"Uncle Park!! Aunt Nancy!!"

I waved my hands at the two elderly couple who were making their way out from the arrival hall. Both of them looked totally surprised when they saw me standing beside their daughter while Shin Hye laughed at my actions.

"Why do you look more excited to see my parents than I do?" Shin Hye giggled and teased me as I meronged at her.

"Your parents are like my parents too." I blurted out a reply as I noticed a smirk on Shin Hye's face.

"You do know that your statement can be misinterpret, right? What if your girlfriend hear you saying that? She might think that there's something going on between us." Shin Hye laughed as I stood there dumbfounded when I realised what I had just say.

"Yah!! You know that was not what I meant. It's not like a couple to couple kind of parents." I clenched my teeth at Shin Hye who continued to laugh until Uncle Park and Aunt Nancy appeared in front of us.

"What's the joke about? I could see Shin Hye laughing from the moment I walked through the glass door." Uncle Park asked before Aunt Nancy intercepted him by grabbing my shoulders.

"Why are you here, Eunjin? Did something happened to your Halmeoni?" There was an obvious worry on her face as I nodded my head slowly.

"Actually, something did happened to both Halmeoni and Harabeoji." I replied as I looked around. "I'll explain once we've reached home. But before that, can you help me to hold my jacket while I go to the Ladies first?"

I handed my jacket to Shin Hye and before I walked away, I managed to whisper to her to take care of my jacket properly since it's important to me.

Meanwhile, back to the hospital.

Krystal was listening to everything that Doctor Ahn was saying about Halmeoni's condition. On how she rejected all medication given to her because of what happened to Uncle Park and Aunt Nancy.

"Mrs Han felt that what her husband had done to the both of them were totally unfair. Even the arranged marriage was totally uncalled for. Which is why I don't understand why Eunjin is even helping that old man out. He should be left there to reflect on his actions so far. Futhermore, it's not like he has a lot of time left in this world."

Krystal just gave a small smile as she continued to listen to Doctor Ahn's outburst. She found out that Harabeoji's brain tumour was quite critical and he might not even last for a year.

"I'm not sure if Eunjin is doing this out of pity or because of Halmeoni but that kid is really one kind soul. No matter what had been thrown at her, she persevere and moves on. I've known her since she was 10yrs old and never had I heard her complaining about anything. But I know, deep down inside, there's a lot of bottled feelings that she's never shown to anyone." Doctor Ahn suddenly reached out and held Krystal's hands. "I've never seen Eunjin smiled as genuinely as when she was telling me about you. I've never seen her eyes sparkled that bright everytime she mentioned your name. I'm not trying to pressurise you or anything. But if you really care and have feelings for Eunjin, please show it to her. Because she's not the type who will show it all out."

Krystal nodded her head furiously as Doctor Ahn smiled and thanked her.

"Doctor Ahn, what if I feel that Eunjin is too good for me? I've been going out with her for almost 3 months and everytime I'm around her, I feel like I'm falling deeper. She makes me feel like I'm the world to her but what if I can't make her feel the same way no matter how hard I try?" Krystal bite her lips as Doctor Ahn her hair gently.

"Love is a wonderful thing. Don't think too much into it. As long as you're honest to her about your feelings, everything will be fine. Eunjin needs all the love she can get especially if one day, her Halmeoni is no longer around."

Krystal turned to look at the gentle espression on Halmeoni's face as she held the elderly's hands. Just when she was about to let go of the hand, she was taken by surprise when Halmeoni started to jerk around as Krystal panicked.

Doctor Ahn sprung to her feet and walked to the side of the bed, checking on all the vital signs of Halmeoni's body while the frown on her face deepened.

"Krystal, go out and get some help for me. Palli!!"

At the doctor's command, Krystal dashed out from the room and shouted for help, causing a few nurses to ran to her side while they asked Krystal to wait outside of the room.

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

"With the arrival of new evidence provided by Mr Han's attorney, he was found not guilty of the previous charge and was released right away. Mr Han spoke to the press that he was thankful for the assistance from his former bodyguard who had installed a recorder in his office which was the crucial evidence provided to the jury. In that recording, it was clear that Mr Han was only giving the permission to use one of his ship to Mr Byun Joon Suk and was not aware of the consignment and destination of the shipment since it was never mentioned to him. On the other hand, Mr Byun had testified that he was not aware of the misuse of the ship by one of his worker who had been caught by the relevant authorities while trying to get out of the country."

"Woah... I can't believe that Byun guy managed to get away. He must have made his worker as the scapegoat when he's the mastermind of it." Tiffany commented after the news report was over.

