“Sunbae-nim, here are the sketches you asked for last week.”

Nayeon nods without looking up from her own sketch plan. “Thank you, Ryujin. Just put them on my table, please.”

Ryujin obliges and she leaves Nayeon’s office with a quiet, “Don’t work too hard, sunbae.”

Nayeon wants to disagree; she has to work hard today. After all, the whole reason she’s rushing everything right now is so that she can pack up early and pick Minji up from school.

Yes, Jihyo will babysit Minji while Nayeon is still at the office and Sana most likely moved her early evening shoots to be there for Minji as well, but it’s different for Nayeon.

Jihyo and Sana are Minji’s godmothers.

She’s her mother.

Just because there are others who are willing to pick up where she slacks off doesn’t mean Nayeon wants it to become a habit.

She can already hear Jeongyeon in her mind saying, “Don’t be stupid. You know that’s not how it works.”

Even still, Nayeon skips her lunch and break time to ensure that she can clock out before five.

“Im, I’m not paying you to pass out on me.”

At first, the words don’t penetrate Nayeon’s steel focus on her sketch but then there’s a hand that grabs her pencil and Nayeon all but lunges out of her chair to retrieve it.

That is until she sees just who grabbed her pencil.

“Jennie.”

Jennie only raises a brow at her before she sits down at the edge of Nayeon’s desk. “What’s with your assistant telling me that you haven’t taken any breaks today?”

Ryujin, that snitch.

“Don’t give me that look, Im,” Jennie warns her, already too aware of how Nayeon reacts to people meddling with her business. “She was just concerned.”

Nayeon steals a glance at the clock on her desk—16:15—before she sighs and leans back in her chair. With Jennie holding her favorite pencil hostage, Nayeon can’t finish any work anyway. “I must’ve forgotten. I was busy.”

“Busy starving yourself? Are you heartbroken again?”

“Yah!” Nayeon exclaims, feeling a blush creep up on her cheeks at the reminder of how she used to act in college after her breakups. “I just need to get off work before five.”

That piques Jennie’s interest, and she gives Nayeon a suggestive smile. “Who’s your date?”

Nayeon makes a face, appalled at the mere thought of going out on a date with someone. With Minji as the number one priority in her life, the last thing she needs is a distraction in the form of a lover. “No one! I need to pick up Minji from school. It was her first day at kindergarten today.”

Now, Jennie is confused. “She gets off at five?”

“They have a lot of breaks.”

“Ah.” Jennie nods as if that explains it, which it kinda does. “That still doesn’t mean you had to starve yourself. You’re no use to me hungry and weak.”

Despite the seemingly biting remark, Nayeon knows Jennie means well. Having been friends since their junior year, Jennie is one of Nayeon’s most trusted friends outside her inner circle.

And with Jennie as her boss at Kim Interiors, their friendship and professional bond have only become stronger.

Still, Nayeon waves off Jennie’s concern. “I’ll eat on the way. I have to take a cab, anyway.”

Jennie gives Nayeon her signature disapproving look before she shakes her head and calls out, “Ryujin-ssi!”

Nayeon’s assistant enters the office as if she’s only been waiting for Jennie to call her in. Ryujin is smiling sheepishly at Nayeon while holding a container of what Nayeon assumes is food and a bottle of—

“Chardonnay? Really, Kim?” Nayeon turns to her friend with a raised brow. Jennie only shrugs at her in response.

Ryujin dutifully places the food and drink on Nayeon’s table before saying, “Sorry, sunbae. Was just concerned.”

Nayeon gives her assistant a reassuring smile. “I know you mean well. Thanks, Ryujin-ah.”

Ryujin bows to her and Jennie before leaving the room and closing the door behind her.

Once she’s gone, Nayeon practically shoves Jennie off her perch on the desk. “Yah, why did you order a Chardonnay? Are you enabling drinking in your company?”

“Oh, loosen up.” Jennie rolls her eyes. “One glass won’t hurt you. But you need to eat that salmon sushi first.”

At the mention of her favorite food, Nayeon’s eyes light up and she’s practically salivating as she reaches for the plastic container containing the sushi. “Aw, you do love me.”

Jennie scoffs but it’s fond. Nayeon knows her long enough to know that. “No, I don’t. I just can’t have my Creatives Director passed out due to hunger.”

“Whatever you say, Jen,” Nayeon says around a mouthful of salmon, “but I know that you don’t buy sushi and Chardonnay for people you don’t love.”

Jennie doesn’t dignify her statement with a response, instead, she simply straightens up and goes to the utility cart in the corner of Nayeon’s office to get two mugs.

