Happy New Year, everyone! Hope this will be a very good year for our beloved group TWICE! And I'm still waiting patiently for Mina's comeback. I hope she has a good rest and I hope she will come back stronger than ever.

@ krina_love : No, I'm not a Latina. I'm just an average Asian girl with a huge love for old/classic stuff, history, action movies, JPop, KPop, BritPop, Latin telenovelas, black people's music and their godly voices (this one has my ultimate love), and everything nice in the world.

@ Wivern : That slap is separate (not counted). As for the "nine-slaps-scene", we will need a full, continuous nine slaps in one go. If we are to make a live action drama of this fic, then we will have to shoot that scene in one take. No cut, no editing, no sound effect, and no stuntman or body double. The slaps must be real, delivered by the actresses themselves, and we have to be very precise with the number. And if the actresses cannot do it right or unable to convey their emotion for that scene, then they will have to repeat the scene until they can get it right. Good thing it's only nine. If it was sixteen, Mina will have to suffer more. #transforming myself into an evil movie director#

And about the virtual cameo, please take note that it is different character from the one who will attempt to spike and shoot Mina later in the story.

A/N: The disclaimer is fake. I was the one who wrote the previous chapter. But I was a coward, that's why I run and hide and blamed Captal. #sigh#

Now let's torture bunny again.

After Mina left her office, Nayeon found herself sitting alone in her room, leaning herself on the backrest. Her eyes were closed, her mind was heavily occupied by the incident this morning. It was quite shocking for her to see Mina coming to her office this morning and having a fight with Jaebum. She was shocked to see Mina punching Jaebum. She was shocked when Mina told her that Jaebum had paid Nichkhun to attack her in the polo game. And she was shocked herself when she raised her hand and slapped Mina. And on top of that, she was shocked when Mina said all those hurtful words to her, that she only helped Mina and gave those projects to her because of pity. How could Mina accused her like that?

This morning Nayeon found herself being shocked by a lot of things.

Nayeon didn't know whether Nichkhun was lying or not. Nichkhun was among the very first workers that Nayeon recruited when she first arrived to this town, and for Nayeon, Nichkhun seemed to be kind and reliable. But then Mina said Nichkhun needed money, and Nayeon knew it very well, that money can change people. Money is the root of all evil. It can turn even the most kindhearted people in the world into monsters.

Nayeon really had no idea how to react to this situation. Jaebum had always shown a strong dislike towards Mina. Now Mina accused him of cheating and attacking her in the sport game. Jaebum and Nichkhun denied the accusation. But Nayeon also knew Mina would never lie for something like this, which means Jaebum and Nichkhun were the one who's lying. However, Nayeon didn't want to fully blame Jaebum either. Yes, Jaebum wasn't perfect and can be a pain in the sometimes. But Nayeon believed Jaebum was still a good man with integrity, and that he won't do something as low as that, paying someone to attack other people in a sport game where everyone was expected to play fair. There were a lot of despicable people in this town who had used a stealthy way to harm Mina in the past, like Seunghyun and his older brother, Sheriff Lee. Nayeon just hoped Jaebum isn't one of those despicable people. And therefore the only possible explanation for this problem was, there must be some kind of misunderstanding. No one is lying. No one is guilty for the crime. It was all just a misunderstanding. Everyone will apologize to each other, and then everything will be forgiven. What a beautiful world. If only this world works that way.

Nayeon let out a desperate sigh.

Ugh! What should I do now? Mina has declared a war with Jaebum. And I'm sure she's not going to come again and continue our projects. Tck! What should I do?

Nayeon continued thinking, trying to find a solution. And her mind wandered again to those hurtful words Mina had said to her. The words that made Nayeon snapped and slapped the Japanese girl on her face.

Is that because of pity? Is that the reason why you keep giving those projects to me? Stop it, Nayeon! I don't need your pity! And I don't need your money!

Those words hurt Nayeon so deeply. How could Mina accused her like that? That she only helped Mina and gave those projects to her out of pity? How could Mina accuse her like that? Nayeon felt hurt. All this time, she had been helping Mina for one sole reason: because she liked Mina and wanted to see the girl learn and improve her skills. Pity and money were never the reason. If she wanted to give Mina money, she would've done that a long time ago. But no. She chose to give Mina projects and ask her to work hard for it. She gave Mina a fishing rod, not the fishes.

Although Nayeon admitted she had been a bit biased to Mina and favoured her more than her other business partners, and it sparked some hatred and jealousy amongst them towards Mina. But then again, it was her privileges as the owner of her company, to choose people with whom she would want to work. It's favoritisms, yes. But it's not like she's doing a corrupt things to other people. All this time, Nayeon had made sure that everything she did with Mina won't bring a bad impact to her company. If her projects with Mina brings her profit, she would give all the profit to her company and share it with their stockholders. But if her projects with Mina bring her loss, she would pay the loss with her own money, and not sharing it with their stockholders. Yes, it is a manipulation. But it's not like she gained advantage for herself by doing it. And she always made sure the loss won't affect anything for their shareholders, by paying it with her own private money. And did she do it out of pity? No, it's far from it. She never pitied Mina. Instead, she admired her. She admired Mina for her kindness, loyalty, and bravery. Pity was a term associated with weakness. If you pity someone, that means that person is weak and needs help. Nayeon never felt like that about Mina. And therefore, she was deeply hurt when Mina accused her like that.

A teardrop fell involuntarily from the corner of her eyes. And another teardrop. And another teardrop. And she was startled herself. Never had in her lifetime, she shed a tear because of someone. She was an ice princess. A cold, distant one. She was a woman of steel. Shedding a tear for someone outside her family is a big no. So why is she crying now?

Mina, how could you make me cry like this!

Nayeon continued crying alone in her room.

So. Sad.

MEANWHILE.

Jaebum was talking to Nichkhun in his room.

"Nichkhun, I'm so disappointed in you. Can't you keep a secret? How did Mina know about our deal?" Jaebum scolded Nichkhun.

"I'm sorry, Jaebum-ssi. I didn't mean to disclose it. I probably just talked to myself and then someone heard it." Nichkhun lied. He decided to not tell Jaebum about his confession at the local church.

"Tck! You should be more careful, Nichkhun! If it wasn't because of you backing me up in front of Nayeon today, I would've fired you already."

"I know, I'm sorry, Jaebum-ssi. I promise this won't happen again."

"Good. Make sure you keep your mouth shut from now on, or I will fire you."

"Ok