Just another fine day where you can laze around the couch. It could be better, but she liked it, anyway. She enjoyed the silence, but the additional loud people in the room made it more perfect.

“Taetae?” the three-year-old niece of her friend comes to her. She had her arms stretched out, indicating she wanted to be carried.

Taeyeon chuckles at the cute sight and proceeds to carry the girl in her arms. The little one immediately hugs her back and giggles.

“What is it, Juhyun?” Taeyeon asks and tries to give her another peppermint candy cane. Just before Juhyun’s little hand could grab the sweet treat, a loud voice stopped her.

“Juhyun-ah, what did I tell you about sweets? No candy after dinner, right?”

“Aww, come on, Soonkyu! A little bite won’t hurt her.”

“Stop spoiling her, Taeng! She’s three.”

Taeyeon pays no attention to the other woman and proceeds to give Juhyun the treat.

“Don’t mind your grumpy, Aunt. Taetae’s going to give you more, okay?” She puts her down and lets her run around the living room where her other toys are scattered after receiving a kiss from Juhyun.

Sunny just shakes her head at the cute interaction. “I swear you’re going to be the parent who spoils their child too much.”

Taeyeon just shrugs, taking a seat opposite Sunny near the kitchen counter. “I’ll take on the good parent role, anytime. I won’t have much power to resist cute children, though.”

“This isn’t a good cop or bad cop, Taengoo. Besides, you don’t even have that much patience to begin with. Remember that lawyer you threw out of the court for being late and talkative?”

They laugh at the memory. During the 1986 Election, Taeyeon wasn’t in her best mood when one of the candidate’s lawyers showed up late and demanded to see her. He was lucky enough not to get barred from entering the state. If it were the politician’s decision, she would’ve stripped him of his privileges.

“Doesn’t matter. I don’t even want to stress myself out. Having kids? That’s the last thing I want right now.

“Right. Let me get married first before you. Go find someone to date-” Sunny covers just in time to see Taeyeon chuckling at the remark.

“Sorry,” she says.

“Are you seriously saying ‘sorry’? Sunny, that’s oh my god-” Taeyeon laughs at her friend, who was looking at her with a flat expression. “I know what you mean.”

“I just didn’t want to be snapped at!”

“Wha-, snapped at?! Since when did I do that? Seriously, I’m fine.”

“Don’t make me remind you, Kim.”

“Go ahead and try, Lee. I might warn you, though, that if I miss my flight tomorrow, those baddies are going to come after your short .”

“Whatever, I thought you retired? How come they still follow you?”

“That makes me sound like a 70-year-old. They don’t follow me. They just check from time to time. I told Aboji to lose them when I make it to Europe, though.” Taeyeon tells her behind the hot mug of coffee she gave her.

“So you’re still bent on pushing that plan of yours?”

Taeyeon nods. Her eyes glimmered with hope.

“I’m proud of you.”

“You are?”

Sunny pats Taeyeon’s resting hand on the table. “I am. We all want you to be happy. You could be on that old studio of yours or out there running a country heck, you could start a new business on the other side of the world, but we will always come and find you.”

“First of all, it is not old. Second, you guys are a tad bit annoying, so I figured I might need to start moving soon,” she replies.

The two went quiet for a while. Except for the constant laughing and voices heard in the other room where Sunny’s family stayed at. The giggles of Juhyun can be heard, probably because of another present she opened for her birthday.

“Oh, I didn’t know you were here, Taeyeon.” the young woman who entered the kitchen gives her a shy smile before tucking loose hair behind her ear.

Taeyeon gives her a small smile and nods. “I was just passing by. Sunny insisted on having dinner here.”

“Well, uh … It’s good to see you. You look great.”

“You’re staying here, too? How’s Berkeley?” Taeyeon tries to make small talk, not deterred by her best friend’s amused smile.

“I-It’s good. A bit hard but manageable.” the girl in front of her stutters.

Taeyeon stands and helps her with the wine glasses grabbing them for her. “Great. Don’t hesitate to call me up if you need any help.”

“Really? I-I mean, I don’t want to be a bother, but-”

“How could you bother her, Somi? She’s jobless, with an MBA and multiple businesses. Of course, she has nothing to do.”

“Unnie, that doesn’t sound jobless.” Somi looks at her cousin, confused. She turned to Taeyeon, who only shrugged at Sunny’s remark.

“Oh, so it’s Unnie to me. Did you forget that we’re just the same age?!” Sunny points fingers between her and Taeyeon.

“Cut it out, Soonkyu.” she looks at Somi. “I’ll see you around, Somi. I need to catch a plane later.”

The latter just nods, leaving the room with a blush on her face and happy steps.

“Stay away from my baby cousin!”

“Woah, calm down, Miss Lee.” Taeyeon stands away from her and proceeds to fix her coat while chuckling. She knew precisely what Sunny meant, but she was still having fun teasing her.

Sunny huffs at Taeyeon’s antics, “Escaping again, huh? You know that girl has a big fat crush on you, yet here you are making your way out of the house going to-”

“Somewhere important.” Taeyeon cuts her off. She had a hopeful smile, the one that she had worn ever since she got off Seoul.

“Fine, but have you been reading the book I bought you? It should help you not get lost when you arrive.”

“Yes, mother.”

“Call me that once again, and this time I hope she kicks your back to Korea!”

Sunny may be right, and everyone could be right about the slim chances she could get in the next few days. When she steps out of that plane and lands her first step in the place where it could probably crush or fix her, Taeyeon wonders if she is strong enough to pursue this plan.

But as she walks out of the Lee’s mansio