Dahyun's cheeks were flushed, a clear sign that she was embarrassed, plus she was having a hard time realizing what she had just heard. Sana had asked her to be serious, to have a real relationship, and she was patiently waiting for an answer.

"No more adventures or dating other girls?" she asked softly.

"I wouldn't even feel the need to because I could do these things with you" Sana took her hands, smiling "it's all new to me and I can't wait to start acting like a girlfriend, even if I repeat that it may take me some time to adjust to you. I'll do my best, I really mean it"

Dahyun took a few seconds to think about the girl who had stolen her heart in middle school and to realize the intentions of the person in front of her. All the things she had always loved about Haeun could not hold a candle to the sincerity and cheerfulness that Sana's eyes gave her, as well as the heartbeat she always had in her presence. That comparison was enough to make her understand and not be able to hold back a smile.

"You're about to say yes, of course" the brunette smiled even more, taking her face in her hands "come on Dahyunie, don't make me wait too long"

"You're acting worse than a child" muttered the younger before kissing her tenderly on the lips for a few moments "should we go back to the event? As far as I understand being away for too long is not well accepted and I don't want to create problems for your family"

Sana snorted, annoyed "why did you remind me just as we were kissing? You're the usual troublemaker. I'll take revenge" she took her hand and they walked away in silence.

The conversation with Haeun earlier came to Dahyun's mind "by the way: did you really leave your mark on my back?"

"It's called a hickey, it's not a dirty word" she seemed pretty proud of herself "and the answer is yes, I even took a picture. Do you want to see it?"

"I don't care" the brunette had her cheeks on fire again and her usual deadpan expression, but deep down she felt proud that Sana had felt the need to leave a mark on her.

Meanwhile Mina and Chaeyoung were making the rounds of the room to greet as many people as possible and to formalize their relationship, much to the disappointment of some children of those rich snobs, who had always had a crush for the Minatozaki number three.

They were stopped by a tall and handsome woman "Mina, we haven't seen each other for a long time" she spoke in English "the last time I went to see you you were still a child. How are you? Your sisters?"

Chaeyoung understood almost nothing and was around looking for an interpreter, but her girlfriend smiled and replied without any problem "I'm very well and my sisters are the usual troublemakers; nothing has changed since you left, except my dad's hair"

"I noticed and I bet you have nothing to do with all that white hair, you have always been as calm as your mother. Do you still like to read? I brought some books from America that I think you might like, I left them at your parents' house"

The young woman's eyes lit up "I can't wait to add them to my bookshelves, you always give me fantastic gifts"

"I had no doubt about it, but now introduce me to your girlfriend" the woman spoke in Korean and turned her attention to the shorter girl "nice to meet you, my name is Katherine and I'm the old private teacher of Mina and her sisters"

"The pleasure is all mine, I'm Chaeyoung" she smiled at her with enthusiasm "are you American? You have a very cool accent and I didn't understand a word"

Katherine giggled "I see you don't talk to people older than you as if they are your peer problems, I like it. I'm American and it's also thanks to me that Mina can speak English so well" she posed.

"Aunt Kat, you're back!" Sana immediately hugged her in a warm embrace "you haven't shown up for years, look how old you are becoming" to Dahyun and Chaeyoung's surprise her English was perfect "I heard you got married three times, you still haven't got tired of men? Women are much better, I assure you"

While the older was answering the brunette Chaeyoung approached her best friend "did you know that our girls and their sisters all know English? I stopped at Japanese" she whispered in her ear "I feel like an ignorant person"

"I had no idea even if I would have expected it from Mina, unlike the other three idiots" replied the brunette "maybe they are not so stupid and at this point they are not even so ignorant"

"Kim Dahyun, get ready to cry" Sana glared at her and chased her around the room, forgetting about the people around them and introducing her girlfriend to the one she considered an aunt.

Katherine smiled amused "how beautiful is love; try not to ruin this strong bond after the wedding and never take anything for granted, it is very important" she had a dreamy look "now I really have to show up myself to another event, I will say goodbye to Momo and Sharon next time" she added after checking the time on her very expensive wristwatch.

After saying goodbye Chaeyoung followed her at a brisk pace "can I ask you a favor?" she waited for a nod and kept talking "since shipping is expensive and it always takes a lot of time to get things from America I was wondering if you could send me some artists' albums, it's very important to me"

The woman smiled amusedly because of Chaeyoung's serious expression "sure, you can ask Mina for my number and send me photos of anything you want. This and more for the person who is taking care of one of my girls"

Seeing Tzuyu walking back into the room alone at a brisk pace, with her teary eyes and her dull gaze set off an alarm bell in Mr. Minatozaki, who hurried to the terrace.

What he saw broke his heart: his youngest daughter was kneeling on the ground and she was crying with her face hidden in her hands. Seeing her in that state hurt him even more, since she didn't usually cry.

