The court began to fill with people, getting seats as they got themselves ready for the case.

And so was Hyun Ae's team. Everyone was there. Her lawyer, Shin Young Min, was sitting by her side, while Choi Eunji, 'the key', was nowhere to be seen.

'Hidden for the surprise,' the lawyer said.

"It's rare to see such an easy case. It is so easy that we won't have to drag this case for days, weeks, or months," the lawyer whispered to Hyun Ae, as he watched Seorim walking into the court with confidence on her face. "And I promised you, I'll make it easier and it will come to an end, today. Kwon Seorim, you are so done."

***

Smiles were plastered on the faces of the ones on the defendant's team. The judge decided after seeing the pieces of evidence presented by the defendant's lawyer for exactly three hours.

Finally, Hyun Ae let out a satisfied sigh and made a run toward her brother after she was proven innocent.

The case was too easy for the well-known lawyer in the country, as he claimed earlier.

As the door of the courtroom was opened, a big crowd of reporters began to swarm around Seorim and they began to ask random questions.

But her flaming eyes were scanning the area and saw Hyun Ae and the rest just stepped out from the courtroom on the other side.

She immediately went through the crowds, pushing people away from her harshly, and ran towards Hyun Ae in rage.

"Hyun Ae!!! You-"

"Guards!" Hyun Wook suddenly shouted, right before Seorim could grab his sister's arm when two to three guards came and stopped the model.

"You, ungrateful kid!" Seorim suddenly yelled, at Eunji who was standing behind Hyun Ae. "I paid you to stalk her, NOT BEFRIEND HER!"

"I may need the money, but no thanks, I'd rather be with someone so sensible," Eunji smirked, walking to the front and standing before Hyun Ae, 'shielding' her.

"You, Park Hyun Ae! You ruined my life! You ruined my entire life! I hate you!" Seorim screamed, letting out a shrilling cry as she began to walk away while being followed around by the reporters.

"Well... It's sad to see her career had to go down as well. I wish her career wouldn't get affected. But she deserved it," Hyun Ae sighed, and she turned to her lawyer and Eunji with a glad smile. "And you two, I can't thank you enough. I just... Come to my restaurant, I will treat you guys."

"Oh, thank you to you too, Hyun Ae-ssi, I got to free myself from Seorim now. I really wanted to have my own studio, so I will work hard from now on. Oh, if you need my help, just call me in," Eunji offered, giving her first business card to her new friend.

"I will," Hyun Ae said after looking at the card and placing it into her purse, before turning to the lawyer. "Young Min-ssi, thank you so much for everything."

"Nah, it's just my job. Besides, I love working with a case that is," Young Min chuckled, poking his cheek as he continued, "so easy to handle with an abundant amount of evidence. It's making my job easier."

"Oh, actually..." Hyun Wook suddenly interrupted. "Can we keep in contact? We may need a lawyer in the future. Plus since Hyun Ae had a business..."

"Oh, I'm one call away," Young Min said, giving him a wink and a thumbs-up before suddenly they got surrounded by the reporters.

"Park Hyun Ae-ssi! How are you feeling now?!"

"How did you find Choi Eunji, your key to winning in this case?"

"I only had one thing to say; kindness gives birth to kindness. Only the truth will win," Hyun Ae smiled, and grabbed Eunji as she spoke.

"Hyun Ae-ssi! Now that Kwon Seorim had been given the warning to stay away from you, does this mean you will get back together with BTS's RM?"

Okay, that's the entertainment reporter.

"No," Hyun Ae simply answered, and more questions began to come from random reporters, but the last question really hit her hard.

She then grabbed her brother and whispered, "Hyun Wook, let's go..."

"Sorry, excuse us. We need to go. Give us some space, please!" Hyun Wook said, holding her by his side as he waited for the guards to get ready with them.

He took a glance at both Eunji and the lawyer behind him.

"Eunji-ssi, Young Min-ssi, thank you again to both of you. Don't forget to drop by the shop!" he reminded them, before finally going through the crowds smoothly and leaving the court.

The crowds began to subside, leaving the two friends in the area.

"I'm hungry. Do you know where her shop is?" Young Min the lawyer asked Eunji, stretching his body and letting out a heavy sigh.

"Pfft. I stalked her every day. Of course, I know," Eunji grunted, rolling her eyes as she followed her friend to the parking lot.

