I heard the sound of the arrivng lift as I looked up and smiled at Ms Jeon, who had walked in with a pile of documents in her hand. Making her way to stand in front of my desk, she bowed a little to greet me.

"I'm so sorry that you had to cut short your vacation and rushed back to this meeting, Ms Han. I did try to liase with the shareholders but they were not able to find any other available slots except for today." Ms Jeon started apologising as I told her that I was fine with it. "By the way, Ms Han. Can I say something? I'm not sure if I have the right to say this or if this is even appropriate for me to comment but I think that some of the shareholders are just trying to make things difficult for you. I mean, the meeting had been rearranged more than 2 weeks ago. You took the effort to make sure that everything is planned for before you go on your vacation but they only informed us that they could only meet us just a few days ago. Don't you think they're not showing you any respect?"

I could only smiled at Ms Jeon's remarks. Frankly, I knew that some of the shareholders had never liked it when I took over the position from Harabeoji. Those older ones that were more accustomed to Harabeoji's strict way of dealing with things. Basically, they shared the same work attitude as Harabeoji. So when I took over and became a Director that was more hands on and flexible with my staffs, they didn't like it. 

"I'm aware that some of the shareholders are not happy with the change in the way I manage the company. Some people are not that open to changes but we still have to keep firm with our beliefs and decide what is the best for the company." I smiled as Ms Jeon nodded her head.

"Just to give you some encouragement, since you took over from Mr Han, the morale of the staff and their commitment percentage has increased from the latest staff survey that was done last month. Overall, workers are happy that you're sparing time to listen to their work-related problems and going down to the grounds to check on their welfare." Ms Jeon had a proud smile on her face. "I also heard that they commented that it's a bonus point when the Director is good-looking too."

I chuckled at Ms Jeon's witty remarks as she giggled too. I am really thankful for my secretary's assistance. She had a lot of experiences working under Harabeoji and had always been willing to share with me, whatever knowledge that she had accumulated over the past few years. I knew that she was trying to make me feel better after I had to rush back from LA to attend this meeting so I was grateful for that. 

"Thanks, Ms Jeon. I'm feeling much better now to attend the meeting. Hwaiting." I clenched my fist and showed a fighting pose as Ms Jeon did the same thing. 

Two hours later, I was slumped back into my chair and let out a deep sigh. Massaging my temples slowly, I closed my eyes to organize my thoughts. The meeting had just ended about 30mins ago. After everyone left the meeting room, I had stayed behind for another 10mins to go through some matters with Ms Jeon before my secretary asked if I needed anything for lunch since it was almost lunch time and she was going out to pack some food. I told her to get some sandwich for me since I didn't really had the appetite to eat at the moment. She asked if I was okay and I told her that I was fine.

After she left, I stayed alone in the meeting room for another 10mins before I headed back up to my office. To say that the meeting had ended well was an understatement. There were a lot of disputes among the shareholders, significantly from the older ones who couldn't seem to agree with whatever that was being suggested. There were a total of 10 shareholders, made up of smaller companies that had been in business with Hanjin Corporation for a long time. 4 of them were of Harabeoji's age and were still managing their own companies. The rest of companies had changed their Directors over the years, some were taken over by their children and some were sold to outsiders who still maintained their busines ties with us. Generally, they were the younger generation of Directors and I had no problem working with them.

I was about to open up my laptop when my phone rang. A smile appeared on my face instantly as I saw the name of the person that was calling me.

"Hi, sweetheart."

"Hi, Stupid." The reply came as I heard a giggle from the other line. "Busy? It should be lunch time now, right?"

"Yes, it's lunch time. But I'm still in the office. Ms Jeon will be getting me a sandwich, so no worries. I'm not skipping meals."

"I expected that anyway. Since Taeyeon-unnie, Sunny-unnie and Yuri-unnie are all still here in LA, you don't have anyone to accompany you. You will usually lunch out with them. Anyway, how's the meeting?"

"Not going as well as I planned. But I kind of expected it." I let out a sigh as Krystal asked in a worried tone if I was okay. "I'm not totally fine but I'll get by. Maybe I need to seek Harabeoji's advice on this. By the way, what time is it in New York now? 7pm? 8pm?"

"It's 10.15pm here. We are 14 hours later than Seoul. But if in LA, it should be 7.15pm." Krystal replied as I nodded my head.

"How's school?" I asked and she replied that since it was only the first few days, she couldn't say anything much.

"But the students there are quite cool. There are other Korean students besides us. More than I expected actually. Majority of them are considered our seniors." Krystal continued talking about some school matters as I heard the lift door opened.

