"You have to give us credit for lasting a week. That girlfriend of yours knows what she wants and has her ways to get them."

Nayeon glared at Jungyeon. She felt like she was back to square one.

"And she is not even ignoring you. Look, she's coming here now," Jihyo pointed at Mina who had a towel in her hand.

"The group only takes ten. You three have been sitting here for thirty minutes now. Sana said stop it."

Mina walked away and it frustrated Nayeon even more. She knew something was up and she confirmed it when her two friends came clean. She wasn't sure if Mina was angry. She still held Nayeon's hand and still let Nayeon lean her head on her shoulder but it was different. One week into their relationship and Nayeon thought she's already done something to upset Mina.

"Did you hear that? She said 'you three.' She is totally ignoring me."

"Nayeon, are you stupid? That's us three."

"How are you so sure?"

"Who else could it be?!"

"This is your fault. Why'd you have to tell her?"

"We've told you she used the force on us. We're not even kidding."

"Jungyeon, I swear I will--"

"She really did...or maybe some Japanese version of the force. I don't know. It's like talking with Sana. You don't want to do what she says but like...you have no choice."

Nayeon stared at Mina and found that hard to believe. Her girlfriend looked like she could not hurt an ant but then again she looked like she does not swear like a sailor but she does.

"Maybe you're just imagining things and she's not even angry."

Jungyeon agreed. "I bet if I ask her now, she'd be all cool about it. Hey Pretty Myoui, Nayeon here thinks you're upset that she's kissed someone in junior high."

Anyone who wasn't paying any close attention would've missed the slight flaring of the nose and the tongue sticking on the inside of the cheek. It happened very quickly but Nayeon noticed it.

"Why would I be upset?"

Jungyeon grinned. "See? She's totally not upset."

Jihyo laughed. "Why would she be? It was just a stupid game of '7 Minutes in Heaven', right?"

Mina faced them with a raised brow. "Game of what?"

"GAME OF THRONES!" Nayeon yelled, trying to salvage the train wreck of a situation that she's in all thanks to her two best friends. She decided not to talk anymore when Mina stared at her. It was a look that said if she said another word, she's going to get it.

"That game where you get inside a room with someone and you kiss."

Jungyeon shook her head. "They say that but if you don't like the person you're with you two just stare at the wall but the girl that Nayeon was in the room with was a looker so she obviously kissed her."

Nayeon could not believe her friends were digging her a deeper grave. She faked a laugh and put an arm around Jihyo and Jungyeon. "That happened ages ago. We shouldn't be talking about it." She looked at Mina who really looked like she didn't mind at all what she was hearing. She was saved by Sana who told everyone that they were going to do one more round of practice before going home.

When the practice was done, Nayeon gathered her things quickly, told Jihyo and Jungyeon to go home first and stood beside Mina who was putting her things in her bag. When she was finished, Nayeon held her hand out and Mina held without a word. There were almost no other students around since most of them have gone home.

Nayeon grabbed this opportunity to start a conversation with Mina. It wouldn't have been so hard if her best friends didn't run their mouths earlier. "Are you hungry?" It was answered with a shake of the head. "Tired?" Another wordless response and now she's really convinced that she's not imagining things. "Are you angry at me?''

"Should I be?"

"No. I mean, I hope not. Are you upset at something?"

"Should I be up--"

Frustration has finally gotten Nayeon and she pulled Mina to the side of a building which happened to be the principal's office. She even saw Principal Song going through papers on her desk.

"Mina, please. You know, I know, everyone knows that I'm not smart. If you answer my question with another question, my brain gets scrambled. I'll ask again. Are you upset?" She gently held Mina by the arm.

Mina looked at her in the eyes and said, "No."

"Why are you being so cold then? You really shouldn't pay attention to what those two said. We didn't even know each other when that happened so you--"

Mina was giving her the same look she gave her earlier when she was trying to take control of the situation. "A-are you...perhaps..." Mina looking like she was challenging her to continue what she was going to say made her really nervous. "Are you jealous?"

Mina's expression softened but she still looked like she wanted to strangle Nayeon just until she passes out. "Maybe...a bit."

Nayeon creased her brows and used one hand to cup Mina's cheek. "Why? It was just a silly game."

"But Jungyeon said she was pretty."

"Jungyeon," Nayeon muttered under her breath. She forgot about her big-mouthed friends when she saw how vulnerable Mina looked at that moment and how beautiful she was. She leaned closer until their noses touched. "Tell me to stop."

Nayeon wasn't sure herself that she would've stopped if Mina told her to but Mina didn't. Mina gave her permission with a subtle shake of the head. Nayeon tilted her head to the side and glanced at Mina who had her eyes closed. She moved her head closer just until their lips touched. It was a few seconds of just their lips touching until Nayeon decided to be a bit bolder and moved her lips making Mina follow her movements.

Nayeon abruptly ended the kiss when she heard a faint knocking. When she looked, it was Principal Song knocking on the window of her office. She pulled Mina making sure she wouldn't see the principal.

Mina was too absorbed with the kiss and she just followed Nayeon. They stopped a few feet away from the gates. "From now on you're not allowed to kiss someone else like that."

"I won't." Nayeon gave Mina peck on the lips before they started walking home.

"Is it stupid that I got jealous?" Mina asked while they were waking hand in hand.

"Mina, if someone had told me that someone kissed you or you kissed someone because of 'Truth or Dare', I would've hunted them down and beaten them up."

