Jungyeon's face was contorted and she was starting to look like she was constipated. She was clutching her stomach Nayeon stared at her. "Oh for crying out loud, just go ahead and release that.

Jungyeon tried one last time but she was really unable to hold it in and burst into laughter. "Oh...oh god, I'm in love with your sister, really, Nayeon, really? Of all the things you could have said."

Nayeon could not believe they were still laughing because of the incident in the cafeteria earlier. Although, she herself was still embarrassed at what she blurted out.

"Tell us the truth though. You expected her to have a different reaction, right? You expected her to act all jealous, didn't you?" Jihyo noticed her friend's expression turning a bit more sour so she decided to push it even more. "But instead you only got a 'Good luck with that' and now you're all sulky." She poked Nayeon's cheek which only angered the girl even more.

She recalled what happened as they waited for Mina who was called to the principal's office after school has ended.

Nayeon remembered the horror on Jessica's face when literally half of the people in the cafeteria heard her saying she was in love with someone's sister. She saw how Mina's older sister tried to go out of the cafeteria swiftly and without the people noticing. Jessica even forgot to put away her tray.

She looked Mina who was still stuffing her face with rice balls, chewing it, not a care in the world while she was having a mental breakdown. She immediately told Mina that she didn't mean what she just said and that she and Jungyeon was just playing something stupid.

What Jihyo said was correct. Nayeon did expect Mina to be a little jealous but all she got was "Good luck with that. My sister has broken a lot of hearts. I don't think she would mind the huge but I think you might die once she starts talking about Physics so maybe you could buy earplugs. The ones that are not too noticeable but yeah, good luck with my high maintenance unnie." Then, the girl went back to eating. She wasn't able to talk to her about it when they went back to class because she didn't know know what to say.

"You really should've just grabbed that opportunity that Jungyeon gave you."

"I can't. I'm not ready yet."

Jungyeon has finally let out all the laughter stored in her. "When will you be ready? After the we've performed in the school assembly and everyone else in the school has finally seen her moves? It'll be too late by then. Sana and Momo became popular when they became part od the dance club. Imagine her being popular."

"Guys and girls would be fawning over pretty Myoui. We're telling you now that you will regret not confessing earlier."

"But I'm not ready yet," Nayeon whined like a child.

"No. It's not because you're not ready. It's just that you haven't thought of something grand or something unique to do to confess to her yet."

Just then Mina arrived carrying a bunch of textbooks and Nayeon quickly got them from her to help her. "What are these for?"

"Principal Song let me borrow it. She told me that you could use it when we study together."

Nayeon thought of this as a good opportunity to correct her mistake earlier and gather enough courage on the way to Mina's house to finally confess. "Can we study today?"

Mina shrugged. "I guess. I have nothing else to do. Oh and I bumped into Sana, she said you three better have the steps memorized by the time we perform or she will remove all of the hair on your head off...with a drill. I could show you a video of how she will do that."

---

Nayeon placed the cold pack that Mina provided on top of her head. She felt dizzy from the video they watched minutes ago. "She just wanted to eat the corn."

Mina really showed them an actual footage of a girl loosing a bunch of her hair because of a drill that had a corn on it. Nayeon found it nauseating and her two friends remembered that that was what Sana would do to them if they ed up the dance so they ran home vowing to practice the routine until their legs fall off.

"Well, she shouldn't have had to act pretty and just tied her hair up like this."

Nayeon watched as Mina expertly twirled her hair and used the band on her forearm to put her hair in a low ponytail and she realized that it was her first time to see Mina in a different hairstyle. She's seen the pictures in Mina's room and besides the color that she has now and black, Nayeon hasn't seen any pictures of Mina with a different hair color.

"Do you ever plan on changing your hair color before graduation?"

"No. I'm fine with how it is now."

"Do you ever want a shorter hair?"

"Do you ever shut the up?!" The lost, rained on, hasn't eaten for days, puppy look on Nayeon's face made Mina regret her words. "Sorry. I'm sorry. I'm just used to talking to other players online like that. What I meant was, do you ever shut up? What issue do you have with my hair?"

Nayeon hung her head low and let the cold pack fall on her lap. "I just didn't think it was possible for you to look more beautiful with your hair like that."

"We've talked about this," said Mina, frustration lacing her voice, "stop saying that or calling me pretty. Your friends, too. Why are all three of you so stubborn?"

Nayeon remembered her initial reason for constantly telling Mina that she was pretty and she knew she had to set it straight. "Look, I called you pretty before because seeing you get irritated because of it was some sort of revenge for me but I really mean it. You are pretty. You're beautiful."

Mina felt the sincerity but she didn't know how to respond to it. Okay, she was beautiful. Should she thank Nayeon for saying that? Thank the parents for thr genes? Thank fate? She didn't like the feeling of not knowing and that was why she'd rather have them stop saying it. "God! Just...do these exercises."

