"So what's that song you used to sing me / what's that dance we used to do / is this house quiet or just empty / do you hear the silence as i do?" - sun tomorrow, ira wolf.

PRESENT

There are some nights where Nayoung sleeps peacefully with Mina in her arms, there are other nights like this. Nayoung hates this kind of nights. The nights where she can’t sleep, and all doubts and mistakes and doomed futures creep inside her dark, dark mind and taunts her with everything that might and will go wrong – with everything that has gone wrong and will go wrong again.

Like this situation she dumbly put herself in.

It's becoming suffocating, this whole thing. Living in one house with Mina and Sejeong is... domestic-ish. But still not quite a 'home'. Mornings are spent with Mina chattering about her dreams or nightmares and rambling about everything she's going to play with Dani and Somi - her playmates in The Ministry. It's hilarious whenever the three are together, always on missions to save the army of ants or on a quest to find the buried treasure in the kitchen. (Juna's gotten in trouble with Suhyun, or 'The Minister' as she forced the girls to call her, for giving one too many cupcakes to each kid every time.)

Afternoons are always - always - spent in The Ministry, looking over the kids playing, ordering Haein around, and/or doing photoshoots for Chaeyeon and some other models.

Nights are spent cuddled together with Mina, not even bothering to wait for Sejeong to stumble in dead tired during the late hours. Sometimes, Nayoung gets up from bed, mixes them both cups of coffee, turns the TV on, and sits on the couch with Sejeong, eyes never leaving the screen. But it's always silent, always wordless. And not the comfortable kind. Not the kind where Sejeong’s tapping her fingers against something – anything, usually Nayoung’s own palm or wrist or anything at all that’s of Nayoung’s – to an inexistent beat that Nayoung tries so hard to understand, both of them unspeaking but strangely contented with the silence. It’s not the kind of silence where there are occasional sighs of happiness as they stare at the TV, hands fighting for the chips.

No, it’s not the kind of silence four years ago. This is the kind of silence the past them would’ve never guessed they’d encounter. It’s the kind of silence present Nayoung and present Sejeong inevitably drown in every time they’re alone – the kind of silence that grabs hold of Nayoung’s heart and slowly crushes it – a reminder that four years passed by and things aren’t the same anymore. The kind of silence that’s deafening, the kind of silence that drives you insane.

It’s funny, really, because whenever Mina is with them, they’re happy. But not happy together. Just happy. It’s like their happiness is entirely dependent on Mina and her endless babbling of things they can’t quite understand. They’re happy when it’s the three of them, but whenever it’s just the two of them, they abruptly fall back into their old selves – the ones with too much bad history and broken trust.

Mina is slowly becoming a constant while Sejeong's still a 'maybe', a 'probably', a... 'can it be?' – or maybe just a ‘has been’.

What's suffocating is the fear of waking up tomorrow and finding that Mina isn't staring at her with a grin, King Pegasus beside her and King Simba sitting on her stomach as Blair looks on from her usual spot by the door. It's the fear of waking up the next day and realizing Sejeong isn't cooking them breakfast, not holding the carton of strawberry milk up high, out of Mina's reach, while rolling the hotdogs in the pan.

It's the fear of waking up in the middle of the night and finding the bed empty, walking to the kitchen and not seeing Sejeong there, a glass of something - anything, face illuminated by the dimming kitchen light. It's the fear of change, the fear of her potential home leaving her.

The fear of history repeating itself.

And she knows this whole thing isn't permanent, knows her heart was destined to be burned from the start, but that doesn't take the fear away.

Almost whole season later and Nayoung's still consumed by this irrational fear, much as she try to pretend that everything's okay - that she can handle it once she's left for long the second time, maybe permanently this time.

She sighs, staring up at the glow in the dark stickers in shapes of stars that Mina made her stick on the ceiling. It’s different, doesn’t give her the same kind of comfort the night sky does. Of course it doesn’t, something so fake – pretending to be something else – cannot give you the same amount of emotion the real one can give.

