*Seongdong, Seoul, South Korea*

She had been waiting at the café for almost an hour now. Her classes had ended earlier than usual and she had nothing to do, so she chose to wait at the café they normally met at after their lectures. She was fiddling around with her phone to keep herself busy until she heard the waiter greet her politely.

“Are you ready to order yet, ma’am?” a tall young man in an apron asked, notepad at the ready.

“I’m sorry, I’m still waiting for my friend to show up. I’m sure she’ll be here soon.”

“Not to worry ma’am. I’ll get you some more water,” he winked at her while showing his pearly whites before he went away. He looked like a handsome guy, but she didn’t see men in that way anymore. She could appreciate a cute guy, but her eyes were more fixed on something else. She wouldn’t say that she was gay, but there was a certain girl that did pique her interest. It was the same girl she was patiently waiting for almost an hour.

“Oh my god unnie, I’m so sorry! The professor kept rambling on and on and he wouldn’t let us go.” A slender woman with her school bag slung around her shoulder was trying to catch her breath. She sipped the glass of water on the table before continuing. “I hope you weren’t waiting long.”

“No no, I just got here,” she lied through her teeth. She really wanted to keep a good impression of her good friend. “Order whatever you want. It’s my treat today.”

“What?” the younger woman gave her a look of confusion. “Yoona Unni, I told you before you don’t have to keep paying for me. I still have plenty of money in my account.”

“Aigoo, look at my little Seororo trying to be a big girl. I swear, I just want to eat you up,” Yoona cooed as she leaned across the table to pinch her younger friend’s chubby cheek.

“Quit it Unni, I’m not a baby,” she chuckled at her unni’s behavior. “I should be the one who should be paying for the both of us. I owe you so much for all you’ve done for me.”

“Naw, don’t mention it Seohyun. That’s what friends are for.” Yoona signaled for the waiter to come over. Once they placed their orders, Yoona continued. “Ever since your parents had to go to the states for work, I knew they would worry if you had to live alone.”

“And I’m really happy that I get to live with you in your apartment, but I highly insist that I should at least pay you rent,” Seohyun tried to persuade her friend as she received her coffee and slice of cake from the waiter.

“Don’t sweat it girl. I already told you my dad got it covered. His job offered him that apartment and he lets us live their rent free, so there’s no need to worry! All you need to worry about is to stay pretty,” Yoona grinned before digging into her own slice of cake.

“Aigoo, you say such things,” Seohyun blushed. “You know with your charm, I bet you could get a boyfriend right now.”

“Umm…” Yoona scratched the back of her head in worry. She tried to come up with an excuse that wouldn’t have Seohyun jumping to conclusions.

“I’m guessing you learned from me, huh Unni?”

Yoona looked at her with big eyes as her mind was exploding with thoughts.

“Seohyun, what are you trying to say? Are you telling me-”

“I’m not interested in relationships? Of course and you should do the same! We’re going to college Unni and we can’t waste our parent’s money by getting distracted and failing our classes. Looking for love can wait after we become successful,” Seohyun chimed proudly. She took a sip from her black coffee, holding to mug in order to savor the bitter flavor.

“Oh, I see,” Yoona deflated a little bit. Thankfully Seohyun didn’t notice the slight sadness in her friend’s voice.

“So Unni, anything new with you?

“Umm… I read a newspaper today.” Yoona tried to make it sound exciting.

“You really should read something besides magazines Unni. They could help improve the way you see life.” Seohyun was only at her second bite of her cake but noticed her friend already wolfed down two slices of cake and gulped down a large café mocha. “You really should cut back on the sugar Unni. Once in a while is good, but you’ve ordered the same thing for two weeks now.”

“Okay Mom,” Yoona mocked immaturely. She was taking a sip of water, but felt like she almost choked on it before clearing .

“Unni…” Seohyun gave her a look of sympathy.

“Now don’t give me that Seo. I’m already over it.”

“You know I’m always here to talk about it.”

“It was a long time ago Seo, I’m over it already.”

Yoona tried to push the bad thoughts away  in her head. The memory of her mom leaving her and her dad was still fresh in her mind. It was as if she left Yoona’s life yesterday. Growing up, her dad played a big part in making sure she lived a normal and happy life and she was thankful for that. But there were times where she really needed the loving embrace of a mother. At times like this, those thoughts would creep up on her but found it best to put those thoughts behind.

“But anyways, back to the newspaper I was reading,” Yoona explained, “remember how they talked on the news about the old taxi driver who got stabbed?”

“Don’t remind me Unni. It gives me more reason to move out of the city,” Seohyun tried to plug her ears.

“Well it looks like the police might have found a name on him, but it took a long time. It was as if he never existed.”

“Was he Korean? If he’s a foreigner, maybe they can try to contact the other countries and maybe they could check a database and identify him,” Seohyun thought meticulously. Yoona knew she was always a smart girl and it was one of the reasons Yoona thought she was one in a million.

“No, he’s Korean but for some reason his fingerprints or his facial structure was never imputed in any South Korean database the police could find.”

“That is pretty odd.” Seohyun pushed her unfinished cake towards Yoona who willingly stuffed the remainder of the cake into . Seohyun used to be disgusted by her unni’s eating manners, but eventually got used to it.

