“So like,” Momo begins, popping a piece of popcorn in as the rest of the girls got into place around Nayeon’s television, “I’ve been thinking.”

 

  “Oh no.” Jeongyeon exclaims, winces when Sana’s hand comes into contact with her arm.

 

  “Be nice.” She chastises, catching the kiss her girlfriend blew to her from across the room.

 

  “Anyway,” Momo continues, “We know what Dahyun’s power is.”

 

  The other bodies in the room still nervously at the mention of powers, so unused to discussing it openly. Mina eyes her best friend from across the room, wonders what she’s trying to get at.

 

  “And I don’t know, it made me a lot more comfortable with you all. I trust you all a lot, and I guess I want to share this piece of myself with you?”

 

  Someone aww’s next to her. Mina thinks she sees Chaeyoung clutching at her heart and Jihyo’s arm moves to press against the inside of her own, nimble fingers dragging mindlessly against her palm. Momo takes a deep breath as she prepares herself, looks at her girlfriend for reassurance before she looks back to them all.

 

  “I can influence people, to an extent.” She exhales heavily, smiling at them all easily. “Not that I’ve ever done it to any of you guys, and I have to be making eye contact when I do it, but it’s super easy to control and trust me when I say I would never, ever use it on you guys.”

 

  Chaeyoung and Jeongyeon erupt in excitement, throwing themselves at the grinning second year eagerly and with questions tumbling from their lips.

 

  “That’s so cool!”

 

  “Wait, so you can make someone do anything?”

 

  “Can you make Nayeon be nicer?”

 

  The last one earns the audacious first year a sharp glare, followed by a swift pillow in the gut by the affronted older girl. Chaeyoung winces from the surprising force and shoots her a cheeky grin, earns herself a swift middle finger in response.

 

  “Wait,” Jihyo speaks up, mind drifting back to an event a few months back, “are you the reason why Miss Kim rescheduled that surprise test in History?”

 

  Momo stills.

 

  “Uhhh, noooo ?” She laughs apprehensively, hand reaching up to rub at the back of her neck nervously. “I would never do that.”

 

  “Uh huh,” Jihyo nods, unconvinced.

 

  “It’s not really something I think about a lot, I can ignore my power a lot of the time.” Momo shrugs, eyes suddenly apathetic. “I’m lucky, really.”

 

  “Same,” the girl next to Mina admits quietly, shuffling slightly to press closer into her girlfriend’s side.

 

  “I have uh, a photographic memory, I guess.” Jihyo says, startling when Dahyun launches to her feet with a triumphant yell.

 

  “I knew it!” The younger girl shrieks, gesticulating wildly with one arm. “You knew the answer to that question way too fast for it to be normal.”

 

  “The what now?” Jihyo asks, genuinely confused.

 

  “Oh,” Dahyun laughs, sinking back to the floor and crossing her legs, “you were pretty busy flirting with Mina so you probably don’t remember.”

 

  The girls around them chorused ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’, waggling their eyebrows vehemently and Mina felt Sana’s elbow dig into her side suggestively. Jihyo sighed, took the ribbing in her stride with a soft smile as she waited for the noise to die down.

 

  “But yeah, I can remember anything I see. It’s pretty helpful.” She adds as an afterthought, leaning to lie down against her girlfriend’s side. Mina pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head, wrapping an arm around her and giving a squeeze.

 

  “You guys have really cool powers.” Dahyun marvels from the floor, glancing around the room intermittently. “Anyone else want to share or? No pressure.”

 

  “Actually,” Sana begins, sitting forward with a smirk, “I’ll tell you mine if you want.”

 

  Mina isn’t entirely sure she trusts the sly lilt in the girls eyes, narrowing her own uncertainly. Dahyun doesn’t notice this though, and responds enthusiastically.

 

  “Sure!” The first year chirps, and Sana’s smirk stretches into a full blown grin.

 

  “I can see attraction.” She admits to the dead silent room, quiet enough that a pin drop would be heard.

 

  “More specifically,” she laughs, low in , “attraction to me.”

 

  Mina gulps nervously, the memories of her ( very ) brief crush on the older girl when she was fourteen flooding her mind like a wave. Jihyo fidgets next to her uncomfortably, eyes staring pointedly at the floor as she coughed surreptitiously.

 

  Wait a goddamn minute.

 

  “Wow haha,” Dahyun wheezes, as if she’s choking on an invisible straw, “that’s a neat power. Anyway-”

 

  “If it makes you feel any better Dahyunnie, you’re not the only one in this boat here.”

 

  Mina glances around the circle, takes notice of the fact that every single one of her friends bar Tzuyu was shuffling nervously. Her jaw drops, as do the others when they notice.

 

  “What!”

 

  “Are you kidding me?”

 

  “When was this?!”

 

  “That’s my girlfriend you s!”

 

  “Can you blame me?”