Everything’s in chaos. There are so much troubles and problems around her – her and her friends, her and everyone she cares about. Being an adult is so stressful, and she wishes so hard to be a kid again – to not care about much, to only care about what’s for dinner or whether or not her parents will come home that night.

She wishes to go back to a time when she had a home – when she felt like she had a home. She doesn’t want to be an adult anymore. She can’t stand all these tears and frowns surrounding her, she wants the laughter back – the ones that aren’t fleeting and oh-so-temporary. The ones that doesn’t really have a specific reason, so they don’t end the moment said reason ends.

And she wants to shout, cry out loud, but Mina’s snoring softly beside her and she doesn’t want to wake her up. She gets a small kind of satisfaction from the fact that Mina is so clueless about all these madness encircling her. She remembers the hole in the kid’s heart and the approaching surgery. And she’s scared now more than before, even though Im and Pinky are in the team and the doctor in charge is a good one and they predict the surgery will be successful. She’s scared. She’s always scared.

She keeps her tears silent and prays to whatever God that Mina (and Dani and Somi, and all the other kids everywhere) don’t feel this way once they’re her age. But she knows that’s impossible – everyone reaches a point in their lives where they have to let go of the cotton candies and teddy bears and all the other sources of childlike happiness. There will come a time when their wounds cut a bit deeper inside that the ones outside – and all Nayoung can do is wish she’s at least there to try to help her through it.

But with how temporary this whole situation is, she sort of thinks she won’t be.

-

She waits for someone to open the door, backpack weighing her down and Mina holding her hand. The little girl stares at the door curiously, cheeks resting against the back of Nayoung’s wrist. “Who lives there?”

“Dani.”

She nods, eyes still staring curiously. The door opens and a newly awoken Heehyun with a foamy toothbrush hanging from her pursed lips greets them. “Hey,” Nayoung greets, walking past the confused Heehyun and into the apartment she was so used to walking in months before.

Chaeyeon’s fixing a beanie over Dani’s head, already in her work clothes. And of course, “work clothes” means a camel coat over black pants and black sweater over a white button up shirt. Nayoung would’ve fallen in love with her if a) she didn’t personally know her; b) she wasn’t Heehyun’s wife; c) she wasn’t Dani’s mother; and d) she (Nayoung) wasn’t so totally in love with someone else.

Dani, however, the poor child, looks so suffocated under the huge winter coat and scarf around her neck. Nayoung’s sure it’s too heavy for the little girl to walk more than three meters under it. Heehyun’s going to do a lot of carrying today.

Speaking of the rapper, she’s still staring at them with the toothbrush in , foam covering her lips. She says something impossible to understand and Chaeyeon frowns at her, flicking her hands and gesturing at her to go back to the bathroom. She does.

“It’s been three months since you last talked, huh?” Chaeyeon says, patting Dani’s cheeks fondly before kissing each one. But it’s not Dani she’s talking to, obviously.

She nods. “Yeah, more or less. It’s been a whole season.”

“She just woke up so she can’t comprehend that her best friend’s visiting her after a long time of no talking.”

“No worries. Why are you dressed already?”

Chaeyeon looks up and smiles. “I’m going to work. You’ll bring Heehyun and Dani to The Ministry with you?” She nods; Chaeyeon smiles wider. “Your birthday’s coming up, any plans?”

She chuckles, shaking her head. Plans for birthday? Why would she even celebrate such cursed day? “No, no, never.” She feels a tug on her fingers and she looks down, eyes locking with Mina’s wide, curious ones.

“What are we doing here?”

She leans down. “We’re going to have a slumber party in Suhyun’s house.”

“Why? Where’s mommy?”

She sees Chaeyeon freezing from the corner of her eyes, Dani looks up with curiosity. “She’s working.”

“Why is she always working? It seems like you’re the only one who actually takes care of Mina.”

Nayoung rolls her eyes. Of course Heehyun picks this moment to enter the living room again, face washed and a towel hanging on her shoulder. “She’s busy singing for Mina.”

