"How's Taeyeon?"

That was the first question that Sooyoung received the moment she walked into the living room. Her sister was seated at the couch, watching the tv when she returned home after taking her car from Taeyeon's place. Letting out a sigh, Sooyoung sat down beside her sister without a word.

"Did something happen? You look upset."

Sooyoung narrated what happened at the restaurant earlier as her sister listened quietly. 

"That was so unnecessary of Inspector Kwon. She even came to my hospital last night to check on Taeyeon but I was busy cleaning up her wound at that time so she spoke with Doctor Hwang."

"Doctor Hwang? I've never heard of you having a doctor by that surname." Sooyoung frowned, trying to recall the faces of the doctors that she had met before.

"She's new. Just joined us about a week ago. The one that Sica recommended."

"Is she pretty?" Sooyoung grinned cheekily as her sister rolled her eyes at her. "Anyway, what did that tanned inspector talk to her? Does the new doctor even know who Taeyeon was?"

"I'm not sure about that but the inspector commended her about being a helpful doctor who is not blinded by greed." 

Sooyoung was hurt by that comment but she was surprised when her sister actually laughed about it. She questioned her sister about her laughter and said that she should be angry to that insensitive remarks.

"Soo-ah, both you and that inspector are so childish. Why do you need to be angry with that? Is this your first time dealing with her? I don't think so. To me, I'm already immune with her sarcasm. Ever since Taeyeon kept coming to my hospital to get treatments for her occasional injuries, Inspector Kwon has been like a regular visitor there too. It doesn't affect me in any way. She's just too blinded by her anger towards Taeyeon and the people who are always by Taeyeon's side, especially her own sister."

"Whatever it is, because of her words, Irene is now angry at Taeyeon." Sooyoung folded her arms and pouted.

"They are sisters and no matter how angry she is with Taeyeon right now, she will eventually know the truth and forgive her Unnie. Just like you and me. I hope Yoona and Inspector Kwon can settle their dispute too. No matter what happened, they're still sisters."

"I understand, Unnie. Anyway, thank you for your help in preparing Taeyeon's medical report this morning. You had everything ready even before I asked it from you." Sooyoung smiled at her sister.

"Of course. When I saw Inspector Kwon at my hospital last night, I presumed that things won't be as simple as it is. So I prepared the paperwork, just in case you'll need it. By the way, how did you manage to get them to drop the charges?"

"Sometimes, it does help to have an influential sibling. All I did was to mention Heechul Oppa's name and that guy came crumbling down." Sooyoung smirked as her sister shook her head.

"Let me guess. He owe some money with the Kims."

Sooyoung nodded her head and explained to her sister that she had done some research on Mr Ra before she arrived at the police station. "He borrowed millions from them when his company was on the verge of bankruptcy. He is still paying out the instalments of the loan even though his company is already back on track. Seems like that guy has the habit of delaying his payment which resulted in the high interest return. By the way, how's the preparation for the children's day event? Is everything settled?"

"Yes and before I forget. Can you come down to my office to collect the receipts when you are free? You need to submit them to Taeyeon, right?"

"Arraseo. At the same time, I can take a look at the new doctor myself." Sooyoung chuckled as her sister threw a pillow at her. "I'll go wash up and get some rest. Good night, Unnie."

Choi Soojin waved at her little sister before she grabbed the remote to switch off the tv. Making her way back to her own room, Soojin recalled the conversation with Sooyoung earlier and she remembered how she had met Taeyeon the first time seven years ago.

(Flashbacks)

"Unnie, this is Taeyeon. The one that I've been telling you about." Sooyoung's smile widened as Taeyeon bowed her head to greet her.

"Omo, you are really pretty like what Sooyoung said. By the way, have both of you eaten? I'm actually planning to go out for lunch. Let's go together, shall we?"

From that first meet-up when Sooyoung and Taeyeon were still freshmen, Soojin noticed that Taeyeon was a very humble person even though she came from a wealthy family. She was easily entertained, laughing at every little jokes that Sooyoung made and it showed how simple a person she was. Sooyoung and Taeyeon talked about their experience doing voluntary works in London and had planned to do something like that when they're back in Seoul. 

But their plans were halted when Taeyeon's parents died in that helicopter crash three years later. It was during Taeyeon's and Sooyoung's final year at the university. Taeyeon's little sister suffered a trauma because of the incident and didn't want to leave her room or communicate with anyone. Her older brother had to take over the family business and wanted Taeyeon to look after their sister. But Taeyeon had to complete her studies, so she reached out to Soojin for help since Soojin had a PhD in psychology and neuroscience. Soojin was also the CEO of Choi Medical Center at that time, taking over the position from her father. It took Soojin a year to be able to bring Irene back to her ownself even though she was not totally the same as before. 

