I'm sorry this took so long (and that I still haven't updated the chat ;-;) but I kept putting off reading it OTL there's Yoonyul in this chapter love me lol ok and finally the main problem of the series, the whole point I wrote this story, is coming up next chapter! Anticipate the surprise! You'd never guess it! Also Happy Thanksgiving! I am sososo thankful to all of you subscribers! You're all so precious it's amazing! <3 Sorry you haven't had any Jessica yet, she's a very busy lady ok

 The next two days went by okay in Sooyoung’s standards, there was no big news nor something special, they walked around another day and watched dramas, movies, played Korean games, and other things indoors because of some random huge rainstorm. 

  It was already her third full day in Korea and yet barely any sign of Jessica telling her boyfriend about ‘them’, it was frustrating her. But that was okay also with her, because she got to spend more time with Yuri and Yoona, who seemed to be better people by the day. 

  Yuri and Sooyoung were sitting on the couch discussing what they might want to do today, as it was Yuri’s first day off work and had the whole day free. Sooyoung checked her vibrating phone while talking about the possibility of the zoo, curious after seeing that it was her cousin that had texted it her first. gaped open in happiness after reading it, not able to say anything. 

  “What is it? Something wrong?” Yuri asked instinctively, her face filled with worry. “Can I get you anything?” 

  Sooyoung shook her head slowly, thoughtlessly. It was almost funny to her that they would invite her to a ‘mixer’ of her old Korean friends and some of her family members. I can’t believe they’re doing this...after what happened... She reread the text and went over it a couple times in her head, she had no choice but to come to it, it’s not like she had somewhere else to go or that she hated her old friends and family. After another few minutes of silence and she turned to look at Yuri, “Can I get a ride?” 

 The two arrived at the cafe in about forty-five minutes, leaning toward fifty. Yuri’s turquoise colored car parked quietly and she turned to look at her guest questioningly, “What should I do now? Want me to stay, or to pick you up later?” 

  Sooyoung went through the pros and cons of her new friend coming along, until she came with what she thought was the right decision. “You can pick me up, but when I text or call you, no later or no earlier. Is that okay with you?” 

  Yuri shrugged, “Yeah, I don’t have much to do today, maybe I’ll join Yoona temporarily on her charity retreat, just for a short stop. She’s really great on those things, probably the main reason she can’t pay for her own apartment. Not that I don’t like living with her...” her voice seemed to continue on about Yoona and it seemed to come into the background as it turned into Korean. Suddenly she stopped and sighed, “You’re not listening are you?” 

  “Sorry, I was thinking about something else. It’s really kind of her to do so much charity work though, she’s really a great person,” Sooyoung replied, bringing herself back into the conversation. But she knew that conversation wasn’t going to last long. 

  “I know! Two weeks ago she volunteered at the children’s hospital to play games with the kids, it was great, they loved her.” Yuri added and changed the topic again, “You have to leave don’t you? Sorry for delaying you more.” 

  “No, that’s okay, don’t worry. Have fun helping Yoona with charity work,” Sooyoung said as she opened the car door and hopped out. The concrete felt hard underneath her feet and she scraped her right foot against it lightly, making sure she was on the ground. “Bye!” 

  “I will! Bye!” Yuri called while Sooyoung started heading toward the cafe leisurely, not sure whether the others were there or not. She calmly stood in front of the clear doors, unconfident that she would really be able to go in there and say hi. You can do this, it’s nothing compared to getting married like you did, right? There’s nothing wrong with visiting some old friends, don’t be nervous. She lifted a foot and slid open the glass door silently, entering. 

  “Soo! It’s me! Yoorim!” A dark brunette which looked fairly familiar to her raised her arm from a what seemed large table of people. She spoke in English, a relief to Sooyoung. The other people at the table raised a welcome greeting with friendliness, another relief. 

