Wrote the preview below. ^_^

If it's not too much of a bother, if you guys wanted to comment can you do it in the regular comment box rather than the chat room I had activated. I had activated it but when people wrote in thre, I didn't get the notifications so I couldn't see the comments :( 

Hope this chapter was worth the wait for you guys. Take your time reading because it's super long >.< enjoy my lovely readers, you're the best. Thank you for commenting even though I wasn't updating, it meant a lot to me that you guys are sticking by this story, haha. So there's a bit of a time lapse in this chapter, just so next chapter will be more in the future haha. Alright then, enjoy :) Please upvote and comment as much as you can for the next chapter, if you want it sooner hehe ;D 

"Dara," Yuri called, making her look up from the moment she had been gazing out the window. Dara shifted her seat to go to the midle and poked her head out to reply, "Yes Unnie?" 

Since Yuri was parked at a red light, she handed a college paper brochure and informed, "The school we just came from has a really good Chinese language program. If you consider taking a language class, you might wanna take it here. They're popular for both Chinese and English programs." Dara immediately took the brochure from her hands, reading the labeled titles East China Normal University. Dara hummed and began to reply, "I was interested in it too. I saw a bunch of courses with journalism and photography too, I might actually be able to get my degree here." 

"What were you studying back in Korea?" 

"I double majored in Mass Media and Journalism, and I started my photography minor this semester." 

Yuri nodded her head as she listened and replied, "That makes sense. That major matches you well with all of your communication skills. Do you know what you wanna do when you get your degree?"

"Not particularly yet. I wanna be a photographer though," she answered, smiling as she talked. "Something along the lines of a journalist photographer. I wanna be able to travel, that's why. It's always been my dream. Traveling to a certain place and then writing an article about some of the issues and concerns that each place has." 

"Trust me. With your skills and talent, you'll be able to go for that dream," Yuri encouraged, making Dara feel better with herself. She began to point at Minji for Dara to see, then told her, "You know I was surprised when I knew that this one was going for medical school to become a nurse." 

"Why were you surprised?" Minji questioned, raising an eyebrow at her. Dara moved closer to listen to her explanation, both waiting to hear the response. 

"Because you never liked seeing people get hurt," Yuri stated, making Minji sit there with a blank stare. She slowly turned to look at her sister, while Yuri felt her eyes staring upon her sadly. Yuri sighed and said truthfully, "I know that because I always saw you sacrifice yourself to get hurt because you didn't like seeing anyone in pain."

"Isn't a nurse supposed to be like that though?" Minji replied, really not knowing what to say. "To be able to make sacrifices." 

Yuri stayed quiet for a few moments, causing Dara to become awkwardly silent in the back. Scratching her head, Yuri lightly chuckled and quickly switched topics, "Yeah but seeing how you were in love with food and desserts when you were younger, I honestly thought you were gonna do to school for Culinary Arts or something. I saw the potential of you opening up a restaurant or a bakery shop." 

"Yeah, I wanted to do that too, but Omma told me that I needed a real job. She asked me what I was going to live off of it I went to school to study the art of making food." 

"She said that to you?" 

Nodding her head, she answered, "She said that I had to get a real job that I could live off of, so I went for being a nurse. I mean, I guess it's better to save people in need, right?" 

"Did you want to do it?" 

Minji shrugged carelessly and replied, "I mean, there's nothing wrong with helping people. Omma approved of it as well, so I just went with it." 

"Even though you don't like seeing people get hurt?" 

Minji got quiet again while Yuri went deep in her thoughts. She wanted to call her mother right at this moment just to ask why she forced so many things upon Minji. She wanted to ask why she had to speak so harshly towards her and saying she had nothing to live off if she actually did what she wanted. Why did she disregard their happiness so much? Yuri always remembered that Minji couldn't even look at a needle getting injected in someone's arms, but she was fine when it got injected in her own arms. Hyun Jae most likely said unneccessary things that absorbed through Minji's brain, which is why Minji felt the need to go into the medical field. She most likely told her that the medical field made money so Minji was probably forced to go in. 

Luckily, Minji was always good in school, so she really could've gone any path with her smart brain. 

Yuri just knew what Minji was more interested in so it made her more hurt that her little sister was trapped inside a box for so long. She only sighed and went on, "But you would've been a good nurse though. You could've gone with Taecyeon to be his assistant. You guys would've been the corny, medical duo."  Dara let out a laugh first from the backseat, while Minji sat quite motionless, forcing a grin upon her face. 

Yuri knew she should've stopped now, because Minji would've been stressed again. 

She finally went to go park her car on the side where she told Young Bae to come stand outside in order to pick up Young Joon easier. She saw Young Bae already standing there and waiting, with Young Joon gripping onto his hand. When she took off her seatbelt, she said, "I'll be right back. You're okay with Young Joon coming along with us for the rest of the day, right? Young Bae was free for the day, but he had an emergency at work that he has to drive up Nanjing. He can't take Young Joon with him." 

"Yeah of course," Minji replied quickly. "Go get my nephew." 

Yuri squinted then left the car, also putting the emergency blinking lights on. When she left, Minji watched Yuri go up to them, waving her hand when she made at Young Bae. Young Bae, as usual, with his adorable eye smile, waved back happily with a happy grin on his face. 