Heehyun doesn’t let the subject go. “Don’t you have a job?”

The tall girl sighs, sending Chaeyeon an exasperated look; Chaeyeon shrugs. “I do, thank you very much. I still get photoshoot offers thrice a week, and that’s a lot. I don’t work during the other days.”

Heehyun nods, sarcasm masking her face. “Yeah, that’s four days, and that’s a lot.”

“Will you just shut up, please?” Nayoung snaps, voice still steady but eyes dangerously turning into slits. “Go shower, we’ll wait for you.”

Chaeyeon stands and walks over to Heehyun, pecking her on the lips. Nayoung hears her reprimand the rapper and she slight snorts. “I’ll go to work now,” Chaeyeon says, moving to Dani and kissing her cheeks again. Then she goes and kisses Mina’s cheeks goodbye too; the little girl just smiles widely.

“What, I don’t get a kiss?” Nayoung sarcastically asks, rolling her eyes – which then widens as Chaeyeon smirks and walks over to plant a kiss on her cheek, wiping away the lipstick with her thumb.

“You big baby,” she teases before taking her bag and walking out the door with a wave of her hand. She throws a small, “learn from the kids” before closing the door.

With just four of them left, Heehyun makes Dani stand beside her, glaring at Nayoung from across the room. Nayoung glares back, hand gripping Mina’s small ones. The air is still and the tension is thick, Nayoung thinks this might as well be a scene in Civil War.

The two kids look at each other, the usual annoyance and dislike absent from their expressions. Instead, they ask silent questions to each other, “What the is wrong with these two adults?”

Nayoung clears ; Heehyun speaks first, “I see you’re still alive.”

“I hoped you weren’t.”

Heehyun’s jaw twitches, hand gripping Dani’s shoulder tighter. “Why are you here?”

“Suhyun asked me to pick Dani up. It turns out you’re another one to pick up.”

There’s a raised eyebrow, and they continue their staring competition, daring the other to either back down or reach across the room and plant a slap on the other’s face.

“Why are you mad at each other?” Three pairs of eyes move, gazes landing on Mina’s innocent face. “You’re friends, right?”

Nayoung scoffs. “Friends fight all the time. You fight with Dani all the time.”

“But we always play again,” Dani counters, moving away from her mother and towards Mina.

Mina meets her in the middle, nodding her head. “Friends shouldn’t be mad at each other.”

The two women stare at the two kids, eyebrows raised, wondering why two little kids about 1/5 their own ages are scolding them about fighting. Then Nayoung scoffs, which turns into a snort halfway out .

Heehyun laughs. “I can’t believe we’re being told off by kids. Grow up, Nayoung.”

Nayoung throws a pillow at her; it hits Heehyun’s face. “You grow up! You’re the one who didn’t talk to me for three months!”

“Listen, you’re the one who didn’t come over for three months! You used to always come over to play with Dani!”

“I still play with Dani in The Ministry whenever Chaeyeon brings her over. And sometimes when Haein picks her up from preschool and she takes her to The Ministry before you pick her up.”

“Yeah, you always play with my kid, but I was your friend first!”

She pauses, a smirk growing on her lips. “You’re jealous of your kid?”

“Get over yourself, I just think it’s unfair that you’re all cuddly with Dani while you’re not even talking with me.”

“Mommy, aren’t we going to Suhyun’s house?”

The younger woman grins smugly at the rapper. “Your daughter seems to be more responsible than you, Heehyun. Grow up.”

She glares at her before going back in the bathroom. Nayoung plops down on the couch, turning on the TV and letting Dani and Mina cuddle her sides. They watch the show in silence – some kind of kids show with way too many love triangles and squares and pentagons to be ‘kid’ enough.

“Dani has a crush,” Mina suddenly says, breaking the silence.

Dani abruptly moves from Nayoung’s side, reaching over her tummy to do something violent to Mina. Nayoung doesn’t know what violence it is, and she doesn’t intend on knowing. She leans forward, blocking the way. “Alright, alright. No fighting.”

