Hi! I hope everyone is doing great! Thank you for tuning in to this story as well and checking out what this is about. Take care, everyone!

 

She stood in the empty corridor with open for a few minutes as she stared at the door where Mina disappeared with her daughter. With Nayeon's daughter. They didn't give her daughter away. She didn't end up in foster care. Mina had been taking care of her… Her younger sister who was only 18 when Nayeon gave birth. 

 

"Nayeon," A comforting hand squeezed her arm. "Let's go back to our apartment." It was Momo. Nayeon took a shaky breath and blinked away the tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

Without another word, she turned around and went up 3 floors to get to their apartment. She didn't even notice Sana waiting for them at the stairs. 

 

Nayeon was supposed to go back to Seoul and reunite with her family. Mainly with her sisters. She knew that it would've been difficult because of her actions. They definitely hated her. But she had hope that she could repent and earn their trust again. She didn't think though, that her own daughter would be with them either. 

 

"That went…horrible." Sana ended the silence between them. They were all on their couch, staring into space. 

 

"Yeah, we were supposed to wait a while until you get friendly with Mina." Momo said, implying that it was somehow Sana's fault.

 

"I had no idea that she lives here! And as I told you, I was getting friendly with her." Momo rolled her eyes at Sana's defense. Even though, deep down, she knew that Sana was right.

 

"It feels like our plan has just burned into flames." Momo sighed heavily and rested her head on Nayeon's shoulder.

 

"Come on! It was just the first meeting. We just gotta keep trying. Mina is so kind and understanding. She'll listen to you soon." Sana tried to manifest positive vibes between them. She couldn't accept defeat and her friend giving up.

 

"Yes, 'cause you know her so well and you're best friends." Momo mocked her. Sana scowled at her.

 

"Stop being so negative. We came here to fix Nayeon's mistake. So let's do it." 

 

"Maybe it was a stupid idea." Nayeon finally joined in. She wasn't a fan of that plan at first, but Sana and Momo helped her realize that she could change and fix her life. 

 

"No. It wasn't. We have gone so far already. We can't just give up. And Mina lives right here. So we can have so many opportunities to approach her again." Sana stood up and went into the kitchen to bring a bottle of water to Nayeon. It was a welcomed gesture. 

 

"She'll end up calling the police or something." Momo anticipated the worst, but there could be a chance of it happening.

 

"Probably…" Nayeon didn't know the grown-up Mina. So she could do anything. And Nayeon didn't want to make her sister feel unsafe. 

 

"I'll do it." Sana said, determined. They sent her a confused look. "I'll keep talking to her. We work together after all. And she seemed to have taken a liking to me."

 

"We won't have the money to defend you in court." Momo said, a bit jokingly. But she was worried about her friend.

 

"I don't care. I want Nayeon to be happy and get her sisters back." Sisters…and what about her daughter? She gave birth to her 5 years ago, yes. But she wasn't her mom, was she? But maybe, she could get to know her? See how well Mina raised her.

 

"That little girl…she is my daughter." Momo and Sana heard the exchange outside of the elevator and it was quite the news to receive after coming back home.

 

"It's good that she stayed with her family." Momo smoothed Nayeon's arm with her hand.

 

"But that changes things. What am I going to say? Hey, I am the mommy that gave birth to you. How are you, whatever your name is." Nayeon said, exasperated, and took a big swing of water.

 

"This is something you'll have to talk about with Mina. She is the one that can explain everything to Chaeyoung well." Sana replied with a bit of hope. But it truly was just her against the gloomy mood of the other two. 

 

"Let's go out to eat some junk food. It'll bring something good in the awful situation." Momo announced and jumped off the couch to pull Nayeon with her. With a bit of struggling, Nayeon was on her feet as well. And Sana wasn't going to say no to that either. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All hell let loose when Mina informed her sister and friends about the encounter. Tzuyu was ready to look for their apartment in the building and go there to tell them what she was thinking. Jeongyeon and Jihyo were on board with the idea at first, and Mina almost didn't manage to stop them. She didn't see any reason in threatening and blackmail. And she didn't want Chaeyoung to be a witness to all of it. Her daughter was terribly quiet the whole time. She was sitting on the sofa, coloring in her sketchbook. She didn't even look at them once. It was physically hurting Mina. Even though she tried to believe that Nayeon left for good, she was afraid that one day, her older sister would appear out of nowhere and would try to take Chaeyoung away. And that fear might've become the reality. 

