nayeon is scared of so many things—fireworks, bunnies, fast moving vehicles, the water. but she's less scared in pools because she feels it's much safer there than in the ocean. this makes her the law-abider that she is.

that’s why when they’re about to cross the road somewhere in the middle of hawaii, nayeon tells mina to hold her hand.

“why?” the latter asks.

“because i need to restrain myself from raising my hand. people might think im weird.” she explains.

“they already do.” mina laughs, reminding her of the incident with the old asian couple that nayeon thought were koreans.

“stop teasing me with that!” nayeon whines.

“they’ll either forget about it immediately or they will remember it for years.” the younger girl teases more.

“you’re such a terrible friend.” she rolls her eyes.

“but you love me anyway.” mina holds her hand. “let’s go.”

she does.

 

//

 

nayeon complained about the hawaiian cold wind in the afternoon the other day and now, she’s complaining about the hawaiian heat today. 

“gosh. you're so whiny.”

“i don't care. it's too hot.” nayeon whines, her lips pouting and her eyebrows in a crease.

mina thinks it's cute, but still annoying. “why did i even bring a baby with me?”

nayeon takes her phone out and opens its camera. “you keep complaining about me being whiny but did you know that you’re so pouty?”

“im not.” mina unconsciously pouts and nayeon quickly takes a picture.

“there it is!” nayeon laughs.

“delete that!”

“why? it’s cute.” she shows the picture. “see?” she laughs again when she looks at mina who’s still pouting.

 

//

 

why are they in Hawaii? nayeon invited herself to come with mina—a young, successful film director—who was going there for work. 

the other day, mina went to an interview for a famous youtube channel, then she went to a meeting with the actors she hopes to work with for a movie. finally, she had a meeting with a producer for another movie.

that afternoon after lunch, mina, goes to her schedule for the day—a photoshoot and an interview for a magazine, while nayeon walks around the area to pass the time.

the photoshoot just wrapped and they proceeded to have a sit-down interview with the young director.

nayeon texts mina asking when they will end. after a few minutes, she doesn't receive a reply so she texts her again, thinking that maybe the girl didn't receive it because of reception issues—when there's really none.

mina rolls her eyes at the multiple texts she got from the other girl talking about the same thing— "are you done yet?" . she turns off the notifications from nayeon's messages, then places it back on her cardigan's pocket.

after several minutes, the person interviewing her excuses himself to take an important call. mina looks outside while she waits. it hasn't even been 10 minutes after she put her phone in her pocket when she feels it vibrate again. she takes it out to see if it's from someone important. it is. but it's not that important right now. she sees that nayeon had sent her a message on kakaotalk instead of texting her on her phone number. the girl's just being silly and this is really not important right now. but mina still reads the kakaotalk messages through her phone's lock screen so she doesn't leave her on 'read'. the subjects in the text messages have changed. mina chuckles. "when are you coming out?” “i saw a cute boutique, we should go there to shop" .

she's so annoying. but why am i smiling? mina once again puts her phone inside her pocket. the editor comes back after his phone call and mina tries hard again to focus on the meeting.

after the meeting, mina texts her friend, "i’m done with work. where are you?"

nayeon immediately looks at her phone when she hears the notification of a new message. “i’m coming!” she texts back.

"it feels so great that your work’s finally done. we can go wherever we want now. no more hurrying up and chasing times." it’s been tiring for nayeon.  they've been chasing time for 2 days because of mina's schedules and they only have 3 more days to stay in hawaii. they can finally have a real vacation after a long time — which was nayeon’s main reason why she insisted that she came with mina. they haven’t seen each other for months because mina was directing and filming a k-drama in Paris, while nayeon, was in seoul, running her own restaurant business.

//

the next day, mina is helping nayeon get to the hawaiian ocean

“i can’t go further. it’s too deep for me.” nayeon whimpers.

“nayeon, we’re almost the same height and the water’s still at knee level!”

“but im scared of the waves.”

