It's been literally years since she last had her penthouse crawling with her parents' staff. Even her own cleaning ahjumma is nervous, judging by her expression.
"It's okay, Ahjumma," she pats her shoulder and guides her to the kitchen, away from the chaos. "Let's have some tea."
The middle-aged woman sighs and reluctantly follows her. "I might need to work overtime today," she says. "They're going to make a mess of that room. I want to fix it before she moves in."
She can't help but laugh. "Relax, Ahjumma. It's going to be alright."
The woman has worked for her since the first day she moved into that penthouse, right after she graduated university. She loves her company. Sometimes she even considers the woman more motherly than her own birth mother. She'd confide in her and the woman would listen and give her advice while making her some delicious homemade food.
Another thing she likes about the woman is how meticulous and proud she is about her work. No one is allowed to touch that place except for her even though Taeyeon has suggested that she gets extra help due to her age.
"I hope she's a nice girl," the woman says as they sip their tea. She has heard about the person who's about to move in and occupy the usually empty guest bedroom downstairs.
Taeyeon doesn't reply because she's still pissed about her parents' one-sided decision. Last night, she has done a quick search on Tiffany Hwang—the name of the Hwangs' daughter—and although she couldn't find much, what she found was enough to convince her that her parents were telling the truth. The woman is pretty, looks sophisticated, well-educated—she graduated from an Ivy League university—and has quite a career. She's already a marketing VP of a fashion start-up in the States.
If she has felt bad for the girl before for being pawned like this by her parents, she felt even worse after seeing her social media timeline. In it are pictures taken months ago of her and her fiancé, on the night after he proposed.
Taeyeon called her parents this morning to confirm this fact and they said they didn't know so she's saving that question for the lunch later.
After all luggage and small pieces of furniture have been placed inside the bedroom, the movers and her parents' staff finally leave and the cleaning ahjumma quickly jumps into action.
She lets the woman do her thing and goes up to her room to change and get ready for the lunch.
—-
Being punctual is something that she always considers important but today, she deliberately arrives late because she's still annoyed with her parents and also the Hwangs for taking things this far. The only person she plans to be polite towards is Tiffany, the one she sees as the victim.
When she arrives, the head waiter immediately escorts her to the private, VIP room in the back of the fancy restaurant where her parents are sitting across from a very quiet couple and their unhappy-looking daughter.
"You're late," is the first thing her father says.
"Traffic," she simply states as she sits down on the empty seat next to her mother and orders a cocktail.
Her eyes meet Tiffany's and she can see the anger and defiance in them. "I apologize. It took longer than expected to get here," she tells her politely and notices her surprise.
"Anyway," her father quickly changes the subject by introducing his daughter to the Hwangs who, in turn, introduces their daughter to her.
"Please take care of her," Mr. Hwang says, looking at Taeyeon. "She's the only thing we have left."
