The door flew open as Mrs. Jung stormed into the apartment followed by her daughters and husband. She threw her bag on the couch and paced back and forth in the living room. Jessica placed her bag on a kitchen chair and poured herself a glass of water. Krystal and Mr. Jung sat on the couch in the living room.

“Jessica Jung, how could you?!!!”

“Omma, I was late - I’m sorry for being late, but I told you I would be. I was at the orpha-”

“Yes you were at that place. You should have not gone and come straight to the restaurant instead!! I told you tonight was an important dinner. Mr. and Mrs. Choi were really eager to meet you!”

“And I told you I had to go visit today, it was Seo-young’s birthday and I promised her I would stop by,” Jessica calmly stated. Sipping her water, she watched her mom over the rim of the cup.

“You’re not related to her! And your omma needed you to be there tonight!! I’ve told Mrs. Choi all about you, she thinks you’d be a perfect match for her son.”

“OMMA! Stop trying to set me up!”

“All you do is work and now you go to that orphanage every chance you get. When are you going to actually meet someone?”

“I’m not ready yet! And I want to meet someone on my own terms, not because you keep setting me up with men.”

“Jessica Jung! You used to listen to omma so well, what happened to my daughter?!!?” Mrs Jung continued to rant about her disobedient eldest daughter.

Rolling her eyes, Jessica rinsed her cup and picking up her bag, went into her bedroom. Locking the door she changed into leggings and an oversized t-shirt and dropped onto her bed. Hitting 2 on her speed dial she waited for the other end to pick up.

“Jessi~”

“Yifan.....”

“What’s wrong?”

“What do you think....”

Yifan leaned against a wall and considered the day, “Ah you had that dinner meeting with the Chois tonight. I’m guessing that didn’t go well...”

““I was late by 5 minutes and omma is now going crazy. Plus I called appa telling him I would be late.”

“How did the Chois take it?”

“Well Mr. Choi left before I got there, apparently there was some issue at work. So I only met Mrs. Choi and Siwon-shi. They seemed nice and understanding about my tardiness. It’s mostly omma flipping out.”

“Yeah I can hear the yelling on your side.”

Groaning out loud, Jessica buried her face in the pillow.

“Did Seo-young have a good birthday?”

“Oh! She looked so pretty in the outfit I bought for her. And she loved the teddy bear you gave her as a present.”

“Haha, I knew she’d like it. She loves all fluffy things. Thanks for passing along my gift for me.”

“It’s no problem, not your fault you got called in to cover a shift.”

“Yeah and it was good I came too. There was a pretty bad accident so we’ve been running around since the shift started.”

Despite being in his final year in medical school, Yifan held a part-time job on the side. Going to the medical school affiliated with his undergrad meant he knew the nurses and technicians in the teaching hospital. Having worked as a lab tech during college, he continued the job through medical school even though he had a busy class and studying schedule. His first two years in medical school - his days were split between classes, studying, and working. In his last two years, his days are now fragmented even more with him being either at the hospital for rotations or work, at home studying or at the orphanage volunteering.

His busy schedule left no time for dating as most girls were unwilling to fit in dates around his crazy life. That left him with only his friends from high school and Jessica, who were understanding about his busy life. Yifan’s first two years in medical school, he and Jessica played constant phone tag, going as long as 2 months without being able to speak with each other before Jessica decided to sleep over at his apartment just to see his face.

Jessica’s days were less busy than Yifan’s. Graduating with honors in finance and accounting, she started as an accountant in a prestigious accounting firm before moving to a consulting firm. Following in her dad’s footsteps, she switched gears and became a financial analyst, providing the numbers behind proposals for clients. Good at her job, she was unhappy with the nature of her work. Her only happy times came when she visited the orphanage, helping out with the children and any chores. At first she only went when Yifan planned to go, but after a month she started going whenever her schedule permitted.

“Dr. Wu to the rescue!” Jessica teased.

“Not yet, several more months to go!” Yifan chuckled.

“Are your parents coming for graduation?”

“Not sure. They may still be in London for work.”

“You should have gone to London. Oooh! You could have studied at Oxford! Cambridge!”

“And leave you alone here?”

“It wouldn’t be permanent! And besides I have Sooyoung unnie!”

“Yah, are you replacing me?”

“It’s fun to hang out with her! And she’s a girl! And you’re busy all the time anyways!”

“Yeah yeah...but I’m still #1 on your speed dial!”

“Uhm....you’re #2...”

“What?!”

“Remember, the phone sets #1 as voicemail by default?”

“Oh right....”

With Yifan busy with school, she had come to rely on Sooyoung, the two becoming fast friends. . After college, Sooyoung had moved to Japan with Boa as the two pursued their careers in design and music production. Sooyoung’s firm had transferred her back to Seoul after a year as a client had a fondness for Sooyoung’s way of designing and refused to work with any other designer in the firm. From this one reference, Sooyoung soon gathered a large Seoul clientele, keeping her at home. Not that she wasn’t happy to be back, as this arrangement allowed her to see Changmin more frequently. Changmin wrote for the business section of a daily newspaper, the grind keeping him constantly busy. The offer had come during his last year in college and kept him in Seoul, which meant a long distance relationship for a year but with Sooyoung’s return, the two were reunited once again

With their respective boyfriends busy with work and school, Sooyoung and Jessica spent more time together. Sooyoung was more than happy to find a girlfriend in Jessica as Boa had remained in Japan, working as a producer at a growing music label. She was luckier as Yunho had managed to find a job in Tokyo. Interning at various firms during college, Yunho impressed one of his professors with his professionalism and hard-working attitude. This professor recommended Yunho for a leadership development program that took him between Seoul and Tokyo over the course of three years. Following the program’s end, Yunho had secured a position  in the Tokyo branch of the firm which kept him near his girlfriend.

“So you’re not busy right now?

“I was just washing up when you called. My pager hasn’t gone off yet, but I’m by the lab if they need me.”

“What time do you get off?”

“My shift should end at midnight, if no other emergencies arise. Then I have to study - we have an exam next week.”

whoo, 3 days pass by quick!!