"They were not able to prove that he was involved in the case and furthermore, that guy tried to run away from the country. It made him look more guilty. I wonder if that Byun guy had paid him a lot of money." Taeyeon added on her opinion.

"If Harabeoji has been released, does that mean that Uncle Park had came back? And if that is so, where is Eunjin? I've not heard anything from Krystal about Eunjin contacting her." Jessica's question caused Tiffany and Taeyeon to frown as they had just realised about it.

It was a Saturday afternoon and the 3 of them had decided to hang out at Jessica's apartment. Surprisingly, Yuri had rejected their offer citing that she needed to check on Halmeoni at the hospital. Krystal had informed them that Halmeoni had a near death encounter when she had a cardiac arrest on Wednesday evening but luckily, Doctor Ahn was there. Yuri became very concerned over the past few days and had been going to the hospital to check on Halmeoni regularly. Meanwhile, Krystal didn't return to Jessica's apartment that week because she wanted to revise on her studies before the start of her exam on Monday.

"Don't tell me that Eunjin didn't fly back with Uncle Park?" Jessica said as Taeyeon commented that it couldn't be since she had told them that she would fly back as soon as everything was settled.

"She told us that she missed Krystal a lot and I think she would be the first one to fly home if possible." Taeyeon then informed them about the phone call which they had on Tuesday evening.

"You told me that she was staying with Uncle Park's daughter, right? What if Eunjin has a change of heart?" Tiffany's suggestion was met with a fierce disagreement from Taeyeon who said that Eunjin was not that kind of person.

"Let me call Krystal first. Maybe she forgot to tell me that Eunjin is back." Jessica said as Taeyeon and Tiffany nodded their heads.

Krystal's POV

I was concentrating on my revision when Luna and Sulli came excitedly into my room. They pulled me out, telling me that there was something important which I needed to watch. Reluctantly, I was dragged out from my room but my eyes automatically was stuck to the TV screen when I saw the news. As I watched intently until the end of the news, my mind went blank until Luna shoved my shoulders.

"Why do you look so lost?"

I blinked my eyes and was about to answer when I heard my phone rang. Since it was in my room, I had to walk back to answer it as Luna and Sulli followed me from behind.

"Hi Unnie... Yes.. I just saw the news. It's a relief that everything is settled and Harabeoji was able to prove his innocence." I paused as I listened to whatever that Jessica-unnie was telling me. "Anni. I didn't get any message or call from her.... We didn't contact each other at all. I... I'm not sure, Unnie... Arraseo. You take care too."

I hung up the phone and let out a sigh while biting my lips. Sulli and Luna saw my expresison and they became more worried as they asked if I was fine.

"Jessica-unnie just called. She pointed out something that had been lingering in my mind ever since I saw the news." I looked up to see the confused looks in Sulli's and Luna's expression. "The news said that Harabeoji was thankful for the assistance from his former bodyguard which I presumed is Uncle Park. He must have arrived a few days back to be able to assist in the case. But the question is, where is Eunjin?"

Luna and Sulli took some time to understand the whole situation before they finally understood it. Both of them were equally puzzled and asked me to call Eunjin which I did but there was no connection to her phone. I was about to call back to Jessica-unnie when my phone rang.

'Yuri-unnie?'

My frown deepened when I saw the name that had appeared on the screen of my phone as I slide to answer the call.

Yuri's POV

As I leaned against my car, I let out a sigh for the umptenth times. From a distance, I could see the silhouette of Krystal making her way to the campus carpark as my heart became heavier. After the phone call to ask Krystal to meet me 10mins ago, I had been trying to find the words to say to her to explain what was going on.

"Yuri-unnie, hello."

Krystal greeted me as she bowed a little as I just nodded my head. For the next few seconds, no one said a word as I clasped  my hands together.

"Have you eaten?" I asked as Krystal nodded her head. Scratching the back of my head, I asked her on her revision so far. "Everything is going smoothly, right? Next Monday is already the start of your exam week."

"Yul-unnie, did something happen to Eunjin?"

I looked straight into Krystal's eyes, trying to look for signs that she might have known something but there was none. "What do you mean?"

"She's not back yet. Harabeoji's case is already settled which means Uncle Park had came back to assist but there was no messages or call from Eunjin. She promised me that she would come back as soon as everything is settled." Krystal bite her lips as I took a deep breathe. "Did she break her promise?"

"Krystal-ah, I don't think Eunjin will ever want to break her promise to you. I'm here to actually tell you something. Eunjin asked me to pass a message to you, in case she's not back as what she had promised. The problem is, I'm not sure if something really did happened to Eunjin or if she's okay since I've yet to meet up with Uncle Park to ask him about it... Remember when Taeyeon called her while you were at the workshop?" I asked as Krystal nodded her head. "Two days before that, Eunjin called me. Besides giving me the errands of things to do, she also told me something else... Her life might be in danger."

