Yerin observes her daughter with a smile as the little girl plays with the fallen leaves around the playground. It’s a Sunday, approaching the end of September. Autumn season had just started last week. She’s been working at Avantgarde for almost three months, passing her probationary period. She’s officially part of the team, something she never thought she’d love. Avantgarde treats her like family, the employees there are all kind and silly despite the strict system by Do Kyungsoo. Somehow, she could feel both the orderly yet emotional side of Kyungsoo through his own company. She never felt more comfortable in a workplace which makes her wonder if she still needs to find another job which was her initial plan.

“Here you go.” She turned around to look at him, Byun Baekhyun, who had just gone back from the convenience store nearby to buy some snacks. He handed him a small bag of chips which she specifically asked for. She patted the space beside her and smiled. “What’d you get for yourself and Inyoung?” She asked. Baekhyun sat down while peeking into the plastic bag. “Got her some gummies, I just got a drink for myself. I’m not really hungry yet.” He casually showed her everything else that’s in the bag. She watched him open his drink. An even wider smile crawled up her lips.

“So, how’s the engagement situation with Kyungsoo?” His sudden question, although asked innocently, made her cough as she swallowed the piece of chip she was chewing. Very recently, during a small gathering in Avantgarde for one of the senior executives who’s retiring, it was announced that Kyungsoo is officially engaged to Soyeong. Yerin could still feel the shock and uncertainty in her when she heard it, as well as Kyungsoo’s. He definitely did not look like he knew about it as he walked out of the scene as soon as it was announced by his parents. Speaking of which, Kyungsoo’s parents definitely did not recognize her at all. As they have expected, she’s just one of the low-class employees that they will never care about or pay attention to.

She shook her head before taking another piece. “I don’t know what happened but Kyungsoo’s not replying to my texts, not that he’s obligated to explain to me but, you know. . . Inyoung. It’s going to affect her so I need to know about it.” She looked at Baekhyun who’s nodding in agreement. “He must be just as worried as you are, to be honest. Just give him some space. I’m sure he didn’t like it, trust me.” Baekhyun, the nice guy that he is, assured her. A smirk formed on Yerin’s lips. “Oh c’mon, honestly he has no reason to dislike it. That Gong Soyeong is actually very attractive and nice. I’m sure he likes her back.” She disagreed. A brief silence filled the small gap between them until Baekhyun chuckled.

“Are you just naïve or am I just being overly sensitive? The man obviously still has feelings for you.”

Yerin’s eyes widen as she looked back at him. He looked over to Inyoung’s direction, his face was calm but she could see the tinge of hurt in his eyes. “I’ve always seen it, since day one. You looked the same as he did, I saw it in your eyes. That’s why I didn’t try to get in between you guys at first despite my growing feelings for you. But. . . months passed and I didn’t see any actions from him and that made me really frustrated, so I decided to go for it. For you, cause you and Inyoung deserve better.” His words replayed in her head a couple of more times before she could react. “W-well, it doesn’t really matter anymore, whether he feels anything or none, he’s never going to do anything.” She looked down and sighed. Baekhyun grabbed her hand from her lap. It made her smile and look back again. “I’m just. . . if I feel any pain from all these, it’s because of Inyoung, you know? For the longest time, I waited for him to do something even if it’s just for our daughter but. . . I don’t know anymore, to be honest. I sound like a broken record.” She laughed while running her fingers through her hair. She glanced at her daughter who’s climbing the ladder leading to the slide. “I don’t think Inyoung would take it lightly if she finds out her father might be getting married to some stranger. And for Soyeong, she needs to know about her, eventually. It’s just. . . so complicated.”

Baekhyun brushed his slender fingers along Yerin’s long hair, pushing it away from her face. “I just want you to know that. . . whatever you decide on in the end I will always be here for you and Inyoung. Your situation right now, I know its tough. Kyungsoo and you, it’s just a never-ending rollercoaster but. . . it’s always up to you in the end. That’s also why, since the first time I confessed to you, I’ve always told you to take your time. I respect you so much. Whether this relationship of ours becomes romantic or stays friendly, I’m here. Believe me.” Yerin smiled back as she felt the warmth of his hand on her cheek.

