"What do you mean she left?"

Krystal was confused with what Jessica had just told her. It was a Saturday morning and she has just arrived at her sister's apartment but was surprised to find that there was no one around. She was about to call her sister when she heard the main door opened and her sister walked in, along with Yuri behind her. Jessica greeted her younger sister before she handed a letter to her. Her Unnie said that it was a letter from Eunjin before she left.

"She left. As in out of the country." Yuri was the one who replied but her tone of voice sounded like she was unhappy about the whole thing. "Is it so difficult for you to face all these with her?"

"Yul, please." Jessica stood in front of Yuri and shook her head before Yuri stormed her way into Jessica's room.

"Unnie, can you explain everything? Please? Where's Eunjin?" Krystal was holding back her tears that was about to flow down.

Grabbing her sister's wrist softly, Jessica let Krystal to the couch as both of them sat down.

"Soojung-ah, both of us had just returned from the airport after sending Eunjin off. Eunjin made the decision after she went to see her grandfather at the prison yesterday to find out what really happened with regards to the arrest."

"Harabeoji was sabotaged, right?" Krystal cut off her Unnie's sentence as Jessica looked surprised before nodding her head.

"That guy that Eunjin was supposed to marry, was the one who planned all this. Harabeoji admitted his mistake for signing documents given by that guy without checking it thoroughly. He claimed that he only signed the authorisation to use one of his container ship for transportation. He was not aware of it's shipment and destination." Jessica continued explaining.

"But what has all these got to do with Eunjin leaving the country? And why did she leave without telling me?" Krystal's tears were flowing down as Jessica gave her a side hug.

"I think that letter that she asked me to pass to you will explain everything. From what Eunjin told us last night, Harabeoji was the one who told her to leave. Because if something will to happen to Eunjin, the company will fall into the hands of that Byun guy."

"But I thought that the company is already managed by him as of now? Which made me confused since I thought that Eunjin was supposed to be the second in line to take over." Krystal frowned as Jessica told her about the prenuptial agreement between Byun Joon Suk and Harabeoji. "Oh my god. He really did planned all this."

"It seems that even if Mr Byun is currently in-charge of the company due to the fact that he's the 2nd highest shareholder, but if Harabeoji was to pass away, half of his shares will be given to his next-of kin. Which is Eunjin and that will put her back on as the successor with the highest shares. Harabeoji wanted Eunjin to leave for her own safety and at the same time, to look for Uncle Park."

"Eunjin is in danger?" Krystal's eyes were full of worry as Jessica shrugged her shoulders.

"We are not sure if she's really in danger but it's always better to take precautions." Jessica smiled as she patted Krystal's thigh. "Anyway, please forgive Yuri-unnie for her words earlier. She's just worried about Eunjin."

"It's my fault. If Yuri-unnie was to scold me right now, I would have accepted it. I shouldn't have pushed her away and leave her alone to handle all these."

"Eunjin told me that she understood the position that you're in and if possible, she didn't want to add on to your school stress with her problems." Jessica Krystal's hair as the younger girl continued to sob softly. "She told me to take care of you and tell you not to worry about her."

Krystal could only nod her head before both of them went to their own rooms to rest.

Krystal's POV

The moment I closed the door behind me, I made my way quickly to my bed and climbed up. Staring at the envelope in my hands, I could feel my eyes getting warmer again.

'You could have just messaged me to say goodbye.'

I let out a sigh as I was reminded of the countless messages that Eunjin would send to me for the past 5 days. Just simple messages on what she's been doing and how she kept reminding me to eat my meals and to have enough rest. None of her messages received a reply from me. Biting my lips, I scolded myself for not replying.

'Soojung-ah, why were you so angry with her? Was it because of the news? Was it because of the teasings? But Eunjin was never at fault.'

My tears flowed down again as I recalled how cold I had been towards someone, whom I was on the verge of declaring my love to, before the news broke out. The grip on the envelope tightened as I laid down on my bed, feeling worse than before.

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

My eyes stared at the white clouds that was passing by the small airplane window. It's been 6 hours since I left Seoul. Another 6 more hours to pass by. I tried to get some sleep but my eyes was not able to rest. It must be because my mind was busy with a lot of thoughts. An air stewardess walked by and asked if I needed any drinks and I told her to give me a cup of coffee. 

As I sip on the drink, I was reminded of my conversation with Harabeoji yesterday. He loved coffee too.

(Flashback yesterday)

It was my first time entering a restricted area. The tall walls and the cold atmosphere surrounding it, caused some uneasiness in me. I followed the officer in front in silence until he stopped in front of the room.

