Their friends had started crashing at the Lai residence to make sure their friends didn't feel like they were alone. Guan Lin took a minor break from his classes and was dazing in the house.

He had just walked out of his sister’s room, since the passing he didn’t like being alone in the house and would often spend the night cuddled next to his sister and their puppies.

Downstairs, Guan Lin found Ten reading the paper while drinking coffee with Johnny while Jaehyun was making breakfast and Lisa was sketching in front of the tv,“Where’s noona?"

As if on cue, the girl walked in from the back yard, leash in hand, followed by two Golden Retrievers, Duke and Noble.

“Why are you all looking at me like that?" The girl walked up to Jaehyun who laid out a fresh stack of pancakes for her and patted her head.

She narrowed her eyes at him playfully before stuffing her face.

Eunmi's life was starting to calm down and she almost enjoyed working as the new head of the Empire. 

Eunmi arrived, clad in a Chanel number that Lisa had picked out for her. Since their friends decided to live with them Jaehyun would do most of the cooking, Lisa always had their outfits in line, Johnny would provide the entertainment to lighten up the mood and Ten would be there to supervise the children.

She walked her way to the elevator after greeting her employees with Secretary Noh following after her.

“Samsung has invited you to their new revealing of their latest model. The party is tomorrow, shall I send them a response?”

The girl nodded as she walked into her office, “let Johnny know that Lin and I will be there”

“There’s also this envelope that Mr. Lai told me to give to you when you officially hold office.”

The male handed her a gold envelope with an all too familiar family crest on it.

Eunmi bit her lip as she dismissed her secretary and sat on her desk, staring at her calligraphed name. She let out a sigh before opening the letter and read it’s contents.

As she dove deeper into the letter, her brows furrowed before sighing once more and finishing it off.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the door to her office slammed open and a frustrated Taeyong arrived.

Chuckling the girl went to grab some tea for the latter and he plopped himself on the couch with his arm covering his eyes as he laid down, half falling off.

“Someone didn’t get their work done in time?” the girl let out an airy laugh as she placed the mug in front of him and tapped his legs so she could sit.

“Worse.. Umma and Appa are coming into town and I..haven’t exactly told them I was..dating.”

“She is gonna kill you” her brows furrowed slightly as she looked at his face.

“Help me?” the boy pleaded as he did his best to give her puppy dog eyes.

“And how exactly am I supposed to do that?”

“We’re all having dinner together..come with us..they’ll be nicer if you’re there”

“TY..I have meetings and “

“Cancel them.”

Eunmi looked at Taeyong with a straight face and sighed, “what time?”

“Assa!” Taeyong got up and gave Eunmi a deep embrace and kissed her cheek, “You’re the best Mi!”

She shook her head and chuckled as he suddenly perked up.

“Tonight, 7 at Piatto”

“Yeah. yeah i’ll be there. Don’t worry”

Taeyong kissed her cheek once more before beaming a smile and leaving the girl.

As she closed the door she walked over the window and saw the Black Aventador speeding away and she sighed.

“Imo..Samchon...” Eunmi was dressed in a simple blush Versace off the shoulder dress Lisa handpicked for her, as she kissed Taeyong’s parents on the cheek and greeted them.

“It’s good to see you out after the funeral Eunmi, you know that if you or Guan Lin ever need anything, we’re a call away.”

“Thanks Samchon, we appreciate it.”

“Where is that son of ours? Why didn’t the two of you arrive together dear?”

“He’s just running a bit late auntie.. he should be here any minute.”

As if on cue, the lad walked in with Kyungri who was dressed in a red mini dress that hugged her curves a little too closely.

He smiled as he hugged his parents before bringing Kyungri in front of them as he placed a hand behind her back.

“Ma..Pa..this is Ji Kyungri.. My girlfriend”

His parents looked over to the said girl and their brows furrowed. His father looked uncomfortable as he looked away and his mother had a tight smile on her face.

“Girlfriend? Since when?”

“A couple of months ago Ma”

Kyungri's brows furrowed a bit as she tried to understand the English conversation but she kept a tight smile on her face.

“How did this exactly happen?” as her eyes narrowed on Kyungri, Eunmi’s eyes widened.

This wasn’t going well.

His mother was grilling the poor girl.

Before she could continue, Eunmi interrupted her, “auntie..let’s get some food. I heard they have a new special with shrimp, you love shrimp” Taeyong sent her a look of thanks as his dad only rolled his eyes with a smile.

Eunmi hooked her arm around his mother’s and led her to the table.

Dinner..

was..

In summary..

a disaster.

Taeyong’s mom wouldn’t acknowledge Kyungri as she tried to spark up any type of conversation with her, his dad nodded politely and kept his words to a minimum of 5 words.

His parents had left the three of the early and Taeyong had walked Eunmi to her car.

“That...was terrifying.. I can’t believe umma didn’t even try to talk to her..”

Eunmi patted his shoulder as she unlocked her car, “At least she didn’t leave..give her some time, after all, you didn’t tell her for months! What do you expect?"

The girl kissed his cheek before getting into the driver's seat, "I'll see you later TY”

Sighing Taeyong closed the door and watched her speed off before going to Kyungri who had been sitting in the car with her arms crossed.

“Yeobo.. You’re mom..I-I don’t think she really likes me..”

He took Kyungri’s hands in his and kissed them briefly before looking at his girlfriend, “she’s just shy.. I should’ve told her about us sooner..mian.”

Sighing Kyungri cupped his cheek before kissing him on the lips, “fix it.”

Taeyong nodded to her request and began to drive as Kyungri began to rant on about how the night went and how she was ignored and how embarrassed she was.

“Yeah.. Auntie..completely ignored her,” Eunmi was on the phone with Lisa and arrived at her home, finding Guan Lin chatting with a tall male who had his back to her.

Guan Lin’s eyes moved to her before going back to conversing with the male.

As she made her way towards the male, he turned around just as she reached him, causing her to slightly fall back. Before she could yelp, the male reached out and hugged her to him.

“Seems like I’m always catching you when you fall”

At the sound of his voice, Eunmi looked up and her eyes widened before she broke out into a smile and properly hugged the male, “Lisa..I’ll call you back..Tuan! You’re alive!”

Chuckling Mark swung her around before placing her down and patting her head, “That I am Mi”

“I thought you were forever stuck in Taiwan?”

“Pa asked me to take over the Korean branch.. So now I’m here”

The girl broke into another smile before hugging the familiar male once more.