Chaeyoung was given the privilege by Mina to choose where to eat. She chose the close by pasta restaurant because she still wasn’t sober from the whole racing tutorial from Guru Mina, the tingling sensation from her nape down to her back was still as fresh as the newly bloomed lilac. They found themselves situated on the corner of the shop by the window with the pleasant view of the bustling street along with the people that comes and goes. It was quite calming in a sense that the noises from the outside were muted, replaced by the soothing instrumentals that were played inside the resto. A perfect scenario of how to properly indulge in their scheme- to also ditch their afternoon classes.

Mina had her hands together with her chin rested on top, and was resting her elbows on the table. She was staring at Chaeyoung who was indecisive on what to furtherly talk about with her.

“So..” Mina broke the silence, “What happened between you and Jungkook?” Mina grimaced a bit by the mention of the ex’s name.

“Kinda long story.” Chaeyoung wasn’t lying about it; she had to start from the top for Mina to fully grasp the situation. She glanced at her and saw Mina tilting her head, kind of a way to signal Chaeng to continue.

“Okay. Don’t say I warned.” Chaeng shifted herself on her seat to a comfortable position, “My hair has always been long since I could remember. And when I entered middle school, I got a lot of attention since they would say I was pretty and beautiful and, you know what I mean. So I got a lot of, not to be arrogant, admirers. One of them was Jungkook, even though he was from a different school. He would always wait for me at the gates just to say hi. When we entered high school, he was in the same school and that’s when it went crazy. I’d always get some few letters in my locker and his letter’s one of them. Dahyun and Tzuyu also got the same attention, by the way, but they handled it way better than me so it didn’t bother them that much. They don’t even read the letters, unlike me. I got really fascinated by Jungkook. He would send me poetries. That’s when we got to know each other and he asked me out for some dates. I wasn’t actually on the lane of going out with someone but Dahyun was telling me to give him a chance since he would always bring her chocolate treats. It went like that for about two months and out of a sudden he asked me to be his girlfriend in front of all these students. Imagine saying no in front of a huge crowd and getting all these judgmental eyes on you. I got trapped; he had me to say yes. The first few months went smooth and, I got to say, he was a perfect gentleman. Then, I decided to cut my hair when we were in junior year, this short,” Chaeng pointed out the length of her hair, “I thought, well, why not? I didn’t expect it to be some kind of breakthrough. Everybody loved my new look, both boys and girls, I had everybody’s attention and it got Jungkook shook. He became possessive and obsessive. He would go and punch anyone who tries to talk to me. It became a huge headache. He was always sent to the dean’s office and in one way or another, affected both our studies. I decided to forgive him when he asked for another chance but it went downhill after that when he went and attempted to hurt Dahyun and Tzuyu because they told me to break up with him. He’s gone mad. That’s when I officially ended things. And he immediately transferred.” Chaeyoung took a long breath after the whole flashback.

Mina, for the whole time Chaeyoung was telling the tale, was staring at her, not minding the whole story. She was there, admiring the way Chaeyoung talked, how would sometimes pout unknowingly, how she scrunches her nose upon remembering bitter memories, how her dimple shows even from the slight movement of , and more importantly, how this girl could make her fall head over heels for her by her merely breathing. The fact that Chaeyoung was opening up to her this soon, was something she never expected.

“I’m sorry. I talked too much, didn’t I?” Chaeng scratched her nape, it made Mina giggle, “It’s something I don’t do much, you know, since I’m friends with Dahyun. She talks a lot like she says a thousand paragraphs a day and I only get to say about three sentences. I get my decent talks with Tzuyu, she’s the reason I still have sanity after I go through a day with Dahyun.”

“It’s okay. I love watching you talk and listening to your voice.” Mina simply replied.

“I’d like to get to know you, too. W-Would… you mind to… uh,” Chaeyoung stammers by the thought of what she wanted to say, “Do this again?”  Chaeyoung, using her fork, played with the remaining pasta on her plate.

Mina smiled at the shy way Chaeyoung was acting, “I don’t think ditching classes again would be a good idea.” She wanted to tease the cub a little bit more before they call it a day.

“No! That’s not what I meant.” Chaeng shot her head up.

“Really? What is it that you meant, then?” Mina pretended to look confused. Chaeyoung’s reactions were worth it.

“I meant this.” She pointed the food, then Mina, and lastly, herself.

“This? What is it called?” Mina smirked playfully at the Chaeyoung that was ducking her head.

Mina knew she crossed the line when a long pause got between them. I guess she isn’t ready yet. She sighed to herself and patted Chaeyoung’s hand that was turning the noodles into mush.

“I’m sorry. I was just fooling around. We can do this again anytime.” Mina smiled when Chaeyoung looked up and gave her another shy smile.

The process is a bit slow but she’s the worth the while.

●

Sana skipped their last class to buy something. She was happily carrying it behind her. I bet she’ll like this. Just when she entered the hallways, she found the person she meant to give the present to and when she was about to call out, a girl jumped on her and kissed her cheek. It was heartbreak all over again, even when she asked for some good advice, and even bought her favorite cake. Sana turned around quietly and walked away.

“I had a rough day.” Dahyun had her arm around SinB’s shoulders, “I just got nullified and it’s funny because I have never been this way before. Thank God, you’re aroun-“

THUD!

Dahyun and SinB were startled by the sudden noise. Dahyun squinted her eyes and saw a familiar back trying to get up. Sana tripped over nothing again and landed on some flower pots.

“Sana?” Dahyun called out and jogged towards her, “You know that’s not the proper way to raise flowers, right? It’s water that should be sprinkled on them, not your body.” She offered her hand for her but Sana managed to get up herself and hide t