Nayeon watches her mom get up from their sofa to open their front door for a lady who’s neatly dressed, a red pot of what she assumes is food is in her hands.

Nayeon is currently splayed on their living room floor, playing dress up with her barbie dolls.

She watched a wedding scene from a soap opera her mom loves to watch at night yesterday and she’s now cutting dresses from papers and dressing up her barbie in a “wedding dress”.

“Hello, we are your new neighbors. We just moved in yesterday. My name is Yoo Soo Hee and this is my youngest daughter, Jeongyeonie.” Nayeon hears the woman speaking in a soft voice. Nayeon wouldn’t have noticed that she has a child with her if she hasn’t mentioned because the girl in a yellow shirt with Ultraman print on it and jean shorts is grumpily hiding behind her mother while holding a toy that Nayeon can only guess is Ultraman.

The thought of having another kid to play with in their neighborhood excites her that’s why she dropped what she’s doing to come and stand next to her mom by the door.

“Oh hello. We are the Im’s, my name is Im Se-Ah, and this is my oldest daughter Nayeonie. Nayeon say hello to Jeongyeonie.” Nayeon felt her mom push her towards Jeongyeon, who’s also getting pushed by her mom to meet Nayeon. Nayeon is slightly taller than Jeongyeon when she got closer to her. 

At first glance, one would think that Jeongyeon is a boy with her short brown hair and taste in clothing but her small face makes up for her lack of femininity as a child. They both awkwardly shake hands and Nayeon mistakenly smiles at Jeongyeon, causing the latter to ask her mom why her daughter has a bunny teeth.

Nayeon’s mom only laughed at this and asked their visitors to come inside of their house for a little chitchat.

At 10 years old, Nayeon knew she wouldn’t like the 9 year old Jeongyeon at all, especially when all Jeongyeon did that afternoon is bully her for having a bunny’s teeth.

“I swear I’m going to punch you! Stop it! I’m bigger than you!” Nayeon only laughs louder when she sees Jeongyeon screaming while rolling on her bedroom floor, trying to catch her breath after Nayeon started tickling her the moment she figures out that Jeongyeon is ticklish on her sides.

“Ah. I’ve finally found your weakness, Yoo! I’m so happy. You’re so fluffy, I can die!” Nayeon gets up from hugging Jeongyeon on the floor and walking to her brand new radio with a cassette tape player.

Jeongyeon has came over her place to give her a cassette tape so she can listen to songs on her new radio. Once she hit the play button, familiar upbeat sounds fills her ears.

You'll never know how much I really love you

You'll never know how much I really care

Listen, do you want to know a secret?

Do you promise not to tell?

Whoa-oh-oh, closer

Let me whisper in your ear

Say the words you long to hear

I'm in love with you, ooh.

“Ohhh. Nice, the beatles! Is this from your dad’s collection? I swear I don’t want him to get mad at me when he sees me with his tape.” Nayeon sits beside Jeongyeon on her floor, the song is still playing while they share their personal space.

“Of course not . I learned how to make mixtapes last week, it’s my gift for you.” Jeongyeon nonchalantly replies and gets up when she feels Nayeon leaning her head on her shoulder.

“Aish. So prickly! Let me sleep on you! You have to get used to this since you’ll end up marrying me and I always want to cuddle.” Nayeon whines and acts all pouty which causes Jeongyeon to fake gag but settles back on sitting next to her as they both stopped messing around and just listened to the beating of their hearts with the music playing in the background.

At the age of 13, Nayeon knew Jeongyeon is her best friend but she’ll die first before she admits to it. Jeongyeon can annoy her to death but she’s also the sweetest at the most unexpected times and Nayeon will forever thank Jeongyeon’s parents for deciding to move to their neighborhood.

“Yoo Jeongyeon, what the !” Nayeon tries, really tries hard to stop herself from busting a lung from laughing as soon as she sees that Jeongyeon is full of smudged lipstick marks all over her face, neck and collar. It’s 11 PM and Jeongyeon texted her an hour ago that she’s gonna have to sleep over at her place because her mom is going to kill her for coming home late with her clothes all dirtied with lipstick marks that’s obviously from another girl.

