After discussing and signing the contract with Nayeon, Sana kept her promise to see Momo and provide her with just enough information to fill her in on the issue. Sana couldn't tell the entire story without confessing that she and Nayeon had a relationship in the past. Momo, on the other hand, did not react exaggeratedly. It was almost as if she already knew, or that it wasn't all that unexpected after all.

           "That's... it," Sana murmured, ashamed of the reality, while Momo only stared at her blankly. "Aren't you going to say anything?" Sana continued, curious if her friend understood everything because some portions might be too complicated to grasp.

"So, you'll be working for Ms. Lim?" Momo inquired, causing Sana to nod. "Nayeon, who is apparently your ex-girlfriend..." the woman continued slowly, as if she wanted to make sure she understood everything correctly. "...whom you despise so much that you slapped her with wine at my wedding," she continued.

"It was an accident," Sana protested, but Momo gave her that vacant yet profound gaze. It ordered her to stop lying, which she did. "Yeah, it was on purpose," she admitted.

After a while, they were surrounded by silence. Sana couldn't tell what Momo was thinking, so she just waited for her to say something else. Remarkably, the woman's next statement was something she had not anticipated at all.

"Sana-yah! Why would you?!" Momo exclaimed, rising from her seat to lightly slam her with a purse. "What's the matter with you, really?" she asked, raising her voice as the other woman continued to block her attacks.

"What do you mean?" Sana inquired. She was able to keep the purse and stop Momo from hitting her. "Why are you mad at me?" Sana inquired with her eyebrows pinched.

Momo sighed and drew her purse back before returning to her seat. "Just why would you accept help from Ms. Lim?" She murmured.

"...what?" Sana puzzledly scratched the top of her head.

"You wouldn't break up with her if she hadn't done anything wrong," Momo explained, which made sense. "The fact that you are welcoming her back into your life in this manner shows that you have just set down your pride," she added. "You can't put your pride down for someone who doesn't deserve it!" "That's not how I trained you," Momo joked, to somewhat make Sana feel better.

"This is not how I wanted myself to be either," she sighed. "But I have no choice. This is the only opportunity I have right now."

"For your father?" Momo asked in a solemn tone. As much as she wanted to help Sana, she lacked what it took to do so.

"Nothing else could drive me to do anything I don't want to do," Sana answered. She smiled and exhaled slowly, shrugging her shoulders as she couldn't think of anything further to say.

"I know, Sana," Momo could only say to her friend. "I only hope Ms. Lim's ego wouldn't grow that big just because you succumbed to what she wants," she muttered quietly.

"Hey," Sana chuckled, "didn't you say she's the nicest?" she wondered.

"It's true!" Momo argued. "But she's truly all about herself at times, and she becomes cruel when her career reputation is in jeopardy," she tried to explain.

"She'd always been like that," Sana confirmed. "It's no surprise she's still by herself after all these years."

"How did it make you feel?"

"Hmm?"

"That she's still that lone wolf you knew before," Momo continued, her eyebrows raised as she waited for an answer. "Doesn't that make you feel something? Ms. Lim preferred to be alone rather than replace you with someone else."

"Come on, Mo," Sana said, shaking her head and smiling with sad eyes. She thinks about Nayeon from time to time, wondering how difficult it must have been for the woman to find somebody else to belong to. Unfortunately, her stoned heart constantly stood in the way, driving her to miss the great importance of forgiving. "Are you implying that she's waiting for me to return?" Sana inquired.

"I'm not sure, Sana," Momo said, shrugging her shoulders. "It's just that I've never seen Ms. Lim watched out for someone," she explained.

"What exactly do you mean?"

"She went to see you yesterday, right?" Momo said, only getting a nod from Sana. "She had requested me to plan an urgent meeting the day before," she added. "Because something happened, and there's a good chance we won't win the competition Ms. Lim had always worked so hard for us."

Sana kept listening while avoiding Momo's gaze. She's terrified the woman will see through them and recognize how much she cares about Nayeon as well. "And Sana, I swear nothing would distract Ms. Lim in such circumstances."

"But she was so consumed by worries when you hung up on her without saying anything," Momo continued. "Do you know what she did?" she asked, scowling jokingly.

"What?" Sana eventually said, gazing Momo in the eyes.

"She suddenly assigned me to take over during the meeting because she had to go somewhere important," Momo explained. "I had no idea you were "that" more important matter to her than the competition," she said. "See, I've been working for her for a long time, but that was the one and only moment I encountered her, fleeing a big meeting for something else."

Sana gazed down at her clasped hands, unsure how to react to that story. All she could do was sigh and nod. Momo grabbed her hand to get her attention right then and there. "If one thing is certain," the woman continued, "you are special to Ms. Lim." "You still are," Momo whispered.

"Even if that's true, Momo," Sana grumbled. "...I can't. She's still Nayeon, the one I cared about, I won't deny that, but I can't ignore that she's the same Nayeon who made my life considerably harder than it should be," she continued. "She sent me to hell, and even if she pulls me out this time, what I feel about her has already scorched, perished, with the fires of this hell."

"I see that," Momo replied, acknowledging Sana's feelings regarding the whole situation with Nayeon.

"All I can offer is the possibility of us becoming friends, or mere acquaintances, maybe," Sana said quietly.

 

 

Three days had gone since Dahyun's conversation with her father, which did not end well. To be honest, that moment never really left her mind. She feels bad about having to talk to her father in such a way. Even though Dahyun always comes across as a stubborn kid, she has always discreetly cared for everyone in her family. She is now concerned that what she told Dae-won significantly affected his feelings. But she can't take back what she's already said.