"Honey, why are you crying?" he knelt beside her and gently her back: it was his way of knowing if she would like a hug or not and, seeing that she had not stiffened at the touch, he took the liberty of hug her.

Sharon became small in his arms "I ruined everything dad, I can't do anything else besides disappoint and hurt everyone. I'm a total failure" she took a long time to talk because of the constant sobs "the grandparents are right to see me as the family misfortune, I only know how to destroy any bond"

The man hugged her tighter to him, sitting on the ground and her hair "the things you just said are absolutely not true, believe me. Making mistakes is part of our life stages and no one is better than others. You have certainly made mistakes. You surely made some mistakes, but they can't define who you are and you shouldn't let anyone judge the things they don't understand. For what it's worth your mother and I are so proud of our little girls, you are our greatest joy"

Those words did both good and bad to Sharon's heart, knowing she was making the same mistakes for the second time "it will be bad to say, but I regret not being dead when I had the chance; I hate you for finding me in time and making me become a burden for all of you"

"Repeat it again and I won't answer for myself, I've never even touched you with a finger, but I'm ready to slap you to make you come to your senses. How can you even think such a thing? You shouldn't feel a burden to us, you know very well that Mina had a panic attack that night, that Sana stopped eating for days and that Momo beat up that guy. Thanks to these things it should be clear to you that your sisters care a lot about you, as I and your mother" he was shaking slightly, but gave himself a demeanor to allow his daughter to let off steam.

"Mina spends all her time with her girlfriend, Momo barely remembers that I exist and Sana is always looking for an excuse to fight with me. I don't even want to talk about you and mom because it hurts, since you're never there" it was anger that spoke for her, even if she really thought those things "you always put me aside and then wait for my misstep to make me weigh it. Do you know that Mina always hides my wallet from me? That those three agree on things that I don't even know exist? I don't care if you love me, you're still s"

Her father waited a full minute before replying "you're right, we're being unforgivable and I'm so sorry; the excuse of wanting to protect you isn't enough if we're making you feel that way. I'll talk to Mina about the wallet issue and give a groomed to the other two, but you have to promise me to be less hard on both yourself and them"

"Don't you think my motives are childish?" she pulled away enough to look him in the eyes.

"If they make you feel bad enough to cry and get angry, I'm nobody to judge, but I can work to change things" he wiped her tears with his thumbs and smiled at her with love "it will be okay honey, we are with you"

Sharon closed her eyes, both to enjoy the moment and not to let him notice her dilated pupils "you are the only one who can calm me down in these moments"

He smiled at her a little amused "I know that after crying a little you get angry with the whole world, but I also know that the things you say in those moments are true and I really want to change things. How about starting sleeping at home with us tonight? Just the two of us and your mother. You can stay as long as you want, it's still your home"

"I only accept if you promise me to play video games, just for an hour. Please dad" she took his cheeks like when she was little "and you have to help me convince mom too"

The man smiled amused "I can't say no to my princess"

All the girls walked away from the event after Mina brilliantly silenced a couple of snobs with backward and impractical ideas. Chaeyoung complimented her all the way in the car "you were wonderful, they were terrible and you also proved to be a born leader. The family business will be in good hands with you"

Mina smiled, concentrating on driving "I spent my childhood in my dad's studio and I absorbed so many of those notions that it takes very little to realize someone's incompetence"

"You can see that you have a big brain and I can't wait to see you in action again, plus you are really y when you enter work mode"

"You're talking like Sharon" she saddened a little, stopping talking.

Chaeyoung immediately noticed her mood change "something happened between her and Tzuyu, did you notice it too?"

"How could I not have noticed? I know my sister and as a final proof she also gave the keys to her car to Tzuyu. She went home with mom and dad and I know it's to not see her and wait for everything to pass"

"I hope they can solve all their problems because I know how much they care about each other and it would be a real shame to waste sincere feelings like this. I already know that Tzuyu won't tell me anything, but I will try to do my part and convince her not to throw away what she feels about Sharon"

Mina took her hand, never taking her eyes off the road "we just have to hope and cheer for them"

Once they arrived at their villa they all went to sleep except Jihyo and Momo, who had stopped to have a snack in the kitchen. They ate a sandwich each, strictly in silence because of the tiredness and the nervousness they had both accumulated during the evening.

Momo decided to put aside what she was feeling and rested her head on Jihyo's shoulder "I'm sorry, your parents can't be removed from the event list until they take a few missteps"

"I don't care about that, I was bothered by the way they presented themselves in front of everyone as the model parents they aren't. I would prefer parents as cold as Dahyun's, at least they are not bad people" she wiped her hands hard "damn s"

"They'll pay for everything, you'll see" she kissed her shoulder, intent on keeping that silent promise "you'll soon be free from the burden of a family that doesn't even deserve to be defined as such"