Mina thought that keeping Nayeon at home is the best choice; to hide the goddess from other people, to keep her safe and to prevent any possible accidents that could happen. Eventually, the younger one learns that though she's right at some points, everything still has it's bad side. Not long ago, just two days in fact; Nayeon has started buying stuffs she had seen on the television. Mina arrived in her unit one night being welcomed with a new tv in her living room, the old one was transferred by the goddess to Mina's room. A new refrigerator next to the older one, to which the goddess excused as a gift to herself since Mina doesn't allow her to open the other fridge. There are various of new things and it's starting to fill in the space of her tiny apartment. Even the couch was replaced. The normal lights were replaced by chandeliers. Nayeon also bought her a new and bigger bed. The Japanese tried to be patient as much as possible; she didn't reprimand the older one because she is also happy seeing Nayeon smiling at her silly and childish actions. Mina thought that even with by just this simple way, she could give back something to the person who had stayed at her side.

But everything must have a limit; so when Mina arrives at her unit around 4 o'clock in the afternoon and saw a silver car parked at her garage; her frustration automatically boils up. From the annoying professor she had a while ago, to the tons of boxes she sees after opening her door; everything ignites the fire in her head. She can't barely take a step inside her apartment; the boxes already filled the space and she couldn't even see where is her freaking fake girlfriend is. She is just aware that Nayeon's voice comes from the far left side.

"Hey." Mina almost jumps when she feels a palm on her shoulder.

She quickly shoves it away and throws a glare at the older one. "What's wrong?" Nayeon asks while taking a step back.

Mina sighs; tiredly, before glancing at her unit. "Clean that up." she instructs as she stares at the goddess again.

"Why? I thought you were okay with it." Nayeon whines with a frown on her forehead.

"I was before; but it's too much Nayeon. I can't even enter my own house!" her tone rises uncontrollably and the goddess just shrinks more with her shoulders.

"Okay...but then, can I keep the fridge?" Nayeon asks softly, almost  leaning to a plea.

Mina quickly looks away when she sees how sad and warm the goddess' eyes were. She doesn't want to give in by just the mere pleading look Nayeon has armed herself. "No." she says in a definite manner. "Bring back my old unit."

"Why? Just the fridge pretty please." the goddess pouts again and leans closer to the direction where Mina is currently looking.

She shakes her head and flicks the older's head. "No."

Nayeon rubs the mark with a slight groan. "I could never win from you. Aissh." she murmurs. "The fridge will be gone once I'll go anyway." Nayeon adds and that made Mina's ears ring. She doesn't remember when did it all started but whenever the goddess starts talking about leaving, her heart would automatically feel heavy. It's as if she's having a hard time to breathe and it's making her mad; how she doesn't have a control to her own body.

"Be sure that by the time I'll come back, the place is already clean." she seriously says before hastily leaving the other girl. She wants to walk alone; she needs to breathe with ease; Nayeon's presence has been suffocating her in a way that she doesn't like.

"Take care!" she hears the goddess' lively voice and when she turns her head to take a peek, she sees Nayeon happily smiling at her while waving. 

Mina wasn't aware before, that a smiling face of person could bring sadness to her own self.

~

She walks along the park situated few blocks away from her apartment. Mina usually stays here whenever she feels tired after playing video games for hours. Watching other people, some are families with their kids but most are just random couples having fun, became one of her pastimes if it's okay to call it like that. She finds peace thinking that despite all the heartbreaks, people would still choose to love again.

The Japanese halts her thoughts midway when she sees an older woman having a hard time crossing the street; her arm is full of bags that she probably bought from the market. 

Mina stands and makes her way to help the elder. "Let me help you." she offers with a tiny smile on her lips.

"No, it's fine." the older woman looks a bit hesitant but Mina is persuasive. "I will carry the bags for you." she insists and when the elder finally nods with a smile, Mina reciprocates it happily.

