A/N: I'M ALIVE! Work has been stressful, so I couldn't upload for the past month. 

Anyway, I’d like to thank everyone for your comments on this silly little fic. I appreciate the feedback, especially on Mina’s actions or lack thereof. Thus, I’ve altered the original pacing of the story. The explanation will come in the next 2nd or 3rd update after this one. I think.

The revelation that Momo was in love with Nayeon for years before she and Dahyun got together, thankfully, doesn’t put a strain on their friendship.

They went back to the apartment as they would usually do—Nayeon whining about Momo’s inability to listen to her rant about work for five minutes straight and Momo giving her a side eye that’s so judgmental anyone else would’ve cowered away from her.

That normalcy didn’t mean, however, that Nayeon was simply content to let things be.

Of course, Momo avoided Jeongyeon when they came back and Jeongyeon, despite her annoying tendencies, knew their friend long enough to give her some space to cool down and mull things over. It’s for the best, really, even if it made for an awkward sleepover.

Nayeon didn’t have that same sense with Dahyun, though.

“Dahyunnie,” Nayeon whispered once everyone was already in their respective resting places in the living room and she was sure that no one else was up.

Or lucid enough to care, at least.

“Huh, unnie?” Dahyun whispered right back, voice a little too loud even for Nayeon’s liking.

Nayeon flinched at the volume but still said, “Can we talk?”

“Unnie, shut up,” Jihyo muttered from beside her, annoyed.

Even Momo groaned in her slumber.

Chuckling, Dahyun carefully removed Momo’s hold on her, stood up from her spot, and gestured for Nayeon to follow her out to the balcony.

“What’s up, unnie?” Dahyun asked once they closed the balcony door behind them, and they were sure that their friends inside wouldn’t be disturbed.

It was a little cold out, especially in the middle of the night, but Nayeon didn’t mind the temperature. Instead, she focused on weaving her thoughts into words. She just needed to know something now or she wouldn’t be able to sleep at all.

“Did you know about Momo’s feelings for me?” Nayeon asked, choosing not to beat around the bush. Based on Dahyun’s agreement earlier, Nayeon already had an inkling that Dahyun was at least aware of it.

Dahyun didn’t even flinch at the question. Her eyes were clear as she stared out at the buildings surrounding them. “Yes.”

Nayeon took a sharp intake of breath. She needed a straightforward answer and she got it. Still, she wanted to know, “And it didn’t bother you?”

Dahyun shook her head, the corners of her lips pulled up a little in the beginning of a smile. Nayeon couldn’t quite understand why Dahyun was smiling. “Momo-unnie has always been honest with me. And I knew she was in love with you long before we caught feelings for each other.”

Right. Momo did say that she fell in love with Nayeon back in her freshman year.

“Besides,” Dahyun continued, “she wasn’t exactly subtle about it. She always brought an extra serving of food when she knew it was one of your favorites. Momo-unnie doesn’t share her food.”

“She does it with you,” Nayeon argued. She’d seen how Momo would give portions of her food to Dahyun even when the younger woman didn’t ask for it. And for Momo to do that meant she deeply cared about the other person. Because Dahyun was right. Momo never shares her food.

“And she did it with you, too.”

Nayeon quickly went through all of her memories of spending her lunch break with Momo to remember if Momo did bring extra during those times. She could vaguely recall that Momo started sharing her food with her a month after they’d become ‘official’ friends and she never once did it with anyone else. Even smacked away Jeongyeon’s sneaky hand for trying to steal that one time—

Well, .

Nayeon was oblivious.

Momo was in love with her for years and she didn’t notice. Not once.

“You’re not… uncomfortable with it?” Nayeon eventually asked, after a long minute of silence from her. She was still having a hard time wrapping her head around the revelations she heard tonight. “Even with… you know… that knowledge?”

Dahyun shook her head before meeting Nayeon’s eyes. “It’s a thing of the past, unnie. I’m getting married to her. She proposed to me. Believe me when I say we had a lot of talk about whether I was just filling a role in her life you never would.”

Nayeon flinched as if slapped. The words stung even though she knew Dahyun didn’t mean anything by it. She was just being factual. “Dahyun-ah, I’m sorry. I-I didn’t—”

“I know, unnie.” Dahyun gave her a reassuring smile as she reached out to place her hand on Nayeon’s arm. “And it’s okay, really. I know Momo-unnie loves you in that genuine way she does. You’d always have a special place in her life. That’s okay. I’ve made peace with that. I’m content and secure in the simple fact that she is in love with me.”

God, that took a lot of trust and security. Nayeon was genuinely amazed by the strength of her friends’ relationship. And at the same time, she knew that Momo and Dahyun had always worked well together, so it was no surprise that they managed to put that behind them.

