"How long will you be away?" Yeri asked as she pouted and folded her arms, showing her displeasure as Irene chuckled and her head.

"It'll only be four days. I promise to get you lots of souvenirs from there." Irene replied with a giggle.

"That's right. Your Irene-unnie will get you anything you want from there." Taeyeon little sister as she continued to watch the interaction between the both of them, while sitting at the couch.

"With Taeyeon-unnie's money since I'm not financially stable at the moment. I'm still a student." Irene rebutted while sticking out her tongue at her sister.

"I'm going to miss you guys so much. You're not around, Taeyeon-unnie is not around. Even Fany-unnie won't be around." Yeri continued to pout.

Taeyeon's attention perked up the moment she heard Yeri's comments as she sat up straight. Biting her lips, she contemplated if she should ask further but Irene's presence made it hard for her to proceed.

"You seemed very close to this Fany-unnie. She's a doctor here, right? If I remember correctly." Irene frowned a little, as if trying to remember.

"That's right. She's a doctor here. But the most caring, energetic and bubbly doctor among all." Yeri continued her praises as she told Irene about how Tiffany would spend time with her whenever she's free and sharing her knowledge about whatever that she knew of. "We would sometimes watch a movie together especially about disney princesses and superheroes."

"Disney princesses and superheroes? They don't go well together. One is more to the fairtytale kind of romance and the other is more of the action-themed kind storyline." Taeyeon commented as Yeri laughed while nodding her head in agreement. "Who does Tiffany like as her superhero? Ironman?"

"Omo... how did you know, Taeyeon-unnie?" Yeri covered in surprise.

Before Taeyeon could reply, Irene told her that Ironman was also Taeyeon's favourite superhero character. Irene then turned to look at Taeyeon with a knowing smirk on her expression.

"Mwo? Wae? Why are you looking at me like that?" Taeyeon asked while trying to maintain a poker face.

"Nothing." Irene replied quickly before she turned to face Yeri. "Don't be naughty when we are not around, okay. Eat your medication regularly. Don't skip your meals."

"Yes, Omma." Yeri answered in a teasing tone of voice before bowing her head a little. "I promise to be a good girl."

Yeri raised up her palm as if she was making a pledge before she and Irene started to laugh out loud while Taeyeon just rolled her eyes at both girls. Taeyeon and Irene accompanied Yeri for another hour before they left the hospital. Their flight would be in a few hours time so they needed to proceed straight to the airport.

"I'm so excited to be able to meet Grand-Aunt. I only remembered Omma mentioning about her two or three times before but she seems like a nice lady." Irene exclaimed as Taeyeon nodded her head. "If only Heechul Oppa could join us, it would have been more fun. We never travelled together anymore ever since..."

Irene paused her words as she looked out the window solemnly. Taeyeon knew why her sister couldn't complete her sentence. Even though Irene's condition was improving everyday, she knew that her sister missed her parents a lot.

"Oppa needs to look after the company since I'm not around and it's quite busy at the office. Maybe one day, we can plan a trip together. When it's not so busy." Taeyeon tried to console her sister who just gave her a small smile. "Yoona, who went to fetch Sooyoung and Mr Im?"

"I asked Minho and Taemin to fetch them. From the gps, it seemed that they are already at the airport." Yoona replied while concentrating on the road. Seulgi , who was seated beside her at the passenger seat, just kept her silence.

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

"Hey, are you okay?"

Yoona asked Seulgi before taking a seat opposite of her. Seulgi had a dumbstruck expression on her face as she looked around the plane.

"She owns a private plane?" Seulgi asked Yoona, the moment their eyes met as Yoona nodded her head. "And it also has a bedroom?"

"Taeyeon-unnie gets jet lagged easily but she rarely uses the plane because she didn't see the need to travel much. Her Appa bought it for her when she was studying in London so that she could travel home easily when she wanted to."

Seulgi nodded her head eagerly while Yoona just chuckled. The two girls were seated at the front of the plane while Sooyoung and Mr Im took their seats at the centre of the plane where there was a couch in front of the TV and mini bar. Taeyeon and Irene had disappeared behind a closed door where the bedroom was.

"If any of you are tired and need to lie down, you can just recline the seats to a resting position." Sooyoung suddenly spoke as Yoona and Seulgi could only nod their heads.

"You should make yourself comfortable, Seulgi. The journey will take almost 12hrs from now on." Yoona informed Seulgi who kept nodding her head absentmindedly.

"What are you planning to do, Yoona-unnie? Sleep?" Seulgi asked as Yoona replied that she might watch a movie first before deciding on what to do next.

Before Seulgi could ask another question, the pilot's voice echoed through the plane. Besides the 6 of them, there were two pilots and two air stewardess who would be flying with them. The pilot introduced himself before introducing his co-pilot and the two ladies. He then informed everyone that they were getting ready to take off.