Ms Jeon showed the sandwich bag to me and pointed to the coffee table at the side as I showed her a thumbs up. After leaving the bag there, she left the office as I continued to listen to Krystal.

"So did you meet any good-looking guys or pretty girls there?" I started to tease as I could sense that Krystal was rolling her eyes at me.

"I did saw a few good-looking ones though." Krystal answered as I waited for her to continue talking. "But too bad, I'm not interested since I'm already taken."

I burst out laughing at her reply before I heard her giggling too. Changing the topic to ask if she had eaten her dinner, Krystal replied that she had eaten pizza, courtesy of Sulli's treat. Before she called me earlier, she had just finished her shower and was getting ready for bed.

"So, are you going off to sleep now?" I asked as I stood up and made my way to the coffee table.

"Anni.. After talking to you, I feel more awake than I was before. By the way, has Ms Jeon came back with your lunch?" She asked as I answered that my secretary had left after leaving the sandwich on the coffee table. "How come I didn't hear you thanking her for getting you the sandwich?"

"I'll thank her later. She left in a hurry after seeing that I was busy on the phone." I answered as I sat down.

"Don't forget to do that. She's already been helping you a lot with work. Since your food is here, eat it while it's hot. Don't work too late. Get enough rest when you get home, okay? I love you."

"I love you too. Don't worry too much about me. You take care of yourself there. Drop me a call anytime you need me."

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

"Lonely?" I felt a nudge on my shoulder as I turned to look at Sunny, who was grinning at me. "I can be your partner for today. Anyway, Krystal did asked me for a favour to keep a look out for you."

I chuckled at her words as I continued to look around. It was Taeyeon's and Tiffany's wedding reception, this time round held in Seoul. Tiffany's family and some of her close relatives had came down to attend the wedding. For the reception in Seoul, the number of guests were more since colleagues were invited too. I noticed some of my staffs, who were Taeyeon's colleague, were actually quite surprised to see me there. They awkwardly bowed and greeted me as I just smiled and returned their greetings.

Krystal didn't came back with the girls because of school which was something that I was already aware of but at this moment, I realised how much I really missed her presence.

"I thought Seohyun would be sticking by your side, just like when we were in LA?" I asked Sunny as I looked around for that tall maknae.

"Seems like she ditch me for Hyoyeon." Sunny replied as she pointed to a corner of the hall. "I was surprised that they're close though. I didn't expect Hyoyeon to be able to withstand Seohyun's uptight character though. I was a getting stress out, staying at the hotel with her. Can you imagine when you were about to take a bite of a delicious burger and someone came up to your ear, whispering that you can die from eating all those junk food?"

I continued laughing at Sunny's story, especially at her exaggerated gestures and facial expression. "But both of them looked good together. Don't you think so?"

"I guess opposites do attract. But do you think they are more than friends?" Sunny looked at me as I just shrugged my shoulders.

"Hey, what are the two of you talking about? It seems serious since I saw both of you frowning from just now." Sooyoung appeared beside us with Yoona.

"We're talking about Seohyun." I replied while pointing to where she was, busy talking away to Hyoyeon and laughing together. "We didn't know she was close to Hyoyeon."

"Hyunnie? She's always been close to Hyoyeon since we started the cafe. She said she liked how carefree Hyoyeon is, something that she finds amusing. Both of them are usually at loggerheads due to their different perspective but not in a bad term kind of thing. Surprisingly, they're are very accomodating to each other. Somthing that I don't expect from Hyunnie." Yoona explained in detail while me and Sunny nodded our heads. 

"They look cute together though. Attraction of the opposites. Interesting." Sunny said with a smile. "You guys have any plans after the ceremony? Want to go somewhere for a drink?"

Two hours later, 6 girls walked into a pub as they were ushered to their seats. Sunny, Sooyoung, Yoona, Jessica, Yuri and I were the only ones who had decided to hang out after the whole wedding ceremony ended. It was only 8pm when we walked in so there were lesser crowds at the moment. Tiffany and Taeyeon would be joining us later after they were done with the family introduction thingy. Seohyun wanted to go back to her dorm so Hyoyeon volunteered to send her there.

"Don't you think it's still early for us to drink?" Yoona asked as Sunny waved a finger at her.

"Do you need a certain timing to drink? You should drink when you feel like drinking." Sunny smirked as the rest of us shook our heads. We knew that she had the highest alcohol tolerance among us followed by Tiffany. "Just order whatever you want. It'll be my treat."

We cheered with her remarks as everyone started to place their orders when the waitress arrived. We chatted about random topics like work, marriage and even suggested for a group trip.

"But won't it be difficult for Eunjin, Yuri, Sunny and Taeyeon to get away from work since the 4 of you are working under the same company?" Sooyoung asked as everyone turned to look at me.