Mina grins, and Nayoung quietly asks herself when the little girl’s grin turned so cunning. “It’s Somi.”

She twists her body to give Dani an amused stare. “Somi? Isn’t she really young?”

“She’s this old.” Mina grabs Nayoung’s shoulder and makes her face her, three grubby fingers in the air.

“Hey!” Dani exclaims, face turning red in embarrassment and anger. “I don’t have a crush on her.”

“I think you do,” Nayoung teases, poking Dani’s red cheeks.

Heehyun walks in the room, clad in her usual ripped jeans and huge hiphop-ish sweater. Nayoung hopes Dani at least got her fashion sense from Chaeyeon and not Heehyun. The rapper grew out of her high top sneakers and over the top snapbacks, but she still wears t-shirts with rude words every now and then.

(Heehyun calls it ‘rapper fashion’; Nayoung calls it ‘you’re a boy’.)

Sure, Chaeyeon used to wear only bright, girly clothes back in college but from the numerous photoshoots she’s been through, she learned a thing or two about dressing up well. But then again, she came to The Ministry just the other week wearing a pink princess-y dress.

Nayoung then concludes Dani has to learn how to dress herself from her. She looks at the kid and remembers her crush. “Hey, Heehyun, Dani’s growing up.”

“Yeah, she is. I swear she was just a meter tall last week, now she’s practically a giant,” she replies, back turned against them as she fixes their bags for the sleepover.

“No, she has a crush.”

Heehyun pauses, then slowly twists her body to stare at them. “What?”

“Tell her.” Nayoung nudges Dani with her shoulder, a taunting smirk on her lips. “Tell her about Somi.”

“Mommy!” the kid cries, jumping off the couch and running to her mother, hugging her waist and pouting and scowling at Nayoung and Mina. “They’re teasing me.”

“Wait, you actually have a crush on this – what’s her name? – pain and suffering?”

“It’s Somi.”

A glare pierces through the air, Nayoung averts her eyes. “Look, you’re just three-”

“Five.”

“-I wasn’t asking for your opinion, Nayoung,” Heehyun grumbles, eyes never leaving Dani’s. “You’re just five, don’t get crushes now. Give it a few more hundred years, alright?”

Dani looks up at her, pouting. “Why?”

Her mother sends her a look of utter disbelief. “Obviously because you’re too young to have a crush. You do know that ‘crush’ means your heart will be crushed into a pulp, right? She’ll hurt you and-”

“Okay, stop,” Nayoung interrupts, “Dani, what your mother is saying is… well, pretty much the truth. Girls will hurt you. Never trust one. They’ll say they like being in your company then leave you the next morning.”

Nayoung sardonically chuckles under her breath – of course she knows this well enough. Not all girls will burn you – but the ones with the kind smiles and eyes disappearing behind waning moons and soft hands and melodic voices, they’re the ones that will burn you – take your heart and crush it. And they go by the name of Kim Sejeong.

Heehyun turns around to zip the bag close, swinging it over her shoulder and grabbing Dani’s hand. “Let’s go pick up our favorite pet owl, Eunwoo.”

-

Eunwoo, used to being the youngest and kinda most doted on, sulks from her sit between Dani and Mina, glaring straight ahead as Nayoung and Heehyun fight over what song to play. “Why am I here? I got shotgun for life. Heehyun should be the one here.”

“Obviously I shouldn’t be there because I’ll probably kill one or both of them.”

The used-to-be-youngest leans towards the center, sending Heehyun a glare. “You won’t kill your own child.”

Heehyun shrugs. “Which only means I’ll probably have to kill the other one.”

A hand slaps her lips and she scowls. Nayoung frowns back. “Stop saying the word k-i-l-l when there are kids around.”

“Dani knows how to spell you, d-u-m-b-a-s-s.”

“Wow, thank goodness she didn’t grow up like you then. How old were you when you first learned how to spell? Fifteen?”

