Ryujin & Hyerin opened the car-door, to get in together from either side, as Hyerin noticed Taemin’s car approaching before getting inside.

“Go safely” he had stopped the car beside Ryujin’s car before finally leaving.

“You too” Ryujin waved at him from the window as he nodded silently.

Taemin slid forward slightly on his steering-wheel waving at Hyerin with one hand “Bye!” and Hyerin waved back with a smile, as Taemin drove off then.

Ryujin couldn’t help but smile on how the otherwise awkward to strangers, LeeTaemin, was going out by all means for Hyerin.She could suspect some special reason he was so comforatble with her.

“How’s it going?” she asked turning to Hyerin, “Taemin oppa is really bad in the kitchen” “So tell me?” Ryujin was staring at Hyerin, who was watching the street ahead.

“It’s fine” “He’s following the steps well till now” Hyerin confessed.

“That’s new” “He has his own way with things” Ryujin chuckled, “He rarely follows orders” she took a glance at Hyerin igniting the engine, making her smile at her reaction.

“He followed almost everything I told him today” Hyerin had to say it again,

“He was quite focused actually” “I didn’t expect that” she was amazed too, from what she had heard about him from the fans.

“Maybe because he was doing it for the first time today” Ryujin smirked, taking a guess, “He gets bored easily otherwise” 

“But it’s still strange” Hyerin had something more to say, “The way I've been seeing him every day since a while now” her eyes were focused on the road talking aloud the lines that were in her head for a while now.

“You mean him being a celebrity?” Ryujin glanced at Hyerin who was still busy in her own thoughts, nodding yes in response to the question.

Ryujin ended up smiling at her friend's starstrucked face, “Hmm” “It can be a bit strange for a while” she nodded, taking another glance at Hyerin, focusing on her driving now.

“So?” “What do you think?” Ryujin added, startling Hyerin to look at her, “How is taemin oppa different from the shinee Taemin you imagined?” Ryujin was trying to get some feedback from Hyerin now, as she knew now that Taemin was definitely onto something with this baking project, and so she was kind of curious about Hyerin’s side too now.

Hyerin observed Ryujin for a minute before talking further, “Uhmm…?” “I will have to think about it,” Hyerin laughed lightly, looking up at the roof of the car, embarrassed suddenly.

“He’s definitely more handsome in real life” she looked at Ryujin, who was waiting for her explanation with a surprised look on her face,

Hyerin wanted to make sure that she was giving a sincere answer & wasn’t just complimenting.

“I don't think that’s very particular” “More specific?” Ryujin urged, speculating Hyerin's awkwardness, gesturing her hand in circles, directing Hyerin to speak more.

Hyerin sighed softly, smiling at Ryujin, who smirked watching her through the corner of her eyes, “I don’t know yet, he’s different in lot of ways” she added, thinking about how he was not at all what she expected from him, “I definitely never thought he was this friendly” Hyerin continued reminding his figure in her head, “I’ve always seen him as a reserved person on screen, you know?” she looked at Ryujin , who was nodding silently, understanding her.

“And-" "I didn’t thought I would say this after meeting someone for the first time ever-" "But-" "I didn’t feel uncomfortable at all, although he’s not my friend or such” 

Ryujin turned to take a look at Hyerin before getting her eyes on road again, “Eonni knows how I get insanely uncomfortable around new people but, yeah, it didn’t happen today” Hyerin continued as Ryujin was smiling to herself.

“I was expecting & scared that I would make him uncomfortable behaving weird & awkward” Hyerin laughed, making Ryujin laugh softly too, “You have seen me being that weirdo” she blushed, as Ryujin agreed, nodding to her.

“He’s not that friendly to everyone” Ryujin informed, as she continued driving, pulling the car to the side now, as they were before Hyerin’s house already.