"Eunjin is the big boss ultimately." Yuri teased as I rolled my eyes at her.

"Since the 3 of them are not under the same branch, I don't think it'll be a problem if there's no manpower constraint. As for me, I will have to look at my schedule. It's good if the trip is planned in advance. Maybe about 3 months beforehand so that my secretary can slot it into my schedule." I explained as everyone seemed a little surprised with my explanation.

"3 months in advance? How packed are your schedules?" Jessica asked as I showed her my schedule that had been saved in an apps in my phone. "Wow.. That's like meetings after meetings. Your schedule is more hectic than mine even though both of us are managing a company."

"That's because the scale of your company is not as big as Eunjin's. She's dealing with multiple companies that has investments in the company. Some are major companies that are well-known such as that airline company. What's the name again? The one with the pretty CEO."

"K-line." I answered shortly before shooting a smirk at Sunny. "Pretty CEO huh? Someone caught your eye, Sunny? I can help you out if you want to."

Once again Sunny waved a finger. This time round at my face. "Anni. I don't like to be matchmake. It's better to let things happen naturally. But I have to admit that talking to that pretty CEO was interesting even though I think Seohyun hit it well with her, even better than me."

"Seohyun?"

All of us were surprised with Sunny's remarks as she continued explaining that from her observation, Seohyun looked a little smitten with the CEO.

"But then I saw her interaction with Hyoyeon today so I'm a little confused. She looked smitten with Hyoyeon too." Sunny laughed out at her own remarks. "Don't tell me she's a player like her Unnie?"

Pointing her finger at Yuri, who slapped it away, all of us started laughing since we knew that Sunny was just teasing Yuri.

"What did we miss?" Tiffany's voice was heard from behind as she placed her hands on Jessica's and Yoona's shoulders. "By the way, who's treat?"

Everyone pointed their fingers at Sunny, who smirked arrogantly before tapping the empty spaces beside her for Taeyeon and Tiffany to sit. The waitress came again to take orders from the newly-wed couple before Yoona elaborated about what we were talking earlier.

"Seohyun? Really? With two girls at one time?" Taeyeon blinked her eyes rapidly before Sunny knocked her forehead.

"Focus, Kim Taeyeon. She's not with any of them. We just observed that she's just hitting it off well with the two girls." Sunny emphasized on her words while Taeyeon just nodded her head. "But who do you guys prefer as your sister-in-law?"

Sunny shifted her attention towwards Yuri and Yoona, who then looked at each other before shrugging their shoulders.

"Actually, it doesn't matter for both of us. The important thing is that the person must know how to treat our maknae well. If not, she will face hell from me and Yuri-unnie." Yoona explained as I raised up my hand.

"She will face hell from me too since Seohyun is like a younger sister to me." I showed an arrogant look as Yuri gave me a high-five before showing a thumbs up to me.

We continued chatting away until someone came up to our table and greeted me. Turned out the person was Hyuna. She introduced herself to everyone, chatted for a while before excusing herself to return back to her group of friends. The moment she left, everyone just looked at each other in silence before Sunny spoke up.

"She's cute."

Her remarks caused all of us to look at her with puzzled looks since we all thought that she was talking about Hyuna. Yuri questioned her about it and she shook her head.

"I'm not talking about Hyuna. I'm talking about her friend." Sunny jutted her lips forward towards the direction of Hyuna's table as we all turned around to look.

"Which one?" Taeyeon asked as Sunny pointed it out. "Is she working at Hanjin too?"

Taeyeon's question caused me, Yuri and Sunny to shrug our shoulders. We were familiar with some of the girls at Hyuna's table, recognising them as those working at Hanjin but there was about 3 faces that was new to us.

"Eunjin obviously won't know since she's cooped up in her office." Yuri teased as I rolled my eyes at her. "Even though she would go down to meet the staffs at their respective departments once a month, I bet she doesn't remember most of their faces."

"Actually, what Eunjin is doing is considered good enough for someone of her status. With so many staffs under her, she would need more time to be familiarise with them. Not many companies treat their workers that well." Tiffany said as Jessica glared at her. "Don't worry, Jessi. You are a good boss to me."

Everyone laughed at Tiffany's quick and witty response to Jessica, who just meronged at her. We continued our chats but I noticed Sunny stealing glances towards Hyuna's table once in a while. It was almost midnight when we left the pub.

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

Another meeting, another day. I let out a sigh as I leaned back against my chair and faced the full-length window, overlooking the city. The sky had darkened as the moon replaced the sun. Stretching out my arms, I stifled a ywan and was just about to close my eyes when I heard the lift sound before Sunny's voice echoed through the room.