 

"Maybe we should go to the police." Mina caught Jihyo's idea and immediately woke up from her disastrous overthinking. 

 

"I'm not going to use connections to get her in trouble with the law." She said with authority. 

 

"You said it yourself. She literally planted her friend to work with you so that they could figure out everything about you." Jeongyeon added, sounding a bit done with Mina.

 

"They didn't break the law. And I told her to leave us alone." 

 

"As if she will do that. If she didn't change at all, she is going to pester us every day." Tzuyu pointed at Mina, as if she tried to point out Mina's bull.

 

"If she will, then we could call the police." Mina finished and glanced back at Chaeyoung, who was still filling the page with colored pencils.

 

"And what if she wants to take-" Jeongyeon couldn't finish her sentence, because Mina stood up from her chair forcefully. 

 

"Don't even say anything else. I think that we should see where this is going and then decide what to do. And I have to call Haru." She said with an air of finality and walked out of the living room. She entered her bedroom straight away and took her phone. She opened her list of recent calls and chose the correct one. It took three rings for Haru to pick up.

 

"If you're calling to ask if I won't make it tomorrow as well, don't worry. Just a one-time work incident." He explained before she could even utter a word. 

 

"It's fine. I'm calling because of something else though." She said carefully.

 

"You don't sound good. What happened?" 

 

"Nayeon is here." Mina decided that there was no reason for delaying the news. Haru went completely silent. 

 

"Did you see her?" He asked urgently.

 

"Yes. We kind of spoke." Mina was sure that he would react the same way her friends and Tzuyu reacted. But he had the right to know. 

 

"Why would she even come back? She made her choice back then, nobody missed her here." He exclaimed into the phone. 

 

"She said that she wants to fix her mistake."

 

"Oh, so suddenly she is so righteous and thinks about other people? Like I'm going to believe that. Because once I did and she left me and our daughter without a ing word." Mina let him relieve his anger. Nayeon hurt a lot of people that day. And Mina remembered how much Haru liked Nayeon. He was ready to get married and raise Chaeyoung together. Nayeon actually agreed too. But in hindsight, Mina knew that Nayeon just said yes to make everyone more relaxed so she could escape easier. Now, Mina entered the life Nayeon was supposed to have. To an extent, of course. 

 

"I don't know what her true intention is. We will see what she's going to do." Mina informed him after a moment of break to let him calm down.

 

"I'm going to move with you." He said, eerily calm.

 

"I don't think that's a good idea." Mina wanted to change his mind. Not that she didn't like him, she thought that he was a good dad and could be fun too. But having him at her home, with Nayeon living somewhere around and Tzuyu who actually didn't like him that much, would be an absolute disaster. 

 

"Yeah, cause it's a great idea. And Chaeyoung will be happy to have us both in one place." Mina could hardly argue with that. Of course, Chaeyoung knew that they didn't love each other romantically. She was pretty sad about it for some time, but she had both of her parents available every day. And they made an effort to spend time with just the three of them as well. 

 

"I just don't want to escalate the situation." 

 

"Don't worry. I am an oasis of peace." Haru replied quickly and she heard him something. There was no stopping him. "I'll be there in an hour."

 

"Ok." Mina ended the call then. And just stood there with her eyes closed. Her life was going so well. Now, it was turning into a mess again. She knew that it was silly to think that their life would only be getting better. 

 

"Is he really coming here?" Mina opened her eyes and took a deep breath. 

 

"Yes." 

 

"It's not the best idea. It's going to send mixed signals to Chaeyoung and he might escalate the situation with Nayeon." Jihyo voiced her concern and walked closer to Mina. 

 

"I know." Mina said simply. She couldn't forbid him from coming though. He had the right to live with them. Jihyo pulled her into a side hug instead of saying anything. For a few moments, they remained silent.

 

"Are you going to tell your parents about it?" It was a hard question to answer. Especially when she didn't want to tell them. 