Soojin was surprised when she saw Taeyeon again after their graduation. Even though Taeyeon's behaviour towards Soojin and Sooyoung didn't really changed much, but her treatment towards others were cold and emotionless. Taeyeon moved out from the family house and Irene insisted on following Taeyeon since she had always been closer to her sister compared to her brother. Furthermore, their Oppa would be too busy to look after her.

Her older brother was the overall in charge of the family business but would be concentrating more on their overseas business and properties while Taeyeon would look after the ones in Seoul. Sooyoung, who wanted to further her studies abroad, decided to stay in Seoul to help Taeyeon out with the business by being Taeyeon's lawyer and finance advisor.

Being in a money-lending business did have it's pros and cons. The good thing is, being in that kind of business allowed you to have a certain control over the people who had borrowed money from you and you'll not be easily bullied around since the general public would usually have a feared image of money-lenders but the bad side to it is that your life is always being threatened from people or rivals who wants you dead. The police would also be on your tail most of the time.

Taeyeon's family has been in that business for more than 50yrs, an establishment founded by Taeyeon's great grandfather. During his time and even during Taeyeon's grandfather's time, they were looked upon as gangsters and loansharks. Both men controlled the business with an iron fist. It was easy for them to threaten their clients as police control were not that tight during their era.

When Taeyeon's father took over, he was not as ruthless as his father. He believed that since they had the financial capabilities to lend money to others, they should be more accomodating and more helpful towards their clients. So Taeyeon's dad started pumping money into businesses of young Koreans who had great ideas but didn't have the finance to do so. He was also charging lower interest rates to them and giving them better flexibility in returning their loan.

Taeyeon's grandfather was unhappy in the change of direction of the company as he felt that they should not be soft on those borrowers but since he had already handed over the business to his son, he didn't have much say in the company anymore. Furthermore, their business had flourished under his son's in-charge because people were more willing to borrow money from their company due to their flexibility in settling the debt and friendlier approach to their clients.

(End of Flashbacks)

Soojin let out a sigh when she stopped reminiscing about Taeyeon's family background. She has always felt that Taeyeon's father was a good man but that could also be the reason for his tragedy. Soojin and her sister had always believed that the helicopter crash was not an accident but a premeditated incident by Mr Kim's rivals in business.

Ever since a lot of people preferred to borrow money from Mr Kim's company, their rivals in the same business industries got jealous as they were losing potential clients. Taeyeon had informed Sooyoung before the incident that her father had been receiving threats from an anonymous person, months before that crash.

Surprisingly, the police ruled out the case as an unfortunate accident and it was closed before further investigation was done. When Sooyoung requested to re-open the case to re-analyse the incident, Soojin was surprised when her sister said that Taeyeon's grandfather was the one who was against it and even told her to just let it be.

"They're already dead anyway. It's not like they're going to come back alive if we find out the truth."

That was what the elderly man told Sooyoung which was quite true to a certain extent but Soojin felt that he was just trying to cover up something by not allowing the case to be reinvestigated. A knock on her door pulled Soojin out of her thoughts as Sooyoung's head peeked through the small gap. 

"Do you want to join me for supper? I'm hungry." Sooyoung grinned cheekily while Soojin could only chuckled at her shikshin dongsaeng.

*************************** 

Sooyoung waved her hand excitedly at Yoona, who was already seated at the table. The younger girl waved back but stood up abruptly when she saw Soojin walking behind Sooyoung. She bowed her head to greet her politely while Sooyoung laughed at Yoona's cute actions.

"Seems like you had started off without us." Soojin commented when she saw the pieces of meat on the grill and the soju bottle that was already left with half of the content.

"I'm sorry, Soojin-unnie. I didn't know that you would be coming since Sooyoung-unnie didn't inform me."

Since Sooyoung and Yoona was only two years apart, they would usually behave as friends and hung out together but when it comes to Soojin-unnie, Yoona was more respectful and polite. 

"It's okay, Yoona. I myself was not informed that you'll be joining us. I thought Soo has no one to accompany her to have supper which is why I agreed to follow her. If I knew that you were here, I would rather sleep at home at this hour." Soojin replied.

"The more the merrier, Unnie. Furthermore, it seems like you're losing weight. Have you not been eating well at work? I don't think the director of the hospital will still go into the operation theatre, right? Which means that you should be quite free at work." Sooyoung sister who showed her the fist.