"Hey," Dara began to talk once the two of them were alone. When Minji turned around with a curious look, Dara asked, "When are you telling Yuri Unnie about the baby?" 

Minji sighed in distress and shook her head, "I don't even know yet. I don't know when's the right time to tell her." 

"Do you think she'll go along with it? I mean, it's a big thing to take in. Not to mention, it's happening so quickly. Is she gonna be prepared for it? Is Young Bae Oppa gonna be prepared for it?" 

Minji lightly shrugged and replied, "Do you see how excited she is about this baby? She's already going out to buy infant clothes already. Niece or nephew, she's beyond prepared for this baby to be born." Dara got silent again as Yuri came back to the car, making Minji become quiet again. Young Joon climbed to his car seat in the back and when Yuri got in the driver's seat again, she looked at Dara and said, "Dara, put his seatbelt on." Dara nodded her head and immediately started getting his seatbelt on, while Young Joon began giggling crazily. Dara raised an eyebrow at him and asked, "The heck you laughing about child?" 

"You got a green blob on your shirt," he replied, still giggling hard and highly amused. "Your shirt ugly now."

"Child, just because I spilled something on my shirt does not mean my shirt is ugly. I bought this shirt straight from America, okay? It is a fabulous shirt, okay?" 

"Your shirt ugly," he repeated, still giving her the same giggling stare. 

"You know what?" Dara scoffed, raising her hands at him sarcastically. "I don't even care about my shirt. Only thing you can't call ugly is my face and my eyebrows. If you do, the remote is coming at you for real. Before I hit you, give me a kiss, you child." Young Joon giggled a little bit but reached his head over to plant a kiss on Dara's lips.  

When she pulled away from him, Yuri laughed and questioned, "What happened to your shirt anyway? It looks like you went into green hulk mode and the green still stuck to your shirt when you shrunk back." 

"She's the hulk Mommy!" Young Joon exclaimed out of nowhere, continuing to joke. Dara only laid a hand on his head roughly to warn him. Yuri raised her voice sternly and demanded, "Young Joon. Auntie Dara is a girl. I thought I told you to be nice to girls. If you're not being nice, I'm gonna allow Auntie Dara to hit you, and she ain't afraid of hitting. I'm also gonna tell Daddy when I get back home if you're bad." 

Young Joon got scaredly quiet, nodding his head and obeying her. Dara poked her head out again to finally answer, "I got into an accident Unnie, so the drink spilled on me."

"Kid, I know that it spilled on you. I am asking how did it happen?" 

"Nah, you asked what first, not how?" 

"You wanna learn how to walk to our next destination?" Yuri asked jokingly, making Dara highly amused. She never remember Yuri being such a joking person, but then again, they didn't have a chance to become close. Dara did enjoy this more relaxed side of her, because it made her feel very comfortable around her. 

Dara shook her head and responded seriously this time, "Some guy bumped into me when we turned around at the same time. That's why is spilled over my shirt." 

"And you didn't throw anything back at him?" 

"No Unnie, you crazy?" Dara asked back in a high-pitched voice, pursing her lips at her. "I can't go throwing anything at him. I don't get mad that easily now. Besides, he was too nice for me to be getting mad or expressing physical anger too. I couldn't be mean to him." As Yuri and Minji nodded their heads in reply, Dara scrunched up her shoulders and continued saying quietly, "He was cute too." 

"What?" Minji and Yuri questioned back really loudly, widening their eyes. Minji turned around and asked more, "Did you just say he was cute?" Dara made her eyes go innocently big, lightly nodding her head which made Minji smile. Yuri snickered and teased, "That explains why you didn't have a fit. You wanted to keep that cute image of yours, didn't you?" 

Dara felt her face turning red from the warm feeling in her cheeks, so she only sat there smiling to herself. Yuri sighed and continued making fun of her, "But dang girl, you've been in China for only a week and you already have your eyes on Chinese men. You work fast." 

"Hey, he was Korean. And please, I am turning nineteen in exactly twelve days. I am at that age, my eyes need to start wandering. I might be able to get a boyfriend, hello." 

Minji laughed at her, while Yuri asked, "He's Korean? How'd you know that?" 

"I talked to him. He heard me talk on the phone with Yuri Unnie when she was ordering Young Joon a croissant, so he told me he was Korean right after I hung up the phone," she replied, remembering every little bit of that conversation. She scratched her head and said shyly, "He was just really nice." 

"What's he doing in China?" 

"Ah, he's an intern at the university we just came from. I don't know what he does, but I know he just said East China Normal University." 

"Oh okay," Yuri teased, beginning to banter while raising her voice. "No wonder why you wanna apply here. You just wanna see your Korean guy around campus. Damn girl, I see what you're doing, you smooth. Go you." 

"It's not just that," Dara defended, feeling herself turning warm. She shook Yuri's shoulders a bit. "Look at all the programs their school offers. Unnie, you should agree it's a good school for me. He's not the only reason, you crazy?" 

"Oh, so he is part of the reason though, right?" Minji added on with the teasing. "You said it's not just that."

Dara began to whine out loud, not knowing how to adjust her words anymore since she already blurted it out. She was planning on telling Minji about Mino anyway, but Yuri came to the car way too fast. She pouted and jokingly complained, "But I like the school too, girl. Don't you dare make fun of me about the cutie pie. You will get a smack." 

