Hyoyeon left Taeyeon and Tiffany in her office as she still has a meeting with her husband and some investors, advising her brother to follow them after an hour to their next appointment. Since she already made up her mind and made it clear to the ex-lovers that her decision is final, Taeyeon and Tiffany didn’t protest any further about her a-bit-wicked plan of winning the project with MBC.

“I can’t believe nuna asked me to flirt just to win a certain project for the company.” Taeyeon sulked on his seat and Tiffany just scoffed at him before standing up to go back to her own office.

“Stop pretending that you don’t like it.” she hissed, exiting out of Hyoyeon’s office.

“Yah! What makes you think that I like it?” he retorted as he followed her, feeling a bit offended.

Tiffany stopped walking and raised an eyebrow at him. Taeyeon looked at her, waiting for her answer as he stared back at her with an obvious anxious expression on his face.

“Are you trying to tell me that you, who flirts and sleeps with I don’t know how many girls are there on your list, doesn’t really like unnie’s idea?” she intensely stared at him, crossing her arms over her chest and made sure that her voice is not that loud as she doesn’t want to create any scene in front of their employees.

Taeyeon’s eyes flickered with pain as he was offended and hurt by her words. However, as much as he wanted to protest, what she said is true and decided to just purse his lips as he looked away from Tiffany’s piercing eyes.

“It’s just a piece of cake for you. If you don’t want to do it for the company then just think of it like you’re doing it for your own pleasure. I don’t even know why were discussing this. Just do what you do best. Flirt with her, sleep with her if you want, just make sure we’ll win that project.” She continued and was about to continue walking but Taeyeon grabbed her wrist, stopping her in her tracks.

“Do you really want me to do that?” he softly asked with a glimpse of pain in his voice.

Tiffany closed her eyes for a moment and sighed before facing Taeyeon again. She was a bit taken aback by his gaze but she mentally encouraged herself not to be intimidated by him. She opened to say ‘yes’ but she was caught off guard when Taeyeon continued talking without taking his eyes off from her.

“I want you back, Fany-ah.”

Taeyeon and Tiffany stared at each other for a few moments and Tiffany wished she didn’t turn to face him as she couldn’t look away from him. Though her mind screams that she should hate him, her heart and body always seem to melt under his gaze, his words, and his touch like she usually does years ago.

“I don’t want a jerk back in my life.”

Tiffany pulled her hand off from his grasp and walked away. She was successful to say it while looking straight into his eyes. She should feel good after saying it but for a certain reason that she wants to brush off and deny, her heart aches but she wouldn’t let her guard down as it took her a while to build the walls in her heart to prevent her from getting hurt again.

Tiffany went back to her office and busied herself right away with work, ignoring the agonizing pain in her heart. She’s trying her best not to let Taeyeon affect her, act like she totally moved on from him, and pretend like nothing happens between them like what the guy is doing. However, deep inside herself, she’s hurting everytime she sees him. She thought and believed that the wounds in her heart will heal as time goes by but it seems like it doesn’t, not when the cause of her pain is back, just around her, and wanted her back.

“Tiff?” Nicole enterred her office as her boss seems to be so occupied with her work because she didn’t hear her knocked a few times and didn’t even notice her presence.

She walked near to Tiffany’s desk and peeked at her boss’ computer screen, sighing upon reading what the girl is staring blankly at.

“Tiff, it’s just either Yes, I’d love to go on a date with you, or No, I’m not interested with you.” she stated like a matter-of-fact, startling Tiffany as she closed the email she’s reading from one of the guys who has been trying to hit on her for quite some time now.

“How long have you been there?” Tiffany scoffed and Nicole just shrugged, smiling innocently at her.

“You have a visitor.” Nicole smiled, nodding her head on the slightly opened door, revealing the peeking Lauren who cutely smiled when her mom sees her.

Tiffany’s mood brightens up and she stood up from her executive chair, welcoming her daughter in her arms as the little girl ran towards her.

“Aigoo~~ my little princess, shouldn’t you still be in school?” Tiffany asked, kissng Lauren on the lips before carrying her in her arms.

“She finished the activity first so she was allowed to go home earlier than the others and she said she wants to go here.” Suzy chimed in as she enterred her cousin’s office, smiling proudly of her niece as Tiffany nodded her head in understanding.

“What did Lauren do at school today?” she tilted her head with a gentle smile on her face, waiting for her daughter’s answer as she sat back on her chair with Lauren sitting on her lap.

“”We… we made music… music…” Lauren trailed off and frowned as she’s having a hard time to remember the name of their activity, amusing the three older girls in the room.

Lauren climbed down her mom’s lap and ran towards her aunty who’s sitting on the couch next to Nicole.

“Aunty… what is it again?” she climbed on the couch and whispered on Suzy’s ear, earning soft giggles from Nicole and Tiffany.

“It’s musical jar, Lauren-ah.” Suzy whispered to her ear as well, receiving a thankful smile from the little girl as she jumped off the couch and ran back to her smiling mom.

“Lauren made musical jar!~” she cutely smiled, sitting back on her mom’s lap.

Tiffany motherly smiled at Lauren and asked the little girl to explain what a musical jar is, pretending to not know how it works. Rather than just simply praise her daughter with words, she always asks her to tell her about what she did as she wanted to engage her daughter in a meaningful interaction.