“come on. don’t be scared. i’m here.” mina pulls her.

they slowly go a little bit further until the water is waist-level.

suddenly, there's a big wave behind mina. nayeon sees it coming so she screams and mina didn’t have time to turn around because the wave is already hitting them. she crashes against nayeon’s body. and something else crashed against each other... their lips.

it happened so fast that the both of them thought they can just pretend that the accidental kiss didn’t happen. but the blush on their cheeks couldn’t hide the fact that it did happen yet they didn’t speak about it.

“you okay?” mina asks the frightened girl.

“yeah. i’m okay. c-can we go back to the shore now?” she stutters.

“no. i still haven’t taught you how to float.”

 

//

 

they made a reservation at a restaurant for 12:30pm and it's already 12:54. nayeon had too much fun floating in the water. she didn’t learn how to float on her own so she wore a life jacket and mina didn’t want to stop the girl and kill her fun after she became comfortable in the water.

“mina-yah!” nayeon gasps, pointing at something while they’re fast walking to the restaurant.

“what?” mina looks at where she's pointing at.

“i wanna take pictures there!”

there are colorful walls with graffiti and colorful vans. it's definitely a cool spot for a photoshoot but mina says no because 1: the reservation will be cancelled in a few minutes. the restaurant personnel told nayeon in the call earlier that they have a policy that they cancel reservations if the customer doesn't arrive within 30 minutes from the reservation time. and 2: she's freaking hungry.

“aww that's too bad. i really wanna go there. can we go back after lunch?”

“no.” mina's just teasing her but nayeon thinks she isn’t.

“why not?” nayeon is such a baby. she acts literally like one sometimes.

“stop whining, baby. we need to hurry.”

“yah! stop calling me that. im not your baby!”

they arrive at the restaurant just two minutes before the time.

 

//

 

after lunch, nayeon got excited when they went back to the direction where they came from. she now gets why they came back. mina allows her to run like setting a puppy free from its leash.

nayeon takes selfies and then asks mina to take some for her. then, she pulls mina to her side, puts an arm to her shoulder and takes several selfies together.

 

//

 

“hey! oh you’re in the area? yeah im free tonight. sure! okay 7pm sounds good. alright, see you later. bye!” mina puts her phone down.

“who were you talking to?”

“my college friend. he invited me to dinner tonight.” mina beams and nayeon thinks she looks too happy about it, she frowns.

“what about me?”

“you can come with me.”

“no. i don’t want to be a third-wheel to your date. who is this guy anyway? do i know him?”

mina sighs longingly before saying his name. “taehyung.”

“ah~” nayeon gets it. “your forever crush”

“yes.” mina’s still in a daze. “and it’s not a date, nayeon. we’re just going to have dinner and catch up with each other.”

“still sounds like a date to me.” she mumbles.

“what?” mina asks, slightly tilting her head.

“i said have fun. i’ll just find someone else to have dinner with tonight.”

“you really can come if you want to.” this is only half meant. she feels bad for leaving her bestfriend but she also really wants to be alone with taehyung.

“you really want me to be there with you, do you?” nayeon says smugly. “we’ve been here together for a few days already, you should have gotten over the phase of missing me.”

mina rolls her eyes, annoyed.

“im kidding. no, you can go without me. im a grown up. i’ll be fine. besides ive been wanting to hook up with strangers but i can’t really do that when you’re always beside me, can i?”

“whatever. just be careful. and don’t bring anyone to our room.” mina points out, extending a finger.

“gosh, mina. there’s no need to be jealous, okay? i’ll always end up with you.”

mina looks at her, confused.

“i- i mean. because we’re best friends.” nayeon stutters. “no matter what happens, it’ll always be us together. and besides, you need me. im your savior after all." she says proudly.

"you only saved me once, nayeon. im not gonna feed your ego. i’m gonna take a shower now.”

 

//

 

mina enters the restaurant and she feels someone stand next to her. she looks up and sees a smiling taehyung.

“hey.” she smiles.

“hey.” he goes on to hug her. he steps back as he pulls away. “you still look beautiful as ever.” he compliments her.

mina blushes and tucks her hair behind her ear. “you look good, too.” hotter , she thinks to herself, biting her lower lip.

“thanks.” he smiles.

oh my goodness, there’s that smile again. mina thinks, her heart pounding inside her chest. she’s not surprised at how she’s feeling right now. she thinks her crush for this guy will stay forever and she just hopes that he will someday fall for her, too.