“ off,” Heehyun growls back, taking the phone from Nayoung. “We’re listening to rap.”

Nayoung takes the phone back. “No, we’re listening to something less crude.”

“Rap isn’t crude!”

Eunwoo leans back, sinking in her seat with her arms crossed, still pouting and eyebrows still meeting. Then she blinks, an idea forming in her head. She whispers to the two kids as Nayoung and Heehyun fight, “Hey, you know Spongebob Squarepants?” They both nod. “Know the song?” Again, they nod. She smirks, and shouts, “Are you ready, kids?!”

The two women from the front seats look back, sending Eunwoo stares of confusion.

The two kids beside her grin, and shouts back, “Aye, aye, captain!”

Heehyun and Nayoung look at each other, horror and defeat lacing their features.

This is going to be long ride.

-

Instead of going straight to Suhyun’s place, Eunwoo somehow managed to force them to pass by a costume shop. There, they bought two Pokemon onesies and seven animal ones, because they weren’t able to celebrate Halloween together and Eunwoo’s a big baby.

Suhyun scowls as she holds up the onesie they bought for her. “What is this, a gray Stitch?”

A pillow hits her face, courtesy of Eunwoo’s hands. “That’s a koala, you imbecile.”

“Why am I a Koala?”

“Obviously because you’re clingy,” Eunwoo replies as if it’s the most obvious thing ever. “Seriously, get an education, Suhyun.”

Suhyun ignores her, still eyeing the onesie. “What’s taking them so long?” she grumbles, referring to Heehyun, Nayoung, and the kids changing in her bedroom.

As if on cue, the door opens and a fox, a cat, a Pikachu, and a Psyduck come out. Eunwoo and Suhyun laugh.

Heehyun the Fox scowls, pointing an accusing finger at Eunwoo. “You’re paying for this, alright? I’m coming to collect in a few years and you will regret ever doing this.”

Nayoung, much calmer, rolls her eyes. “This is stupid.” Her gaze lands on the kids – Mina in her Pikachu onesie and Dani in her Psyduck one. She sends Heehyun a glare. “I can’t believe you bought Dani a Psyduck onesie instead of anything else.”

“Hey, Psyduck is amazing. Have you seen his Psychic powers?”

“Still, you only bought it because it’s portrayed as the stupid one.”

The rapper’s jaw drops exaggeratedly, then she grins. “Got me.” She looks back at their other friends. “Go on, kids, change into your owl and koala costumes.”

“Says the one in her fox onesie,” Eunwoo mutters as she and Suhyun walks past, a taunting smirk on her face. She slams the door to their faces.

They settle on the couch, the TV on and the kids on the floor, watching.

“How are things with Sejeong?” Heehyun asks, socked feet propped on Nayoung’s lap. She gets a raised eyebrow in return. “I’m just asking.”

She shrugs. “I don’t think anything’s changed.”

“How so? Like, nothing changed since college or-?”

“Nothing’s changed since everything changed.” Heehyun nods in understanding. “We sleep in the same bed and everything but- it’s like it’s just our bodies… it’s hard to explain. It’s like- it’s like it’s not really us, y’know? Like we’re not there.”

“Confusing, but yeah I get it.” She takes a bucket of popcorn from the floor and settles it on her stomach. She grabs a handful of popcorn but stops midway to . “But then again, your whole life’s confusing. I can’t believe you’re still doing this.” Then she fills with the popcorn.

“Remember five years ago? When Chaeyeon announced she’s pregnant?” Heehyun stops chewing, a thoughtful look taking over her face, then the sound of crunching popcorns comes back.

Nayoung continues, “I told you a million times that helping her and raising the kid as your own is the biggest mistake of your life. It turns out it wasn’t. Chaeyeon was your ‘maybe’, and you were brave enough to turn that maybe into a family.” She blinks, eyes moving to stare at the kids. “Sejeong’s mine – along with Mina. And this is really stupid, but I thought you were really stupid back then too. Maybe I’ll also acquire a home by being stupid.”

