I tried my best to smile, trying to hide the pain in my heart at the moment. Sulli and Luna were also keeping quiet as they didn't disturbed or teased Krystal for her tears. They knew she was having a hard time and didn't want to add on to her sadness.

The grip on the back of my shirt tightened as the sobbings started to stabilise. The four of us were at the airport at the moment and it was the day that I was flying back to Seoul. No one had expected Krystal to cry since she didn't showed any sadness when we had lunch together and even during the check-in process. But the moment I stood in front of the departure entrance, her eyes swelled up with tears as she hugged me.

"Krystal.." 

That's all I could say as I myself was speechless. I didn't knew how to comfort her since I myself was feeling sad with the whole situation. Even though she's going to be finishing her studies in less than 6 months but it's still a long period of time apart. Krystal must had realised that I was feeling down too as she pulled herself apart and wiped away her tears.

"I'm sorry. I knew we had talked about it last night but when it actually happened, I just couldn't stop my tears." Krystal confessed as Sulli and Luna stood beside her and patted her shoulders.

Last night, I had asked Krystal if she was okay with the fact that I'll be flying back soon. She told me that she was going to be fine since Sulli and Luna would be around, plus the fact that she would be graduating soon. Hearing her words last night, I felt a little relieved but now I'm not sure anymore.

"Do you need me to extend my stay?" I asked but Krystal shook her head.

"Unless you could extend until I graduated, I don't think it's going to make any difference." Krystal replied as I swallowed my saliva. It was obvious that I couldn't do so because of my work commitment. "Don't worry. I understand that you would stay if you could so but you have other responsibilites too and I'm just being clingy."

"Don't worry, Eunjin-unnie. With the pile of assignments that we need to prepare for our final thesis, time will past us very fast. All of us would graduate soon and you would be able to reunite with Krystal again." Luna gave her opinion as Sulli nodded in agreement.

"We'll take care of Krystal for you." Sulli added on as I chuckled at her remarks.

"Take care of each other. I know all three of you will be busy soon but don't forget to eat well and rest well." I said as they nodded their heads. "I will need to enter soon so drive safely back to the apartment."

Pulling Krystal forward, I leaned in and kissed her forehead. "I'll message you once I've arrived."

"No. Call me." Krystal intercepted as I replied that she might be asleep by the time I arrived in Seoul. "It's okay. I will answer your call. I will put my ringtone at the loudest so that I will wake up."

"Along with us too." Sulli teased as we all broke into laughters.

Krystal's POV

I forced a smile and waved goodbye to the disappearing figure of Eunjin. Once I was sure that Eunjin was no longer able to see me, my hand dropped to my side as I let out a deep sigh.

"You're okay?" Luna placed her arm around my shoulder and gave me a tight squeeze.

"I'm fine. I should be fine. It's not the first time that me and Eunjin had to say our goodbyes to each other but I don't know why this time felt so hard for me." I replied honestly as we made our way to the car.

"Maybe because she's now your fiancee." Sulli's random reply caused me and Luna to look at her with a confused expression. "Before this, she was just a girlfriend to you but with the sudden change of status in your relationship, the feelings deepened and the love strengthened."

"Woah... This is the first time I'm impressed with what Sulli has said. And I agree to it." Luna teased the girl who stuck her tongue out while Krystal finally broke into a smile. "And you even manage to make Krystal smile. Good job, Sulli."

"I have to agree to what Sulli said. Having Eunjin with me here for the past two weeks, made me realise that I'm really ready to step up the relationship."

"You sound like you're already thinking of marriage." Sulli teased as I slapped her shoulders before all of us entered the car. "But are you planning to settle down once you're back in Seoul?"

"I'm not sure. Like I said before, Eunjin and I had not take about marriage yet. But Eunjin is aware of my future plans to work with Unnie once I graduated."

"Six more months. Let's all work hard and graduate with honors. Honestly, I miss home too." Luna said as all three of them nodded their heads as she started the car's engine. "Like what Eunjin-unnie said earlier. We need to take care of each other, eat well and rest well."

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

"Welcome home." Yuri gave me a hug as I smiled at her.

"How come you're here too? Is the cafe closed today?" I asked Sooyoung who had taken over the pushing of the cart with my luggages on it.

"Nope. Just felt like accompanying Yuri to fetch you." Sooyoung grinned sheepishly as I detected a hidden agenda.

"Yah. I can see through your face that you're hiding something. What's up?" I nudged her by the elbow as the grin on her face widened.

