Yerin thanked and politely dismissed her secretary after delivering the two cups of coffee she asked for. She then pushed the other cup to Umji who was seated in front of her and smiled warmly. Despite the dilemma she was having because of her feelings, Umji was still one of her closest friends and she could not deny that she missed the youngest for the past weeks they hadn’t seen each other.

“Thanks unnie.” The other girl smiled back before taking a sip of her creamy coffee. She placed it back on the table as she observed the wide office. “I wasn’t able to appreciate the new interior design of your office yesterday. It looks refreshing. I like it unnie.”

“I was actually surprised with the changes here. It was probably mom who ordered to renovate the office while we were in Europe.” Yerin said while Umji only nodded. “By the way, where’s SinB? I thought you two are on a date?” Yerin asked, trying to sound as normal as possible. She had been wanting to ask that after seeing Umji entering the office alone. Actually, she also wanted to ask why Umji came to talk to her. It was a rare occurrence that the youngest would want to talk to her this private. Of course, they talk and hang out a lot but the other girls were with them. So it kind of made her uneasy knowing Umji really intended to talk to her privately, especially with what was happening to her and SinB lately.

“Don’t worry unnie, she’s with Eunha unnie.” Umji assured her. The younger knew Yerin was worried about SinB. Just seeing how disappointed the older's face was after knowing she came alone, she already knew Yerin had been waiting for SinB. Also, SinB’s phone was out of battery so she was thinking that the girl failed to text Yerin that she’d unexpectedly meet with Eunha after their date. “I missed you unnie. We have been so busy with our responsibilities. We haven’t been hanging out with the others. I hope we can find time someday.”

“I missed you too Yewon-ah…” Yerin said and genuinely smiled at the younger girl. She missed those old times when they were still young and only cared about spending time with their friends. When huge responsibilities on their shoulders weren’t existing yet. When everything was just normal and stable. But then, things happened. They are heiress of big corporations, of course, time would come that they need to face what’s waiting for them. What just made it sad was that, they were losing time for each other and hang out as a whole again because of those responsibilities. A lot has inevitably changed, and that includes Yerin’s feelings that would probably cause more changes. Probably worse changes.

Yerin blinked and broke the soft eye contact remembering her growing feelings for SinB. She could not look at those soft eyes without feeling the guilt inside her. She felt like she was betraying Umji and it was something she never wanted. ‘I need these ty feelings to disappear… I might mess everything up if I tolerate this.’ She thought. But she knew deep inside that it was nearly impossible knowing she practically lives with SinB. She was thinking that it’s probably the hardest thing for someone to do: trying not to fall harder for someone you see everyday.

“Unnie?” Umji snapped a finger in front of her, pulling her back to the present. She had been spacing out and she didn’t even notice it.

“I-I’m sorry. What is it again?” She asked, trying to refocus on the conversation they had.

“I was asking about how your trip in Europe with SinB went? Especially the Masquerade Ball.”

Yerin didn’t know how to respond properly to that. She suddenly got nervous and her brain cells seemed to not cooperating with her to formulate a sensible and casual answer. ‘Why does everyone ask about that?’ She asked herself.

“It was f-fun.. A-And it would’ve been better if you and the others came with u-us.” Her answer wasn’t a lie. She did have fun with SinB (just probably way too much). It’s just that, some things happened beyond her control and that includes falling for the girl she should not fall for.

“Right. Haha.” Umji remarked. Then, a not-so-awkward silence unexpectedly passed by. It made Yerin more uncomfortable than she already was. She tried to ease herself by sipping her coffee but it was no use because after a few seconds, she could feel Umji’s observant aura. She knew the younger girl was staring at her, softly, and that only made her become more nervous. “Unnie…” Umji finally called her.

Yerin tried to act casual so she hummed in response as she placed back her cup.

“You know that I can read you well right?” Umji asked, her voice was serious but hinted with softness. What she just said was actually true, even Yerin would agree to that. She was always the observant one among their friends, way too observant that she mostly could already read their actions.

“W-What do you mean?”

Umji smiled at her, a comforting smile. “I was there yesterday unnie, when you arrived here in the company. I saw how your eyes showed pain when your secretary told you that I was waiting for SinB.” She said, making Yerin halt her movements and blink continuously trying to process what she just heard. “I know how you feel unnie. You might not notice but I have been observing you and SinB for the past weeks. You also might not notice but how you two act toward each other shows something more. I can tell. Anyone can.” She looked at the stunned girl intently as she delivered her words. While Yerin, she could not seem to process the younger’s words fully because her eyes weren’t really focused while staring back.

“I may be blunt while saying all of these but I think today is the right time. This is why I went here alone. I want to talk to you and I want you to be really honest with me unnie…”

“Y-Yewon…” Yerin was out of words. She could only call out the younger’s name as guilt slowly consumed her. She certainly didn’t expect this. She was not ready for confrontation which she didn’t plan to happen in the first place.

The younger girl only looked back at her with soft and sincere eyes and Yerin was unsure on how to interpret those. She could not read Umji, why she was doing that, and where that conversation was headed to. While the latter didn’t break the eye contact at all, trying to read her unnie. “Do you like SinB?” She finally asked.

…

..

.

A whole minute had passed. Whole minute of Yerin trying to find her voice that seemed to suddenly disappear. Her eyes remained unfocused as she blinked continuously, completely taken aback. She opened , attempting to answer but not a single word escaped. Giving up eventually, she sighed and looked down. She couldn’t look at Umji anymore.

“I know you do unnie. It’s obvious...” The latter said, not removing her gaze on Yerin who kept her head hung low. Yerin didn’t expect Umji to notice it that quick. Although she knew it would eventually happen knowing how clever the girl is, she didn't expect it would happen sooner. Nevertheless, the sit