A/N:  There won't be an update for about two weeks on this story since I will be working on Masquerade and Hwayoung's background for Masquerade: The Guardians.  With that said, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter.

The chorus of Run by BTS blasted throughout the room from Hyomin's phone early in the morning just as the sun was beginning to rise. Hyomin's eyes shot open and she gasped in shock of the sudden sound waking her up from a deep slumber. She had fallen asleep with the phone on her chest waiting for Jihyun to message her back.

Hyomin's hair was spread out on her pillow, the black tank top she wore to bed had risen up her tummy to rest underneath her s, and her Sailor Moon boxers, courtesy of Jihyun from a birthday back in college, had somehow shifted to the side and they felt tighter around her hips as she moved her legs to stretch them out. Hyomin shut her eyes and moved her hands to rub her face and eyes. On the left side of she had a trail of dried drool which caused her to groan while rubbing it off.

The song continued to blast throughout the room and when Hyomin finally reached for her phone to shut off the alarm she found the phone underneath her body. Once her eyes adjusted to the bright screen and the bit of sunlight shining through her room, she checked her text messages for a reply from Jihyun and found that her friend had indeed replied.

10:30 PM

Qri: Minnie, are you still awake?

10:35PM

Qri: I guess you fell asleep...sweet dreams :)

“Damn it.” Hyomin groaned out. She sat up on her bed and adjusted her boxers and shirt while yawning. In three hours she had to be in Burbank and with LA traffic, she needed to get ready and leave early to head out for her meeting. Burbank wasn't a far drive, but with Los Angeles traffic, she needed to leave early to make it there in time. The meeting was something she was dreading after speaking with the writers, but luckily it was a Friday so hopefully the weekend would bring about something fun. She decided to text Jihyun before getting up from her bed.

Minnie: I did fall asleep! You kept me waiting for so long. Rude.

Minnie: Good morning :P

Hyomin chuckled at her last message and got up from the bed to go take a shower. She stepped out of her room only to smell the delicious scent of pancakes coming from the kitchen. Before Hyomin managed to cross the short hallway into the bathroom, Eunjung appeared at the end of the hallway with a spatula in her hand and specks of flour on her cheeks.

“Good morning sleepyhead! Run, run, run to that shower and come eat.” Eunjung did the dance to the song on Hyomin's alarm and laughed before running back to the kitchen to flip the pancakes she had on the griddle. Hyomin laughed and yelled out a good morning to her roommate as she entered the bathroom.

Jihyun had gone to bed with a headache and woken up with that headache still agonizing her. The whole ordeal with the custody of Junhee had given her that headache and even though she could have taken some medicine to make it go away, she had decided not to and just sleep it off but it didn't help. After some convincing from her mother and Ms. Moore as well, after seeing how calm and happy Junhee was in Jihyun's arms, Jihyun had agreed to take custody of her niece.

It was an insane move on her part, she knew that, considering how she had no experience around babies or children, but Junhee was her niece and her conscience would not allow her to leave the little girl in the hands of a foster family. Her mother had promised to help her and give her tips on how to care for the baby, but still, Jihyun knew it would be a hard learning experience. Ms. Moore had taken Junhee with her because Jihyun needed to prepare a room for the baby and buy all the necessities the child would need. Once the room was prepared and approved by Ms. Moore, she would be able to bring Junhee home.

Jihyun had woken up early to get ready for work so that she could go in early and get out early to go to the baby store and buy everything she needed. After eating some fruit and drinking a glass of milk, she took some medicine for her headache and grabbed her bag to head out. The sound of a text message stopped her before she walked out of her apartment. Jihyun reached for her phone and smiled when she saw Hyomin's messages.

Qri: Good morning sleepyhead. I'm really sorry I could not reply earlier. A lot happened yesterday. I'll talk to you about it later. Heading for work now.

Jihyun clicked the send button and put her phone back inside her bag. She headed out of her apartment and as she walked down the hallway to the elevator, her neighbor Mrs. TaeIn Lee exited out of the elevator and started walking towards her own apartment.

“Good morning Jihyun! You're looking lovely today.” Mrs. Lee greeted the young writer.