 

//

 

taehyung was the nicest and most humble guy she knows. they went to senior high school together. they were classmates in every class. they were lab partners in chemistry and it was in that lab where mina fell head over heels for him. moments before that, she was running away from jeongyeon—her childhood friend—who was holding a live spider in her hands. mina hates spiders. and when she passed by where taehyung was standing, doing something on his phone, mina trips over her own feet. instead of helping, jeongyeon just laughed at her. mina closed her eyes, grunting. then she hears someone say, “mina, are you okay?” she opens her eyes and sees the most enchanting face she’s ever seen. she sees him everyday at school but in that moment, it felt like she was looking at a different taehyung. maybe it was because of the sincere worried look on his face or the way the ceiling lights shone on him that he looked like someone who just came down from heaven.

“are you okay?” taehyung repeats, which made mina return to her senses. “let me help you up.”

she takes his hand and he pulls her up. her heart raced because their faces were just inches apart before he takes a step back to ask here again if she’s okay.

“yeah, i’m fine. thanks.”

taehyung sees the faint blush on her cheeks. then the ring bells as a signal that the afternoon classes are to begin. jeongyeon goes back to her table and sits beside her lab partner and mina and taehyung does too.

taehyung and mina would talk to each other but they never hung out or ate lunch together. they were just classmates.

a year later, on their first day in university, they find themselves in the same room again. that was the start of their friendship. they were partners for a major film project and during those times they spent working together, mina started thinking that she might have developed deeper feelings for him.

 

//

 

the restaurant's reception asks them if they have reservations and whose name it is under.

“oh yes. uh it’s under kim taehyung.” then the receptionist leads them toward their table which is by the glass wall.

a waiter approaches them and dictate their orders. once the waiter leaves, they start catching up with each other.

“so what are you doing here?” mina asks.

“i was looking for a house.”

“you’re moving here?’

“yeah. i keep coming back here every year and i realized how much im in love with this place.” he smiles. “and it’s thanks to you. it was you who brought me here.”

 

//

 

five years ago, mina and her group of friends—taehyung was one of them—went on a graduation trip to hawaii. they knew hawaii is mina’s favorite place, although she only visited there once when she was ten years old with her dad. it was for her mom’s 16th death anniversary and mina’s 16th birthday.

mina was born in hawaii. right after giving birth to her, her mom died due to high blood pressure. her dad was working as an architect there and right after his contract with the company he was working for back then, they returned to korea for good.

mina knew she wanted to go back to hawaii and live there since her mom was buried there. however, one semester before her graduation, a popular film company in korea promised to hire her after graduation. mina didn’t hesitate to say yes immediately. so after her graduation trip, she had a job waiting for her. and that’s where she met nayeon who became her best friend. nayeon comes from a rich family. she has one brother and one sister, but she’s the only who was interested in taking over her parents’ restaurant business. she started working at their seoul branch and mina was one of their regular customers. the restaurant served breakfast as well, so every morning, she would go to eat there. nayeon was considered as a new employee in the restaurant. her parents insisted that she start from the bottom so she would know the basics before she goes to the managerial role. for her first month, she would open the restaurant together with a supervisor and then work for 8 hours. one day.

mina was already a regular customer then. most of the time, she gets there even before the restaurant opens. she knows that it opens at 7am but she goes there at least 10 minutes earlier just because she likes being the lone customer even for a short time. it’s peaceful and quiet in the restaurant for the first hour.

one morning, mina ordered pancakes with blueberries. she was talking on the phone while she was eating. she took a piece from her blueberries and she suddenly paused—she can’t breathe. nayeon noticed it and rushed towards her. she immediately goes behind her and started giving her abdominal s until the blueberry was out of . mina coughs.