"Where are you going? I'll accompany you." she politely says as they cross the street, heading towards the direction where Mina's apartment is located.

"Just around the next block." the woman smiles again.

The next block is the same street as hers yet the lady isn't one of those familiar faces that Mina could recognize even though she's been living on that apartment for more than 2 years now. "Did you just move grandma?" she inquires.

"Yes, just 2 days ago actually."

Mina nods at the new information she got; she would see a new face whenever she does her morning run next time.

"We're here." the elder announces. Mina peeks at the old apartment at the back. It's already weird enough that she wasn't familiar with the lady but after seeing the house where the old woman lives, it doubles the weird feeling that is building up inside her. The unit looks utterly unfamiliar to her as well. She doesn't remember having that unit on the block where she lives.

"Thank you so much for helping me." the woman's voice interrupts her. "What is your name?" the woman adds.

"Mina." she flashes a smile and hands the bags to the elder.

"My name is Jihyo." 

She stares with a frown on her face. She heard that name before yet she doesn't remember when it was.

"Where do you live? I would feel really bad if you're far from here." Jihyo suddenly asks, making Mina blink and shake her head hastily.
"No need to worry, I just live there." she raises a finger and points at her apartment that is on the opposite side of the road.

"You live alone?"

"No, I am with my girl-- a friend, I live with a friend." she closes her eyes after slipping that word; she wasn't planning to say that but it rolled out from accidentally.

"Girlfriend?" of course the elder would still notice it. 

Mina sighs and would rather smile than answer but the presence of Jihyo around her makes her want to talk more; want to say things out of her control. "Yes, a stubborn one to be exact." she answers, accompanied by a smile as she remembers the goddess' grumpy look before she left her a while ago. Mina knows that Nayeon isn't really her real girlfriend but Jihyo makes her say it as if they were real, as if Nayeon is real; as if she will stay.

Jihyo grasps for something inside her bag. She searches for it for quite some time before handling Mina a tiny bottle without a label on it. "What is this?" Mina asks while her eyes are fixated on the tiny object.

"A gift for helping me." Jihyo replies. "Drink it and think of something you want to see again then you'll see it in your dream. Just use it when you badly need it; remember, you can only use it once." the elder's voice is gentle, so soft that Mina finds it enchanting. It's like she's been under a spell without her knowing it.

"Mina!" she hears her name being called in the middle of her reverie by a familiar voice that she could listen everyday. She turns her body around to face the direction where the sound is coming from. There, she sees the frowning face of the goddess while the girl is taking large steps to reach her.
"What are you doing here?" Nayeon asks.

"I'm talking to-" Mina stops when she sees nothing the moment she turned around. The house wasn't there anymore; Jihyo wasn't there anymore.

"Talking to?" the goddess glances at the empty lot.

"No one." Mina shakes her head and grips the tiny bottle on her palm.

~

It hasn't been a long time since Mina had asked Nayeon how will she be like if she's indeed a human and not a deity with powers. The goddess answered that though she will really be a great catch, she knows that she's hardheaded, a high maintenance one and she doesn't know how to cook. It would be such a trouble but it would be fun because Nayeon always promises that she'll stay loyal to the person she loves; which leads to the topic that they're talking right now. 
Mina is as usual, playing while seated on the couch and Nayeon settles next to her with the goddess' head leaning on Mina's shoulder. Yes, they've got closer; so much closer.

"Humans are complicated." Nayeon murmurs while she's playing with tiny lights on her hand. "And to top it all, you people are not loyal at all." she adds with a hint of distaste as she makes the light fly away from her hand before forming a new one.

"Change is the only constant thing in this world." Mina refutes calmly as she continues to move her character around the game.

Nayeon sits straight, keeping her distance from Mina, before staring at the latter. "That's it, it's scary you know. This world does so much yet everything isn't permanent at all."

"It's how it works to maintain the balance. You should know it since you're a goddess."

"Well, I'm not really the brightest."

Mina smirks. "I could tell." she jokes but Nayeon still throws a serious gaze at her.

