"Have you talked to Eunjin about it?"

Yuri looked up at Taeyeon, shook her head before sighing. The two friends had been talking things out at a cafe nearby to Taeyeon's place for the past 30mins. Taeyeon had already guessed the reason for Yuri asking for the meet up.

"I've never talked to anyone about this before. Not even Jessica. Only you knew about it." Yuri took a sip from her coffee and leaned back into the soft armchair. "It's something that I didn't want to be reminded of."

Taeyeon took a deep breathe and nodded her head. "Of course. I was your roommate for 4yrs at the dorm. I was the one who was there, seeing you crying and putting the blame on yourself for years. But it's something in the past, Yul. You were more capable than the rest of the students during your freshmen year but after that incident, you totally lost your confidence."

YUri bit her lips and closed her eyes momentarily.

(Flashbacks)

"KWON YURI!!!"

With widened eyes, Yuri turned behind as she watched one of their man-made ships capsized. Those who had made it back on shore started to panic as Yuri ran forward and jumped into the sea when she noticed that the girl was having difficulties in the water.

(End of flashback)

"She almost died, Taeng. She had to change her degree courses because of her trauma."

"But it's not totally your fault. She should not have volunteered to take part when she herself knew that she's not good at swimming." Taeyeon tried to console her good friend but Yuri shook her head adamantly.

"I was the team leader of that project. I should have ensured everyone's safety when we planned on doing that trial test on 3 of our ships at the beach. Seeing the strong current on that day, I was initially excited to try it out and was thrilled when two ships made it back to shore. But when I saw how the third ship capsized and two of my classmates being plunged into the water, I.... I... couldn't stop blaming myself, Taeng."

"Both of them survived, Yul. You even saved that girl from drowning, albeit some help from the others. The guy who went into the waters even continued to get his Master's Degree." Taeyeon let out a sigh. "She said that it was not your fault, Yul. Even though she took almost a year to say it to you."

"That one year of self-blaming caused my results to plummet to a point that I was even thinking of dropping out. I wasn't a good team leader, Taeng and nobody wanted me to be part of their team because of what happened. I felt ostracized, as if everyone hated me." Yuri's eyes were watery when she recalled back those times of hardship. "I choose to work for Sunny and with you because I know that both of you would never hate me even if I make mistake. Because of that incident, I almost hated anything to do with ships."

"But you were great and skillful. Your love and knowledge in motor parts was one of the reason to why Sunny agreed to let you work for her. Even in school,your lecturers praised your abilities. Which is why you managed to complete your degree even though most of the projects, you had to do it alone. I saw your struggle throughout those years, Yul. But I wished you would regain your confidence back just like when you were a freshmen." Taeyeon tried again to show encouragement. "I have yet to reply to Eunjin about her job offer but it's too great to refuse. Sunny has already accepted it a few days back and would be starting work on Monday. What about you? Are you really thinking of working for Uncle Kwon?"

Yuri shook her head and replied that the pay was lower than what Sunny had been giving her. Yuri shared her concern with regards to the working environment in Eunjin's company and also informed Taeyeon about what Eunjin had told her during Krystal's graduation day.

"Eunjin is right. You need to prove your worth, Yul. Move on from that incident. Search for your confidence again. Think about your future. Didn't you tell me before that  you wanted to settle down with Sica as soon as possible?"

Yuri sighed for the umptenth times. Looking at her watch, she was surprised that it's been 3 hours since they had arrived at the cafe. Yuri knew that Tiffany was actually waiting for Taeyeon at her house, even though Taeyeon didn't mentioned anything and didn't looked like she was in a hurry. She's thankful that her friends had been understanding to her situation at the moment.

"I'll think it through. Thank you for putting time aside to hear me out, Taeng. And help me to say thanks to Fany on my behalf. I know she's waiting to go out on a date with you even though she told me that she's got plans with Aunt Kim." Yuri smiled and finished up her drink before both of them proceeded to walk out from the cafe.

"If you're still stress out about all this, I suggest that you talk things out with Eunjin. I believe she's in a better position to help you. She's going through the same worries as you but bigger. Just remember that Eunjin has to take over the whole Hanjin Corporation and will have to make almost every single decision in the future. She's not going to be in-charge of a group of people like you did before but she's going to have to take care of thousands of workers under her. Wouldn't it feel great if we, as her friends, are there to help her out?"

Taeyeon patted Yuri's shoulders before saying goodbye and parting ways.

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

I shoved my motorbike keys into my pants and speedwalked towards the reception counter at the lobby. Brushing my hair backwards with my fingers, I noticed a lot of people staring and whispering among themselves as I walked past them. From a distance, I saw Sunny waving excitedly at me but something didn't seemed right when I saw her grinning cheekily.