Nayeon grabbed the textbook from her and obeyed like a good student. When she was finished she told Mina and the latter got off her swivel chair to sit beside Nayeon on her bed, checking the girl's work.

While Mina was busy checking her work, all that was running through her head was how to confess to Mina. "Listen, earlier at the cafeteria, I didn't really mean I was in love with Miss Jung...I..."

Mina stopped what she was doing and looked at Nayeon. "Is it...Krystal-unnie then?"

"What?"

There was something about the way Mina asked if it was Krystal that made Nayeon think she was jealous and she was going to lie if she said she didn't like that thought a bit. "Would it make you jealous if it was really her?"

Mina was starting to get upset. "Why her?"

If her older sister asked her, she would still deny it but she's really starting to consider Nayeon and her friends to be her friends or at least really good companions especially when she goes home so knowing that Nayeon has taken a liking to her other step sister, Krystal, didn't sit to well with her.

"She is pretty, too and the is considerably smaller."

Mina was fuming now. She could not believe Nayeon was stupid enough to simply fall for her looks. Nayeon had the gall to use the word "love" when she knew nothing about how toxic Krystal's personality was, Mina thought.

"That's it?" Mina scoffed. "You know what? Whatever. Do you want me to give you the address to her dorm because why would you be here when you could just be with her, right?" She abruptly stood up, pen in hand, and angrily grabbed a post-it to scribble Krystal's address.

After she was done writing, she pulled Nayeon by the wrist and led her towards the door, shoving the note to her hand. "There! Don't waste your time here and just go to her!"

Nayeon wanted to see a jealous Mina, not a raging one who looked like she could kill anyone in her way. "Yah, w-wait! It's not...she's not! Will you calm down?"

Mina stopped pushing Nayeon out of her room and let her talk. "It's not Krystal. I'm not in love with her. I don't even know her. I've only seen her once."

The two went back to sit down on Mina's bed and Nayeon continued, "I am in love with someone but it's neither of your sisters."

"But you said..."

"Yeah, not one of my brightest moments." Nayeon was preparing to confess but was stopped when they heard a knock on the door.

Mina got up to get it and it was her mom, telling her to get ready because they were going out for dinner.

Nayeon knew that was her cue to go home so she gathered her things and bid goodbye but before she left, she made sure Mina wasn't upset anymore. She was going to have to confess some other time.

On her way home, all she could think about was how Mina reacted when Krystal's name was brought up. She's seen that reaction from Mina and she tried to shrug it off, thinking that it was a simple siblings fight but now she was thinking it was a lot more than that.

Nayeon ran her fingers through her hair. "She has obvious issues with her dad and now she has one with her sister, too. Why are you so mysterious? Why can't you just open up?"

---

Momo was checking everyone's outfit while Sana was talking to (harassing) the guys in charge of the sound system to make sure that they would be doing their job right.

It was the day of the school assembly and the dance club would be performing in front of the school body so the students don't stab themselves in the head because of pure boredom or at least that's what Sana would tell the members of the club. All the members were gathered in a room doing their own pre-performance rituals.

Mina and Nayeon were sitting on a table, something Sana told them not to do because the tables easily break but everyone still does regardless. Only when Sana was not looking.

"Are you--"

"Yes, I am! I'm so nervous I will probably piss my pants. Hold me." Nayeon looked at Mina hopefully but the latter blinked once, twice and chuckled.

"I was going to ask if you were ready."

"Oh. Aren't you nervous?"

Mina shook her head. "I know I won't up and ruin the whole thing."

"But a lot of people are going to be watching."

"Yes. Mostly people our age and who are more of an idiot than you are."

Nayeon sighed. "Is this because you've done ballet when you were younger and did one of those recital thingy? My sister did one of those when she was little when she was learning how to play the flute. Her instructor almost went insane the first time she did it because she was fooling around and tried playing it with her nose." She laughed as she remembered being in the audience clapping for her sister, egging her to go on. The memory made her miss Tzuyu again since the younger girl has gone back to the states with their mom but it also helped her to calm down.

"Yeah, I did one of those. Wait, where's Jihyo and Jungyeon?"

"Under us."

Mina creased her brows. She was thinking if Nayeon meant she's buried them under the ground.

"They're under the table. Calling every saint they know which is not much because it's just Santa Claus and Saint Tooth Fairy."

"That's not-- nevermind." Mina didn't bother. She figured their teachers in Theology wouldn't have the heart to hold the three of them back because one of the saints they know wasn't even a saint to begin with. It was in it's damn name.

They heard Sana calling all the members with her high-pitched voice. It was either she was very excited or she was just about to ready to kick someone's . Or maybe excited to kick someone's .

