We blazed through the rest of the week in a flash. It felt like I just blinked and it was already the café’s only closed day. Five whole work days done and over with and to be honest I felt rather exhausted.

I remember a while back I objected having a day off. Taeyeon scolded me for being ridiculous and Sunny pushed for the day off. I gave in eventually and now, I wonder why I was being so stubborn. A day off is exactly what we need.

I slept in a little, waking up at 9 instead of the usual time. I peeked out of my room and caught the sweet scent of breakfast.

Taeyeon was at the stove finishing up while Yuri was on the couch in only a long jersey.

“Mornin’,” she greeted a little half-heartedly. She seemed to be really into the drama that she was watching.

Yuri’s day off changed depending on the week, but today it didn’t coincide with mine. She started in the afternoon today. Usually when we both had the day off she’d insist that we do something fun. We would catch a movie or go shopping and sometimes she’d wake me up early to go on a jog. I’m thankful that didn’t happen today.

“Breakfast ready yet, unnie?” I asked in my cutest voice. I could see Taeyeon shiver at my aegyo and I chuckled. She would get mad at me for never calling her unnie but when I do, she gets mad at me anyway. Oh how good it feels to win either way.

“There’s some fruit on the table already and I know you can make your own toast,” Taeyeon started as she turned off the stove, “Just give me a second and I’ll serve the eggs and bacon. Yo, Yuri go get the side dishes why won’t you?”

I glanced at Yuri who held her arm up as the scenes for the next episode reeled by.

“Just a second,” she called out, holding her other hand over in shock. I only wondered who got pregnant this time.

After breakfast Taeyeon left to go pick up Sunny. They wanted to hit up the latest action movie. Big sis invited me the other night but I told her I was going to have lunch with Yoona. She pouted at not being invited, but I promised her that we’d all go for food sometime soon, her treat.

Yuri had just come out of the shower and was walking around only in her towel. I sighed as I watched her walking around so confidently. I wished that these skinny limbs of mine had some sort of muscle. I used to go to the gym every once in a while, but quit when the café became a serious deal. She still urged me to go swimming with her or jogging or biking every once in a while.

“You heading for work soon?” I asked as she walked around, probably looking for something. The girl always had something or the other lost, which was surprising considering that her room was always the neatest.

“Yeah,” she muttered as she flipped over the couch cushions, “Hey, Soo have you seen my other lucky red sock?”

I snorted, that girl and her red socks. She always wore them when something important was coming up.

“Sorry babe, but nope. What’s happening at work today?” I asked as I started looking for it as well.

I glanced back at her when she wouldn’t respond right away and noticed that she was blushing a little. I chuckled and allowed her the time to compose herself so she could tell me as I looked under the couch this time. Oh, there it is! I hope it’s clean…

“I-I’m going to ask Hyoyeon out today,” she stuttered at first, but somehow managed to regain her confidence. Yul used to play around a lot, hop from one girl to another every other week, but for the past year since Hyoyeon started working at her gym she hasn’t dated anyone. Which brings me to wonder why it’s been so long since I’ve seen the girl. I’ve only met her once!

“Finally,” I said exasperated, she had been planning this for months now. But I was happy for her, really happy. I hope Hyoyeon says yes.

Wait a second, I just remembered that Yuri said that she’d come by on our second day open but she hasn’t come by once!

“Hey, what gives, I thought you were going to visit us since we opened,” I complained, flicking Yuri on the forehead before throwing the sock at her in anger. Best friend, my .

“I’m sorry!” Yuri apologized before thanking me for her sock. “I’ve just been…really preoccupied. But I was going to tell you! We were going to have our first date there.”

My face lit up automatically at the news, “Oh my God! That is so cute!” And a huge mistake to be honest, I will not hold back on the teasing.

In my excitement, I started pushing Yuri towards her bedroom door as she held on tightly to her lucky sock, “Now get changed and get going tiger!!”

I have to tell Taeyeon that we need to prepare a congratulatory cake for their first date.

Once I had the apartment all to myself, I noticed that it was only an hour before we met up for lunch. Yoona told me that her fear of cars still held up and that she even refused to take public transportation, so we agreed to bike to the buffet. I didn’t mind at all considering how much we were about to eat.

I quickly showered before slipping into a pair of shorts and one of Sunny’s graphic tees. She wears them a lot to our house and for some reason, leaves them there a lot as well. I find them very comfortable since they’re loose fitting and she never minds when I wear them. Something casual is perfect for our little catching up date.

I looked for my helmet as well then drank some water to prepare my stomach for what it was about to go through in less than an hour’s time. It was my ritual before any buffet.