Nayeon’s parents are attending a wedding in Jeju this weekend so Nayeon and her sister have the house for themselves - meaning, Jeongyeon didn’t have a hard time convincing her for a spontaneous sleepover. Jeongyeon only promised to introduce Nayeon to Han-Bin in return of this favor. Lee Han-Bin is Jeongyeon’s classmate and everyone’s dream guy at school because he’s smart, talented, sporty and oh so y even when he’s just in his teenage years so obviously Nayeon wants him too.

“Sana has been aggressive all night, okay! Nothing happened but damn it, mom is going to kill me if she sees my neck is all red! You know how she is, Nayeonie.” Jeongyeon is nervously pacing back and forth inside her room which only fueled Nayeon’s laughter.

“Cmon Jeong. It’s not as if Auntie doesn’t know you’re gay. She’s fine with it, she even wants us to be together and I overheard your parents and mine talking about where we’ll live after we get married  last week, by the way. They’re back to writing our love story again. Stop thinking too much about Auntie getting mad because you let some girl chomp on your neck.”

Nayeon rolls her eyes at the thought of their parents always nagging them to just date each other so they can stop fighting all the time. Their “fights” would often be about them waging bets on who’s number one with this and that, Jeongyeon always teasing Nayeon and Nayeon always getting mad at some point because damn her, Yoo Jeongyeon is so annoying.

She hands Jeongyeon some fresh towels and a set of pajamas that Jeongyeon leaves in her house in case they want to sleep together.

Jeongyeon sighs, nods to herself and gets up to head inside her bathroom while Nayeon lays on her bed thinking about how at the age of 17, seven years after she met Jeongyeon, they both have turned into a permanent fixture in each other’s lives and even resort to calling each other as their respective best friends.

“Hey Nayeon, have you talked to Jeongyeon lately?” Momo, Nayeon and Jeongyeon’s common friend from university asks Nayeon one hot afternoon while the two of them are inside their favorite cafe basking in the natural rays of August sunshine while sipping on their iced caramels. The leaves outside the cafe adds to the warm atmosphere that the two friends really love to enjoy.

“Actually, no. I don’t know what’s up with her lately. I noticed that she’s almost never home, when I text her to hang out all I get are dry replies and if I push, she’s not replying. Why? Do you have any news?” Nayeon focuses her eyes on Momo who looks a little bit undecided whether she should share information with her or not.

“C’mon, spill the tea! You can’t lie Momo, I know you know something.” Nayeon pokes at Momo’s sides which sends the other girl into a fit of laughter.

“Okay, okay, stop! Well... I just happened to bump into Jeongyeon last week and guess what?! She’s with a girl. A famous girl at that! Well you probably wouldn’t know her since you’re not into dancing but she’s a famous ballet dancer in Japan. I was shocked to see them both together but Jeongyeon was shocked as too. They were both actually trying to keep it low, given that both of them are grocery shopping with their masks, glasses and caps covering their faces but I just know it’s Jeongyeon because duh, that girl wears her damned leather jacket and beanie all the time, so I approached her and we exchanged our hellos. They’re probably dating because the ballerina was clinging onto Jeongyeon like her life depended on it.” Momo excitedly tells Nayeon which the older girl can only nod at.

It stings.

They’re supposed to be best friends right? Why didn’t Jeongyeon tell her about any of this? This is huge, given that Jeongyeon stopped her serial dating after they graduated in college and started working.

Nayeon is now a fashion consultant at a famous modeling agency while Jeongyeon works at a 5 star hotel as a pastry chef because that girl is addicted to baking as much as she is addicted to eating pastries.

Nayeon thought she knew everything about Jeongyeon, until she doesn’t.

That’s why it hurts.

Her phone chimes and she sees a text notification from her boyfriend, asking her to meet up tomorrow for dinner. She sighs because she’s been expecting a text from Jeongyeon since this morning if she can come with her and Momo to hangout.

Lately she feels as if her long term relationship with Han-Bin has nowhere to go, as if this whole relationship has been nothing but a facade for god knows what.

It doesn’t feel right anymore but she knows better than to break up with Han-Bin who’s now a respected lawyer. Everybody still likes Lee Han-Bin even Nayeon’s parents approve of him, he is still everybody’s dream guy just like who he was when Jeongyeon introduced them to each other 8 years ago, 5 months after, they started to date.

