Cyan

"Jeongyeon get ready to ulti, Nayeon and Mina follow up right after. Sana just focus on staying alive, I'll snipe out the carries," I rambled out a chain of commands, and the other four girls nodded their heads simultaenously as we awaited Jeongyeon's prompt.

"NOW!" Jeongyeon bellowed and the smashing of five keyboards echoed throughout the entire room for the following new seconds. Each of us focused on our very own screens, we relied on communications and callouts to make split second decisions, annihilating the entire enemy team, not costing a single player's death on our side.

"That was a surprisingly easy ace," Sana commented as she relaxed her tensed shoulders. We had just wiped out the entire team effortlessly in matters of seconds, the win was without a doubt, ours. "Of course it was, y'all had me, the supreme, the absolute, cardinal gaming prodigy Im Nayeon." The bunny-toothed girl boasted, but her bragging was justified. Everyone played a huge part in the victory, and the game probably wouldn't have been as smooth-sailing without any one of us.

"Man, having a reliable 5-man team really makes this game seem like it's impossible to lose." Jeongyeon bragged, and uwe all couldn't agree less. The addition of Mina into our team really boosted our winrates like crazy. Craning our stiff necks after having sat frozen around the dining table for 2 hours straight, we racked out smiles at one another, moving our eyes away from the computer screens. 

It was a Saturday, and we all know what Saturdays meant. There were no classes during the weekends, which meant that we had plenty of time after school to do whatever shenanigans we wanted to do without having to worry about school the next day. Jeongyeon had suggested heading over to my place for a few games of league. The five of us were also conveniently in a group together for Economics and we were tasked to write a report that was due the following Tuesday.

"Not trying to be a or anything but, you really need a new set of better chairs." Nayeon complaint, squirming around her seat. Her eyes traced the others that were around her, gathering their feedbacks on her opinion. "Yeah, they're lowkey uncomfortable," Sana expanded, fidgeting around her seat as well. There weren't much furniture in my house, which was normal for someone who lives alone. A dining table and a sofa was all I had needed in my living room, not until the girls decided to make my house their second home. The four-legged pink stools that they were sitting on, were bought last year when I was told I was going to be having relatives over.

Mina quietly made her way to the center of the sofa and sat down prim and proper. She sure knows how to make herself feel at home. I took a sip out my favourite pink mug which had a Barbie imprinted one it as I stretched my body, cracking my joints.

"Make sure your new chairs aren't pink as well, please," Jeongyeon pleaded, her face revealing a disgusted expression as she starts pointing fingers at the pink walls around the living room. Sana, who was laughing her off at Jeongyeon's plea, got off the stool and threw her body towards the sofa. Oh my fu-

Sana's body lay perpendicular to that of Mina's. The wine-haired girl was frozen and immobilized, her two hands hanging in the air from the aftermath. I could have sworn I saw beads of sweat falling from her forehead. Jeongyeon and Nayeon were off the side, quarreling about which of the colors, green or blue would be nicer fitting for my house. With her crush lying on top of her, Mina's face eluded a flustered expression. Mina was petrified and had no idea what to do. Her eyes, now glued onto Sana and her lips curved upwards, she was smiling.

The scene in front of me was unsettling. A thousand thoughts raced through my mind but none of which were comforting. I wasn't sure if I was to help Mina get Sana off of her or if I was to just stand there and let the two of them have a moment to themselves. One thing I do know for sure, is that whatever that was happening, I didn't like it one bit. Jealousy started to overwhelm me and before I had noticed it, My grip on the mug Ioosened.

*clink*

What the Hirai Momo?

"Oh my god Momo are you okay?" Jeongyeon rushed over from the sides as she directed Nayeon over to the kitchen to get the broom and the dustpan.

"I-I'm okay" I stutter, my eyes started to get blurry as I collapsed, knees first onto the floor. 

Sana hopped off the sofa and rushed over to my side to support and aide me back onto the stool alongside Jeongyeon. Mina, still frozen onto the sofa, now for a different reason, looked like she was about to say something, but the words didn't come out of her.

"Momo, you're bleeding," The shorter haired girl who was worried sick asserted. "Do you have plasters at home?"

"I-I have plasters," Mina volunteered as she hurried over to her bag. 