"This isn't the first time I've seen you around," a voice said, prompting Dahyun to raise her head. She came to a complete halt when she saw who was standing in front of her. "It's nice to see you're still keeping your health in check despite your busy schedule," the woman said.

"I have to accept, I'm never that busy," Dahyun chuckled. She sighed and smiled sadly after a few seconds. "It's a little upsetting, you know?" she said, returning her focus to the floor. "I want to prove something, but I haven't done anything noteworthy, which is why people keep intervening in my life, hoping to help me deal with situations. It's like I can't decide for myself."

"It's because of Mr. Kim again, right?" Gahyeon inquired, and the lack of a response for Dahyun reinforced her assumption. "How about we discuss this over coffee?" she said instead.

"Aren't you still on duty?"

Gahyeon lowered her gaze to her clothes. She was still dressed in her white doctor's coat. "I can take a few minutes of break," she said reassuringly to Dahyun. "But, sure, I do need to hang this back in my office first," she laughed.

"I'll come with you," Dahyun said.

 

 

"Are you sure you can tell us about this?" Miyeon raised both of her eyebrows, feeling slightly guilty that she had just learned something that she and Gahyeon shouldn't have known about in the first place. But it's a good thing Momo remembered to fill them in. It's simply that they've both been wondering for a long time.

"Perhaps not," Momo replied, puckering her lips. "But, girls, I can't help myself," she explained. "And Sana made no mention of keeping it from you two."

Miyeon could only laugh and shake her head, lost for words. "That doesn't mean you can, though," she said, prompting Eunha to nod and concur.

"It's hard not having somebody to talk to about it."

"Don't worry, we'll keep our mouths sealed," Eunha added, pretending to zip her lips. "But you know what?" she asked, taking a comfortable seat before proceeding. "From the way they were acting, I got the impression they had a relationship."

"That is exactly why I am not surprised," Momo concurred.

"I understand why Sana is doing everything she can to keep it from us, anyway," Miyeon said. "That girl never wants to accept that she knows how to care for people; it's almost as if she's ashamed of having to love someone."

"You know her tough girl demeanor," Eunha joked, capturing the attention of the other two. "She may be unaware that, despite her actions, we can see how soft she is," she stated.

"She loves really well in my opinion."

"I agree. Just look at all she does for her father," Miyeon replied. "It's genuine love."

"Imagine declaring you hate someone and will continue to hate them for the rest of your life, only to wind up sharing a part of your life with them yet again," Eunha laughed, all while feeling sorry for Sana. "It must be very frustrating for her to let Ms. Lim in once more because she really needs help."

"Yeah," Momo responded quietly. "I've been frustrated with her for three days, which is why I wanted to share it with you two."

"Wow, thank you for sharing your frustration," Eunha quipped.

"Now there's three of us hoping we can at least help our friend," Miyeon continued. "Even so, I'm not sure how I can help her," she mumbled.

"I don't want to trust Ms. Lim, but she might be exactly what Sana needs right now."

"You are right," Eunha agreed.

"But I'm intrigued," Miyeon replied abruptly, her eyes wide with wonder. "Sana once told us that she is good friends with Ms. Kim," she said. "But wouldn't accepting the job given by Ms. Lim jeopardizes Sana's friendship with Ms. Kim if she found out?"

"Of course, so the safest thing to do is to Ms. Kim from finding out," Momo remarked. "All Sana needs to do is be cautious."

"Does your wife know about this?"

"I told you earlier, I couldn't tell anyone else, so I thought of you two," Momo replied, shaking her head in response to the question.

"She has no idea about this," she clarified.

"Keep it like that," Miyeon advised.

"Why is Mina especially relevant in this problem?" Momo questioned, still unsure why Sana, and now her other friends, are advising her to keep it hidden from Mina.

"Aren't Mina and Ms. Kim on the same team? I've seen them in news articles online before, so I know they are close to each other," Eunha replied, causing Miyeon to hum in agreement. "People even assumed they were together because of the reporters," she went on.

Momo could only chuckle as she remembered how Mina hastily decided to marry her without first clarifying the issue with the media. It became a cause of confusion. "Well," Momo paused briefly, seeking to find the right words to disclose the truth to her friends.

"It's not true that she's mainly friends with Ms. Kim," she clarified. "She is equally close to both Ms. Lim and Ms. Kim; they basically watched each other grow up to be the fine women they are today." "You know Ms. Lim is one of our wedding's sponsors, right? That's because Mina and her are best friends as well. It's just that Ms. Kim is more of a people person, and Ms. Lim prefers to be alone most of the time."

Momo chose to continue the story after observing that the two were listening carefully. "When Ms. Lim and Mina hang out, it's usually like a private and professional meeting," she explained.

"With Ms. Kim, they could go out in public, which draws attention to them, but actually, if I would be jealous of either Ms. Kim or Ms. Lim for being too close to Mina, I'd pick Ms. Lim," she laughed. "Every time they hang together, it's like they're going on private dates."

"Well, now it's clear to me," Miyeon said, nodding. "However, I don't think you should tell Mina about Ms. Lim's plan to have Sana spy on her other friend."

"Why do you think so?" Momo inquired.

"She'd think it's unjust," Eunha said. "If she values Ms. Lim and Ms. Kim equally, she would not let this happen if she knew."

"Let's suppose Ms. Kim did indeed pay someone to steal your team's design for the competition, but you lack evidence to back up your assumption," she continued, prompting Momo to pause and reflect. All she knew was that Eunha had made a strong point. "If it's not true, it would be disappointing for Ms. Kim to learn that Sana helped execute Ms. Lim's plan."

"Exactly," Miyeon said, "I don't think Mina would want anything like that to happen between both her friends." "It could further separate them."

"Plus, she'd be dead mad at Sana," Eunha continued, "and Ms. Lim, too."