 

"She's dead to them. What good will it do to tell them?" 

 

"I'm not sure. But she's still their daughter. So maybe it wouldn't hurt to inform them." Jihyo explained her point of view. 

 

"I'll think about it." Maybe if Nayeon was going to persist in her attempts to talk to them, Mina would tell them.

 

"We should relax a bit after this. Jeongyeon said that she'll cook something comforting. And we'll help you talk with Chaeyoung about it." Mina was grateful for having people that actually cared about the whole mess. And they were also the same people that were there for Chaeyoung, Tzuyu, and her from the beginning. 

 

"Thank you." 

 

"You know it, Mina. Now come on, let's get back to the rest." They shared a smile and Mina let Jihyo lead her back to the living room. 

 

 

 

The tension in the apartment didn't fully disappear. Which wasn't anybody's fault. They were almost all adults though, so Mina wasn't as worried about them as she was about Chaeyoung. When she came back to the living room with Jihyo, she joined her daughter on the sofa. She didn't want to force anything out of Chaeyoung but she made sure that the little girl knew that she could talk to her mom if she wasn't feeling well. Chaeyoung nodded, seemingly understanding her mom, she didn't try to talk though. So Mina simply remained next to Chaeyoung and observed what she was doing. Although, soon she had to calm down Tzuyu after she found out that Haru was coming to stay with them. Which wasn't very successful but at least Tzuyu was upset about it silently. That is until Haru didn't show up at their apartment. Then it was more passive-aggressive behavior. Chaeyoung, on the other hand, was overjoyed when she learned that her dad was staying with them. Mina had to admit, that at least it looked like Chaeyoung forgot about being sad over the encounter with Nayeon. As to how the rest of the evening went…awkward. 

 

"I have no idea why you are so hostile." Haru asked a frowning Tzuyu as she was moving HER things from HER room so that he could stay in it. 

 

"I don't know? Maybe because I am being kicked out of my own room?" She deadpanned and shoved him just a tiny bit on her way out of the room with the bed covers and pillows.

 

"Where else am I supposed to sleep?" Haru responded and raised his arms to show that he was lost. Mina wasn't ready for all of that. 

 

"Let me think about it…" Tzuyu started once she was back to grab some more things and bring them to Mina's room. "Ah, yes, we also have a sofa in the living room." 

 

"You can't expect me to sleep on it. I am not a stranger. I'm family." He said in his defense. Mina heard Tzuyu whisper 'Unfortunately' on her way. She was glad that Chaeyoung was asleep. 

 

"What did she say?" 

 

"Just don't provoke her more." Mina warned him instead. 

 

"Just think about what Chaeyoung would've thought if she saw me sleep on the couch." His comment was harmless. But it still made Mina feel guilty. 

 

"I get it. Tzuyu is just angry after today. Give her some slack." She defended her sister, which shouldn't come as a surprise. 

 

"I'll take Chaeyoung to kindergarten in the morning. So even if she tries to ambush us somehow, she'll be too scared of me to do anything." He revealed his plan and started putting all of the necessary items onto the bed. 

 

"If you say so. But please, don't act emotional in front of Chaeyoung." What she wanted to say was 'don't be angry and aggressive'. She didn't want to cause another conflict that day though. 

 

"Don't worry. I think that I am a competent parent." Haru waved his hand dismissively and grabbed a towel. "Now, I'm gonna take a shower. Goodnight." He finished their conversation and walked past her to get to the bathroom. Mina hoped that it was going to be good. Or at least, that her mind would let her sleep. 

She checked on Chaeyoung one more time before entering her room. Tzuyu was already lying in bed, earphones in, her eyes focused on the screen of her phone. Mina sighed and got into bed as well. She positioned herself on her back and just stared at the ceiling for a moment. 

 

"Do you need a hug?" She spoke into the air and waited to see if Tzuyu heard her. 

 

"I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me." 

 

"Tzuyu," Mina said gently and her side to face her younger sister. "I also feel a lot right now. Confusion, anger, disappointment, fear. And I think that we're allowed to feel this way." She put her arm around Tzuyu's waist. 

 

"It's just a cruel joke. She's probably here to gain something. Like money. Then, she'll disappear again without notice." Mina couldn't help but share Tzuyu's worries. 

