"I hope you're happy."

Nayeon scowled. "I didn't even do anything. He was overreacting obviously so he could make me look bad."

"You made a kid cry." Mina could not believe Nayeon would try to defend her actions when they were at the toy shop. The two of them decided to go to the mall to eat and Nayeon was feeling like a toddler and insisted to go to a toy shop where they saw a kid which Nayeon managed to upset and he ended up crying.

"And yes, if we disregard that tiny irrelevant incident at the toy shop, yes, I am happy. I saw my dad after what felt like years," Nayeon glanced at Mina, "and I got to spend the whole day with you. Thank you."

Mina has been trying to figure out what it is that made Nayeon like her. She used to think that she was so unlikeable but here was a girl that acted like she's the best thing that has ever happened to her and Mina was finding it hard to believe.

The two arrived at Mina's house and Mina was about to open the gate but when she tried to let go of Nayeon's hand, the latter only held on tighter. "Uh...I have to go in now. You have to go home."

Nayeon whined. "Can't we hang out more?"

Mina stared blankly at her. "Aren't you tired? I feel like my energy's at 4% and I'm going to need all day tomorrow to get it up to at least 50%. I'm not even ting you right now but I feel like once I've entered my room I'll collapse and I wouldn't even make it to my bed."

"But it's Sunday tomorrow. We won't get to see each other."

"Do you have to see me everyday?"

"For my sanity's sake, yes."

Mina sighed. "We'll see each other on Monday."

Nayeon frowned and Mina had to silently thank her dad that he never got her any pet because if she had one, she would've probably fell for Nayeon's dejected puppy looking face.

"Okay, wait." Nayeon stared at their laced hands and let out a deep breath. "Mina's hand is for the weak. I am not we-- I am weak."

Mina found it highly amusing because it brought back all the incidents that proved Nayeon wasn't trying to pretend to be stupid just to make her laugh.

Nayeon reluctantly let go of Mina's hand and mumbled, "Next time I'm using super glue."

---

It wasn't a secret that Mina gets angry easily but what really makes her think of murderous things is when she gets woken up and Jessica did just that. The worst part was she had to use a feather to tickle her nose. She didn't even want to know where Jessica got that from.

"Hey there, sleepyhead."

Mina sat up, eyes still closed. She was afraid she'd strangle her step sister because of the rude way she woke her. "Unnie, that's really mean. You can't just go in here and wake me up so early. It's Sunday."

Jessica giggled. "Mina, sweetie, it's almost 6pm. We are literally 6 hours away from Monday."

Mina opened one eye and looked at her window only to see that it was already dark outside. She really wasn't kidding when she told Nayeon she needed the whole day to sleep.

"You were out the whole day yesterday. You never go out on weekends. No, wait. You never go out. Period. Do you mind telling me where you went?"

Mina tried rubbing the sleep away from her eyes. "I went with Nayeon to visit her dad in jail." It turned out her slip of the tongue was all she needed to be fully awake. "Oh my god, unnie, please forgret that I told you that. Her dad's in jail but he's not a bad guy." Mina explained to Jessica why Nayeon's father was in jail even though the latter didn't ask for an explanation but that didn't stop her from listening attentively. "So please don't tell anyone."

Jessica ruffled Mina's hair and put an arm around her shoulder. "Don't worry. I won't. It took you a whole day to visit her dad?"

"No. After she saw her dad, we realized we were hungry so went to the mall to eat and...we hung out."

Jessica turned to look at her sister. She faced Mina and held her shoulders. "I have never heard you say those words before. Hang out? Your idea of hanging out is to play with...Irish or Swiss...Russian people in your computer." Mina didn't respond and looked at her duvet like it was the most interesting thing on earth. "Okay. I feel like there are details that you're purposely not telling me. I don't want to use this card but...I'm your sister and I have to know these things."

Mina stared pleadingly at her sister but Jessica only responded to it with a stern stare. "Well...I don't eat with you during lunch anymore, right?"

"Yes because you eat with Nayeon and her friends now. It makes me sad but at the same time glad that you have a circle of friends at school now."

"And you remember that time we danced during the school assembly?"

"Mmhmm."

Mina took a long pause. She still wasn't sure if she should tell her sister but the way Jessica was staring at her, she felt like she was never going to be able to leave her bed if she didn't spill it. "She...Nayeon confessed to me right before our performance."