"I'm not like you. Eating every hour. And just because I'm the director, doesn't mean I don't get my hands dirty. I'm a certified surgeon. I didn't spend my time studying to be one, just to shake legs in the office." Soojin knocked Sooyoung's head before both of them laughed.

Yoona just observed the interactions and could only smile. In her heart, she wished she could have that sisterly bond too with her unnie but things didn't always go as how you want them to. Without realising it, Yoona had accidentally let out a heavy sigh which didn't go unnoticed by the Choi siblings.

"Are you okay, Yoona? Is something troubling you?" Soojin asked with concern.

"I'm fine. It's nothing." Yoona replied, hiding behind her innocent smile.

"You know that you can share any thoughts with us, right? I've known you for more than two years now. Ever since you started working for Taeyeon, this is the first time that I've seen you looking so restless. Is it because of your mother?" Sooyoung tried to guess but Yoona shook her head. "Then it must be about your sister."

Yoona's eyes widened with surprise at Sooyoung's wild guess as the tall girl smirked with pride when she realised that she had hit the jackpot.

"I'm a lawyer. I'm trained to read people's mind even though it might not actually be accurate all the time. So, care to share with us your thoughts? I'm not forcing you though." 

Yoona looked at both of them before taking in a deep breathe. "I'm envious when I see both of your interactions. Even earlier, I was also jealous when I saw how Taeyeon-unnie interacted with Irene. But my sister...."

Yoona could only shake her head and let out another sigh. She explained that her mother had gave her a call after she left Taeyeon's place just now. It seemed like Inspector Kwon had came down to visit her and handed over some health supplements too.

"Omma said that Unnie had nagged at her for neglecting her health and at the same time, asking Omma to persuade me to resign from working as Taeyeon's personal bodyguard." Yoona clenched her fist when she said it. "Why is she so bothered with what I do? Can't she respect my job just as much as I respect hers? Both of our jobs are about protecting the lives of people that we are responsible of. I don't see the difference in our jobscope."

"But you're protecting her enemy." Sooyoung replied but Yoona shook her head.

"I've never seen Taeyeon-unnie committing a single crime ever since the first day I started work with her. Taeyeon-unnie is not a criminal. Only Unnie thinks that way. She thinks that all the people in the money-lending business are bad people after what happened to Appa."

"But don't you blame those people too? Your Appa committed suicide because he couldn't pay his debts as the interest rate was too much. After his death, the money-lenders went after your mother and made life difficult for your family." Sooyoung tried to question Yoona to try and understand her better.

"What use will that be if I blame them? They didn't force Appa to take his own life. Appa was the one who decided to give up. He was the one who went to them to borrow money to try and save his restaurant which was not making money. Omma had already advised him to close down the restaurant but he refused. In the end, the restaurant was seized by the loansharks and we still had to pay an additional two million won to settle his remaining debts. If not for the help of the late Mr Kim, I think we'll still be trying to pay for the interest."

"You've met Uncle Kim before?" Sooyoung was surprised since Yoona had never mentioned this before. "But you only started working for Taeyeon after her parents passed away."

"Nobody knew about this except for Omma and me."

(Flashbacks four years ago)

"Omma, I'll carry all this to the front first, okay."

"Be careful, Yoong. You should carry it a little at a time."

"It's faster this way. Furthermore, I'm strong enough to carry it all at one shot."

Yoona walked out from the small restaurant, carrying 3 boxes of stuff which was almost covering her front view. She was almost reaching the glass door when she heard a man's voice, asking her to be careful. When she tilted her head from the side of the boxes, Yoona saw an elderly man holding on to the handle of the glass door for her.

"Thank you, sir." Yoona said before walking out of the restaurant and placing the boxes at the side road. She walked back to where the man was still standing and thanked him again. "I remembered opening the door before I carried the boxes though." 

The man chuckled at Yoona's confused expression. "Some passerby might have closed the door before you came back with the boxes. By the way, you're really strong for a girl to be carrying so much stuff."

"I'm just trying to save time by carrying as much as I could. It's troublesome to make multiple trips." Yoona replied before giving a silly grin to the man.

Once again the man chuckled and asked about the restaurant, whether it was closed for the day. Before Yoona could reply, the sound of loud shouting and laughing was heard from a distance. Yoona turned around and noticed the group of hooligans, who had been coming to their restaurants recently to harass them, were walking up towards her.

"Omma!!!!" Yoona shouted into the restaurant as anger could be seen in her eyes.