"But kidding aside." she sighs. "Don't you think it's wonderful as well?"

The goddess scoffs and grabs a throw pillow for her to hug as she looks at the tv screen. "What's wonderful at something that isn't permanent?"

"It makes people value things more. Humans tend to take everything for granted if we know that something won't fade." she answers earnestly and lowers the console she's holding to look at the woman beside her. "Just like you." she whispers.

"Come on Mina! Your character will die!" Nayeon whines, her eyes are still fixed at the video game.

"It's okay, I can play it again however, some moments will pass and those I can't relive."

Nayeon finally tilts her head to look at Mina; she furrows her brows at the center as she bores her orbs to the other girl.

"Do you think humans are insane?" Mina asks the goddess out of nowhere.

The question made Nayeon's face curl even more. "What?" Mina knows that she isn't ready for her randomness as of the moment.

"I remember playing a video game before wherein a character said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting something to change... So, are we crazy?"

Nayeon stares at her for too long; too long that Mina starts to feel a bit uncomfortable. The gaze is not the ordinary ones that the goddess would give her; it's different, it's more deep, it's intoxicating, it's making her heart flutter.

"No." the older girl muses after quite some time. "It's normal to hope for better things. I do hope for that as well."

Mina heaves a deep sigh and a smile slowly creeps on her lips as she lowers her head. "Maybe that's the explanation why people still choose to love even after being broken."

"That's the reason why I am here; to mend you. To teach you to love again." 

The goddess is most of the time, whiny and it's rare for Mina to see or hear Nayeon's serious voice. That's why she's still not used to witness it, even when it comes to serious matters like these.

She remembers Nayeon acting mischievously to trick her into a kiss which never happened since she would always catch the goddess' act ahead of time. Nayeon likes to excuse herself in everything she does; saying that it's not her fault that she's in love with Mina and would rather deceive the girl to earn the kiss that she wants. Nayeon is always that playful one and Mina finds it fascinating whenever she sees the goddess' other side. Mina finds herself falling deeply even more.

"Do you think you would still love me if you're not punished by your mother?" she wasn't able to stop herself from asking the question that has been running off her mind for a long time already. Mina thinks that if she hears Nayeon say no, then all of the things that she's starting to feel would stop; or at least she would find a reason to stop it.

But then Nayeon is Nayeon, and Mina had lost her control of her own emotions a long time ago. So when Nayeon answered "everything is possible." instead of the "No" that she needed; Mina felt her heart warmed with overwhelming happiness. She was supposed to be disappointed but she couldn't mask her true feelings; because the truth is, she is glad, she is happy. Hope is indeed powerful; and then Mina hopes again.

Mina lifts her head to look at the girl next to her. Her lips quiver and she bites it to stop it from shaking even more. She could taste the iron but chose to ignore it; until Nayeon reaches for her cheek and gently fondles it with her thumb. "Your lip is bleeding." she points out the obvious before brushing her thumb to the wounded part. Mina winces, it stings and she closes her eyes briefly at the moment.

"You're really pretty Mina." Nayeon suddenly utters and Mina was left with no choice but to open her eyes widely after hearing that compliment.  The goddess always praises her beauty, but it's the first time Nayeon had said that in that tone. Her heart races abruptly.

Nayeon is just sitting straight beside her. One palm on Mina's cheek, sending some warmth on her face and the other one is on her lap, tapping it from time to time. Mina had already let go of the console and focuses all of her attention at the goddess staring at her. The Japanese starts to lean in, albeit hesitant but slowly to close the gap between them. Her eyes wanders all over the goddess' face, from her eyes, down to her nose, then to her plump lips. She wants to taste it.

They were just inches apart; Mina could feel Nayeon's breath against her but that didn't make her change her mind, instead it adds more fuel to her want. She continues to push forward until Nayeon's hand pressed her shoulder to stop her from what she's going to do. Mina retracts sheepishly, she is embarrassed; yes. But most importantly, she feels sad at being rejected.

