"So what do you want to talk about?"

I placed my fork and spoon at the side of my plate as I looked up to face Yuri. She had came into my office 5 mins before lunch time and asked me out for lunch. I was surprised that it was only the two of us but when Yuri told me that she had something to discuss with me, I agreed to her request. We ordered our food and talked about random matters until we were almost done with our meals.

"How's work lately?"

A frown appeared on my face at Yuri's sudden question and it triggered my curiosity. 'Why does she want to invite me out for lunch if she's just planning to ask about work? She could just ask about it in my office.' I thought to myself before I replied that everything was as per normal except that there was an increase in the number of resignations lately.

"Are you resigning too?" I abruptly asked as it was Yuri's turn to frown.

"Why do I want to resign?"

My eyes blinked rapidly before I scratched the back of my head, feeling a little guilty for my sudden accusation.

"Sorry. It just popped out of my head. Ever since the news spread about the withdrawal of the 4 companies two weeks ago, I've seen a rapid increase in the number of resignations tendered from the staffs. Rumours had been going around that the company will be closing down so I think some of the workers are already looking for alternatives." I replied as I let out a sigh. "I guess it's not about work that you want to talk to me about so let's just get straight to the point."

"Okay." Yuri answered before taking a deep breathe. "Sica and I are getting married."

My eyes widened before a smile creeped in. "That's great news. So when are you planning to have it? Do you need any help?"

Yuri had a bashful smile before she stared straight at me. "You seemed genuinely excited about it."

"Of course, I am. What were you expecting? That I'm not going to be happy or excited about it?" I arched my eyebrows in a confused state.

"Anni, anni... I was afraid that you might feel a little down at the moment because of the situation at work so I was thinking that you might not react that well with this news. Sica was even thinking if we should postpone it until everything is settled. We didn't want to give you pressure of any sort, especially with the situation that the company is facing at the moment." Yuri explained her point of view as I just smiled at her.

"You don't have to postpone such a good thing. You've been with Sica for some time now. It's about time you and her settled down. With regards to the company, it's no longer a secret that we're facing a crisis at the moment. Lots of rumours have been spreading around and we're just going through with the flow at the moment. Harabeoji and I are still trying to find ways to work things out so nothing to worry too much." I assured her as Yuri nodded her head. "So when's the big day?"

"We were thinking of having it in two months time. It'll coincide with Krystal's semester break so that she could join us." Yuri explained further as I nodded my head. "You're the first person to know about this since Sica wanted to make sure that you're okay with it before telling the rest of the girls. Even Krystal is not aware about it. Both of our parents knew that we had decided to settle down but we have yet to inform them about the dates."

"Thank you for being considerate about my feelings and also for worrying about the company. Of course, I'm okay with the marriage. I'm more than happy to see my bestfriend settling down with the girl whom she love so much. Looks like we'll be in-laws soon"

Both of us laughed at my words as Yuri continued to elaborate about her wedding day. She was planning to have a dinner gathering tomorrow night to break the news to the other girls since it's Friday tomorrow and maybe have a little celebration after dinner. I just nodded my head in agreement with her arrangement as we finished up our meal before proceeding back to the office.

We went our separate ways after we walked out from the carpark of our office building. As I made my way towards my desk, I noticed that there was a new stack of envelopes placed at a corner of my desk.

"Ms Jeon must have dropped by earlier." I mumbled to myself as I sat down. 

Taking out my phone from my pocket as I needed to charge it, I accidentally pressed the centre button and Krystal's face appeared on my homescreen. A smile instantly appeared on my face as I decided to read the messages that we had exchanged with one another earlier on.

I just reached home after hanging out with Sulli, Luna and Kate. We were doing assignments together even though individually and had dinner before heading home. It should be time for you to have lunch. Remember to eat well, sweetheart. Love you. - Krystal

I'm going out to lunch with Yuri. She wanted to talk to me about some stuff. I will eat well. Don't worry, okay. I love you too. Miss you lots. - Eunjin

The smile stayed on my face as I continued reading past messages from Krystal. Ever since I told her about what happened at the meeting with the 4 companies and about what Harabeoji had told me after the meeting, Krystal had been sending me more frequent messages. I understood that she was worried about my state of mind and she didn't want me to fall into a depression mode. But all these messages had made me missed her even more than before.

It made me kept wishing that she was here by my side to accompany me during this difficult period.

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

"How many people have tendered their resignations so far?"

I had to put down my spoonful of rice that was almost reaching my mouth when Harabeoji asked me that question.

