“Did you two get everything?”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were trying to kill us with all of this seeking and finding,” Yura panted. She dropped the grocery bags to the ground unceremoniously.  

Minah and her had made their way to the meeting spot a while after the other pair had finished, armed with bags that looked like they would burst at any moment. It was a miracle they had even been able to make their way over with the amount of bags they carried.

Sojin frowned. “That doesn’t seem right. I made sure to make a shorter list since you guys don't know the market as well as I do. Let me see.”

She kneeled and rummaged into the first bag, finding the ingredients originally listed. When she reached into another however, Sojin lifted her head and gave them an unimpressed look.

The bag contained an assortment of snacks ranging from Pepero to shrimp chips to choco pies.

Yura and Minah burst into a fit of giggles. “Hope you don’t mind! Yummy snacks are kind of our weaknesses.”

"I guess I did say to get whatever you wanted," Sojin grumbled, although she didn't really care. She had seen the girls eat.

Snacks were a must.

"Sweet bread!" Hyeri exclaimed. "Can I eat one now, unnie?"

"Actually, we have one last place to visit before we head back. Hold that thought."

“PATBINGSU!”

Sojin laughed to herself, opening the door for the girls. "You guys didn't think running errands in a market would be the only thing I had planned today, did you?"

The little cafe was tucked in a far corner of the plaza. Without the bright green “Dream Tea” sign above the awning and poster signaling a ‘Buy 2, Get 1 50% Off Patbingsu!’ deal on the window, it could have easily been mistaken for another flower shop or noodle restaurant. Inside, colorful couches and twinkling lights adorned the place, giving off a cozy feel that contrasted with the shop’s neutral entrance.

A man behind the front counter was busy wiping porcelain mugs with a rag. However, he immediately perked up when the bell above the door jingled.

Yura was surprised when the next word he exclaimed was, “Sojin-ah!” He lifted a finger to signal for them to wait as he yelled at someone in the back room. “Noona! Sojin is alive!”

He turned back to them with a wide grin stretched across his face. “It's about time you showed up, Jin ‒ and with guests! Who are these lovely young ladies?”

“Oppa, this is Yura, Minah, and Hyeri. I’m taking care of them for the summer,” Sojin explained, gesturing toward the three who had suddenly become shy in front of the stranger who seemed to know their unnie well. “Girls, this is Yihan oppa and his sister Hyekyung unnie ‒ the one who just came out. They’ve been working here for the past few years since their parents own this cafe.”

“Aigoo, you guys are so cute,” Hyekyung gushed, poking Minah’s red cheek before enveloping Sojin in an affectionate hug. “You know, it’s been awhile since we’ve seen Sojin, so I want to thank you all kindly for giving her a reason to come back. Drinks are on the house today!”

Sojin was quick to reject, “Aniyo! There’s no need. Really, unnie.”

“Nonsense,” reprimanded Yihan while ushering them to sit at a nearby table. A small notebook was pulled out of his apron pocket. “You're a regular who hasn't been very good at fulfilling her duty. We’re just trying to bribe you using guaranteed methods ‒ free stuff. Now, what would you girls like?”

They looked apprehensively at Sojin who returned a pensive expression. She knew that the working siblings would argue forever until she broke down anyway. Cracking a smile, Sojin nodded her approval.

A round of milk teas, popcorn chicken, and three patbingsus were ordered. Sojin didn't realize how hungry she was until the menu was presented in front of her. She felt bad for not feeding the girls earlier.

Hyeri looked like she would die at any moment.

Yihan left their table to get started on the food immediately, leaving his sister behind to continue their conversation.

“Honestly Jin, I don't know why you still bother to argue when you lose all the time,” Hyekyung said, collecting the menus her brother forgot. Her gaze turned to set on the other three. “Your unnie used to come here during her high school and college days to study. She was a total nerd.”

“Unnie!” Sojin whined, a blush forming on her cheeks. “You know it wasn't just to study. Maybe I wanted to see the wonderful faces of you and oppa.” To the delight of Yura, she flashed a heart sign at Hyekyung. The playfulness of Sojin was slowly revealing itself.

Hyekyung couldn't help but snort, “Hah! Is that what you call getting away from the orphanage now?”

There was an awkward pause.

“Um…” The flustered woman looked back and forth between them all before frantically whispering to Sojin, “You didn't tell them?”

Sojin weakly smiled. “I didn't get around to it yet.”

“Yah, noona! Are you going to help me or what?”

“Guess that's my cue to leave. Sorry, Jin.” Hyekyung squeezed her shoulder and went to work on the orders.

Yura opened to say something but Minah beat her to it. “Was it lonely, unnie?”

Lonely? Caught off guard, Sojin leaned back in her chair.

No one had ever asked her that question when they found out about her past.

You're an orphan? Since when? What about foster parents? Did you ever try to find your real mom and dad?

Those were the usual questions. The inquiries that Sojin had spent most of her life answering over and over again.

These girls have broken her “usuals” and “expecteds” a handful of times already and they've only known each other for a full day. Sojin had never met anyone quite like them. She needed to stop undermining their uniqueness.

“Y-yes.” She cleared . “To be more specific, I lived in a group home for girls. Everyone there just took care of themselves. In a situation where our futures were so unclear, and people came and went, that was all anyone ever worried about. I didn't have that many friends," Sojin recalled reluctantly. She had pushed these memories away for so long. "There wasn't really a point in making lasting friendships when there was high chance of them leaving at any moment.