 

  Sana presses a swift kiss to a very vexed Momo’s cheek, coaxing the other girl down from her riled up state. She shot one last glare to every member of the circle (minus Tzuyu) and leans back grumpily into the sofa, arms folded childishly. Sana wraps her arms around the brooding girl, drawing a small, involuntary smile through the pout. Someone fake gags at the sight, probably Jeongyeon, and they all laugh.

 

  Sana sits up straight, runs a hand through her hair and fourteen year old Mina’s heart would have skyrocketed at the sight. She sends them all a daring grin.

 

  “But yeah, it’s been...challenging.” She admits through pursed lips. “I actually got a teacher fired in middle school because, you know…” The girl trails off, and Nayeon makes a low noise of disgust in .

 

  “Good.” The oldest girl declares, sending the second year a reassuring grin. Sana smiles back, soft and thankful.

 

  “But yeah, it could be worse, I suppose.” Sana finishes, leans into Momo’s side instinctively as she does so. Mina doesn’t even blink when the heads of their arrows intercept, disappearing inside the other as they shuffle closer. She barely even notices the objects anymore, still can’t see an arrow in Jihyo’s chest but she’s honestly so grateful for that.

 

  She’s not sure what she’d do if it’d ever disappear, but the way her hand fits into her own makes her think that won't happen for a while yet.

 

  There’s a few moments of silence, a pregnant pause as the girls wait for anyone else to speak up.

 

  “If we’re all said and done,” Nayeon drawls dryly, always the one to break the silence, “I’m actually quite looking forward to watching the new star wars.”

 

  Approximately six pillows are flung at the oldest girl, who shrieks and tries to hide behind Jeongyeon like a shield at the unexpected attack. Mina feels the laughter bubbling in even as she swallows down the tangle of emotions that the previous conversation evoked, watching as Dahyun and Chaeyoung launch themselves at Nayeon armed with pillows for ‘ruining the mood’. She’s shrieking, screaming bloody murder, but everyone else is laughing and she thinks she sees Tzuyu filming this comfortably from her seat.

 

  Gentle fingers tug on the sleeve of her shirt to get her attention, and Mina looks down to see her girlfriend staring at her bemusedly.

 

  “Not gonna share?” She questions quietly, just loud enough for the girl to make out. Not that it mattered anyway, with Nayeon shrieking like a banshee some five feet away, but she appreciated Jihyo’s carefulness nonetheless.

 

  She thinks of Tzuyu and Chaeyoung with firm arrows in their chest, pointing determinedly at each other for the better part of four months now. Thinks of how they still haven’t confessed to each other yet, though the shy smiles and soft touches have grown bolder and more daring recently. She thinks of the many different arrows that have sprouted from every chest in the circle, and all the unrequited loves that were never mentioned or faded away.

 

  “Nah.” She murmurs quietly, bringing their interlocked hands up to press a kiss to soft, soft skin.

 

  “Not yet.”

 

 

 

 

 

   “Mina, you have to help me.” Dahyun slammed her books down in front of her, startling the girl out of her daydream. She tugged the earbud out of her ear, pausing her music to give the first year her whole attention.

 

  “Hello to you too,” she laughs briefly, looking up concernedly, “help with what?”

 

  “Jieqiongaskedmeoutbutshe’snotglowingandIdon’tknowwhattodo.” Dahyun spat out in a rush, not even pausing to take a breath.

 

  Mina blinked slowly.

 

  “What?”

 

  Dahyun sighed exaggeratedly, slumping down onto the bench with a heavy thud.

 

  “The exchange student, Jieqiong. She asked me out but she’s not glowing and she’s really pretty and nice but… I don’t want to get involved if she doesn’t actually like me.”

 

  Dahyun looks so forlorn and miserable that it takes a lot of effort for Mina not to laugh, she brings a hand up to and hopes she disguised the attempt behind a hefty cough. She raises her sandwich to , takes a small, precise bite while she mulls over an answer.

 

  She thinks of the pretty little Chinese student who transferred at the beginning of the year. Y’know, the one with pastel pink hair and a big, cheesy grin who spoke enthusiastically and rapidly despite the slight accent to her words.

 

  “She’s not glowing for you at all?” Mina queried, chewing monotonously as she stared at the younger girl.

 

  “Only her smile, but even then I think that’s just natural and now a power thing.” Dahyun huffs again, more than a little bit bummed out by this.

 

  Mina smiles, putting her sandwich down on her tray.

 

  “Okay, so she’s not glowing for you.” The second year shrugs, reaching across to clap a hand on Dahyun’s shoulder. The younger girl looked up at the contact, making direct eye contact with the cryptic Japanese girl opposite her.

 

  “But,” Mina continues slowly, “would it be so bad to try?”

 

  Dahyun sits back on the bench, eyes narrowed at the other girl.

 

  “You’d use my own words against me?”

 

  “Yeah,” Mina grinned lazily, “I would.”

 

   The first year sighs reluctantly, fol