Jessica tried to contain herself from releasing a squeal but she failed. "She told you she liked you?"

"Not quite. She told me she's in love with me."

Jessica had to cover so her squeal would get muffled. "What did you say?"

Mina recalled her reaction when Nayeon confessed. "I tapped her cheek multiple times and told her we shouldn't up the dance because if we did, Sana would us up real bad."

Jessica started giggling and embraced Mina. "That is so cute. Is she the first one to ever confess to you? Is that why you didn't know how to respond?" Mina nodded her head. "So you haven't told her that you like her? Wait, do you like her?"

"I think I'm starting to." Memories of the times she's spent with Nayeon came flooding and she smiled just thinking about them. "No...I think I do. I do." Mina said it with conviction this time. "I do like her." She saw her sister's smile getting wider. "But she's so incredibly stupid. It's so frustrating sometimes." Mina went on to tell her the conversation she's had with Nayeon and by the time she's told her about the porcupine and hedgehog confusion, Jessica was clutching her stomach from laughing too much.

Once she's stopped laughing, she stared seriously at Mina once again. "But what about the other times?"

"What?"

"You said it's frustrating sometimes, what about the other times?"

"It makes me laugh but not in an insulting way, I don't laugh at her like that. At least, not anymore. She just...she makes me laugh. I feel like my face is getting the facial exercise it deserves when I'm with her because I smile more at the things she says." Mina paused again and hesitantly told her sister what she really felt. "She makes me happy and she makes me feel like the things I say are worth listening to."

Jessica smiled at her the way she's dreamt a sister would smile at her. There was nothing fake about it and it made her feel warm. It made her regrets of sharing her feelings to anyone disappear. "So what's really stopping you from telling her that you could return her feelings?"

Mina knew that if she was going to show her vulnerable side to anyone, this would be the right time and the right person to show it to. "I don't...I can't trust people easily. I'm scared of getting hurt. I'm scared of all the what if's. What if her feelings change? What happens then? Will she just leave me? Will she just move on and fall in love with someone else? What do I do then? Do I get back to my old self? Will I stop talking to other people again? Stop caring about them? Those thoughts scare me."

The things that Mina had just told her made Jessica want to know how their stepfather raised her. She wished she'd paid more attention to Mina as soon as they moved in to their house and became a family. "Listen, those what if's shouldn't be just about scary thoughts because what if...what if Nayeon held your heart, "she pointed to the left side of Mina's chest, "like it's the most precious thing on earth? What if, I'm going out on a limb here because both of you are so young, but what if Nayeon's the one? I mean, isn't it highly probable that she's been behaving pretty well at school now because of you? Don't you think you've made her a better person now? I'm not saying she's a bad person then but she does have a rep of bullying even first graders. Also what if you never tell her what you feel and years later you realize that she's the one that got away? Katy Perry wouldn't like that."

Mina laughed. She and Jessica never really talked much because she was too busy with her academics and when the older sister finally had the time to talk to her, she's closed up all her doors and put up walls that even the Colossal Titan and Armored Titan wouldn't be able to get through. She was glad she was seeing this side of her older step sister.

"No one likes getting hurt or getting their heart broken. I've personally had my heart broken by a few exes and yes, I admit that I've fantasize about how I'd torture them a hundred different ways just so I could get back at them but there are those happy times that I've spent with them that I'm never going to forget. It's already a part of me. A chapter in my book. So yeah, I've been hurt, I've gotten drunk as hell, I've drunk dialled them, I've experienced crying in a corner because I thought losing them was going to be the end of me but it's not going to be that way if you don't let it. Nayeon could do something terrible to hurt you which I hope she doesn't because I tend to be very vengeful and I can't take it when someone hurts the people I love. But if she does hurt you, just think that you're going to learn something from it."

"That I really shouldn't trust other people because all they do is deceive you and hurt you?"

"No. That you finally learned how to love someone. You've finally let go of your fears and just follow what you felt was right. Follow what your feelings tell you. We are designed to have feelings. We're not robots. We can't always be logical. I mean, look at Wall-E, he's a robot but plot twist... he has feelings. He followed them. Followed Eve to outer space and it made him happy. Mina, as you grow older you would realize that if you're not willing to do things because you're scared, then you'll never be truly happy. Sometimes risking your heart getting broken is worth the chance of being happy."

