Hyejoo woke up and looked at her sister hunched over working on something. Guruem was sitting beside her at the table’s feet as if to keep her company. She felt Soeun rise from their bed earlier, at around six in the morning. Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was almost eleven in the morning. She got up and greeted her sister who mumbled a greeting in return. Hyejoo could tell that she hadn’t taken her breakfast yet. So, she went out to the kitchen to prepare a quick meal for Soeun. Making pancakes and a glass of hot milk, she went back inside setting the plate and glass down beside her.

“Better eat up first, Ssong. Its bad to forget breakfast you know.” Hyejoo gently reminded her sister who looked up at her.

“Oh, thank you unnie. I didn’t realize it was already late.” Soeun said glancing at the clock mounted on the wall.

Hyejoo saw that Soeun’s desktop wallpaper was a photo of her with Soojin.

“You really like her huh?”

“Y-yeah… I do. I really do.” Soeun shyly said trying hard not to turn red. A smile however escaped her lips, revealing a hint of euphoria that she feels whenever they talk about Soojin.

“And you wouldn’t chase after her on that night. Silly Ssong.” Hyejoo teased Soeun as she went out to prepare for market day.

Hyejoo had decided that she’d let Soeun fully focus on her university studies and leave the night restaurant fully to her responsibility. So for a couple of night in the past week, she worked the restaurant alone. She had explained this to the patrons and they were surprisingly supportive of Soeun’s endeavors. They’d put their plates away after they were done eating and they minimized making a mess so Hyejoo wouldn’t have a tough time. Soeun insisted that she pitch in every now and then whenever she had no schoolwork. Their customers gave Soeun warm greetings whenever she was helping out at the restaurant. Some of their regulars even give Soeun tips so she can have extra money for school.

Seeing this made Hyejoo almost tear up. Yes, they were in one of Seoul’s lower class neighborhoods but the sheer camaraderie of the people here can do incredible things. There were the occasional hoodlum lurking about, but a good part of the neighborhood is something else entirely.

Today was market day. Since Soeun was fully focused on studying, it fell onto Hyejoo to make the market runs. Recently, she had enlisted in the market delivery system for their bulk orders. This means that the bulk of their ingredients are now being delivered every week. Hyejoo and Soeun used to double team those bulk orders from the market to the restaurant. So for every other day, Hyejoo’s runs usually consist of their groceries and a few ingredients for the restaurant’s stocks. After checking all the eco-bags and finalizing the list, she went back to their room to bid Soeun and Guruem goodbye.

Walking towards the bus stop, Hyejoo couldn’t help but reminisce. Their childhood was no bed of roses. Hyejoo and Soeun originally grew up in one of the many orphanages in Korea, drifting from one facility to another. She can’t remember why they ended up in an orphanage in the first place. These state-funded facilities were poorly maintained and funded. Thus, their budget was stretched to its limits. She could recall giving Soeun the small beef chunks in her stew. Hyejoo was the o