I saw how Krystal's eyes widened as she covered before tears started to flow down slowly.

(Flashbacks)

"Prettier than Krystal?" I tried to as I heard Eunjin grumbling again.

"Krystal can't be compared to her. My Soojung is a goddess."

I heard Eunjin's cheeky laughter as I told her to stop being chessy with me as I was not Krystal. Both of us ended up laughing again before Eunjin's voice turned serious.

"Yul, I need your help."

I could sense from her tone of voice that something was not right as I asked her what kind of help did she need.

"Help me to check with Mr Kang on the progress of the case and also to check on Doctor Ahn about the health of Halmeoni. I'll message you their contact details so that you can update me once everything is done."

"That shouldn't be a problem. It's a small matter." I smiled with my answer but I caught the sound of a sigh from Eunjin on the other line. "Eunjin-ah, gwenchana? I can sense some uneasiness in your tone of voice."

"Yuri-ah, the reason as to why I moved in to Shin Hye's house is because I received a threat note while staying at the hotel. Someone is watching my every move. I've been told to keep my hands away from Harabeoji's case. If not, something bad will happen to me."

I was speechless for a moment before I tried to reconfirm again about the info that she had just told me, thinking that she might be trying to pull my leg but I was wrong. With a heavy heart, Eunjin told me that she had noticed someone suspicious lingering around the hotel where she had stayed before.

"I found the slip of note from under the hotel room door after I came back from my first meeting with Shin Hye. After reading that note, I decided that it was not safe for me to stay on my own at the hotel so I asked permission from Shin Hye to move to her place. Her place is more secured with guards on duty for 24/7 and after that encounter with the guards before, I know that they would not allow easy acess for entry to strangers."

"Does Shin Hye knows about this? Why don't you just report it to the police? They will be able to do something about it." I suggested, trying to find ways to help her from a distance.

"She doesn't know. I didn't want to alarm her and I also don't want this matter to blow up by involving the police. I don't even know to what extend are they really serious about the threat. What if it was just a false threat, to intimidate me so that I won't help Harabeoji?" Eunjin answered as I bite my lips.

"But what if they meant what they said? What exactly did the threat note says?"

Han Eunjin,

Stay out from Han Jin Young's case. It's not beneficial to you if you were to get involve. This will be my one and only warning to you. Ignore it and you will face the consequences. You might not even return to Seoul. It'll be best for everyone if you heed my advice. There's no point in helping out a dying man.

Anonymous.

Eunjin read out the note to me as I scratched the back of my head. Eunjin continued by saying that she might wait for Uncle Park to come back before deciding anything.

"If anything is to happen to me..."

"Nothing is going to happen to you." I intercepted her words as I felt a heavy weight on my shoulders when I heard Eunjin letting out a heavy sigh.

"Yul.. I need you to listen to me. Right now, anything can happen. But even if I can't go.... No, no, no... Even if something happens to me, I need you to pass a message to Krystal. Tell her to study hard. I want her to graduate with a distinction. Tell her not to worry about me. Tell her that I miss her...a lot.. Tell her... that I..."

By now, I heard soft sobbing coming from the other line as I bite my lips hard to prevent myself from crying too. "Eunjin-ah..."

"Tell her I'm sorry. Sorry for taking too long to confess my feelings to her. For not telling her that I love her." Eunjin took a deep breathe as I listened to her calming herself down. "Yuri-ah, I made a promise to her that I will come back. Do you think I can keep my promise to her?"

(End of flashback)

No one's POV

"I didn't know how to reply to her since my tears had started to fall and words were stuck in my throat. She ended up answering her own question."

Yuri said as she looked up to the sky, trying to prevent her tears from falling again while the younger girl in front of her was already squatting down with her head tucked in between her knees. No one said anything as the silence took over. As Yuri squatted down to pat Krystal's head softly, the younger girl looked up and Yuri saw the swollen eyes from all the crying.

"What did she say? How did she answer her own question?" Krystal asked as her tears threatened to fall again.

"She said that she'll keep her promise to come back, no matter what. Even if it's just her bod....." 

Yuri couldn't complete her sentence when she saw Krystal covering both her ears with her hands. She knew then that Krystal didn't want to hear any further. The two of them continued to be in that position until Krystal asked Yuri about who else knew about it.