"What the heck is his name anyway?" Yuri asked curiously. "I hope you don't keep calling him 'the cutie pie' because I will literally get a pie and it will go to your cute face. Please tell me you got his name after you guys talked to each other."

"Of course I got his name. It's Mino," she responded shortly, getting excited thinking about him again. "His name's Mino." 

"Daw, look at you getting shy even saying his name," Yuri teased, making Dara give up with the constant jokes she was giving out, but Minji sat in silence for a few moments. She titled her head a few times and remembered if the guy she met back at East China Normal University was the same guy. He was also Korean and she thought his name was Mino, but she didn't really pay attention as much to his name because he didn't really strike her as much. All she remembered about that conversation was that he asked a few questions about her attending the school and she spilled coffee onto his shirt. No, it couldn't have been the same person - that would be way too much of coincidence. It was probably just another Korean guy who lived around there, since Yuri stated that there was a Koreatown nearby with a bunch of Korean people. Minji quietly questioned out loud, "Mino?" 

They both looked at her and Dara asked, "Yeah, what's up?"

Widening her eyes, she looked back at Dara and shook her head. She shook it off when she realized she was talking out loud with herself, so she just replied carelessly, "Nothing girl. Just making sure I heard his name right." 

"You gonna make fun of me again or something?" 

"Maybe," she answered with a joking shrug. Dara slightly shoved her shoulders and complained with a cackled laugh, "I freaking hate you man. Who are you to be making fun of me?"

"Umm, your best friend?" 

"Please, you're about to be cut," Dara joked, gesturing her index finger towards her neck. "All I said was that he was cute, I didn't say he was part of my reason to go to the school."

Yuri added in, raising her hand, "Does that mean I'm cut too? Because I ain't done making fun of you here." 

As Dara whined loudly, making Yuri laugh a lot, Minji sighed to herself again and suddenly went deep under her thoughts. She thought back to when Dara had a crush on Chanyeol for almost a year. Minji wondered how she was able to get over that so quickly when she decided to move on from him. Chanyeol even made the effort to hang out with her and make his move, but Dara was still able to step back from him. 

Even though he never did anything, only one guy stood in Minji's mind. Why was there only one guy still on her mind? Despite everything that Jong In did to her, she was sadly still thinking about him and she didn't know when she could move on. At this moment, she felt highly jealous of Dara being able to be so open about her heart, but Minji didn't understand why she couldn't do the same. Why did she feel like she couldn't even take one step back from forgetting her feelings about him?

Tao bursted out laughing, slapping his knees hardly from the amusing comment of what he just heard so he wouldn't have to spit out the water he had just gulped down. Back at the elegant, modern-style apartment, Tao laughed so hard that he collapsed down to the lawson-style sofa, nearly crying out his tears of laughter. He was laughing so hard, that his black hair that had been set nicely with gel was starting to wear off so it was moving along with his shuffling head. Mino, who was sitting at the square coffee table at a nearby distance across from him, glared at him with an unamused face while Tao continuously laughed by himself. 

He had just been telling him what happened during the morning with both of the coffee incidents, but he had no idea why it was so hilarious to him. As their conversation switched on and off with speaking Chinese and Korean, Mino only stared at his roommate, wanting to throw a coffee mug at him for laughing hysterically right now when he was trying to finish off with the story. 

"Dude," Mino called, crossing his arms. "I didn't even make a joke yet, what the hell are you laughing at?" 

"Bro, you don't find that absolutely hilarious?" Tao answered, finally sitting back up after he restrained himself from laughing. "You spilled coffee on the first girl, then not too long after that, the coffee gets spilled on you. Karma works fast, my friend."

"Yah, it's not like I intentionally spilled it on her. In my defense, we both had our backs turned, and we both happened to crash at each other at the same time. And what kind of karma are you even talking about? I made up for it after it spilled on her. I bought the exact same drink that she got and she had two drinks with a croissant. Accidents should not be a part of karma." 

Tao shrugged and said, "Hey, accident or not, the drink that she bought spilled because of you. You deserved all that hot coffee doing to your shirt man. I feel bad for that poor girl. You said she was wearing white too. Her green drink against her white jacket will not look that great." 

"What are you? The fashion police?" 

"Well, any drinks that get spilled on a shirt never looks good," he stated, giving a smirk towards Mino's direction. "And I wouldn't mind you calling me that. Damn fool, I'd arrest you first with what you wear sometimes. If you ever spilled that green tea on me, I wouldn't be nice like her though. You would get a beat down if I was wearing a white shirt." 

"You? Doing a beat down?" Mino questioned, becoming highly amused. "You would cry and run away before anything. I put my fist at your face and you would break down saying sorry to me." 

"I know wushu, man," Tao stated again, referring to the sport of kung fu that he has been doing ever since he was ten years old. 

"Man, when you see my fist, your wushu is gonna turn into moo shu within a matter of seconds," Mino shot back, referring to the mushy pork dish that he and Tao enjoyed eating almost every single day. Mino pointed at him and commanded, "You may laugh now, you fool." 

"I ain't laughing," he replied with furrowed eyebrows. "I'm still concerned about that poor girl who now has a green stain on her white jacket thanks to you. I can't laugh at your lame joke."