My cellphone vibrated and I checked the screen to see that Yoona was here already. I jumped up in excitement and ran out of my door. It would be our first time properly hanging out outside of work and we had to make up for the years we’ve left behind.

When I reached the lobby of our building I could see Yoona waiting outside in jean shorts and a red tank top. At the sight of her I could feel energy flow to my legs, urging me to walk a little faster towards her. After all, there shouldn’t be any time to waste, right?

“Hey!” I greeted as I flung myself towards her, grabbing her into a tight hug.

Back when we were kids we’d hug only a little before holding hands, walking towards our destination. But ever since we reunited, the only suitable greeting was a tight hug, as if I was reminding myself that she was real, that she was here and with me again.

“Hey Sooyoungie,” she greeted as she squeezed me back. I patted her bum before finally letting her go and grabbing her hand.

“My bike is parked over there so bring yours over,” I said, pointing towards the bike parking area near my building. It seemed that a lot of the residents here used bikes. It was convenient enough, so we didn’t have to always drag our bikes from our apartments.

“Alright, my bike isn’t really the greatest so I hope the location isn’t too far,” she muttered as she steered her bike towards me. It looked rather worn out, probably having been used for a long time.

“How long have you had that thing?” I asked, kind of worried for her safety now. What if the thing fell apart?

“This is kind of new actually,” she admitted, scratching the back of her head. “My other bike broke so I bought this used one about a month ago before we moved here.”

I wonder if they were having any money problems?

“Well, don’t worry about it Yoong, the place is only a 15 minute bike from here if we take a shortcut through a nearby park.” I smiled at her in reassurance and she smiled back before taking a good look at my own bike.

It was pink and looked fairly new. I had only used it a few times since Taeyeon bought it for me for my birthday a couple months ago. I felt kind of bad having such a new bike while Yoona had that rackety, questionable thing. I made a note to maybe buy her a bike for her birthday since it wasn’t too far away.

When we reached the buffet, I saw Yoona’s eyes sparkle. Yeah, it was a ramen buffet.

“I’ve always wanted to come here since we moved nearby! Hyunnie and I just haven’t had time yet,” she cooed as she admired the giant sign in front. I smiled, satisfied at my choice of restaurant.

“You two have been really busy?” I asked as we walked towards the interior.

“Yeah,” she started as I held the door open and let her in first. “We both have work and we’re still kind of moving things around in our apartment. Hyunnie also has all of her hospital visits and we also have a dog to take care of at home.”

“A dog?” I asked, my pitch going a little higher in excitement. I loved pets! Unfortunately, Yuri was allergic to any type of fur and Taeyeon said that it was too much trouble taking care of pets. I personally think she’s still a little traumatized by what happened to our pet dog from our childhood. But that’s a story for another day.

“Yeah, her name is Goguma and she’s a beagle. We just adopted her after moving in. Seohyun told me to wait until we were settled, but…” she looked a little embarrassed and sighed.

“You convinced her to get her right away and now you regret it a little?” I teased, sticking my tongue out at her. I could imagine Seohyun reminding her that it was her choice to get the dog so soon when it was stressing them out.

“I don’t regret getting Goguma at all!” Yoona protested, as if hoping that her precious dog didn’t hear her, “I just regret not being patient, is all.”

“You really haven’t changed much, have you?” I said softly, smiling at her. I wondered if we would still be able to get along if she had become a completely different person. Either way, I was glad she was still the girl I called my best friend years ago.

It almost made me full seeing how much Yoona ate. She seemed to really enjoy the menu and just like in the old days, we felt rather adventurous. We were unfamiliar with some of the flavours and varieties of noodles on the menu, so we made it our goal to have at least one of each kind.

“Are you feeling full yet?” I asked as I wiped my face from the last bowl I ate. It was a deep red coloured broth so I made sure to wipe any stains away before I embarrassed myself. The broth was rather spicy, but I made note to recommend it to Yuri since she was a fan of spicy foods.

“Not even the slightest,” Yoona declared as she dug into her current serving. I guess I did ask too early, we’ve only had a few bowls.

“So since you said you only moved here a few weeks ago, where did you live before that?” I decided to start with the questions since I was waiting on my next serving.

She paused from her food and pursed her lips as if thinking, “In the country side. It’s where my adoptive parents brought me, where I grew up, where I went to high school and where I worked after that.”

I nodded before turning to our server who brought my next serving. I ever so elegantly took a sip of water before continuing.

“So you didn’t go to college or anything?” I hoped the question wasn’t offensive or anything. The culture out in the countryside must be different, right? In the city it was looked down upon if you stopped your education after high school, but I don’t know if Yoona knew that.

