The sound of thunder startled me as I almost fell off my chair. Blinking my eyes rapidly, I looked around slowly and realised that I was still in the office. Stealing a glance at the clock on my desk, I was shocked to see that it was already 9pm.

"You're awake?"

I almost died of heart attack when I heard another voice in the room as I turned towards the direction where the sound had came from. Yuri was looking at me with a blank expression from the couch as I saw Taeyeon, who was seated beside Yuri, stretching her arms.

"Yah, Sunkyu. Wake up." Taeyeon threw a pillow towards the other couch as I saw a figure abruptly sat up.

"Wae, wae? What happened?" Sunny asked with a shocked expression before she turned to face me. "Oh, you're awake. And when did it started raining?"

She stifled a yawn as Yuri nagged at her for sleeping like a log. Taeyeon asked Sunny if she had heard the thunder just a few minutes ago and sighed when Sunny shook her head.

"How come the 3 of you are here?" I asked as I made my way to where they were seated and sat down beside Sunny.

"We're here to accompany you. Ms Jeon had told us what happened at the meeting earlier." Sunny replied as I let out a sigh and leaned my back into the couch. "Did you cry? There's tear stains on your cheeks."

I rubbed my face quickly before taking a deep breathe. "What did my secretary inform you guys?"

"She just said that the meeting didn't go that well and that you seemed very down at the moment. She told us that you've been keeping to yourself in the office since then." Taeyeon replied as I just listened while staring into space. "The 3 of us thought that you needed some personal space so we didn't disturb you until we finished our work. We actually waited for you at the carpark to check on you but when you didn't arrived even though it was already 7pm, we decided to come up to the office to look for you."

"We found you sleeping at your desk when we arrived so we just sat down here and waited for you to wake up." Yuri continued Taeyeon's explanation as I apologised for making them wait for me. "Gwenchana. We just wanted to make sure that you're alright."

"So what actually happened during the meeting?" Sunny asked as 3 pairs of eyes shifted to focus on me.

(A few hours ago)

"I would like to apologise for any misunderstandings that might had occured throughout our partnership and also to thank all of you for your hardwork throughout these years. Even though I feel that it's a pity that we won't be able to work together anymore, I accept your decisions and wishes all of you the best in the future. Who knows, maybe one day, we might be able to work hand in hand again."

I kept my silence as I watched Harabeoji shaking the hands of the four elderly CEOs of the companies that had decided to terminate their partnership with us. The meeting had came to an end after 2 hours of intense discussion. They were adamant about withdrawing their contracts and even though they did hesitated for a while when Harabeoji seeked for more time on our part, their decision remained unchanged.

Hearing Harabeoji apologising to them, made it felt as if everything was my fault. I admitted that there were certain times that I had been harshed towards the four CEOs, who didn't seemed to be able to adapt well with the fast changing world. When I wanted to introduce new IT technologyies to be used in our business dealings, they were very reluctant about it. For example, to reduce manual paperworks, I recommended doing things through emails or computerised system so that everything could be easily access to and also to save time. The rest of the shareholders were fine with it except for the 4 of them.

Harabeoji pointed out that he understood they needed more time to get used to the whole new process and they sort of pushed the blame on me for making them learn new things at their age. They cited that most of their workers had been working with them for more than 10yrs so most of them needed time to adjust too as they were mostly around the same age as the CEOs.

Throughout the meeting, I didn't say anything much as the four of them seemed to ignore my presence and were just talking to Harabeoji. Ms Jeon must have noticed that I was a little pissed off during the meeting but she managed to slip a piece of paper towards me. In it were words that made me smiled a little.

'No matter what, you're the coolest boss that I've ever worked with. So, hwaiting.'

After the 4 elderly men left the meeting room, I slumped down to my seat while Ms Jeon patted my shoulders. I was about to talk to her when Harabeoji asked her to leave the two of us alone to have a private talk.

"Have you decided on your next course of action?"

His monotonous tone reminded me of my younger days, where he would talk to me in a cold manner with no affection. I looked up momentarily, expecting the same cold glare that he used to show me but there was none. His eyes were full of concern and I knew he was really worried about the company.

"Why did you have to apologise to them? If it was my mistake, I should be the one apologising." I maintained my eye contact with Harabeoji.

"Because it's not your fault." Harabeoji answered as he broke into a small smile. "I understand that time has changed and progress are needed everywhere. Communication is very important in businesses and I was apologising for any misunderstandings that might have occurred since the time the partnership started., which was years ago during my time. Furthermore, it's always good to ensure that we still keep a good rapport with every company that we had dealed with."