Harabeoji's lawyer was beside me as he gestured to me to enter first. I've met him before when I was taking over Harabeoji's duty in the office temporarily while he was in a coma. With his help, I was able to arranged for a meet-up with Harabeoji today.

I walked into the room where Harabeoji was already seated on the opposite side of the table. No longer was he looking at me with glares. Gone was the air of arrogance that was always surrounding him whenever I saw him before. His stares were empty, his shoulders were slumped and he looked as fragile as an average old man.

"I wasn't expecting you, Eunjin."

It was the first time I heard his non-authoritative voice, saying out my name. The first time I could feel some humanity in the way he called out to me. I didn't know how to react to his greetings so I just smiled a little and nodded my head before sitting down on one of the chairs.

Mr Kang, the family's trusted lawyer who had been working for Harabeoji for years, took a seat beside me before he started to brief Harabeoji on some of the company's updates. I saw how Harabeoji just nodded his head but he didn't seemed like he was actually interested to find out about it.

"How's my wife?" 

The first question that came out from Harabeoji's mouth, surprised me a little. Frankly, I thought that he would be more concerned about the company than anything else. Mr Kang updated Harabeoji accordingly.

"Make sure you get the best doctor out there to treat her. Make sure that she stays alive longer than me."

Harabeoji's instruction was simple and clear as Mr Kang nodded his head. All the while, I was absentmindedly just listening in to their conversation that it took me by surprise when Harabeoji turned his attention towards me.

"Thank you for coming to see me. Honestly, I was surprised when I saw you walking in with Mr Kang."

"You were surprised? You didn't look surprised to me." I answered as I tried to recall how he reacted earlier.

"I'm used to having an expressionless face. It's better for others to not be able to read what is going on in my mind." Harabeoji took a deep breathe as he leaned back into the chair. That was when I realised that both of his hands were handcuffed to the side of the chair. "You know, you could have just ignore everything that is happening to me and just continue living your own life."

"I guess that's true. Provided that I have a cold heart like you. But I'm not like you. You may not recognised my existence in your family line but to me, you're still my Harabeoji. The father of my Appa. I can't just ignore the fact that someone has tried to hurt my own flesh and blood."

"So you know that I'm innocent?" Harabeoji leaned in to the table.

"I didn't say that you're innocent but you could have avoided this issue if only you had listened to Uncle Park. Before he left, he told me to be careful of Byun Joon Suk and I believed that he gave you the same advice too." I replied, not afraid of the stare that Harabeoji was giving me. "I'm here to find out what actually happened that led to your arrest and to find out if there's anyway I can help you."

Harabeoji started to laugh as I frowned at his reaction. "You want to help me? Really? After all the things that I had done to you over the years, you still want to help me?"

I nodded my head, causing Harabeoji to stop laughing. "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this for Halmeoni and also for my Appa. I believe if he was still around, even though you had disowned him, he would still lend you a helping hand."

Harabeoji took a deep breathe before he hung his head low. "Jin Taek was really a good son. Never once did he rebel against my orders. Until that arranged marriage. Was it wrong for a father to ensure that his son will have a happy marriage?" I saw Harabeoji shaking his head as his voice didn't sound as confidence as it used to be. "It was my mistake. I pushed him away. And I was too proud to acknowledge my own mistake. When he found your Omma and was happy with her, it became like a challenge to me to prove to him that his decision to go against me was wrong. But I was the one who was in the wrong. The anger I felt towards him increased when he passed away along with your Omma. I felt like I was being mocked by God who took them away so that I won't be able to exert my revenge."

"So I became your next target for you to release your pent-up anger?" I shot him a question as Harabeoji nodded his head slowly before looking up. I saw his eyes turning red, a sign that he was trying to control his tears.

"I made a lot of mistakes. I hurt people who loves me, thinking that they were against me. I've lost Park, I've lost Nancy. I might even lose your Halmeoni for the mistakes that I had done. I can't lose her. I knew her reluctance to seek treatment was a form of rebel towards me."

Harabeoji started sobbing quietly as I let out a sigh. "Harabeoji, you're not going to lose Halmeoni. I'll make sure that the truth is out. But I need you to promise me something in return. Cancel off the arranged marriage. I have someone that I love and I don't want to leave her."

"But you need to leave the country, Eunjin. You're the righful heir of Hanjin Shipping. If Byun is determine to take over the company, he will harm you because if I was to pass away, half of my shares will be given to you."

My eyes widened after Harabeoji informed me about it. Mr Kang took the liberty to explain further about matters of the company's shares as I tried to absorb all the information.

"I don't want him to get his hands on the company nor should he be hurting you. You've suffered enough from my own acts." Harabeoji claimed before he let out a sigh. "If you really want to help me, the only person who could do so is Park. I'm not that sure about this but if my guess is correct, there's a possibility that he went to visit his daughter in California"

'Oh yes, Uncle Park did inform me before that he has a daughter who is currently working in California. Why didn't I remember about that?'