"You've been stalking people's lives since high school. No wonder you accepted Kwon Sora's request easily, just because she's a celebrity. I mean, WAS," Young Min chortled, pressing his smart key, and his car beeped from afar.

"You know what? This is actually that one stalking you did that really helped me. Otherwise, it'll be done in weeks. Kwon Seorim is under a big agency, how am I going to fight a big agency alongside an ordinary individual?" Young Min shook his head and then patted Eunji on her head as they continued to walk toward his car. "I'm lucky to have a stalker friend since high school that I never knew would help me a lot these days."

"Are you trying to make me sound like a bad person to the readers? Hey, I helped Hyun Ae! And that's because I'm changing. I'm not the old Choi Eunji anymore-"

Eunji lifted her hand high to push him away, but he immediately retreated and put up his bag to defend himself, making her confused.

"I'm a lawyer! I can charge you for domestic violence! You're my friend, I'm your friend, the readers are my witnesses!" he said, actually kind of threatening her with his words.

Hearing it, she just let out disbelief chuckled and rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed with her old classmate that had turned to the country's well-known lawyer after succeeding in solving many cases and winning most of them.

"Hihi, silly Eunjijiji-"

"STOP THAT!"

*****

Three weeks passed after the case. Things went back to normal.

Well, not really normal for Hyun Ae.

She let out a sigh. She knew that she should be happy now that everything had settled quicker than she thought it would. But at the same time, she knew that she had lost the source of her happiness too.

Spending time at the shop might heal her a bit, she thought. But even after three weeks, there was still something missing in her. The feeling of being incomplete.

Hyun Ae stared at her wrist, the scars of her attempted suicide reminded her of the mental breakdown she had last time.

As the weeks passed by, she had gotten even better than before, and she didn't need her medications all the time for now.

"Noona, the phone!" suddenly Hyun Wook called out, waking her from her trance. She was lost for a moment, then quickly picked up the ringing wireless phone.

"Uh... hello? La Dolce-"

"Hyun Ae?"

Her heart stopped. Because of the voice.

A voice that she had never expected to hear.

Namjoon...

"Oh, I'm... I'm sorry. Um..."

Even though he was on the phone, Hyun Ae knew that he was off to give the phone to someone else. And she was right.

"Hello? Hyun Ae... Didn't know you were in today," Jin suddenly said, obviously surprised.

"I was... Yes, what can I help you with?" Hyun Ae cleared her throat and immediately reminded herself about work professionalism.

They are my customers.

"Um... the usual? Except that for lunch, we all wanted some pasta today. And some tempuras. Just... put in anything."

"Okay. Anything else?" Hyun Ae added, after writing down their usual order. But there was only a long silence. "Hello? Hello?"

"Hyun Ae, you're okay?" Jin asked softly, showing her how worried he was just by his voice.

"I-I-I'm fine... So fine..." she muttered, letting her words fade at the end, then she cleared her throat again. "We will get the food delivered to you soon. Thank you for ordering."

The call ended, and suddenly she felt a bit sad. Sighing, she ripped the order from the book and passed it to Yoon Hee.

"Order for... BTS," she said as Yoon Hee took the paper. After noting the kitchen about the order, Yoon Hee went back to Hyun Ae.

"Yoon Hee, I know it's the weekend. And there will be more people tomorrow, but can I stay home?" Hyun Ae suddenly asked.

"Eonnie, why are you asking me? Just stay at home. You don't have to ask me," Yoon Hee said, patting Hyun Ae's arm assuredly.

"You're the manager, remember?"

"And you're still the legal owner of this premise, remember? You can go home now if you want to."

"So you can spend time with Hyun Wook, right?" Hyun Ae teased, smirking at her friend.

"N-No?" Yoon Hee denied it, but her face turned red, making Hyun Ae giggle. "Why don't you just go home now?"

"Pfft," Hyun Ae chuckled, and grabbed her bag as she went to Hyun Wook. "Hyun Wook, I'm going home!"

"What, why? NO!" he groaned.

"You want anything to eat for tonight?" she asked as she opened the door, knowing that her brother would request something.

"I'm craving your lasagna!"

She shook her head and waved her hand at him as she left the shop. She was on her way to the station when she stopped midway as she checked her phone.

Two missed calls from Jaehee.

Hyun Ae re-dialed the number and called out as her call was answered. "Jaehee eonnie?"

"Hyun Ae. Mr. Bang Shi Hyuk wants to talk with you."

********************************************************

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