It’s true that he’s always there for her and she trusts him with all her heart. For her, he’s the best friend she’s ever had and the only man, aside from her father, who was never afraid to show love and affection to her. Baekhyun has everything Kyungsoo doesn’t, he has all the qualities she wished Kyungsoo had to make their relationship work.

The only thing that Baekhyun is not. . . he’s not Kyungsoo.

The feeling she had in her chest, the moment she saw Kyungsoo and Soyeong standing side by side, looking at the Do’s as they announce their engagement – it was unexplainable. Somehow, it woke something up inside of her that she thought was dead, long dead. She’s afraid to acknowledge it, she’s tired. She’s sick of the same feeling. She wants to move on with her life. How does she do it? How can she do it? The only way she could is probably going away somewhere very far where she’ll never see him ever again. . . but she can’t do that because of Inyoung. “By the way. . . I’ve been going to therapy with my siblings. I mean, it was initially for one of my mother’s family therapy but we started doing it more often.” Baekhyun then changed the topic which actually made her sigh in relief.

“Oh my god, really? So, they finally agreed to see her?” Yerin covered with both hands, genuinely delighted about the news. “It was over a week ago when I discussed Eomma’s condition with her doctor and they’ve been telling me that she’s showing some signs of improvements and so they really tried convincing me to get Sohyun and Juhyun to see her because it might make her even better. Believe me, I had to bribe Sohyun with a bigger allowance but. . . it worked out pretty well.” Baekhyun smiled through the great news. Yerin laughed while shaking her head. “Oh god, that girl.” She’s so used to hearing outrageous stories about Sohyun that she’s getting quite used to it already.

“And. . .” Baekhyun’s voice then suddenly cracked as he chuckled. Yerin peeked at him, still pressing their hands together. “I haven’t actually told you but. . . a few months ago, I uh—I kind of. . . I found about. . . about my biological father.” There was a brief silence as Yerin waited for him to go on, not wanting to interfere in the story or react too excessively. Baekhyun chuckled and shook his head, seemingly brushing off the anxiety in him. “I found him Yerin, I saw him.” He looked at her with a solemn smile.

“Did he see you too?” Yerin waited patiently as Baekhyun continued to chuckle, still in quite of a shock until now. He then stood up and started stretching his arms out as if he’s getting ready for an afternoon jog. “Let’s just say he was the reason why I got transferred to work at Inyoung’s school. So yeah, he saw me first.” Yerin blinked hard while scratching her cheek. “Okay, now I’m just confused.” There was another wave of silence until Baekhyun turned around to face her. He looked down; disbelief still drawn on his face as if the information he just got recently still hasn’t processed in his head.

“He owns the school, Yerin. All this time, I’ve been working for him.”

Before Yerin could even react to the revelation, Inyoung came back running to them. “So tired, Eomma. Mr. Byun, did you get me gummies?” The child peeked into the plastic bag that was placed on the chair. “Uh, yes. It’s in there, sweetie.” Baekhyun glanced at Yerin briefly before helping the kid open the bag of gummies. “Oh my god.” Yerin secretly mouthed while looking at Baekhyun who immediately mouthed back, “I know.” With his bewildered face. “Eomma, Appa texted me. He’s asking how you are but he told me not to tell you he asked. Oops, don’t tell Appa I told you he asked.” Inyoung then joined in the revelation game.

“Oh, really?” Yerin scoffed and glanced and the man just sighed and looked away. “What’s that supposed to mean?” She laughed in disbelief and even hit Baekhyun on the arm lightly. “I told you so.” He said before taking a big gulp of his drink. He lifted Inyoung on his lap sideways, the kid facing her mother’s side, and opened his mouth as the kid feeds him gummies. “Hey, what do you mean I to