They stay quiet. Are all adult lives this complicated? To prove how complicated being an adult is, Suhyun and Eunwoo come out wearing their own onesies and plop down beside the kids.

“Where’s Im? This is supposed to be our night together.”

“She’s with Pinky.”

Nayoung frowns at Eunwoo’s answer. “She’s too busy with all these doctor stuff to help with the wedding and Pinky, and also too busy with Pinky to spend one stupid night with us?”

This is what she hates most about being an adult, relationships suffer. Friendships fade. Schedules become too crammed to try to force one stupid phone call – a simple call asking what’s up – in. Im is the epitome of people changing and friends leaving. She hates it.

“Suhyun, you’re still not going to forgive Haein? She seems to really regret everything.”

Suhyun merely shrugs, eyes not leaving the TV. Heehyun sighs and changes targets.

“Hey, Eunwoo.”

The owl looks up at the fox, eyes wide and innocent. “What?”

“What’s the deal with you and Pinky?”

She blinks, caught. “I’m just helping her with the wedding. Suhyun’s also helping us.”

“Don’t mix me in.”

“I’m just helping!”

Nayoung gently kicks her. “You know this is inevitably going to end with broken hearts, right?”

“I know, but your whole thing with Mina will too.”

The kid turns at the mention of her name. Nayoung shakes her head and gestures for her to continue watching.

She doesn’t. She climbs to the couch and settles on Nayoung’s lap, transferring Heehyun’s feet to her own. Dani follows her, sitting on Heehyun’s stomach with the popcorn on her own lap.

Suhyun smiles. “Look at these mommies.” Sadness creeps in her eyes, turning the brightness off. “You’re so lucky.”

“Heehyun is, I’m not,” Nayoung counters immediately. “This is all pretend, I’ll have to say goodbye soon.”

Mina twists her body and stares at Nayoung with wide eyes, fear in them. “Don’t.”

“What?”

“Don’t say goodbye.”

Her heart breaks, because she knows the goodbye isn’t something she can prevent. “Why are you so scared of goodbye?”

“Grandmama said it,” she answers, eyes still wide. “Mommy says she’s in heaven now.”

Silence flies above them like a dark cloud, then falls over them like harsh thunderstorms. “Your grandmama’s in heaven now?” Mina nods. Nayoung blinks away the tears, bringing Mina’s head to her chest. “I won’t say goodbye, I promise.”

Her grandmama’s dead. Sejeong’s mom is dead. The woman who provided her comfort when Better Ki and her own mom weren’t there, the woman she desperately tried to keep alive with medication and other scientific things in Better Ki’s hospital – buried six feet underground right now.

Her heart constricts, tears fall. She imagines Sejeong’s smiling face and wonders where she hid the longing. She cries harder.

And promises to try and fix everything with Sejeong, so she can provide the comfort she knows the girl needs.

-

It’s Saturday, and she somehow convinced Sejeong to stay in today with them. She bakes cookies and Sejeong mixes them all hot chocolates with Mina putting in too much whipped cream and marshmallow. Mina also somehow convinced them both to wear the monster slippers they bought before, and the Jigglypuff and Squirtle onesies Eunwoo bought for Sejeong and Nayoung respectively. Mina wears her own slippers and the Panda onesie they bought with Heehyun, Dani, and Eunwoo.

It’s funny. Not the sarcastic kind of funny, but the really funny kind of funny. Sejeong asked her why her onesie is a pink thing with blue eyes, and Nayoung explained to her what a Jigglypuff is. She’s very similar to a Jigglypuff, in Nayoung’s opinion. Great voice, eyes used to mesmerize others, and very cute. Sejeong hit her shoulder when she said this.

Nayoung’s been trying to sneakily take pictures of the two as they go around the house in their onesies and slippers, but Sejeong catches her every time and sends her a glare. It’s moments like these that trick Nayoung into thinking that her relationship with Sejeong is more than just sharing one house together.