"I'm sorry, Harabeoji. Even though you said that it was not my fault, I still think that I played a part in this whole mess. What if I caused Hanjin to shut down?" I bit my lips as my heart sunk at that thought.

"So be it." Harabeoji's short reply was something that I didn't expect at all. "Why do you look so shocked?"

"I... I.. thought that you treasure the company a lot." 

"I do. But I treasure you more. I used to think that this company is my everything and spend almost all my life for it. But I had lost my son and my daughter-in-law along the way and it started to make me think if all of this is actually worth it. I regretted for spending so much time at work and was never around to spend time with your parents. When I had the brain tumor, it made me realised that life is actually meant to be enjoyed, especially with your loved ones. You can never know when it's time for you to go." Harabeoji paused for a while as he looked up and stared into the ceiling before turning to face me. "Time has changed and the economy is not doing that well too. Obviously, we'll try to come up with something but like I said before, 6 months. I'm only willing to give it 6 months."

"Only 6 months?" I repeated his words to reconfirm his decision.

Harabeoji stood up and patted my head. "Give it all you got for this 6 months and I'm fine with whatever results you achieve. But promise me something. At the end of everything, make sure that the welfare of the staffs are taken care of."

(End of flashbacks)

"Woah... That's so cool of Harabeoji. I think at his age, he's becoming more appreciative of the non-materialistic stuff." Yuri commented as I just nodded my head. "I know we have a lot to discuss but I'm feeling a little hungry at the moment. Do you guys want to grab dinner first before we continue our conversation?"

All of us nodded at Yuri's suggestion and left the office soon after.

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

Taeyeon's POV

As I placed my car keys on the small table near my main door, I made my way through the living room of my apartment. There were still some boxes at the corner of the living room since me and Tiffany were still not done with unpacking our stuffs after moving in just a month ago. Especially Tiffany since she had more things to unpack compared to me.

"I'm home." I said the moment I pushed open the bedroom door as I saw Tiffany looking up, taking her eyes away from the magazine that she was browsing.

"Hi, Taetae."

Her eyesmile appeared as she placed her magazine aside and made her way towards me before giving me a hug. Returning the hug, I gave her a slight peck on her forehead before we pulled our bodies apart.

"How's Eunjin?" She asked as she made her way towards the bathroom but before I could reply, she asked another question. "Do you want me to prepare the bathtub for you?"

"It's okay. I'll just take a quick shower. It's almost 11pm and I rather be in bed as fast as possible." I replied while taking my clothes off, leaving me in my undies.

Tiffany was almost done preparing my towel and pyjamas in the bathroom when I entered. She gave me her totoro smile and I smacked her when she passed by me to exit the bathroom.

"Yah!! Byuntae!!" She meronged at me while I just laughed it off.

30mins later, I was already seated at the edge of my bed as Tiffany combed my hair before giving me a shoulder massage. I was telling her about what happened at work and how the 4 of us continued talking about the future of the company while having our late dinner at a restaurant near the office.

"You girls shouldn't be talking about work when eating. You won't be able to enjoy the food if all of you are being stressed out." Tiffany commented as I just pouted. "Anyway, does Krystal knows about this?"

"From what Eunjin said, it seems like she's aware of the situation but that was before the meeting. I don't think Eunjin had updated her about it. I didn't see her calling Krystal ever since she woke up in the office just now." I replied as I felt Tiffany stopping the massage before she scooted upwards to lie on the bed.

Crawling my way up to lie beside her, Tiffany wrapped her arms around me and leaned her head against my shoulder like a koala.

"If Hanjin has to shut down, what do you plan to do?" Tiffany asked as she tilted her head to look at me.

"Can I be a house husband? I'm good with household chores." A cheeky grin appeared on my face as I felt a light slap on my chest. "Frankly, I haven't think about it yet. I think even Sunny and Yuri had not thought about it too. We were more concerned on how to help Eunjin to get over this period. I could see how lonely she was when we went our separate ways after the dinner."

"I thought you mention that Harabeoji was going to help her out?"

"He's helping with suggestions and maybe with whatever connections that he has. But I don't think Eunjin wants to be indebted in any way to anyone. Furthermore, the final decision will be made by Eunjin herself. Imagine the hardship she had to go through if she has to close Hanjin down. The hundreds of people working under her will be jobless soon. Eunjin must be really stress out right now. If Krystal was around, I believe she would at least be able to cheer her up a little. I mean, nothing beats the feeling of returning home to the arms of your loved ones." A wide smile appeared on my face as I heard a chuckle from Tiffany.

