With half-opened eyes, my fingers scrambled to switch off the alarm from my phone. As I stifled a yawn and stretched my arms, I almost fell backwards from my chair when I saw Krystal seated in front of me, smiling away.

"Yah, be careful."

She reached out her hand to try and grab me but I had already stabilised myself by holding on to the arm rest of the chair. Krystal ended up giggling as I blinked my eyes rapidly.

"How come you're here? I thought you said that you'll be at your Unnie's apartment." 

"Well, that was supposedly the plan but after your message, I asked Appa to drop me off at your office to save you the hassle of travelling." 

Seeing Krystal grinning, brought a smile on my face as I stifled another yawn. Her expression changed into a concerned look and she asked if I was still tired.

"Anni. I'm fine. Just let me clear some of my work and we'll be good to go in one hour." 

"Can I ask you something?"

I looked up to see Krystal biting her lips, her expression showing that she's contemplating about her decision to ask that question. I urged her to carry on asking and was surprised when she took both my hands and clasped it together,

"Promise me that you'll answer it truthfully?" She stared into my eyes as I took some time to react before finally nodding my head slowly. "Are you happy?"

"Mwo? What kind of question is that? Of course I'm happy with you." I answered confidently but Krystal shook her head.

"I'm not talking about us. I'm asking about this." She rolled her eyes and looked around. "This whole company thing. About you doing something that you're not fond of."

I paused to let her words sank into my brain before a frown appeared on my face. Krystal had a determined look as she held my hands tight, not letting it go. She repeatedly asked me to be truthful to her and I was about to answer when the intercom phone in my office let out a sound. 

"Ms Han, we need you to be at the conference room right now. It's an emergency. There's another protest. This time, it is a Mr Kim Seunghwan from our Technical Department."

I recognised the voice as the one belonging to one of my receptionist as I told her that I would be coming down in 10mins time. I quickly dialed Ms Jeon's office and mentioned the name before asking her to wait for me outside the conference room. By now, Krystal was looking really lost with the situation and had accidentally released my hands. 

"Krystal, I need to settle some matters urgently. Just wait for me here, okay. I'll be back as soon as possible."

I grabbed my blazer and put it on before walking briskly towards the lift.

Krystal's POV

'What's going on? Emergency? There's a protest going on?'

These thoughts came into my mind as I just watched Eunjin walking away and disappeared into the lift. 

"Something doesn't feel right. What exactly is going on?" I mumbled before deciding to find out myself. 

I knew where the conference room was so I made my way there. I was a few metres away from the closed door of the conference room but loud shoutings could already be heard from where I was standing. The front door had a small glass panel to it so I could see what was happening inside even though I was hiding myself against the door.

Eunjin and Ms Jeon were standing beside one another, back facing the door while an elderly man was standing in front of them. One security guard was standing slightly behind the elderly man who was now swearing at Eunjin. He was holding on to some pieces of paper and waving it around before throwing it straight at Eunjin's face. I noticed that the security guard was about to move towards the elderly man but Eunjin raised her hand slightly to stop him.

"Mr Kim, I can understand your frustration. But is there a need to act in this manner? Can't we sit down and have a peaceful discussion instead?" Eunjin's voice was calm as I noticed the elderly man glaring at her.

"Manner?!! Discussion??!! Don't try to teach me about manners when you are the one who is lacking in them. How could you treat an elderly person like me, who had served your company for 20 over years, by retrenching him? Do you think this monetary compensation is equivalent to the effort that I had put into the company? You useless youngsters, always looking down on old people like me just because I'm not as advanced in technology like most of you. I was already working my off for this company when you were still running around in your diapers. Just because you're born into a rich family doesn't mean you can use money to settle everything. Arrogant !!"

I saw the elderly man threw stacks of money repeatedly into Eunjin's face as Ms Jeon tried to block him but was pushed aside harshly, causing her to fall.

"Ms Jeon."

Eunjin bent down to help her secretary while the security guard quickly grabbed the arm of the elderly man, preventing him from moving forward. He continued swearing at Eunjin who was busy helping Ms Jeon to stand up.

"If your grandfather was still in-charge, this company would not end up like this. You're the one who brought this downfall to the company. You should have just stayed away and lived your own life just like before. You're not fit to lead at all."

"Mr Kim Seunghwan!!!"

I was surprised to hear Ms Jeon's loud voice as I saw her angry eyes and I noticed that even Mr Kim had flinched a little upon hearing her stern voice.