"Hi, little girl. Are you done with the packing yet? My boss wants to tear this place down by noon. Now it's already 11.45am. By the way, has your mum prepared the remaining money to pay off your father's debts or shall we seize your house too and you'll have to sleep by the road side?" 

The leader of the pack laughed at his own words while his followers just followed suit. Yoona's mother appeared at the door and pulled Yoona to her side.

"Sir, we are almost done with our packing and will move out from the restaurant before noon. About the money, can you give us more time? I don't have it yet with me." The elderly lady tried to beg but the hooligans continued laughing.

"Then you should go home and start packing your things from your house because my boss will come over to seize it too if you can't make the payment today. We've given you plenty of time already. The longer you take, the more you're going to have to pay us. You should know the rules by now or did your worthless husband forget to inform you about that too?"

"Yah!! Stop talking bad about my dad." Yoona shouted and glared at the men without fear.

They continued laughing at her and started condemning her father by calling him names which prompted Yoona to punch one of them in the face. When the men realised what Yoona had did, the leader of the pack was about to grab Yoona by the neck when the elderly man earlier stopped him.

"Yah, Ahjusshi. Stay away from this if you don't want any trouble." The man said but the elderly man continued to hold on to his wrist tightly before swiftly turning it behind, causing the man to be in extreme pain.

"That is not the right way to treat a lady. How much do this family owe you? I will settle their debts today."

(End of flashbacks)

"That Ahjusshi was Mr Kim. Taeyeon-unnie's father. I met him 5 yrs ago. He even wanted to retrieve the restaurant back for us but Omma declined so he just settled the remaining loan for us. Omma promised to pay him back the money but Mr Kim said that it was okay. Instead he wanted Omma to enrol me in this martial art school and for me to work for his family once I've graduated from that school." 

Sooyoung and Soojin looked at each other with a totally surprised expression. Yoona said that even Taeyeon was not aware of this story.

"Mr Kim told me to study hard academically and also at the martial art school. He said he liked my courage and the way I stood up against those men. I still remember his words before he left the restaurant that day. 'I won't ask you to pay me back for the loan that I have settled for you. Instead, work for me in the future and protect my family just like how you would protect your own family.' That was what he told me so I studied hard and did very well at the martial arts school, becoming one of the top fighters there."

"That was why Taeyeon chose you to be her personal bodyguard. You're the only female among the top ten students from that school." Sooyoung said as Yoona nodded her head. "Daebak... This is really shocking to know. By the way, where were your sister when all this happened?"

The Choi siblings noticed the slight anger in Yoona's expression, the moment Sooyoung asked about her sister.

"When Unnie found out about Appa's debts, both of them got into a huge argument and she just walked out of the house. Before she left that day, she told us that she had been accepted into the Korean National Police University. It has always been her dream to be a police officer. But what kind of person is she to walk out on her own family?" Yoona clenched her fist.

"Maybe she was unhappy about the fact that your father had borrowed money from a loanshark?" Sooyoung tried to guess as Yoona let out a sigh.

"I don't know and I don't care. When Appa died, she didn't even stayed for the whole funeral. I noticed Omma talking to her, maybe asking her to return home but she didn't returned home anyway. So she has no right to interfere in our lives now after turning her back on us."

"But you still miss her, right? Both of you were actually close to each other since young but things happened, which drew both of you apart." Soojin commented but Yoona remained quiet while staring at the table. "You've only got each other. Just like me and Sooyoung. And no matter how much I'm angry at her at times, I will still miss having her around especially when she went abroad to study in London."

Tears started to fall from Yoona's cheeks as Sooyoung panicked while Soojin calmly offered her some napkins.

"I do miss having her around and I know that as long as I'm working for Taeyeon-unnie, Yuri-unnie will continue to resent me. But Taeyeon-unnie has been nothing but wonderful to me and I will always be indebted to her and her family." Yoona said between her sobs as Sooyoung rubbed her shoulders to console her.

"I don't think Inspector Kwon actually resents you. No matter how much I hate her guts, I have to admit that the fact that she had came to visit your Omma, showed that she actually cares for you and your Omma. Maybe she resented your choice of work or the people you're working for but I don't think it's you. Another thing is, Taeyeon will never want you to feel indebted to her or to her family just because of her father's good deeds. Knowing Taeyeon, the fact that she's not aware of this secret, might actually anger her so I suggest for you to come clean about it to her. At least, to prevent any misunderstanding in the future." Sooyoung suggested as Yoona looked at her momentarily before nodding her head.