"Ooooohhh, I feel dizzy. Why am I even so nervous? I think it was because of that video you showed us last time. I don't want to be bald. Why does Sana have to be so ruthless? What has Japan done to her?" Nayeon has stood up and was pacing back and forth in front of Mina. Most of the students who would be watching them would love to see Nayeon screw up and make a fool of herself. Nayeon was sure of it.

Mina pulled her by the collar to stop her from pacing and sat her back down. "Get your together and stop thinking about Sana."

Nayeon took that time to stare at Mina's face as if she hasn't done it at least a hundred times. If this was weeks ago, she wouldn't be liking how close their faces were. She would have feel annoyed seeing Mina's face and the beauty marks on it. "I wasn't thinking about Sana."

"Good."

Nayeon knew this was probably not the best time to do it but she has, all of a sudden, had the the words to say. "These days all I think about is you. Your smart mouth. Your smile. Your perfect nose. Your expressive eyes that show more emotions now and I wish I could see more. Your...your mind that I wish I could understand but it would probably take me a lifetime to do so. I...just wish I could understand even half of what you're thinking sometimes. If I could I would spend a day, a week, a month, a year...I'd spend all my life listening to you. Listening to what you have to say just to try and understand you because I feel like you have a lot to say but you think no one would listen. I want to be that person. I-I can...I can be that person who would listen without any judgment."

Nayeon could see the dance club members leaving the room and heading towards the stage. She knew she had to hurry up. "Maybe it's that time we met with your friend or maybe it was the first time I saw you dance. It could even be that time with Jinri or...maybe that time I was all bruised and battered and you told me something that made me want to make myself better. I'm not sure of the exact moment I have fallen for you but I have. Hard, too. I'm in love with you. Not any of your sisters. It's you. Just you."

Nayeon prepared herself for the onslaught of bad words that Mina could think of to say to her or a 7 minute non-stop laughter followed by a big fat 'NO' but none of that came. Instead, she felt Mina's warm hand on her cheek, gently tapping it once, twice, thrice, a total of five times.

Mina took a deep breath before saying, "Let's not up the performance. Fi-fighting!" She made a bee line out of that room and to where the others are. All she wanted was for Nayeon to calm down so she could get through with the performance. She didn't expect for Nayeon to be confessing and pouring her feelings out right then and there. She had to lean on a wall to prevent herself from collapsing. Nayeon just had to do it right before the dance and now Mina's legs were shaking.

She still wasn't nervous about performing but she could feel her heart beating really fast. She recalled Nayeon's words. Nayeon told Mina she was willing to listen to what she has to say and listen without judgment. That was what Mina has been wanting all her life. Someone who would listen to her but how could she know if she could trust Nayeon's words? She didn't want to give her trust to someone and give them the ability to hurt her. She's been through that but she was also thinking Nayeon could be different.

"What am I doing? I just told her to get her together. I'm the one who needs to get my together."

Mina saw Nayeon with Jungyeon and Jihyo and they caught each other's eyes. Nayeon showed her a toothy smile and she returned it with a small smile that gradually turned into a bigger one when she saw Jungyeon and Jihyo acting silly behind Nayeon. The two were forming hearts with their fingers, arms, hands and every part of their body that was possible to use. They only stopped when Sana approached them.

"Mina, are you ready?" Momo asked her. She nodded and stretched a bit more.

The dance club was finally getting introduced by the emcee and Mina, who was positioned in the front look to where Nayeon is and just as she expected Nayeon was staring back at her. Nayeon smiled at her and she smiled back but she wasn't sure if the latter had seen it because when she heard the cue that the routine was starting, she quickly looked to the front.

The students cheered them on as soon as they started and it only got louder when it got to the part where Momo, Sana and Mina were in the center and it was just the three of them dancing. Everyone had been expecting but since it was their first time seeing Mina to be part of the dance club, some of them even thought she she was a transferee, all eyes were on her. She didn't fail them. She moved with grace but hit the right moves when she had to.

Nayeon watched in amazement, along with the rest of the people there. She would've preferred to be part of the audience but she didn't mind her view, too.

When the music ended, the members bowed to the audience before exiting the stage.

"Good job, everyone. You've worked really hard." Momo was panting just as hard as everyone else but as the President of the dance club, she was the one they look to for strength after a performance. "To the new members, we're really glad you joined us."

"I know you're all tired," everyone started whining because they knew where Sana was heading, "but we'll be starting our training next week. We'll be training during weekends, too."

The three loudest whiners were Nayeon, Jihyo and Jungyeon but Nayeon stopped when Mina nudged her. "Stop it, you two," she told her friends.

"For the newcomers who didn't know, when we perform here in school or other schools for competition, we usually get the rest of the day off so--"

The trio, along with Mina, didn't need to be told twice. They were headed towards the school entrance with their bags faster Momo could say "jokbal."