"You'll know soon. Everyone is waiting for you at the cafe." Sooyoung replied chirpily as I looked at my watch.

At the cafe, there was not much patrons since it was only 3pm. I greeted Hyoyeon and Victoria who were standing at the cashier counter when we arrived. They asked me about Krystal and I told them that she was doing fine.

Talking about Krystal, I suddenly remembered about the call that I was supposed to make. By then, Sooyoung and Yuri were already making their way up the stairs.

"Yul, Soo. I need to call Krystal for a while. You're going up to the office, is it? I'll see you both there soon." I said as they showed me a thumbs up.

I took out my phone and went to a quiet corner of the restaurant. I stared at my phone for a minute since I was still unsure if I should call Krystal or just leave her a message. But when I remembered how clingy she was at the airport, I made my decision to call.

"You've reached?"

A smile appeared on my face when I heard how eager Krystal sounded after she answered the call. I told her that I had arrived about an hour ago and was currently at the Twin Towers.

"Why didn't you return straight to your apartment? You're hungry?" Krystal asked as I said that Sooyoung and Yuri were the ones who wanted to bring me here.

"I think they have something to tell me because Sooyoung was grinning way too much just now. She did mentioned that everyone was waiting for me but I didn't know who she's actually referring to"

"They're waiting for you? You should go and meet them then so that they won't wait any longer." Krystal suggested as I asked if she was going off to sleep. "I'm still doing some revision. Maybe a bit later, I'll sleep."

"Don't stay up too late okay. You need to rest well. I'll leave you a message once I'm home. Take care. I love you."

"I love you too. I'm already starting to miss you after listening to your voice. You take care too, okay."

After ending the phone conversation, I made my way to the third floor where Sooyoung's office was situated. It's been a while since I've been to her office and I was suddenly remembered of the incident which resulted in me entering her office for the first time.

"Why are you smiling while standing at the door?"

My train of thoughts were disrupted by that question as I looked around the room and saw that Yoona was the one who had shot me that question.

"I suddenly remembered the first time when I had to step into your office. Even though it used to be on the 2nd floor but the setting of the office still remains the same." I chuckled to myself.

"The first time? That was when you met Krystal, right? And she gave you a tight slap because you were staring at her s." Yuri reminded me before she broke into a round of laughter.

"Yah!! And it's all your fault. You were the one who bumped into me." I rolled my eyes at her and took a seat beside her on the couch.

"If not because of me, you won't have met Krystal. I think her first impression of you left a deep mark on her memory and a deep mark on your face." Yuri laughed again as I just shook my head.

"Unnie, stop teasing Eunjin-unnie." Yoona stood up as she asked all of us if we wanted any drinks or food. She left soon, after taking our orders.

Yuri, Sooyoung and I then started chatting about the cafe and how it's been progressing over the years. Sooyoung commented that there were still a few regular patrons who would keep asking if ever they were planning to bring back the live band performances. 

"I didn't expect customers to even remember about it." I said after hearing what Sooyoung had told us. "Why don't you just look for someone to do so?"

Before Sooyoung could reply, Yoona came back with our drinks and some cakes. She said that Victoria was the one who had baked it and wanted us to give it a try since it was a new recipe. Silence filled the room momentarily as everyone tried out the cakes.

"By the way, Krystal send her regards to everyone." I said out of the blue as they nodded their heads. 

"When will she be coming home?" Sooyoung asked as I informed her the date that Krystal had planned to fly back after her graduation. "That's good. She's already back by then."

"Why do you need her to be back by then?" I asked with a curious expression.

"We're going to have a big celebration soon. Sooyoung proposed to Yoona a few weeks ago." Yuri explained as a big smile appeared on my face.

"Really? Woah... Congrats to both of you." I stood up and walked towards Yoona to give her a hug before going over to Sooyoung to do the same to her. "I'm so happy after hearing the news. It's about time both of you settle down."

The four of us continued chatting excitedly about the wedding and the preparations before Yuri suggested for me to get home. 

"I need to fetch Sica from work so I can drop you back at your apartment while on the way." Yuri explained further as I just nodded my head.

I was starting to feel the effect of the jetlag as I made my way to Yuri's car. Thinking of doing a power nap while in the car, I didn't manage to do so when Yuri shot me a question about work. She had asked if Sunny had updated me about the condition at work before a frown appeared on my face.

"She didn't say much but I knew what is going on from Ms Jeon. I had expected Sunny not to tell me about it and true enough, she would only update me about work stuff." I let out a heavy sigh.