“No, I went straight to work since I needed to support my mom,” she continued, her tone lowering a little. I raised my eyebrow at her before she shook her head. “Don’t worry, my adoptive father died in a car accident not too long after I was adopted.”

There was a small smile on her face and I took her hand, “Mom had to work hard to support the both of us, so I worked whenever I could. There was only one university near where I lived and I had no interest in it to be honest. So I just worked after graduating.”

Yoona gave me a look as if asking me a question, as if asking if I looked down at her at all. I shook my head, of course not.

“Nothing wrong with that,” I chirped, stirring my ramen with my chopsticks, “So what brought you out here?”

“Seohyun and I had been dating since high school and planned on moving to the city after she graduated university. Mom had no problem with it, and although she objected it at first, I decided to send her some money every once in a while so she didn’t have to worry about money,” she continued, smiling at me.

We both took a pause to slurp down some of our broth.

“We didn’t save enough after she graduated, so we waited one more year before coming here,” she said before finishing her bowl in one swift chug. It made me proud to see that she could keep up with me.

Soon the conversation switched over to me. I told her about growing up with Taeyeon and she told me how she envied that I had an older sister. I reminded her that she could be her big sister too now since we were all part of the same family under home. She then asked me about my love life since she had been with Seohyun for as long as she could remember and she assumed I was single.

I told her she was right and told her about my first relationship that lasted only a few months in high school. His name was Siwon and we ended badly, but it was okay because it was the first time I saw Taeyeon beat up someone double her size, and that memory was enough to make the bruise of that relationship go away.

My second and most recent relationship lasted my sophomore year in college and it was with a girl named Hara. I wasn’t sure, but I could’ve sworn that there was some sort of relief in Yoona’s eyes when I said that. I hope she never thought that I was opposed to her relationship with Seohyun at one point.

Anyway, Hara and I ended peacefully, both of us having a falling out when we realized that we didn’t have the same feelings we had when we first dated. It was natural, and it was a good experience I suppose.

“Do you like anyone now?” she asked before letting out a rather inelegant burp. I snorted before burping myself to make her feel better about herself. We just laughed and ignored the stares we got from the people around us.

“Not really,” I answered honestly, not having thought about crushes or anything considering how busy we were setting up for the café. “I just stopped liking someone a week ago and all my attention has been on getting Home up and running.”

She smirked and twirled her drink with her straw, “Was it Sunny unnie?” she asked rather slyly. My eyes widened, unsure where she would get that idea from!

“No actually, it was Jessica,” I responded, blushing at the thought of Sunny and I together. The thought had never crossed my mind before, but I shook my head to rid of the thought.

“Jessica?” she repeated, surprised.

“She’s pretty, don’t you think?”

Yoona nodded slowly, “Yeah, but she’s kind of scary. So what happened? What made you stop?”

Our next serving had come and I realized that we were almost at the bottom of the list and that it was 2PM already. Oh how the time flies.

“Well, don’t tell Taeyeon I told you this but she’s in love with Jessica,” I whispered the last part, just in case someone was listening. I don’t know what kind of trouble I’d get into if anyone found out.

Yoona tilted her head, “So you wanted what was hers?” she asked nonchalantly. She must be watching as many dramas as Yuri to come up with a response like that.

“No, it’s just she always pointed out her good parts since I’m one of the only two who know about her situation. I started noticing them too and eventually, she caught my eye,” I shrugged remembering the days where just one look from Jessica would make me blush. I was almost as bad as my sister, keyword, almost.

“Eventually, I lost interest,” I continued, shrugging again, “I guess I just caught an infatuation from Taengoo?”

“That’s possible?” Yoona shrugged this time, “That Jessica girl must be pretty great then.”

I laughed upon noticing Yoona’s shudder. She must have been remembering their first meeting. “Give her a chance, you’ll like her.”

Topic changed to more mundane things like favourite colours, hobbies and foods. It turned out once again that not much has changed and we both basked in the warmth of the rebirth of our friendship. I then told her about Yuri, my current best friend and told her that she even kind of looked like her. It was a little eerie, thinking about it now.

She told me about her friends back where she was from and how few there were. She told me that Seohyun was more her closest friend and the one she depended on the most.

“She needed me a lot too,” she continued, smiling into her empty bowl. “She had been going to the hospital since I could remember, and I went with her. Apparently I was the first person who wasn’t scared of her because she was sick.”

Oh yeah, the hospital. Was now the right time to ask about it?