I scolded myself as I watched Mr Kang writing down the address that Harabeoji was saying out to him.

(End of Flashback)

As I stared at the piece of paper which I had taken out from my wallet, my thoughts were interrupted by the voice of the air stewardess who came to ask about my choice of inflight meal.

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

Loud knockings on the door, jolted Krystal from her sleep as she quickly made her way to unlock her bedroom door.

"Yah!! Gwenchana?"

A flustered looking Jessica appeared  behind the door with Yuri and Tiffany behind her. Krystal, who was only half-awake, stiffled a yawn before she scratched her head.

"What's going? What happened?"

The 3 older girls looked at each other before Yuri shook her head and walked away. Meanwhile, Tiffany and Jessica pulled Krystal into the room and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Your sister has been knocking on your door for the past 10mins. You didn't answer so she panicked and started calling out to me and Yuri. She thought that something bad had happened to you." Tiffany explained as Krystal finally understood.

"Unnie, I was just sleeping earlier. I didn't even realised that I had fallen asleep."

Jessica knocked her sister's head lightly before Yuri appeared at the door again to ask if the girls wanted to order anything for dinner.

"Dinner? What time is it now? How long did I fall asleep?" Krystal's eyes widened in surprise.

"It's almost 7pm now. Since both of us when back to our own rooms at about 10am just now, it means that you've been sleeping for the past 9 hours."

Even Tiffany was shocked when she heard Jessica's remarks. She frowned at Krystal and asked if she was really fine because it was very rare that Krystal would sleep a lot.

"If it was your Unnie, I might understand." Tiffany's comment was met by a merong from Jessica.

They asked Yuri to order dinner for them since they were fine with anything as they watched Yuri walking away from the room.

"So have you read Eunjin's letter?" Jessica asked as Krystal shook her head. "You fall asleep even before reading it?"

"Eunjin gave her a letter? I wonder if she had landed safely in LA. If only she had told me earlier, I might be able to follow her and visit my family there at the same time." Tiffany pouted as Krystal just listened with a blank expression. "Krys, looking at your confused look, it seems that you didn't know where Eunjin had went."

"I didn't know. I only knew that she had left the country this morning and she even left without saying goodbye." Krystal sighed as Jessica patted her thigh.

"Take a long shower. Relax your mind and join us in the living room for dinner." Jessica suggested while Krystal could only nod her head.

An hour later, Krystal came out of her room looking fresh and just at the same time as their food delivery arrived. The 4 of them sat at the dining area, quietly eating their dinner until Yuri's phone rang. Moving away to the living room where her phone was, Yuri picked up the call.

"Eunjin-ah, did you arrive safely?"

Yuri's words attracted Krystal's attention as she turned to face Yuri who was making her way back to the dining table. 

"I'm just about to have my dinner. Have you eaten?"

Krystal continued to observe the chatting while Yuri didn't even made any effort to have eye-contact with her. Krystal bit her lips as she looked down on her food. Deep down inside her heart, she was hoping that Yuri would pass the phone to her so that she could at least hear Eunjin's voice. But her hopes were dashed when she heard Yuri's parting words.

"Arraseo. Take care of yourself there. Give me a call once you have manage to locate Uncle Park. I will update you from time to time if there's any progress to your Harabeoji's case. Keep in touch." Yuri pressed the end button and placed her phone by the side of her plate as she looked up. "Eunjin send her regards to everyone and she said not to miss her too much."

When Yuri was saying the last part, her eyes were focused on Krystal who merely nodded her head as she looked down. 

Krystal's POV

After that phone call from Eunjin, everyone continued to eat their dinner and even started chatting away about work and other stuff. I guess they were trying not to make me feel bad as they tried to divert my attention by asking me about my school stuff. I answered them accordingly to what they asked until I had to ask them the question that had been bugging me.

"When will Eunjin be back?"

Everyone eyes were on me and for a split second, they seemd to look uncertain before Tiffany-unnie and Jessica-unnie turned to look at Yuri-unnie. It seemed that both of them were also expecting an answer from Yuri-unnie.

"I... I'm.. not sure myself. Eunjin told me that Harabeoji gave her the address of Uncle Park's daughter who is currently residing in LA but Harabeoji can't guarantee that Uncle Park would certainly be there since he also knew that Uncle Park has a few friends in California too."

"Uncle Park has a daughter?" Tiffany-unnie reaffirmed as Yuri-unnie just nodded her head. "Have any of you met her before? How old is she?"