“are you okay?”

mina nods, taking a deep breath. “yeah. thank you so much.”

after that day, mina gave nayeon a thank you gift for saving her life and they became best friends.

nayeon started looking for a nearby apartment and mina suggested that they become roommates while nayeon was still looking for the perfect one. but the latter ended up buying a unit in the same apartment building after getting used to the place and it only takes about 10 minutes of walk to get there.

fast forward, mina became a star director after 5 years and nayeon had to transfer to a different location to start a new branch of their restaurant. and here they are, in hawaii. mina’s having a date with someone—nayeon thinks although it wasn’t really a date. it's not, right? nayeon doesn’t even know who mina’s with right now but she’s jealous. she knows she is because she knows she likes her best friend.

this only started a few weeks ago when mina came back from filming overseas and her hair was blonde. she’d never seen her with blonde hair before and she thought she looked out of this world.

"but it's  just her hair that changed?!" is a question nayeon asks herself from time to time. but nayeon sees her differently now—a person she likes and not just her best friend anymore.

nayeon doesn’t fall for anyone easily so she surprised herself when she started catching feelings for mina. she thanks the God of the universe for conspiring the day that mina decided to bleach her hair. nayeon’s heart just can't  help but jump for joy mixed with a little bit of nervousness whenever she sees mina now ever since the day she came back.

when mina told her she would be going to hawaii, nayeon insisted to go with her because she felt like she needed to get to know the girl all over again. they haven't  had the proper time to catch  up with each other after all.

of course, nayeon is planning on telling her best friend about how she feels for her but she doesn’t know when the right time and situation would be. but she’s here to make sure that no one flirts with mina or ask for her number or ask her out. but when that goddamn college friend of mina called and asked her out for dinner, nayeon felt a burning sensation inside her chest, rising up to . “ why does it hurt to be jealous?” she asked herself. this somehow makes her become hesitant to tell mina.

she sighs at the thought of the girl. she looks at her wristwatch. it’s already been two hours and she’s still alone in their hotel room. she went out for a while to have dinner. she told mina earlier that she wanted to hook up with some strangers but really, nayeon didn’t want a stranger.

 

//

 

mina and taehyung went to a walk after dinner.

they came across an ice cream place. taehyung insists that they share a cup, saying he just wants to help save the world from getting too much garbage.

“i didn’t know you’re into that now.” mina giggles. now he’s even more attractive.

“i’ve always been but i’ve never been vocal about it because, you know, our friends would make fun of me.”

“they wouldn’t” mina looks up to him.

taehyung just shrugs.

as they walk around again, mina remembers he’s lactose intolerant and she blushes at the thought that perhaps taehyung just wanted to share the ice cream with her.

taehyung’s feeting are getting tired. he looks down at mina and looks down at her feet. she’s wearing flats but still, it must be uncomfortable. if he’s tired, she must be tired, too. 

mina is surprised when he feels him grabbing the cup from her hand and grabbing her wrist. “let’s go find somewhere to rest our feet.”

they sit in one of the benches at the park, overlooking the ocean and the city lights.

they continue scooping ice cream with their little spoons from the cup that taehyung is now holding in between them. their bodies slightly twisted to face each other.

mina can’t help but blush and she doesn't know that her friend in front of her can see it despite the faint light from the moon and the lights behind them in the park. he also clearly saw how cheeks blushed earlier at the restaurant and at the ice cream shop and when he glanced at her when he was dragging her by the wrist.

taehyung was never not brave with girls but when it comes to mina, it’s just different. maybe because she’s his friend. maybe because he’s scared that if she knew, it might affect their friendship. but it’s been years of suppressing already and he can’t contain his feelings for this girl anymore.

he looks at the cup and he looks at mina. he puts his spoon down on the bench and he takes mina’s. he takes the last scoop he can get and feeds it to mina. he could have used his own spoon but back in their first year in college, he learned that mina doesn’t like using other people’s used utensils and glasses. it was a hot day. they were back on the road after filming a short film for their project. he asked mina if he could drink from her bottled water that mina is holding and she gladly offered it to him. after several minutes, he noticed that she never drank from it again despite saying that she’s thirsty.

“there’s still water here.”  he shakes the bottle in front of her.

“you can have that.”

“you sure you don’t wanna drink this?”

“i don’t want to be offensive but you already have your saliva in there.” she says apologetically.

“ah. i get it. it’s okay.” he drives faster. “i think there’s a convenience store nearby.” and by “nearby” he meant in about 30 more minutes.

“taehyung. safety first. don’t drive too fast. i won’t die from thirst.”