"I guess she thinks that it's all trivial and didn't want to burden you with all that when you're not in Seoul." Yuri tried to give an explanation on behalf of Sunny. "Will you be reporting to work tomorrow? I suggest for you to at least rest for one more day. You look really shagged at the moment." 

"It's just the jetlag. I should be fine after resting tonight." 

"You worried about work, right? You're already back home. Sunny will be able to handle for one more day. You should come back to work with a fully refresh mind and body." Yuri commented as I replied to her that I'll see how my condition would be tomorrow.

Silence filled the car as Yuri reached my apartment soon. She helped me with the luggage before waving goodbye to fetch Jessica.

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

I took a seat on my chair and looked at the papers on my table. In front of me, Sunny stood in silence as she had her head down while Ms Jeon was standing beside her. I took in a deep breathe before leaning back into my chair.

"Firstly, I would like to apologise to you, Sunny. It's been hard for you during my absence the past few weeks. Even though you didn't actually update me about what actually was happening at work, I had Ms Jeon to update me regularly too."

Sunny looked up and glanced at Ms Jeon before looking at me. "You don't have to apologise, Eunjin. I was not capable enough for others to follow my lead."

"That's not true, Ms Han. Sunny did a good job even though there were delays in documents submission. She worked hard to ensure that everything was going smoothly daily." Ms Jeon quickly intercepted as I nodded my head.

"It's okay, Sunny. I know what is going on and I know how those people work too." I strummed my fingers on the table as I clenched my teeth. "Ms Jeon, arranged a meeting with all the Heads of Department in an hours time. Informed them that it is important and whoever doesn't attend will have to explain their absence to me directly, with consequences."

I could see the shocked expression on both Sunny's and Ms Jeon's faces after they heard of my stern instruction. Ms Jeon quickly excused herself so that she could informed the affected people of the meeting.

"Do you really have to go to that extreme?" Sunny asked in a worried tone.

"When your subordinates are not following the company's protocol and are hindering the progress of the company, I believe I have every right as the Director of the company to ensure that these people are dealt with." The firm expression on my face didn't go away as Sunny bit her lips. "It's not your fault, Sunny. Even when I'm in charge, they are not giving me their full cooperation. I know that my secretarist department has had to chase after them for submission of their documents even without Ms Jeon reporting to me."

"You've been watching the CCTV?" Sunny asked as I nodded my head.

"Harabeoji didn't take much actions with things going on in the office because he's only concern about the end product. He doesn't care how people do it as long as they get the job done. But honestly speaking, the people who are applauded for a job well-done are not the ones who are contributing to it. The top management level in this company big time. They have been working a long time in the company, slacking away and getting recognition for things that their subordinates had done. I can't tolerate this kind of nonsense. Recognition should be given to those who deserve it and hearing about how these old-timers had been taking advantage of my absence, just pissed me off."

"Hey, you need to calm down. I don't want you to go into that meeting with a bad temper. It's not good and will cloud your judgement." Sunny advised as I took in a deep breathe. "Honestly, seeing you losing your cool surprises me."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to rant about everything to you. Thinking about this matter, makes me feel mentally drained out."

"It's never easy to lead a company. My dad sometimes rant about his workers to me too but I guess his headaches can't be compared to yours since the number of workers in his company is not as much as yours. But I believe you're a capable leader just like him." Sunny gave me an encouraging smile as I thanked her for her kind words.

"Since you're the Head of Procurement Department, I guess you have no choice but to attend the meeting later but I need you to be there as my Acting Director. I want them to be answerable to you for their actions during my absence." 

"What if they think I'm the one who has been reporting all of their actions to you? As if I'm badmouthing about them behind their back. Do you think they will blame me for whatever decisions that you're going to make during the meeting?" Sunny looked a little restless as she voiced out her concern.

"They can think whatever they want. As long as my conscience is clear, I have no worries about that. You don't have to worry too. It's about time they realise that Harabeoji is no longer in charge and they have to stop with their attitude and nonsense because I'm having none of it" 

45 minutes later, I was already seated at the head of the table with my arms folded as I stared at the ceiling. Ms Jeon was already seated to my right with Sunny to my left. I purposely went to the conference room early so that I could observe the expression of others when they entered the room. 

Everyone started to enter the conference room when it was about time. Most of them were surprised to see me while others avoided eye contact. I glanced at my watch to look at the time before scanning through the room. I noticed the absence of two personnels but it's already 10 mins after the meeting time so I stood up.