"You're the only person that I've told so far. Initially I wanted to inform you after your exams but Eunjin did specifically asked me to inform you straight after everything is settled. "

"I guess she wanted me to know that she's not running away from me or hating me for my actions towards her before. She wanted me to know that there's a reason for her not being able to keep her promise to me. The most important thing is, she wanted me to focus on my exams without worrying about her." Krystal stood up slowly as Yuri did the same.

"You're not worried after I told you everything?" Yuri looked a little confused as Krystal shook her head.

"Of course, I'm still worried but didn't you say that Eunjin had asked me to study hard and graduate with a distinction?" Krystal asked as Yuri nodded her head. "I've been doing everything that she asked me to do so please help me to check with Uncle Park about her whereabouts."

Yuri was about to walk Krystal back to the dorm lobby when the younger girl stopped her. She thanked Yuri for telling her everything and asked Yuri to go back home to rest since she also needed some time alone. Just when Krystal was about to continue walking, she paused and looked back.

"Yuri-unnie, can you do me a favour?" Yuri immediately nodded her head as Krystal smiled a little. "Don't tell me anything about whatever that you found out  about Eunjin until I finished my exam. Is that okay?"

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

The week past by faster without Krystal realising it. Maybe because she was too busy putting her full concentration on her studies or maybe because it was the exam fever which had caused almost every student to be lost in their own world.

As she walked out from the exam hall after her last paper had ended, Krystal took out her phone and stared at it. While she was contemplating her decision, someone walked up and stood in front of her. Even so, Krystal's eyes were still on the gadget that was in her hands.

"Are you trying to melt it with your stare?"

Only then did Krystal lifted up her head and let out a sigh when she saw the person who was standing in front of her.

"Are you that unhappy to see me until you have to let out such a heavy sigh?" Amber arched her eyebrows and she looked around. "Where's your bodyguards?"

Krystal knew who Amber was referring to but she was in no state of mind to argue with her. She had other things in her head. Other more important things to worry about.

"They're still inside." Krystal tilted her chin to show the direction of the exam hall before she started to walk away but was abruptly stopped by Amber who blocked her. "What do you want?"

Annoyance was visible in her expression but Amber didn't seem to care as she grinned at Krystal.

"Since today is the last day of the exams, let's go somewhere to release all our pent-up stress. We can bring Sulli and Luna along. I don't mind." Amber's suggestion was met by the shaking of my head.

"I'm not free, Am. I need to go somewhere."

"Oh come on. What could be more important than enjoying yourself after slogging for the past few weeks for the exams? Furthermore, we've not been hanging out together for some time now." Amber tried to show her pitiful look with a pout.

"It's not always about myself. I have others to think of too." Krystal replied as Amber just gave an obnoxious look. "Go and find your other friends to entertain you. I believe that they will be more than willing to do so."

Krystal tried to walk away again but this time round, Amber grabbed her wrist and pulled her nearer which caused Krystal to stumble into her. Krystal tried to push Amber away but her strength seemed to have depleted.

"Yah!!! What are you trying to do to Krystal?"

Hearing the shouts from Luna and Sulli, Amber released her grip on Krystal's wrist but she was taken aback when Krystal slapped her across the face.

"I've told you to mind your own business. I tried to be nice and hope that you would get my message across that thick skull of yours but I'm running out of patience with your nonsense. I thought you were better than this, Am. You used to be a good friend to me. Even to Sulli and Luna. What happened to you?"

Krystal's outburst caused Amber to be stun as Sulli and Luna arrived at where both of them were.

"You left me. You made me like this." Amber tried to give an excuse but Krystal shook her head.

"Both of us knew that what we had was not love at all. I had a crush on you and that was all it was. I believe your feelings were never meant for me. There's someone in your heart, way before me. Does the name Ailee, rings a bell to you?" Krystal's words caused Amber to blink her eyes rapidly before she looked down. "I have someone I love, Am. Even though I've never said it to that person and I'm not even sure if I could still say it to her, but the happiness that both of us shared is something that I'll always treasure. Please forgive me if I had ever hurt your feelings."

Krystal walked away and this time round, Amber didn't stopped it at all. Sulli and Luna had to run towards her and walked silently beside her until they reached their dorm. Once inside, Krystal told Sulli and Luna to gather at the living room as she started to tell them about what happened to Eunjin. Both of the girls had the same reaction as they gasped and covered their mouth as they listened to the story.

"So have you called Yuri-unnie?" Sulli asked as Krystal shook her head.

"What are you waiting for? Aren't you anxious to find out the answer?" Luna added on as Krystal let out a sigh.

"I wanted to call earlier but I was afraid to find out the truth. What if something really happened to Eunjin?"

As tears flowed down Krystal's face, all Sulli and Luna could do was to comfort her with warm hugs.