Jihyun bowed at the older woman and gave her timid smile because of the compliment. “Good morning Mrs. Lee and thank you.”

“Just call me TaeIn. I don't like the 'Mrs.' it makes me feel too old!” TaeIn let out a hearty laugh. Jihyun had never asked the woman how old she was but she had a feeling the woman had to be around the same age as her own mom.

“I'll try to keep that in mind. I'm just so used to saying it.” Jihyun explained and TaeIn shook her head.

“It's fine dear. You have a good day at work now.” The older woman pat Jihyun's shoulder as she walked past her. Jihyun bowed once again even though the woman wasn't looking and then headed to the elevator. As the doors closed and the elevator began to descend to the first floor, Jihyun let out a sigh. She had a feeling this was going to be a long day.

Hyomin had taken a quick shower and gotten dressed for her meeting before heading out to the kitchen and joining Eunjung for breakfast. Eunjung wasn't up this early most of the time, so the days when she was and cooked breakfast, Hyomin always made sure to join her roommate. Eunjung knew how to work her way around in the kitchen and sometimes Hyomin wondered why the older girl didn't consider a culinary career instead.

Eunjung had the table already set for the two of them and when she saw Hyomin with the towel around her neck drying the tips of her hair, the older girl smiled and motioned for her friend to sit. She grabbed the plate of pancakes and set it down in the middle of the table in between the butter and syrup.

“Coffee or OJ?” She asked the younger girl.

“Mmm... coffee. I need to be awake for this meeting.” Hyomin replied as she placed the towel on the back of the chair and took a seat.

Eunjung nodded and poured the hot liquid into a mug for her friend. Hyomin usually drank her coffee dark without any sugar added so she simply placed the blue mug on the table next to Hyomin's plate and took a seat across from the comic book artist. Eunjung preferred milk with her pancakes so she had already filled a glass earlier with the cool liquid.

“Why are you up early today?” Hyomin asked the older girl while she served herself some pancakes.

“Because after that call you got yesterday and the sad ramen noodle cup you ate for dinner, I had a feeling something was up. So I thought I could at least feed you a decent meal before the meeting.” Eunjung responded and took a huge bite out of her own stack.

“Well this is really nice of you. Thanks.” The younger girl thanked Eunjung and took a sip of the hot liquid in her mug.

“It's no problem. Also, I have to get to the dojang early today. Donghae and I thought it would be a good idea to teach self defense classes in the mornings. We got a lot of interest and since he's teaching in the afternoon, I'm taking the mornings. He gets the kids, I get the hot soccer moms.” Eunjung chuckled and Hyomin shook her head.

“Only you would see it that way.” Hyomin commented.

Eunjung laughed even more and Hyomin laughed along as well. They ate the rest of their breakfast in silence as both needed to get going and chatter could be left for later on that day. When they finished eating, Eunjung told Hyomin to go finish getting ready and she would wash the dishes. Unlike the younger girl, Eunjung's dojang was only a few blocks from their apartment so she didn't need to leave as early as Hyomin.

Hyomin went back to her room to grab the blue blazer that paired well with her dark blue skinny jeans and the white shirt she was wearing. The day she bought the blue blazer she had also purchased a pair of Dr. Marten's boots that happened to be the same color as her blazer so she decided to wear those for today. It was a casual business attire look and it was really all she needed to wear for this meeting. It was comic books not stocks.

Hyomin grabbed her phone from the night stand and noticed the blue light blinking so she checked her messages to see Jihyun had replied. Seeing as how her friend was probably driving, Hyomin decided she would text Jihyun after the meeting. She placed the phone in her back pocket and headed out of the apartment to drive to Burbank.

“You're early today.” JoKwon commented when Jihyun approached her desk. He happened to be passing by it while he was heading to the studio for a photo shoot that would happen later that day.

“I want to leave early today. I have a lot of things to do.” Jihyun commented as she rounded the desk and placed her bag underneath it.

“Oh? Why is that?” JoKwon asked, being nosy like he always tended to be.

Jihyun sighed and took a seat on her chair then turned her computer on. “My mom dropped a bomb on me yesterday. I don't even know why I said I would do it.”