Under Jeongyeon's command and directions, the porcelain pieces that were shattered into a mess were swept up by Nayeon and the little cut on my knee was patched up by Jeongyeon. "Jesus Momo why were you so careless?" Jeongyeon continued to survey the living room to ensure that there wasn't a single shard of porcelain left in the living room.

That night, I cursed and reprimanded myself. Why did I let that affect me?

The worried faces Jeongyeon and the rest had made me feel guilty. Guilty for causing a scene and also for delaying our report. The girls went home an hour later and we had decided to do up the report on another day.

I slammed my fist against the dining table as I excruciated out in pain. I just can't do a single thing right. All I had to do, was to look away from Mina, and perhaps all of this wouldn't have happened. It was that simple, right? 

No, it wasn't. If only it had been that easy of a thing to do, then I wouldn't have to go through all these emotions right now. If only. 

Momo: (9:28): Sorry I ruined your moment with Sana there

Mina: (9:28): It's alright, you didn't do it on purpose anyway. Are you okay?

Maybe I did, maybe I did do it on purpose.

Momo: (9:30): Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little cut. Thanks for the penguin plaster.

Mina: (9:30): >.< 

I gawked at the adhesive strip on my knee as I waited for my phone to ring again. It was decorated with a bunch of cartoon penguins. A few tens of minutes passed and the living room was still dead silent.

"God I really really really hate school!" Nayeon grumbled as she walked out of the classroom, tugging onto her bag.

"Quit complaining and walk faster, the queue's about to get real long," Jeongyeon hurried her.

We were rushing over to the canteen for lunch. Mr Yung had dismissed us late (for the first time) and the queues in the canteen get ridiculously long during the student peak hours. Striding bigger steps, we managed to reach the canteen just in time, while the queues were still bare.

We had our lunch at the rooftop again, a common space for the nine of us. Chaeyoung, Tzuyu and Dahyun had brought lunchboxes to school, each made by their ownselves while the rest of us bought packed food over at the canteen.

"Momo I can't finish these, do you want them?" Chaeyoung asked politely as she offered her lunchbox over to me. Her dimples were showing and she looked adorable.

"It's fine, I'm not that hungry today," I declined Chaeyoung in an equally polite manner. I wasn't especially hungry today. In fact, I could barely even finish up my own meal. I wasn't feeling the best today.

"If Momo doesn't want them I'll take it," Jeongyeon, the second most heartiest eater amongst the nine of us dived in at the opportunity to be a bigger glutton. "Holy you're a real pig Jeongyeon," Nayeon tantalized Jeongyeon, but the latter didn't give a damn. To Jeongyeon, food was love, food was life. 'As long as there's food in my mouth, I continue to live on', was Jeongyeon's motto for a whole entire week.

"So, in 2 weeks' time my Mom's coming over from Taiwan," Tzuyu worded out, "She intends to hold a party and she wants me to invite my close friends."

"Why? What's the special occassion?" Jihyo questioned. 

"There's no special occassion. My mom is kind of a party person and she just loves to party... So yeah," 

"Party? I love parties too!" Dahyun gleefully responded upon Tzuyu's announcement.

"I didn't say I was inviting you," Tzuyu teased, before she chuckled and assured the currently sulking Dahyun that she was joking.

"So... er...  yeah, keep your Sunday free on that week", the chinese girl concluded her announcement in the most awkward way possible.

I love parties, mostly for the food of course. The cool thing about parties and celebrations is that everyone is too busy interacting with one another to give a damn about the chow galore. There was this one time I single-handedly emptied out the chicken wings tray at my cousin's birthday party, everyone was shocked by how much I could eat. 

"I.. don't think I can make it on that day," Mina raised her hand sheepishly.

"whAT why?" Jeongyeon catapulted forward. Rice started to fly out from the barbaric woman's mouth. 

"Jesus Jeongyeon keep your food in your mouth!" Nayeon fussed as she threw a bead of rice at Jeongyeon. Jeongyeon threw the bead of rice back at Nayeon and the two started their usual bantering and squabbles again.

"I have an appointment on that day, sorry Tzuyu," Mina apologized in a soft voice.

"Aww that's a shame, I had really wished for my Mom to see you" Tzuyu pouted. The two had a mysterious relationship going on between themselves. Chaeyoung called it, 'The Visual Bond', because apparently according to Chaeyoung's unofficial beauty ranking, Mina and Tzuyu were tied for the #1 spot and that the two admired each other's beauty.