“Teacher Luna gave us jars and spoon… we… we filled the… the jars… with water. I… I filled different jars… with… with different amount… amount of water. Each... each jar has different sound when… I tap them with spoon… so… then Lauren arranged the jars… so the notes go lower to higher!~”

 “Wow!~~ My little princess worked very hard at school today. And Mommy can see that you enjoyed playing with the musical jars.”

Lauren enthusiastically nodded her head while grinning from ear to ear, causing Tiffany to softly giggle as she brushes her nose against Lauren’s. Like her father, Lauren is musically inclined and very enthusiastic when it comes to singing, dancing, composing her own random songs, and she loves to perform in front of people.

Seeing that Tiffany is back to her bright expression, Nicole excused herself as she still has some paperwork to do, waving dorkily at Lauren before she disappears behind the door. Suzy also bid her goodbye as she has to report to work to submit her design, not forgetting to tell Tiffany that Lauren also wants to see her daddy.

“Baby, come on. You have to go with Aunty Nicole and eat. Aunty Suzy told me that you haven’t eaten your lunch yet.” Tiffany persuaded her daughter to come with Nicole to have lunch as she has an important lunch meeting to attend to and she couldn’t eat with her.

“I don’t want to.” Lauren frowned, pouting as she crossed her arms over her chest as she sat on the couch.

“Lauren-ah, you have to eat.” Crouching in front of her daughter, Tiffany uncrossed the little girl’s arms and gently held her hands while trying her best to be calm as much as possible.

“I want to play with Daddy!~~” she whined, pulling her hands off from her mom’s grasp and her pout deepened as she looked away from her.

Tiffany inwardly rolled her eyes and run a hand through her hair, feeling exasperated at her daughter’s whining. For the past hour or so, Lauren has been bugging her about Taeyeon and she tried her best to put a smile on her face as she calmly deals with her, saying that her Daddy is in a meeting with her Aunty Hyoyeon.

“You’ll play with Daddy later after eating your lunch with Aunty Nicole.”

“No.”

“Lauren-ah…”

“I want to eat with Daddy!”

“Lauren, didn’t Mommy tell you that it’s bad raising your voice to someone older than you?”

Tiffany sternly said, mentally calming herself as she’s getting really annoyed by Lauren’s behavior.

“I… I want Daddy!!!~~~” Lauren screamed and started to cry, throwing tantrums because her mom doesn’t give in to her request to be with her Daddy.

“Lauren-ah, listen to Mommy. You---“ Tiffany sat beside her and hugged her, wanting to stop her from crying but Lauren pushed her as she scooted over, creating space between her and Tiffany.

“I want Daddy!” she exclaimed again, causing Tiffany to lose her temper.

“Stop calling him Daddy, will you?! He doesn’t have anything to do with you. He’s not your dad so stop it.” Tiffany snapped at her, causing Lauren to promptly stop crying as she was frightened by her mom’s outburst.

It was the very first time that Tiffany raised her voice to her daughter and she knows that she shouldn’t have done it. Her encounter earlier with Taeyeon and Lauren’s whining about him triggers her anger, causing her to lose herself. She immediately regretted what she had told her as she knows that she’ll hurt the little girl’s feelings. However, before she could talk to her and apologize, Lauren cried out loud, jumped off the couch, and ran towards the door.

“Tiff, is everything… okay?” Nicole trailed off as Lauren swiftly ran past her as soon as she opened the door. She decided to check on the two as she heard the commotion inside but she was surprised when Lauren ran past her while crying.

Tiffany stood up from the couch and smiled sadly at Nicole who gave her a questioning look. They both followed the little girl and Tiffany explained briefly to her what happened, causing Nicole to just sigh at both her friend and god-daughter’s stubbornness.

Meanwhile, Lauren ran towards the lobby while still crying and accidentally bumped into someone, causing her to fall back on her bum.

“Omo! I’m sorry little girl… errr… Lauren-ah?” Taeyeon quickly helped her to stand up. He just returned from the meeting with Hyoyeon and he was surprised to see Lauren but he frowned upon seeing the little girl crying.

“D-Daddy!~~” Lauren hugged him tightly as he crouched down in front of her.

“Shhh… I’m really sorry, Lauren-ah. Does it hurt?” he carried her in his arms as he stood up and gently her back to calm her down.

Lauren shook her head at his question and wrapped her little arms around his neck. She nuzzled her face on his neck and Taeyeon continued to caress her back, kissing her hair and softly telling her ‘Daddy is here.’

From a distance, the two girls saw what happened and Tiffany felt a pang in her heart. She saw how Lauren hugged and clung onto her dad, and how Taeyeon hold her daughter, caressed her back, and kissed her to calm her down.

Slowly, they approached them but Taeyeon motioned them to keep quiet as Lauren is mumbling something against his neck.

“I’m sorry, baby. Can you say that again?” he softly asked.

“Mommy is mad… at Lauren….” She said, sobbing a little as she lifted her head from Taeyeon’s neck.

Tiffany bit her lower lip upon hearing what her daughter said. Nicole and Taeyeon looked at her and she looked down, feeling guilty of what happened earlier.

“You’re crying because Mommy is mad at you?” Taeyeon gently asked, receiving a short nod and pout from Lauren.

“Did Lauren do something to make Mommy mad?” he continued in a soft voice while wiping her