Eri adjusted her sleepwear as she stepped into the kitchen.

"Thank God my guest of honor has woken up." Kii said, and looped his arm through Eri's.

"It's a little early for me to be there, but shouldn't you be at the shop already?"

"I will be in a minute. I just had to show you this." Kii said as they headed to the other spare room in the house. In the middle of the room is a dress form stand with a green spring dress on it.

"OhMyGosh Kii, this is so pretty." Eri couldn't help but admire as she walked closer and ran her hands on it. "I had prepared a Saint Laurent cashmere suit for your opening but that doesn't even compare to this."

The compliment put a huge smile on Kii's face. "It's a surprise. I wanted you to wear something of mine like those celebrities during flagship store openings."

"You've become very dear to me Kii. I'm closer to you than my own family. You've supported me through my ups and downs. And now, seeing you doing something you love and finally realizing your dream. I'm so proud of you Kii. I'm excited and honored to be able to wear your dress."

"You're going to make me cry." Kii sniffed, then gave her a heartfelt hug before saying. "We don't need to be related by blood to be family. You're my sister in my heart Rii."

She hugged back just as tight.

"By the way, a van will pick you up. I hired one to gather all my grandmother's friends and acquaintances."

"Who else will be there?"

"I only gave formal invitations to my grandma's friends and my regular clients, but everyone's welcome, even walk-in tourists. So I can't stop people like your aunt Sunkyu and company or Sooah and company if they show up."

"I won't ruin your day Kii. I'll leave like I did during the fitting if auntie starts something again."

"Don't let Sunkyu get to you Rii. She pulled a fast one on you and a sneaky one on Seokjin. He didn't know it was a date until he was at the restaurant. He texted me after I kicked them all out yesterday. I'm sure she sent you the same message. If you didn't run off to your room I'm sure he would have told you himself."

"But Sooah is exactly what Seokjin's looking for. She's pretty and needs his protection. Truly needs it. I heard his ex-boyfriend's an abusive alcoholic."

"Oh I thought you were upset because she's one of the mean girls who bullied you in high school."

"She was." Eri glanced at the door of the bedroom. "And unlike in high school, now she and the other two know how I feel about Seokjin. She might use that to–" She trailed off when the door opened.

"The door's not locked again and no one was answering when I called so I just came in." Miyoung said.

"You texted that you were coming so I left it open for you." Kii replied. Miyoung had messaged him early in the morning that she wanted to talk to Eri before the event.

"Are you okay?" Miyoung never really had a proper sit down talk with Eri after what happened at the shop last time. It had been a roller coaster of emotions for her too, being the talk of the town. At first she was apologetic about the photo with Seokjin, but then got mad at the photo with her fiance and sister, then felt guilty for letting their aunt just bully Eri after Kii explained to her everything. But yesterday when Sooah messaged her that Eri could be in real danger, it made her realize that reputations didn't matter, she'd regret all her life if something happened to Eri. After all she was the reason why Eri is in town in the first place. So here she is. "Can you give us a minute?" She turned to Kii.

"Sure thing." Kii turned to Eri and sighed.

After Kii shut the door behind him, Miyoung moved in front of Eri. "You can't let them get to you Rii. You did the same thing in high school. You're the perfect target. You don't fight back and stand for yourself." She angled her face, gaze roaming Eri's face.

It was easier to stand up to people she didn't know just like at the bar when she defended Kii, but it's different when it involved family or people that used to bully her before. She will always be the bad person. "Eh? How did you know about high school?"

"Kii explained everything after you left the shop last time. He told me things I didn't know from high school too. Why didn't you tell me? I had to hear from Kii with the addition of his lecturing, being your sister yet letting you be continually bullied by my friends. I can't do anything with auntie but I can un-invite Jieun and the others. They're not even my close friends, they just happen to be acquaintances from the same high school living in the same town." She continued to stare at Eri. "I don't get it. You weren't like this when I visited you in Seoul."

"I know, I was arrogant."

"No, you weren't arrogant. You were confident, aggressive and ambitious. You went after what you wanted, and you weren't afraid to stick up for yourself." She paused. "That's why I was surprised that you just left the shop that time. I thought we'd have a discourse, let it all out then made up. Of course not in front of everyone, just us somewhere. But you just left."

Eri gently pushed her sister's bangs from her eyes and smiled. "Thank you for saying that Myoung. And thank you for coming. I don't like it when we fight."

"Me too. Even though we were born in the same year, I'm still older. And I'm sorry about what you saw and heard at the crafthouse. There's nothing between me and Seokjin. Since we had this secret back in high school, I confided in him knowing he wouldn't tell anyone what I share to him about me and Taehyung. I was scared after what happened to Hwi years ago."

"Taehyung is different from Hwi. That night at the inn, he was drunk because he was afraid of losing you. His family is far away overseas, you're all he has here. He just has trust issues, and after Hwi, so do you. And don't get mad at me, I don't even know why he kissed me, or if it's a habit of his to kiss people when he's drunk, but whatever misunderstandings you guys have, you just need to talk and be honest with each other. Also, Hwi aint sh*t."

"When did you get so smart?"

"I always was, only no one took me seriously."

"Does Seokjin?"

"I think so." Eri wrinkled her nose and looked down at her hands. "Well, he did. But after that date with Sooah, I'm not sure how he feels now."

"What about how you feel?" Miyoung saw her sister sighed. "Well, that's pretty obvious."

"Is it?"
"Maybe he's your true love because he has a damaged leg. He's not perfect, and you're a perfectionist."

"Kii said the same thing along that line, but how can you say that? He's perfect in every way. He has a little scarring, sure, but the strength in his leg will eventually improve." Eri crossed her arms. "I'm disappointed in you Myoung. You never used to be this shallow."

Miyoung laughed wholeheartedly. "Oh yeah, it's true love alright. And just so you know, Seokjin isn't interested in Sooah. He's interested in you."

"Weren't you listening to my conversation with Kii earlier? Seokjin is a protector, and Sooah needs protection. I don't."

Miyoung pressed her lips together as though trying to hold back from revealing something. "Ah Rii, maybe you should also take the advice you gave me earlier and have a talk with Seokjin. Also, it's not about who needs protection, but who someone wants to protect."

"Whoah Myoung, that was deep."
"Did you just make fun of me? Don't forget I'm older than you."

"Only by ten months."

They both laughed.

"You're going to the opening later right?" Eri asked.

"Yes I am, and I'm taking mom there as well. So why don't we have lunch together, just the three of us." Miyoung suggested.

"I'd love that."

Eri was sending off her sister out the door when a vehicle from the distance started honking a few times as it made its way down the street.

It was a black Porsche and it stopped right in front of them.

===

"Yes, what's up?" Namjoon answers the phone, exiting the station and heads toward his patrol.