"Good morning, Sunny. Sorry that you had to wait for me." I smiled the moment I reached to where Sunny was standing before greeting the two ladies at the reception counter.

"It's okay. I was the one who was early. You are just on time." Sunny replied.

"I'll bring you up to meet Harabeoji first. He should be in his office by now." I said to Sunny before turning my head to face the receptionists. "Thanks, Ladies. Hope that everything runs smoothly today. Hwaiting."

While waiting for the lift to arrive, Sunny continued to grin at me which made me arched my eyebrows at her. Asking her the reason for her grin, Sunny burst out into chuckles.

"I'm just surprised at how good-looking you really are. I've only seen you in baggy t-shirt and jeans when you worked at the workshop." Sunny commented as we walked into the waiting lift. "Has Krystal seen you like this before? In this kind of smart attire?"

"Is this smart? I was going for a casual look though. Which is why I wore white sneakers" I held one end of my blazer and showed my white Nike sneakers as Sunny smiled. "I'm not sure if Krystal has seen me like this before. But even so, wae-yo?"

I was surprised when Sunny took out her phone and snapped a photo of me. She then started to type furiously before showing me what she had sent to our groupchat.

(Imagine this is what Eunjin was wearing.)

@Krystal: Everyone is staring and smiling at this good-looking person in front of me. Especially the ladies in this building.

"Yah!! What the hell was that for? Krystal is going to kill me for this." I started nagging at Sunny who had begun her laughing spree..

Just when the lift stopped at Harabeoji's office, I felt repeated vibrations in my pocket and even without seeing it, I knew that the girls had started to tease me about it. I let out a sigh as Sunny patted my back before she skipped in merrily to greet Harabeoji and Uncle Park who were already in the office. Taking my time to walk in and scrolling through the messages, I sighed again before taking a seat at the couch.

Harabeoji and Uncle Park must have been curious with my reactions as I heard Sunny explaining to them about what she had did. She even started showing the messages in the groupchat.

Tiffany: Oh my god!! Why does she look so good in suits?

Taeyeon: I look goood in one too, Ppany-ah. :(

Jessica: But you're short, Taeng. Eunjin has the figure of a model. Maybe I should use her as my model too.

Yoona: Jinnie!!! You look so cool. I have agree with Fany-unnie and Sica-unnie. She really looks good in that and can be a model.

Yuri: Yah, Kwon Yoona. Stop fangirling. Sicababy, I can be your model too.

Seohyun: It's my first time seeing Eunjin-unnie like this. *Thumbs up emoticon*. Good job in taking the photo, Sunny-unnie.

Sooyoung: I thought Sunny was going to post what she had for breakfast as I waited for the image to load. *pouting face emoticon*.

Sunny: Seohyun, I did a great job, right? Soo, stop thinking of food only. By the way, where's Krystal? That picture was supposed to be a morning surprise for her. 

Tiffany: She must be feeling jealous right now. Imagine most of the ladies drooling as Eunjin walk past them.

Krystal: I'm not jealous.

Yoona: Really? Why not? Have you seen Jinnie in this attire before? *smirking emoticon*.

Krystal: No. This is my first time. But I'm not jealous because I've seen her in lesser clothings before and the view is way much better.

I almost choked on my own saliva as I read Krystal's latest message. The girls then started to about the meaning behind those words of 'lesser clothings' as I heard Harabeoji and Uncle Park laughing out loud.

"Yah, Lee Soonkyu!! Stop showing Harabeoji and Uncle Park those messages." 

She meronged at me before I saw Harabeoji gesturing her to take a seat beside me as I gritted my teeth at her. By then, I had already put aside my phone and taken out a notebook because starting from today, I would be receiving direct coaching from Harabeoji himself with regards to the company matters. Sunny had been appointed as my personal secretary for the time being since she's more experience in business handling and also because she needed to learn about the company's regulation and laws from Harabeoji  too.

"Eunjin-ah, your sister-in-law is scary." Sunny said as I noticed that she was still looking at the ongoing messages from the groupchat.

Feeling curious and a little nervous, I grabbed my phone and scanned through the messages. Just like what I had expected, the girls were continuously teasing Krystal especially Yuri,Taeyeon, Yoona and Sooyoung. My eyes widened when they were commenting about being intimate and that was when I saw the lastest message from Jessica.

Jessica: HAN EUNJIN!! You better answer me right now. How intimate have you gotten with my sister?

I was about to type a reply when a message from Krystal quickly appeared soon.

Krystal: Unnie!!! I was just talking about Eunjin's habit of wearing a tank top and shorts to sleep. Stop thinking otherwise. *blushing face emoticon*.

I heard Sunny chuckling before she started to burst into laughter. Throwing a pen at her, I glared and showed her a fist,

Eunjin: Everyone... I think that's enough teasings for today. Thank you for the compliments on my attire today. I wasn't trying to impress anyone and had only wanted to look presentable to my future fellow workers and colleagues. Please don't tease Krystal anymore. 

