"h.e.l.lo, Mika."

"Ryn, are you at home right now?" Mika asked eagerly.

"Yes, why?"

It was two days after the underwater shooting. It was Ryn's day off and she decided to clean her home. The house was still tidy as she had no time to turn it upside down. Her schedule was so full, she did not even have the time to unpack some of the boxes. 

Tomorrow Ryn decided to go check on her house. She hoped the contractor had done something while she was gone. She could not take it anymore seeing those boxes in the spare room. She could not wait to unpack everything!

But for today, Ryn would focus on cleaning all the clouds of dust, was.h.i.+ng the clothes and whatever she needed to do for the house.

But of course, she knew Mika would want to chat with her, telling her what happened today. Yesterday they did not have the chance of chatting because Ryn went straight to sleep once she reached home. Even when Mika kept calling her for a few times last night, she still did not wake up and answer it. That was how exhausted she was.

"Join me for the fabric shopping?" Mika asked.

"What fabric shopping?" Ryn pressed the speaker so she could continue working on her clothes.

"For my wedding dress as well as your bridesmaid dress," Mika cried. She could not believe her best friend could forget this important task. She would make their dresses for her wedding and she could not wait to show the designs she had for both of them.

"Can you just... surprise me?" Ryn was too lazy to go out. Besides, knowing Mika, they would spend more time than they planned and today was her only free day!

"No..." Mika gasped in horror, "I need your opinion. This is the dress I am going to wear on my wedding day. Also the dress you are going to wear as my bridesmaid!"

Ryn stood up to get the long s.h.i.+rt to hang in the wardrobe, "But you are the expert in making dresses. I just wear whatever you design."

"Ryn~"

Ryn drew the door of her wardrobe close and bent down to get her phone. Then, she walked toward the kitchen to get a gla.s.s of water. She kept the phone hanging in the pocket of her short pants, still putting the conversation on speaker.

"Mother and grandma want to join but I told them you will be with me," Mika pleaded.

"Why do you sell me again just because you don't want to go with them?" Ryn frowned as she poured the cold water into the gla.s.s.

"But... but... but I do want to go with you. I'd rather have you complaining about my decision than grandmother and mother vetoed everything. I can't take it anymore with their bossiness. Isn't this my wedding? Why can't I have a say in anything?" Mika started to wail.

Ryn rubbed her temples at the wail. She was getting a headache from this drama but knew she could not do anything to stop it.

"Do you think grandmother and mother will let me choose my own dress?" Mika started to hiccup. This time the emotion in her was so bad she started to hiccup in no time. 

"No," Ryn sighed. She knew how the grandma of Jeremy and Mika loved bossing around everyone. Even she had the experience when they were younger. She did not want to eat the expensive chocolate Mr Long brought during one of his outstation jobs but the dowager's glare made her ate them. A small piece of chocolate was the same cost of a small car and Mr Long just gave her a box of it!

"Then, aren't you going to help me?"

Ryn walked back to her room. This time she was holding the phone. It was no longer on the speaker.  This conversation, in her opinion, was too serious to do it on the loudspeaker.

"Fine. What time are you coming?" Ryn gave in, like usual. She did not want Mika to keep crying and other than giving in, what else could she do?

"Really? You are going to accompany me?" Mika asked eagerly.

"Yes," Ryn replied with a sigh. 

"Cool. I'll be there in half an hour," Mika promised as she checked her watch.

"Hmm... Call me once you're here," Ryn checked her own watch. Half an hour was enough for a short nap.

And she did just that. Once she disconnected the call, she quickly jumped onto the bed and closed her eyes sleepily.

Exactly half an hour later Mika called. Ryn took several seconds to remember where she was and what she was supposed to do. She rubbed her sleepy eyes and reached for the ringing phone.

"h.e.l.lo?"

"Ryn, I'm already downstairs. Hurry up," Mika called cheerfully.

"Hmm... Give me for a few minutes," Ryn murmured and disconnected the call.

She quickly went to the bathroom to freshen herself and then changed her clothes into a s.h.i.+rt and jeans, her usual outfit when going out or going to cla.s.s. She also put on a cap she chose randomly from the cap box. She did not unpack it, too lazy to repack back everything when the time came for her to move into her real home. She checked her appearance for the last time and with a bottle of water in one hand and her mobile phone in another, she went to the main entrance. She looked around for the last time before walked through the door and locked it. Then, she went to the elevator.

When the door for the elevator was opened, Ryn's eyes widened to see several women inside. She let out a sigh but still stepped into it.

"You?" Irene choked out, her eyes widened.

Ryn turned around backing them. She looked ahead, trying to ignore Irene.

"Hey, I'm talking to you? Are you deaf?" Irene's voice turned into a shriek, which made her friends winced.

Irene's mood turned bad again once she saw Ryn. What did they do to deserve this?

"Hey!" Irene's hand touched Ryn's shoulder. She planned to pull Ryn's backwards to give her a lesson.

Her friends, upon seeing her action, quickly made s.p.a.ce for Ryn to fall. They did not want to suffer because of Ryn!

However, contrary to Irene's plan, Ryn did not fall back. In fact, she took Irene's hand and bent it backwards, making Irene cried in pain.

Her friends froze, did not know how to react seeing Irene's plan backfired.

"If you think being a bully can make everyone obey you, you are wrong," Ryn muttered coldly as she turned around and pushed Irene's hand away. 

The women took a step back receiving the cold glare. They s.h.i.+vered, feeling cold suddenly.

"Being in the industry, there are eyes and ears everywhere. If you want to stay longer, watch everything you do," Ryn warned as the door opened. Without saying another word, she stepped out, leaving them still in shock.

Ryn was still fuming when she saw Mika's car. Without another word, she got into the car and pulled the safety belt.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Mika asked. She could sense something was wrong but could not guess the reason behind Ryn's bad mood.

"Just drive," Ryn ordered. 

She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. She could not believe the nerve of Irene. She did not notice how unreasonable Irene was during their friends.h.i.+p and now, she felt like she did not know her. Heck, she barely knew each one of them. And they complained and accused her of hiding secrets from them?

Were they playing jokes? How much more hypocrite could they be?

Mika kept glancing at her best friend but did not dare to say a word. Her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly. Her mind was thinking hard how to make her best friend felt better. She hated seeing Ryn not happy. She hated seeing Ryn now having a good mood. She prefered her best friend to smile and happy all the time.

She also glanced at her GPS system to make sure they were on the right track. She did not want them to get lost just because she was worried about Ryn!

"Do you... do you want to listen to any song?" Mika asked finally. She could not handle the silence anymore. She prayed Ryn would say okay.

"No," Ryn replied shortly.

"Oh..." Mika's mood was getting worst. She hated being stuck in this situation where she knew something was wrong with Ryn but did not know what exactly that made Ryn so unhappy, she refused to listen to any song.

So frustrating!

Ryn, on the other hand, had no mood to speak. She had no mood to listen to any song. SHe just need quietness so she could dwell on this matter. Maybe her decision to cut off her relations.h.i.+p with them was the best. She did not want to face their drama. The dramatic Mika was enough for her to handle.