“Haven’t I already told you to buy wine glasses so we don’t have to drink from these—” Jennie looks at the penguin and bunny designs on the mugs she’s holding, “—childish cups?”

Nayeon would’ve gasped out loud in offense if she weren’t putting a piece of salmon in . She munches and swallows the food before replying, “It’s for when Minji is here.”

Jennie gives her a look before putting down the mugs and opening the wine bottle. “They all have animals printed on them, Im. Minji only needs one mug. Besides, she’s rarely here.”

Nayeon shrugs. One thing that motherhood has taught her is to always be prepared. Have contingency plans. You never know it with kids. Besides, she once witnessed her daughter drop three mugs in the span of ten minutes.

“That’s already open,” Nayeon observes, still continuously putting salmon in . Fine, she is starving. But Minji is more important than her hunger, so whatever.

This time, Jennie smirks at her. “I don’t have a mini fridge in my office for nothing, Nayeon-ah.”

Nayeon points her chopsticks at Jennie with a sharp look. “That’s Nayeon-unnie to you.”

Jennie’s smirk drops and she rolls her eyes. “You’re older than me by four months.”

“Nayeon-unnie.”

“Go to hell.”

“Yah, Jennie Ruby Jane Kim! What a potty mouth!”

Jennie shoves her but she’s laughing.

One perk of being friends with your boss, Nayeon supposes, is that you can joke around with them without fear of getting fired if you cross a line.

Maybe the universe does favor her sometimes.

Jennie allows Nayeon to get off work fifteen minutes before five o’clock with the promise of never skipping lunch again. And a reminder to send her a picture of Minji.

“For Jisoo. You know her, she adores kids.”

Nayeon agrees to both because they’re pretty much harmless and the fifteen minutes she’s been given are plenty enough to skip ahead of the traffic.

When Nayeon arrives at Yongsan, she already sees a couple of children, accompanied by their parents, walking out of the school gates.

She’s just about to enter the school gates herself when she hears a loud exclamation behind her.

“Aw, you beat me!”

Nayeon turns around to see Sana who’s panting for breaths and leaning against her knees for support.

“What happened to you?” Nayeon asks around a laugh. “You look like you ran a marathon.”

Beyond Sana’s shoulders, Nayeon can spot Tzuyu taking her time to walk towards them, and she pieces two and two together. “Were you trying to beat me in arriving first to pick up Minji?”

Sana is still heaving for breaths but she manages to shake her head and wheeze out a “no.”

Nayeon just chuckles and waits for Tzuyu to reach them. Sana will answer better with Tzuyu present.

Oh, love.

“Hi, unnie,” Tzuyu greets with her usual small smile, which Nayeon returns with a bigger one of her own. Then, without another word, Nayeon gestures at Sana, and Tzuyu rolls her eyes.

“She’s trying to beat you, unnie,” Tzuyu explains with a sigh. Then, turning to Sana, she chastises, “Told you not to run. ” Nayeon detects no real bite behind Tzuyu’s words because let’s be real, Tzuyu loves Sana too much to actually be pissed at her, anyway.

Love indeed.

This time, Sana manages to straighten up and answer without panting. “But I saw Nayeon-unnie and I made a bet with Momoring that I can get here first!”

This time, Nayeon laughs out loud. Momo seriously loves making bets against her friends and Sana is too carefree to decline and think of the consequences first. “How much?”

“A hundred thousand.”

Tzuyu’s eyes widen. “What?”

Sana smiles at Tzuyu and Nayeon already knows what will happen next—Sana will use her aegyo to make Tzuyu forgive her. Typical Sana tactic.

And while that’s cute and all, Nayeon can only accept three PDAs in a day before it becomes too much for her.

She’s still single and four of her friends are already engaged. Give her a break.

“Say bye to your hundred thousand,” Nayeon teases before she starts to walk to the school gates, leaving Sana and Tzuyu alone.

She’s just crossing the school’s front yard when Minji bursts through the school’s double doors with her arms up high in the air.

“Minji, baby!” Nayeon calls, a smile automatically making its way to her lips at the sight of her daughter alone. Minji really is her life and source of happiness and anyone who tries to take this away from her will have to go through her dead body.

Minji stops running and looks around for a moment before she spots Nayeon. Then, she, too, breaks out into a smile and she continues sprinting with an extra spring in her steps. “Mommy!”

They meet halfway and Nayeon eagerly lifts Minji into her arms and showers her with kisses. “Hi, baby! How was school?”

Minji’s