“School, chores, homework, and sleep,” she listed, counting them off her fingers, “that was the usual routine. I suppose there wasn't much free time for friends anyway. Pocket money was to be earned elsewhere, squeezed in between schedules. I remember when I advertised in front of a restaurant for weeks just to buy a new scarf for the upcoming winter…”

Sojin halted her musings to notice that everyone around the table had a touch of sadness in their eyes. Minah especially seemed on the verge of tears. Waving her hands back in forth in denial, Sojin mended her words, “It wasn’t as bad as I made it out to be ‒ seriously!”

Yet a tear still slipped involuntarily down Minah’s face. Sojin passed a napkin to the sniffling girl, gently moving a strand of hair away from her face.  

“You’re tenderhearted, aren’t you Minah? Cute.” Her eyes softened further when she saw how Yura and Hyeri comforted their sister. This was the caring type of relationship that she had missed out on in her youth.

“I’m sorry for crying, unn‒” Minah hiccupped. “‒ie. I just don’t get why the world has to be so mean to kind people like you.”

“I was okay. I am okay.” Sojin shot the girl a brilliant smile to prove her point. “Besides, I stumbled across this cafe my freshmen year of high school. That oppa and unnie would rather murder me than see me with an inkling of depression,” she said, gesturing toward the two people struggling to balance the food on the trays. One of the boba drinks tipped over the side and fell. Luckily, it landed on the foot of the cup and didn't break or spill.

That didn't stop Hyekyung from giving Yihan a stern talking to about watching the television while working.

Running Man was on, he argued.

“One last question,” Yura rushed before the siblings walked over, “how did you become an orphan?”

“I was found on the streets of Seoul. At five or six years old, I think. Someone brought me to the hospital because of a head injury ‒ I don't remember where it came from ‒ but then again everything past the hospital is blurry for me. They say if I was found any later, things could have been more serious. I do believe I am blessed in that way,” Sojin shrugged, attention turned to the popcorn chicken placed on the table.

“Thank you for the meal!” The younger two exclaimed with a distracted Yura trailing the phrase a few seconds late.

That must explain the name change, Yura thought. She frowned. Convincing Sojin they were her family was going to be more difficult when she couldn't even remember said family.

Of course, they had to make sure Sojin was the real Youngmi first.

“Anyway, enough about me,” Sojin insisted, reaching over to tear the sauce packet for the maknae. “What do you guys do for fun?”

Hyeri’s hand shot straight up. “Yes, Hyeri?”

“I like to play pranks." The young girl snickered, looking straight at Minah as she disclosed, "A few months ago, I hid in a closet after coming home from school. When Minah unnie found me, she fell backwards and burst into tears. It took our mom almost half an hour to calm her down!” Yura, previous thoughts abandoned, high fived her younger sister, grinning as she recalled the scene. The funniest part was that Hyeri could not stop laughing for that whole half hour. “Getting grounded was so worth it.”

Minah pouted, “Yah, I told you already. I was listening to a sad song right before. That was a one time incident.”

“Then how do you explain the fact that you scream bloody murder every time Koya the cat jumps in front of you?” Yura remarked, inciting laughter from the other two.

“Noona, what’s up?” Yihan, back to drying the mugs, bumped his sister lightly with his hip. She startled and broke her stare from the group of laughing girls.

“Don’t you think they look alike?” Hyekyung remarked, turning her eyes toward them once again.

“Who? The kids Sojin’s babysitting?” Yihan guffawed. “Duh, they’re sisters. What do you expect? Pabo-yah.” He muttered the last part but Hyekyung still heard and elbowed him hard in the ribs. She raised her hand as if to smack him ‒ just to see if he’d flinch ‒ which he did.

“I meant all of them, including Sojin, idiot.”

The idiot was still rubbing his side when he retorted, “First of all, ow, don’t think I’m not getting back at you! And second of all, they’re Asian. Of course they look alike, you’re just being racist, o’ sister of mine.”

Hyekyung resisted the urge to facepalm. “At this rate, you’ll never finish college. But seriously, look at them closely. Hyeri and Sojin share the same eye shape and smile, Sojin has squishy cheeks like Minah, and I don’t know, Sojin and Yura just look like sisters. I swear there's a resemblance.”

“Wow,” Yihan deadpanned, “such great descriptions. Noona, it’s probably just a coincidence.” He took some time to observe them himself, smiling when Sojin tilted her head back to let out a particularly big laugh. He hadn’t seen that in a while.

“People who hang around each other often tend to copy each other’s mannerisms without realizing it. Makes them seem more alike.” Finally finishing with drying, Yihan began to wipe down the counter. “Besides, we’ve known Sojin for a long time. I think she’d tell us if they were her relatives or something.”

“I guess you’re right...this time.” Sparing one last glance at their table, Hyekyung turned to greet the new customers just coming in through the door.

Elsewhere in Seoul, a woman was sitting alone in a different cafe. Dressed in a summer dress and accessorized with silver jewelry, her style screamed chic and cool. On the inside, however, she was anything but that.

For you see, the woman had just lost the three kids she was supposed to be babysitting the day before.

How does one be so careless as to lose track of them, you ask?

Well, she had no idea either but if she didn't find them quickly, she was going to be in a load of trouble.

At the moment, the struggle to notify her employers or not was already causing more stress than she had ever felt in her privileged life.

She flagged the waiter over to her table. “I'd like another slice of cake, please. Today's been rough.”