"It is stupid."

Nayeon chuckled and when they arrived at Mina's house, she was surprised when the latter gave her a peck on the lips. "I'm the only one you're allowed to play kissing games with."

"I fully agree with that." Nayeon went home with a huge grin on her face like she's been doing the past week. They have one more week until summer break and even though they will be using that time to practice for the dance competition, that did not stop her from making plans to spend time with Mina.

Nayeon got inside her room and almost suffered a heart attack when she saw her sister, Tzuyu, come out of her bathroom. "Tzuyu, what the hell? Can't you tell me when you're home so I don't get a mini heart attack when I see you all of a sudden?"

"Sorry, unnie."

"What are you doing here again? You cannot have that much school breaks in one year."

Her sister grinned. "I told mom I missed you and cried for two days to convince her to move back."

"What?"

"We're going to live here again."

Nayeon couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her week couldn't have gotten any better. She went to hug her sister which the latter returned. "You cried for two days?"

"Yes."

"Wait. You could cry at will."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures."

Nayeon chuckled. "You manipulative spawn of the devil."

---

Nayeon didn't mean it when she called her sister the spawn of the devil but the next day when she saw Tzuyu hovering over her on her bed, a pair of scissors on one hand and a few strands of her hair on the other, she was convinced that her sister was the devil reincarnated. She had to go to school that morning with a Hello Kitty pin on her head to hide her crooked bangs that her sister generously gave her.

Mina was evidently holding in her laughter. "Do you have an explanation for this?" She was about to take the hair pin off but Nayeon stopped her. Nayeon told her about Tzuyu and Mina expressed how happy she was for Nayeon that she was finally going to live with her mom and her sister again. She then proceeded to telling her how Tzuyu thought she could give Nayeon a haircut while she was asleep.

"Let me see." It took a few pleading from Mina before Nayeon finally let her see Tzuyu's masterpiece. "It's not so bad."

"It's uneven and I look...I don't even know how I look."

"It just looks unfinished. Jessica-unnie forces me to get a haircut twice every year so I know this place and I could take you there so they could fix your bangs for you."

The two of them went to the place that Mina was talking about after school.

"Maybe I should just wait for it to grow back."

"And hide it with a Hello Kitty hairclip?"

"It was the only clip in my drawer."

Mina ruffled Nayeon's hair with her free hand. "Do you think I should get a haircut, too?"

"Have you always had your hair long?" Mina nodded. "You should get a haircut then."

Nayeon wished she hasn't said that when she saw Mina with her shoulder-length hair. Mina was looking at herself in the mirror before she proceeded to tie her hair up and Nayeon thought it was the most attractive thing she has seen anyone do.

Mina made her way to Nayeon and smiled. "Your bangs look better now. You could hide it, too if you're not in the mood to look like a kid."

Nayeon's shoulders slumped. "I do look like a kid." She brushed her bangs to the side. "How come you look mature and beautiful...and why do you look so attractive?"

The two of them agreed on hanging around the mall for a bit before going home. Nayeon convinced Mina to get bubble tea and Mina found it stupid that Nayeon would want bubble tea without the "bubble."

"I just don't like the pearls."

"But that's the whole point of a bubble tea," was what Mina wanted to reply but stopped herself from doing so. Some things she had to let go. Some arguments are just not worth having.

As much as Mina wanted to enjoy drinking her bubble tea, she just couldn't. "Stop staring at me. It's rude."

Nayeon stopped sipping her drink and put a hand across her chest. "Excuse me. You looking like that is more rude."

"Looing like what?"

"Like...like..." Nayeon wished she had brought a dictionary with her because she's ran out of words that are synonymous with the word "beautiful." "Like you're always out to ruin people's lives."

"What?"

Mina's response fascinated Nayeon. "You really have no idea how beautiful you are, do you?" Nayeon suspected this the first time she complimented Mina about her looks. Mina started blushing and Nayeon it was the most adorable thing. "That's funny because I remember this conceited girl saying she knows she's better than everyone. I didn't know she didn't mean in the looks department. I never thought she's that clueless."

Mina knew Nayeon was enjoying this and she had to take a deep breath to stop herself from responding.

"The conceited but clueless girl probably wants to punch the living daylights out of me now." Mina felt a cold hand pressing against her cheek. "Don't worry. Since we're dating now I'll make it my duty to remind you that you have the looks that could start another world war."

"Is this going to be a constant thing with you?"

"Of course, why else did you date me for?"

Mina could only laugh but that halted when she saw a familiar face in the crowd. It was her stepsister Krystal with a few of her friends. Their gazes met and Krystal's landed on Nayeon. Mina's hand found Nayeon's and held it tightly.

Nayeon looked at her and all she could say was, "Let's go home." Nayeon didn't question it.

The trip was quiet and Nayeon was left with a handful of questions that she knew would be left unanswered for now. They got off their stop and Nayeon decided it was the right time to ask Mina what she's been meaning to ask. "Mina?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you want to go out on a date? Just before Sana kills us on dance practice?"

Mina chuckled. "What kind of date do you have in mind? I'll have you know that I don't do amusement parks." That was on top of Nayeon's list. "I don't like crowded places. I prefer the quiet ones."

Nayeon squinted her eyes. "Do you want to have a date in the library?" It earned her a slap on the arm. "I'm kidding. I haven't thought where yet but I'll keep your preferences in mind."

_____

got hospitalized for a week and i don't think my writing is back to normal