 Hyerin looked at her confused turning her body on the seat to her, “I’m more shocked to know you are friends with a celebrity”

“Ah!” “It’s a long story” Ryujin smiled, closing her eyes shortly, “I’ll tell you someday again” she said turning back to Hyerin to have another conversation now.

“What about you?” she asked, a serious expression catching her face now, “I mean, You & Goon Ho?” “You were really disturbed that day?” she added to the question, she had been waiting to ask since the day they had met last time.

“I was trying to meet you since we talked but I couldn’t find free time since then, so I had called you today” Ryujin confessed, making Hyerin serious too now.

“We broke up” Hyerin’s reply was short & blunt, 

“Are you okay?” Ryujin was concerned seeing Hyerin's cold face.

Hyerin nodded silently, before looking at Ryujin with soft eyes. “Do you regret it?” Ryujin asked ahead, observing Hyerin's saddened face.

Hyerin nodded her head in denial, “Anyway, we didn’t belong together” she agreed to herself.

“It feels sad” “I miss him in a while” she continued, as Ryujin was watching her with all her attention, “But I think I will be fine soon” she looked away from the window as Ryujin kept staring at her, understanding her state of mind.

“And how are things at café?” Ryujin remembered another query that was bothering her.

“I’m not sure these days if I should continue running the cafe” Hyerin continued looking out of the window, avoiding Ryujin’s eyes now.

“What do you mean, not sure?” Ryujin's voice was raised, hearing Hyerin's statement, “Are you thinking of quitting on it by any chance?” Ryujin’s tone was enough for Hyerin to know the intensity of her disagreement.

“Are you seriously thinking that?” Ryujin asked, disappointed now, making Hyerin turn to her finally. “How else should I do it then?” “I’m stuck” Hyerin’s frustrated self was coming out in front of Ryujin slowly as she couldn't hold it in anymore,

“It feels like I’ve done nothing since a year other than just making the ordinary breads & selling them that every other bakery does” "It was not my goal" Hyerin was reflecting a lot on this thought since a while, and she was getting sick of adjusting herself to the usual norms.

She thought she had the potential to bring a new perspective to baking through this business, but it was hard to feel the same now, when she couldn't think of any ideas that could benefit her financially, when she needed a stable financial life too for her family at this point of time. 

“And what else are you gonna do then?” Ryujin couldn't understand what made Hyerin come to this decision. She had seen Hyerin talk about this cafe so highly in past, and she was giving up on it now.

“I can teach in the baking school again as I know some people still working there” “At least I can pay eomma’s hospital expenses then” Hyerin stated some facts she had in her mind cleared out, “I’m just wasting my time here in the cafe” she looked down, her eyes blinking rapidly with the tears formed in them, when Ryujin watched her holding them in, feeling empathy with what Hyerin must be going through.

“Can’t you just take one more shot at the café itself?” she wanted to comfort her but didn't knew how, “Instead of having these second thoughts?’ "Just take some time off to think about what you can do here more" Ryujin tried pushing as much as she could to stop Hyerin from taking a sudden & rash decision.

“You’re just having a bad time now” she went on, as Hyerin wasn't responding, “I don’t think you should let it affect you this way”

Ryujin wanted to talk it out with Hyerin till she changes her mind. She knew Hyerin was struggling through lot of issues together right now, so it was more sensible to get her slow down and spend some time with herself.

“It’s getting hard for me to motivate myself” finally the dam was broken & tears were down from Hyerin’s eyes, as she was sharing her inner dilemma freely with Ryujin finally, “I don’t think I have the right to put my employees as well as my family to suffer with me by taking the business down to shreds ahead”

Ryujin was silently listening as she thought of an idea now, “You know what?” she took a long sigh, interrupting Hyerin from speaking ahead,

“How about you take a day off from cafe & have a date with me this weekend?” Ryujin looked at Hyerin for her anticipatory response.

Hyerin was watching the older friend dumbfounded now, “Aren't you busy?”