The moment I stood up, everyone's eyes was on me. Making my way to the door, I closed it and locked it before walking back to my seat.

"I believe 10mins is more than enough time for everyone to make their way down to the conference room. Ms Jeon, please inform Head of Finance and Head of Logistics to come to my office before the end of today to explain their absence to me. Failure to do so will result in dire consequences. Anyway, let's all begin this meeting."

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

I heard the sound of the lift but instead of greeting whoever that had entered my office, I continued to stare at the glass window in front of me. 

"Hey, are you okay?"

Taking in a deep breathe, I let it slowly before nodding my head. I turned around and saw the concerned look in the 3 pairs of eyes that were looking at me. Giving them a smll smile, I gestued to them to sit at the couch.

"Drinks anyone?" I asked as I walked towards the minibar and took out a small bottle of soju. 

"You shouldn't drink if you're planning to ride back later." Yuri advised as I told her that the four of us could share that bottle of soju. "In that case, I guess it's fine."

"We heard about what happened from Sunny." Taeyeon was the first one to bring up the topic as I handed small soju cups to everyone. "We just wanted to make sure that you're okay."

"I'm fine. I just ended a phone conversation with Harabeoji before you all arrived."

"Harabeoji? Wae? Did the two old men complained about you to him?" Sunny's accurate questions could only be answered by a nod from me. "That's fast."

"They used to be his so-called favourite subordinates, from what Ms Jeon told me. They must have ranted to him about what happened, most probably hiding certain truth. Harabeoji called to hear my side of the story so I explained about the meeting and what happened during my absence when Sunny was in-charge. He told me to come home for dinner before ending the conversation." I took a sip of the drink while the others followed. "By the way, thanks for coming up to check on me. You all should make your way back home already since it's almost 7pm now."

"So you'll be going to your Harabeoji's place after this? Straight from here?" Yuri asked as I nodded my head. "Why do I feel like you're hiding something from us?"

"I feel the same way too. Especially after you offered us that soju. You rarely drink, especially at work. Something is bothering you." Taeyeon added on as I let out a sigh.

"Don't worry. Everything is under control." 

(Flashbacks 3hrs ago)

I was getting myself ready for any confrontation after Ms Jeon told me that the Head of Finance and Head of Logistics were coming up to my office to meet me.

Looking at my watch, I noticed that it was almost 4pm already.

'The meeting was at 10am and it's only now that they've decided to see me. These people really don't give me any respect at all.' I grumbled to myself as I heard the sound of the lift. 

Looking up, I saw Ms Jeon walking in with the two elderly men walking behind her with facial expression that showed as if they owned the place. After they both stood in front of my table, Ms Jeon stood aside at a corner.

No one said anything as I looked at them with my fingers interlocked and my elbows rested on my chair's armrest. I didn't invite them to sit on purpose because they didn't look like they were even sorry to be there.

"I'll just get this over and done with. Why were both of you not present at the meeting today?"

"Because we have work to do." The Head of Finance replied nonchalantly while the other men nodded his head. 

"Everyone has work to do in this company, not only the two of you. Besides, didn't I mention that it was an important meeting and all the Heads of Department need to attend it?" I stared hard at both of them who didn't seem to flinch.

"We're sorry that we couldn't attend it." The Head of Logistics answered but I knew he didn't meant it at all. "Since we're already here and have apologised, is there anything else?"

Hearing his words, I almost lost my cool but I had anticipated their cockiness. I noticed that they were just looking at me as if I was a nobody so I stood up and folded my arms

"Since both of you seems to like to work a lot until you couldn't even attend an important meeting by the Diector of the company, I would need your help with something. Ms Jeon, please bring the documents over." I instructed Ms Jeon, who went to push a trolley with a stack of documents on it. "I need all this records to be re-checked and handed back to me by end of this week. These are confidential records and I'm giving the rights to only both of you to have access to it."

(End of flashbacks)

"I can't believe that you actually told them to redo the financial and logistics records for the past 10yrs." Sunny said.

"I've actually gone through all those records before I left to visit Krystal. The reason why I wanted them to check through the records is because I had found out something." I paused for a minute as I took another sip of the soju. "Both of them had been misusing the company funds for the past 10yrs."

"Mwo?" 

The 3 of them yelled out the same word with the same surprised reactions.

"Do they know that you've checked through those records?" Sunny asked as I shrugged my shoulders. "What if they tried to amend the records?"

"What I gave them are copies of the records. The originals are with me and I'm planning to show it to Harabeoji later on."