But as Mina gets up from her seat between them to play with the animals and comparing tails with them, silence overtakes the two again.

And Nayoung is tired of it. “Sejeong.”

“Hmm?”

“Are we going to be like this until eternity?”

Sejeong looks at her. “What?”

“Are we going to always pretend like nothing’s wrong as the awkwardness devour us?”

Their gazes break from each other, intensity too much. “So I’m not the only one who noticed.”

“Obviously. I’m the smarter one here.”

She’s rewarded with a kick to her side. “Rude.” She grins; Sejeong returns it. “There’s just… so much that happened. And I’m not sure you fully forgave me for leaving then.”

“Believe me, I don’t think I did yet.” Sejeong nods, eyes downcast. She reaches for the cup on the table, chewing on her lips the same way she did before whenever she was nervous or thinking deeply of something. Nayoung grabs her wrist. “But you were still my best friend and- and it kinda kills me inside whenever we’re this close but not as close as we were four years ago. I know – I know, we’re not going to be that close anymore but… don’t you think this is too much?”

Sejeong’s gaze is on their connected hands, where Nayoung’s fingers circled her wrist. Taking a deep breath, she twists her own hand and slowly threads her fingers through Nayoung’s. She looks up. “I’m so sorry for everything.”

“I’m not the only one who got hurt,” Nayoung replies, thumb grazing Sejeong’s. “I’m sorry too.”

“Do we- do we go back to how we were years ago?”

Nayoung laughs. “No, no that’s absurd. We can’t do that easily. Let’s… um, hey I’m Kim Nayoung.”

This time, it’s Sejeong who laughs. “You’re absurd. We don’t need to go that far back.”

“What do we do then?”

“Mommy! Mommy, the wolf and the lion are chasing me!” Mina screeches as she runs around the living room, King Pegasus and King Simba chasing her. She jumps to Sejeong’s lap as Nayoung blocks them both from the dogs.

“You feared wolf and lion, I’m the ruler of this jungle!” she shouts, pointing a finger at her dog. “Leave now or I shall shower you with my powers.” She throws a toy towards the other end of the room and the two dogs chase it instead.

Mina claps, laughing in delight. “Yay! We win!”

“Your mommy didn’t do anything.” Nayoung pouts, sitting beside them and pinching Mina’s cheeks.

Sejeong scowls. Mina merely smiles. “It’s because mommy’s the queen and we need to protect her.”

“I’m not-”

“That we do,” Nayoung mutters, smiling.

Sejeong smiles back. “We can do this by just letting things be.”

She looks up at her and nods, warmth coaxing the cold out her heart. “Yeah, sure.”

They turn the TV on, a new set of cups of hot chocolate and cookies on the table, the bottle of whipped cream and bag of marshmallows nearby for Mina.

Instead of the usual space between them, Nayoung and Sejeong’s bodies are pressed together, Mina shifting between their laps every now and then.

Let things be, Nayoung can do that. She just hopes the warmth don’t burn her soon.

-

She meets up with Hayi on Monday. And tells her that everything between them should remain as what should be between friends. And she’s right, Hayi doesn’t see her as just a platonic friend. So she gives her one last goodbye kiss – goodbye to their romantic everything, and a hello to only platonic love.

It feels nice, to do something you know isn’t a mistake. Nayoung likes it. And she gets an idea, something she’s sure isn’t a mistake too.

She calls her Suhyun. “Suhyun, let’s go stargazing with the whole squad.”

A/N:

I’m sorry I wasn’t able to update this in a long time, I had to focus on my studies since last week was the last week of the semester (not counting the finals week). I only have two papers and a video to pass so I can write more. But there are still things to take care of and inspirations to write don’t really come easy when you don’t have to procrastinate anything.

Also, someone requested Mina in onesie and being chased by King Simba and King Pegasus, so I included that. Here you go, Mina 2.0.

I hope you all liked this chapter! Thank you for reading! I’ll update soon. :)