your studies in the University?"

I was dumbfounded by that question. It didn't crossed my mind at all that I had to think about the expenses since all along, everything seemed to have been prepared well for me.

"Yeobo." Halmeoni called out and was about to say something when Harabeoji stopped her.

"Don't think that I'm going to support you all your life. Even your high school education since you came back from Tokyo was paid, using the insurance money claimed from your parents's accident." Harabeoji said, causing me to be more surprised.

All along, I thought that he was kind enough to be paying for my studies but now I knew that it was not the case. To think that he won't even spend a penny for my education, saddened me as I bite my lips hard to prevent myself from crying.

"I... I... I will work part-time to support myself." I stammered my words since I was trying to control my emotions. "I won't ask for money or anything from you. Don't worry."

He laughed when he heard what I said. "Even if you ask for it, there's no guarantee that I'm going to give it to you. There's still some balance from the insurance money. You can use that first while looking for a job. I'll ask Uncle Park to transfer to your account as soon as possible. Anyway, I'm done with my dinner."

He wiped his mouth and left the table.

(End of Flashbacks)

"So.. that's about it." I said as I ended my story with a small smile and looked around. "Please don't show me that sympathetic look. I really hate it if people start showing pity on me."

I pouted when I saw Tiffany and Jessica looking at me with teary eyes. Taeyeon and Yuri were just leaning back into the couch since they've heard about the story before but I knew they were still feeling the same frustration as they did when they heard the story for the first time, a few months ago.

"So you've been supporting yourself since you started your degree?" Jessica asked as I nodded my head. "Working and juggling your studies is not an easy task to do. You even furthered your studies right up to Masters."

"And all this while, you've been staying by yourself since you were 14. With no one looking after you." Tiffany asked as I nodded my head again. "I.. I can never imagine that you're someone who had gone through all that hardship. You seem so tough and cool. As if you have no worries."

"When I was doing my degree, Halmeoni would come down to my dormitory to check on me once a while. Especially when Harabeoji is outstationed. I only started staying in my current apartment when I was doing my Masters. It was nearer to my working places."

"Working places? How many place did you work in a day?" Krystal asked as I told her that it was between 3-5 places a day. "How did you cope with all that?"

"I guess when you're all alone, there's nothing much for you to think about. I've only got my studies and work to worry about."

I felt a warm pair of arms hugging me from the side as I turned and saw Krystal smiling at me. "You're not going to be alone anymore. You have us now. You have me."

"Omo, that's the sweetest thing that I've ever heard from my sister." Jessica said as Tiffany agreed with her. "I can't believe my sister can be so cheesy."

Jessica and Tiffany then pretended as if they were touched and started to wipe their non-existence tears from their cheeks. Krystal rolled her eyes at them while Taeyeon and Yuri just chuckled.

Their attention was diverted when they heard my phone ringing. Each of them had a nervous look on their face as I took out my phone and smiled.

"No worries. It's not my Harabeoji or Halmeoni calling. It's Sooyoung." I told them before turning the phone around so that they could see the phone screen.

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

"We should have this kind of outing more often. It's more fun when everyone is gathered around." Tiffany commented before she was shocked by loud voices.

"Arranged marriage?"

Sooyoung and Yoona said the same thing while Taeyeon and Yuri laughed at their expression.

"Yah! Don't laugh at them. Both of you had the same expression when I told you about it yesterday." I said as I rolled my eyes at Taeyeon and Yuri who were making fun of Sooyoung and Yoona by immitating their reactions.

"They knew already?" Yoona asked as I told them that Jessica and Tiffany were also informed. "Then how about Krystal?"

"She was the first one to hear about it since she was there when Uncle Park came over to Eunjin's apartment." Yuri answered on my behalf before smirking cheekily at me.

"They were about to snuggle up for the night when Uncle Park spoilt it for them." Taeyeon added on with that cheeky laughter of hers.

"Fany-unnie, Taeng-unnie is teasing me." Krystal pouted and scooted closer to Tiffany who then folded her arms.

Taeyeon quickly put both her hands together as a sign of apology. "Mianhae. Yuri was the one who started it."

"Yah!! I didn't even do anything." Yuri knocked Taeyeon' head before she timidly turned to look at Jessica who was glaring at her. "I really didn't do anything."

Everyone started laughing when they saw the way Yuri was being scared of Jessica. The 8 of us were chilling out under a big tree at the Han river. After Sooyoung's call yesterday, we planned to have a gathering today so every couple went to prepare two dishes each.

"Is that your first night at Eunjin's apartment?" Yoona asked as Krystal nodded her head while she blushed. "That's so cute. Did Eunjin tried to do anything funny to you?"

This time round, the attention was back to me as I saw Jessica and Tiffany looked at me intently while Taeyeon, Yuri and Sooyoung had cheeky grins on their faces.

"She slept like a log. Literally. She didn't even dare to move near me. When I woke up in the morning, I even saw that she had put the bolster pillow in the middle of the bed." Krystal giggled at her own explanations as I just scratched the back of my neck. "But before that, she accused me of something."

"She what?" Jessica's voice was a pitch higher as she looked at her sister before turning to look at me. "What did you accuse my sister of?"

"I.. I.. It was a mistake. An innocent mistake." I stammered as Krystal continued to explain what happened between us when I wanted to sleep on the couch. "I forgot that Krystal had a sister. You have to understand. I'm an only child. It didn't trigger my memory about siblings."

I pouted while the other girls laughed at me except for Jessica. I grinned sheepishly, trying to get on the good side of Jessica before she nodded her head slowly. Sooyoung and Yoona then asked me to continue my story with regards to the arranged marriage. When I ended it, it was clear that Sooyoung and Yoona were unhappy about the whole matter.

"Why is your Harabeoji acting that way? Seriously, he's so childish. I'm not trying to be offensive but your parents are no longer around. The only next-of-kin that he has is you. But he's treating you like a sworn enemy, trying his best to make sure that he's making your life a misery." Sooyoung said as I just smiled a little.

"I guess he's unhappy that he's not able to make my life as miserable as he wanted it to be. Without him, I was still able to continue living well. Thanks to the good genes that my parents gave me. I was good in my studies and blessed with good health to do all those part-time jobs. Even though it was hard some times, I did enjoyed myself especially when I was working with the live band."

"Talking about live band, are you planning to start singing in the cafe again? Since you're no longer working at your Harabeoji's company, I was thinking that maybe you'll have some spare time." Sooyoung asked as I arched my eyebrow as if I was thinking.

"You usually sing on weekdays, right?" Krystal suddenly asked as I nodded my head. "On weekdays, I won't be able to come down to watch you sing since I usually have morning classes."

"Do you want me to sing on weekends then? I can always ask Soo...."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Yoona intercepted my sentence awkwardly as I noticed her nudging Sooyoung's shoulders. "Both of you should spend time going on dates on weekends."

I looked at the two guilty-looking person in front of me and knew that they were hiding something from me. "I can always go out early with Krystal and both of us can also spend time together at the cafe while I sing. I don't see any problem with that."

"But I.. we.. think it's better for you to perform on weekdays. You yourself suggested that when we started this gig." Sooyoung countered my words before I finally realised something.

"It's because of Amber, right?" I asked as Sooyoung's and Yoona's eyes widened in surprise. "You could have just said it straight to me instead of beating around the bush. I'll understand."