"How was school?" I asked as Krystal snuggled up to me in the car. 

I had came to fetch her from school and waved my goodbyes to Sulli and Luna, who were walking beside her earlier. I volunteered to send both of them back to the apartment but they already had their own plans.

"As per normal. Assignments and datelines." Krystal replied with her pouting lips.

I chuckled at her being sulky and poked her cheeks before starting the engine to drive off from the school compound. "We have a few hours to spare before dinner with your family. After that, we'll be sending them off to the airport. So what do you want to do in the mean time?"

"Can we just laze around in the hotel room? I'm feeling quite lethargic at the moment." Krystal replied as she sat up and leaned back into the passenger seat before letting out a sigh.

"Are you okay? You sound really tired." I asked with a slight frown appearing on my face while I concentrated on the road.

"Everyone in class was asking about the engagement. Rumors do spread very fast. Like fire." 

I tilted my head and my frown deepened. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

Krystal's head immediately turned to face me as she quickly replied. "Of course it's a good thing. How can our engagement be a bad thing?"

"Well... you sounded as if the news was tiring you out. So I thought that it was not really a good thing for you." I turned to look at her when the car had to stop at the red light.

"It's not the news. It's the questioning that is making me a little uncomfortable. But I can handle it so never ever think that it's not a good thing, okay." Krystal leaned in to peck me on my lips as I broke into a smile.

"You seem to really like to steal kisses from me, don't you?" I grinned as Krystal stuck out her tongue at me.

"Wae? You don't like it, is it?" She asked me before rolling her eyes at me. "I can always kiss somebody else though."

"Yah!!" My heart sank when I heard her remarks and I was about to voice out my disappointment to her when she continued by saying that she could always kiss her sister, her mom and her dad.

"But I can't kiss them on the lips though since my lips are only for you." Krystal turned to look at me with a cheeky smile before she started to giggle when she looked at my disheartened expression. "Aigoo, why is my fiancee such a cutie?"

"Such a tease." I sulked and pouted my lips as we continued our drive back to the hotel while Krystal continued to tease me.

When we reached the hotel, the first thing Krystal did was to throw her bag to the side and climbed onto the bed before lying down. She patted the empty space beside her and gestured for me to join her. Soon enough, both of us were deeply asleep.

The sound of my phone ringing was the reason as why I was awake. Sitting up and looking for that small gadget, my eyes wandered to the clock hanging on the wall before it widened when I realised the time.

"Oh . Krystal, wake up. It's almost time for dinner." I turned to my side and was about to wake Krystal up when I realised that the other side of the bed was empty.

"Looking for me?"

Krystal appeared from behind the bathroom door as I blinked my eyes at her. It was obvious that she had gotten ready as she took my phone and answered it for me.

"Hello?..... Yes, Yuri-unnie. We're getting ready... Actually, she just woke up but we'll be on time to fetch all of you later.... Arraseo, unnie. See you later then." 

Krystal ended the phone call before she looked at me with an arched eyebrow. "Aren't you suppose to be getting ready?"

Like a small kid who was given orders by the mother, I jumped out of bed and rushed towards the bathroom while Krystal stepped aside.

A few hours later when we were already at the airport after our dinner, I quietly observed Krystal hugging her mother tightly after she had hugged her father. A light nudge on my shoulder took my attention away as I turned to my right side where Yuri was standing.

"Do you need me to fetch you at the airport when you fly back to Seoul?" Yuri asked as I took some time to reply her. "You're coming home, right? Or are you planning to stay here until Krystal graduates?"

"I wish I could stay that long but I've got a company to take care of. Furthermore, I don't wish to burden Sunny anymore than I already had." I replied with a small smile.

"6 more months to go. Soon, both of you will be reunited. You've been doing great all this while when you're apart. Stay strong, okay." Yuri said as she patted my back and smiled at me before I confirmed with her about fetching me when I returned to Seoul in two days time.

"It's nice to know that I've such an understanding sister-in-law." I as we started nudging each other by the shoulders playfully.

"Yah, chodings." 

Jessica's voice stopped our actions as we just grinned at her. Surprisingly, Jessica was reprimanded by Appa Jung for calling Yuri a choding.

"You can all her that when you're at home or in your private spaces but in the public, you should show respect to your partner at all times." Appa Jung chided her in a friendly tone as Jessica pouted.

"It's okay, Appa. She's not being disrespectful. It's her way of doing aegyo to me." Yuri quickly defended her wife as I just chuckled before I felt a hand sliding around my arm.