The two air stewardess came out from their area and went down the alley to make sure that everyone was seated properly with their seatbelts on. Once everything was in order, the two air stewardess went back to their own seats.

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

Taeyeon really looked pissed off at the moment as Seulgi bit her lips, looking a little worried. Yoona nudged her by the shoulder to grab her attention.

"Why do you keep looking at Taeyeon-unnie?"

Seulgi leaned closer to Yoona and whispered to her. "Did something happen in the plane that I was not aware of? Why does Taeyeon-unnie looked so pissed off?"

Yoona turned to look at Taeyeon and noticed that her boss had put on her emotionless expression. She giggled a little before turning to face Seulgi. "She's not pissed off. That is just her jetlag look. Taeyeon-unnie doesn't really like long flights. She'll be fine in a while so don't worry. We should hurry and push the luggages to the waiting car."

As they pushed the carts filled with luggages to follow their bosses who had walked ahead of them, the two girls noticed a limousine waiting for them. Once all the luggages were placed at the boot, the two girls joined everyone who had waited for them inside the limo.

The journey took almost two hours before the two cars stopped in front of a huge mansion. Everyone exited from the car before someone walked up to them and started to shake Mr Im's hand.

"Welcome, Mr Im and also to everyone else. We've been expecting you. By the way, I'm Robert and I'm the appointed lawyer for Mdm Kim." 

The tall guy went around to shake everyone's hands before gesturing them to follow him into the house. Two big-sized guys were seen standing at the main door on each side. The moment they stepped in, everyone had their eyes wandering around. They were amazed by the size of the mansion itself as they continued their way towards the living room. Robert then gestured to everyone to take a seat and called someone over to serve the refreshments. 

"Mdm Kim will be coming down soon so have some drinks and snacks first while waiting."

Taeyeon's eyes continued to wander around the house, admiring the whole place until her eyes stopped at a huge family portrait hanging on one of the walls which was a bit secluded. She immediately stood up, causing everyone to look at her as Taeyeon pointed towards the portrait. Sooyoung's eyes followed the direction of Taeyeon's finger and when she realised what Taeyeon was looking at, she stood up too.

"Oh... That's Mdm Kim's daughter family portrait. Sadly, Mdm Kim lost her daughter in a fatal accident. The three person at the back are Mdm Kim's grandchildren. Macy, Lester and...."

Before Robert could finish his sentence, footsteps were heard coming down the staircase as everyone's attention turned towards the same direction. An elder lady was making her way down towards the living room with a man who was holding on to her arm.

"I'm so sorry for making all of you wait." The elderly lady stopped just in front of Mr Im who bowed his head to her. "It's been a long time since I last saw you, Kiyoung. How have you been?"

Before Mr Im could reply, a loud gasping sound was heard as everyone turned to look at the person who had just walked down the staircase.

"OH MY GOSH!!! What are YOU doing here?"

"Tiffany Hwang. Is that the way you should welcome your guests?" Mdm Kim turned to look at her granddaughter while shaking her head.

"It's not that, grandma. But Taeyeon..."

The moment Tiffany mentioned Taeyeon's name, everyone's attention diverted to the owner as Taeyeon bowed her head a little and smiled.

"Hi. I didn't expect to see you here too."

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

A knock was heard on her door as Taeyeon gave the permission for the person to enter. She observed as her tall friend made her way into her room and took a seat at the couch while she leaned back against the bed's headrest.

"What's up?" Taeyeon asked as Sooyoung arched her eyebrow and looked at her with a confused expression.

"Are you sure you're the one who should be asking me that question?" Sooyoung replied as she looked through the snacks that was on the coffee table in front of her.

"I don't know. You're the one who came into my room so I guessed you have something to say or ask?" Taeyeon maintained her poker expression as Sooyoung continued to eye her. Seeing that Sooyoung was not going to say anything, Taeyeon continued to play games on her phone.

"Are you seriously going to pretend that everything is okay? So now what? We'll just return to Seoul as if nothing has happened?" Sooyoung's questions caused Taeyeon to look up and the only reply that Taeyeon gave her was a shrug of her shoulder. "Kim... Tae... Yeon.... I'm serious."

"And so am I. What were you expecting me to say anyway? You clearly heard what Tiffany said at lunch earlier, right? That she's against the arranged marriage. So what do you expect me to do?" Taeyeon gave Sooyoung a fierce glare.

"And you were also there when her grandmother said that the marriage will go on, with or without her consent." Sooyoung stared back at Taeyeon, showing her that she's not afraid of her glare.

Taeyeon finally let out a sigh as she swiped her hair to the back while shaking her head.

"It's not fair to her, Soo. She's already in a relationship." 

"But you like her, right? Don't try to deny it, anyway. The moment you insisted to go to that musical, I knew that there's something about Tiffany that made you act that way." Sooyoung replied as Taeyeon climbed down from her bed and took a seat beside her.