“you can die from dehydration.” he corrects her and goes on lecturing about how it can do so. he’s a smart guy. he knows a lot of things that mina doesn’t. she even questions why he took Film when he has a huge potential in the medical field since he’s so interested in it.

taehyung snaps out of his thoughts and his smile fades when he hears mina calling her name.

“what are you thinking about?” she asks. her head in a tilt.

“i just remembered something.”

mina just nods.

he lets a few moment to pass just them talking about work.

and then there’s silence. they’re watching the waves in front of them and breathing in the smell of the ocean.

“mina.” 

“hmm?” mina can sense that looks tense. “are you okay, taehyung?”

“ye-yeah. im okay. i just- i just need to tell you something.”

mina’s eyes widen. is this it? is this what i’ve been waiting for? oh my god! he likes me, too! mina thinks ahead of the situation. her heart starts racing. “wha-what is it?”

before saying anything more, he stands up, holds her by the wrist again and takes her closer to the water. she just follows him.

his heart is pounding like it wants to come out of his chest. “i- uh” the words aren’t coming out.

“taehyung?” she looks at him in the eyes.

“i…” he takes a deep breath, gathering all the courage he needs and trying to stop his mouth from stuttering. “i love you. i’ve been in love with you since forever.” he says like with hopeful eyes.

“i- taehyung.” now it’s mina’s turn to stutter. she’s surprised and happy. it feels surreal.

he loosens her grip on mina’s wrist and drops his hands to his sides. “i don’t expect you to feel the same way but i just had to tell you that.” he looks hurt—like mina has already rejected him.

“i feel the same way.”

his eyes widen. now, all he wants to do is kiss her. so he takes a step closer and his hands travel up to her cheeks. he leans forward and kisses her.

mina kisses her back, pulling him closer to her and clutching her hands to his shoulders. as their kiss deepens, mina remembers the person she left hours ago in their hotel room. she thought she’d be over the moon just like how she imagined how it would be once this dream of hers comes true—kissing taehyung, his prince charming, who just confessed his love for her.

why is she interfering when i’m in the middle of kissing the man of my dreams?

she pulls away first, her eyes meeting the eyes of her prince charming.

taehyung intertwines their fingers. they stare at each other. he thinks the look on mina’s eyes is conveying adoration to him just like his eyes are doing. but deep down, mina’s heart is clenching because she feels like she’s cheating on nayeon. why do i feel this way? she internally asks herself because if she said it out loud, she’s afraid her prince will disappear. like all this is nothing but a dream. but maybe it is. she’s dreaming while she’s awake. at this moment, her thoughts are running swift inside her mind. taehyung was just the man of mina’s dreams, but why does something in mina is telling her that he’s not the love of her life?

she feels taehyung’s warm palms, cupping her cheeks again and then his lips pressing against hers again. she can’t take this guilt. it’s too much. but she doesn’t stop him because maybe his kisses will make her stop thinking about nayeon but the more he does, the more her guilt rise up inside her and the more she thinks of nayeon.

“mina, will you be my girlfriend?” his hands that are holding hers are shaking. mina squeezes them.

“taehyung. i- i need time to think about this first.”

a look of confusion. “but you just said you love me too.”

“yes, but i need to settle something first.”

“okay. i’ll give you the time you need.”

after that, taehyung walked her back to the hotel she’s staying at.

 

//

 

nayeon’s in her bed with packets of chocolates, watching a movie when mina comes back to their hotel room.

“hey” nayeon nods at her. “how was your date? took you longer than i thought.”

there’s that guilt again as she lays her eyes on her bestfriend but she shrugs it away.

“it was good. we kissed.” she says, trying to sound happy about it.

“woah! that’s unexpected.” nayeon’s eyes widen and her jaw drops.

“yeah, so unexpected.” mina says but she also meant it was unexpected to feel something for her friend after a long time of being friends. why now? has it always been there but i just never noticed? she thinks to herself.

“you don’t look so happy about it though.” nayeon’s concerned now. “come here.” telling mina to sit beside her in her bed. “did something else happen? did he say he doesn’t feel the same way?”

“he did. he even said it to me first.” mina sighs.