"You don't have the right to criticise Ms Han in that manner. You don't know the harship and struggle she has to go through because of this company. She has been working hard, harder than anyone to keep this company stable but economy crisis is beyond our control. Every industry is affected by it and all of them are going through the retrenchment period. At least, the company is willing to compensate you 5 times your last drawn salary amount. Some company don't even bother about it." Ms Jeon took a deep breathe before she continued. "We know how much you've been contributing to the company and we appreaciate your effort. But you're already 59yrs old, Mr Kim. You'll be retiring in 4 months time. Don't you think that amount of compensation is more than enough for you?"

"Do you know how embarassed I am to be retrench at this age? After all that I've done for the company." Mr Kim tried to rebutt but he seemed to stop when he saw Ms Jeon putting her hands on her waist. "Whatever it is, this kid here is...pweeiittt."

He spitted to his side with a disgusted expression as he looked at Eunjin. Ms Jeon asked the security guard to usher him out since it seemed like he had nothing else to say. Seeing the security guard grabbing Mr Kim's arm and walking towards the door, I quickly hide myself behind the staircase door. Once I was sure that the lift had gone down, I made my way back to the conference room.

************************

"Gwenchana?"

I felt Ms Jeon's hand on my shoulder as I nodded my head slowly. The grip tightened as I let out a sigh. I was already seated at one of the chairs in the room after the security guards escorted Mr Kim out of the conference room. 

"How about you, Ms Jeon? Did you hurt yourself when you fell down?"

Ms Jeon shook her head as she handed a folder to me. It was Mr Kim Seunghwan's employment records. I flipped through the pages and let out a sigh. Mr Kim had been working for 23 yrs at the company and I admitted that he had contributed a lot to the company. But that was only for the first 5yrs of his employment. Once Mr Kim was promoted to a supervisory level, his performance became stagnant before it started to deteriorate 3 yrs ago.

"I'm still curious as to why he could remain in this company for so long with his kind of records." Ms Jeon voiced out her opinion before shaking her head.

"If I'm not wrong, he went to the same high school as Harabeoji. My grandfather was the one who interviewed and employed him. Although I can't confirm the reason as to why he could stay on was because of his connection to Harabeoji, the possibilities are all there." I replied as Ms Jeon let out a sigh before she turned to face me.

 "Omo, omo!!! Ms Han, your lips are bleeding."

"Really?" I used my finger to wipe my lips and saw traces of blood on it. "Ouuhhh.. it must be from some of the papers earlier. The same thing happened last week when Mr Jang did the same thing to me. At least, Mr Kim didn't turned violent by threatening to throw a chair at me like Mr Jang did."

"Because Mr Jang was much younger than him. Obviously, his temper will be worse than Mr Kim. All these people should have expected that they might be retrench sooner or later. We made the decision to retrench them after scrutinizing their employment profile and it's not as if we're doing this on purpose. By the way, I seriously think that you should just let the HR Department handle all this unpleaseant meet-ups. By right, they shouldn't even be given a chance to protest our decisions. Some of those employees that were retrenched didn't even deserve their monetary compensation." Ms Jeon started grumbling as she handed me a tissue to wipe the blood on my lips. 

A loud banging sound was heard as Ms Jeon and I flinched in surprised. We turned towards the door and were taken aback to see Krystal standing there. Walking into the conference room with her arms folded and a deep frown on her face, Krystal took a seat on one of the chairs.

"Care to explain what's happening? And don't try to hide things from me because I've been standing outside the door ever since that old man hurled curses at you."

I turned to look at Ms Jeon who had a nervous look on her face as I bite my lips before taking in a deep breathe.

"That old man, Mr Kim, was given a notice of retrenchment today before lunch. He's not happy and requested a meeting with me." I replied as I saw no changes in Krystal's expression. "The company is going through a restructuring period due to the economic crisis and financial instability so there are certain unpleasant actions that we had to implement, which included retrenchment."

"I knew that. You told me about it before." Krystal replied as I noticed her letting out a sigh. "Do you really have to go through to this extent? Endangering yourself just because they request to meet you. From what I heard, this is not even the first time it had happpened. Why don't you just let your HR handle them, like what Ms Jeon suggested?"

"It was my decision to come out with all these plans so it's my responsibility to shoulder any unpleasant results that came out from it. I would not allow my HR personnels to go through all these unpleasantness on my behalf. It's not fair for them." I replied as Krystal looked to Ms Jeon.

"There's no use talking it out with her. You should know how stubborn she is." Ms Jeon said as she rolled her eyes at me while I pouted. "At least, call in more security guards for future encounters. I don't think one is enough to contain an angry man, especially when they turn violent."

I nodded my head and was about to reply that I would follow her suggestion, when Krystal asked if they would be more such incidents happening. Ms Jeon turned to look at me for answers as I just shrugged my shoulders.

