Seulgi stretched out on her couch as she flipped through channels, still in her pajamas. It was supposed to be a mundane day—no responsibilities and no worries.

All plans seem to get ruined one way or another, though. The commanding knock on her door startled the woman, sending the remote resting on her stomach flying. After stretching and groaning at the thought of human interaction that early in the morning, she made the short walk from her couch to the door, ready to see who was there.

She leaned into the door, squinting as she looked through the peephole, seeing two, no, three, expectant bodies. With a newfound curiosity, she unlocked her door and opened it, revealing an all too familiar man.

While she was busy trying to figure out where she had seen him before, he took the opportunity to begin speaking.

“Kang Seulgi, a memorable alumna from my school.” He smiled warmly, hiding amusement at the way Seulgi’s eyes lit up in both recognition and fear.

Instantly, she awkwardly stuck her hand out to shake his, the movement foreign and rigid. “Dr. Park, hello! Uh, what brings you here?”

“May we come in? I feel like that will make this visit easier to explain for all of us.” He held a fatherly aura, commanding enough to be obeyed yet warm enough to be respected.

Too stunned to ask how he knew where she lived and who the two girls were standing to his side were, she stepped away from the doorframe, physically inviting them into her apartment.

As Seulgi began frantically cleaning up the living space, including the couch she was just on, the three guests looked at each other with disbelief, wondering whether or not this eccentric woman could give them any answers.

Once the couch was clear, she gestured for the three to sit side by side, opting for herself to stand as she regarded the strangers on her couch.

“Well, let's introduce ourselves,” said the young, blonde woman sitting to the left of Dr. Park.

With just one look, Seulgi could tell this woman was trouble; a smile that was too coy, words laced with unrelenting wit, and a playful look in her eyes. And Seulgi was the fool who immediately fell for the sly enchantress.

She was obviously younger than Seulgi herself, probably in her mid-20s, but the older woman still found herself intimidated, both from the obvious witty charm the younger woman possessed and her equally disarming beauty.

“Yes, please introduce yourselves.” Perhaps her words were meant for the two strangers, but she only looked at one woman, slightly entranced as if she was the snake to the charmer.

“I’m Yerim, but you can call me Yeri,” she said warmly, almost laughing at the blush that rose on Seulgi’s cheeks. This was going to be too easy.

Joohyun looked at her aunt and Seulgi, suddenly feeling the urge to throw up. She cleared loudly to get their informant’s attention.

“And I’m Joohyun.” The ten year old smiled brightly, hoping to charm Seulgi the way she charmed every other adult she knew.

Instantly, Seulgi’s blush faded, and she squinted her eyes at the three people sitting on her couch.

A mistake. Joohyun’s smile quickly fell as she watched the gears turn in Seulgi’s head.

“And how do you three know each other?”

To lie or to be honest, which one’s worse?

“Well-“

“Actually-“

“I’m the daughter of Son Seungwan and Park Sooyoung.”

The room fell silent.

It had been years since she had heard those names. A topic of taboo when talking to Joohyun—she hadn’t even thought about those names since they all graduated college.

“Yeri is my aunt, and Dr. Park is my grandfather.”

In a state of shock, Seulgi stepped back, putting a hand behind her as she sat down on the coffee table.

“And what are you doing here?” Seulgi was breathless, and her head began to spin as she looked closer at Joohyun and Yeri. The resemblance to two women she used to know was obvious once it was right in her face.

“We need to find Bae Joohyun,” Yeri explained.

A sigh left Seulgi’s lips as she shook her head. She feared a day like this would come, and oh how she hated being right.

“Why do you want to know? And I promised her I wouldn’t tell Wendy or Joy where she lived, and considering all three of you are obviously in contact with both of them, you realize I can’t tell you, right?”

“No, you don’t understand…”

Once again, Joohyun found herself explaining everything included in the letter, hoping to reach Seulgi.

By the end, tears found themselves barely holding in as Seulgi regretfully looked at the child, thinking of her now deceased mother.

But a promise was a promise.

“I’m sorry, but I made a promise to Joohyun. I hope you understand.”

“But Seulgi, I’m also Joohyun. Won’t you tell me?” The child’s eyes were glistening with desperate tears, her voice pleading, and Seulgi clenched her fists and tensed her jaw in response, fighting with herself on the right thing to do.

