Mina and Nayeon sat on the concrete steps leading down to the Han River, where Sana and Momo were standing against the railing shoulder to shoulder, overlooking at the duck shaped paddle boats floating on the water. It took them a while to warm up to each other, and there might have been a few instances where Momo took a bite out of Sana’s ice cream when she wasn’t looking which resulted in Sana slapping Momo’s popsicle out of her hands and into the river, but their common interests soon brought them together- common interests being their respective “owners”.

Nayeon twiddled with the canned coffee in her hand, the other hand propped up against a crossed knee, supporting her head by the chin as she observed the conversing Sana and Momo. Mina adjusted the sunglasses perched on the bridge of her nose before setting down her own canned coffee beside her and crossing her arms.

“So what’s the plan, Stan?” Mina asked, her eyes fixated on the two animal human hybrids a bit away from them. Nayeon made a humming noise that sounded like “I dunno,” and Mina sighed into a fist. Nayeon raised a brow while briefly side eyeing Mina before training her eyes back on Sana’s shrugging shoulders. It looked Momo was the one doing most of the talking.

“You should have a plan, Nayeon.”

“A plan for what? What are we talking about?” Nayeon questioned, genuinely a bit lost- and honestly, a bit distracted by how pretty Sana’s side profile was. Mina snapped her fingers in front of Nayeon’s face in a call for attention, gently pulling on Nayeon’s cheek to face her.

“Nayeon. Sana is a cat,” Mina reaffirmed, and Nayeon grunted in reply. “A cat that turns into a human on a whim.”

“Actually, she can’t control it-” Nayeon began to protest but Mina cut her off.

“That’s even worse,” Mina hissed. “That means she’s stuck as a human, and when she does turn back into a cat, because trust me, she will, she’ll be stuck as a cat- and you won’t know when she’s going to turn back.”

Nayeon finally gave Mina her undivided attention at the suspicious tone her friend was using with her. “Okay. What are you trying to say?”

To her credit, Mina looked sincerely apologetic. “You need to be realistic. Can you take care of a grown woman indefinitely? Because there will be questions, and it will put a strain on you, mentally AND financially. You could be better off with an actual cat rather than a human,” Mina swallowed. “… I would know.”

“Uh huh. And then?” Nayeon goaded, not liking Mina’s lecturing tone one bit.

Mina sighed. “Nayeon…”

Nayeon shook her head and gestured dramatically for Mina to continue. “No, no, go ahead, let it all out.”

“You… Nayeon. Look,” Mina paused, gathering her thoughts before continuing. “When she turns back into a cat. What if she’s never able to change back into her human form?”

Nayeon narrowed her eyes and bit her lip because she never actually entertained the idea of not ever having Sana’s tall and lean body pressing up her to on the couch or in bed or in front of the stove while she pushed around the scrambled eggs in the pan. Nayeon knew Mina had a point. Sana did mention that she couldn’t change back and forth, and one of the first things Sana did say to her was that she was a cat. Sana identified herself as a cat. Not as a human. Which meant that Sana would realistically turn back into her original form, that it was inevitable. The party clothes had to come off sometime.

“I… I didn’t think that far ahead,” Nayeon finally replied, more honest than Mina was expecting.

“I see how you look at her. You think you’re clever but I know you,” Mina brought her abandoned canned coffee at her side up to her lips, taking an eager sip to moisten her dry throat. It was the nerves. Nayeon did the same before shaking her head in confusion.

“What do you mean, how I look at her?” She asked. The harsh Summer rays that beamed down was suddenly curtained off by a herd of heavy looking clouds above, the area of the Han River they occupied suddenly shrouded in humid and sticky darkness.

“…Without a certain level of commitment, you won’t be able to keep Sana. You have to make a choice,” Mina replied, her voice sounding faraway as if her thoughts were elsewhere. And Nayeon was annoyed that Mina was being more cryptic than usual.

“You didn’t actually answer my question. How I look at her, what?” Nayeon prodded. Mina simply reached for her sunglasses and pushed them up to the crown of her head, revealing the eyes still affectionately trained upon the animated form of Momo by the railings. That was the moment when Nayeon knew the answer to her own question even before Mina had to verbalize it.

