Any minute now, she would emerge from behind the glass door, quickly scanning the Incheon airport crowd and shamelessly shouting out her pet name for me:

“Ajumma!”

“Chaerin-a!” I shouted back at her. Letting go of my luggage handle, I welcome her with a big warm hug which she returns tightly.

Lee Chaerin is a lot of things to me. By blood she is my second cousin on my mother's side so we know each other from childhood, but she is more like a sister to me than a cousin. She is my kindred; my ultimate best friend. Though I am much older than she is, there is nobody among my family who gets me the way Chaerin does. Even my younger sister Durami and her younger sister Harin sometimes get jealous of our closeness. We were even roomies at some point, when I was just starting out at YGE and Chaerin was in premed. She got admitted to the medicine program in a university in California where she and her family have been living since. She would visit during school breaks but those visits get less and less frequent as the demands of the field she has chosen gets heavier. She did visit me in the Philippines and I got to take her on a Dara Tour.

"Where is your luggage?" Chaerin asked as she released me from her hug. I smiled guiltily.

The luggage was still where I left it, unattended and forgotten. Chaerin had given me that expensive red luggage. She laughed in disbelief at my carelessness. We put my luggage together with hers on the cart.

Chaerin booked a flight to match my own so we could meet up at the airport. She knows my dilemma, and she has taken time off her busy schedule to lend me her full support. How could I not love this girl?

"I got so much stuff for you," Chaerin said excitedly. My cousin is not only generous with her time; she is one of the most giving persons I have ever known.

"I got stuff for you too," I replied, not wanting to be outdone.

"Let's go!" She said, and together we pushed the cart with our luggages and headed to the exit.

***
 

Since I had given up my apartment in Seoul, Chaerin and I had to check in a hotel for a few days after which we would be staying with my family in Busan.

“When again is the concert?” Chaerin asked while rummaging through one of her luggages.

“Saturday.” I replied, TV remote control in my hand, surfing channels. I just had to stop at an entertainment show where Sechskies' concert was mentioned.

“Aren't you going to meet Jiwon oppa before that?” I know Chaerin was watching