“then what’s wrong?” the warm caresses of nayeon’s hand on her back is comforting.

“it didn’t feel magical like how i imagined it to be. instead, i felt like my feelings for him weren’t even real. like, he’s just a crush and will always stay that way. nothing more.” 

nayeon wants to push her into saying more. she knows there’s something else bothering her friend. “i can tell there’s something else, mina.”

mina looks at her and she debates whether she should tell her. but she needs to gauge her feelings first. maybe what she felt wasn’t really like she was cheating. maybe she just felt bad because she left her bestfriend alone and nayeon doesn’t like being left alone especially in an unfamiliar place.

“have you been sensing something?”

“no. why? are you sensing a ghost in this room?” nayeon’s eyes widen again, she gets a pillow to hug because it somehow makes her feel safe.

“no, nayeonnie. that’s not what i meant.” mina groans and nayeon loosens up, relieved that it’s not what she thought it was. she leans forward. “look at me.” their faces are only a few inches apart so that her bestfriend can see her eyes clearly. the latter leans backwards.

“i’m looking.” she says, confused.

“what do you see?”

“your face?”

“this isn’t working” she mumble. she takes nayeon’s hand and puts it against her chest.

nayeon looks at where her hand is placed.

“nayeon, i think im in love with you.”

nayeon chokes on air. “what?!” am i dreaming or is she on drugs?

“i know right?! it can’t be! i can’t!”

“wait, wait, wait. are you drunk?” nayeon sniffs her. “you don’t smell like alcohol though.”

“im not drunk.”

“so what’s with you going all crazy?”

“i don’t know.” mina whines. “that’s why i’m asking you if you can sense it, because if you can sense it then maybe it’s true.”

“well, i think you’ll know it yourself.”

“but i don’t know!” mina says frustratingly.

“then, just let it be. ignore it” nayeon throws her hands up. then she briskly shakes her head. “hold on! what about taehyung?”

“he- he asked me to be his girlfriend, but i told him i needed time to think.”

“ah.” nayeon nods understandingly. “why though?”

“because when he kissed me, i thought of you and i felt like i was cheating on you.”

nayeon’s eyes widen for the nth time tonight. “mina, you might just be in love with me.”

“, , !” mina grips on two handfuls of her hair. “no offense but i don’t want you, nayeon. i want taehyung! he’s been the man of my dreams since high school! but, when he asked me to be his girlfriend, i couldn’t bare to say yes.”

nayeon isn’t offended because she’s convinced that mina isn’t in her right mind. “mina.” she takes her hands in hers. “relax.” but she doesn’t.

“do you feel the same way for me?”

nayeon chokes on air again. this is not how she wants to confess to mina. “mina, did he make you snort something?” she laughs. she’s not really sure if she should be believing her friend right now.

“nayeon, im serious.”

“i also seriously think he put something on your food. you should take a rest first. you look sleepy.”

maybe taehyung did put something on my food. mina thinks to herself, almost convinced. mina slumped on nayeon’s bed and she’s fast asleep which made nayeon convinced that mina wasn’t in her right mind.

 

//

 

the next day, mina seemed to have forgotten about what happened last night and nayeon just ignores the thought of it. maybe taehyung did drug her.

it’s the last day of their hawaiian vacation. they went shopping and then went back to their hotel room to rest for a bit.

at 2pm, they went out to have late lunch. then, they went sightseeing for the last time.

now, they’re at the beach, watching the sunset for the very last time.

mina receives a text from taehyung. “can we meet again tonight?” she texts her back, “sure.”

mina asks nayeon what her wish is for the new year. there's something about the sunset that makes people open up.

"i wish i can control and manage myself better in the new year. i hope the business that my parents passed on to me will continue to be successful. i wish good health, physically and mentally, for myself and the people i love. I want to be more relaxed and less stressed."

"that's a lot of wishes." mina laughs. "but i wish for the same things, too."

"there's one more thing. i wish to express myself more."

"but you are expressive."

nayeon shrugs and smiles. she really thought it would be easy. she was even confident about it before they left for hawaii, but now she's asking herself how she can say it. she's not good with confrontations and confessing to mina feels just like confronting someone. "i am. but there are some things im not brave enough to express in words."

mina nods. "maybe if you express it in your actions, you'll be able to convey it. actions speak louder than words after all." because i see it. but you're  braver than me. if you jump, i'll jump. but i need you to be down there to catch me.