"Let's just hope that your grandfather will agree to that proposal submitted by Ms Kang. It would ease at least some of our finance and maybe we could avoid further retrenchment with it." Ms Jeon voice out her opinion as I glanced nervously at Krystal. Sensing that she had somehow triggered an awkward moment, Ms Jeon quickly excused herself. "Oh Ms Han, since you're leaving from work soon, take care and enjoy your date. I'll see you tomorrow."

I let out a sigh when I saw Ms Jeon scrambling quickly from out of the room before turning my attention towards Krystal. I was about to open my mouth to say something when Krystal stopped me.

"What movie should we watch?"

*************************

Krystal's POV

I leaned against the railings as I waited for Eunjin to get the movie tickets. The event that had happened in the conference room replayed in my mind and Ms Jeon's words rang in my head. 

"Ms Kang." I mumbled before letting out a sigh.

I remembered the talk that me and Eunjin had after the dinner with our family last night.

(Flashback last night)

"I'll see you girls back at home later. Drive and ride safely." Appa Jung waved at us as Yuri-unnie and Eunjin bowed their heads. 

"Where did you park your bike?" Yuri-unnie turned to face Eunjin who told her that it was at the basement carpark. "I parked my car there too. Let's go then."

I noticed that Yuri-unnie hadn't been talking to Sica-unnie ever since she called out her name earlier as I felt a pair of hand, clinging onto my arm. Turning to my side, I saw Sica-unnie pouting as both of us silently walked behind our partners. Yuri-unnie and Eunjin seemed to be busy chatting away as I noticed Sica-unnie letting out a sigh.

"I think Yuri is angry at me." 

"I can see that, Unnie. It's so obvious. Will both of you be okay?" I asked with a concerned look but Sica-unnie just shrugged her shoulders. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so sensitive about everything and blabbered it out to both of you. I could sense that Eunjin was a little unhappy too when she knew that I had told both of you about our phone conversation."

"Why would she be unhappy? I'm your sister. There's nothing wrong if you wanted to tell things to me." Sica-unnie replied.

"But it's our problem. Mine and Eunjin's. We should be solving it between us first. I overheard your conversation with Yuri-unnie when I was in the changing room earlier. I have to agree with Yuri-unnie on this. Furthermore, it's not like you will tell me everything if you do have problems with Yuri-unnie, right?" I asked my sister who opened to say something but closed it back. "And I even asked Eunjin to seek Appa's help with regards to the company when I knew that it's not her style to burden others."

Both of us didn't say anything until we reached the carpark. I saw Yuri-unnie patting Eunjin's shoulder before she turned to walk towards the right side where the car was. I noticed that Eunjin's bike was parked on the left side of the carpark as she just stood there, looking at me. Thinking that Eunjin was still upset with me, I bowed at her and was about to turn my body towards the right side when she quickly held my wrist. 

"I'll send her home." Eunjin said while looking at Unnie who just nodded her head and walked away to Yuri-unnie's car. "Let's go."

I felt a light tug on my hand as I just followed Eunjin to her bike. Standing beside it like a statue, I just quietly observed how Eunjin took my helmet from the bike box and strapping it around my neck after she had put it on. 

"I feel like getting ice-cream. Is that okay with you?" Eunjin asked as I nodded my head.

30mins later, we were sitting on a bench facing the Hangang River with ice creams in our hands. I ate the ice cream slowly, not knowing what to say since Eunjin seemed to be enjoying her ice cream.

"You should eat faster before it all melts." She said as I just nodded my head before I heard her letting out a sigh. "I'm sorry."

Her words caused me to turn to the side to face her. She continued explaining that she was sorry for not mentioning Ms Kang's name right from the start when she was informing me about her meeting. 

"I'm sorry if my actions had made you felt like I thought of you as a petty person. I would never think of you in that way." Eunjin looked at me, her eyes showing so much sincerity. 

"I know and I'm sorry too. For overreacting. If I had just remain calm and think things through, I would not have blabbered our conversation to Unnie and you would not have to listen to her naggings." 

"It's okay. Your unnie cares about you. She won't want anyone to bully her only sister, right?" Eunjin smiled and urged me to finish up my ice cream.

"By the way, about that proposal with Ms Kang, what is that all about? Will you be meeting her often then, working together?" I asked out of curiousity.

I saw Eunjin nodding her head before explaining to me about the proposal. Both companies would have joint projects in the future with profits being shared equally. Projects such as building resorts in Korea and also overseas. Since K-line's an international company, Ms Kang has a lot of investments around the world. Even though Eunjin's company had contracts internationally too but their base was only in Seoul. Which meant that they would engage third parties to handle their overseas contracts.

"Hiring those third parties cost money and we're looking on cutting that cost. For me, this proposal looked promising  but I still have to consult Harabeoji about it."

I noticed Eunjin sighing at the mentioned of her Harabeoji and was about to ask her about it when she continued talking.