 

"We'll have to see what she does." Tzuyu scoffed.

 

"Why are you trying to defend her?" 

 

"I'm not defending her. I just don't want to make a bigger mess. We have more power than her, so if it gets bad, she won't come out victorious." She hoped that it was enough to keep Tzuyu relatively calm for a while. And after a little bit of thought, it seemed like Tzuyu might relent.

 

"Fine. I just hope it won't all come back to bite us." Mina hoped so too. 

 

 

 

 

As it was decided, Haru took Chaeyoung to kindergarten in the morning. The little girl seemed excited about it. As in, she was awake for the first time in a while. She even tried to coax Mina into coming with them. Mina refused though, because she wanted to get to work even earlier than yesterday. Knowing that Ms. Minatozaki lived in the same building and the previous day she learned that the CEO's daughter came to work at 8 am., Mina expected to see her waiting somewhere. 

She hoped that she would succeed with her plan. But, that wasn't the case. Apparently, life hated her. Because Ms. Minatozaki was standing in front of their building, facing the entrance so that she could see Mina leave. She decided to pretend that she didn't see the architect and just go straight to the parking lot and enter her car.

 

"Ms. Myoi. Please wait!" She heard the plea and then the sounds of heels were right next to her. Mina kept ignoring her though. She reached her car and unlocked the doors. "Mina, please. Just a minute." 

The use of her first name caught her off guard. She looked at Ms. Minatozaki and her expression was screaming desperation.

 

"I don't think we were on a first-name basis." Mina said, cold. She was very much disappointed with Ms. Minatozaki. Her first impression was positive and Mina believed that they could get along well during their time working together. 

 

"I figured that it may get you to stop. Sorry." The brightness and bubbliness that was almost always present in Ms. Minatozaki's voice were entirely gone. "Listen, I want to explain everything and apologize for the situation that occurred yesterday."

 

"The situation seems clear to me."

 

"I swear that it's not. Just give me a minute." She joined her hands in a pleading gesture. Her eyes looked glossy as if she was about to cry and her lower lip started trembling. And Mina felt bad for a moment.

 

"Ok." 

 

"Oh, thank you." Ms. Minatozaki let out a troublesome sigh and then inhaled deeply. "I guess you must be thinking that Nayeon made me get a job at your hotels to get close to you. Well, that is true. We planned it that way. I was supposed to befriend you and try to convince you to give Nayeon a chance. Which probably still sounds bad enough. But we had no idea that you live here. I promise. So it was a chance that we bumped into each other yesterday. And, before you say anything, Nayeon truly regrets leaving and ghosting you all. We came here so that she can fix it all." Sana finished and took a few deep breaths to refill her lungs with air. Mina wasn't sure what to think of it. If Sana was telling her the truth, then letting Nayeon back in wasn't a terrible idea. But Mina also didn't know Sana well enough to make a judgment. Especially, since their interactions so far were most likely fake. It was just an act to get on Mina's good side. 

 

"I'll take your story into consideration. Now, I need to go to work." Mina grabbed the handle on the door and opened them to make way. 

 

"Come on! Please, just one chance. Talk to her and form your own opinion on this. Nayeon is my close friend so I want her to be happy. And she'll be happy after having you back in her life." Mina tried not to roll her eyes, then she entered the car. Ignoring Ms. Minatozaki's urgent tone. She heard a groan and the sound of heels moving away. And she thought that she managed to get rid of the architect. But then the door on the passenger side opened and Mina watched as the relentless woman entered her car. She was speechless. 

 

"What are you doing?" Mina asked. Ms. Minatozaki buckled the seatbelt and crossed her arms. 

 

"We work together. Might as well drive me there considering the circumstances." 

 

"You have a driver scheduled to pick you up at 9." Mina countered, still in disbelief.

 

"Then cancel him. Don't worry, I'll stay quiet. I won't even look your way." That behavior was a bit childish. Ms. Minatozaki most likely knew that. Mina was stubborn though. 

 

"Fine. Have it your way." She replied and with one last glance at her passenger, she buckled her own seatbelt and started the car. 