"you’re  right. and that's  what i've  been doing." do you see it? nayeon assumes she does. it should be obvious enough for her bestfriend to not sense it. "funny how it gets so hard to be honest when you're in love and just wanna confess it." nayeon continues, chuckling.

"that's just the way it is." mina breathes in deeply. she doesn’t understand too. "so, you just have to say it or else you might just regret not saying it your whole life." she's not just saying this to the other girl, she's also saying it to herself, too.

  

//

later that night, mina meets with taehyung.

“im sorry taehyung. maybe i was just fantasizing or maybe my feelings for you were already gone when you confessed to me that night. i thought it was still there, so i said it back to you. but i was wrong and im so sorry for getting your hopes up.”

taehyung is heartbroken but he smiles and assures her that it’s okay. that he understands and he’ll be fine.

after her talk with nayeon, mina’s sure about her now. there’s just something in her that says she wants nayeon and she needs her in her life. but most of all, she might just be the love of her life and just never realized that she's been in love with her till that night taehyung kissed her and she felt guilty because it felt like cheating on nayeon.

 

//

 

when mina was walking back to the hotel, she comes across a boutique and a dress catches her eyes. she thinks she would look perfect in it so she buys it.

she's now back at their hotel room. nayeon comes in from the balcony.

"hey."

"hey. i-uh. i got you something." mina gives the paperbag to nayeon.

"aww." the older girl asks beams, excited to see what's  inside. she gasps when she takes out the beautiful floral dress. "aww mina, this dress is so pretty! thank you." she approaches her friend and hugs her.

mina tells her to try it on. when she comes out of the bathroom, mina thinks she was right, that she would look perfect in it.

"mina, i don't wanna wear this."

mina looks disappointed. "why not? is it the fitting? does it feel uncomfortable?"

"no. it's just that everyone would think it looks pretty on me, so i wouldn't want to wear it anymore."

"eh? i don't  get it." mina tilts her head.

"i know it kinda sounds rude but i don't  want you to get me wrong." so nayeon tries to explain clearer. "let's  say you're  wearing a really pretty outfit at work and you really like it. everyone thinks it's  so pretty and they would tell you that you look pretty in it. you keep hearing that comment that it makes you not want to wear it anymore."

"ah~" mina finally gets it. she nods her head but there's  still a slight frown on her face. "then, just wear it when im the only one around." the suggestion made herself and the other girl blush.

"your mind is really funny,  nayeonnie."

 

//

 

they are preparing to go to the airport. nayeon is wearing a knitted cream-colored hooded jacket under a white t-shirt and paired it with wide blue jeans. mina thinks she looks like a real baby now that she's wearing her hood over her head.

they're at the lobby, waiting for their cab to arrive. nayeon looks outside, trying to imprint the surroundings in her memory.

"i wanna go back here when we can stay longer and go wherever we want without you having work schedules."

"'we'?"

"yes." nayeon frowns. "what? don't you wanna come back here?

"yes. but not with you."

"why not?" she pouts.

"because you're whiny, nayeonnie." mina laughs, teasing her.

"i promise i won't be whiny. just come back with me. i need your english-speaking skills."

"okay. but i got another condition."

"whatever that is, im good with it."

"really? you're gonna give me free round-trip flights?"

nayeon's mouth is in agape. "that's too much, mina. you have more money than me now!"

"but you said 'anything'." mina raises her voice.

"yeah, 'anything' but that!"

"then, i won't go with you."

"hold on." nayeon raises a hand. "you pay for your plane tickets, but i'll take care of all the accomodation and food and everything when we touchdown in hawaii. how about that?" nayeon forwards her hand to mina. "deal?"

"deal." mina takes her hand for a handshake to seal their deal.

 

//

 

at the airport...

a guy has been flirtatiously looking at mina. she feels uncomfortable by it and even more when the guy approaches them.