"I don't like you to be broken again." Nayeon says, though it was more of a warning than a normal statement. "As much as I want to kiss you, I also don't want you to get hurt." the goddess adds.

Mina knows she's just comforting her. Nayeon is trying to prevent things from getting out of hand if she can still salvage something. But she also knows it's too late; already too late.

~

They decided to spend their weekend in going on a date; mostly Mina's hobbies. They already finished watching a movie in which Nayeon found boring but battled her sleepiness for the girl she's with right now. 

Mina is also done killing the alien troops on a shooting game before she drags Nayeon to an archery booth.

"Don't go easy on me." Mina wiggles her brows.

Nayeon chuckles and shoots an aim with the bow. She hits the bulls-eye so she tilts her head with a smirk on her face to tease the lady beside her. "Oh I won't." she playfully replies. There's no way Mina would defeat her in this game; this is her past time when she's still in heaven. She is cupid's archery buddy.

It is Mina's time to release a shot; she minimally missed the center section and her arrow landed on 9. Nayeon hears the other girl groan in disappointment. The Japanese is really competitive and Nayeon knows it, so even though she promised not take her easily; she still chose to shoot the arrows aimlessly, so that Mina wouldn't feel annoyed if she'll ever lose the game.

Their scores were just close on the final round; Mina is just ahead by two points and Nayeon smiles widely after seeing how happy the clueless girl is.

"Did you use your power to get that first ten?" Mina gags after the game.

The goddess shakes her head and walks closer to the other girl. She puts her arms around Mina to guide her in aiming the bow. "I didn't." she whispers before she wraps her hands around Mina's. The younger one flinches at her touch; she could feel Mina tremble so she rubs Mina's arm to send comfort before pulling the string to shoot the arrow. Nayeon quickly retracts away to provide Mina some space. The arrow darted on the bulls-eye once again and when Mina finally regains her composure, she throws a hit on the goddess' arm as a revenge. "I told you to not go easy on me!"

Nayeon laughs before grabbing Mina's hand to intertwine their fingers. "I'll ride the ferris wheel." she says.

"I hate heights." Mina opposes while still looking grumpy.

"Then I'll ride it alone." she doesn't like heights as well but she needed some time alone, and ferris wheel is the only ride she could think of that would give her enough time to talk to her mother.

Mina opens to probably stop Nayeon from joining the ride but the goddess is quick enough to talk her way through her so strict fake girlfriend. "Just wait for me, I'll be back." the Japanese nods subtly and lets go of her hand.

By the time her ride goes up, Nayeon grabs the handle furiously as if she doesn't have the ability to fly if ever the wheel would go down. "Mother?" she calls, her eyes are half close and she refuses to look at the ground especially when the room was made of glass.

"GodJihyo!" she yells when she hears no response.

After quite some time, her mother's voice echoes inside the four corners of her ride. "What do you need?"

"Can you tell Cupid to stop shooting arrows because I'm about to rebel against him!"

"It's his job." Jihyo replies.

Nayeon opens her eyes while still grabbing on the steel pole next to her.

"You're acting like an idiot." her mother sighs.

"You know I don't like heights!" Nayeon insists. "But anyway, can you stop Mina from falling in love with me? She's going to get hurt again."

"You know we can't use our power to that. It's against our law." Jihyo explains.

"But then my stay is useless. Yes, I've mended her from her past wound but I'll leave her with a new one this time." she says, tiredly; as if all problems in the world have been put on top of her that she feels the heavy weight.

"Since when did you start thinking about other people Nayeon?" her mother asks.

"Ever since you've casted that spell on me! I've been too soft, so stupid and madly in love that I couldn't understand myself anymore."

"Are you sure?" Jihyo is slowly disappearing from her sight. Her mother's face vanishes through the thin air as the ride stops.