  Although Sooyoung wasn’t sure she remembered Yoorim, but smiled out of hospitality while replying, “Oh! I missed you!” and heading toward the table. She sat down at the first open seat in between a guy she didn’t remember and one of her cousins.

  “Sooyoungie! Great you could make it, we were just starting to get settled,” the cousin on her left cheered, hugging her tightly. 

  “How are your kids? They’ve been doing well since I last visited?” Sooyoung asked, still not used to the busy atmosphere with lots of people talking around her. To her, it was almost like a family reunion. 

  “Yes! Jaehyung got his driver’s license and Jaeyoon got fourth place in her class in school!” The happy mother praised her children to Sooyoung, and she smiled back, returning the joyful feel. 

 “That’s great news, how’s your husband?” Sooyoung kept the questions short and simple, not even saying the husband’s name, though she actually wasn’t very sure about what his name was. 

  “He’s also terrific, he was really sick last year sadly, he’s gotten better though.” Her cousin continued on with good news about their family, which was also good news to Sooyoung. It’s good that everybody’s been doing well since I last visited them, I’ve missed them these years too.

  “Oh! Sooyoung’s here!” Another voice joined in, one of her friends from school. “How have you been? Is the US nice? I know we haven’t talked since we were both in college but it’s really something to see you again, and looking like that!” 

  The latter comment made Sooyoung wary of how she was dressed and she examined herself curiously, wondering what kind of “that” the other woman had made. To her, she didn’t look that bad. “Thanks, I guess, and I’ve been doing on the better side and all that. How’s our grandpa been doing?” 

  The cousin that she was just talking to, Taeju, replied almost automatically, “He’s amazing for his age, looks like he’ll last long.” 

  “Even better,” they must be living good without me, maybe I made a better choice than I thought back then. 

   “Guys! Ahsong’s here with her boyfriend! Remember her?” Someone called with a somewhat cheerful tone. Oh great, why did she have to come today? Sooyoung turned her head in the direction of the door and dropped. 

 “Hey Yoona, where are you?” Yuri felt relieved to speak in Korean again, it was beginning to get on her nerves when using English all the time. 

  “At the community center, we’re currently testing who’s the most flexible.” Yoona responded through the phone, her voice hinting a bit of repulsiveness. “Why’re you asking?” 

  “I was thinking maybe I could join you for a bit,” Yuri joined a bit brighter, attempting her best to make her roommate’s day better. 

  “Really?” And by that, it sounded like she had done her job. “Would you please? I don’t want to mean to any of my volunteer friends, but some of them are scary when they get competitive, especially if it has to being flexible.” 

  “Don’t tell me Jiyoung is participating in this ‘competition’, she’s six months pregnant...” Yuri sighed as she drove toward the community center, “This traffic isn’t helping me.” 

  “Of course she isn’t! She’s smarter than that, you can talk to her if you want, she’s right next to me. Oh, and even though I know you’re stuck in traffic right now, can you stop at the closest convenience store at get some yogurts? We need around seven more because some of us drank them already, and now we don’t have enough for everybody,” Yoona replied casually, although it was a bit fuzzy due to the loudness of the background.

  Yuri sighed, “Alright, if that’s what you guys need. Is there anything else?” Yuri had decided not to disagree with the other person she was living with a long time ago, because she knew from experience that it didn’t bring anything very good. 

  She picked up signs in the background that Yoona was asking the others if they needed anything, and it seemed the only thing was some idol in a joke. “Looks like nothing, thank you so much in advance!” 

  “No problem, you know I’d do anything for you,” Yuri smiled at the truth in her own comment, she wasn’t going to lie to her best friend. Hopefully more than a friend soon...

 “Stop being so sweet, it sounds funny when it’s coming from the ‘serious’ and ‘cool’ Kwon Yuri.” Yoona sounded flattered and joked to make it a little less awkward, although there was barely any awkwardness between the two, even over the phone. “Yah! Do you want to kill yourself? No, I didn’t mean that literally! Get down from there!” There was short pause before she said, “I have to go, there’s a bit of a mess here.” 

