"Good morning Taeyeon unnie!" The said girl lifted her head up from her plate and watched as the brightly smiling girl jogged down the stairs. Her cousin had already taken a shower, and was carrying her go-to sling bag.

"Good morning, Yoong. You're all dressed up so early in the morning. Where are you going?"

"To the mall. I thought I needed to start shopping for the things I'll be needing when... you know." Yoona's happy and bright smile turned to a sad one. Taeyeon nodded and returned a comforting smile, understanding what she wanted to say.

"Taking advantage of the Saturday, huh? Okay then, be careful on your way."

"I will."

"Good morning Taeeeng!" Yuri dashed down the stairs while putting her jacket on, and jumped all the way down when she reached the last three steps, jacket already fully worn. She even grinned as she posed with her hands obliquely upward, just like how gymnasts pose whenever they did a successful stunt. Taeyeon had to suppress a laugh at her best friend's childish antics.

"Morning only. No good."

"Wow, way to kill the mood, Taeng." Yuri pouted. "I'm fit to be a gymnast, you know." Taeyeon let out a giggle as she shook her head.

"And where are you going?"

"To the mall. I have to buy that limited edition jacket I saw the other day. Today's the last day of the sale." I raised an eyebrow.

"You're going to the mall too?" 

"Yeah. Why, who else is going to the mall?" The short girl shifted her gaze on the other girl a few meters from her best friend, then back to her, making Yuri turn her head.

"Oh Yoona? I mean... G-good morning." It took everything in Taeyeon not to roll on the floor and laugh because of Yuri's expression when she found out that Yoona was right there all along, witnessing every embarrassing thing she's been saying and doing since she descended from the stairs.

"Good morning, Yuri."

"You're going to the mall too?"  The petite girl smiled and nodded.

"Did you two plan on leaving me here to go on a date instead?"

"O-of course not! We didn't plan any date!"

"A friendly date, Yul." Taeyeon clarified, seeing how her best friend reacted to her words.

"Oh.. I mean, no."

"Just a coincidence, unnie." Yoona laughed. "I'll get going then."

"You can go together, then. You'll give her a ride, right Yul?" She turned her head fast towards the girl sitting on the chair, giving her the 'What the hell are you talking about?' look.

Yoona looked at Yuri for confirmation.

"Umm...I dunno, I mean...." 

"It's okay, Yuri. You don't have to listen to unnie." Yoona innocently laughed.

"On second thought, I don't think I could entrust you with Yoona's life. It's just that Yoona sometimes has the tendency to cross the road recklessly. I just thought it could increase the safety of my cousin by..." Taeyeon paused and pretended to think. "...one percent. Oh, not much of a difference after all. Go on, Yoona. You can get going now." Yoona smiled and nodded and began walking towards the door.

"Yah! One percent? Are you kidding me? I'm a pro driver!" Yuri retaliated.

"Sure, sure..."

"Yoona, wait!" The petite girl stopped and looked back, her hand already midway towards the doorknob. "I'll give you a ride.  It's much faster and safer too. I'll show your cousin that I can get you to the mall and back home in perfect shape." Taeyeon inwardly smiled, Yuri was a safe driver. And she was sure from the start that Yuri would be careful as ever in driving, especially now. She was happy that Yuri took her bait. Taeyeon knew that what was coming a month ahead and wanted to give her best friend a chance. If only Yuri would get the purpose of why she was doing this.

"Oh. You're planning on driving her back here too?" Taeyeon continued to best friend. And she was sure that Yuri stiffened when she didn't realize what she had just said.

"Umm... well, if it's okay with you. The news said it's pretty dangerous riding cabs late at night these days." Yuri hoped until a certain thought crossed her mind. "...unless Seohyun would be giving you a ride already." There was silence for a couple of seconds, before the petite lady by the door spoke up.

"It's okay, I guess. Seohyun told me that she couldn't drive and accompany me to the mall today. I'll just send her a text message." Taeyeon didn't miss the slightest twitching of Yuri's lips when Yoona agreed.

"Alright. Let's go then."

"Take care you two."

"We will."

Yuri made her way towards the front door. "After you." She opened the front door and told Yoona to go wait for her in her car while she took her keys.

"Yuri..." 

"Hm?" Taeyeon looked at her intently. 

"Keep your word." She slowly smiled. Yuri released the breath she was holding and returned the smile.

"I will." With that, Taeyeon watched the front door close  and listened to the car's engine, until she was sure that they were already on their way. All she could do was sigh, both in relief and in exhaustion, because then she was all alone again, all alone to deal with her thoughts and dilemma.