 

 

She was silent, as she said. Mina thought that perhaps, she was going to give up. That she was going to go back to Nayeon and say that they should go back to wherever they came from. And Mina lived with that thought until lunch break. When her secretary informed her that Ms. Minatozaki wanted to come in. Mina didn't want to cause drama at their workplace therefore, she let her in. 

 

"Are you going to take a break?" Was the first thing Mina heard from her. Her tone was uncomfortably official. It didn't fit her persona at all. 

 

"Maybe. Aren't you on a break?" 

 

"You should take one. You've been working nonstop since 7 am. At least stand up and do some squats." Now, she sounded more casual, concerned. As if she couldn't keep her act up anymore.

 

"Why did you come here?" Mina sighed and continued working on her computer. 

 

"We are working together. Quite closely. It's normal for me to come and ask about something." As if she was asking anything about the work. Mina took a deep breath and looked at the woman standing in front of her desk.

 

"I'll think about it. Can you leave me alone now?" The slight scowl on Ms. Minatozaki's face changed into a hopeful expression in a split second. 

 

"Truly? You'll give it a thought? You're not just trying to trick me?" 

 

"I'm being honest." Mina was planning to do all of the thinking and seeing how it all develops already anyway. And if it was going to make the architect stop the weird behavior, she didn't mind admitting it.

 

"Thank you so much. That's all I'm asking. I am just really scared of how this will go and how it'll affect Nayeon." Her voice started breaking and soon she was sobbing. Mina hated the whole situation. She absolutely despised it. Because she was supposed to be disappointed and upset but she kept feeling for the girl. Why was she so weak? 

 

"Hey, it's ok. Why are you crying?" Ms. Minatozaki tried to calm herself down and stop her tears but she was unsuccessful. 

 

"I don't want her to be hated by her family for the rest of her life." She mumbled and Mina understood her. In all honesty, she would've acted the same way if it was Jihyo or Jeongyeon in Nayeon's place. So Mina could respect Sana's efforts. 

 

"Then what you said about her should be all true." Sana nodded and continued to sob. And Mina let her. Partially, because it would look bad if Sana just left her office in tears. And simply because she didn't want to kick her out. 

 

 

 

 

 

"Are you crazy?! Do you want her to call the cops on you?!" And so it was evident that Nayeon and Momo didn't like the way Sana went about talking to Mina. As soon as they sat down on the couch with takeout and shared what they were up to during the day, Sana knew that she had to be honest. 

 

"She'll blacklist you or something. Like you'll never find a job again." Momo wasn't as loud as Nayeon was in her reprimand. Thankfully. 

 

"Did you two just ignore the fact that Mina agreed to think about talking to you and she didn't even mention police or blacklisting. She was actually a bit…" Caring, Sana finished in her head. She couldn't say it out loud because it sounded insane. Why would Mina, who was pissed off, care about Sana at that moment? But she let Sana drive in her car and listened to her. Mina even let her cry, she provided Sana with tissues and actually awkwardly patted her on the shoulder. Were her friends going to believe her though? 

 

"Are you going to finish that sentence or are we supposed to just make up the ending?" Momo said, exasperated. 

 

"It doesn't matter. Mina was always nonconfrontational. She probably just told you all of it to make you go away. Then when you come back in a few days, she'll say that she's still thinking." Nayeon sighed heavily and slumped on the couch. Momo patted her head to give her some comfort. 

 

"We should give her a chance then. The way she is supposed to give it to you, Nayeon. And if she tries to brush me off, I'll continue confronting her." 

 

"They'll never let us set foot in South Korea after this." Momo said half-jokingly. 

 

"I'm not breaking the law." Sana whined and tried to kick Momo on the side, they were sitting too close though.

 

"I really had to destroy everything." Nayeon sighed again. Momo and Sana’s protective mode kicked in.

 

“Hey, you were young and scared. You thought of your own well-being and happiness.” Momo said softly and side-hugged Nayeon. Sana reached over Momo to pat Nayeon’s leg. Back then it was true. Nayeon didn’t want to have a baby. She wasn’t even in a serious relationship with Haru. And she ended up getting pregnant. In 9 months, her whole life became orchestrated by her family. She had to keep the baby, become a stay-at-home mother, and get married to Haru. She would have to live unhappy life just to keep up appearances. Now, she knew that what she did may have been a bit too selfish. She just left a few hours after giving birth. She left Mina and Tzuyu without a goodbye. The treatment she was getting was absolutely deserved. Tzuyu probably hated her just as much and her own daughter probably didn’t even know who she was. 