"Thank you so much everyone for flying in to celebrate my birthday with me. I'll finish my studies well and will join you all back in Seoul soon." Krystal said as her grip on my arms tightened.

I could see that she was trying her best to hold back her tears so I pulled her into a side hug and squeezed her shoulders softly. She looked up and could only smile at me as we waved our goodbyes to her parents, her sister and Yuri who had to make their way in to the departure hall.

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

"Want to watch a movie?" I asked as I sat down at the edge of the bed while facing the TV. 

We were already back at the hotel as I waited for Krystal's reply. She had remained quiet throughout the ride back so I decided to leave her in her own thoughts. As I continued to press the remote control buttons to scan through the movies available, Krystal scooted behind me and spread both her legs to place them on my sides. She wrapped her arms around my waist and placed her head on my back.

"I'm really going to miss you when you return to Seoul."

I stopped my actions of pressing the buttons and wanted to turn behind to look at Krystal but she was adamant about staying in that position. I didn't know what to say or what else to do so I just sat still while my fingers rubbed her arms slowly.

"I've always wanted to say this to you but I don't know why I didn't do so. Maybe I was busy or something was in the way." She paused for a minute before taking a deep breathe. "Thank you for allowing me to further my studies and achieve one of my dreams. But I don't think I can do this again. As in being apart from everyone. Even though Sulli and Luna had always been there for me, but nothing beats the feeling of having your family around. And also you."

I felt some movement from my back as Krystal suddenly became quiet. The moment I heard the faintest sound of a sniff, I turned around swiftly and hugged her.

"Don't cry. We just have to wait for 6 more months. We've been doing well so far. You've been doing great. I'm really proud of you." I kept my compliments going as Krystal just hid her face on my chest. "I love you."

With those words said, Krystal looked up and I saw her teary eyes. Smiling sweetly at her, I wiped away the remaining tears with my thumb. Krystal bit her lips before she broke into a shy smile.

"I love you too."

We continued hugging each other before Krystal asked me if I had packed my stuff. We had planned to check out from the hotel tomorrow and returned to the apartment where Krystal had been staying. She needed to do her assignments and since all her books and printed documents were at the apartment, we figured that it'll be easier for us to stay there.

"I'll help you to pack." Krystal said as I nodded my head.

We spent the next two hours, packing my stuff while chatting away. Krystal explained to me about her plans to continue working for her sister after her graduation and I agreed with her plans. Once the packing was done, it was almost midnight.

"What time is your first class tomorrow?" I asked as both of us climbed onto the bed.

"I don't have any morning classes tomorrow and only one class in the afternoon. So we can check out early and proceed to the apartment first to leave your stuff." Krystal suggested. 

We continued chatting while lying on the bed until I received no response from Krystal, who had dozed off. I slowly pulled my hand away from her and made my way out of the bed. Grabbing my laptop from my backpack, I made my way towards the couch. The laptop made some noise when it came on and I quickly turned to look at Krystal as I was worried that she might woke up. Luckily, she was in a deep sleep.

Looking through my emails, especially those from Sunny, my frown deepened as I felt guilty about it. It seemed that Sunny was having some difficulties back at the company as some managers are delaying their work submission to her. Even though Sunny didn't informed me about it herself,  I had received some emails from Ms Jeon who was the one that informed me about the situation. This might be due to the fact that they were more senior than her in terms of service to the company. Furthermore, Sunny was just covering my place.

"Aissshhhh... Those old birds. Always thinking of their seniority but not showing a good example to the younger workers."

I mumbled to myself as I softly typed a reply to Sunny, with regards to some of her questions. I'm thankful to her that she's at least sticking to her promise to cover me in my absence when she could easily just told me to come back and settled everything on my own.

I noticed some movements on the bed by Krystal who had shifted her body as I paused my typing. Thinking that it's best for me to just continue my email replies tomorrow morning, I quickly finished up whatever I was typing and sent it out. Closing my laptop, I climbed on bed and joined Krystal to sleep.

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

"Thank you, Ms Jeon. You've been a great help to me. I won't know what to do if you're not around." Sunny smiled at the older woman before letting out a sigh.

"Ms Lee, are you okay?"

"Just call me Sunny. I've been asking you to call me that when there's only two of us in the office." Sunny gave Ms Jeon a warm smile.

"I'm calling you Ms Lee because you keeping calling me Ms Jeon even when there's only two of us." Ms Jeon reply caused Sunny to giggle.

"Sorry, Unnie. Just a habit, I guess. But I'm really thankful though."

