Jongho almost drops the board game he was playing with Hwayoung, Yunho and Hongjoong, the gamepieces rattling around in the box as he balances it on his palm. He was about to keep back the game in the store as Yeosang and Byul seemingly materialize from thin air at the space between the washing machine and the wall.

Yeosang wordlessly crouches beside the machine, sticks his hand into the opening and pulls out shopping bags until it looks like he's about to spend the whole night doing it. He stops after it comes to the tenth bag, and leans against the wall, tiredness evident on his face. It's less of their sudden appearance that made Jongho startled, but rather Han Byul's new look that's making him do a double take.

Byul has chopped off her long locks, replaced with a bob cut with bangs, dyed in gradient red. A ring is hooked on her lower lip, which is complemented by her nude lipstick that accentuates her plump lips. Over a t-shirt with a cat applique on it, she puts on a black leather jacket, which looks like it has been taken straight out of Seonghwa's wardrobe.

In short, this Han Byul looks nothing like how he first saw her.

Seonghwa appears at the laundry room from the front not long after, helping to carry some of the bags to Byul's room. Yunho, Hongjoong and even Hwayoung stare at the new Byul, taking the least effort to hide their surprise.

Yunho rubs his eyes with his knuckles, while Hwayoung pokes his cheeks, muttering, "Dad, is that really Han Byul?"

"I... think so. Is that really Han Byul?" he repeats the question to their leader, whose eyes look like they've never seen a human being quite like her.

Yeosang walks side by side with Byul, with the latter looking sheepish as the whole house can't hide their shock over her appearance. Jongho trails behind them, bending his body forward so that he can get a good look of her face, still not believing that this was the same person he had chased while holding on to her high heels.

She looks like a new person; apart from her expression she looks fiercer, more confident and he wonders whether it's the help of her attire, or this is who she really is. Her demeanour is different; like this is how she originally is and that her appearance when they first met at the cafe was merely a disguise.

"Byul-ie you look really pretty," Hwayoung gushes, getting over the shock much faster than her dad and uncles. "I like your hair, it looks nice on you."

"Oh, thank you. Aren't you a sweetheart?" Byul muses, looking fully appreciative of her compliment. Her face breaks into a smile and she's about to reach her hand out to pat her head, but lets it stay by her side when she's reminded of how wary Yunho is towards her. She wouldn't want to elevate Yunho's distrust towards her, especially by coming close to his daughter.

"How did your lip piercing to heal so fast?" Jongho asks, taking a seat next to Hongjoong. He had forgotten about his quest to keep back the board game so he sets it down on the table in the middle. "Didn't you get it pierced today?"

"Oh, this?" Her hand immediately flies to her lip as she tugs at the ring. "I didn't get it pierced today; I just bought a new ring- well, they did. I had no money left."

"You already had your bottom lip pierced?" Hongjoong finds his voice back, a look appearing on his face as though he's trying to hide that he's impressed by the fact. Maybe he's taken by surprise because the first image he had of her was definitely not this, and that he never had thought she would look... good with it.

"Well yeah," she deadpans, as if that's the stupidest thing one could ask. "I've always had a ring in but I took it out for the job interview. Never went well though, that's why I'm here."

"That's why you're becoming my nanny!" Hwayoung slips in, grinning and running to her side. Byul gets stunned as the kid wraps her arms around her legs suddenly, saying, "I'm so happy you're here."

It would be an understatement to say that her heart has melted into a puddle; it's more of her heart being caressed softly as soothing music plays in the background. The little kid is doing a much better job than her uncles at making her feel welcomed, that she'd say that she'll gladly stay just to be with her.

She carefully steals a glance towards Yunho, who seems a bit worked up, but is doing a good job in staying put in his place. Unable to resist anymore, she pats a hand on Hwayoung's head, stroking her hair. His daughter seems to like it, as she nuzzles at her hip, her arms still incompletely wrapping around her legs.

"Hwayoung," Yunho calls out, his mind already reeling to think of an excuse for his daughter to let her go, but comes up with nothing. It's still too early for her to go to bed, but his daughter looks like she won't let go of her legs even when the world comes crashing down. Somehow, he's feeling like he'll just let this one time slip by, that letting his daughter come close to Byul wouldn't hurt... After all, she's going to live with them and it's going to be hard for him to have to pry her away from Byul every time.

