A knock was heard as Tiffany turned to look at her office door. 

"Can I come in? Are you busy?" Sooyoung was grinning cheekily with just her head appearing from the side of the door.

"No." Tiffany replied as Sooyoung looked dejected and apologised before turning her head. "Wait, wait.. I meant that I'm not busy. Of course, you can come in."

Tiffany abruptly stood up from her table and gestured for Sooyoung to have a seat in front of her. Both of them suddenly became awkward as they took their seats.

"Hhhmmmm... so... when did you came back to Seoul?" Sooyoung chuckled after asking that question as she tried to hide her nervousness.

"Are you really going to ask me that after taking the effort to come to my office?" Tiffany replied as Sooyoung looked guilty. "I arrived yesterday so stop beating around the bush and come straight to the point."

"Okay, fine. Taeyeon asked me to check with you if it's possible to arrange a meet up." Sooyoung chuckled again as Tiffany folded her arms and leaned back into her chair. "But, but.. But if you're not fine with it, then it's okay."

"Why are you asking me on her behalf? Is it because our precious Ms Kim Taeyeon is too busy to even make time to ask me herself? Asking someone for a meet up through a third party doesn't sound sincere enough for me to even consider. Especially after asking me to give her a call but her line is not even connected. I feel like a fool for thinking that she is showing a little concern about what is going on." Tiffany started to express her frustration as Sooyoung smiled a little.

"So you really did try to call her back?" Sooyoung asked, sounding a little excited which caused Tiffany to frown. "I mean.. I can understand your frustration but honestly, it's really not Taeyeon's fault."

"You better have good reasons if you want to defend that arrogant friend of yours."

"I do. As a matter of fact, I have all the explanation for Taeyeon's actions. Firstly, she was really concern about you after the lunch that we had at your grandmother's place. She regretted for not going after you to talk about the matter after you left the table, which is why she took the effort to at least gave you her number before we left that day. But.. the reason as to why her line was not connected was because her phone was smashed to pieces when she threw it against the wall on the same day." Sooyoung stopped for a minute as she noticed a deep frown on Tiffany's face who didn't seem to believe her. "She got angry by a phone call from her brother which triggered her to flung the phone away subconsciously."

"Is there a problem between her and her brother? She seemed to be always angry or frustrated when there's matters concerning her brother." Tiffany asked as Sooyoung let out a heavy sigh.

"Their relationship is something that is hard to explain or understand. Anyway, the second reason as to why she's not here on her own to speak to you is also because of her brother. Taeyeon is currently grounded."

"Grounded? As in she's not allowed to go anywhere?" Tiffany questioned Sooyoung's statement.

"Yes. Except to work. Even though that's basically what Taeyeon does anyway. So it's just work, home for the next one month. Hhhmmm.. Three weeks actually because she has been grounded since last week from the time we came back to Seoul from LA." Sooyoung explained further.

"But Taeyeon is an adult. Why is she being treated like a kid and why is she even grounded for?" Tiffany sounded like she was in disbelief with everything that she had heard so far.

"She's grounded for going to LA without informing her brother which is something that she's not allowed to do so. And yes, Taeyeon is an adult who can actually take care of herself well but like I said earlier, it's something that is hard to explain or understand." Sooyoung nodded her head as if she was agreeing with herself at her own statement.

"Weird." Tiffany said before she let out a sigh before letting her arms down. "When and how is she planning to meet up with me if she is grounded?"

"You don't have to worry about that. You just need to agree to meeting her up." Sooyoung had a wide smile on her face while she waited for Tiffany's reply.

"I will agree on one condition. You need to be around during the meet up." 

"Don't worry. Even if you didn't request for that, I will still be around. Taeyeon cannot function well without me by her side." Sooyoung replied as she gave Tiffany a thumbs up and was about to stand up when Tiffany stopped her.

"Can I ask you a question before you go out?" Tiffany waited for Sooyoung's nod before continuing. "Is Taeyeon into girls?"

*************************** 

"Yah, Kang Seulgi. Stop looking at them as if you're going to beat them up." Irene whispered to the girl beside her who was looking at a group of boys who was obviously trying to get Irene's attention.

"That's what I plan to do, Ms Kim. If they try to get near to you." Seulgri replied with gritted teeth.

"Are you crazy? We're still in school." Irene slapped the girl slightly at her shoulder as Seulgi turned to look at her with a mischievious smile.

"You mean if we're not in school, I can beat them up?"

Irene widened her eyes and showed a fist at the girl who burst out laughing.

"You're so cute. No wonder the guys like to tease you. Your reactions are so adorable." Seulgi commented before she covered as if she had said those words without the intention of letting Irene hear it. "I mean.. I'm soo..sorry, Ms Kim. I didn't mean to be so informal with you."