“Anyone told you how annoyingly kind you are?”

Dahyun chuckled. “Momo-unnie might have said it a couple of times.”

Nayeon knows that Momo’s relationship with Dahyun makes the both of them determined to simply accept Momo’s feelings for her for what they are—part of the past. History. Nothing has to change just because Momo was once in love with her.

Still, Nayeon won’t deny that hearing such a confession when it’s no longer relevant was a shock to her system. She still quite can’t wrap her head around the fact that Momo fell for her back when they were teenagers. But at the same time, the revelation and the deal explained why Momo was so affected by Mina’s return. And Nayeon’s… inability to resist her.

A pact between two people who value promises like their lives depends on it.

That can only mean that something grave must’ve happened to Mina for her to break her pact—which she had with Momo no less.

Add that to Dahyun’s confession and her own thoughts, things just became even murkier.

After their conversation about Momo, they remained like that on the balcony for a couple of minutes, lost in their own thoughts as they looked out at the high-rise buildings surrounding the area.

It was peaceful.

Except for Nayeon, there was a turmoil that was brewing in her mind and she needed to address it or at least speak to someone about it or she’d go crazy.

So, she did.

“Dahyun-ah,” Nayeon began, “did you and the others talk about Mina, too?”

This time, Dahyun’s answer wasn’t instantaneous.

Nayeon was half-afraid she pushed too far. Their friend group hadn’t really talked about the situation with Mina—the thing earlier was the closest they got to it—so she was unsure about how Dahyun and the rest of her friends (excluding Momo) felt about Mina now.

Things had changed, after all. Nayeon was no longer as hostile to Mina as she was before. She knew her friends had noticed it, prompting them to become more civil with Mina, too.

But did their treatment or view of Mina change just like Nayeon’s did? That, Nayeon didn’t know.

After a beat, Dahyun finally replied, “We have, yeah, unnie. Not a lot but we…”

“Hmm?” Nayeon prompted.

“We’re all pissed at Mina-unnie, too,” Dahyun continued, her voice wasn’t agitated despite her next words. “She’s been back for months but hasn’t said anything at all. Even Sana-unnie is getting annoyed even after suggesting to just let her be for the time being to give her the courage.”

Nayeon didn’t say anything, afraid to make Dahyun clam up when she finally had someone talk to her.

Dahyun, thankfully, didn’t disappoint. “But we’re also worried,” she said. “We know Mina-unnie. We’re not trying to make up excuses for her but we know she’s always been introspective. She’d weigh her options carefully. Momo-unnie thinks otherwise and she really insists on demanding answers from her. But you and I both know that will only result in a fistfight if Momo-unnie doesn’t get what she wants.”

The number of times that they’d thought that Momo would only brawl with Mina was ridiculous at this point. Although, Nayeon shouldn’t be surprised. If Momo couldn’t talk it out, she’d spar it out instead. That had always been one of her coping mechanisms.

“So, what decision did you girls come up with?” Nayeon asked.

Dahyun expelled air through her nose, the sigh the only sound between them, until she replied, “We don’t wanna pressure her, unnie. But we also want to know. We all deserve to know. Especially you, unnie.”

Nayeon clenched her jaw. Yeah, she deserved to know, and yet Mina was doing nothing about it. Why?

“Although, we’ve been trying to talk to Mina-unnie recently, too.”

Nayeon blinked. That was news to her.

“We’d invite her to lunch dates sometimes just to catch up, you know?” Dahyun explained when Nayeon just stared at her. “And it’s been great so far. It’s like she never even left in the first place. But, it’s also kinda awkward sometimes because we can’t keep ignoring the elephant in the room.”

Nayeon didn’t even try to pipe up because she knew Dahyun wasn’t finished talking yet. She knew there had to be a follow-up to that.

And Nayeon was proven right when Dahyun eventually added, “We actually tried to address it one time.”

“What did she say?”

Dahyun seemed more hesitant this time. Nayeon felt kinda bad for putting her in a compromising position after the conversation they just had about Momo’s feelings for her. But she also knew Dahyun wouldn’t say anything at all if she didn’t want to.

“I don’t think I’m in the position to say, unnie,” said Dahyun.

“Did she explain to you?” Did she? Did Mina tell them everything but not to her?

“No. Nothing like that.” Dahyun shook her head. “She wants you to be the first to hear her reasons. She just…” She sighed as if contemplating if she could say her next words out loud, “…said she’s afraid. Didn’t want to lose Minji. Or you. Again.”

Nayeon clenched her jaw, not expecting the slight stab of pain in her chest at hearing that. So, Mina still cared. Cared enough to not want to lose neither her nor Minji. Just not enough to explain. “It’s been months. She’s being selfish. She—she kno