"Note to Huang Zitao," said Mino, waving his arms in the air for Tao to see. "Did you not see my sweatshirt? I was wearing a white sweatshirt too when the coffee spilled on me. What kind of friend are you? You're only feeling bad for her." 

"I stopped being your friend after you called my wushu a moo shu. Besides, why would I be concerned about your shirt anyway? It's not like you dress nice. You don't even dress up when you go to your intern workplace, fool." 

That was quite true though. Mino interned at a magazine company and the office was really laid-back and relaxed, so he didn't really have to worry about looking nice going into work. The company was only leaning towards having their employees and intern dress simple and casual as they worked. Mino went on, "My sweatshirt was still white bro. I have a brown stain on it now. You should be concerned." 

"Dude, I have more concern for her anyway. I'm thinking about that poor girl because I'm pretty sure she's cuter than you." 

"Well, she is a girl. She is most likely to be cuter than I am because she's a girl, " Mino groaned while rolling his eyes. "And besides, I don't have money like you to be buying fancy clothes. I am interning to pay off all the college payments that my parents can't help me with. You know that. These are my last two semesters too, I gotta get some money, I have no time to go out to buy luxurious clothes for myself. I'm not lucky like you to be handed so much money since birth." 

"Fool, what are you talking about? You never even dressed nice before college started. Don't even try saying it's because of college payments." 

"It's called casual clothing, Tao. It's something that your fancy wouldn't know of, okay? I am just a regular human being who is broke in his last year of college. We can't all be like you, my parents aren't owners of one of the top textile designer companies in China."

Tao only nodded in agreement, not arguing back with what Mino was saying. He was just stating facts though. Compared to Mino's casual style, Tao always dressed nice in contrast. He always dressed up everywhere that he went and he would always have to look sharp. A casual style for Tao was mainy a solid blazer and any brand named jeans because that's how his parents raised him. 

Mino was always the more simple and casual guy. It's not because he didn't have money but it was because he wasn't raised rich or wealthy exactly like Tao, so he always tended to dress more casually. Mino's parents were the owner of a ramen shop and also a bakery shop in Seoul, but they were also good friends with Tao's parents, who had lived in China. They became close when Tao's mother studied abroad in Korea for an entire year, leaving the two girls having a strong relationship. Tao and his parents came to visit Mino and his family often, so the boys, who were exactly the same age, knew each other since they were in high school.

When it was time for Mino to go to college, his parents worried that they wouldn't have enough money to pay for his tuition; which is when Tao's parents sweeped in to help. After many negotiations and arguments, Mino agreed to study in China at an international university and live with Tao and his family for time being. 

That is how they are currently roommates, both in their last semester in the same college that Tao's parents are paying for. Even though Mino's parents constantly sent money to him for daily essentials, and Tao's parents for all the debt that they owe, their entire relationship was still strong as ever. They had always considered Mino their son as well because he was such a respectful and cute child, so they loved him as much as they loved Tao. Mino always appreciated the help that they did and did the best that he could to be good to them. 

He never once said no to them and he would even go in to help them at the company building named Huang Textile Designs, anytime Tao would asked him too. He appreciated them dearly and considered Tao his best friend, also feeling like they were brothers. 

Tao shrugged and responded to Mino, "Listen, my fancy is only like this because my parents practically make me wear a suit when going out to the damn supermarket. You can't expect anything else from a son whose parents' are fashion freaks. They create the damn design and patterns on suits and dresses, my has to look good all the time. If I walk foot outside dressing casual like you, they won't have it. My parents don't play man." 

"You think I don't know that? Did you tell them my broke can't afford looking good like you guys?" 

"Dude, you keep saying you're broke, but you're doing fine. Why are you being dramatic, huh?" Tao questioned back, shaking his head firmly. "You are not a poor man. You're just struggling because college tuition is killing every student's bank accounts and sleeping patterns. You're not broke though. Enough with the dramatic dialogue." 

"I'm just trying to prove my point to why I don't dress fancy like you, since you're always making fun of my outfits." 

"Dude, I'm even surprised you made up for the first girl with her two drinks. Shoot, your cheap never pays for any of my meals. All I ever got from you was an iced coffee and a side order of nuggets from McDonald's and that was a forced demand." 

"Now you're the one exaggerating. I buy you food too, but only when you ask me too. You're such a ing brat when it comes to food - one day, you'd crave sushi and the next day, you'd be disgusted by it. I can't randomly buy you food without you going all Lucy Liu on me. That's why I let you choose what to eat everyday, I can't deal with your sass when it comes to food."

Tao just nodded, agreeing with everything Mino was saying since all of it was completely correct. He ran a hair through his fingers and just smiled with an amused smirk, and responded, "Alright, I'll stop making fun of how cheap you are and how ugly you dress." Mino rolled his eyes again and slouched back, while Tao continued on, "So about those girls now... They were cute, right?" Sliding his eyes over to Tao, Mino gave him a small glare and Tao began to laugh and talked with a higher voice, "What? I'm just asking, dude. I imagine the first one being cute since you made up for her by buying two cups of coffee and a whole new order of a croissant. What about the second one?"

"Yah, they have names. I told you this already. The first one's name is Dara and the second one is Minji. Will you remember that for crying out loud?" 

"Yah, you told me only once," Tao stated, asserting his voice and nearly going over to strangle Mino for being feisty. "I was too consumed by the story to even have their names memorized." 