 

“You know what? We should start preparing for the talk you’ll have with Mina. You gotta know what to tell her and how to explain yourself.” Sana broke the silence, determined. Nayeon was a tiny bit confused by her behavior. Yep, Sana was absolutely full of positivity, but she knew when to step back. Especially, in a situation like that one. Nayeon told Momo and Sana about her sisters, but she told them about the versions from years ago. And just hearing about them wasn’t good enough to truly know them. Yet, Sana seemed convinced that Mina was going to talk to Nayeon. Even if Nayeon had zero hope. 

 

“That’s not a terrible idea. The way you described it to us could work.” Momo seemed on board. 

 

“I told you all about it at 2 am, after 5 drinks and in the middle of a club.” Nayeon pointed out, not proud of that moment.

 

“Yeah… You definitely should be sober and do it at home or something.” Sana replied while scratching the back of her neck awkwardly.

 

“Obviously. Do you think it would be a good idea to have Tzuyu there as well?”

 

“I mean if she will want to talk. But so far Sana only harassed Mina so we can’t tell.” Momo said honestly.

 

“I didn’t harass her!” Sana whined and decided to punch Momo in the shoulder instead. Momo hissed from the pain and reciprocated the hit. Nayeon shook her head when that turned into a small punch fight between them. 

 

“Can you two be serious?” She asked, a bit annoyed, and waited for the two to stop their childish fight.

 

“Momo started it!” 

 

“I just spoke words and you got all aggressive?” Nayeon couldn’t help but laugh at her two friends.

 

“Because you’re making me look creepy.” Sana complained with a pout.

 

“Cause it kinda is creepy.” They weren’t going to stop unless Nayeon intervenes more surely.

 

“Ok, let’s say that I will go to her apartment and start by admitting that I did something wrong.” The other two girls stopped their fight and focused on Nayeon again. Though, Sana slid a bit away from Momo.

 

“That will probably be the best approach. Also, apologizing right away will be good.” Momo suggested. 

 

“And then just wait for her response. Don’t overwhelm her with explanations.” Sana added.

 

“Yeah, I can do that…probably.”

 

“We’re with you.” Momo assured her and initiated a group hug. Sana jumped into it instantaneously. Though it didn’t dull the worry in her mind.

 

 

 

A week went by without a word from Mina. They weren’t really bumping into each other at their apartment building either. Which perhaps was for the best. Nayeon and Momo also told Sana not to pester her for a while and just keep up the professional work. They counted on Sana’s honesty and tried not to doubt that she was keeping her distance. Then another week went by. And they were getting a little restless. But ultimately, were ready to wait a bit more. Or at least, they thought that they all agreed on waiting. Because Sana had a different plan. The grand scheme was actually not that grand and consisted of talking to Mina again. Repeatedly if needed be. 

Sana didn’t catch Mina in front of their building. So she knew that her opportunity would happen during the lunch break or after Mina’s shift would end. She decided to start as soon as possible. She approached Mina’s office with a cup of tea and coffee. Ms. Kim quickly asked Mina if it was ok for Sana to come in and then let Sana walk in. 

Mina didn't pay attention to her at first, her eyes glued to the screen of her phone, her fingers typing quickly.. Sana waited patiently but she did set the drinks on the desk. 

 

"What is it Ms. Minatozaki?" Mina finally turned her attention to her. 

 

"It's our break time so I thought…" Sana trailed off when Mina looked back at her phone and picked it up with a barely noticeable scowl. "That you may want some tea. Is everything ok?" 

 

"Thank you, just leave it here." Mina was clearly brushing her off. That was what she was doing for the last 2 weeks. Sometimes, Sana would manage to get Mina to at least let her stay at the office. Otherwise, their interactions were restricted to work related things.

 

"You look bothered." 

 

"I don't believe that it's your business." Sana wanted to pretend that she wasn't hurt by the harsh words. Even though Mina didn't sound particularly angry. 