"Planning to sleep in the office?" She asked with a teasing smirk.

"I was just thinking of taking a short nap before heading home. What's up?" I turned my chair around as Sunny took a seat opposite me.

"You look shagged." Sunny frowned a little as her voice changed into a concern tone. "Have you been getting enough rest?"

"I did. Maybe just a little stress from the upcoming projects and the endless meetings. Anyway, you still haven't answer my question? How come you're still in the office?"

"How can I go back when my boss is still working hard in her office?" Sunny replied in a dramatic way as I rolled my eyes at her before both of us ended up laughing. "I need a favour from you."

Looking at Sunny's sudden serious expression, I straightened up my back and pulled myself closer to the desk before asking Sunny to elaborate further.

"I met Hyuna this morning at the cafetaria and asked her for her friend's contact number. The one that we saw at the pub last month." Sunny started explaining as I nodded my head. "Hyuna said that she's not sure if she's allowed to give her friend's contact number without her permission. She did say that she can arrange for me to meet up with her friend though but...."

A nervous grin appeared on Sunny's face as my eyebrow arched a little, waiting for her to complete her sentence.

"She will only do so if you tag along with me." Sunny's grin became more wider as my frown deepened.

"Why do I have to tag along? It's your date anyway."

"Because Hyuna says that her friend would most probably ask her to tag along too since she's the one who knew me. And if Hyuna was to tag along, she's going to feel like a lamp post unless you're there." Sunny explained further as I rubbed my chin while thinking.

"But why did she specifically ask for me? If she didn't want to be a lamp post, she could just bring another friend along, right?" I asked.

"I did suggest for her to do so but she only smiled and say that she would only help me out if I bring you along. After that, she walked away before I could say anything. If you're worried that she might do anything funny to you, don't worry. I'll be there to look after you. " Sunny confidently said.

"Isn't there another way for you to get that girl's number? I did told you to get her number that night but you hesitated. See the hassle that you've got to go through now." I let out a sigh.

"I know I should have listen to you that night when you ask me to get her number. But I wasn't sure at that point of time. It's not long since I broke up with Chorong so there was a lot of hesitation on my part. Even so, I kept thinking of her for the past one month. That was how I decided that I needed to do something about it." Sunny continued to pout as I looked at her. "It's okay, Eunjin. You don't have to force yourself if you don't want to. I can understand."

"It's not that I don't want to help you out, Sunny-ah. But the whole situation seems fishy to me and I don't want to take any risk that might jeopardise myself. Even though it's not a sure thing that she has something up her sleeves but remember that conversation you overheard in the toilet. Between Hyuna and her friend? Given her reputation, she's someone that I should stay away from."

Sunny nodded her head and kept repeating that she understood my decision. Excusing herself while standing up, Sunny was about to walk away when I stopped her.

"Are you going to give up just like that?" I asked as Sunny let out a sigh and shrugged her shoulders. "Let me think about it and at the same time, discuss this with Krystal. She should know about this, if ever I decided to help you out."

A smile finally appeared on Sunny's face as she thanked me for listening and even considering to help her out. She left the office soon as I continued to stare out the window before finally leaving the office at around 8pm.

Two hours later, I was already on my bed after showering and having my dinner. Grabbing my phone, I typed a quick message to Krystal.

Good morning, sweetheart. Getting ready for classes? - Eunjin

I looked at my clock and started counting back the time before nodding my head as I was sure that it was 8am in New York. Hearing a beeping sound, a smile appeared on my face even before I saw the message.

Morning, Love. Yes. On my way to class. I still have an hour before it starts so I'm taking my own sweet time to walk there. Not sleeping yet? - Krystal

I'm already tucked in my bed but there seem to be a lot of things in my mind which is why I'm not sleepy at the moment. - Eunjin

A lot of things? Is everything okay? Is it about work? - Krystal

Anni. It's about Sunny. - Eunjin

I wasn't expecting for Krystal to give me a call after my last message to her. She said that it was faster to explain things from calling rather than waiting for the messages to come in. So I explained to her about the talk that I had with Sunny earlier.

"I don't trust that Hyuna but I pity Sunny-unnie at the same time. Seems like she is really interested in that girl. If you don't help her, she might not have any chance to get to know that girl. Unless she's the kind of girl that likes to hang out at the same pub all the time." Krystal commented nonchalantly.

The moment I heard it, I sat up and smiled. "I think I know what to suggest to Sunny. Thank you for your help, sweetheart. Don't have to worry about Hyuna. I will try my best to keep my distance from her."

I continued explaining to Krystal that I would suggest to Sunny to keep going back to the pub where we had seen her before. Who knows, she might get to see her again. No matter what, it's an idea effort worth trying.