---

Of all days, her car just won't start today. Hailing a cab was probably more practicial but she decided against it, knowing the increasing number of crimes involving them. She knew it was still early but on top of that, she didn't want to lose any of the files. She took another deep breath as she continued to walk. Thankfully, it was cloudy that day, and she didn't have to bring an umbrella because then, she didn't know how she will be able to carry it along with the stacks of papers and documents she was currently bringing. She wished it could've been more windy though. The cloudy skies  helped her bear with the sweat and exhaustion.

A drop of sweat made its way down her forehead and was blocked by her eyelashes from going inside her eye. Feeling the discomfort, she tried to hug the stacks of files with her left hand, before raising and using the back of her arm to wipe it. But just as she made a blind turn around a corner, she bumped into somebody, causing her to drop the stack of files on the sidewalk.

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry!" Seohyun apologized and quickly crouched to pick the  scattered papers up, mentally taking back her previous wish for it to be more windy.  . Don't get blown away please.

"I'll help you." The person she bumped, which she now distinguished as a man, crouched and helped her too, before the wind could blow them away.

"Here." The man stood up with her and placed the papers he has gathered on top of her own.

"Thank you so much, sir. I'm sorry for not looking where I was going." She bowed twice as a form of apology and gratitude. As she looked into the man's eyes, she observed his thin physique, but what she couldn't help but notice was his eyes. They seemed too familiar to her, but she just didn't know how.

"No problem." The man walked past her before she could ponder more on her thoughts. Seohyun has began to take another step when she felt a vibration inside her right pocket. Not wanting history to repeat itself, she carefully hugged the files with her left hand and stopped in her tracks for a while. Fishing her phone out of her pocket, she answered the call while leaning against the wall to avoid bumping into the other people walking by.

"Hello Taeyeon?"

"Seohyun, can we talk today?"

"Ahh sure, I was on my way to your house actually."

"Why is it noisy over there? Are you outside?"

"Yep, I'm walking. My car won't start today but I already had someone go and take a look at it. Bad timing though. I wasn't able to give Yoona a ride too."

"Oh, I see. Do you want me to go meet you up somewhere else instead?"

"Don't worry, I'm already near. Just a few more blocks away."

"Okay then. By the way, Yuri gave Yoona a ride to the mall. I hope you don't mind."

"Ah yes, it's okay. Yoona texted me about it. Sistar mall, right?"

"I think so. She didn't tell me. Hahaha. Cool, I'll see you later."

"Alright. I'll be there in a few." The call ended and she resumed her walk.

---

"What was it you wanted to talk about?" Seohyun asked as soon as her back felt the backrest of the couch.

Taeyeon sighed. "I'm just... conflicted."

"About what?"

"Everything." Taeyeon sighed. 

"Let me guess... is this about the note thing?" All that greeted her back was silence, and Seohyun took it as a yes.

"Yeah."

"I understand. But hey, don't stress too much about it."

"I wouldn't if the problem is the note perse. But it's not."

"What do you mean?" Seohyun leaned forward, eyebrows furrowed and fingers clasped together, looking serious in their discussion. Taeyeon paused as she contemplated whether she wanted to tell the girl in front of her or not.

"I wish I could tell you but it's very complicated, Seohyun. I can't even tell you now because I don't understand what I need to do myself. I'm torn." 

"I'll tell you what... if you're torn between options, choose the one which will be worth it. Think about it like this... weigh those options out. Then, imagine what would happen if you chose a certain option. Would you be okay? Would it have more bad effects than good ones? And most importantly, choose the one which will lead to something you've always wanted. There are times in our lives when we make impulsive decisions just because of something we suddenly want. Don't choose one over the other just because you want it now because it might not even matter tomorrow. And everytime you feel like giving up, just always remember why you started." 

Taeyeon stayed quiet as she allowed Seohyun's words to make their way into her mind. Her words are deep, as expected of the smart kid. But there were a lot of things going on in Taeyeon's mind that it was too tiring for her to decipher what they meant. She could only hope that her words would get stuck in her memory when she has the time to go over them again. 

"Thanks Seohyun, I'll keep that in mind."

"Please do."

"By the way, what's with these files? There's a lot."

"Work and stuff I had to do. Some of them are mom's work but I wanted to help her so that she won't be having much work to do and jeopardize her health again. I ended up having this mountain of work." Seohyun smiled as