"I admit. I do like her. Just like how I like you or Yoona or other girls that I've met before but just because I like her, doesn't mean I have to force her to be married to me. Isn't marriage about love? There's someone else that she loves at the moment." Taeyeon let out another heavy sigh.

"Just because she's in a relationship, doesn't mean she loves that guy." Sooyoung's reply caused Taeyeon to look at her with a confused expression. "Just like me. I've been in so many relationships before but there's no one that I could confident say that I'm really in love with them."

"She's not like you, Soo. I don't think she's the player kind though." Taeyeon replied with a serious expression while Sooyoung chuckled.

"I'm not implying that she's a player, pabo. I'm saying that some people get into a relationship to get to know the other person better. It doesn't necessary mean that they love each other. This is why I keep asking you to go into relationships. When was the last time you dated anyway?" Sooyoung questioned Taeyeon as both of them frowned. "Wait a minute. Were you ever in a relationship, Tae?"

"Dated? Yes. I did went out with a number of girls before but it was never more than once. But relationship... I don't think I had one before. Although I had a lot of fake rumours spreading around about me being a player, I've never actually been in a relationship with anyone." Taeyeon chuckled at her own words while Sooyoung just shook her head. "Surprisingly, I was known as a player when I'm not. But, I've never heard anyone called you a player except for Sica."

"That is because I treated the girls well." Sooyoung smirked at her remarks while Taeyeon just rolled her eyes. "Anyway, what do you plan to do now? Especially after what happened during lunch earlier."

(Flashbacks)

"With who?" Tiffany had a totally surprised expression after her grandmother informed her that Taeyeon and her other guests were there because of an arranged marriage.

"Who else in our family is yet to be married? With you, of course."  Mdm Kim laughed at her own remarks but she was taken aback when Tiffany slammed her hands on the table and stood up.

"What?!!! I disagree." Tiffany folded her arms across her chest and looked around before her eyes stopped at Taeyeon. "What makes you think I'm going to accept this arrangement?"

"Tiffany Hwang. This is not your place and time to give your opinion. Sit down and behave. You were never taught to be rude." Mdm Kim's loud and stern voice echoed throughout the dining area as Taeyeon noticed the teary eyes of Tiffany who had turned to look at her father. He was the man who had walked down the stairs with Mdm Kim earlier.

"Daddy? Are you just going to sit there in silence without standing up for me?"

"Tiffany, dear. Listen to your grandmother. Sit down first and listen to everything that she's going to explain. There's a reason for everything that we do and it's always with your benefit at heart." Mr Hwang gave his daughter an apologetic look, hoping that her daughter would at least listen to him.

"My decision is final. This marriage will proceed, even without your consent." Grand-Aunt had a stern expression as she looked at Tiffany.

"Arrrghh..." Tiffany let out an angry sigh before turning and walked away from table.

Everyone was stunned with her reaction but nobody tried to stop her. In the end, Taeyeon decided to postpone the discussion and the whole group went back to their accomodation that had been prepared by Mr Im.

(End of flashbacks)

"There's two things on my mind right now." Taeyeon paused as she lifted up two of her fingers. "Firstly, why was Grand-Aunt adamant about the marriage to the point that she didn't need Tiffany's consent? Before we left the house, she mentioned that it was a promise made 20yrs ago between her and my dad. What actually transpired during that time for this arrangement to be made? Don't they realise or care that feelings are going to be involved? Secondly, Tiffany. I need to know how is she feeling right now. She must be really hurt about the whole situation. From the moment I left that house until now, I've been regretting my decision of not going after Tiffany when she left the table right after Grand-Aunt said that her decision was final. I should have gone up to her to hear her thoughts about this whole matter."

"You did leave your number behind with her father, right?" Sooyoung said as Taeyeon nodded her head

"I did ask him to pass it to Tiffany but I have yet to receive any calls or messages from her." Taeyeon let out another heavy sigh.

Suddenly, her phone rang as Taeyeon made a dash towards her bed to pick it up but when she saw the called ID, she threw back the phone onto the bed.

"Wae? Who called?" Sooyoung asked as Taeyeon mouthed out the word 'Oppa' while the phone continued ringing. "I suggest you better pick it up."

Taeyeon let out a heavy sigh before she finally answered the call.

"Kim Taeyeon!! Where are you? Where is Irene?"

"Irene's with me. We're in LA."

"In LA? Why the hell are you there? Which part of LA? Why didn't you inform me about it?"

"I needed a break from work and it's also Irene's semester break. So I brought her along for a short trip. Don't worry, we'll be back in three days time. Yoona and Seulgi are with us too."

"You have a lot of explanation to make to me when you come back, young lady. You do know that you are suppose to inform me everytime you're going abroad, right?" Heechul sounded really angry over the phone.