JoKwon was even more curious now so he took a seat on the edge on Jihyun's desk. “Girl...” He started and looked around making sure no one else was listening. There was no else there at the moment but the two of them anyways. “Did she arrange your marriage or something?”

Jihyun let out a laugh and shook her head. “What? No.”

“Well then what?!”

“Ugh...” Jihyun started and dropped her shoulders and pouted. “I don't think I ever told you about my sister did I?”

“Girl, no. I didn't even know you had one!” JoKwon replied and crossed his legs knowing this would an interesting story.

Jihyun proceeded to tell the stylist about her sister's drug problem and how she ended up abandoning Junhee for drugs not long ago. JoKwon was shocked to learn all this and when Jihyun told him she was taking custody of the baby he jumped off the desk in shock. He just couldn't picture the talented writer as a mom.

“Jihyun...” He started as he composed himself and took a seat on the edge of the desk once again. “Girl, no offense, but there's no way you could handle a baby. Those little things run you wild and crazy. My cousin had a baby two years ago and not only did she get fat, she went crazy. Not literally but you know what I mean. Children are a full time job.”

The writer rolled her eyes at her friend's comment but knew he was telling the truth to a certain extant. “I know taking care of her is going to be hard, but I just can't let CPS give her to some foster family. It wouldn't be right.”

JoKwon placed his right hand over his heart and let out a sigh at the touching action Jihyun was about to undertake. “You have a big heart Jihyun. Oh...now I'm starting to get a maternal instinct.”

Jihyun giggled and lightly slapped the man's arm. “Oh please!”

“Girl, I'm serious!”

They both laughed as the situation seemed to lose it's heaviness from such a serious topic. Jihyun leaned back on her chair and logged into her computer. “I'm going to donate the bed in my guest room to the furniture bank and make that room into Junhee's bedroom. Would you like to go with me to shop for all the things I need for her?”

JoKwon's eyes lit up with excitement at the mentioning of shopping and he stood up once again from Jihyun's desk. “I love shopping! Of course!”

“Thanks Kwon.” Jihyun smiled at him and the stylist clapped his hands in excitement. Their co-workers started walking into the office after this with their boss right behind them. JoKwon said his goodbyes for now and took off towards the studio leaving Jihyun to look up the things she would need to purchase for the baby. She had until the model showed up because she had an interview with her for the article that would go in a future issue.

Hyomin arrived at the DC headquarters with twenty minutes to spare. She was not surprised when Mr. Johns secretary told her that the writers had not arrived yet. Those two always seemed to be late for these type of meetings. The artist was hoping that for once in their lives they would get there in time so that the entire meeting could be over with sooner. She took a seat in the bench located across from the doors to Mr. Johns office and took out her phone from her back pocket to check her social media. Not even five minutes passed when the writers showed up and Hyomin thanked the heavens for their punctuality this one time.

The two men greeted Hyomin with smiles on their faces. They had enjoyed working with the young artist this entire time so seeing her in person after a long time made them genuinely happy. The meeting though was a whole different situation. Aubrey, Mr. Johns' secretary, informed the editor that the writers and artist had arrived and he asked the woman to let them through into his office.

The writers and Hyomin shook hands with Mr. Johns and took a seat in front of the man's desk. Hyomin had been in this office one time before when she had first landed the job and now that she looked around, she noticed it hadn't changed much. Mr. Johns took a seat behind his desk and brought his hands together on top of the table.

“I'm really glad you all made the time to come out here.” Mr. Johns started as he looked at all three people sitting before him. He was about to continue with the rest of his comment but one of the writers cut in before he could continue speaking.

“Let's just cut to the chase shall we. You've clearly told the two of us that you don't like the direction we're taking the story in so what's it going to be?”

“Are you guys canceling the series or are you gonna ask to change the story line?” The other writer followed after the first.

Hyomin noticed how agitated the two were but she did not say anything. Mr. Johns sighed and spun his chair around to stand up. He brought his right hand up to his forehead and let out another sigh. Finally he sat down and looked at the writer's who waited for his answer anxiously.