"Looks like our little Hwayoung likes Byul a lot," Seonghwa coos as he joins them. He looks at Yunho, whose body is still rigid from seeing the contact, but much to his surprise, he doesn't do anything to stop it.

Hwayoung lets go, tilts her head to look at the woman adoringly before running back to her dad's arms. She sits on his lap before calling over Byul to sit beside him; she even goes as far as pushing Hongjoong away with her legs to make space so that Yunho and Byul are able to sit side by side.

"Hey, Hwayoung-" Hongjoong protests, but the little kid keeps on prodding at him while giggling. "Yunho what are you teaching your daughter-" He had hopes of Yunho putting a stop to his child's behaviour, but Yunho is currently malfunctioning as the heat gets to his face, aware of what his own daughter is trying to do.

This was what he had warned Byul about, and looks like Hwayoung has started her mission.

"Hwayoung, stop doing that to Hongjoong. You're going to squash the strawberry," Jongho lightly pats her legs, to which she only giggles louder. There is now space between Yunho and Hongjoong, but barely enough for another person to sit. If she were to take the spot, none of them would be comfortable and there will definitely be no gap.

"I'm not a strawberry!" Hongjoong huffs and his face changes, a crying face on the way.

"Byul-ie!" she utters again, bouncing up and down on her dad's lap, looking too eager.

Byul smiles awkwardly, feeling as if the world has come to a stop as Yunho reprimands her with his eyes, trying to guess what her next move will be. She stays put, but from the corner of her eyes she seems someone brushing past her, strides towards the empty space, and plops down onto the sofa, ultimately squashing Hongjoong and Yunho, and bringing a state of dissatisfaction to the only child.

"Uncle Yeosang, it's not a place for you to sit!"

"Ah really, Kang Yeosang! You're squashing us with your huge butt," Hongjoong reaches for a cushion behind him and hits him, while Hwayoung watches on, giggles and seemingly urging the leader to hit him harder.

Jongho and Seonghwa shake their heads, and the eldest has to steal the cushion from Hongjoong to be able to stop the chaos, before he picks Hwayoung up and chastises, "Hwayoung, you can't do that to someone else. Apologize to Uncle Hongjoong and Uncle Yeosang." He holds her up, and with a pouty face, she apologizes and peppers kisses on both of her uncles' faces. He puts her down, pats her head before turning to Hongjoong. "You, apologize to my baby for hitting him with a cushion."

"Did you just call Yeosang your baby?" Hongjoong snorts.

"He is my baby, now, apologize."

Yeosang sticks out his tongue to the leader, earning a package of apology combined with a silent death glare.

"Can I get a 'me' from at least one person who loves me?" Hongjoong asks around, looking at each of their faces.

The rest remain quiet, including Hwayoung who has started to play a game of rock, paper, scissors with Yeosang.

"Anyone, no? Calling once, calling twice? Or I'll cry. Our youngest, don't you love me?"

"I have to put back this board game, see you guys later." Jongho zooms out of the living room, bringing the board game together with him.

"We're going to go and change," Seonghwa announces, dragging Yeosang with him although the latter doesn't give his agreement.

"Well?" Hongjoong looks expectantly at the father-daughter duo, who are currently plotting their escape from the living room, Yunho's eyes are already directed towards his bedroom door. Yunho holds on firmly to his daughter, before he bolts past Byul together with the child and they practically dive into his bedroom. Hongjoong shifts his gaze to Byul, who is still somewhat standing awkwardly through the whole ordeal, as if her body doesn't know what to do anymore.

"Uh," she starts, but stops.

She doesn't actually know what to say; she knows that this is probably just them and their normal everyday banter, but as she looks at Hongjoong taking the remote and switching on the television, she notices that there's slight disappointment in his expression. She notices it up to the point she feels bad for him.

She doesn't know what possessed her as she takes a seat beside him without being invited, looking for a way to start a conversation. She feels guilty about the altercation she had with him this morning, when she had known the reason on why he was reluctant on having to accept someone new.

