She was playing at the playground with her group of friends. She was a bit tomboyish. When girls around her age have long hair like the Disney princesses, she had her hair cut short. When girls around her age wore dresses or Barbie shirt, she would wear plain t-shirt and shorts. This was why most of her friends were boys but Jeongyeon was comfortable with it. It was her life and she decided on how to live it. Nonetheless, she was still a pretty girl.

“Hey look ! There’s a tortoise.” Jeongyeon shouted and hurriedly ran to the direction followed by her friends, including Chaeyoung. “Unnie, wait !” Chaeng shouted at Jeong as she stopped to catch her breathe. Jeongyeon teased at little Chaeng for her unfit body which cause the little girl to stick out a tongue at her. The taller girl then decided to pick up the tortoise by the leg and shook it. Laughter echoed through the small forest where the kids have their little adventure until a shout can be heard. “Hey, stop it !”

A bunny-like girl walked towards them. “Stop hurting the tortoise.” She snatched the poor tortoise from Jeongyeon and started to pat it’s shell. She spoke words of comfort towards the tortoise and released it into the pond while waving goodbye. The unamused short hair girl scoffed. “How can the tortoise even understands you ? It was just a tortoise.” The bunny-like girl then stood up from her crouching position and started to argue with Jeongyeon about how humans should treat animal with love and care.

“Stop eating meat then. They come from dead cows.” Jeongyeon said to the nature-loving girl. “No they didn’t, they come from the store. Everybody knows that, right ?” The latter spoke which cause some of Jeongyeon’s group of friends to nod in agreement. “Yeah, she’s right cuz. Meat come from the store. Even aunty gets it there when she cooked us bulgogi.” Chaeyoung said confidently. Jeongyeon facepalmed so hard that she almost made a dent on her face when she heard those words coming out straight from her little cousin. The bunny-like girl was pleased to hear supports from the little kids and she introduced herself.

“My name is Im Nayeon. Nice to meet all of you.” Her big front teeth showed as she smiled.

________

“Ya, Im Nayeon ! What have you done ?!” Jeongyeon screamed at the now laughing Nayeon.

Jeongyeon was having a sleepover with Momo and Sana at Nayeon’s house since her parents were having honeymoon for a week. They were there to keep Nayeon company and to make sure she didn’t burn the house down and Nayeon should be thankful for having friends that cared about her. But instead of thanking them, she had another way to express her gratitude.

And it was by doodling on their face when all of them were fast asleep. It was horror at the Im’s house. Jihyo woke up to a ‘dobby’ painted big on her forehead with a lipstick, while Momo’s face was not so serious; she looked like a blonde female version of Ronald McDonald. It was a different case for a girl name Yoo Jeongyeon. She had it worse; her face was like Jackson Pollock’s painting. “Im Nayeon, you’re so screwed when I lay my hands on you !” Jeongyeon ran around the house to catch the devil incarnated bunny.

That was their daily routine; Nayeon or Jeongyeon would do something to annoy the hell out of the other, they fought but in the end they would reconcile and act like nothing happened. Their relationship was unique and they are literally inseparable. If one speaks about Jeongyeon, they wouldn’t forgot to mention Nayeon. Both of them were quite the pair and people expected them to be together but surprisingly, they are not a couple.

Jeongyeon realised about their closeness and she was happy with it but at the same time, she was scared. She was scared that Nayeon would stole her heart little by little. She declared that she would never love Im Nayeon but when she woke up in the morning, she realised that she longed to meet the girl. When Nayeon didn’t answered her text or went to sleep early, the night would always feel long. She didn’t notice it earlier but when she thought about it, she was sure that she had feelings for that girl.

________

“If you like her, tell her. It’s that simple. Judging by the treatment that she gave you, I doubt that she will reject you.” Momo said to Jeongyeon during their scrabble practice match. Jeongyeon told Momo everything about her sudden realisation which didn’t bother Momo one bit. Chaeyoung who was listening also was not shocked with her cousin’s statement. “How the hell are you guys not shocked while I almost puke my dinner last night when I realised about this ?!” Jeongyeon exclaimed at her club members.

“We always had this thought that you guys kinda dating since you guys are inseparable and the way you guys are treating each other ….” Chaeyoung speaked out only to be continued Momo “… totally looked like you’re dating. But you keep on denying it, so we just go along with it.” Momo continued flatly. “You better hurry up and confess to her since she have many admirers. During lunch, me and Momo saw Jennie eyeing her. It was creepy actually.” Chaeyoung muttered which make Jeongyeon became silent.

Suddenly, the clubroom’s door open with a loud bang which cause all the three of them to jump. Somebody just literally kicked the door open. “What the hell Nabongs ?!” Momo yelled at the uninvited guest, clearly frustrated at the sight of the door started to hang from its' hinges. “Jennie just asked me out for a date.” 

________  

Jeongyeon was deep in her thought as she walked through a crowd of student, all of them headed to town for their Friday night out. The moments earlier at school haunted her head as she thought of the many possibilities that could or would’ve been.