"None of us had seen her before. Since Eunjin has never spend time with her grandparents while growing up, she had not seen her too but Uncle Park did tell Eunjin about her before. She is the same age as Eunjin, currently working as a doctor in one of the hospital there. Uncle Park's daughter had went there to further her studies and was offered a job while doing so. She's been there for almost 4yrs." I listened intently as Yuri-unnie explained further.

"Same age as Eunjin? No wonder Aunt Nancy is very attached to Eunjin. She must have reminded her of her own daughter." Jessica-unnie commented. "I wonder if she's pretty?"

"She is." Yuri-unnie absentmindedly answered as her eyes widened when she realised that she had said her thoughts out loud. Because of that, she received a kick in the shin by Jessica-unnie from under the table. "Arrghh.. pain. Eunjin was the one who said it. Uncle Park showed her a photo before."

Yuri-unnie's outburst caused Jessica-unnie to glare at her before both of them turned to look at me. I let out a sigh before giving both of them a smile.

"I'm done with my dinner. I'm heading back to my room for a rest. Thank you for the meal, Yuri-unnie. Good night, everyone."

As I made my way back to my room, I could still hear Yuri-unnie's voice groaning in pain. Maybe she's receiving some punishment from Jessica-unnie for her words earlier. I knew how jealous Unnie could be. I walked to my study table and sat down. Looking at the envelope that was placed on it, I let out a sigh as I tried to recall the phone call earlier.

'Was Eunjin aware that Yuri-unnie was at Jessica-unnie's apartment? If she's aware, then why didn't she ask Yuri-unnie to pass the phone to me? Didn't she want to talk to me at all? Is she angry with me for my cold treatment towards her lately? Did she have a change of heart?'

All those thoughts caused me to slump my shoulders as I felt my heart sank with pain. My eyes felt warm again as I sniffed a little, trying to prevent the tears from falling.

"You should just read the letter instead of just staring at it."

I turned behind and saw Yuri-unnie leaning against my door with her arms folded. She made her way and sat on the edge of my table as I prepared myself to be scolded by her.

"Yuri-unnie, I know that you're angry at me and I....."

"You and Eunjin are both the same. Both of you like to stare at objects and daydream with thoughts running inside your mind." Yuri-unnie intercepted my words as she turned to look at me. "If you think I'm here to scold you, you're right. But I'm not going to do so."

I blinked my eyes as Yuri-unnie let out a sigh.

"Investigations has begun currently on Harabeoji's case. But it might delay since they couldn't find other concrete evidence about his involvement beside the agreement which had his signature on it. Hopefully, Eunjin will be able to find Uncle Park as soon as possible."

"Will Eunjin be fine all alone there?" I had to say out my concern as I saw Yuri-unnie giving me a sarcastic smile.

"She's accustomed to being alone. I believe she will manage herself well."

I bite my lips as the sarcasm hit me straight through my heart. I was about to say something when Yuri-unnie stopped me.

"If you want to apologise for your treatment towards Eunjin for the past few days, don't. Because I'm not Eunjin." Yuri-unnie stood up and walked away before stopping at the door. "If you're really sorry about the whole thing, then do me a favour and take care of yourself well in Eunjin's absence. I don't want her to have to worry about you when she's already gotten a lot of burden on her shoulders."

The door closed behind her as I grabbed the envelope and took the letter out.

Dear Soojung,

It's my first time calling you that. Your sister told me that you prefer to be called by your Korean name than your English name. First and foremost, I apologise for leaving without saying a word. I don't have the courage to face you and to say that I'm going away, leaving you behind. I might end up not leaving if I see you. So that is why this letter comes in as a replacement. Secondly, I apologise for all the trouble that I've put you through because of the marriage news. I know that you're facing some difficult times in campus especially with your final exams around the corner. Mianhae. Sorry for causing you to have added stress from whatever that is happening right now. Finally, I need to be away momentarily to help Harabeoji with his case. I know he's innocent and I know that I didn't have to help him but no matter how bad his treament was towards me and my parents, he is still family to me. I will be out of the country to look for Uncle Park, whom Harabeoji believed to be the only one who can save him. I'm not sure where exactly Uncle Park will be but I know that he's in California. I can't guarantee you the time of my return but I promise you that I'll be back as soon as everything is settled. Don't miss me too much and work hard for your final exams. Please remember to eat your meals regularly and have enough rest. I won't be there to take care of you but I have my spies around.

Saranghae.

Truthfully Yours, Stupid Eunjin.

As I stared at the letter in my hands, a teardrop fell on Eunjin's name as the word started to smudge. I quickly placed the letter away on the table and wiped my tears with the back of my hand.

"Stupid Eunjin, I hate you." I climbed onto my bed and hugged my pillow. "But I love you more."