 

"I am not telling you to expose the whole thing. I just-" She halted herself. 

 

"Why are you so insistent on talking to me?" Mina's question was unrelated to the topic of their conversation. And it was also a question that Sana didn't want to answer. 

 

"You still didn't talk to Nayeon." 

 

"I said that I will think about it." Mina finally dropped the phone back on the desk and perhaps the hostility wasn't caused by Sana and the situation with Nayeon. 

 

"It's been two weeks. At this pace you won't do it." Sana sat down in front of Mina. She wanted to keep an eye contact, but Mina was avoiding it. 

 

"It's not an easy decision. Just give me space." Sana was doing that. 

 

"And I-" Mina stared at her phone again. Sana sighed, exasperated, when Mina picked it up again. "Are you sure that you don't want to tell me what's wrong? Clearly someone is getting on your nerves."

 

"Why do you care about that? It's not crucial to make me talk to Nayeon." Mina was quick to reply. Still distant and more focused on messaging someone.

 

"Perhaps, I care about it because it's upsetting you." Sana wasn't sure how to word it without making it weird. Because they weren't close. They were just working together and Mina was angry with her. 

 

"Chaeyoung's father is trying to convince me that moving out of Seoul is a good idea because of Nayeon." Sana was a bit speechless. If she was thinking correctly then Mina was talking about Nayeon's ex boyfriend. And that was not helping Nayeon's case at all. 

 

"He's overreacting. Nayeon didn't even know that you were taking care of her daughter. And now she doesn't even know what to do about it. Because it's awful when you think of it. Her daughter is 5 now and has a mom that was with her from the beginning. Then Nayeon comes back and what? She can't just claim Chaeyoung to be hers." Sana hoped that she didn't make it worse with her little explanation. 

 

"So she doesn't want to meet Chaeyoung?" Mina suddenly sounded relaxed. It was truly an unimaginable fit to decipher Mina. She was stoic and professional, but her actions exuded warmth and openness. And apparently, she could calm down in a matter of seconds. 

 

"It's more like she thinks that you don't want her to meet Chaeyoung. And it would be difficult to just go and tell your daughter 'Hey, actually, this is your biological mom. I didn't give birth to you.'" Sana couldn't tell at all what Mina was thinking. As always, she could feel that Mina was simply observing her. All of the movements, all of the words, all of the unconscious microgestures. 

 

"Chaeyoung knows about Nayeon." 

 

"What…?" Sana was stunned. 

 

"I didn't want to hide it from her. She would've figured it out quickly anyway. So we explained it to her the best we could." Mina didn't have to share it with Sana. And the fact that she did, moved Sana's heart. 

 

"I'm sure that she sees you as her mom anyway." For the first time, Sana was able to see vulnerability. 

 

"I am not sure what to tell Chaeyoung. I tried to talk to her about it, but I am scared of asking her if she wants to meet Nayeon." Sana reached over the desk and put her hands on Mina's right hand that was still lingering around her phone. Mina didn't pull away.

 

"I understand. It's not an easy conversation. You don't need to have the best words to bring it up."

 

"I know that. This whole situation is just terrible for her. Her mother leaves, she gets adopted by her aunt, her dad marries the said aunt but doesn't live together with them because they don't love each other like that. She's going to tell about us to her future therapist." Mina chuckled awkwardly. Sana felt her tears well up in her eyes. She hated the whole thing. 

 

"I'm truly sorry." Was all she could say. She knew that Mina wouldn't listen to any words that would deny her own words. 

 

"I know." Mina said softly. "And I am thinking about it. I'm just still hurt and disappointed." 

 

"It's fine. I shouldn't be getting frustrated with you. You don't owe Nayeon anything after all." Sana admitted to her own unfair treatment. 

 

"You're just looking out for her. I would be doing the same th

ing if I were you." Mina sounded sincere. 

 

"Ride or die, huh?" Sana tried to joke. 

 

"That's how you know that someone is your true friend." Mina followed up with a barely noticeable smile. 

 

"We're going to give you more space. Though you should still expect me to invade your office." Sana sent Mina a warm smile. 

 

"I think I can live with that."