"Well, get the names right."

"Damn, they must be beyond beautiful then for you to be coming at me like this. Will you answer the damn question already? Were they cute or not? Give me a damn answer." 

Sighing out loud, Mino finally confessed, "Yeah man, they were cute."

"Ah hah!" Tao yelled out excitedly, clapping his hands. "I knew there had to be more to the story. If the girls weren't cute, you wouldn't even be telling me this story right now. I know you way too well, my friend." 

"I mean, even if they weren't cute, I'm pretty sure you would ask me why I have a brown stain on my white sweatshirt. That would result in me telling you anyway, bastard." 

"Yeah, but they were cute," Tao affirmed, pointing at him from a medium distance. "That just changes everything to why you bought the drink for her." 

"Are you saying I would only buy Dara a drink back only because she was cute?" Mino asked, becoming slightly offended by Tao's statement.

"I'm just saying it spices up the story a lot more because she was cute. Meeting two girls in one day, the exact same way, and odds are that they're both the same nationality as you. You've lived here since you were a freshman in college and that strange encounter has never happened to you man. We go to Koreatown almost every week together and I haven't seen you buy a drink for any Korean girl around there. I mean, I would buy a drink for some of the girls I see, but I ain't as smooth as you. Spilling a drink and getting a conversation out of her was a smooth move man." 

"I didn't do it on purpose fool. Stop calling me smooth," he commanded, still glaring at him the entire conversation. "I felt bad for her because I spilled the drink on her shirt. I'm obviously a good person, I'm not gonna let her walk around with a green stain on her shirt without doing anything. Good person, do you hear me? Good person." 

"And smooth," Tao continued claiming, not caring about Mino's thoughts. Mino still gave him a blank stare, while Tao was still teasing him about Dara and Minji. It wasn't a surprise to Tao that Mino met two different girls during the same time period because he was always a friendly guy. It wasn't even about meeting them, it was just about bumping into them and getting to know both of their names in that short amount of time. He just smirked and continued asking, "Wait, so since you claim that you did some good karma and that you're such a good person, did Minji buy you another coffee after bumping into you?"

"No, she just said sorry a lot of times. There was no coffee shop around, so I don't think that was an option for me. It's fine with me though, I was almost finished with that coffee anyways. I would've just felt bad if she bought it for me." 

Tao rolled his eyes and whispered purposely for Mino to hear, "And you wonder why girls fall for you so easily." 

Ignoring him completely, Mino just tried to figure out a way to tell Tao how he felt about meeting both Dara and Minji. He found both of them very approachable, but Minji seemed a lot more closed than Dara. Not that he thought Minji wasn't welcoming, he just felt like Dara was more open to talk to him more. Minji seemed a lot more quiet and reserved from what he got out of that short conversation, even though he wanted it to go a lot longer than that. He assumed that she had been shy, but he wished he had kept the conversation going to get more out of her. However, seeing her facial expressions, he thought it was best to leave it as it was with just knowing their names. 

Mino was always more friendly and outgoing than Tao - the only thing Tao was confident in was his sense of fashion and his kung fu (or wushu) skills. Other than that, Tao was a cute and shy guy who seemed pretty quiet if nobody knew who he was. Mino, on the other hand, had a more confident personality than his best friend. Sometimes people misunderstood him as a player, or even a womanizer because a lot of girls fell for his charming personality. He couldn't really change that about himself though, because he just enjoyed being his friendly self. Besides the time he had dated Irene during his junior and senior year of high school back in Korea, he didn't really have eyes for anyone after that. Tao was really the only person who knew how he was.

Today was quite different for Mino though. He found himself thinking about Minji a lot more than he expected. He found Dara cute and beyond friendly, but he caught himself thinking about Minji more. Maybe it was the fact that she seemed so secluded within herself that it made him more curious. He didn't know how to tell Tao, but he tried to make out words to tell him that he wanted to see her again. Even after that brief encounter with her, he still wanted to see more of her. 

Mino just shrugged and said, "I don't know about Minji, dude. She seemed quiet, so I don't really know how she is."

"Ah, does that mean you want to know?" Tao questioned, making Mino glare at him again. He laughed and went on, "Only a thought, alright? I wouldn't see why you would be telling me this story if you didn't have an interest in those girls. Your mouth moves every single day with God knows how many girls, I never see you talk about anyone as much as you talked about these two today." 

With a shrug, Mino answered, "I don't know, I just thought it was an interesting encounter with the domino effect. I spill a drink on Dara, then the same thing happens to me with another Korean girl named Minji."

"Maybe it's fate," he suggested, nodding his head and finally becoming serious into this conversation.

"You would say it's fate, you cheesy ." 

"Hey, it's possible. Look around, dude. You've lived in China since you were eighteen years old and you haven't become friends with a single Korean person in school. Then one day, out of nowhere, you meet two cute Korean girls within the same time frame and get to become acquaintances with them. Tell me that's not a coincidence." 

"Yeah, but what does fate have to do with coincidence?" 

"That's the work of fate. You meet these two girls, right on the same day, both at a certain time and both at a certain place. There's obviously a reasoning behind how you met them right after another, but that's how fate works, my friend. I believe in fate, destiny and soulmates, alright idiot? Do not doubt my beliefs." Tao said, pointing an index finger directly to him. 