Sunny jeered teasingly at me after I sent out the message as I just shook my head and started to look through the documents that Harabeoji had sorted out for me to analyse. Seeing that I was really focused on work, Sunny decided to stop playing with her phone and joined in the discussion with Harabeoji.

All of us were so lost in our own work that we didn't realised how fast time had passed until we heard the sound of the lift. Everyone's eyes were fixed on the lone figure that had just walked in as she looked a little bewildered by our stares. Bowing her head a little, Ms Jeon informed Harabeoji that it was already lunch time and asked if he needed anything from her.

"Not for today, Ms Jeon. I'll be going out to lunch with my granddaughter. By the way, let me introduce you to our new employee. This is Ms Sunny Lee. She would be assisting Ms Han as her personal secretary at the moment, until further notice." Harabeoji introduced the two ladies as they shook hands.

"Personal secretary? But we already have a lot of secretaries in my department." Ms Jeon said out cautiously as Harabeoji just smiled. "Furthermore if she's assisting Ms Han, who would be taking over your position in the future, does that mean she's going to be replacing me?"

"Don't worry, Ms Jeon. You will still continue as the Head of Secretarial Department, even after Eunjin has taken over my place. This is just a temporary arrangement for both of them to understand the workflow of the company better. Since I'm guiding Eunjin, might as well I teach Ms Lee too." Harabeoji explained further. "Me and Eunjin has never thought of replacing you since you've contributed a lot to the company. With regards to future arrangement, there's a possibility that Ms Lee would be heading a new department."

"I look forward to your guidance in the future, Ms Jeon." Sunny bowed a little as the lady just smiled before excusing herself.

After Ms Jeon left the office, Sunny turned towards me and tiptoed a little so that she could whisper into my ears. "I think she likes you."

I gave her a disbelief look while Sunny just nodded her head in confidence. I was about to argue when Harabeoji informed us to follow him out for dinner, along with Uncle Park. Since we were all having lunch together, we took Harabeoji's car but I was surprised when it stopped at Twin Towers cafe.

"Let's go. They are waiting for us." Harabeoji exited the car as I looked at Sunny who just shrugged her shoulders.

"They?" I mumbled to myself as I scratched my head, trying to remember if Harabeoji had informed me about meeting anyone earlier.

Entering the cafe, I greeted Sooyoung and Hyoyeon who were standing at the counter. Hyoyeon looked surprised to see me but Sooyoung showed me a thumbs up before pointing towards a table. Turning my head, I saw Halmeoni waving her hand at me while Harabeoji was already seated beside her.

"How fast did that old man walk?" I mumbled to myself before small tap on my shoulder jolted me a little.

"Hi good-looking. You seemed lost in your own thoughts."

A grin appeared on my face when I turned behind and saw Krystal smiling at me.

"Krystal? Did you just arrived?" I asked as she shook her head before explaining that she had came with Halmeoni. "I thought you're starting work at your Unnie's company today?"

"It's lunchtime, Stupid." Krystal knocked my forehead lightly before making her way to the table where the others were already seated.

"Ahhhh..." I nodded my head before I realised something. "Yah, Jung Soojung. Did you just knock me on my head? I'm still older than you."

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

"You should have just approached me and tell me about this, Yul. I'm your friend. I will always try my best to help you."

Yuri hung her head low as Taeyeon teasingly nagged at her for not listening well to her about telling me of her situation. It's been almost two weeks since Sunny had joined the company with Taeyeon following suit, two days later. For Yuri, she had been jobless all this while and I really thought that she had gone to work for Mr Kwon at his shop.

That was why I was surprised when Taeyeon told me this morning that Yuri was still lying around at her own house with nothing to do. If not for my persistant effort to bombard Taeyeon with questions for almost two hours to tell me the truth, I might not find out the real reason as to why Yuri had not agreed to my offer to work at the company. I even offered her double the pay of what she received from Sunny.

Initiallly, when I suggested Yuri to meet up after work at Twin Towers, she didn't expect anything at all. But when she saw me walking into the cafe with Taeyeon, she knew that I had known the truth. Her facial expression changed and she even pretended as if she had something else to attend to. It was only when I glared at her to sit down and talked things out with me, did Yuri finally gave up and blurted out everything.

"It's because I know that you would try your best to help me which is why I didn't want you to know. You've helped me a lot before but I rarely was able to return you that favour." Yuri bit her lips and sighed.

"Did I ask you to return that favour? Have I ever asked you to compensate me for every help that I offered you? Am I that kind of person in your eyes, Kwon Yuri?" I felt a sudden rush of anger and hurt when I heard Yuri's words.