Nayeon had endured a lot of his fangirls at school bullying her because Han-Bin is a nice guy who can’t tell girls off but Jeongyeon is always there to tell those girls to off that’s why she managed to keep her relationship with Han-Bin.

It’s all thanks to Jeongyeon.

But right now, all that Nayeon feels for Jeongyeon is disappointment. Hasn’t she been a good friend that’s why Jeongyeon doesn’t tell her about her personal life anymore? Has she been too preoccupied with her work or relationship? Does Jeongyeon have another best friend?

At the age of 25, Nayeon hated that Jeongyeon no longer treats her like her best friend but Nayeon can never hate on Jeongyeon so she bottles her frustrations and hopes one day the girl can finally tell her everything about her life again the way she used to.

“Congratulations, Nayeonie.” Jeongyeon smiles at Nayeon. It’s her engagement party tonight.

Han-Bin decided to choose the hotel which Jeongyeon is working at as their venue which Nayeon refused just because but apparently she has no say in her own wedding when the majority of her and Han-Bin’s family have already approved the idea of it.

Han-Bin proposed to her the day after she met up with Momo.

Nayeon still can’t believe she’s getting married at the age of 26, next year, she’s gonna be a June bride. Her friends are all envious of her and her family is proud of her so agreeing on marrying Han-Bin is the best decision she’s ever made... right?

“Hey. I didn’t know I’d see you here.” Nayeon mentally slaps herself for such a stupid remark because duh, of course Jeongyeon is here as their pastry chef.

The younger girl just rolled her eyes at her and offered her some pink macaroons - strawberry cheesecake flavored, her favorite.

“I baked it with extra love and care because I know it’s your favorite. I packed extra batches for you, they’re with your mom since I’m off early today. You’re welcome for Han-Bin and the macaroons, by the way.” Jeongyeon winks and grins widely, her eyes disappearing which means she’s really happy for her and Nayeon misses those times when Jeongyeon would give her an attitude whenever Han-Bin kisses her in front of the younger girl. Those times when Jeongyeon gets mad when she chooses Han-Bin’s spontaneous date calls instead of their month long planned group outings.

She misses the thought of Jeongyeon being jealous of Han-Bin, now it feels like Jeongyeon is giving her away and she can’t seem to grasp the idea of it.

She’s about to spat back at Jeongyeon for ignoring her all this time and not getting involved with her life as a best friend should but then Jeongyeon’s phone started ringing, the younger immediately excuses herself from their conversation and walks a few steps away from Nayeon for privacy but Nayeon has always been nosy so she tries to listen to Jeongyeon’s conversation without leaving where she stands.

“Yeah babe...Hm... I’m going now. I’m just congratulating Nayeon since it’s her engagement tonight. Don’t leave without me or else you’ll have no one to marry. I’m kidding, bye.” Jeongyeon chuckles brightly and pockets her phone.

“I have to leave now for an important meeting. Congratulations, Love you.” And Jeongyeon is gone after kissing her forehead goodbye.

It’s also at the age of 25, when Nayeon finally understands what having her heart broken is like.

It’s from hearing her best friend talk about marriage with another person who isn’t her.

“Do you think I’m having wedding jitters?” Nayeon one day asks Jihyo, her boss and close friend, for an advice.

All the thoughts about Jeongyeon keeps running through her mind and it’s exhausting, especially when everyone’s been busy talking about her soon to be wedding of the century.

They are inside Jihyo’s luxurious apartment, while Nayeon is pacing back and forth, Jihyo is busying herself by whipping dalgona coffee that apparently is now trending on the internet.

“So you’re telling me... you feel like getting married to your boyfriend is wrong, while you constantly think about you getting married to Jeongyeon, and it feels so right?” Jihyo confirms.

“Yes! I don’t know, Jihyo. I’ve... I’ve never seen her in a romantic way... I think? Like no, I may have adored the way her smile is lopsided once or twice... or maybe I appreciate that she is sweet and bakes good cake... but I’ve never...” Nayeon stops dead in her tracks.

She remembers a memory from when she was 18 and celebrating her coming