"I am not doubting anything," Mino assured, feeling an eye roll coming on. "I just never believed in fate or destiny, like what you're trying to explain to me right now. I always just went with the flow. Whatever happens, happens. I never thought Irene was my soulmate and I never thought about the reason why we were meant to meet. It just happened."

"Well, in my belief, fate decides who comes into your life. Whether it's friends, family members or lovers, fate is always the one to decide who comes through in your life. It's your job, as a human being, to control who stays."

"I feel like I'm reading a sappy love novel, or something."

"Just saying man," Tao said, finally giving up with Mino's ignorant remarks by putting his hands in the air to surrender. "Believe it or not, fate brought you to meet two different girls today, am I right?" While Mino rolled his eyes without answering, Tao continued, "As much as you try to deny it, if you're meant to see them again, you will. Maybe one of them could be your soulmates, you know?" 

Tao raised his eyebrows at him a few times while Mino just sat there with his arms crossed. He chuckled a bit and replied, "Funny. Wouldn't it be better to meet just one girl then? If one of them is my soulmate, why did they have to come to me on the same day?" 

Tao waved a hand at him, completely giving up with his clueless brain. "I'm done with you man. Whoever your soulmate even is, I'm going to feel terrible for getting a guy with no brains." He picked up the newspaper to read and crossed his legs, breaking eye contact with Mino completely. 

Mino never believed in fate or destiny within this lifetime, or even having a soulmate. He just tried to analyze what Tao said about these girls coming into his life today. Whatever it was, he just hoped that Minji would come into it again. 

If she ever did, he already had a determination to get more than just her name. 

After visiting three schools for the day, the three girls took a visit to the retail store in order to find some personal equipment such as bed sheets and blankets - just for time being, before they headed home. Minji and Yuri had constantly made fun of Dara and her current little crush, so they were finally silencing down with the teasing after entering the retail store. 

Walking into the store at the same time, Minji let out a small laugh and restrained herself from teasing her further. Yuri finally settled down and began, "Okay, I'm done playing around. I keep forgetting I'm not young like you guys. I need to stop acting like a little girl."

"I could've told you that three hours ago, Unnie," Dara said angrily, forcefully grabbing a cart to push after Yuri pointed her finger at her to grab it. Still laughing, Yuri completely changed the topic and asked, "Did you like any of the schools we just visisted?" 

"Hmm," Dara replied with a pout, shaking her head. "They were okay. They still didn't beat the first campus though. That campus is still my number one." 

Minji mumbled under her tongue, whispering loudly enough for them to hear, "I wonder why." Dara rolled her eyes over to glare at her, knowing that her statement was about Mino. Ignoring Minji, Dara turned to Yuri and said, "I'd have to check for the tuition though. If it's expensive, I might have to work my off." 

"Girl, don't even worry about tuition. Young Bae and I can take care of that," she assured, putting a package of coloring books to purchase for Young Joon.

"Oh no, that's too much Unnie. I don't want to do that to you and Young Bae Oppa. I will find a way to pay for tuition myself." 

"Dara, you know he and I are basically your guardians at this point, we have to take care of you. I know you're a person that can take care of yourself well, but we're still going to be here for you no matter what. Don't worry about it too much, just find a school that has the degree you want and apply."

Dara smiled sweetly to her, not knowing how to reply to Yuri's generosity. She didn't know what to expect when coming to China to find Yur, but all she knew was that Yuri was doing way more than she had expected. Minji wasn't even that close to Yuri throughout their life, but they were still sisters - in the end, they were always going to have a special relationship with each other. However, Dara considered herself as an outsider in this relationship, since she wasn't related to Yuri in any way. She was only her little sister's best friend that she barely knew. But because Yuri was being so welcoming and considerate, Dara suddenly felt like she was part of the family. Yuri made her feel like she wasn't any outsider. She didn't know how to thank her more than this. "But we can check for all of that information later tonight, don't stress it too much," Yuri stated, making a turn towards the personal hygiene section. She turned to look at Minji and went on asking, "What about you? Medical school, right?" 

Minji silently sighed and simply replied, "No, I'm not going for medical school anymore." 

"What?" Yuri and Dara asked at the same time. Then Yuri asked herself with a concerned tone, "Why not? Don't tell me you're changing your mind because of what I just said to you." 

"No, it's not that," she responded, shaking her head in reassurance. "Medical school is just too stressful given my situation right now. I think I'm just gonna put a stop to that and move onto something else. Something that I can just handle right now. I mean, I don't have to look in to yet, right? I should wait until the baby is born, right?" 

Minji's statement made Yuri want to fly back to Korea immediately to strangle Jong In even more, since he had crushed every part of her sister's life. Yuri gave our a distressed sigh and forcefully asked, "Well, you should start planning though. You're already four months pregnant. It's just five more months until the baby is born, you have to do something. What's your plan if you're not going to go to the medical field anymore?"

"Something with business, I guess," with a shrug, she replied carelessly.

"Are you even interested in business?" Yuri asked. Dara added on while squeezing her shoulders, "Yeah girl. Are you sure you wanna go that way? I never heard you talk about that." 

She grinned in reply and only nodded her head, "I have more options for jobs if I go into business. I think it's better for me." 