“You’ve come very late—Joohyun is engaged, and the wedding preparations are already underway. I’m leaving here tomorrow to help her prepare.”

Glistening tears held back in Joohyun’s eyes now fell angrily. No. It can’t end like this.

Just as Joohyun opened to fight back, Seulgi’s phone began to ring.

Picking it up off the coffee table, Seulgi’s eyes shot wide open when she saw who was calling. A freak coincidence, she told herself.

“Hey, Hyun. What’s up?”

Joohyun shifted uncomfortably under the less than happy stare from Jennie. They had only finished yelling at each other about ten minutes ago.

“Well, you know how Jennie and I wanted the wedding to be as soon as possible? I realized that the summer camp was starting up in two weeks, and then we looked at Jennie’s schedule, and she won’t be free for months. In fact—“

“Joohyun, please get to the point.”

“The wedding is in December now.”

Seulgi looked up at the three people on her couch, knowing they couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation. This was beginning to get a lot more interesting.

“I won’t mention how you don’t sound devastated about that, but anyway, can we talk about this later? This sounds like a better conversation to have in person where I can freely get every single detail out of you. Also, I have guests over, and they’re looking at me like I’m crazy.”

Seulgi glared at Yeri, who was sending her an especially bewildered look.

On the other side of the phone, Joohyun laughed and agreed, making arrangements to meet up later in the day.

When the call ended, a sly smile lit up Seulgi’s face, the air of mischief forming around her.

“Well, kid, I’ll be damned. The wedding got postponed to December.”

Seulgi smiled even more at the way the child’s face lit up.

“Ok, so how do we find her?”

“Well, I’m not going to break my promise. But I will leave my phone unlocked and on this coffee table as I go to the bathroom.”

Seulgi got up and walked away, her phone’s bright home screen luring in Joohyun.

The ten year old hastily reached for the device, immediately opening Seulgi’s call log.

“Yeri, put her number in your phone.”

Choosing not to scold her niece for being so demanding, Yeri obeyed, tapping each of the ten digits and saving them under “Bae Joohyun.”

When Seulgi came back out, Yeri, Joohyun, and Dr. Park stood up, saying their goodbyes to the helpful woman.

“Thank you, Seulgi. I get the feeling this won’t be the last time we see each other.” Yeri’s wink sent a blush straight to Seulgi’s cheeks.

With a frown at Yeri’s shameless flirting, Dr. Park said his own goodbye, along with Joohyun.

As they left and closed the door, Seulgi let out a loud sigh.

Definitely the weirdest morning I’ve had in a long time…

“Joohyun…”

The 34 year old looked up at her mother, getting immediately concerned as she saw the tears in the eyes.

“Can I ask you something?”

Joohyun nodded, eager to try to aleve her mother’s distress.

“Are you happy?”

She understood what was being asked, yet still she felt anger flare up inside her. It was tiring being asked the same thing, again and again, especially when the answer would never change.

“Of course I am. What kind of question is that? I’m engaged, Jennie is wonderful and she loves me so much!” 

No matter how many times she spoke the same lines, there was no way to erase the sarcasm that dripped from every word. 

But Joohyun’s fire had to come from somewhere, and her mother happened to be just as tired as her when it came to the overplayed conversation they always seemed to have.

“But do you love her?”

Joohyun’s silence became bitter, her mother getting impatient.

“Joohyun…”

“Mom, I have already loved once, and I don’t know if I can do it again. Just think of this marriage as a compromise.”

Joohyun’s mother’s tears dried instantly, replaced with a fiery expression.

“A compromise?” Her mother scoffed and shook her head. “I never thought my daughter would marry out of compromise and not love.”

The judgement in her voice made Joohyun’s jaw clench. She sat in silence as her mother continued.

“I’m your mother, and I want you to be happy, too. But a home based on a compromise is a house, not a home.”

The door closed heavily behind her as Joohyun’s mother walked away angrily, leaving Joohyun with her head in her hands.

An hour later, Joohyun sat on a sofa in one of Jennie’s living rooms, her fiancé’s head resting in her lap.

“I want you to stay with me forever,” Jennie whined. She rolled unt