“No!” "Why would I be busy for weekend?" Ryujin wanted to help her somehow, and this was the only thing she could think of right now, "Are you busy?" Ryujin confirmed, making Hyerin shake her head quietly in return.

“Let’s go out then” Ryujin had a cheerful voice, making Hyerin take a deep breath, watching her, “I know you’ll have a different approach when you'll think about it for a while” "Just trust me" Ryujin assured, making Hyerin smile finally.

Hyerin opened the door on her side, “I should go now” “Go home safely eonni” Ryujin nodded enthusiastically in response bringing a smile on Hyerin’s face again, "Hmm"

“I’ll pick you for this weekend” Ryujin added, watching Hyerin turn to her house to walk inside, “Let’s get you some healing time” she shouted loud enough for Hyerin to hear before she was far enough from the car, walking to the entrance of her house, as she watched her back till she disappeared into the house.

-------------------

“Are you coming home now?” Hyerin turned to hear her eomma’s voice behind her.

“Didn’t you sleep yet?” she asked walking to her with the bottle in her hand, she just took out from the fridge.

Eomma stood there, observing Hyerin for a while, “You must be having a hard time because of my treatment again, right?” 

“You don’t have to worry about that eomma” “I’m your daughter” Hyerin answered nonchalantly.

“Who else is gonna look after you when you're sick?” Hyerin sat down on one of the four chairs around the dining table, ignoring her mom’s continuous gaze on her.

“I couldn’t even do anything for you when I should have” her eomma sighed, sitting in front of her watching Hyerin freeze, hearing her words, “What are you bringing this up suddenly, eomma?” Hyerin scoffed lightly, trying to brush off the heavy mood in the room when she was already not feeling that great after crying a while ago.

“I know you have financial pressure these days because of my treatment yet again” eomma was watching Hyerin with the apologetic eyes,

She sighed seeing her daughter's silent response again, “You always try to run away from me when I want to talk to you” 

Hyerin kept the bottle in her hand down to walk to her mother’s side, as she reached to wrap her hand around her mother’s shoulder, “Eomma!” she cooed softly, looking down at her mother’s face, “I’m fine” “Really!” her voice was low & gentle now, as she cuddled with her mother warmly, pressing her cheek on her mom’s forehead.

“Your health is important to us” Hyerin concluded, “Let me do this” she was patting her mother’s arm as she held her in the hug, “You’re the only one for me & Jinho” “If you’re not feeling well, I want to make sure, I take care of your health” Hyerin went on speaking, while her mother listened to her quietly now, as her heart was breaking hearing her daughter’s comforting words.

Hyerin sat down in front of her mom taking her hand in hers, “You just make sure you are not skipping the medicines & meals”

“I can do well if you do that for me” “Okay?” Hyerin looked at her mom, meeting her eyes filled with tears now.

“I’m really sorry for not being by your side all these years” eomma looked down in guilt, hiding her tears from her daughter, “You went so far on your own & had to endure everything by your own there because of me” she was thinking about it a lot being home alone these days, "I didn’t even bothered to contact to you then"

"I was busy thinking all the while how selfish you were to leave us here like this in that time” "But I never considered how hard it was for you to take that decision alone" Eomma wanted to say this out for once, now that they were actually having this conversation

Hyerin knew & had heard about her mom’s thoughts on this, through Jinho, but this was the first time they both were talking about it face-to-face.

Eomma took Hyerin’s hand which was holding her till now to pat on the back of it holding it softly, “I couldn’t even say few comforting words to you when I heard about you having hard time there" "I wasted my time blaming you instead of supporting you" she confessed, as Hyerin was about to cry again now.

“I don’t even had any right to complain then" Hyerin couldn't say much in return hearing her mother's confession like this, "I didn’t even protect you when your uncles were forcing you for marriage” she continued, “I did everything a bad mother could do & it feels very unfair now to receive all this from you” eomma sighed,patting her hand lightly.