"Aisshhh... How many times do I need to remind you to stop being so formal with me? I'm only a few years older than you." Irene let out a frustrated sigh. "Furthermore, I don't like it if others find out that you're my bodyguard. I just want us to behave like friends."

"Friends?" Seulgi repeated Irene's word with caution. "But I'm working for you. I get paid to protect you. It's my job."

"Arrghhh... why are you so rigid?" Irene rolled her eyes before she stood up and started to walk away.

"Ms Kim... Ms Kim... Irene!!" Seulgi started to panic as she quickly stoood up to chase after Irene, who had disappeared around the corner. "Oh no, where did she go?"

Seulgi fumbled with her phone as she tried to call Irene who didn't answer her call.. She was about to call again when a message came in from Irene, informing her that she had went to the Ladies. Seulgi let out out a relief sigh before making her way to the Ladies which was a short distance away.

Meanwhile, Irene was about to exit from her cubicle when she heard someone mentioning her name from outside. A group of girls was talking about her and Seulgi.

"Did you notice the girl that always follow Irene around?"

"U mean Seulgi, that cute student from the physical education school? Wae?"

"Aren't you curious about the two of them? Irene is a music student while Seulgi is from another department. When did both of them even get to know each other? From what I know, Irene doesn't even mingle with others. If you watch them closely, they don't even behave like friends. It's like they are so formal with each other."

"Maybe because Irene is older than Seulgi even though they are in the same year. But then again, come to think of it, their relationship does seem weird. Do you think Irene is bullying Seulgi? Because it does look like Seulgi is being ordered around by her."

"I've never actually liked that Irene anyway. Just because she comes from a rich family, there's no need for her to act so snobbish as if she can't be friends with any of us. If Irene is really bullying Seulgi, we should report the matter."

Irene who had been listening quietly inside, could not take it anymore and decided to come out from the cubicle. At the same time, Seulgi walked into the toilet.

"Hey Irene, why are you taking so long? I'm hungry. Palli...You promised to treat me to the donkatsu." Seulgi gave a bright smile to Irene who looked suprised at first but quickly hid her expression and nodded her head.

"I'll be right out. 5 more minutes." Irene replied as she rushed to an empty basin to wash her hands.

All these while, Irene noticed that the four girls who were talking about her earlier, stood at a corner and pretended as if they were busy touching up their make-ups. Irene hid her smile as she wiped her hands dry and walked out from the toilet. Before the toilet door closed tight, she managed to hear the panicky remarks of the girls inside who were embarassed for what happened.

Seulgi was leaning against the wall when Irene walked up to her with a huge smile. From the looks of each other, they knew that both of them heard the conversation among the girls and both of them ended up laughing out loud.

"Yah, I almost thought you were planning to scold me when you shouted my name when you entered the toilet." Irene said as she smacked Seulgi shoulder's lightly.

"I wanted to actually, since you just left me behind and made me worried but when I saw your shocked expression, I almost burst out laughing." Seulgi giggled again when she's reminded of the incident earlier.

"So you heard the conversation, I guess?" Irene asked to confirm her doubts as Seulgi nodded her head. "Thanks anyway. I was actually pissed off when I heard them accusing me of bullying you. I'm not, right?"

Irene sounded a little unsure herself and was surprised when Seulgi laughed out loud. 

"Of course not. No one can bully me and I will make sure that no one bullies you. Because you are my friend." Seulgi gave a wide smile to Irene and showed her a thumbs up as Irene nodded her head while smiling cheerfully.

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

"Mianhae, ahjussi. Please let me go. Please... Why are you doing this to me? I don't know what you're talking about. Ahjussi, please.. I'm just 9 years old. I'm too young to die."

Taeyeon jerked out of bed immediately as she held her heart while breathing hard. Cold sweat could be seen on her forehead as she turned to her side to reach out for the medication on her side bed.

"Taeyeon, have you been taking your medications regularly?"

Grand-Aunt voice echoed in her head as Taeyeon let out a sigh before closing her eyes momentarily, after taking her medication. Ever since she came back from LA, Taeyeon had not gotten a proper rest. With all the new information that she got after meeting up with her Grand-Aunt and the additional nagging from her Oppa plus the so-called punishment given by him, had made Taeyeon felt suffocated at the moment.

It's not that she was scared of her Oppa or diligently following his instruction of not being allowed to go anywhere for one month. It's just that Taeyeon was emotionally drained. The nightmares were coming back. It's not that it was ever gone from her head but recently, the nightmare had became so vivid that Taeyeon felt as if it was just yesterday that the traumatic incident had happened.