"I can't make it too, sorry Tzuyu!" Sana darted her hand out and apologized.

"You too? Dang, the party's going to be a lot less fun without the two Japaneses. Momo you're coming right?" Nayeon, who had just recovered from the little 'rice throwing' fight with Jeongyeon, brought the attention to me.

"Huh er yeah I-" 

"She can't make it too," Mina cut me off and answered on my behalf. 

I? can't? make it? 

I threw Mina a confused glance but all I got was a nod but no explanation from the penguin enthusiast. Sana, whom I hadn't noticed had her eyes fixated on me the entire time clamped her lips tightly and nodded as well.

Nayeon and Tzuyu both looked at me, equally confused as well and anticipated a response from me. 

"I can't make it as well, sorry y'all," I ceded my trays of chicken wings for an unspecified reason. This had better be for something good. A bundle of questions started to form in my head but there was no way I could squeeze an answer out from the two Japanese, not now at least.

Later that night, I tossed myself in bed, clad in my pink pajamas, armed with a phone on my right, and a bunch of unanswered questions in my head.

J-Trinity Group Chat

Momo: (10:43): So... Why aren't we going for Tzuyu's party again??

Sana: (10:44): I don't know, Mina says she has plans for us that day. She told me she's already discussed it with you already(?)

Momo: (10:44): She did(?)

Sana: (10:45): Yeah, she even said it was your suggestion or something. She only just mumbled the gist of it to me this morning so I don't know much of the details.

*buzz*

My phone vibrated, and so did my heart. I received a seperate text from Mina.

Private Chat with Myoui Mina

Mina: (10:47): OKAY I ED UP

Momo: (10:48): ??

Mina: (10:48): Remember that one time you told me I needed to do something?

Mina: (10:48): Like to further my relationship with Sana? I kinda did it but..

Mina: (10:49):  I got nervous..... and I kinda said you were coming with us

Mina: (10:49): So... er yeah LOL

Mina: (10:49): pleeeeasseee don't be angry and please turn up xoxo

What is she talking about?

*buzz*

Mina: (10:50): I kinda signed up for a tarot reading session for the three of us on that day...

Oh...

Sana: (10:51): We're telling our fortunes? You're into stuff like this?

Sana: (10:51): Ohhhhh I didn't know Miss Myoui had this side to her!

Momo: (10:52): A real shocker. Prodigy Myoui Mina who cares only about books believes in tarot reading

Mina: (10:52): Hey you were the one who told me to open up to this world!

Momo: (10:53): touché 

Mina: (10:54): Anyways, I have you booked on that day. I'll make it up to you two for having missed Tzuyu's party on that day :)

Momo: (10:54): FOOODDD XD

Sana: (10:55): Y'all really need to let me in on your conversations man, I've been missing out on so much. It's like you two are in a world of your own half the time.

Sana: (10:56): perhaps... ARE YOU TWO DATING?!

Momo: (10:56): ... It's nothing of that sort. I don't like bookworms.

Mina: (10:57): And neither do I like gluttons :)

Sana doesn't understand the situation, but neither does Mina.

"...promium ... grilled ox ... troupe" I pieced together the korean words on the menu after strenuous amounts of focusing. Jeongyeon stared at me questionably, before she snatched the menu over.

"Premium grilled ox tripe", the short haired character read out in eloquent and fluent korean, passing me the menu back right after.

"Close enough", I continued reading the menu. The fact that the menu was handwritten didn't help my already bad korean skills. I mentally spelled out another one of the dishes inside the menu to keep Jeongyeon from teasing and correcting me. Beef.. Tartare.. Yeah, that sounds just about right. I moved on to the next dish and carried on with my improvised korean learning.

Jeongyeon and I were out alone that. The former had invited me out for dinner.

"We have to eat the large intestines here. It's really good!" Jeongyeon raved, her lips as her finger extended out to point at the graphical print on the wall. There was a picture of a plate of large intestines, and it genuinely looked savory and delicious. Jeongyeon raised her hand, politely and heartily shouted out to catch the waitress' attention.

"We'll have stir-fried rice with tripe, grilled large intestines, premium grilled ox tripe" Jeongyeon ordered in a systematic yet audible manner. The waitress greeted Jeongyeon with a polite smile, making the ordering a pleasant experience.

"And two cans of coke", I added before the waitress had walked away.

if there was one thing me and Jeongyeon had in common, it was how much and how well we could eat.