"I knew about how some of the managers are making things difficult for you by submitting their documents late. Which will lead to you having to stay back in the office to finish up the work on time. I've already taken note on who they are and will report to Ms Han accordingly." Ms Jeon had a firm expression on her face, showing that she was adamant about doing so.

"I think it's okay, Unnie. I don't want to create more trouble between Eunjin and them. She had already went through a lot when she had to layoff some of the senior employees due to the reconstruction of the company back then." Sunny quickly tried to avoid the issue but Ms Jeon shook her head.

"Everyone work as a team in this company. Eunjin won't like it if there are people who intentionally made things difficult for other colleagues." Ms Jeon answered and all Sunny could do was to let out a sigh. "By the way, I just feel that I need to say this to you. You've been doing a great job so far, covering Eunjin in her absence. Even with all the difficulties that you've been put to face, you still manage to get things done. I guess Eunjin was right in choosing you to cover for her."

With Ms Jeon encouraging words, Sunny had a big smile on her face as she thanked the secretary for her kind compliments. Ms Jeon left the office soon and Sunny went back to settle her work diligently.

Meanwhile, at the Twin Towers, Sooyoung and Yoona were busy with the lunch crowd. It seemed that their business was doing very well and they had extended their cafe to the second floor. Their office were shifted to the third floor of the building after they managed to buy it over from the previous owner. Hyoyeon and Victoria had been promoted to managerial level, taking care of five other staffs that they had employed over the past few months.

"Unnie!!!"

A familiar sound was heard as the sound of the cafe door opened. Sooyoung, who was manning the cashier counter with Hyoyeon, turned to look at the person who had just walked in.

"Amber! How have you been? It's been a while since you dropped by." Sooyoung made her way to the front of the counter to give Amber a hug.

Hyoyeon took the initiative to call Yoona out from the kitchen before they gathered around near the counter.

"You look a little chubbier now, Amber." Yoona teased as the girl just grinned dorkily. "I guess someone has been taking good care of you."

"How's your girlfriend, by the way? Are you both still working together?" Sooyoung asked.

"Ailee's doing great. She sent her regards to everyone when I told her that I'm dropping by Twin Towers today." Amber replied with a wide grin before she took out a few envelopes from her bag. "Actually, I'm here to invite you all to the opening of my tuition centre next weekend. Ailee and I will be managing it together. I hope you can help me to disseminate the cards to the other Unnies and I hope all of you can attend the opening." 

The girls said their congrats to Amber and chatted for a while before the girl left the cafe. Sooyoung and Yoona went up to their office to keep the invitation cards as Sooyoung took a seat at her desk.

"Dear, what time is your sister arriving later? Have you check their flight ETA yet?" Sooyoung asked Yoona who nodded her head and informed the timing to her. "So, we'll just let Hyo and Vic close the cafe later since we need to be at the airport before that."

"I've already informed both of them about today's arrangement and they are aware of it." Yoona replied as she took a seat in front of the desk. "Are you sure about talking to my family tonight after we fetch Yuri-unnie and Sica-unnie?"

"Of course, I'm sure. Wae? Are you having doubts about me?"

"Of course not, pabo. I don't know why I'm feeling a little nervous about the whole idea." Yoona placed a hand on her chest to calm herself down.

Reaching her hand out and asking for Yoona's other hand, Sooyoung grabbed it and rubbed it slowly. With a deep smile, she stared into Yoona's eyes. "Don't have to be nervous. I'll always be by your side, every step of the way. We've known each other for so long and you've been a great support to me all this while. We've achieved our dreams together for the cafe. I'm now more than ready to take the next step up in our relationship after the expansion of the cafe."

Yoona stared at Sooyoung and returned a smile after hearing the sincere words. 

A few hours later, both of them were waiting at the arrival hall of the airport. They were there to fetch Yuri and Jessica, along with Appa Jung and Omma Jung who had returned from New York. They dropped off Appa and Omma Jung first at their place before proceeding to the Kwon's family house. Yuri and Jessica were already informed that there was going to be a mini gathering at the Kwon's home.

Since it was almost 10pm when they reached the house and everyone already had their dinner, they all quickly gathered around in the living room. Jessica and Yoona went to the kitchen to help Omma Kwon who was busy cutting up fruits for everyone to enjoy. 

"So, what's with this gathering?" Yuri asked the moment everyone had settled down. "I asked Yoona and Sooyoung about it but both of them didn't want to mention anything. They keep saying that we should wait until everyone is gathered."

Sooyoung could only smile at Yuri's words as she looked at Appa Kwon, with a knowing look.