Mina suddenly wrapped her arms around her sister's waist and leaned on her shoulder. She started tearing up and she tried to stop herself from crying but to no avail.

"Are you crying? Aww, you're going to make me cry."

Mina broke the embrace and wiped her tears with the sleeves of her shirt. "I'm just...I'm sorry I missed all of those opportunity to talk to you like this because I'm an idiot."

Jessica helped her wipe her tears. "Sweetie, you're not an idiot. You're a teenager. I've experienced teenage angst, too. Terrible years of my life."

Mina sniffled and gave her sister another quick hug. "Thank you, unnie. For listening."

Jessica felt bad that Mina thought there was nobody in their house that was willing to listen what she would say. "Hey, I'm always here to listen. Always. Remember that. So no matter how trivial it is, you need to tell me things especially when it comes to your admirer because I'm a sad, single, lonely woman who hasn't been on a date for six months. I'm going to be a spinster at this rate."

Mina smiled, thinking it was her turn to do the questioning. "You don't have anyone that you like right now?"

Jessica grinned. "Well, there is. Her name's Yoona."

Mina gasped. "Teacher Im. The Goddess?"

"What?"

Mina shrugged. "That's what everyone calls her."

---

Monday came way too early for Mina. She thought sleeping until 6 in the evening on a Sunday was enough but she still felt like a zombie. She walked into their clasroom and wasn't even surprised anymore that Nayeon was earlier than she was.

Right after Mina has taken her seat Nayeon has moved her chair so she'd be facing Mina. "Morning."

Mina only nodded in acknowledgment and remembered what she was supposed to give Nayeon. She grabbed it from her bag and gave it to Nayeon which made the latter think she was still asleep and she didn't know what she was doing.

"Why are you giving me a choco pie?" Nayeon then remembered something. "You're not going to start giving me dead rats, are you? I don't like rats, dead or alive."

"What?"

Nayeon explained to her what she's read about female cats' behavior and it was one of those times that Nayeon's stupidity frustrated her. "Okay. First of all, I'm not a cat. Second, I'm not your mother. Do you think I am?"

Nayeon scowled. It was way too early for her to be scolded by Mina but she knew it was her fault.

"If you don't want it, then just give it back."

"No, you've already given it to me. It's rude to take it back." Nayeon quickly opened it and shamelessly tried to put the whole thing in which she was successful in doing. "If I had a diary, my entry for today would be about a choco pie and it won't be less than 500 words. The choco pie that Mina gave me."

Mina was too sleepy to respond and she was just thankful that their teacher for their first class has finally arrived. Nayeon spent the first thirty minutes glancing at Mina and she saw how she could barely keep her eyes open. When the teacher started writing something on the board, Nayeon quietly moved her chair and her desk closer to Mina's. She grabbed her bag and placed it on Mina's desk before writing a note.

Take a nap. I'll try to cover you so the teacher won't see you.

That was what Nayeon did until it was time for their lunch break. She gently woke Mina up so they could go to the cafeteria together. "Mina, wake up. Jihyo said she made sandwiches. Real sandwiches this time."

Mina stirred and looked up at Nayeon. She scanned the room to see if everyone has left. she sat up when she was sure they were the only ones left in the room.

"Let's go. I am starving. I could practically hear my stomach complaining and if it could fight me, it would and I would probably lose. I--"

Nayeon stopped talking when she felt Mina's grip. Mina pulled her behind the door. She sometimes wonder why their rooms have to have such large windows.

"Is something wrong?"

Mina shook her head. "Yesterday, I was rudely woken up from what seemed to be like a short coma by my sister and we had a talk."

"Your sister? Ms. Jung?"

"Yes. I told her that you like me."

Nayeon chuckled. "Mina, I don't like you. I'm in love with you."

"R-right. That's what I told her. Our talk made me realize a lot of things. One is that you've become...somewhat a source of my happiness." It made Nayeon smile. "I've realized that it's not just when you do or say stuff that are stupid. I find myself being glad with just you being around."

Mina stared at Nayeon to see what her reaction would be and Nayeon was just smiling at her, looking like she didn't care about her starving stomach anymore. "She also made some good points about being afraid of the what if's because I told her the truth, that I was scared that you would just end up hurting me." Nayeon frowned but she let Mina continue. "She told me that sometimes you just have to follow what you feel is right. Stop being afraid of the what if's. Stop being logical because we're designed to have feelings and..."