“Gentlemen, we've discussed this already. The higher ups do not like how the story is progressing and they want me to give you suggestions on how to change it. If we can't come to an agreement then the story will be canceled, plain and simple.” Mr. Johns told them.

“Cancel? But we've worked so hard on it. I've spent countless hours illustrating and inking the drawings. Why can't we work out this problem guys?” Hyomin finally spoke, but not to Mr. Johns, but to the writers.

“We know that Hyo.” The first writer said and the second continued, “But we just can't agree on the issue with the story itself. The changes are ridiculous!”

The writers proceeded to explain to Hyomin what changes the company wanted to make and she was shocked. It would completely deviate the story line and not to mention how she would probably have to redraw everything she had drawn for the next issue. The discussion turned to the writers and Mr. Johns but in the end the only agreement that they could come up with was to add a solution and ending to the current story line; therefore, ending the story completely and future issues being canceled.

There was an air of defeat surrounding the writers and artist when they all walked out of the editor's office. Outside of the building the writers let Hyomin know that they would work on the story line and send it to her when they were finished so she could start drawing the new artwork. Hyomin jumped into her Jeep and slammed her hands on the steering wheel.

Her time working on this comic book had been a blast and a dream come true but now it was ending in a bittersweet way. She knew she had the talent, and most importantly the experience and fame, to land a job on another comic book, but still, she had an emotional connection with this one. Hyomin started her vehicle and took off to head to Eunjung and Donghae's dojang. Maybe there she could punch a sandbag enough times to relieve her current frustration.

“Great interview with Gigi, Jihyun. She seemed to really enjoy your questions and I'm very impressed. I hope to have your article soon.” Soyeon smiled at the writer and gave her wink before turning around and heading back to her office.

Soyeon had been present for the entire photo shoot of one of the biggest models in the world, Gigi Hadid, but what she was most interested in was the interview Jihyun was supposed to have with the model afterwards. Jihyun was smart and creative when it came to her interviews and this was one of the things Soyeon liked about the writer. The head editor of Elle back in New York was always impressed with the articles she would receive from Soyeon that were written by Jihyun.

The editor knew that her other writers would start to get a little jealous of her star writer but Soyeon needed the best and their petty jealousy was the least of her concerns. Jihyun felt a bit of pride after hearing Soyeon's comment and this boosted her confidence. Even though she had prepared for this interview prior to the whole ordeal with Junhee, Jihyun was glad she managed to pull it off and forget about her personal life for a moment.

Before Soyeon could walk too far from the studio, Jihyun chased after her boss and called out to her. Soyeon stopped and turned around with a bit of curiosity in her eyes. “Yes, Jihyun?”

“I wanted to ask if it was okay if I leave a bit early today. I did come in early today but I wanted to make sure it was okay with you.” Jihyun explained and offered her boss a shy smile.

For the first time since she had started working at Elle Magazine, Jihyun saw Soyeon smile a genuine smile towards her. “Of course it's fine Jihyun. Have a good afternoon, I'll see you on Monday.”

“Thank you Ms. Park.” Soyeon nodded at Jihyun's words and turned around to continue walking towards her office. Jihyun grinned and turned back around to go find JoKwon who was most likely finished cleaning up his styling area by now.

“Kwon where are you?” Jihyun asked as she peeked her head into the room where the stylist kept all the clothing and shoes.

“JoKwon told me to tell you that he would be waiting for you by your desk after the interview.” The voice of Choa, one of the hairstylists and make up artists caused Jihyun to jump in shock.

“Choa you scared me.” Jihyun said while placing her hand on her chest and looking at the short blond haired woman. Choa rolled her eyes and walked past Jihyun with some garments she was carrying.

“Yeah, whatever.” Choa commented as she began putting the clothing back on the racks. Jihyun frowned at the woman's comment but decided to ignore it and just go find her friend.

As the blond haired stylist had told her, JoKwon had indeed been waiting for her by her desk. She asked the taller man if he was ready go to leave and JoKwon snapped his fingers, flipped his invisible long hair and twirled around to head towards the exit. Jihyun laughed at her friend's antics and quickly shut off her computer and grabbed her bag to head out with her friend for the day.