"Actually. I'm the only one aware of the reason for this family gathering but I will let the one who had requested for this, to explain everything to everyone." Appa Kwon started to talk as he gestured to Sooyoung to start talking.

Taking a deep breathe, Sooyoung shifted her sitting position to be more comfortable. "The reason for this gathering is because I've a humble request which is to ask for Yoona's hand in marriage. We've been together for a long time and I've always been sure that Yoona is the one that I want to spend the rest of my life with. But I didn't have the courage to ask for her hand because when we were in the early stages of the relationship, I had nothing."

Yoona slid her hands into Sooyoung to give it a firm grip and smiled sweetly at her girlfriend.

"But Yoona stayed by my side, helping me with Twin Towers and she was always there through my ups and downs. Now that Twin Towers are on the right track and have stabilised, I'm more than confident that I'm able to provide well for her. So two weeks ago, I had proposed to Yoona and I'm glad that she had accepted it. But I'm still going to ask for the blessings of her family for her hand in marriage."

"A few days ago, Sooyoung came to see me in my office to ask for permission to marry Yoona. She told me that she's also going to ask for permission from everyone else in the family. I did told her that it was not necessary since we all knew how much they love each other but she insisted." Appa Kwon added on as everyone had a wide smile on their faces except for Yuri.

"What if I said that I don't agree? You made my sister wait for you, for so long that I almost wanted to find a new partner for her. " Yuri had serious expression on her face, causing Sooyoung to feel nervous.

"Unnie...." Yoona started to pout as she thought that Yuri was really serious with her words as everyone started to look at each other.

"Luckily over the years, you've proven to be the one for Yoona by taking good care of her so I'll be glad to give my sister to you." Yuri broke out into a dorky grin to avoid the situation from becoming more awkward.

Sooyoung let out a sigh of relief after she heard Yuri's final words.

"So when's the wedding?" Seohyun asked with a bright smile.

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

"What's inside?" I asked as I followed Krystal into the apartment while pulling my luggage along. "Hi Sulli. Hi Luna. Both of you don't have classes today?"

I waved my hands at the two girls who were having their breakfast in front of the tv. They were surprised initially but waved back at me as I took a seat beside Krystal on the couch.

"We don't but we might be going to the campus library for our revision. Krystal has classes, right?" Luna turned towards Krystal, who nodded her head. "Usually we'll accompany her to school and go through our revision while waiting for her classes to finish."

"They're my bodyguards." Krystal replied as she looked into the paper bag that she found hanging outside the main door of the apartment. There was a piece of paper with her name attached to it. 

"What's that? It looks familiar though." Sulli asked when she noticed the paper bag in Krystal's hand as Krystal slowly lifted up the item inside it. "Isn't that the bag that Jongin wanted to give you?"

"Jongin?" I repeated that name with a confused look.

"He bought a birthday present for Krystal and tried to give it to her but Krystal rejected it." Luna explained as I nodded my head.

"I didn't reject it because he bought it. I rejected the gift because of his words. He said that his present was better than yours and said that you won't be able to afford it. His arrogance totally turned me off. But he's aware that I'm already engaged to you so I don't understand why he still wanted to give me this." Krystal explained her actions.

"Maybe he really wanted you to have it. As a birthday present. You don't have to use it if you don't want to. Maybe you can donate it to someone else who needs it. You will earn a good deed." I suggested as Luna and Sulli immediately raised their hands and started to point at themselves. "There you have it. Two people who are in need of a backpack."

The four of us broke into a round of laughter before the 3 girls started to get themselves ready for school. In the mean time, I took out my laptop and started going through my emails.

"Will you be fine alone here?" Krystal asked once she walked out of her bedroom as I nodded my head. "Is everything okay at work?"

"Everything's seems to be fine. Sunny is managing it quite well but she's not really getting the cooperation she needs from other managers." I let out a sigh as Krystal took a seat beside me,.

"Let me guess. Seniority problem. Because Sunny is still considered a newbie in the company and she's also recruited by you." 

"How did you guess it right?" I asked, surprised at her correct guess.

"I've seen and experienced it before when I was working at Unnie's place. But I think Sunny-unnie has what it takes to overcome it. She just needs the right people by her side. Like Jiwon-unnie, your secretary." 

"She's the one who has been updating me about the company's internal problem. Sunny who never say all that to me. I have to thank Ms Jeon for that."

We continued chatting until Luna and Sulli were ready. The 3 of them left for campus soon after as I continued to read through and sort out my emails.