"Yeobo, let the child finish eating first before talking about work.She can't enjoy the food if you keep asking her about work-related questions." Halmeoni voiced out her concern before asking me to continue eating.

"So far, we've received around 20 letters. But most of them are giving us a month grace period before leaving. I was thinking of meeting them individually to talk things out first and see if they will change their mind about leaving." I replied before picking up the spoon to eat.

"20 letters within 2 weeks. That's more than 1 staff a day. I didn't expect it to be this much though." Harabeoji mumbled to himself before letting out a sigh.

I had to swallow my food hard when I heard his words as my heart sank at the obvious fact. Halmeoni must have noticed the sudden drop in atmosphere as she tried to talk about random matters until I was almost done with dinner.

"By the way, Yuri told me that she and Sica are getting married. They had already planned it a month ago and will be holding it in two months time when Krystal is having her semester break and will be back in Seoul. The rest of the girls were already informed about it at a dinner gathering yesterday night." 

"That's great news. I'm very happy for the both of them. It's going to be the Kwon's first wedding in the family, right?" Halmeoni asked as I nodded my head and was about to share the details when Harabeoji interrupted.

"Can't they wait until everything is settled with the company?"

Harabeoji's question caused me to frown as I turned to face him. Even Halmeoni looked a little confused with his question. I replied Harabeoji that they had thought of doing so but I told them that they should just proceed as planned since it's something that they've been looking forward to.

"Proceed as plan? In two months time, our company will still be dealing with this crisis. We won't even know what it's going to be like by then. With our decision not to seek for financial help from the bank, there's a possibility that we might need to cut costs." Harabeoji explained as I blinked my eyes at him since I was already aware of that fact.

"But what has that got to do with their wedding? The company and their wedding are two separate matters." I replied as Harabeoji shook his head slowly at me.

"It is two separate matters if you're not the CEO of Hanjin and Yuri's boss. Think of the bigger picture. The company is facing a crisis right now. Every staff of yours are worried about their future. They will be thinking, should they stay with the company with the possibility of having to receive a pay cut or should they resign instead. They might even end up being jobless too. But here you are, being excited about the wedding of your bestfriend, who coincidentally is also one of your staff. What do you think the other staffs will think of you? That you're not bothered about what will happen to them? That you don't have to worry about your future like they do? For Yuri to continue her wedding plans when the company is in crisis, they might think that you're helping her out in terms of financial. Won't that create bad rumours on Yuri's part?" Harabeoji looked at me with a deep frown.

"I... I didn't think of that. But Yuri doesn't need any financial help from me. She's been saving up for some time now. Furthermore, both she and Sica comes from quite a well-to-do family." 

I looked at Harabeoji before turning to look at Halmeoni, who had sympathy written all over her face. Harabeoji replied that not everyone would know the details of the relationshop and people would start assuming a lot of negativity with this news. In the end, all I could do was to look down to the floor while biting my lips. Silence filled the room before Harabeoji spoke again.

"Either ask Yuri to postpone her wedding or you don't attend it at all. At least, your workers will not have any ill thoughts of you."

I heard the dragging sound of the chair as Harabeoji stood up and walked away from the dining area. I looked up and saw Halmeoni shaking her head before she stood up too and walked towards me.

"I don't agree with your Harabeoji though. Frankly, I would rather the wedding proceed as what they had planned. Whatever happened to the company, it shouldn't be a hindrance for them to start a new life together. Furthermore, Krystal might not be able to join the wedding if it's postponed. Her semester break will only be for a month right?" Halmeoni asked as I nodded my head. "But then again, you're old enough to make your own decision. I don't think your Harabeoji would interfere in whatever decision that you're going to make."

Halmeoni gave me a hug and patted my head before she asked me to finish up my food while she started to clear the table and bring the dirty plates to the kitchen to wash.

It was a Saturday night and my grandparents had asked me to join them for dinner over at their place. Intially, I thought that it would just be a normal dinner for the family but when Harabeoji started to ask about the company, I was starting to regret my decision for coming over. Luckily, Halmeoni was there so she had managed to prevent Harabeoji from being too overly serious during dinner. 

Yesterday night, all the girls were gathered at Twin Towers for Yuri to inform them about her marriage plans. Everyone was super happy for Yuri and Sica, including myself. We celebrated the great news by going to a club after dinner. I thought that my grandparents would also be happy to hear the news, which was why I decided to inform them about it.

But at the moment, I don't know how to feel about the whole situation. I knew that both of them were not wrong. Harabeoji had his own reasons and so did Halmeoni. Even so, I don't have the heart to tell Yuri to postpone it after being so supportive about her plans. 