"You sure?" Yuri asked after a while, moving quite slowly as Young Joon was gripping onto her left hand. Minji softly nodded her head, which made Yuri and Dara glance at each other a little. They stayed silent from the shocking comment that came out of . Yuri only sighed and continued talking, "Well, whichever you go for, you know Young Bae and I will take care of the tuition. I don't mind you guys working and stuff, but we're still supporting you financially."

"Thank you Unnie," Minji said first, followed by Dara a few seconds after. "Thank you." 

Yuri smiled and went on, "If you guys wanted to work, where would you go to work?"

"I'm definitely going to work. I can't stay still for too long, I'm too active for that."

"Okay," Yuri replied with a nod. "Anything in mind?" 

"Not so sure yet. Maybe a cafe or a bakery, or something. Something simple I guess, so it'll keep me on my feet. I'm not sure yet, I'd have to learn the language before anything." 

"If this helps, there's a Koreatown twenty minutes away from the house. If you wanna find a job there, you can look around. A good friend of mine owns a hair salon around there, I can ask around for you." 

"Oh my goodness, Unnie. You're already doing so much for me. I don't know how much more you can help me." 

"Child, you are my sister too, you know?" She assured, very sincerely, making Dara smile widely. "What kind of sister would I be if I left you hanging by yourself?" 

Flashing a grin, Dara just nodded and said simply, "Shouldn't I still learn the language though? I don't know how long we'll be staying, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be long." 

Young Joon began tugging onto Dara's jacket, which made her turn around with a questioned face. He smiled and asked, "Auntie Dara, how long are you and Mingkki staying with us?" 

"A long time," Yuri answered for them, confiriming the status for herself. 

"A long time?" He asked back, his tone filled with excitement and happiness. "Like how long, how long?" 

Minji turned to face him and added on, "How long do you want us to stay?" 

"I want Auntie Dara and Mingkki to stay with me for four thousand, five hundred and sixty seven days," he replied with an amused giggle, making both of his aunties smile. Yuri snickered and explained, "The brat just learned how to count so he has fun putting numbers together."

"What are you saying?" Dara asked, playing around a little while pinching his cheeks. "Are you gonna kick us out after twelve and a half years? Damn, you ain't even eighteen years old yet and you're already claiming to get rid of your aunties." 

Slightly hitting Dara on the leg, Minji said to her, "You crazy girl. How'd you do the math so quickly?" Dara flipped her hair in response and replied, "Because, I'm just that fabulous to figure it out." 

"I didn't know you could fabulous with math, to be honest," Yuri jokingly commented. 

Minji joked after and said, "It applies to Dara, okay Unnie?" 

"Alright then," she hacked, continuously joking. "Since those two are so good with numbers, we'll just let them be fabulous. Let us be unfabulous since we're not good with numbers." 

Pursing her lips, Dara only crossed her arms while giving them a small glare. Yuri sighed and continued, "Okay, in all seriousness. We'll keep searching for business schools for Minji. And Dara, if you like ECNU, we'll look more into it tonight, does that sound good?" While Dara and Minji nodded their head in agreement, Yuri nudged Minji's arms, whispering loudly, "I don't think Dara will change her mind though. She seems pretty set on the Korean guy." 

"Hey!" Dara loudly shot back, poking her head to come very close to Yuri. "For the ten thousandth time, I just said the Korean guy was cute. He is not my motivation to get me to go to the school. You play too much, Unnie. You're talking like I'm thirsty or something." 

"I would have no doubt if you are." 

"Unnie!" Dara whined, nearly screaming into her ear. "Okay yeah, he's cute, but I do like the school. Now, will you just please believe me?" 

As Dara stood very close to Yuri, she grunted and responded, "Kid, you know I'm joking. Right now, you are way to close to my face, and you know I dislike the invasion of the personal bubble." 

"I know you dislike the invasion of your personal bubble," Dara joked more, going closer to her face to annoy Yuri. "That's why I'm trying to invade and pop it, because you've been making fun of me too much." Yuri pushed Dara's head out of the way, making her lean more towards Minji. Laughing a bit, Yuri replied, "Go towards that one. That one likes affection." 

"Unnie," Dara called, walking normally again after Yuri pushed her. "You think I like being touchy? I'm probably like you too. Do you not see me screaming at Minji everytime she tries to hug me? I accept hugs twice a year, that's it." 

"Why two?" 

"Umm hello," Dara mimicked, flipping her long black hair to the side. "Our birthdays, Unnie. I decided to be nice and allow her to hug me." 

As the three continuously laughed, Yuri just shook her head and said, "Oh yeah, you are kind of like me. I'm probably meaner though. Did you not see Young Bae sleeping on the floor when you came in to wake me up this morning?" 

"Oh yeah, I've been meaning to ask that. What happened?" Dara asked. As Minji and Dara intently listened to her, Yuri replied with a chuckle, "His hand came to my waist last night while we were sleeping so I kicked him off. Who is he trying to get touchy with me?"

Both having raised eyebrows and a highly questioned facial expression, Dara and Minji rhetorically replied in unison in the same tone, "Your husband?" 

"He can touch me if we're gonna make a baby," she ridiculously joked, having the other two look at her with a more puzzled expression. Yuri shrugged off their looks at her and explained, "Okay, I know I can't have a baby but I'm trying to say that the only time he's allowed to touch me is when we're doing the process of making the baby." 