"Cheesy as always, my Taetae."

Yuri's POV

"Did you just come home? Why are you sitting here alone in the living room?"

I turned to my right and saw Jessica leaning against the wall as she tried to stop herself from yawning.

"Since an hour ago. I saw that you were already asleep so I didn't want to disturb you. Furthermore, there's something that I was thinking about. That's why I sat here." I replied as Jessica made her way to sit down beside me on the couch. "How come you're awake?"

"I was actually waiting for you to return home. I didn't realise that I had fallen asleep. I wanted to use the bathroom earlier and found that you were still not in bed. So I thought that you were still outside with the girls but I noticed the light from the living room which was why I came out. By the way, how's Eunjin? Is everything going to be okay?"

I shook my head and sighed before explaining everything to Jessica, who listened intently. A slight frown appeared on her forehead as she leaned back against the couch and folded her arms. Silence filled the room as Jessica seemed to be in deep thoughts.

"If she was to seek a bank's help to cover the financial side, for short term prospect, it might be helpful. But if Hanjin can't generate profits in the long run, it might caused a bigger problem by then. Bank loans in shipping industries comes with a high interest rate due to the risks that comes along with it. So Eunjin will have to think it through."

I nodded at Jessica's words since Eunjin did briefly explained the complications that came along with the bank loans.

"You're not working tomorrow?" Jessica broke the silence as I replied to her that I was. "Then we should get some sleep. It's already past midnight and even if you spend the whole night thinking, it's not going to help because your brain needs to rest. By the way, Soojung doesn't seem to be aware of this update. She called me earlier and we chatted as normal but she didn't mention anything about this matter."

"I didn't see Eunjin contacting anyone ever since we found her sleeping at the office after working hours. Eunjin did told me before that your sister is aware of the withdrawal of the 4 companies but I don't think Eunjin had updated her about today. Maybe she needs a little bit more time before informing Krystal. I could see that she's already stressed out about the whole situation and to have Krystal worrying about her would just add on to her stress." I replied before standing up and stretching out my hand towards Jessica. "Let's get some sleep then. I'm starting to feel sleepy anyway and I know that you're sleepy too."

Jessica grabbed my hand and we made our way to her bedroom. After Tiffany and Taeyeon bought their own apartment, I moved in to stay with Jessica. Since Krystal was not around too, Jessica felt scared and lonely being alone in the apartment so she asked if it was okay for me to accompany her.

I had just switched off the lights and was about to climb onto the bed when Jessica voiced out her concern.

"I hope Eunjin will update Soojung about this. Even if she doesn't want my sister to worry about her, I believe that Soojung will still be worried. Don't you think so?" Jessica turned slightly to face me as I wrapped my arms around her.

"I think so too and I think Eunjin knows that Krystal will always be worried about her. I believe that Eunjin will know what to do, at least when it's something that concerns Krystal." I replied as I felt Jessica nodding her head.

Silence filled the room and I was already about to doze off.

"Do you think it's the right time to tell them about our plan? Especially during this period?" Jessica's sudden question made me opened up my eyes, which was already half-closed. "Do we have to postpone it for 6 months if we were to wait for everything to settle in?"

"I don't think so. I'll talk to Eunjin tomorrow and update you about it. I don't think Eunjin would want us to delay our plans and I think she would be very supportive of it. She might have a lot of things in her mind right now and also a lot of stuff to handle but I believe that she would never ask us to postpone it." I replied confidently as Jessica nodded her head again.

"It's a good idea to inform Eunjin first before we break the news to the rest of the girls. Because I think at this moment, Eunjin needs a lot of support from all of us so we have to be more understanding of her situation." Jessica added on as I just smiled at her.

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

Krystal's POV

I was already on my way to my second class for the day when a vibration was felt in my pocket. Taking it out, I saw that it was a message from Eunjin. I took a glance at my watch and calculated the time in Seoul at the moment.

'Why is she still awake at 1am?'

I thought to myself as my fingers keyed in the password to my phone so that I could read the message.

Just like I had expected. The contract withdrawal of the 4 companies had been finalised. Now I'm left with 6 months to turn around the situation. I've been thinking non-stop since the meeting ended this afternoon for solutions but I couldn't come up with any plans that is beneficial to Hanjin. Things are looking bad but I'm still keeping my fingers crossed. I'm sorry if I have to worry you further with the whole situation but I'll continue to keep you updated so that at least you won't have to worry too much. I'll be going to sleep now. I love you and miss you a lot. p/s: It was raining with thunders earlier and it reminded me of you. I hope the weather is fine on your side. - Eunjin

It was the 1st time that I had received such a long message from her. I guessed she must have wanted to express her whole feeling about the matter. I stared at the message, trying to come up with a reply but I couldn't find any comforting words at the moment. I knew that she was feeling down and it broke my heart to imagine her facing all this alone.

