It seemed like it was just yesterday.

What I remember most was the smell of the morning dew and grass. She really liked playing outside at ungodly hours. I would always protest, but those mornings together were what made the days at the orphanage memorable.

I don’t remember how my parents died. All I remember was crying nonstop and wearing black for who knows how long. The owners of the orphanage were nice enough, but there was so many of us that it seemed like we were taking care of ourselves. But really, we were lucky enough to have a place to stay.

She came into the orphanage three years later. We were both 10.

Her name was Yoona, Im Yoona if I remember it well enough. She never cried. But I cried enough tears for the both of us. Her parents died in a car accident and she’d been afraid of vehicles since then. She refused to take the Orphanage’s van anywhere, so we always walked to the ice cream store when they went on trips.

She was my best friend and she never left my side. She was a playful girl, always full of energy and always joking around. It was a wonder why she never played with anyone else. She could have been the most loved girl at the Orphanage, I just knew it. But she didn’t want anyone else she always told me, she wanted my friendship and nothing more.

But of course that had to end one day.

We were 15.

I remember that day so clearly, all I had to do was close my eyes. It was the first time I saw her cry since she was dragged into the orphanage. It was the first time I couldn’t hold her when she felt upset and it was the first time I felt so alone.

It was expected. After all, she was a beautiful and (usually) well behaved girl. The parents who came by always awed at her. The ones who adopted her adored her obnoxious laugh and huge alligator mouth. I miss it every day.

My turn came soon after. It was a relief, I couldn’t stand being at the place where Yoona was my every day friend. I had to move on too, I had to start my new life without her.

I always felt some sort of empty hole in my heart. A hole that longed for my best friend and her pranks, for her big hands that dragged me out to the fields to roll around, for her boyish voice and booming laugh. I never forgot about her, and no matter how many years passed by she was always in the back of my mind.

I graduated high school and my older sister, Taeyeon moved out of our parents’ house with me. She finished her first year in college and she told me she missed having me around. She found a cozy little apartment that we now call home. I love her dearly and we made it through overdue rent and excruciating college exams together.

And now, after saving up money over the years, we’ve opened up a cute little café on a corner not too far from our apartment. It took years of planning, but our parents agreed to invest their money on us as well and we were good to go.

Standing before the shop, I felt proud even though it hadn’t opened yet.

Taeyeon invited her best friend, Sunny to work with us. I was fairly familiar with her since she came over often. But the two would always lock themselves up in Taeng’s room and do God knows what on their computers, so I never really got to talk to her much.

I was always in the kitchen experimenting, since I was the café’s baker. Our other roommate, and my current best friend, Yuri was always my guinea pig. She was a tight fit into our apartment, but Taeyeon insisted on getting another roommate to help pay the bills. She was a personal trainer at a nearby gym. She said she hated me for constantly feeding her, but I know she loves my food.

On our first day of business, we had a decent amount of customers. We opened pretty early in the day, so we got a lot of older men and women visiting us for tea or coffee. They were great for conversation and were often loud.

Sunny was a fantastic waitress. I don’t know how she did it, but she never used a paper pad once when taking orders. Taeyeon and I did our best to work fast, and she gracefully took the food and drinks without a problem.

However, since we were new and business could go up at any minute, we decided to put up a Now Hiring sign. Sunny couldn’t do all of the waitress work alone, so we figured that one or two more workers wouldn’t hurt.

It was ten minutes before closing when she opened the door, another girl following close behind her. She must have passed by earlier since her resume was already ready in hand. She looked nervous, and was conversing silently with the girl she came in with. I stared at her from afar, wanting her to come closer so badly. She looked familiar, and I wanted so badly to think that it was the person who I wanted to see the most for ten years now. Her hair was much longer and I only got a short glimpse of it, but her face was practically the same. It was like she didn’t age at all.

I stepped out from the kitchen and slowly approached her. She must have been anxious, since she and her friend didn’t move from her spot. Her friend was pushing her slightly, urging her to hand in her resume. She shouldn’t have to worry, she was the first one to hand it in after all.

I got closer, step by step, my breath growing shallower as I watched her with expectation dripping from my eyes. I could feel my chest tightening and I could hear Taeyeon calling my name. It was faint however, for my mind could only focus on one thing.

Should I call out her name first? It wouldn’t be too embarrassing if I was wrong, right? But I was starting to get excited, too excited and I didn’t want to be disappointed.

However, she turned around first, biting her bottom lip as her eyes were closed and she took a deep breath. I saw her face clearly now, and I couldn’t have been wrong. It had to be her.

“Sooyoung?!” she nearly yelled, dropping her resume and nearly falling to the ground.

She beat me to it.