“Aish, why did you leave Hanbin-ah alone?” Jiwon asked the moment he saw her walking into the kitchen, water bottle in his hands and tired expression.

“Because you weren’t there,” she whined quietly, casting down her eyes as she got closer, stealing a bottle for herself and missing Jiwon’s eye roll.

“That’s the idea, leaving the two of you alone. You two are unnerving,” he complained, going to sit on a stool, continue drinking. 

Minrin was sulking and her cheeks still burnt, so she pressed the cold bottle agains them, trying to calm down her heart. 

Hanbin saying those things, even if it was jokingly, set her heart racing because she had imagined it too many times. For a year it had made her so conflicted, realising her feelings for the boy she had seen growing. She could remember the first time she saw him, as a newborn baby. How could she like him? But as he  up and became a man, carrying responsibilities and the weight of being the leader of the hot band of the year, Minrin couldn’t deny her feelings any longer. 

She liked her childhood friend.

But Hanbin had never really shown interest in girls and was always busy pursuing his dream, now that he had accomplished it, he was too busy working hard. He was an idol now, he didn’t even have time to date, let alone like someone. And why would he like her back when she was just a noona he had grown up with?

To hide her own feelings, she joked a lot about him and Jiwon together, becoming a Double B shipper. Yes, it was cute, but she didn’t really romantically shipped them, quite the contrary, she wanted to be the one next to him.

She sat next to Jiwon, trying not to sulk too much.

“I get too nervous when we’re alone now, and if he starts saying things to make me blush, I have to escape.” Minrin heard Jiwon’s groan.

As Hanbin had been her best friend growing up, she had no other friend she trusted enough to talk about such things. Jiwon was the only one who she had told about her feelings, the one she had chosen to confide in. At first he was a bit surprised but then really happy and pushed her to tell Hanbin, insisting she just had to leap, but she couldn’t do it. Hanbin was her precious friend, how could she ruin that?

As time went by and she continued struggling with liking him and seeing him change, growing more confident, learning he was y and manly, she constantly came to Jiwon asking for some support. He grew tired of that, but she didn’t have anyone else and it was overwhelming for her.

“Why can’t you just tell him and stop all this?” Minrin didn’t think she was so annoying with her unrequited love, she couldn’t understand why Jiwon seemed so done with her.

“You know why,” Minrin mumbled, playing with the ring on her left ring finger, the one with the cat ears Hanbin had given her for her last birthday. She always wore it, not only because it was a cat ring, but because he had given it to her. And she wore it on that finger because her heart was taken by him.

“Seriously,” Jiwon began. “You have no faith in your friendship. You think it’d be over just because it doesn’t work? Even if he accepted your feelings and you two dated and then broke up, you’d still be friends. You’d overcome all awkwardness and continue being friends like you’ve ben for nineteen years already.”