 “Okay, see you soon.” Yuri took it off coolly and disconnected the call after Yoona quickly said her last goodbye. She shrugged and continued driving in silence until it was too quiet for her taste, so she the radio and settled with the default station which was on, even though she wasn’t a huge fan of the pop radio. 

  Another few minutes later she received another call and answered it at a red light, it was surprisingly from Sooyoung. 

  “You’re finished already? That’s surprising, it’s only been a half hour,” Yuri casually said after she answered, maybe Jessica and Yoona were right and that Sooyoung’s family life wasn’t that great. 

  “No, no, just, I need you to get here as quickly as possible,” Sooyoung’s voice was raspy and rushed, worrying Yuri. “There’s something...that’s hard to believe...”

  “What? Are you okay? Was there a robbery? Everybody okay?” Only the bad things came to her mind and gasped, “Nobody’s dead right?” 

  “No, no, nobody’s dead. Just, I need you here for some confirmation on something,” Sooyoung’s voice was starting to become normal again and the sound of flushing was in the background. 

  “What kind of confirmation? Is it desperate? Can I come in a little bit? I have to do something first,” Yuri tried to be calm about the whole yogurt thing, she wasn’t very sure what time the volunteers needed the yogurts. 

  “Um...not really desperate, they’ll still be here when you come, but come soon,” Sooyoung cut off her sentence and was disconnected before Yuri had time to respond. They? Who are they? 

  The same thoughts rang through her head while she bought the drinks, and she was entirely curious who was at Sooyoung’s family and friends meet. After she bought them, she headed straight to the community center to bring the yogurts to the volunteers. 

  When she got there, it was a lot quieter than on the phone and everybody was on the basketball court’s floor eating lunch. It became louder as she walked in with grocery bags, and a group of people ran over to her quickly and the two bags were out of her hands within seconds. 

  “Guys! The drinks are here!” Kibum, one of the leaders of the group, yelled and it was like a swarm of bees. Almost every bottle was gone in less than a minute. 

 While she was being entertained by the sight, somebody came up behind her and touched her shoulders. She flinched and turned her head around to see a smiling Yoona. 

  “Yoona! Don’t be scaring our savior! Without her, we wouldn’t be able to quench all these people’s thirsts,” the overall leader of the volunteers, Eunjung, said relaxingly while she walked toward the two friends. 

  “I knew it was you,” Yuri laughed it off and looked to see Yoona on her right. She switched to Eunjung to continue, “Oh, it was really nothing, I just bought some drinks, anyone could’ve done that.” 

  “I know, but you’ve helped so much ‘behind-the-scenes’ over the years and you’ve always been our savior when we need it. How come you don’t participate in activities much?” Eunjung asked kindly and exchanged glances with Yoona for a subtle more detailed answer.

  “I work a lot and times when I’m off I usually am working on something for fun, or I just forget about helping around,” Yuri admitted and took a quick look at the time by flashing on her phone, I hope whoever it is at Sooyoung’s cafe is still there. 

  Eunjung understood and nodded, “Ah, that’s alright. You should come whenever you can, though.” 

  “I’ll try to, don’t worry. But I have to go now, I apologize if this sounds rude, but someone needs me.” Yuri attempted to leave in a normal manner, and Yoona looked at her with a curious expression. To put if off on a lighter note, she added, “I’m not only your savior you know.”

  “Why are you leaving? I thought you said you would stay,” Yoona complained as she followed behind Yuri toward the front door. 

  “I already said, I need to go help someone else, and by the voice, they sounded urgent. I’ll see you soon, don’t worry,” Yuri hugged Yoona shortly before running out the door and to the car. She looked back once at Yoona’s confused and sad face, which didn’t help her feelings. Ah, Choi Sooyoung, this better be worth it.