"Remember your question in the office earlier? About whether I was happy at the company?" I nodded my head eagerly as I saw her giving me a small smile. "Honestly, I'm not. I was way happier back then. Especially when I was working in the workshop. But that was because I lived my life without the responsibilities that I have now. And as long as I have those responsibilities shouldered onto me, I would make sure that I would do my best in it at all times."

(End of Flashback)

"A penny for your thoughts?"

Eunjin's voice startled me as I saw her frowning. "I was just thinking about what happened at the conference room earlier."

The frown on Eunjin's face deepened as she handed me the tub of popcorn before entwining our fingers together. "I promise to add more security guards if I ever have to attend such meeting again. I'll be careful. Don't worry too much, okay?"

I nodded my head as she smiled at me. Pulling my hand lightly, we made our way into the movie theater.

************************

"Yuri-unnie, where's Sica-unnie?"

Yuri was about to wash her dirty plates in the sink when she turned to her side to look at Krystal, who seemed to have a lot of thoughts in her mind at the moment.

"She's taking a shower. Wae?"

"Can I talk to you for while? It's about Eunjin."

Yuri frowned a little before nodding her head. She told Krystal to wait for her in the living room while she quickly washed the plates. Once she was done, she wiped her hands and walked towards the living room.

"Is everything okay between you and Eunjin? I thought both of you went out for a date earlier." Yuri asked as Krystal just nodded her head.

"We're fine. I'm just worried about Eunjin at work. I witness something dreadful earlier." Krystal said before she told Yuri about what happened at the conference room earlier.

Yuri's eyes widened and her jaws dropped when she listened to everything that Krystal told her. When she ended the story, Yuri let out a long sigh and shook her head repeatedly.

"I didn't know things were that bad at the office. Eunjin rarely says anything to any of us, nowadays. With the upcoming wedding, I've been busy running around to settle stuff that I rarely meet Eunjin, even at work. Sunny is busy with her relationship since she started dating Hyomin and Taeyeon is forever spending time with Tiffany. I heard from Ms Jeon that she doesn't even go out for lunch. That kid is always on her own." 

"Unnie... you're making me feel bad about going overseas to study and leaving Eunjin behind. Alone." Krystal pouted and hung her head low after she heard what Yuri had said.

"Aigoo, aigoo... That's not what I meant Krystal. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel bad. It's just that the current situation didn't look so good for Eunjin. Ever since the company started the restructuring process, there's some unhappiness among the workers. Some are leaving on their own accord because they didn't want to have a pay cut. But those who were retrenched, I believed HR had went through their employment records thoroughly before handing it ove to Eunjin for her final decision. And I believe that Eunjin will always make the right decision."

"I just hope that Harabeoji will agree to that proposal by Ms Kang. From what Eunjin explain to me, it seems like the proposal will help out with the company's finance. Once they're financially stable, no further retrenchment will occur which means that Eunjin won't have to experience such dreadful encounter again." Krystal gave her opinion.

"Harabeoji?" Yuri said before letting out a sigh and shaking her head.

"Unnie, did something happen between Eunjin and Harabeoji? I noticed her tone changes when she mentioned his name but I didn't manage to ask her. You seem to know that there's something wrong between them." Krystal asked as Yuri frowned deeper. 

"They're not on talking terms. Ever since Harabeoji found out that Eunjin has allowed my wedding to proceed as plan and that Eunjin had decided to attend it, that old man is kind of upset with her." Yuri explained as Krystal slumped back into the couch. "No one knows about it. I'm the only one who knew because she had no choice but to inform me since her grandparents might not be attending my wedding."

"She's keeping things from me?" Krystal had a frown on her face as Yuri shook her head.

"I don't think she's doing it on purpose. There must be a lot of things going on in her mind that she might have forgotten to inform you. Right now, I'm more worried about Eunjin's mental state. All these tension and stress are not good for her. Furthermore, she's the type that keep things to herself, worrying that she might be a burden to others. Maybe I should ask her out to find out how she is."

"Unnie, please don't tell her that you knew about what happened at the conference room. Only me and Ms Jeon are suppose to be aware of it and no one else." Krystal pleaded with Yuri since she was afraid that Eunjin would be upset if she found out. 

Yuri nodded her head and showed an 'okay' sign to Krystal as both of them smiled at each other. But silence filled the living room soon as both of them were lost in their own thoughts.

"What are the both of you doing, staring into thin air?"

Jessica's voice disrupted their thoughts as both of them turned to look at her, who was busy drying her hair with a towel. 

"Nothing."

Both Yuri and Krystal answered at the same time before they broke out into laughter as Jessica looked at them with disbelief eyes. Yuri quickly pulled her girlfriend to sit beside her and started to talk about their wedding preparation to avoid further questioning from her.