“Here’s the kicker. Back at the university, one of the Japanese foreign students said they knew who he was. Apparently he was a Korean professor who taught in Japan, but he didn’t have any idea why he would be here or why he was unidentifiable. Hopefully if they check in with Japan they would figure out who he is.”

“Well it doesn’t really matter. Hopefully the authorities will bring justice to whoever did that to him,” Seohyun finished the remains of her lukewarm coffee. “Besides, why did you want to talk about some man getting killed? It’s a pretty morbid subject.”

“Well from what I heard, he taught the same subject you’re learning right now. What was it again? Something about monkeys?”

“For the last time Unni, I’m not taking zoology. I’m majoring in evolutionary biology.”

Yoona raised her hand to get the waiters attention. Before he could say anything, she handed him 15,000 won and told him to keep the change. She stood up from her seat and made her way out with Seohyun on her tail.

“I really wish you would let me pay for once, Unni,” Seohyun said as they were walking back to their apartment.

“I told you to not worry about it. I’ll take care of everything okay Seohyun?”Yoona looked to her right but her best friend was nowhere in sight.

“Seo?” she called out again in worry. “Seohyun?!”

“Unni!” Seohyun was running towards her older friend. “I’m sorry, something caught my attention and I was taking a quick peak,” she smiled. Yoona sighed in relief as she put her hands on her hips.

“I was worried there for a second, Seo. You know after those random murders, I can’t stand the thought of you getting kidnapped.”

“Unni, I’m only a year younger than you. I’m not a baby,” Seohyun puffed out her cheeks which Yoona found adorable.

“Just… just stay near me, okay? You really mean something to me Seororo and I don’t want to see you get hurt,” Yoona slung her arm around her slightly taller friend. They were walking in silence with Yoona’s arm still around her friend. After a couple minutes, Seohyun spoke up.

“Unni, if I ever became different would you still be my friend?” she gave Yoona a look of seriousness.

“Different as in what? Like a new haircut, a new fashion, or…” Yoona didn’t want to say the word ‘gay’, in hopes of not offending Seohyun.

“Just in general. If I was to ever change, would you ever see me differently? Like… if I was to become a freak?” Seohyun asked nervously with all seriousness in her voice.

“Of course not!” Yoona shook her friend playfully. “Seo, you could grow two heads and I would love you just as much as I do now!” Yoona gasped at the last sentence she uttered. She didn’t mean to say the ‘L’ word so quickly, especially since she didn’t know if Seohyun even swung that way.

“Aww, I love you too Unni!” Seohyun placed her arm around Yoona’s shoulder and proceeded to nuzzle the nape of Yoona’s neck playfully. “I’m sorry. I think I’ve been studying too hard. Just forget about it.”

Yoona just kept silent as they made their way inside the apartment building and headed towards their shared flat. It was nice to hear the ‘L’ word coming out of Seohyun’s mouth, but wished she meant it more in a personal way rather than a friendly way.

The two friends eventually walked out of the elevator, but as they headed to their door they saw a very attractive woman wearing an expensive looking suit and tie. She wore big dark sunglasses that covered almost half of her face and was standing with one foot pressed against the wall. She swore she looked like something out of The Matrix.

“Good afternoon ladies,” the slightly darker stranger stood at attention with a smile.

Yoona was curious to who the woman was, but Seohyun grabbed onto her arm, trying to hide behind her back.

“It’s good to see you again Ms. Seo. It’s been a while.” The mysterious stranger was slowly walking forward and Yoona kept her feet rooted to the ground as she made sure Seohyun was well guarded.

“Who are you and how do you know Seohyun?” Yoona tried to sound tough. She had no idea why Seohyun was quivering behind her, but assumed because that woman was bad news.

“Seohyun? Is that what people call you? Cute.” She stopped at her tracks with grin on her face. "As for you miss,” she slightly lowered her sunglasses to make brief eye contact before shoving them back up, “Im Yoona, I’m sure you and Juhyun had a nice talk at the café, but I’m going to have to ask you to step aside. Me and Ms. Seo have some personal affairs to discuss.”

How in the world did this woman know her name? Was she stalking them back at the café? The woman in black was approaching them with a quick step and Yoona tightly grabbed Seohyun’s wrist from behind.

“Unni run!”

Yoona felt her entire body being dragged towards the stairwell and was trying her best to keep up with her friend. The woman in black merely stood there waving and smiling at them before Seohyun broke down the door and was sprinting down the stairs with Yoona behind.

They finally made it to the first floor and Seohyun was sprinting outside the entrance while Yoona was a little out of breath.

“Seo…hyun!” she said in between breaths.

“Who… what… the hell!?”

Seohyun wasn’t breathing as hard, but was beet red from the shock of her nerves. “I’m sorry Unni,” Seohyun apologized, “but I think I got you involved in this too..” Without saying another word, she grabbed her Unni’s hand and to continued to sprint at an alarming pace. “I’ll explain everything, but we have to get away from them first!”

“Who’s them?” Yoona coughed out while trying to keep up. Seohyun didn’t say another word as they continued their run into an unfamiliar part of the city.