"Stay the night here, Eunjin. It's been a while since you last stayed over." Halmeoni's voice disrupted my thoughts as I could only nodded my head at her suggestion.

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

Krystal's POV

I had just finished taking a shower after going shopping with Kate, Sulli and Luna. Something was bothering my mind after Sulli and Luna asked me about the rumours that was spreading around the campus at the moment.

(Flashback a few hours ago)

The four of us had just managed to find a table at the restaurant. Looking through the menu, no one said anything until the waiter came to take our orders. Once he left, we started chatting away.

"By the way, my sister is getting married in two months time." I had a proud smile on my face as Sulli and Luna were happy about it. Kate, the one only who had not met my sister before, congratulated me and said that I must be super excited to have a brother-in-law. "Actually, it's a sister-in-law."

Kate looked surprised before she broke into a smile. "As long as both of them are happy with each other."

"Sica-unnie and Yuri-unnie were in the same high school and both of them actually had a crush on each other. But they never had the opportunity to actually express their feelings for each other until they met again last year. There were some problems initially but they sorted things out and everything is all good now." I explained further as Sulli and Luna nodded their heads. "Another thing is, Yuri-unnie is Eunjin's childhood bestfriend."

"Really? So did you meet Eunjin while tagging your sister out on a date?" Kate teased me as I shook my head.

"She actually slapped Eunjin the first time they met." Luna answered, causing another shock to Kate. "Thinking back about the whole situation, it was actually quite funny."

"In actual truth, Eunjin-unnie actually saved Krystal from tripping on that day. She could have sprained her ankle, if not for Eunjin-unnie's help." Sulli added on as I just pouted while she and Luna continued to explain what actually happened that day.

"Talking about your girlfriend, have you heard the rumors lately?" Kate suddenly asked as I looked at her in confusion.

"You mean the rumors about the new CC?" Luna asked before turning to face me.

"New CC? What's that?" I asked.

"New Campus Couple." Sulli answered on Luna's behalf as I turned to face her. "There's rumors going around that you and Jongin are the new CC."

"What? How did this nonsense came about?" I asked, looking perplexed with the whole news. "I thought everyone knew that I'm attached?"

"They knew but they also know that Jongin has a huge crush on you. Some of the rumors even mentioned that you're lying about being attached since they've never seen your partner before." Kate continued talking as a frown appeared on my face.

I've never heard about the rumors before this since I didn't really hang around campus much. I didn't know that people were actually talking about me and Jongin. I let out a sigh and leaned back against the chair.

"Was it because of that incident?" I turned to face Kate who just shrugged her shoulders as Sulli and Luna questioned me about what incident that I was referring to. "Last week, I appeared in front of my class with Jongin holding on to my hands. But before both of you jump into any conclusion, let me explain."

It took me about 20mins to explain what really happened on that day as Sulli and Luna nodded their heads. They commented that these rumors might continue for some time, especially if I chose to just ignore it.

(End of flashbacks)

"Should I do something about it? But what should I do?" I mumbled to myself as I grabbed my pillow.

I was about to lie down on my bed when a buzzing sound was heard from my phone. I stretched my arm to reach for my phone that was charging on the side table just beside my bed. Seeing that it was a message from Eunjin, a smile appeared on my face but the smile didn't last long when I read her message.

I wish you were here with me. I'm feeling so lost and helpless right now. And so so lonely. - Eunjin

My eyes turned teary as I sat up and was about to reply her when another message came in.

I'm sorry. Please ignore my previous message. It's about time for you to sleep so rest well. I love you. - Eunjin

"This Pabo. Does she really think that I could just ignore her message like that? Stupid." I gritted my teeth before calming myself down and started to dial Eunjin's number. "My stupid sweetheart." .

Eunjin's POV

"Aishh.. pabo, Eunjin-ah. Why did you send that kind of message to Krystal?"

I sighed as I leaned back into my car seat, regretting my decision of confessing how I was feeling at the moment to Krystal. I was about to place my phone aside when it rang. My eyes widened when I saw Krystal's name appearing on the screen. Taking a deep breathe, I answered the call with reluctance.

"Hello."

"Pabo-yah!!... Gwenchana?" Krystal's voice was heard on the other line.

A smile appeared on my face as I realised that Krystal had wanted to scold me intially when she called me pabo but she changed her tone and asked me if I was okay. I ended up chuckling without giving her any reply.

"Yah... Why are you laughing suddenly? You're scaring me. Where are you right now? Are you still at Harabeoji's place?"