"hey. sorry i've been glancing at you. i just thought you're so beautiful. uh, btw, my name's **.  can i, maybe, have your number? i mean, if that's alright and if you're single." his glance shifts from mina to nayeon and then back to mina, as he says the last line, sounding almost in a questioning tone.

 mina, getting what he's trying to imply, says, "oh, no. were not. we're just friends."

 then nayeon interrupts. "well, she is, but i'm not." she fakes a smile. she subtly glares at him, trying to intimidate him.

 mina hits her side, giving her a look and mouths "what are you doing?"

 "oh, uh  i guess someone's first in line already. i'll leave my calling card to you if you still accept more people in the line

 

//

 

mina takes the card.

nayeon reaches to take it from her hand. "no you're not."

but mina dodges. "yes, i am."

nayeon turns to the confused guy and glares at him "no, she's not." she takes the card from mina and gives it back to him.

mina smiles at him apologetically. "sorry." she said in a low voice.

"it's okay." the guy smiles awkwardly and leaves.

then mina turns to nayeon with wide, angry eyes. "nayeon? what was that? you just screwed my chance of getting asked out by a cute guy."

"you can't hangout with him. no" nayeon shakes her head.

"why not?"

"because!" she says, annoyingly. she groans. "mina? do you seriously don't get it?"

"no? what is there to get ?"

"you're clearly playing dumb."

she is, but she wants the other girl to admit it to her.

"is it that hard to say?"

"yes!" nayeon groans again. "you're so annoying."

"and you're so whiny. just continue what you were saying, i'll listen. 'because' what?"

this could be a good timing. it won't  be dramatic and she can just say it simply and comfortably. 

"because i like you, duh!?" nayeon says with an attitude.

there you go. mina's heart jumps but she tries not to show it, so she just laughs. 

“so you're just going to laugh at me, huh?”

“what do you want me to do, kiss you?”

“yes!” nayeon responds confidently. then she grabs her face and pulls her in. she kisses her. mina closes her eyes as her lips respond to the kiss.

 

//

 

an hour after the plane took off, a flight attendant serves them their food. she asks nayeon—whose seat is in the aisle—if she needs anything else.

“no, im good. thanks.” she smiles back at the flight attendant.

"what about your friend?"

"oh, we're not friends."

"yes, we are." mina interrupts, smiling at the attendant.

"not anymore."

"since when?"

"since earlier? at the airport?" nayeon groans and changes her tone to a more serious one, her voice a little deeper. "stop playing dumb, please."

"im not!"

they hear an interrupting clearance of throat. they look up and meets the eyes of the annoyed attendant.

"sorry." mina says awkwardly. “we got nothing else we need. we're good. thanks."

the lady just smiles at them fakely and leaves.

"if you want labels, you have to ask for it, nayeon." 

nayeon grunts. "then, will you be my girlfriend?" she rolls her eyes.

"that doesn't sound so sincere. you sound mad. if you are, then im not going to answer you."

nayeon takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. this is suddenly making her feel nervous. "why are you making things hard for me?" she murmurs and takes another deep breath. "mina myoi, will you take me as your girlfriend?"

"there you go. sincerity is key, nayeonnie."

"so?"

"yes."

mina never felt so happy saying that word and nayeon never felt so happy hearing the same word.

"yes?"

"now, you're playing dumb?"

"no. im actually genuinely dumb right now. so, you're my girlfriend now?"

mina nods, grinning.

"then, that means i can now kiss you." she wiggles her brows suggestively.

mina nods again.

so nayeon starts to lean in but mina stops her, putting a finger to the front of her lips. "but i'd rather save it for later because we've embarrassed ourselves enough in this plane already."

"okay." nayeon says, reaching out to take mina's hand in hers. "we can do this now, too, right?"

"yes, nayeonnie. now, stop asking for permission like you've never been with anyone before."

"i've never been, officially. you're my first."

"really?"

nayeon nods, proudly.

"im honored." mina squeezes her hand.

nayeon may not be the person of her dreams but mina’s contented with this person who owns the hand that she’s holding.

they were the right people for each other but the timing wasn't right until now

 

 

---

(kinda posted this late here at aff.) thank you for reading and i wish us all a happy 2022! 🥂🎊🎇🎆🎉

twt: @namyoim