If Jeongyeon could have opened any wider, she would have been able to swallow the whole plate in one bite. Cramming spoonful after spoonful of rice into my mouth, the only noise that could be heard coming out from my mouth were my s from the immense amount of savory pleasure.  We were going through the food that quickly it would be inappropriate to call that act eating anymore. We were basically inhaling everything into our stomachs. Forsaking all sorts of table manners, Jeongyeon even took it upon herself and started using her hands to feast on the food because mere mediums of transport like the spoon and chopsticks were far too slow for our ravaging stomachs.

Using just simple gestures like a thumbs up and pointing at the various dishes, Jeongyeon and I communicated to one another the heavenly flavours of each mouthwatering dishes on the table. For just two petite girls, the two of us had managed to eat clean an entire table of food that were meant for a party of four.

"You weren't kidding when you said this place's food is delicious as heck", I burped out.

Slurping on coke, Jeongyeon acknowledged my burp with her own, bringing about laughters from both sides of the table.

"Now that we're done eating, let's move on", the short haired girl dabbed her cheeks with a delicate napkin before floundering out of her seat.

"Move on? Where to?" I asked grabbing my bag, tagging along. There wasn't a response from the older girl.

Walking across the busy streets, under the night light, we arrived at a jewellery store.

"And here... Is where I'll need your help", Jeongyeon invoked, her eyes riveted on mine. She looked like she was about to eat me up.

"W-what do you need help with?" I stammered, taking a step back from Jeongyeon who had been way too close with me.

"I'm here to buy a necklace, but I don't know what girls like." The older girl who had noticed my discomfort fixed the distance between the two of us.

Wait what the

"Which of the necklaces here do you like the most?" Jeongyeon asked sincerely, her hands exhibiting the wide array of necklaces in a glass box. The voice that came out of Jeongyeon didn't sound like her at all. Her voice was all feminine and polite, Jeongyeon was serious about this.

Oh my god is she thinking about buying me a necklace

"Listen Jeongyeon I know you're concerned about me but there's no need to get me a necklace," I said firmly to Jeongyeon. Placing both my hands on her sides, I reassured her, "I'm fine, I really am." 

"What the ?" Jeongyeon uttered as her face of confusion evolved to that of a crazy woman laughing her off.

Did I say something wrong?

"I think there might be some kind of miscommunication going on here," Jeongyeon expressed, after managing to compose herself, cooling off from the heat of laughing. "I'm not getting a necklace for you, you silly." 

As Jeongyeon's giggling face subsided, my face grew into an abashed and puzzled one. "Eh?!"

It just so turns out, Jeongyeon was actually shopping for a necklace for her cousin. She made me tag along so that I could give her advices on what sort of necklaces woman like because she wasn't confident in her own judgement. We spent about half an hour inside the jewellery, before we had arrived at a conclusion that a simple silver with a star pendant was a perfect fit. 

"Is it possible for you to help me carve the initials-" Jeongyeon inquired from the assistant as I made my way out of the store for a quick breather. 

What is she doing right now? 

A question that has repeatedly been asked throughout the course of the day, the week, or even that year in particular. My mind went through all the different possibilities. She could have been reading a book, she could have been revising for tomorrow's Law quiz, she could have been listening to music etc.

She could have been talking to Sana.

My hands raced towards my phone the instant the thought emerged from my mind. I tapped buttons, progressing towards my chat with Mina.

Wait.

What the am I even doing right now?

I bit my finger, propelling my phone back into my pocket as I fought the urge to check Mina and Sana's status. Don't do this to yourself Momo. You don't have to hurt yourself, you don't need to know what she's doing.

I sealed my eyes shut as I stood outside the jewellery store. It had been a cold night, but even then, it was nothing compared to the raw and stinging chill I was feeling in my muscular organ. The sky was dark, the colors that were visible were that of mostly red, neon green and yellow - colors flashing out of the adaptating street lamps and also colors of light emitted from the LEDs of the street stores. The cold breeze blew right through my sweater, bringing my temperature down. I plugged in my headphones and waited outside the jewellery store for Jeongyeon.

"She looks happy

as much as I hate you

I can’t control my mind

So like a fool, I’m taking care of myself again" (April Story - April)

[ BONUS ]

MOMO'S FLASHBACK 1/?

A bottomless pit.

