Yuri POV

It was the morning of 31st of December. Our group just arrived in the departure lounge of New Chitose International Airport to board Hyoyeon's private aircraft heading back to Seoul. We settled ourselves at the benches in the area as we wait for the boarding.

"This vacation sure is relaxing but stressing at the same time." Taeyeon snapped as he took a seat on my right.

I looked at him boringly, "You are aware enough that what you said doesn't make any sense, right?"

He sighed, "Yeah, I know."

"Well... I think an accurate description of this vacation is physically relaxing but mentally taxing."

"Hmmm. Right, you got my point." He chuckled. "The rhyming sure helps to make it sound right too."

"Rhyming is the key, Taeng."

Then, he uttered in a low voice, almost sounding like a whisper, "So... anyway... since Jessica's there on a bench afar while chitchatting with the rest of the girls... our seat sure is too far from the others as well... can I ask you a question?"

"Alright. Shoot."

"Why did you cry after your song last Thursday?"

"Didn't we all agree before the karaoke party that no one is allowed interrogate someone later on?"

"Hmmm. The actual ruling there is no one's allowed to interrogate someone's song choice, not the body language, hand gestures, TEARS, etcetera, etcetera..." he explained as he grinned annoyingly at me.

I sighed loudly, "Fine. It's because of Sooyoung's onion, okay."

"Right." Then, he called Soo's attention, "Soo! Come over here!"

Soo looked back at us while wearing a mischievous smirk on his face. He then stood and went to take a seat on my left. "So, am I right? He's going to say it's because of my onion?"

"Yup." Taeyeon answered him as he grinned widely.

Soo then snapped at me, "Yuri, I covered for you on that night. I made it really looked like it's all my fault that you cried so you can get away with their questions afterwards. You do owe me there, man."

"Fine. But, what's Taeyeon doing here?"

"Oh come on. Let him hear it. He's four years guaranteed secret trustworthy. Plus, since he's forever alone, let him have this perk."

"Yah!" Taeyeon complained. "Why are you so cruel to me, huh?"

He ignored him and asked me again, "So, what man? Why did you cry?"

I sighed loudly again, "Alright. Alright. Gee. You guys are really so annoying." I gazed at Stephanie. "I cried because..."

"Because???" they repeated with eagerness.

I looked down on the ground. "Because of Jessica..."

"Ehhhhhh???" they both uttered in disbelief.

I explained, "I got lost, all out of love for four years. I slept with different girls each and every day... Didn't really value commitments at all... But, then, when Jessica and I met again, I found love again. That's pretty much it."

Tae suddenly followed up a question, "Then, why did you stare at Tiffany before you sang your song?"

"I did not."

"Oh, you can't deny that." Soo responded and chuckled.

"And why?"

"Hyoyeon placed cameras all over the place." He took out his smartphone. "I saved the videos from the party, all angles take note, here in my phone."

I chuckled, "You can't exactly prove with the videos who am I looking at, you know."

"Oh, yes, I can." He then browsed to the video clip whereas the camera's situated directly behind Stephanie.

I looked at it disbelievingly, "Hyoyeon freaking have a CCTV camera installed behind Stephanie's seat?"

He chuckled, "Oh no. This clip is from Hyoyeon's phone." He put away his phone. "You can't deny it, man. This video sure is clear enough you're looking at Tiffany. Jessica's a meter away from Tiff's seat, you know. She's on the other side of their table. FYI."

I sighed in defeat, "Alright. Alright. I looked at her. So, what's the big deal on that?"

"Oh. There's none." Taeyeon answered. Then, the both of them grinned annoyingly at me again. He continued, "But since you denied that you were looking at her, you made it sound like it is a BIG DEAL."

"You're both thinking too much."

Soo uttered, "No, man. Come to think of it, you've been really, really acting weird throughout our vacation trip."