"Should I inform Unnie about this?" Taeyeon was conversing with herself as she shook her head. "Andwae, andwae.. Unnie will just end up making a fuss about it and sent me to Doctor Ahn. This is not the right time to see both of them. There's so much things going on at the moment."

The sound of her phone distracted her thoughts as she read the incoming message.

We are on our way to your house. - Sooyoung

"We?" Taeyeon frowned as she tried to figure out who was Sooyoung referring to before her eyes changed."Is she bringing her Unnie here? What if Sooyoung had told her about the meeting with Grand-Aunt and about how Grand-Aunt knew of my condition? What if Unnie is here to check on me? Aishhh... that Choi Sooyoung."

Taeyeon continued to grumble on her own as she squirmed around on the bed while thinking about being scolded by Sooyoung's sister.

Meanwhile, Sooyoung and Tiffany were chatting about random stuff as they get to know more of each other in the car. They had left the hospital about an hour ago, after Tiffany was done with her night shift. Even though Sooyoung had suggested for them to go to Taeyeon's house on another day, Tiffany declined her suggestion. Sooyoung was worried that Tiffany might be tired but Tiffany said that since Sooyoung had came to her office that morning to tell her about the whole situation, her tiredness had disappeared.

"Wow, you're really very energetic. I didn't even see you yawning once ever since we got into the car." Sooyoung commented when the car stopped at the red light as she took out her phone to quickly type a message. "Did you manage to get any rest last night? I knew from stories by my Unnie that doctors on night shift always had to do their rounds every one or two hours to check on the patients."

"I did manage to get quick naps in between. Luckily, this month I'm not rostered to be on standby for the emergency room. It's more chaotic there." Tiffany replied as Sooyoung nodded her head to show that she understood. "But do you really think that sleep is what I need right now? Ever since that meet up at my Grandma's place and coming back here, I've not really gotten a good night rest. My mind is more chaotic right now then the emergency room."

Sooyoung burst out laughing when Tiffany made that comparison before she focused on the road since the traffic has started moving. 

"I left Taeyeon a message. Hopefully she's fully awake."

"She's a heavy sleeper?" Tiffany asked, trying to control herself from being too curious.

"The opposite actually. She's the type that can't fall asleep easily at night so she will be lethargic once the sun is out." Sooyoung let out a heavy sigh with an expression that showed her concern.

"Why is she having trouble sleeping?" Tiffany immediately asked but Sooyoung remained quiet and pretended that she was focusing on her driving. "I'm trying to get to know Taeyeon better, so I really need your help in this. Because she really looked unapproachable."

"Can I ask you something? Did you talk to your Grandma after we left? As in about the whole matter?" Sooyoung glanced a moment to look at Tiffany's expression and noticed the girl staring blankly ahead.

"I did. I asked her why she had never told me about this before, why she made this kind of arrangement without even caring about my feelings and who else in the family knows about this." Tiffany poured out her frustation before letting out a sigh. 

"And? Did you get your answers?"

"Sort of but I still don't understand. Grandma said that it was an arrangement that was done so many years ago. She even said that I had met with Taeyeon's parents before, especially her father. But I couldn't really remember it that well. Grandma said that it was probably because Taeyeon's father stopped coming to visit after I went to high school. Grandma said that I used to ask Taeyeon's father to bring Taeyeon along so that I can meet her. Grandma said that I was always excited to hear stories about Taeyeon but we never met." Tiffany shook her head with a frown as if trying to remember those moments. "But I told Grandma that I was young at that time. Maybe a lot of things excites me as a kid but it's not fair to assume that I would agree to marriage just because of that."

"But did Grandma really explained the reason as to why this arranged marriage had to happen? Was there anything else she said, something about your family history or stuff like that?" Sooyoung tried to probe to see how much did Tiffany really know about the whole situation.

"She did mention that the marriage was to protect the family and I have no say in that matter. When I heard her saying that sentence, I was so pissed off that I just left the discussion and went back to my room. We ended up not talking to each other until I flew back to Seoul. I've been contemplating to actually talk to Taeyeon so I tried to call her when I got back to Seoul but obviously, I couldn't reached her." 

"I see. Anyway, you might want to prepare yourself to be pissed off again because I'm not sure if Taeyeon would actually opened up to you about everything. She's a very closed person. But she's actually nice, caring and understanding."

"I guess only to you and whomever she's close to." Tiffany seemed to have doubts as she shook her head again.

"Maybe soon, you'll be the closest person to her. Who knows." Sooyoung grinned cheekily while Tiffany just rolled her eyes.