Falling in love with Mina, was like getting caught up in a y trap, falling through a bottomless pit. The prickling pain and soreness felt throughout your entire body as you fall relentless through the pit, your plunging body scraping against the stagnant air. The mental weight and stress on your mind of not knowing when you will hit rock bottom grows exponentially throughout the entire 'ride'.  

A descent into a pit full of thorny shrubs, stinging pain throughout the entire descent. But even through all that, there was a bit of arousing pleasure tinged within the abyss of sadness. The thrill of being in love with someone. That feeling is so strange, yet mystical. 'I had to explore these feelings even more,' something I told myself, probably the worst advice I had ever given to myself. The pain argueably outweighs what little happiness I get from doing this, but still, I don't regret falling in love with Mina.

But even then, it wasn't an apt description. It didn't begin as a love at first sight for me. I didn't fall into this 'bottomless pit' out of nowhere, but rather, I had knowledge of what I was getting into, and I had voluntarily chosen to slump into this crater. How I had fallen in love with Myoui Mina, how I had managed to get caught up in this fire that I had lit up, how I had gotten this hurt till there's no turning point, it had all been of my own free will. 

"I'm starting to worry about that hole in your pocket," I said in my attempt to sound sophisticated and all things smart in this world. Shifting around uncomfortably in the high stool, I can never get used to seats like these. 

"Sorry?" Mina queried as she approached the table with 2 frappuccinos in her hands. Her facial expression were that of a confused individual. Her focus wasn't on me however, but was instead, on her two gripping hands, careful to not let the frappucino slip out of her hands. 

I started to question my knowledge, "Do they not say that? LIke burn a hole in your pocket or something?"

Mina chuckled as she settled down onto the other high stool. "They do," She reassured, before continuing, "But you phrased it so weirdly I didn't get it initially." Casting one of the frappuccinos over to my side, she started to examine that of her own.

"Anyways, there's no need to worry about it," The wine-haired lady guaranteed after she was done scrutinizing the poor drink. She did that alot, scanning and making sure whatever she was about to eat was 'clean'. She brandished a few Starbuck cash vouchers out from her purse. We were at Starbucks again, because apparently, Mina has a load more vouchers. This had been our fourth visit to Starbucks this month.

"How are you getting all these vouchers even?" I inquired out of curiosity. She didn't seem like the type to scrimp and save to collect points for all these vouchers, but neither did she look like she was some sort of Starbucks' secret heir. 

"Oh," She started off, taking a nimble off the ice-cream on the top of her frappuccino. "My aunt here in Korea works in Starbucks and she's actually of a pretty high position. So, she gets all these little perks and once in a while we would meet up and she would pass me 'em."

Nodding in response, I cupped both my hands around my frappuccino and brought it up to my lips.

We both sat around in awkward silence for about a few minutes, not knowing what to talk about. 

"Seven." I lead off the conversation. The latter obviously knew what I was talking about, considering the fact that there has never been a day where I don't remind her of her already embarrassing obsession.

"Jesus, you're still going on with that? Give me a break already," Mina squealed as she took a jab at me, "If you're going to continue the counting then I'm going to tell Chaeyoung about that one time you stole a kit-kat from her bag."

"WAIT, HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT WAS ME?" I exploded, unaware of the current setting that I was in. People from other tables started shooting glances over at our table, causing me to blush. I cowered my face as I urged Mina for an explanation.

A smirk emerged from Mina, "Poor Chaeyoung she just wanted to eat her kit-kats after school but a brute like you deprived her of even that little happiness."

"I was hungry okay? A man's gotta eat." I tried to justify my act. I then went on to ramble about what had actually happened that day. I usually have like a stockpile of snacks back at home, so before heading to school, I would grab a pack and just stuff it into my bag. That day however, my alarm died on me and I had only woke up 30 minutes after classes had already started. I rushed out of home immediately, forgetting to grab a pack of snacks. You can kinda guess where this is going already. Hunger got the better of me and bam, kit-kat into my stomach. Mina wasn't buying my explanation. I sighed before continuing, "Listen, I even bought extra kit-kats the following week and placed it back in her bag!"

The irksome smirk on her face kept it's position as she continued, "Poor Dahyun-ie she got ignored for the entire week just because Chaeyoung assumed it was her who stole the kit-kats." Shifting her eyes away from her frappuccino, Mina took out her phone and showed me an Instagram post. The post was captioned, 'I miss my kit-kat' and the picture was that of a kit-kat.