Taeyeon then pointed out one by one, "You're rude to Tiffany on our flight coming here, then you became nice to her in the morning breakfast, you're rude again to her by noontime, you became too sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet to her during the paintball fight, you became soooooooo nice to her on the breakfast next morning and by the night of the same day, you cried which obviously is for her too. Finally, you've been avoiding her since yesterday till now, man."

"Now, what? Did you really monitor my interactions with Stephanie for the vacation trip? Don't you have a life of your own?"

"I did not have you monitored, okay. Stop being delusional. Anyone can notice how much you've been acting weird for the past days... most especially on Tiffany."

"I am just not in the mood to be together with her during vacation trips. That's just it."

"Because???" they eagerly asked again.

"Because it makes me feel reminded of our past and I don't like it..."

The both of them looked away and just observed the others as they leaned on the backrest too. Sooyoung then uttered, "You don't like it because you missed it, huh..."

"..."

Suddenly, Sooyoung's phone rang. He looked at its screen and found it was Taecyeon calling. He quickly answered it, "Hello, Taec... Yeah...? We're just waiting for the boarding... Yeah, she's busy... Yes! Just give us two hours and we'll be there... Yeah, we did... Alright, alright. Bye." He ended the call and sighed loudly as he put it back in his pocket.

"Why did Taecyeon call?" I asked.

He sighed again, "Hyoyoung's on her tantrums. Taec said she's been missing us so much that she's starting to cry and whine."

"Why didn't you bring Hyoyoung here, anyway? It's freaking a four-day vacation trip, man. You can't blame the kid if she starts whining and crying."

"We can't bring her here, okay."

"And why?"

"She's not used to the cold weather."

"Oh yeah? Where is she now? In a tropical country?"

"She's uhhhmmm at home."

I looked at him in disbelief, "Huh?"

Taeyeon snapped in, "Where's that home you are pertaining to, again? What country?"

He bit his lip and looked away as if trying to find a response to us.

Taeyeon continued, "Dude, Hyoyeon told me that Hyoyoung will be coming back to Seoul in September. We're hitting January already, man. Where the heck is your daughter?"

He then shouted in annoyance, "She's in a safe place, okay!"

I butted, "Don't tell me she's already in Seoul? Seoul is what you meant with home, right?"

He looked away again and didn't even answer me.

"Why are you and Hyoyeon hiding your daughter from us, man? Really, I don't see a reason for you to do such thing."

He then stared at me intently, "Look, Yuri. I admit. She's already in Seoul at our new house ever since last September. But, don't tell anyone else about this. Just, play along. Hyoyeon and I thought that it will be better for her not to be exposed to anyone else for now. You know... billionaire issues. That's the thing."

"Really? That's just it?"

"Yeah."

Taeyeon butted, "It wouldn't hurt if you let us, YOUR FRIENDS, see your daughter once in a while, Sooyoung."

It was then announced that it's already time for boarding. With that, Sooyoung rashly avoided us both by walking briskly. He even dragged Hyoyeon too. We eagerly chased him but we couldn't catch up much, though. We ended up walking along with Jessica as well as Yoong and Stephanie walking two steps ahead of us.

In the cabin of Hyoyeon's private jet, seats are designed facing each other with just two seats a row which is separated by a large space for the walkway. I chose the first front-facing seat on the left while Yoong's on my right. Our fiancés sat on the seats facing ours.

I snapped at Jessica, "Can you believe that guy?" I pointed to Sooyoung at the back before I took my seat.

"Why? What's going on?"

"He just told us that Hyoyoung's already back in Seoul since months ago. And he didn't even inform us."

Taeyeon butted in behind me as he chuckled, "They're both hiding their daughter for safety. Even from all of us. What are they trying to imply to then? That we're gonna kidnap their daughter away?"

Jessica just happened to stare at me absentmindedly. "What's wrong?" I asked. I then happened to look at Yoong too and he bore the same expression as he stared back at me. "What? Did Taeyeon and I say something wrong?"