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

"Why are you making it sound as if I was the one who asked for the arranged marriage? I'm also a victim in this." Taeyeon stood up from the couch and threw up her hand as a sign of frustration before letting out a heavy sigh. "It's obvious that you don't know anything about your own family background and you should be thankful for that. Because you could grow up in that state of being oblivious."

"And you think I like being oblivious?" It was Tiffany's turn to stand up as she raised her voice. "I would rather know what is going on around me while I grew up rather than finding out that I'm being part of an arranged marriage with a snobbish, rude and stubborn person."

"Snobbish, rude and stubborn?" Taeyeon's voice raised a level higher than Tiffany's. "You don't even know me that well."

Before Tiffany could reply, Sooyoung appeared in between them and asked them both to keep quiet.

"Seriously... Both of you. That's enough." Sooyoung said with a stern expression as she gestured to Taeyeon to sit down. "Kim Taeyeon, this kind of behaviour is unacceptable. And Tiffany, I believe you would agree with me that your words are unreasonable too."

Tiffany ended up sitting down back on the couch as she folded her arms across her chest. Both Taeyeon and her were avoiding each other's eye contact as Sooyoung let out a sigh.

(Flashbacks)

"We are here." Sooyoung said after she had parked her car and switched off the engine.

"This is her house? Her own house?" Tiffany asked as she looked around the garage while Sooyoung just nodded her head. "How many cars does she own?" 

"4. Two personal cars which she rarely used, another car for her to use to work and one more for the boys to use." 

"The boys?" Tiffany looked confused before Sooyoung mentioned about Taeyeon's bodyguards. "Why would she need a different car for them?"

"Sometimes there are occasions where Taeyeon needed all her bodyguards to be around, so along with Yoona, one car is not enough. Anyway, it's easier for the boys to move around quickly whenever Taeyeon needed them to be on standby for emergencies." 

"Just like that time, when they brought Taeyeon to the hospital after she got hurt in the fight at the pub. I was totally taken aback when they appeared at the hospital like hooligans." Tiffany shuddered a little as if she was still shaken with that encounter.

"Hooligans? Those boys are very innocent. They are like puppies if you get to know them. But don't ever try to mess with them. They are all black belt holders." Sooyoung chuckled at her own explanation. "Let's go. We can enter from the side door which will lead to the kitchen on the 1st floor."

Both of them made their way up as Tiffany continued to look around while walking behind Sooyoung. They walked past the kitchen area and she almost bumped into the tall girl who had suddenly stopped walking.

"Yah Kim Taeyeon!!! Are you still sleeping?"

Tiffany peered over Sooyoung's shoulders, expecting Taeyeon to be in front of them but all she saw was empty couches as Sooyoung continued walking before sitting down on one of it. Sooyoung gestured to Tiffany to sit down beside her as Tifany realised that they were in the living room.

Tiffany was about to ask Sooyoung about Taeyeon's whereabouts when she heard a door opening upstairs and footsteps walking down from the stairs behind them.

"Yah, do you always have to shout for me every time you come? You could have just gone up to my room to look for me." Taeyeon started to grumble.

"How would I know if you are decently dressed in there? You like to sleep ." Sooyoung replied before laughing out loud when she noticed the surprise look on Tiffany's face.

"I don't sleep....." Taeyeon's words trailed on as she realised that there was someone else in the living room. Someone that she didn't expect at all. ".... ."

"Why are you still standing there?" Sooyoung asked when she noticed that Taeyeon had stopped at the last few steps of the stairs. "Tiffany's here."

"I can see that." Taeyeon replied with a straight face as she moved towards the other couch that was empty and took a seat without saying anything else.

"So?" Sooyoung looked confused when Taeyeon continued to be silent after 5mins. "I thought you said that you needed to meet her. I didn't bring her here for you to just stare at her."

"I know what I said but I don't remember suggesting the meet up to be at my place." Taeyeon maintained her poker face.

By now, Tiffany was already pissed off with Taeyeon's attitude and she couldn't take it that Taeyeon seemed to be angry with Sooyoung for bringing her over.

"Well, excuse me Ms Kim. Your friend here is trying to help you out since it seems that you are not allowed to be anywhere else except for home and I obviously has no time to wait for you to be done with your so-called grounded punishment. I want you to call off the marriage. I will never agree to this even if you want it to happen." 

(End of flashback)

"So can we start all over again? This time, with more respect and tolerance for one another. " Sooyoung turned to look at both the girls, her expression softened but her voice was firm with instructions. "Taeyeon? Please."

Taeyeon looked at Sooyoung and understood that her friend was just being concerned for her as she closed her eyes momentarily and let out a sigh.

"Tiffany-ssi, I apologise for my rude behaviour. I'm sorry."