Nayeon rejected Jennie’s proposal. Jeongyeon knew that Nayeon admired the latter to some extent as she always talked about Jennie to Jeongyeon as they went back home together. Since Nayeon definitely had some feelings for the girl, why the hell did she rejected her ? This was sure harder than solving world hunger problem in Jeongyeon’s head. Maybe, Nayeon had another suitor, or somebody that she liked ? Damn ! Another competition. Or maybe she liked Jeongyeon but she was too shy ? Wow ! Like in million years her crush would like her back. Or maybe a future Nayeon had travel back to the presence to warn the presence Nayeon to not go on the date ? ‘, solving world hunger definitely would be easier.’ Jeongyeon sighed.

As she thought and thought, she finally arrived at her destination; a bakery shop. She had a part-time job there since she didn’t like going home early, and the pay was good plus she got to bring some breads home to share with her family (Chaeyoung included). She changed her school uniform into a black shirt and cap and she wore her best cashier-smile. “Hello, welcome to Im’s Bakery.”

________

“Ehem, how much would these baguette costs ?” A voice interrupted Jeongyeon who was staring into nothingness. When she turned her head towards the customer, she rubbed her eyes and pinched her nose as she couldn’t believe what she saw. Im Nayeon was standing at the counter, holding two pieces of baguette and smiling a radiant smile towards the mouth-open cashier. “Uhhh, ummm, oh yeah, uhh .. that would cost 4000 won.”

Nayeon handed her the notes and proceeded to cup her face with both of her hands as her elbow rested on the counter. “Say Jeongyeon, how much must you pay my father if you skipped tonight’s job ?” The question got Jeongyeon confused. Pay her father ? Why should I ? Many questions popped inside her head as she stuffed the baguettes into a plastic bag and when she looked at the logo on the bag, an ‘ohh’ escaped from .’Im’s Bakery’.

“Ummm … a lot ? I don’t know. Why ? Planning on kidnapping me ?” Jeongyeon asked the bunny-like girl whom nodded. Nayeon then proceed to call her father to let Jeongyeon off the shift since she would like to hang out with Jeongyeon that night. “Okay, let’s go.” The bunny girl pulled Jeongyeon out the store, not forgetting her baguette though.

________

“So, why are we at the carnival again ? And is it necessary to bring baguettes to carnival ?” The short haired girl muttered as she walked side by side with her ultimate crush; Im Nayeon.  “I bought these baguettes just to see you, and I kind of like wanted to spend more time with you.”  Jeongyeon can’t help but to blush at the older girl confession. “Okay.” She looked down with her face red as tomato.

Both of the girls enjoyed the night at the carnival as there was many games and shows there. There was a particular game that caught Jeong’s eyes; a shooting game. Jeongyeon pulled Nayeon there and asked her which stuffed toys that she wanted before paying the price. Jeongyeon steady the gun with her shoulder and took aim. One by one she shot down the tin can and this won her a giant bunny stuff toys. Nayeon couldn’t be much happier when she hugged the bunny tightly as she smiled widely, showing her gums.

They did many things that night. They bought cotton candies and pretend like they are Santa by hanging the candies by the ears to form beard, to which earned laughter from the kids there. They also watched the parade and entertained themselves watching various stuns by the performers. As they walked through the crowd, they didn’t realise that they were holding hands but soon after, Jeongyeon noticed it. She felt a tug on her heart and she decided to pull away since it would be awkward but Nayeon tightened the grip as if to not let go. Jeongyeon smiled and a burden was lifted from her shoulder. ‘Maybe she don’t want to let go.’

They walked toward the ferris wheel as it was the highlight of the carnival. They fought through the crowd as the held each other and managed to secure a car for themselves. Only for the two of them.  

The wheel turned and they squeal and gasped at the magnificent sight of Seoul at night. The building light up like stars in the sky. The cars and tiny so those the peoples. “We are nothing but a speck of dust in the universe.” Nayeon started to get sentimental. “But everything happened in this dust that we live in. Happiness, sorrow, sadness, anger, we feel it all, even love. If I was given a choice, I would never leave this dust.” Jeongyeon continued as she looked through the window. One thing she didn’t realised was Nayeon was looking at her.

When their car stopped at the highest point, they absorbed the beauty of the capital at night in silence. Nayeon was the first to break it. “Hey Jeongyeon, remember about Jennie asking me out earlier ? Actually, I like somebody else.” Jeongyeon was quite as the night. She was weighting the probability of hearing bad news or good news. She hoped for the latter but she was ready for the worst.

“The one that I liked was …” Jeongyeon stared at the beautiful sight in front of her. The moonlight illuminated the girl making her more beautiful. Whatever the answer was, she would take it whole heartedly.

________

“Tonight was fun. We should go out for date like this more frequently. The bunny-like girl leaned her head on the taller girl’s shoulder. “I know I’m fun.” This erupted a laughter from the bunny as she pat her tummy. “You’re not fun, you and Chaeng are still the no-jam bros.”

“I hate you.” The short-haired girl pouted.

“Awww, I love you too Yoo Jeongyeon.” Im Nayeon hugged her.

“I love you more, Im Nayeon.” They walked home together talking about many things and reminiscing the past and planning for the future ahead. The road ahead would be tough, but they would try their best to face it, together.

“What are you going to do with the baguettes though ?” Jeong asked. “Shut up, I honestly don’t know.” Nayeon rolled her eyes.

A/N : Ohorat ! The next chapter would be the final chapter. Phew. Until next time guys ^^