"Damn Unnie!" Dara exclaimed, widening her eyes. "You are more viscious than me. If I ever get a husband, I'd probably still let him touch me from time to time. I mean, he's a guy, they all have needs. You need to give your husband some needs if you're kicking him off the bed like that." 

"He'll live," she answered, waving her hands in Dara's face. "I will fulfill his damn needs when I feel like it, okay?" 

Dara only laughed while Minji covered her ears, feeling slightly awkward having this conversation with her sister. Yuri hit Minji on her arms and demanded, "Yah, what are you covering your ears for? You and Dara are both eighteen, she's fine with hearing my personal story." 

She brought her arms down and replied, "We have a 4-year-old kid with us, Unnie." 

"So?" Yuri rhetorically questioned, giving Minji a disputed look. "This soon-to-be 5-year-old wouldn't know what we're talking about. The most he'll do is look at us with a confused face. Don't even try to bring that past me, I know you're just feeling awkward having this conversation. My lord, Young Joon, go with your Auntie Mingkki." Yuri abruptly pushed Young Joon to hold Minji's hands, so he just went along with it. She snickered and wrapped her arms around Dara's shoulders, "Let those two kids go together. They obviously can't handle our conversation."

"Hey," Minji whined, pouting a little. "I'm just afraid of people looking at us weird." 

Wandering their heads around with highly puzzled faces, they turned back to her as Dara said, "Girl, who the heck is gonna understand us? Everyone here is Chinese." 

"I mean," Yuri added on, giving her a wary look. "We are kind of in China, I would expect people to be Chinese." Minji continued pouting more, feeling bad that she made the conversation awkward. Yuri went on, continuously snickering as she talked, "Why are you even the one covering your ears? You're the one having a baby." 

The straightforward comment that Yuri just made struck Dara a lot, becoming silent with her eyes going big. Minji frowned again, feeling like she had just fell flat off a tall building. She even felt that falling off a building would be less painful than what Yuri had just said to her. 

In an anguished voice, she replied sadly, "It's not the baby that I wanted though." Her mind immediately thought back to Jong In again, with all the painful things that she could remember about him. The anguished feeling that she had as she carried his baby in her stomach right now. She just couldn't forget the fact that her life completely changed; from a teenager who had many opportunities to experience life to a young girl who had been pregnant from . 

She was sadly correct. Jong In did ruin her perspective of first love, first kiss, first heartbreak... First everything, really. Instead of letting Minji experience those things, Jong In skipped everything and damaged her purity within the blink of an eye. Yuri felt a wave of guilt rushing over her body from what she just said, since she always had trouble controlling . She let out a big sigh and apologized sadly, "Sorry sis. I didn't mean it like that. I mean, who wants to be erted anyways. Dara and I just have dirty minds, we need to stop with that." 

Minji knew that Yuri was trying to cheer her up at this point, but she couldn't hide the fact that she was always thinking about Jong In. 

November 2009

Bowing to the next customer that came through the door, Dara greeted loudly and recited her script, "Hello, welcome to Seoul Sweet Sensations. Please take a seat anywhere you'd like, I'll be right over with a menu." The two girls at the door nodded their heads politely and went to take a seat by the window at the white circular table. 

Dara set the expresso machine on and placed the togo cup under, letting the cappucino brew into it, so she could serve it to the customer who had ordered a few minutes ago. As she left that running, Dara walked over to the two girls, giving them each a glass of ice water and two menus. 

After they thanked her, she walked back to the expresso machine to check on the drink again. As she stood by to do other things while waiting for the coffee, she heard a male's voice call from the side, "Dara." When she turned around, she saw Minseok, the owner of the dessert cafe coming out from the kitchen and heading towards her at the counter. She flashed a cheesy smile as Minseok patted her shoulders, "How's my new worker doing? Your first week going well?"

"It's going very well," she responded honestly, nodding her head. "I finally got all the drinks down. That was the hardest part to learn. I didn't even know there were so many different types of coffee." 

"Do you even drink coffee?" 

"No," Dara replied with a snicker. Minseok chuckled and patted her back once more, telling her, "It's okay. Like it or not, just keep doing it. I came in yesterday when you were off and a couple were already asking for you." 

Flickering her eyes and flipping her long ponytail jokingly, she joked, "Psh, it's no surprise. Don't you see how awesome I am? Look at this face." 

As Minseok looked at Dara with his left eyebrow raised, he said, "You have an awesome manager, that's why the customers are asking for the worker I trained. If you get a compliment, tell them it's because of your awesome manager. That's part of the script." 

"Umm, I read that script for literally an hour non-stop. I did not see any words of saying awesome manager." 

"I just added it." 

"Yeah about that. I'm gonna risk being stubborn just do I don't have to say that. I don't wanna lose any of the customers now." 

"You're not gonna listen to me?" Minseok asked jokingly, slightly glaring at her. He pointed at himself and reminded her, "I'm your boss." 

"I can't take you seriously when you say that. I feel like I have a high school teenager as my boss." 

"You can't forget that I'm aleady twenty six." 

"Oh trust me," Dara assured, widening her eyes and shaking her head firmly. "That's easy to forget, boss." 

Miseok didn't really disagree with her, since he knew she had a pretty ac