He then looked at Taeyeon. I glanced over the latter as well. He seemed to have realized something and looked down guiltily. "Now, what's going on?" I asked him.

Taeyeon looked at me and shook his head. "Nothing."

I went back to my seat. "Now, all of you are acting weird."

"We're not." Jessica snapped and chuckled, "We just thought the two made the right decision. It's all for their daughter's safety."

"Y-yeah." Yoong seconded. "But, anyways, it's all in their call, right? They have the right to uhhmmm do anything they want." Then, he busied himself from reading a random magazine that he took from the table in front of him.

I shrugged and sighed in defeat, "Hmmm. Yeah, you got a point. It's their daughter, anyway."

I happened to glance at Stephanie as well. She just sat there, her back rested on her seat as she stared outside the window in a somewhat lifeless manner. Now, what's with her?

I noticed Jessica did the same as me too. She stared at her best friend in a somewhat worriment. Then, she snapped, "Do you want to take a rest at the bedroom, Tiff?" she asked.

From her lifeless expression, she looked and responded at Jessica with a lightened mood, though, it looked forced for me, "No." She chuckled."What a random question, bestie."

"It wasn't random. I just noticed how you looked... tired."

"I am not..." She then wandered her eyes. She snapped a question to redirect the topic, "So, this jet of Hyoyeon really has a bedroom, huh? Nice."

"Do you like the aircraft?" I asked.

She looked startled at first. Then, she answered as she wandered her eyes around again, "Yeah. The interior's really extravagantly designed, more like giving a professional but a warm, cozy vibe."

"Well, you're looking at one of the most expensive aircraft of my company, Stephanie."

She looked back to me in awe, "Really?"

"Yup. Fantasia SH800, one of the models under the private charter series of Sky Airline."

"Hmmm. I see..." She continued to look around.

"Just tell me if you want to buy one. Since your my fiancé's best friend, I can sure give you a discount."

"Thanks, but, no thanks. I'd rather not waste money for such luxurious aircraft, really."

"Oh. Alright. Just tell me if you change your mind."

She smiled at me, "Sure. Thanks."

---

Immediately as we arrived in the arrival area of Incheon International Airport, Stephanie's parents, Henry and Elizabeth Hwang, greeted her and went near us. It seemed they have just arrived in Incheon, perhaps, from another country too.

"Stephanie." Miss Elizabeth called in quite a delightful tone. Stephanie walked towards the two and gave her a hug then her father. Yoong and Sunkyu followed along with the exchange of greetings and embraces with the two.

"Mom, what are you two doing here?" she uttered. As she noticed their luggage, she pointed out, "I didn't know you two decided to go for another trip."

"Well... your father got bored at home so he thought we have much spare time to fly to Taiwan yesterday."

Henry butted in, "Don't believe your mom. It was her who got bored at home, not me. Anyway, how's the trip? Did you have fun?"

"Slightly." Sunkyu answered. "The only thing most enjoyable there was the paintball war, though."

"Ooohh... Paintball." Henry then looked at his wife, "Maybe we should do a family game of that sometime."

"Yeah, that sounds good."

Then, the two of them finally realized the presence of the rest of us. Miss Elizabeth chuckled as she greeted us, "Oh, by the way, hello everyone." Henry then waved his hand as his greeting.

Jessica smiled warmly and greeted in return, "Hello Aunt Elise, Uncle Henry." The rest of our friends followed along with the greeting. Yeah, except me. I tried my hardest to avoid their gazes.

"Oh. By the way, Uncle, Auntie, you two haven't met my fiancé, right?" She held me on my upper arm as she pulled me closer. Then, she corrected, "I mean, 'met again'." She chuckled, "Kwon Yuri, my fiancé."

I looked at Miss Elise and found she was already staring back at me while smiling warmly. I briefly glanced over Henry then focused back to her. I greeted, "Hello, Miss Elizabeth. It sure is nice to see you again." I extended m