Three nights had passed since the last time Mina saw and talked to Chaeyoung. For the span of that interval, the elegant girl drowned herself with tasks at hand, alternating between extensive gaming and excessive studying where she invested an unhealthy amount of her time. She was greatly yet futilely diverting her mind off of the cub to the point of even purposively avoiding the library — her comfort zone in the campus — which was equal to a greater chance of not seeing her. To be exact, she was avoiding any interaction from anyone at any given time. Campus to school, and school to campus. That was her only life cycle after Saturday night.

Wednesday, Mina just finished her afternoon class. She felt her phone vibrated in the pocket of her chocolate coloured coat. A sigh escaped from her lips when she saw another message from the cub. Her strategy of alternating from gaming to studying must've worked if only Chaeyoung would let her rest and stop worrying about her completely. Yes, the girl was oblivious to some important matter and feelings, but at the same time she was sensitive enough to recognise that something was awfully wrong about their last interaction.

I wish she could just stop caring all at once, Mina thought, And stop pulling me back to her unconsciously, she wished with an aching heart. She was interrupted when she felt a long arm crossed the back of her neck. "I have been hunting you for days, Mina," the intruder spoke just beside her left ear. "Why?" she asked without looking at the person. "Mina, Mina, Mina," the girl shook her head, "Because I haven't thanked you yet for all the things you've done for me and Chaeng." The penguin's ears perked up at the uttered name. "You wouldn't mind if I treat you somewhere, right?" the silver headed asked. "Not at all, Jeongyeon," Mina gave in and followed the dragon to her offer.

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There was really something off from where they were heading and Mina just noticed it halfway through that she couldn't bring herself to suggest another place. In some ironic and laughable idea, Jeongyeon brought the two of them to the same place where Mina and Chaeyoung first shared a meal together with her. "How are you?" the taller one asked with a smile after she had taken their order. Mina forced a smile of her own, "Preoccupied." Jeongyeon furrowed her brows, "Med stuffs, huh?" The penguin nodded slowly, "And gaming," she quietly added. "I see," Jeongyeon replied, smiling again at her companion. The penguin blinked at her before she averted her eyes and looked awkwardly around the place.

Silence enveloped them — with Jeongyeon's eyes who were carefully watching the quiet girl. Their awkward atmosphere was only interrupted when one of the servers of the restaurant brought their food on a tray. He diligently did his job by placing the plates of food on the two's table and became the seated girls' centre of attention. The girls thanked the man as he reminded them to enjoy their ordered food. "Hey, uhm," the silver haired girl initiated to break the silence, "Thank you for what you've done to me and Chaeng, you even took extra measures to mediate between us."

"Anyone could've done what I had done," the penguin dismissed, "It's nothing special," she calmly said to her. "Just let me thank you," Jeongyeon demanded, "And accept it, okay," she smiled, trying to lighten their surroundings. Mina shied her head down, "Okay," she surrendered and tasted her food. The dragon watched the penguin chewed a mouthful of her food, "I am really grateful that Chaeyoung's lucky to have you," she said which caught the latter's attention. Jeongyeon smiled again, "Always at her side," she added in a whisper.

Mina didn't know why, but her heart sunk further upon hearing the older one's self-reassurance. "Is everything fine between the two of you?" her friend interrupted her again because she sensed her for being too quiet. "Yes, everything's fine, Jeongyeon. Don't worry about us," she suddenly stated with full of faked energy to successfully feign her innocence. She smiled before she spoke again, "Let's just eat, okay?" the penguin silently begged. Without further ado, the silver haired girl dove into her food and finally tasted what she had paid for. The two spent their time with eating for a while before the eldest talked again.

"Let me share a cute story to you, just in case something's really troubling you," Jeongyeon said which made Mina to look up at her. She inhaled before she started her story, "Attention's always been a big issue between us. When we were kids, I think she was five back then, the two of us fought because for an unknown reason she decided to hang out with my sister and not me which got me to be a little jealous." She gigled at her own memory, "Hang out was an understatement because she literally followed Seungyeon unnie for the whole day which unnie found a little bit odd for a five year old kid to do."

"What was the reason why Chaeyoung was eagerly following your sister that time?" Mina asked, unaware that she had indulged herself to the story. Jeongyeon laughed before she answered, "It was really weird but when we found it out, Chaeyoung was following my sister because she had something in her possession." Mina furrowed her brows but at the same time smiled because it was an open truth that she was enjoying her story. The silver haired girl couldn't help but to release another laugh, "Chaeyoung was following her that day because of her first cat's catnip inside her pocket." The elegant girl's smile dropped upon hearing Jeongyeon's words.