I gave her a questioning look, waiting for some sort of opening. Yoona looked up at me and her sad smile widened a little.

“You’ve probably been wondering for a while, huh?” she asked before finishing the rest of her drink. “Sorry I’ve been keeping it from you, I just never had the time to really explain it to you.”

“Well, I’m free if you are,” I responded, grabbing her hand and squeezing it to show my support. I hoped that it wasn’t too difficult to talk about.

“In simple terms, Seohyun is a chronic anemic. Low iron and all that, but in her case it’s more severe than most. She goes to the hospital every once in a while to get check-ups and to make sure everything is functioning well. I honestly don’t understand much of it, but I do worry about her a lot. Sometimes it leads to her having to take days off from work and often I’m the one doing all the heavy lifting and manual work at home.”

I watched Yoona carefully as she explained everything to me. She didn’t look at me the entire time and although she tried to act strong about it, I knew she was truly worried about Seohyun’s condition. When we were kids even, if I had a cold she’d be all over me. I can only imagine how she is when Seohyun’s having a bad day.

“It’s nothing too severe right now,” she continued, putting an emphasis on the right now, “But if you’re wondering why she’s there so often, it’s also because she volunteers there. She plays the piano for patients and reads to the children.”

Seohyun is seriously starting to sound like an actual goddess. I was amazed, she was like super woman!

“I’m actually really glad Taeyeon unnie gives me such long hours. I was worried I’d have to find another job,” she said with a sigh, “But I actually can’t tell you how perfect this job is. I get to work in such a cute café with wonderful people like Sunny unnie, Taeyeon unnie and most of all I got to find you.”

I could feel the tears start to well up in the corners of my eyes and my lips reached my eyes.

“I’m glad we’re working together too,” I mumbled through my occasional tear. She just laughed at me before wiping away the wetness from my eyes. “And you’re not allowed to go anywhere anymore, okay?”

Yoona nodded and I could see the sincerity clear as day in her eyes.

“I promise.”

Within the next hour we had finished the menu and even had time for dessert. We split a piece of strawberry shortcake and I biked with her to the hospital. With a hug, we departed and I found myself heading home.

When I opened the door, I saw Sunny sitting on our couch with a bowl of blueberries.

“Where’s Taengoo?” I asked as I put away my helmet and keys. It was weird seeing just Sunny there. Her and Taeyeon were often a packaged deal.

“She’s out getting a cake for Yuri,” she answered without looking at me.

A cake? I’m pretty sure it wasn’t her birthday.

“She got that date with Hyoyeon,” Sunny continued, turning around finally to give me a smirk. “The girl barged in here all excited and now she’s on a walk with her. Your sister wanted to congratulate Yuri with a cake when she got back.”

My expression brightened tenfold at the news. Looks like the socks must have worked! I was a little mad however for not being the first person to find out, but I guess Yuri was too excited to text me about it. I’ll interrogate her for the story later and she better give me every single detail.

“That’s fabulous! Now I kind of wish I got in on that bet you made with Taengoo,” I said with a chuckle. Looks like Sunny is 5 dollars richer.

After changing into loose fitting shorts and keeping on Sunny’s shirt I plopped on the couch next to her, resting my head on her lap.

“What are we watching?” I asked as I turned to the t.v.

“I don’t know,” Sunny answered with a shrug. What? How can she not know?

I looked up at her and poked her chin, “Yah! You’re the one watching! Just tell me the title you shorty!”

She quickly changed the direction of her gaze and put my finger in . I retracted my poor finger and wiped the saliva on her shirt.

“What’s the big deal?” I complained, rubbing my finger all over her chest in an attempt to rid my finger of all the unnecessary liquids.

“I was just waiting for you to come home,” she responded, her expression now incredibly unreadable. Her lips were curled a little at the end, but then again, Sunny’s lips were always like that. She was staring at me too, but the intensity must have been my imagination, right?

“So I just put on whatever was on t.v,” she continued, her expression unchanging.

Now I was getting concerned.

“Hey Sunny, are you okay?” I asked, cupping her chin in my hand. “I know we don’t talk as much as you talk with Taengoo, but I listen well.”

She smiled that time and I felt relief wash over me. I made her feel better, I think?

But what came after was completely the opposite of what I expected. In fact, it was something that had never, ever crossed my mind in the many years I’ve known Sunny.

She looked away for a moment, her cheeks turning slightly pink and her lips forming a tight line. I watched as she bit her bottom lip in anticipation before reverting her eyes back to me.

Her stare was so intense that even I felt like blushing. What was going on?

“Wanna go out, Sooyoungie? Like, on a date, or something like that.”