Donghae raised an eyebrow at the sight of Hyomin punching away at one of the many heavy sandbags that were hanging from the ceiling in the gym of the dojang. He was preparing for his lessons that would start in about an hour and Eunjung had not mentioned that their friend was there releasing some stress. Donghae grabbed the sack with all the padding used during his lesson and headed back out of the gym area. He dropped the sack in a corner of the lesson room and headed back to the reception area.

Eunjung had her feet resting on the counter and was throwing back a bag of Cheetos into . Donghae stared her down for a second but finally broke her enthrallment with the cheesy snack. “Eunjung!”

“What?!” She yelled back at him finally dropping her legs down to the floor and bringing the bag away from .

“What's up with Hyomin?” He asked and Eunjung smiled while chewing the Cheetos in .

“She felt like beating the crap out of something after her meeting with the big boss down at DC Comics.”

“So that call yesterday was serious?”

“Yup.”

“So...” Donghae let the word linger but when Eunjung didn't respond he followed with the question. “What happened?”

Eunjung leaned back on her chair and placed her feet back on the counter. “They're canceling the comic. She'll be drawing the last pages and then that's it. She's totally bummed and pissed.”

Donghae frowned and shook his head. He knew how much working on that comic meant to the artist. He stood there for a moment and decided to go and talk to his friend give her some words of encouragement. Donghae turned to head back to the gym and yelled at Eunjung as he walked away.

“Get your feet off the counter and clean up! The parents will be dropping the kiddos off soon.”

“Bite me!” Was Eunjung's response and Donghae laughed as he continued walking towards the gym.

Bringing JoKwon shopping for all the necessities she needed for the baby had been a great idea for Jihyun. The man had an impeccable eye for fashion and anything that had to do with styling regardless to what it was for. JoKwon had helped Jihyun pick out the cutest outfits for the baby as well as the toys and crib. They ended up getting more things than Jihyun had planned on buying, but luckily with her job she had more than enough money to pay for everything and still have money left over in her bank account.

The trunk and backseat of her car had been filled with everything she had bought and JoKwon only had the box with the crib and huge diaper bags in his car. By the time the two of them made it back to Jihyun's apartment, the men from the furniture bank had arrived and were waiting on her so that they could take away all the things she didn't need in her guest room anymore. Jihyun took the sheets off the bed and JoKwon quickly emptied the night stand which were the only two items the two men took away.

Once the furniture bank truck had driven away with the items, the two friends quickly started bringing all the bags and items Jihyun had bought for the baby. In no time the two had brought everything up to the apartment and the living room had bags and boxes everywhere.

JoKwon let out a breath and plopped down on one of the stools next to the bar by Jihyun's kitchen. “All that going back and forth made me tired. Goodness, I haven't worked this hard since the last guy I hooked up with.”

Jihyun chuckled at JoKwon's comment and brought the back of her arm to wipe the perspiration off her forehead. “Well, we're not done yet. I want to get the crib in the room first. It's the most important thing. I can put everything else up later.”

“Girl let me get some water first. Jesus.” JoKwon grabbed a random paper Jihyun had left on the counter and started fanning himself. Jihyun motioned for him to grab a bottle of the water from the fridge and he wasted no time in gulping down the cold liquid.

She joined him in the kitchen for a minute to take a few long sips of water herself. Once they felt their thirst get sated, they headed over to the box with the crib and opened it only to find that they had to put it together. JoKwon let out a groan as he looked at the instructions and set the paper down.

“Girl, I can dress you up from head to toe, do your hair and beat that face for the God's but I'm no handy man! You need a lesbian for this.” JoKwon snapped his fingers and stood up to walk away from the parts of the crib and Jihyun.

“JoKwon! Just help me! I'm sure we can figure it out.” Jihyun pleaded with the man but he shook his head.

“Not me girl. How about you just let me go put all the clothes and stuff in the room.” JoKwon crossed his arms and continued to shake his head in defiance.

Jihyun let out a sigh and rolled her eyes at the stylist. He was such a diva at times. She looked down at the parts and the instructions, but just like him, putting stuff like this together wasn't one of her strengths. What am I gonna do? I'd hate to mess it up if I put it together myself...