"I'm not a kid anymore, Oppa. I can handle my own stuff and I can take care of myself well enough. I've been looking after Irene too, all these while so you don't have to tell me what to do. Her safety is important to me as well."

With that, Taeyeon threw her phone acrossed the room, smashing it into pieces as she let out a growl before letting herself dropped onto the bed. Silence filled the room before someone knocked the door. Sooyoung opened it to allow Seulgi and Irene to enter.

"Is everything okay, Unnie?" Irene asked with a worried look as she kept looking at both Taeyeon and Sooyoung before her eyes went to the broken phone on the floor. "Isn't that...?"

"Your sister lost a game and got angry." Sooyoung chuckled nervously before ushering Irene and Seulgi out of the room, assuring them that it's best to leave Taeyeon alone at the moment. Before Sooyoung closed the door behind her, she managed to say something to Taeyeon. "I guess there's no way Tiffany could contact you now."

Meanwhile, a girl was seated quietly by her bedroom window staring at the night sky. She had been in that position ever since she excused herself from the family lunch, locking herself up. She didn't even went down to send Taeyeon off when the whole group left the mansion.

She heard the sound of keys and the twisting of the doorknob to her bedroom but she continued to stay by the window. Tiffany knew it was her older sister since she was the only one who has the keys to her room. Even though Tiffany didn't feel like talking or seeing anyone at the moment, her sister was always an exceptional. Especially after their mother passed away.

"Hey... I heard what happened during lunch earlier." Her sister took a seat opposite her and gave Tiffany a warm smile. Tiffany's sister was away at work when they had their guests over. "Just checking to see how you're feeling. Need a listening ear?"

Tiffany let out a heavy sigh before turning her gaze towards her sister slowly.

"I.... I don't actually know what to feel about the whole situation."

Tiffany's reply caused her sister to raise her eyebrow.

"Wow... I was actually expecting you to throw a tantrum and voicing out your firm stand in opposing the marriage. What's with this lacklustre kind of response?" Macy questioned her sister who let out another sigh.

"You know that I love Grandma a lot, right? I would never have the heart to go against her. But this thing... It's just ridiculous." 

"By the way, I also heard you knew the girl. Someone you had met in Seoul?" Macy asked her sister to reconfirm.

Tiffany nodded her head before she started telling her sister about everything that she knew of Taeyeon. She even googled Taeyeon's name and showed some articles about Taeyeon to her sister.

"See these? There's so many articles about her being caught going out with different girls on different occasions. People are saying that she's a player." Tiffany ended her explanation as her sister had a small frown on her expression.

"Caught with different girls on different occasion doesn't actually means anything. She's a girl so there's nothing wrong with hanging out with other girls. Anyway, even if it's true, it's just dating and it's not as if she's cheating on them since she's not in a relationship with anyone, right?" Her sister threw her a question which Tiffany slowly nodded her head. "You mentioned that her family deals mainly with money lending business and some other small businesses."

"Loansharks." Tiffany intercepted her sister's statement, making her sister chuckled.

"Loansharks are illegal money lenders, my baby sis. I don't think it's appropriate to use that term on someone who is doing it legally. Furthermore, didn't you mentioned that she had contributed financially to the hospital where you are working at?" 

Tiffany pouted at her sister's question before letting out a sigh and folding her arms across her chest.

"This Taeyeon doesn't seem as bad as what you're trying to portray her. Grandma showed me a picture of Taeyeon earlier. Quite good-looking. Her sharp features, especially her jawline, makes her look handsome yet pretty at the same time. I knew you've dated girls back during your schooling times so I don't think you have a problem with dating her. The question now is, why not?"

"Don't you think this whole thing is absurd? Keeping a promise that was made 20yrs ago? Daddy didn't even stand up for me."

"In the first place, did you give Grandma and Daddy a chance to explain themselves?" Macy asked Tiffany who shook her head. "Don't you want to know why they had to make this arrangement? By the way, Daddy asked me to pass this to you."

Macy took out a small piece of paper that was neatly folded and handed it to Tiffany. Unfolding it quickly, Tiffany's eyes widened when she read the content.

Hi Tiffany,

I apologised for everything that you've heard so far. I know that this is unfair to you since you're already attached but I hope that you could at least give me a chance to explain. Below is my contact number. Thanks.

Taeyeon.

"You're attached? Since when?" Macy looked at Tiffany who had a silly grin on her face, showing the guilty expression. "So, is that why you don't agree....?"

Before Macy could finish her sentence, Tiffany intercepted her.

"No. It's not because of him. It's just the idea of being in an arranged marriage. I.. I feel forced." Tiffany let out a heavy sigh as she looked out the window. "I've always dreamt of being married to someone whom I would fall in love with. Someone I'm willing to spend my whole life with."