Even though I knew that there would be people who would help her out, especially Taeyeon-unnie, Yuri-unnie and Sunny-unnie, at the end of the day Eunjin would still be alone in that apartment of hers. I couldn't help but wish that I was there to accompany her at home instead.

"Lost in your own thoughts again?"

A voice disrupted my train of thoughts as I turned to my right to find Jongin smiling at me.

"You've been standing here for the past 5 mins. I was beginning to think that you were stuck to the ground." I could only managed a small smile for his words when he continued talking. "We should make our way to class soon. It's going to start in 10 mins time."

My eyes widened when I realised the truth but I was more taken aback with the next thing that happened when Jongin grabbed my wrist and pulled me to run towards our classroom together. When both of us stopped just right in front of the classroom door, I placed a hand on my chest and looked down to the floor to stabilise my breathing.

'I should start exercising. It's only a short run and I'm already out of breathe.' I thought to myself and straightened my back slowly.

There was an awkward silence when I stood up straight as I noticed that everyone was looking at us. A frown appeared on my face as I was confused with the whole situation as I saw some surprised looks and some of the guys were smirking at us. A close friend of mine, had her eyes widened as she started to point her finger at her own hands. Her actions made me realised that Jongin was still holding on to my hand before I quickly pulled my hand away and stood slightly away from him.

"Ooopss... sorry. I didn't realise that I was still holding on to your hand. It felt so natural though." Jongin said with a dorky smile as I heard some of the guys starting to whistle at us.

Ignoring their teasings, I made my way and sat down at my table which was just beside the friend earlier.

"What's going on?" She asked as a look of concern appeared on her face.

"Nothing's going on. I was getting late for class and Jongin pulled me along as we ran our way here." I replied, not knowing how to actually explained it in a better way. 

I noticed that the other guys were gathered around Jongin by then and were teasing him about the incident but they had to get back to their seats when the lecturer entered. Classes began and went along as per normal, with everyone concentrating on their own assignments but the moment it ended, the guys gathered together once again.

"Why were you with Jongin in the first place? Are you cheating behind your girlfriend's back?"

I turned to face my friend, Kate and showed her a displeased look. She was slightly taken aback and apologised quickly for her words as I let out a sigh.

Kate was one of my close friends in class. She was from San Francisco and amazingly, both of us were actually born in the same hospital except that she's a few months older than me. Both of us automatically clicked together when we found out the similarities. Kate was introduced to Sulli and Luna soon after and the four of us would usually hang out together. She also knew about Eunjin and has always been supportive of my relationship, especially when I told her about how Eunjin was.

"Something happened back home, involving Eunjin and her workplace. I received her message earlier and she sounded very depressed. I wanted to reply with some comforting words but I didn't know what to type so I guessed I was caught up in that moment until I didn't realised it was almost time for class. Jongin, who was walking by, stopped and saw me. I didn't expect that he would pull me to run earlier but at least we won't be late for class. That was all. I swear that there's nothing going on."

Kate nodded my head and patted my shoulder, telling me that she believed my words as both of us started to pack our belongings. It was time for our lunch break but I wasn't feeling hungry at all. A vibration was felt in my pockets as I quickly took it out to read the incoming message.

"Eunjin messaged you again?" Kate asked as I shook my head.

"It's from Luna. Sulli and her wanted to lunch out today and asked if both of us wanted to tag along. Joining us?" I waited for Kate's reply as she looked at her watch before nodding her head.

"By the way, did you reply to Eunjin's message yet? At least, tell her to take care and not to skip meals. When you're depress, the first thing to affect you will be the appetite." Kate suggested to me as I nodded my head and quickly typed a reply to Eunjin.

I know that you're already asleep right now and I know you must be feeling down at the moment. I couldn't think of any comforting words to cheer you up but please take care of yourself. Promise me not to skip your meals and keep me updated. I love you too and words can't describe how much I miss you. p/s: I wish I was beside you to cuddle you to sleep. - Krystal

After sending the message, both of us  headed out from the classroom as I noticed that the group of guys were still gathered around Jongin. Some of them looked at me and gave a playful smirk so I rolled my eyes at them and just walked away.