"Eunjin.. that's not what I meant... I..." Yuri seemed perplexed with my outburst but I interrupted her sentence.

"Then what do you mean by that? Am I a stranger to you? Even though we were separated for 14yrs, I've always treated you like a sister. A sibling. If Yoona or Seohyun were the ones who are offering you help, would you even be thinking of repaying them?" I shot questions after questions as Yuri kept her silence until I slammed my hand on the table. "Answer me!"

"Eunjin-ah, ca...calm.. down." Even Taeyeon was intimidated as she tried to ask me to sit down since I was standing after hitting the table.

Luckily, there was not much crowd since it was a Monday but even so, the 3 customers from the other table had turned their heads to look at us. Even Sooyoung and Yoona had ran out from the kitchen to our table when they heard the commotion. They were about to ask questions when they saw Taeyeon putting a finger on her lips and using her eyes signal to tell not to interfere.

"I.. I would just accept their help willingly, without thinking much." Yuri answered slowly before looking up with guilt in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Eunjin. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings with my words. I just...."

"Didn't want to feel indebted or inferior to me. Is that what you are going to say?" I tried to guess but I was surprised when Yuri nodded her head to agree with my words. "Really? That's how you feel right now? I can't believe this."

I grabbed my phone and bike keys from the table. Telling them that I needed some time alone, I walked out from the cafe in disappointment.

Taeyeon's POV

'Oh no.. Everything escalated so fast that I didn't even have time to think about what to react. Damn. I really didn't expect the meet up to end like this.'

I watched as Eunjin walked out from the entrance of the cafe before I turned to look at Sooyoung and Yoona who still had a confused look on their faces. I sighed before turning to face a dejected looking Yuri.

"What's wrong with you, Yul? Did staying at home for the past two weeks corrode your mind or something? Why are you saying those things to Eunjin? You know she meant well when she said that she will try her best to help you, right?"

It was my turn to nag at Yuri before I saw her covering her face with both her hands as she started to sob in silent. I let out a sigh and scratched my head even though it was not itchy.

"I'm sorry for telling her about your problem without your permission. She was surprised to find out that you were lazing around at home. She thought you were working with Uncle Kwon temporarily. She kept bombarding me with questions and I saw how sincere she was when she showed concern for you. I didn't expect it to turn out this way."

Half of me regretted for telling Eunjin the truth about Yuri but the other half was glad that I did so. I really wanted Yuri to gain back her confidence in her ownself. I've seen how good she was with her knowledge and skills with regards to any type of ships. During freshmen years, she was bursting with confidence and did well in her paper and projects. A lot of her classmates looked up to her and even the lecturers loved her work.

Which was why she was able to become a team leader in the 2nd year which was quite a feat for students at her level. Usually team leaders would be students from the 3rd year or even the final year. But because of that one unfortunate event, she lost everything. Her classmates, her team leader post and most importantly, her confidence.

"It's not your fault, Taeng. I shouldn't have said those words to Eunjin." Yuri wiped her tears away before she looked up and started explaining everything to Yoona and Sooyoung, including about what happened in school. "I'm just feeling worthless at the moment. The truth is, I have been considering about her offer for the past two weeks but I'm just afraid that I won't be able to perform to expectations. I'm scared of letting Eunjin down."

For a minute, no one said anything after Yuri concluded her explanation until Sooyoung expressed her thoughts.

"If I was in Eunjin's position, I will feel angry and hurt too. Angry that my own friend is thinking that the help that I willingly offered needed to be compensated and hurt because I made my own friend feel inferior and indebted to me."

"She even said that she treats you like a sibling. Frankly speaking, I do feel that way towards Jinnie. She's like another sister to me too. Which is why I think, she's not feeling good about her outburst earlier. She must be regretting right now for not controlling her temper during the conversation. Won't it be better if Unnie could go and look for her and have another round of talk in peace?" Yoona suggested as I nodded my head in agreement.

"I think both of us need to go and look for Eunjin. I was the reason that all this started so I need to ensure that everything ends well. I have that responsiblilty to make sure of that." I said firmly as Yuri frowned a moment before nodding her head.

"But where do you think she'll be? Do you think she's gone home?" Yuri asked as I shook my head.

"I don't think so. Krystal is currently staying at her apartment. I don't think Eunjin would go home straight since she won't want Krystal to find out about her outburst." I commented before Yuri stood up and said that we should try all the places where Eunjin might frequent.

Following her out, I almost banged into her back when Yuri stopped just outside the door of the cafe. Looking at where Yuri was staring, a smile appeared on my face when I saw Eunjin sitting on a bench, just across the street with an ice-cream in her hand. Her motorbike was parked at the side of the road as she waved smugly at us.

"Aigoo, that kid."

I heard Yuri mumbled before a smile appeared on her face before both of us crossed the street and made our way towards Eunjin.