Myoui Mina was sitting in the changing room of her dance practice room with her back leaning against the lockers. One would think that she was in a daze but if you were to take a closer look, you could see the trail of tears on her cheeks. Myoui Mina was reminiscing her past. Her, oh so beautiful, past. Just as she was about to close her eyes for a short nap, she felt her phone vibrating from the pocket of her coat. She ignored it thinking it was just a message from her girlfriend but the vibration were continuous. With a huff, she took out her phone and wiped the tears away.

“Hey.” She was surprised by how cheerful she sounded.

"Hey gorgeous! You should come to my bar this Friday. Remember that small kid I told you about? The one that sings at my bar?"

Mina tried to force a smile on her face just to fake some enthusiasm, "Yes. The cheeseball you kept telling me about. Also, you know how much I hate the smell of alcohol."

"Yeah. My bad. It's not like we even talk anyway but hey, she'll be around this coming Friday. Wednesday too actually but she does covers on Fridays. Her self-composed songs are a little too cheesy so we nicknamed her Cheeseball."

"That's mean."

"Oh come on! It's true!" The caller whined.

She forced out a dry chuckle. "Fine. I'll be there on Friday."

"Great! I'll ask for an early night off then so we can spend some quality time together."

Mina cringed. "Yoo Jeongyeon, I know you're wiggling your eyebrows.”

“I’m not!” Jeongyeon denied.

“Don’t you lie to me, missy. I can sense it. And I hope by quality time you mean catching a late night movie."

"Well, we could Netflix and chill." Jeongyeon suggested, Mina could hear the hint of excitement in her voice.

"Or I could put you in the chiller to calm your hormones down." Mina threatened.

"Come on babe. We've been dating for months."

Mina let out a sigh. She was tired of having this conversation. "And I've been telling you, I'm not ready, for months."

She could hear Jeongyeon let out a huff of frustration. "Fine then. How does a Harry Potter movie marathon sound?"

"Sounds wonderful babe.” Mina stood up, dusting her pants a little, “Hey, I have to go. Practice starts in a bit."

"Dinner tonight?"

"Can't. I have dinner with the girls."

"Dinner tomorrow then."

"Tomorrow it is. I have to go."

"Alright, I love you sweetheart."

Mina didn't even respond. What greeted Jeongyeon was the dull sound of the dead line. Mina has never once said "I love you" or even a simple "Me too".

*
 

The girls in the practice room were drenched in sweat and were breathing heavily. They had just finished rehearsal for an upcoming annual competition. The dance major students had a strong reputation to uphold as they had always won first place for the past 10 years.

“Alright!” The choreographer clapped her hands, “That’s all for today! Good job everyone!”

Everyone in the room heaved a sigh of relief. They had been rehearsing for the past three hours without any proper breaks besides water and toilet breaks. Many had collapsed to the floor, almost becoming one with it. Mina was one of them but before she could even shut her eyes to avoid the glaring lights, someone blocked her view.

“Get up, we’re going for dinner.” Nayeon, a senior who is two years older than Mina, held out her hand for the latter to take.

The younger girl on the floor jokingly slapped the hand away causing Nayeon to pout.

“Yah! I’m being nice to you and this is how you repay me? I’m your senior!”

Mina rolled onto her stomach, mumbling, “Yeah, senior citizen that is.”

Nayeon quickly sat on Mina’s back while fake choking the latter, “I HEARD THAT MYOUI!”

“Im Nayeon! Get off the poor girl! She has a solo!” The choreographer yelled from a corner of the room.

Unhappy, Nayeon tickled the younger girl causing the latter to start thrashing and squealing loudly. Sana stared at her two friends who were on the floor, then she looked at Momo who was munching on a PB&J sandwich.

“Why are we friends with them?” Sana genuinely asked.

Momo shrugged before stuffing the remaining of her sandwich into and walking to the changing room to get changed.

*

The four girls finally arrived at the food stand near their university an hour after dismissal. Sana and Momo had a hard time separating Mina and Nayeon who insisted on being one with the floor. They each ordered their food and while waiting, Mina informed the girls about her plans for this coming Friday.

The food had arrived shortly after Mina had told them about her plans. The girls had also ordered a few bottles of soju to “loosen up” a little.

"Be honest, Myoui. Do you like Jeongyeon?" Nayeon asked after taking her first shot of soju.

Without any hesitation, she answered, "Of course I do."

"Wait.” Sana held up her hand, “Let me rephrase that for Nayeon. Do you love Jeongyeon."

Mina rolled her eyes. "Why does it matter?"

"What do you mean by 'why does it matter?' it matters of course!"

Mina slammed her empty shot glass onto the table. "Look, my feelings are real ok."

They heard the clang of metal against floor and everyone instantly looked to where the sound had came from. It was none other than Momo who had dropped her pair of chopsticks.

"Ehhh Momoring, why so clumsy?” Sana asked before waving her hand to get the attention of the stall owner, “Ahjumma, can we get another pair of chopsticks please?"

Nayeon sensed the awkward tension between Mina and Momo while Sana was the only oblivious one. To break the tension, Nayeon raised her shot glass. “Well, let’s not talk about our love life and live happily from now on. CHEERS!”

*

"Do you love Jeongyeon?" Momo and Mina were walking back to their hostel. They were staying in the same hostel building whereas Sana and Nayeon shared an apartment outside of campus.

"The weather is nice tonight."

Momo stood in front of Mina, staring directly into Mina’s eyes as though she could consume her whole. "Answer me, Myoui Mina. Do you love Yoo Jeongyeon?" She emphasised her question.

Mina sighed. "Momo, please."

"So she's just your rebound."

"It's not what you think it is."

"It is what I think it is, Myoui. My first love, who doesn't see me the way I see her,” Momo jabbed her finger on Mina's chest, “Is being used as your rebound."

Mina pushed away Momo’s finger. "Momo, we've talked about this."

"I hate you!” Mina knew a drunk person would always be honest but she did not expect for those words to spew out of her best friend’s mouth.

"I told you, I never intended for this to happen."

"Do you not realize how lucky you are? Do you not understand how desperate I am to be in your shoes? You selfish !” A sharp slap landed on Mina’s left cheek.

Mina had her eyes brimmed with tears. There were a few passersby with disapproving looks on their faces. "Hirai Momo, stop." Mina’s voice although a little shaky, it was stern.

"I will not stop till you realize how tup you are for playing with someone else's feelings, Myoui Mina!" With that, Momo left, leaving Mina speechless and embarrassed.

With what little pride and energy she had left, Mina dragged herself back to her hostel. Head hung low and shoulders slumped.

Was suppose to be a one-shot but I decided to break it down into smaller chapters.

Thank you! Also, I'm writing something for The Rabbit, The Swan and The Smol so I guess you can anticipate it? Here's a teaser: 

Myoui Mina and Son Chaeyoung have been online friends for the past six months. How had they met? Elsword. Yes, a game. Mina is a pro gamer who lives in Japan whereas Chaeyoung is a casual gamer from Korea. Mina had decent knowledge of the Korean language after living and studying there for two years when her father had to transfer to the HQ in Korea.