The sound of the alarm clock blaring inside her room once again reminded Yizhou that today was the official start of her last year in the university. 

Last academic year had been so eventful that she wished nothing more for  a more peaceful, a more flowing senior year.

Once upon a time she lived for those crazy turn of events mostly inside the confines and  lengths of university walls and influences. But as she stared at the ring sitting on her left hand, somehow the buzz and cheap grandiose of parties loss their appeal to her. 

6:57 am.

The time flashed before her eyes as she checked the notifications that have piled up on her phone overnight. Having found nothing interesting enough to entertain her, she decided to head downstairs to use her spare time to hit the road early avoiding the morning rush all the same.

Faint murmurs met her ears as her steps drew closer to the stairs until they get loud enough for her to recognize which voice belonged to whom. A certain voice quickly stood out.

Confusion instantly rushed in when she saw Aeri eating with her parents. She wasn't the one to miss out details so she was certain that her fiancé shouldn't be in their home right now, she shouldn't even be in the same country as her to begin with.

"Okay?" Her voice intentionally dragging the last syllable for emphasis as she announced her presence. Her knitted eyebrows gazing upon the three figures sitting on the long table comfortably chatting away.

"Oh, just in time." Her mother uncharacteristically says in a tone higher than her usual voice.

"Come on, Yizhou." She met his father's eyes just as her feet left the last steps of their overly grand stairs. "Join us for breakfast."

It wasn't like it was Aeri's first time eating breakfast with her parents. She'd done it on several occasions so she don't understand why the room was oozing with cheerfulness at such an early hour. There was definitely something in the air that much she knew because her father just invited her to eat albeit knowing that she doesn't do breakfast. 

But before she could ponder over it, Aeri was already standing with a chair already pulled out for her to sit on.

A maid quickly placed a set of plates before her. "I thought you were supposed to be in Singapore for at least another three days?" 

The maid was about to pour her a cup of coffee which she quickly dismissed after giving her a soft smile. The furrow on her brows only further increased as she takes in Aeri's appearance. Her fiancé wasn't sporting her usual attire. Instead, she opted for more casual clothes which by any standard weren't fit for office hours on a Monday morning.

"You wouldn't think I'd miss your first day back at school right?" Aeri answered swallowing back a yawn threatening to escape her lips. The lack of sleep catching up with her faster than she thought.

A part of her may not always appreciate the lavishness of her name but she surely wouldn't miss the opportunities to use the perks it holds if it comes to Yizhou. So no, she certainly did not rush her paperwork and meetings just so she could get on the first flight available back to Korea. Of course she didn't also drive straight to Yizhou's house after her plane landed just a couple of hours ago.

"Looking at the dark circles under your eyes I could tell you're already more excited than me." Yizhou snapped at her but failed helplessly when a ghost of a smile spread through her lips. The effort wasn't lost on her. She was certain that Aeri did some extra time to be able to wrap up her trip much earlier than planned.

While Aeri could only put her hands up in defeat. Of course Yizhou wouldn't look over the bags under her eyes that have accumulated from the last five days. Nothing rarely slips pass through her gaze.

"Can I?" Aeri asked pointing at her half finished plate. "Are we going to be late?" 

Yizhou was about to open to say that it was okay for Aeri to finish her food. The traffic be damned. But her mother beat her to it. "Eat more, Aeri." She murmured, her eyes crinkling at the ends as she put a variety of food into Aeri's plate.

"How would you like your coffee?" Her father added calling for a maid to quickly get a fresh brew from the kitchen.

"Anything would suffice, thank you."

For the first time in  years, Yizhou let herself bask in the aroma of newly ground coffee and the scent freshly baked bread while surrounded by her parents. 

Maybe they missed her too, she told herself as she listened in the exchange of words before her. Aeri has been a constant presence not just in her life but also her parents' that they can't seem to get enough of her whenever she's in their home. The way she managed to crack open her parents boundaries and old beliefs, Yizhou could never understand.

Lifting up her fork, Yizhou went through over Aeri's plate and managed to pick out and transfer the bits of food that Aeri wasn't too fond of eating onto her own plate thanks to her mother's uncontrollable bombarding of food just moments ago.

A soft hand landed on her knee. Her eyes instantly landed on the girl sitting beside her. "Thank you." Aeri leaned and whispers in her ear before indulging once again in a conversation with her parents.

"It's another academic year." Aeri started once she have successfully found a parking spot. As expected traffic was quite heavy since it was a Monday but they still managed to arrive in their destination with at least ten minutes to spare before Yizhou's first class.

"Yes, my last one." Yizhou hums with her eyes closed as she let her body fall back at her seat.

"Would you run for office this year too?"

Yizhou's eyes opened at once at Aeri's question, eyebrows furrowing while thinking about the possibility. Aeri waited patiently, observing the little movements that her facial features do to give her an insight of what was happening inside her fiancé's mind.

It was when Yizhou's face visibly relaxes which told Aeri that she had come up with an answer.

 "I found out that gossip and hot topics around the university weren't too interesting when it concerns me." Yizhou started. Indeed she somehow enjoyed the juicy news that hangs in the air whenever something worth notable occured in their university but she found it less appealing when her name especially Aeri's come up in hushed conversations among the students.

The day that the news broke out about her being engaged to the former president was also the very same one were she wished to lose her ability to speak and hear. God forbid how her phone blew up with all of the messages and notifications popping in every single second. All of them asking if the news spreading was reliable. Even her co-officers didn't miss their chance to bombard her with their own questions the second she walked into the room.

"Also I think my mom would let it pass." She continued. "I'm guessing she'd be estatic even." Yizhou smiled to herself as she remembered how her mother would always tell her back then to put her family first in everything that she do. Never in this lifetime would she think that she'd be actually listening to her mother's words. She already had it all planned out. Her escape route out of her parents once she finally graduates. But then Aeri came along and suddenly the word family got it's whole new meaning.

"I'd be less occupied which means I can focus more on what's important at the moment." 

"Wait, back track." Aeri requested. Yizhou's words slowly seeping into her mind. "So you weren't interested in running for position in the first place?"

Yizhou nodded.

Aeri frowned, still vividly confused. "But you were a representative on your freshman year. A secretary on both your sophomore and junior year?"

Aeri might be the older one between them but there was no questioning who got more experience in the circle that they belonged to. And quite frankly, it was one of the things that she liked about Aeri because it told her that she did not rely on her name. She was her own person acting on her own beliefs. Uninfluenced and unapologetic of the standards set by their social class.

"Mom thought that it was an easy access for information. You and Minjeong were both ranked high in those office might I remind you." The frown on Aeri's face lightened until it eventually faded as realization dawned on her.

"They mostly asked about Minjeong." Yizhou added. She didn't want Aeri to think that she somehow planned everything up. "Trivial things, nothing that can't be answered over a little dinner."

"So Yijun and Minjeong's supposed engagement?"

"I didn't have a hand on it. I only knew about it the night where we were both officially introduced to one another."

Aeri sighed loudly. Her hand finding Yizhou's. "Well as much as I want to hate the way your mother do certain things, I can't wholeheartedly say that I despise her for it." She murmured after swiftly kissing Yizhou's hand. Her lips lightly brushing th