The moment Seohyun felt the sheer fabric slipping on her body, she in a deep breath for she realized that her initial suspicion might be wrong. It was not an ordinary secret dinner date to celebrate their engagement.

It was something more.

She gasped when she felt Taeyeon’s hand on her unhooking her bra and so she protested, “Unnie, what are you doing?!”

The older girl chuckled behind her, “You don’t need this. Now hold your breath so I can zip you up…”

“If I am not blindfolded right now, your job would be a lot easier,” she grumbled after her unnie fixed her dress.

“If you’re not blindfolded then this would no longer be a surprise.”

“What is really happening here?” Seohyun knew the answer to that but she still couldn’t seem to wrap it around her head. Her assumption could be wrong somehow but it was probably her ESP kicking in.

“You’ll find out soon enough,” Taeyeon replied nonchalantly. “Anyway, I heard you got engaged.”

“I honestly want to roll my eyes but obviously I can’t,” she grimaced and got another loud laugh from the other girl. “Fine, I’ll play along with whatever game you’re playing in here. Just make sure it’s worth your effort.”

“I’m damn sure it is!”

Seohyun frowned at her Unnie’s choice of word so she asked, “Is Euna in the room?”

“Nae…” a soft voice replied by her left side.

“Aigoo, Euna, you know you can’t repeat the D-word Taeyeon Imo said, right?”

“I know…”

Seohyun giggled hearing her daughter’s sing-song voice and she could almost imagine her shoulders shrugging when she said that, “What are you doing right now, honey?”

“Hmmm… just taking off petals ‘cause Imma gonna need to—”

“Princess, why don’t you check if stars are starting to come out, huh?”

“Sure, Imo!”

Seohyun couldn’t help but laugh when she heard a chair being pushed back and her daughter’s voice faded in the background. “You’re almost busted.”

“Almost,” Taeyeon shrugged.

“You know I already have a hint with all these shenanigans…”

“I know… but then again you’re smart enough to let me do my job properly, right?” Taeyeon muttered from behind her while helping her get settled on a comfy chair, “Whatever that hint is, just keep it to yourself.”

“Fine…” Seohyun laughed. It was after all a confirmation of her suspicion because Taeyeon has been her guardian angel for as long as she can remember. She can easily read her Unnie’s mind but if Taeyeon was in this Yonghwa’s plan for a long time, then she was a good actress. She smirked but couldn’t stop herself from asking, “So that random photoshoot you sent me to this afternoon was not that very random?”

Taeyeon hummed, “Keeping my lips sealed…”

“You sent me there so I could have my make-up and hair done,” she continued to probe.

“Not even confirming how smart you actually are.”

“I can see through all your hustles.”

“Well, at least you can’t see through that eyemask,” Taeyeon supplied with a good chuckle.

Seohyun had to laugh back. Her Unnie surely has an amazing sense of humor, “I love you, Unnie…”

“I love you, too, Hyunnie,” the older woman replied then her voice softened in almost a whisper, “That’s why I’m doing this.”

“I know…” she nodded. A sudden rush of goosebumps appeared on her arms and she felt her eyes water for a second that she had to sniff.

“Don’t start the waterworks now, darling.”

There was this warmth in Taeyeon’s soft laugh that all she could do was to give her a short nod, “’Hmmm… ‘kay, shutting up now…”

As the minutes passed by, she was feeling even more restless. Seohyun could hear tiny whispers all around her and only her unnie’s voice was recognizable somehow. She tried so hard to tell herself to be calm but the tension was taking over her. The moments dragged on until Taeyeon said softly that she was ready. After that Seohyun heard a cracking sound and it faded away quickly. She could tell that it came from a two-way radio

She might as well expect an elaborate set-up.

“It’s time…”

She heard her Unnie said softly to her and her hands were already guiding her by the arm. Another person stood on the opposite side and held her hand. They started walking. It was nerve-wracking somehow, walking and not knowing where these would all lead. Seohyun took careful steps, stumbling into an invisible ditch not fully trusting the people who were guiding her.

At that moment, she should be saying a smart- comment, threatening to end her relationship with her unnie or whatever derogatory remark she could think of— she even forgot to ask about her daughter. However, the heavy drumming in her chest prevented all other available thoughts. Even the nex