Jihyun continued to stare at the parts and finally it clicked in her head. She stood up and headed for her bag which she had left on the love seat underneath, and pulled out her phone to call someone. JoKwon raised an eyebrow at the writer as she went down the hallway towards her room and entered it. He couldn't help but to be curious as to who she was calling but just as quickly as she entered the room, she came out of it. The only thing missing on Jihyun were her shoes.

Jihyun hung up the phone and smiled at JoKwon. “I called a friend of mine to come help. I guess we can start putting everything else in the room.”

The stylist clapped his hands together in excitement about not having to worry about the crib anymore. He still was curious as to who Jihyun had called but for once he held back and waited to be surprised whenever this person arrived. The two of them went to work by moving the bags inside the room and arranging all the clothing in the dresser or in the closet. About an hour later there was a knock at the door and JoKwon took off to open the door before Jihyun could react.

He turned the lock on the door and opened it completely to reveal the sight of a woman who was perhaps a few inches taller than Jihyun. She had long dark brown hair, which seemed a bit disheveled, and was wearing a well put together outfit in the stylist's opinion. The blue color of the blazer, jeans and boots complimented well with the white shirt underneath the woman's blazer. The outfit wasn't the thing that made JoKwon smirk though, it was the fact that Jihyun had called the one type of person he had suggested; a lesbian.

“Hyomin?” Jihyun's voice called the woman's name behind JoKwon and Hyomin looked around the man in front of her to spot her friend.

A huge smile suddenly spread across Hyomin's face and she stepped inside the apartment and walked around JoKwon to wrap her arms around Jihyun's waist and pull her best friend into a tight hug. Jihyun wrapped her arms around Hyomin's neck and allowed the taller woman to hug her incredibly close. Despite keeping in contact almost everyday, their busy schedules had kept the two friends from seeing each other in person for more than two months.

Hyomin was glad she had not worked up much of a sweat at the dojang and had freshened up before heading over to see Jihyun. After everything that happened earlier that day, hearing her best friend's voice and learning that she needed her help, had made Hyomin feel a lot better. The thought of seeing Jihyun again after so long excited her. She moved her head slightly to take in the perfume and scent that was Jihyun's and always made Hyomin feel at home.

JoKwon did not let that action pass him by and smirked deviously. Well, well, well, it seems Jihyun has a friend who really really likes her...

The two women finally pulled away from each other and Hyomin took in the sight of her best friend. Jihyun had dyed her hair to a dark yet stunning red since the last time she had seen her, her make up and colored eye contacts accentuated her facial features, and the little black dress Jihyun was wearing accentuated the woman's curves in all the right places. Hyomin couldn't help but to stare at her friend while biting her bottom lip.

Jihyun grinned at Hyomin, noticing that for once she wasn't wearing ripped up jeans, a baggy shirt and those big bulky skateboarding shoes as she was always used to seeing on her. JoKwon cleared his throat to get their attention and it caused the two women to finally look away from each other towards him.

“My bad, I didn't introduce the two of you to each other. Hyomin, this is JoKwon a friend and co-worker, and JoKwon, this is Hyomin, my best friend.” Jihyun smiled proudly as she introduced the two of them to each other.

“Nice to meet you.” Hyomin extended her hand for JoKwon to shake and he gladly accepted.

“Likewise.” He smirked and turned to look at Jihyun.

“So what do you need my help with Qri?” Hyomin asked her friend and Jihyun motioned to the parts of the crib and the box next to them. JoKwon raised an eyebrow at the nickname but didn't say anything.

Hyomin turned to look at the box with the picture of the crib on it and her eyes went wide. She turned to Jihyun with a questioning look. “Qri...”

Jihyun caught on to what Hyomin was most likely thinking and shook her head. “No, I'm not pregnant!”

“But...”

“It's my niece. I've agreed to take custody of her after my sister abandoned her to fall back into drugs.” Jihyun explained and Hyomin nodded her head.

“I see...”

JoKwon continued to study the interaction between the two friends and grinned deviously. Oh! This is so juicy. Yas!