"Okay I get it, I'll apologise to Chaeyoung another day," I conceded, before realising I have receipts of Myoui Mina of an equivalent value. "Wait a minute, remember that one time you took a picture of Sana while she was sleeping?"

This one time Sana was sleeping in a deadass boring lecture. I was asleep too, but coincidentally, my eyes barely peeled open when I had woke up from the noise Nayeon and Jeongyeon were producing through the ransacking of each other's bags. God knows what those two were doing but right before I went back to dreamland, my eyes caught Mina with her phone out, camera facing towards Sana. 

"Oh my god how-" Her eyes widened and her face reddened. A soft muttering could be heard when she brought her head down to her frappuccino, 'I was sure nobody was looking when I took it...'

"Wanna see how Sana would react if she finds out about this piece of information?" I jested as I took out my phone from my back pocket, bringing about Mina's head to shoot up and her hands slammed the table. I had on a smirk that was wider than any of hers in our five-minutes conversation.

"Don't. You. Dare." Mina threatened in short intervals, her eyes now fiery with disbelief. The people around us started to eyeball at our table again, but the girl who was in the spotlight was oblivious to the attention she was getting. I ducked my head down once again, hoping the person on the other end of the table would notice the eyes on her.

When she had finally realised whatever attention she was getting, she too, slumped over the table in shame. Our eyes met across the table, our faces centimeters apart from the other, I grew red. Mina had a fair complexion, her beauty was unrivalled in the entire class. Her eyes shimmered as she her lips. Looking at her close-up, it felt like God was standing just right in front of me. What the is she?

"You won't tell Sana about it right?" were her first words. Mina didn't seem to be affected by the fact that we were ants away from being all up in each other's faces. 

"W-what?" I stammered, unaware that I had been staring at her for a period too long. 

"About me taking a picture of her while she's sleeping... You won't tell her about it right?" Mina reiterated her sentence, this time in a much more vexing tone.

Regaining my composure, I slurped on the frappuccino and reassured the Japanese,"Don't worry, I wouldn't risk losing my bargaining chip to get free Starbucks every week", I held up my frappuccino in the air and shook it a little. Mina heaved a sigh of relief upon gaining my reassurance. It looked like she had just removed a hundred killogramme's worth of weights off her shoulders.

We resumed our quiet frappuccino drinking, only to have the serene silence broken by Mina's soft giggles. The wine-haired lady couldn't keep a straight face and it was unclear what or where caused whatever is amusing her. Her quiet and reserved giggles grew and expanded even louder by the second. 

"What's so funny?" I buzzed as I looked around. There wasn't anything interesting in particular, the cafe had just empty seats all around, the sole working barista was on her phone. 

I turned back to a still giggling Myoui Mina, her face was red from laughing. "Jesus did Chaeyoung possess you or what?" I teased ludicrously, but the only clapback the other girl provided was mere giggles, and more giggles. And even more giggling. 

"Y-you..." Mina tried to catch her breath,

"You... have..." She managed to mouth out two words. It was absurd, I had never seen Myoui Mina laugh this hard my entire life. Her smile was genuinely sweet and her laughter was akin to angels' singing. She didn't end up completing her sentence but her hand rose up and her index finger extended. 

Oh.

There was cream on my face - my nose to be exact. I snagged a napkin from the table and wiped it off. 

"Really Mina?" I called out the girl who had finally managed to stop laughing, "Something like this and you laugh for an entire year?" Her smile was that of an angel's. I laughed at the ridiculity which is Mina's weird sense of humour, which had only resulted in more giggling from the 'shy and conservative' Japanese on the opposite end of the square table. Mina's face was comically red, it was a shade of red which rivalled that of ketchup.

When the both of us had finally toned down, I took another slurp at my frappuccino, this time careful not to get cream onto my nose again. Mina kept her eyes centered on me, her lips shaking, waiting for me to slip up. Spoiler alert, I didn't get cream onto my nose this time round.

Seeing Mina laugh heartily and also watching her fan herself from laughing too hard, I leaked an affectionate smile.

You look beautiful smiling.

And that was when I had first realised, how much I had wanted to protect those smiles of hers. I had wanted Mina to be happy, to remain beautiful smiling. That was when, I had realised I had fallen in love with Myoui Mina for sure.