Mina suddenly felt tightening. She was about to let go of her fears and she felt like she was about to jump off a cliff. She took a deep breath and looked at Nayeon in the eye. "Right now...right now, I choose to go with my gut feeling. I like you. I mean, I'm not in love with you yet but it's a step closer, right? And it didn't really take much time for me to like you. What I'm trying to say is that I want us...I want us to start dating and...be a couple."

Nayeon put a finger to her lips and said, "I need a moment." She turned around so Mina won't see her.

Mina creased her brows. She found it ridiculous that Nayeon confessed to her first and now that she's told her she wanted them to start dating, she was telling Mina that she "needed a moment."

Nayeon turned around once again so she would be facing Mina. "This isn't some sick joke or cruel prank, is it?"

Mina scoffed. "I just told you what I felt and you think it's--"

She wasn't able to finsih what she was going to say and she wasn't even on the good part (the profanities) when Nayeon enveloped her in a tight hug. "You have no idea how happy I am right now." She broke the hug and let out her hand.

Mina didn't need to be told what to do. She held Nayeon's hand and intertwined them. Nayeon, on the other hand, stood beside Mina and leaned on her shoulder. She looked up to check Mina's reaction. "You're not going to ask me what do I think I'm doing? No swear words? You're not going to shove my head away."

"I don't have the energy to do that. Maybe next time."

Nayeon took her time to enjoy that moment. "Don't you have the energy to go to the cafeteria either?"

"I'm hungry as . I don't care if I have to crawl my way there."

---

Jungyeon and Jihyo were busy arguing about something trivial when they saw nayeon and Mina walking in the cafeteria, their hands laced together.

"Nayeon, did you really use the super glue we gave you?" Jihyo somehow regretted what she did.

The couple took their seats and while Mina was struggling to get the sandiwches from Jihyo's paper bag using one hand, Nayeon was grinning at her friends from ear to ear. "Can I tell them?" she asked Mina.

"We walked all the way from our classroom to the cafeteria hand in hand with you grinning, looking like Joker. You've practically announced it to the whole school."

Nayeon's grin just got wider. "She's my girlfriend."

Jungyeon stood up and started doing a slow clap that no one followed so Jihyo had to pull her by her shirt and make her sit her back down.

Nayeon leaned her head on Mina's shoulder once again. She thought she could really get used to it. "She lets me lean on her shoulder."

"Pretty Myoui, are you sure about this? We've been friends with her for a long time and we know how much of a pain in the she could be."

Mina looked to her side and saw the top of Nayeon's head. "She could be sweet at times, too."

Nayeon grinned proudly and childishly stuck her tongue out at Jungyeon and Jihyo. She was too busy enjoying Mina's shoulder that she forgot to eat and their last class ended, just as they were about to go home, she told Mina that was hungry and she thought she was about to faint. Mina gave her some water and the bought whatever food the old ladies were selling outside their school. Nayeon ate two servings of tteokbboki and six hotteok. She was also munching on a bungeoppang while walking Mina home.

"Do you feel better now?"

Nayeon felt bad because Mina seemed to be really worried but at the same time she was happy at the concern that the girl was showing towards her. "Much better."

When they arrived at Mina's house, Nayeon rubbed the back of Mina's hand with her thumb before letting go.

"What? No 'Mina's hand is for the weak. I am never weak'?"

Nayeon shook her head. "Not anymore because I know I'll be holding your hand again tomorrow and the day after that, the day after that day and so on and so forth."

Mina decided to be playful. "What if I don't let you?"

Nayeon frowned and immediately grabbed Mina's hand again which made the latter laugh. "We're dating now. I'm your girlfriend. You're my girlfriend. First is holding hands and then there'd be hugging and then kissing--"

"Kissing?"

"Yeah, that's what couples do. You have a lot to learn."

It was Mina's turn to frown. "Why? Is that what you've done with the person you've dated before me?"

"What? I haven't dated anyone before you." Mina didn't seem to be convinced. "Both of us have a lot to learn. That's what I meant."

"Huh. I'll be having a serious talk with Jungyeon and Jihyo tomorrow."

_____

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