"Do they... always do that to you?" she asks, but immediately regrets it when it comes out sounding insensitive. She quickly corrects herself, "I mean, I'm sure you're a great leader but they just like playing around with you."

"You're slightly scaring me," he says without even looking at her. He's mindlessly browsing through the channels, nothing catching his interest. "I thought you hated me with all your guts. If that's your attempt at comforting me, trust me, I don't need it."

"From me. You don't need comforting from me, but it seems like you do need one. There are limits to jokes and they probably mean no harm, but still they could have toned it down."

He puts down the remote control, the television screen now decorated with the evening news. He turns to look at her, but only slightly as he shifts his gaze away from her again.

"You don't have to involve yourself with our team's affairs, I know that they mean no harm. You don't have to be so emotional about it. Is this what you always do, Ms. Han, worrying for other people when there's absolutely no reason to?"

"I just-" she sighs. "It feels nice when you know that there are people who care about you. It's not my place to worry for you since we're practically strangers but is it so wrong to be a little bit nice to another human being?"

"Being nice doesn't take you anywhere, Ms. Han. What do you get?"

She keeps mum because she doesn't have the answer; does her life turn out shitty because she's always being nice? But she's pretty sure her life is bound to be doomed anyway, whether she's being nice or not.

Hongjoong cocks an eyebrow, waiting for her answer but she only steals the remote control from him, flipping through the channels aimlessly. She lands on the evening news again, but as her thumb hovers over the button to go to the next channel, she stops when the picture and name of a familiar person appear on the screen next to the newscaster.

Her vision becomes blurred and her hearing become blocked as the newscaster reads out the news with a practiced voice, and she drops the remote control onto the table. She hugs herself with her shaky hands, her eyes now unfocused on the screen but instead darting all around the living room.

"The only son of the largest car manufacturer in the country, Mr. Yoon Daewon has been found murdered in his office this morning, approximately at 10 a.m. His body was discovered by his assistant who wanted to call him for a scheduled meeting in the afternoon. According to the police, it seems like the suspect had broken in through the window, waited for him to return to his office and the cause of death was said to be from heavy blood loss. Police are currently looking into the investigation and law enforcement will keep the public updated regarding the case."

Hongjoong eyes her with uncertainty; he very well knows whose doing it is.

San had approached him yesterday night, detailing of a plan that was related to her after they returned from her house. San looked upset, angry even, as he told everything about what they experienced at her flat and what he had planned to do.

"I'm your leader," he had said to him, "but I know that if I were to stop you, you're going to be doing it anyway. Why did you still look for me to ask for permission?"

"Because you're our leader; I just want you to know what I planned on doing. I still respect you no matter what."

"San." He paused, studying his face to look for his reaction, but found none. "You have to stop thinking that it's your duty to punish bastards like that. Doing this won't bring her back to you."

"I'm not doing this because of her; I told everyone that I already came to terms with it. I'm not doing it because of her, I'm not doing this because of Byul. I'm doing it for myself."

"For your own satisfaction? Until when will you feel it's enough?"

The younger had refused to reply and then disappeared, bringing years worth of resentment with him. It's one that he said he had extinguished but the rest of them know that it's easily fuelled by anything that even remotely reminds him of that moment.

Byul seemed to be the fuel, even though San firmly said she wasn't. Rather, it's what she had been through that reminded him of what he had been struggling to forget.

"I- I- I need to go and arrange the clothes," she stutters, almost looking like she's about to faint any moment. She staggers forward, holding on to the sofa for support. One step is all she can take before she blacks out and her body goes limp.

Alarmed, Hongjoong hastily stands up to catch her before she hits her head on the table. "Ms. Han!" he cries out as he stretches his arms forward, pulling her jacket and envelopes her in his arms. He is almost pulled downwards by the weight, but he steadies himself. He doesn't know whether the rest are aware of it. He brushes the hair out of her eyes, tapping lightly on her cheek. He calls out her name frantically, but she gives no response.

Somehow, even though she's currently unconscious and her eyes are tightly shut, he senses the extreme fear that she had felt a few seconds before she passed out.

---

[A/N: If you see me updating, it means I'm procrastinating from doing my assignments. Someone please knock some sense into me.]