“You look at her just like how I look at Momo.”

“…Ahh,” Nayeon lamely let out, cupping her chin again to stare blankly ahead at the speaking Sana.

“…Hey,” Mina called, her voice more alert, as if her trance was broken by something.

“Hmm?” Nayeon hummed back.

“After you make your choice, Sana is going to have to do the same,” Mina stated, meeting Nayeon’s eyes for the first time since their conversation started. “Whatever you choose, whatever she chooses, and whatever ends up happening, I’ll be here for you.”

“What ended up happening for you guys?” Nayeon asked, finally a bit appeased at Mina’s words. She didn’t doubt for a moment that her best friend wouldn’t have her back. At her question, Mina only grinned widely before replying.

“I chose Momo. And Momo chose me.”

-

Jihyo was such a natural and honest flirt that Nayeon was surprised to that she ever forgot Jihyo was like this in the first place. She was also not careful enough to keep her guard up because she knew how susceptible she could be to Jihyo’s harmless charms when it came to getting under her skin. To be fair, it had been almost a year or so since they had last seen each other- Jihyo had been working in mostly Japan and Hong Kong as an ambassador, having been working with the Department of Foreign Affairs ever since they graduated from university.

Jihyo cracked open a can of beer and quickly bent down to slurp up the ensuing foam from the brim of the can before plopping down next to Nayeon on the floor. Mina was hurriedly opening cartons of fried chicken laid out on top of old sheets of newspaper. Jihyo stretched over her lap to grab for a drumstick, and Nayeon got a big whiff of Jihyo’s shampoo from her high ponytail before saying right against Jihyo’s ear, “Careful, it’s hot.”

Jihyo craned her neck to regard Nayeon through her eyelashes, before gleefully replying, “You mean the chicken or you?”

Nayeon smiled. “Was that a pick-up line?”

Jihyo, with a newly acquired drumstick in between her fingers, plopped back down next to her, waggling one of her eyebrows suggestively before replying with, “Only if it was good.”

Mina made vomiting motions as Jihyo laughed, chomping down with a crunch against the fresh deep fried batter of the chicken. Nayeon opened a can of beer and passed it off to Mina.

“Are you not drinking?” Jihyo inquired. Nayeon shook her head as she reached for a wing doused in barbeque sauce and giving it a hearty munch. Jihyo let herself pout. “Aww. Why not? You can just sleep over, I’m pretty sure Mina won’t mind.”

Mina sharply glanced up, giving Nayeon a look and then another pointed look towards the shut door to her bedroom, where Momo was presumably hiding.

“I actually mind quite a bit,” She contributed, and Nayeon chortled.

“I would if I could. But I need go home, I have a guest staying with me and I can’t leave them alone,” Nayeon said, managing not to falter when Jihyo raised a thumb to the corner of her moving lip to wipe off a blob of sauce.

“Alright. That’s fair,” Jihyo replied, taking a swig from her can after off the excess sauce from the pad of her thumb.

“How long are you in town for this time?” Mina piped up, deboning a piece of chicken while she spoke. Jihyo hummed.

“Exactly 2 weeks. I won’t have a lot of time to spend with you guys though, so I’m a bit disappointed- daddy’s got plans lined up for me, you guys know how he gets,” Jihyo sniffed, and Mina and Nayeon both nodded in understanding. They were both aware that ever since Jihyo had hit 25, her father was dotingly setting up blind dates for his daughter in hopes of her getting married to an eligible bachelor before heaven forbid, Jihyo became an old spinster.

“Well, if you ever need an out, you can call me,” Nayeon suggested, grinning devilishly as she tapped her mug of coke against Jihyo’s can of beer, making her laugh.

“Instead of an out, I’d rather have an in, preferably in you,” Jihyo cooed, and Nayeon squealed in embarrassment.

“I’m disgusted,” Mina declared, her eyes bewildered, “You guys are disgusting. Get out of my apartment.”

Peals of Jihyo’s laughter once again filled the living room, and Mina quickly browsed through her playlist for an adequate song to drown out the flirty banter.