Jeongyeon shook her head, "Truth is, neither she's a tiger nor a cub because what she really is…" she smiled, "Is a house cat. She literally confessed that she really liked its smell." When their table lacked audible sound of reactions besides the dragon's, Jeongyeon raised her head to inspect the girl. Her face neutralised, "Is it not funny or cute for you, Mina?" she questioned, "Imagine a small five year old Chaeyoung following someone around like her life depended on that person, Mina," she tried to convince her. Mina awkwardly laughed, "It's not like that. It's just that I find it quite unusual but I suppose her brain works slightly similar to house cats," she smiled before she cleared .

"Don't analyse a fun story, Myoui. Don't get all medically over it," Jeongyeon pointed her chopsticks to her, "You'll never know but baby beast is full of surprises." Mina just nodded to her and focused back on her food, not wanting to continue their conversation. Of course, she knew that Chaeyoung was full of surprises but she never thought that the reason behind Chaeyoung's closure to her would be as low as luring her with the smell of her shampoo. The cursed mixture of lavender and mint. She clenched her jaw, was catnip the missing equation in the formula of Chaeyoung's closure to her?

Mina didn't want to believe what the silver haired girl had told, but from the very start, the tiger cub had established her by associating her with catnip. Chaeyoung had complimented her how good the lavender and mint smelled on her, both during her drunk and sober state. She even said the exact words to her when the penguin was babysitting her. You smell so good, Mina bitterly remembered. The natural chemical reaction of catnip in the cub's brain could be the only reason why she opened up for the penguin. It wasn't a fun story just like how Jeongyeon had described it. It was literally a salt on Mina's deep gushing wound. A heavy and valid proof that she was an exception for her. An exception to her surprisingly unusual catnip intoxication.

She let out a breath, everything was going downhill. The way Chaeyoung looked at her and the reason why she was privileged to be in her position. She hated the weighing truth of her role and it pained her. Mina looked down, her appetite had gone like bubble. She felt like she was at the sea floor with just the view of dark pit of the under water around her, and her eyes watered with salt water tears. Before the first tears fell, the girl roughly rubbed her eyes with her coat-covered arm. "I'm sorry, Jeongyeon," she weakly started, "I have to go." With ringing deaf ears, she pulled away from their table and left the restaurant which now held both sweet and bitter meanings for her.

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Mina stood on her spot as she patiently waited for a friend. She wasn't feeling so good for the past days, and continuing to forcibly distract her very stubborn brain away from Chaeyoung wasn't going to ease her distress. So she waited for a girl with a brown and wavy lengthy hair. When the familiar girl left her building, Mina stood on her ground until finally the girl approached her. "Minari~," her friend called as she ran towards her.

The penguin remained silent. "Is everything alright?" her enthusiastic friend worried. "Can you stay at home with me, Sana?" Mina asked while fidgeting the left cuff of her coat sleeves. Sana inspected the girl in front of her. Her eyes were visibly reddish that they looked like they were irritated, and her facial features seemed like too desperate for the hamster's agreement to the request. The lack of proper sleep was also visible just below the penguin's orbs. Mina, her dear friend, was unhappy and needed some comfort. Sana offered her softest smile to the girl, "Of course," she enveloped the girl in a tight hug before she held her right hand and led their way.

The down girl only clutched the warm hand on hers, thankful that Sana's comfort and help will always be guaranteed to be available for her. Their walk was quiet, the hamster was not planning to pull out the penguin's problem without her full permission. When they arrived at the elegant apartment unit, the older one let the younger to sit down on her couch while she attended the responsibility to offer drinks for the two of them. Along the preparation, she messaged Momo that there was a great possibility that she wouldn't be home at their dorm tonight. Therefore, Momo has to lie to save her to their devil of a dorm keeper.

She offered a mug of chamomile tea to her because from her inspection earlier, the tea will fit perfectly with her friend's state — the lack of sleep. "Thank you," her friend said. Sana sat beside her and offered her own warmth. "I can't sleep," the penguin stated as she stared to the steam from her mug. "That explains the console and stack of games in front of us," she said while eyeing up the mess in front of the coffee table. Sana didn't ask why directly at her. She wanted the girl to only share what she was comfortable with.

"If you fell in love with someone," Mina began, "Who you know will never accept your feelings even if you confess, will you still admit it to that someone and lose your role as a friend?" Sana watched her friend stared blankly at her tea.

"If I confess," Mina remembered Tzuyu's words, "I will hurt her and ripped her healing wounds open," her breath hitched. "If I confess she'll avoid and hate me," the penguin visibly swallowed the lump in . Now, the hamster knew for a certain that she was indeed talking about what all they thought was her simple little crush. "She will hate me, Sana," her lips quivered from the repeated words and before she knew it, tears fell down on her cheeks. Uncontrollably overflowing and soaking her shirt and jeans. In embarrassment, Mina rubbed her tearing eyes in attempt to cover it aw