I could sense that Krystal was really starting to get worried so I quickly straightened up my back to answer her.

"Mianhae. I didn't mean to scare you. I'm not at Harabeoji's place. I left about two hours ago after having my breakfast. Did you call because of my message?"

"Of course. Do you know how worried I am right now? And how can you ask me to ignore your message when I know that it was your true confession of what your're feeling at the moment." Krystal started to shoot out her emotions as I listened quietly.

There was a silence after Krystal was done releasing her pent-up emotion. I heard her sighing before she asked me where I was.

"I'm at my parent's columbarium."

"Columbarium? Sweetheart, are you sure you're okay? Don't hide your feelings from me. Why are you there? You're alone?" Another round of fast questions from Krystal caused me to smile.

"Jung Soojung, you're making me miss you even more when you're showing so much concern."

Silence filled the conversation as I could sense that Krystal was smiling over the phone.

"But I've always shown you concern. Maybe not as much as now. It's just that... You're so far away from me.... Haishhhh... Arrghhh.."

I could hear some funny sounds coming from the other line as I teased Krystal by asking if she was pulling her hair out. We ended up laughing before I told her that I just felt like visiting my parents which was why I came down to the columbarium.

"With regards to your question, I'm actually fine although not 100%. A lot of things are going on at work and last night, I was kind of hit with another problem." I paused for a while, thinking if I should tell Krystal about the talk I had with Harabeoji last night. "I'm not sure if I should tell you this but I've promised you that I'm not going to keep things from you."

I started telling Krystal about the talk and she listened to it quietly without interrupting until I ended the story. It was silence again until I heard Krystal clearing .

"Both of them has their own reasons which are not totally wrong. But I agree with Halmeoni about you making your own decision. Frankly speaking, if I was in your shoes, I would not be able to decide too. Hhhhmmm... What if you talk this out with Yuri-unnie?" Krystal suggested as I blinked my eyes rapidly.

"I'm scared that she might misunderstand. Initially, your Sica-unnie did suggest for them to delay the wedding because of the current situation at work but I confidently told Yuri that she should proceed with it. With that in mind, Yuri had proceeded to inform everyone about her wedding plans and everyone seemed super excited about it. What will Yuri feel if I tell her about this? She might think that I'm putting the company before her. Worse still is, she might really delay the wedding if she thinks that it's causing me problem at work."

"From what you're telling me, it seems like you're not really into the idea of delaying the wedding. Am I right?" Krystal asked as I paused a minute before agreeing to it. "You've already made your decision, sweetheart. You should just talk to Yuri-unnie and seek her opinion about this rather than being worried on your own."

"Hhhhmmmm... I guess you're right." A smile finally appeared on my face. "Talking to you really helps a lot. One of the reason for me not to have it delayed is because they're planning to have it during your semester break so that you could attend it. Your presence is very important to Sica."

"Only to my unnie? Then what about you? Is my presence important to you?" Krystal asked as a smirk appeared on my face.

"Anni." I answered as I heard a gasping sound from Krystal. "Your presence is essential to me. Not only for the wedding but for the rest of my life."

"Cehhhh." Krystal let out a sound as I imagined her rolling her eyes at me. "I can see that you've not lost your cheesiness even at times like this."

"That's because I'm talking to you right now. I'm only like this when you're around." I replied as I heard Krystal giggling on the other side. "By the way, how's school so far? Is everything going smoothly for you? Anyone giving you difficulties at school, your lecturer or your classmates?"

"Even if they do, what are you going to do about it?" Krystal teasingly asked me.

"I'm going to ask Uncle Park to send a team of bodyguards to protect you from all of them." I answered in a joking tone.

"Bodyguards? I'm not even a high-profile person to have bodyguards around me."

"But you're my princess." I replied before both of us broke into giggles. 

"Talking about school, actually.. there's something that I need to tell you." Krystal said as I noticed that her tone of voice was no longer joking around and I started to become serious myself. "Before I start, you need to promise me something. Do not be angry or jealous. Promise me that please."

My eyes continued blinking as a lot of thoughts started to swim around in my head. 'What is she planning to tell me that might cause me to be angry or jealous?'

"Sweetheart? Why are you being quiet?" Krystal's voiced disrupted my thoughts

"Is it really bad? Why do I have to promise not to be angry or jealous?" I let out a sigh as I started to feel uneasy.

"Do you trust me?" Krystal asked as I replied that I do. "So promise me."

"Okay, I promise you." I replied as I held on to the phone tighter.