-

Nayeon woke up to the sensation of Sana’s index finger down her eye brows, then down the bridge of her nose. She made sure to keep her eyes closed, strangely enjoying the rapt attention her companion was showing her under the guise of sleep- Nayeon knew that Sana would never show her this type of devoted attention if she knew that she was awake.

Sana then used the pads of her fingers to brush the strands of Nayeon’s eyelashes, her actions muted and cautious, pausing when Nayeon’s eyelids bristled under the attention she bestowed upon her lashes. Nayeon’s heart sped up when she could instinctually feel the sheer closeness of Sana’s face above hers, the calming familiar scent of Sana’s breath exhaled out of her nose warming the space between Nayeon’s ear and jawline.

She was close. Nayeon unconsciously pinched herself underneath the covers. Then she felt Sana’s finger glide down from her eyes to line the contour of her upper lip. She was just too damn close.

Nayeon’s cellphone rang, breaking the tactile prayer as Sana flinched away with a jump. Cracking one eye open and holding in a sigh, Nayeon reached for her cellphone placed underneath her pillow. It was Jihyo. And it was also 7am in the freaking morning.

“Y’ello,” She answered.

‘Hey, it’s me,’ Jihyo replied rather vibrantly from the other line and Nayeon groaned- which only served to make Jihyo chuckle out loud. ‘I forgot. You’re not a morning person.’

“Mmm. W’sup?” Nayeon closed her eye again, her cheek mushed against the mattress. She felt Sana carefully sidle up to her back, her god damn finger drawing non-descript pictures on the space between her shoulder blades.

Jihyo’s light tone changed to a one of reluctance, as if relaying that she wouldn’t have asked if she had any better ideas, ‘If you don’t have any plans today, I need a favour.’

This made Nayeon open both her eyes this time, feeling more awake than before. “I’m not busy, it’s Sunday. What is it?”

‘Daddy booked me in for a check-up for my knees today, but he ended up getting called in to an emergency surgery. I got ditched, and the make-up appointment is later at 1pm,’ Jihyo hummed, awkwardness in asking for a favour evident in her tone. ‘And uhh, I was actually planning on having brunch with daddy after but now that it’s moot point… I was wondering if I could treat you to some breakfast?’ Nayeon only smiled at how awkward Jihyo sounded.

“I’d love some breakfast. It’s going to take us some time to get ready though?”

‘Oh right! You had a guest! Tell you what, I’ll get some groceries and just come over. I’ll cook! What do you think?’

Nayeon turned around to meet Sana’s wondering gaze. With a hand poised over the receiver speaker of her phone, Nayeon whispered, “My friend wants to visit to make us breakfast. Is that okay?”

Sana wordlessly nodded, her eyes blinking slowly under the haze of sleep. She then burrowed her face into Nayeon’s chest, Nayeon’s hand automatically coming up to cradle Sana’s head in response and then proceeding to pull her in closer.

“Yeah, we’d love that. I’ll get started on a fresh pot of coffee, text me when you’re 5 minutes away,” Nayeon replied, making further grunting noises of acknowledgement before tossing her phone aside.

When Jihyo saw Nayeon waiting outside of the apartment complex for her, she cooed as she let Nayeon take one of her grocery bags from her hands while ushering her in the lobby, briskly punching in the security key to the computerized door. “Out waiting for me? How chivalrous.”

“I’m low key trying to get in your pants though,” Nayeon said, snorting. Jihyo slapped her on her arm.

“You’re so annoying.”

“No, you.”

“God, what are you, twelve?”

Jihyo laughed while following Nayeon inside her apartment, the latter dutifully holding the front door open for her new guest.

The scent of freshly brewed coffee with gentle gurgling noises from the coffee machine instantly warmed up their insides, their skin still tingling from the chilly early morning breeze. Setting the breakfast ingredients on the kitchen table, Jihyo strolled right up to Sana’s shifting form, extending a hand in a warm greeting.

“Hi! You must be Sana,” Jihyo said, her eyes wide and observant as she let out her signature dazzling smile. Sana took Jihyo’s hand and shook it, albeit warily. “My name is Jihyo, Nayeon’s best friend. Nice to finally meet you.”

Jihyo was beautiful as she was polite. And that mad