“Back then I just wanted you to be with me by my side" "After losing your dad so suddenly I was anxious about your future” eomma looked at Hyerin who was looking down quiet, listening to her, “I was lonely too, many times & so hated you more then, while missing you” eomma was overwhelmed now with all those feelings coming back to her as the big regret now.

“But now seeing you work on your dreams makes me so proud" Eomma smiled, watching her daughter's face, "I’m scared I'll be holding you back again now” “Don’t do that Hyerin-ah” she was waiting for an active response, but Hyerin kept looking down, her lips locked in silence.

“Back then I listened to others a lot than you, tormented you & forced you to compromise” she added, without holding it back now that she had already let out so much, she felt the need to express it all today that she had in her mind after seeing her daughter back for her sake.

 Eomma raised her hand to tug Hyerin’s bangs behind her ears lovingly, “It will not happen again, my dear” “I wish you will always stay strong as you were back then, and run after your dreams”

“I want to support you atleast by being by our side this time” “Hmm?” Hyerin didn’t know much to say after hearing her mom say what she had expected long years ago, when tears filled her eyes in that very second.

“Get up” Hyerin took her mom’s hand to raise her from the chair pulling back her tears from falling out, “You should sleep now”

“Did you take the medicines today?” she enquired dragging her by arm out of the kitchen, to walk her to the room.

Eomma nodded in affirmation watching her daughter’s face trying to hide her emotions again, “You should rest well too”

Since childhood Hyerin being a timid but hard-working person always faced difficulties trying to tell her heart out to someone. Her dad was the only person to whom she would tell her dreams, her stories & share her thoughts about different things. And after him leaving them, Hyerin was like a complicated puzzle to her mom, she would be in her room all day, or in the kitchen, baking by herself, or reading some book in the corner of house, or being out alone by herself, as she didn’t even have many friends back then in high school too.

Even after returning back from Paris since a year now, Other than playing around with Jinho sometimes, it was rare to spot Hyerin in the house, she would rather spend her time in the café most of the time, trying to avoid talking with her mom as much as possible, for the obvious reasons of their awkward relationship.

Losing Hyerin’s father was a big change, the family had to face, but all three of them had handled it way too differently, in their own manners.

Jinho was young enough to cry over it a lot & then got over it soon too, although he was getting mature quicker than he was expected to.

Hyerin’s mom was lost searching for another support in the frame of Hyerin, now that her father was not around and Hyerin moving away from her right then became quite a deeper pain for her then.

And Hyerin felt like she had lost everything, her hopes.. her dreams.. her motivation.. her aspirations all were tied to her father, and that’s why moving out, away from the family in the very time, made her overly ambitious yet very reserved to the world around, as she always wanted to preserve her father through her love for baking.

And because of that baking was not just a hobby turned into a profession but a very special kind of dream, that her father always wanted for her.

Hence, even when she had all kinds of stressful thoughts about quitting the café, she knew herself how much she wanted to keep doing it comfortably in future without all these forms of insecurities tied along with it.

It was true that she had no motivation she could find right now, but a part of her also wanted to believe Ryujin’s words now that she could find something to hold onto if she relaxes herself for a while. 

She wanted to try her best once again now.

-----------------

As soon as Taemin was home, he couldn’t stop but think of calling Ryujin now. But before he could, Ryujin was calling him first.

“Hello” he picked the call in less than two rings. “I kind of was expecting you to call?” she asked from the other side.

“Am I being that obvious?” Taemin chuckled, taking a seat on his sofa holding the water-bottle in his other hand.

“Obvious?” Ryujin was trying to dig in more, “Are you finally agreeing you already like her?”

She obviously wasn’t expecting a complete ‘yes’ but knowing Taemin, she definitely knew it wasn’t a fling for sure for him to approach Hyerin in such a straightforward way.

It was true that he started on this path because he was 'just' curious about her, but it was also true that his curiosity was only growing now after seeing her multiple times, and maybe that wasn’t even in his hands anymore.

“I don’t know” he replied, confused hi