Heck, she is sure! It wouldn't be this complicated if she wasn't punished, she wouldn't feel any hesitation in leaving if the spell would be lifted already. She wouldn't care. But the love she feels inside makes it difficult; because she doesn't want to go back to her home anymore. She thinks that if she would stay, then Mina will be her new home in this world.

The Japanese hugs her immediately after she was out from the crowd. Mina tugs her closer and introduced her to an unfamiliar face that she had seen for the first time.

"This is Momo, she's a friend of mine at school." Mina eagerly says. Nayeon cracks a smile and bows at the new girl. "I'm Nayeon."

Momo nods and reciprocates the smile. "Are you guys on a date?" the girl asks.

Mina stays mum and seeing her reaction, Nayeon knows that the lady won't give any answer to that question.
"Yes." she answers and she sees how Mina tilts her head to glance at her.

"Oh wow. I'm happy for you Mina." Momo sincerely says while still wearing a smile.

"Thank you." Mina manages to utter a low reply. "You must be with Dahyun..." she trails off.

"Ahh yes, she's out there buying drinks." 

Mina nods and presses Nayeon's palm before excusing themselves from Momo. "We'll go now, we still have things to do. See you at school." they wave their hands at the other Japanese before walking away.

"Are you hungry?" Nayeon asks the girl happily smiling next her while swinging their intertwined hands together.

"Not really, are you?" Mina glances at her hide.

"No." 

They continued to walk; hands still swinging while heading to the street to hail a cab. Nayeon peeks at Mina who is still smiling until now. She's glad to see that the Japanese is happy, especially when she knows that she's the reason of it. 

Her gaze travels down to their locked hands and horror quickly filled her when she notices that her hand is slowly disappearing. It has become transparent and just the thought of Mina seeing it made Nayeon scared; so she decided to pull her hand away to hide it to her back before the Japanese would have a chance to take a glance at it.

The urgent and uncontrolled grabbing earned a worried and confused look from the younger girl. Mina stares at her with a frown as she crosses her arms on her chest. "What are you doing?" she raises a brow.

Nayeon frantically shakes her head while chanting in her mind that the disappearance of her hand should quickly pass by and everything would be back to normal.

"You're hiding something from me." Mina accuses her.

"Nothing!" she quickly replies and that made her sound so defensive so Mina becomes persuasive even more.

"Come on Nayeon, what's on your back?" the Japanese smiles as she tries to reach for the hand that Nayeon has been hiding.

"You don't need to see it Mina."

"Why? If it is some scary then I will never forgive you."

"It's nothing like that but I can't let you see it."

Mina pouts and heaves a sigh before turning her face away. Nayeon breathes in ease when she thought that Mina had just conceded, but she was wrong; the Japanese suddenly runs to the other side to take a peek on her back. Being a goddess is really helpful during this time; she was fast enough to create a bouquet to hide the true situation. She uses her left hand to give Mina the flowers while keeping her right hand on her back.

The Japanese giggles and flashes a gummy smile. "You're really cheesy Nayeon."

She lets out a nervous laugh and she wants to smack herself for acting awkwardly in front of the girl.

"Are you hurt? You keep on hiding your right hand from me."

"No! I just prefer this position."

Mina squints her eyes as she take a step closer to the goddess. "Let me see it." 

"No." 

"Let me." Mina insists.

Nayeon heaves a deep sigh. "You're also hardheaded." she mumbles.

The Japanese suddenly grabs her right arm and Nayeon quickly thinks of a way to save herself. So without thinking twice, she throws her left around Mina's waist and pulls her to close the gap between their lips. She takes a step back immediately after seeing how stunned Mina was. Nayeon lowers the hand on the girl's waist before uttering an apology. "I- Sorry." 

She closes her eyes, she was expecting for Mina to throw punch or even yell at her but none of that happened. Instead, she feels a warm pair of lips against her own and this time, it was her who was shocked; her eyes are wide open and she could the Japanese in front of her. Mina pulls away, with a blush that gushes from the side of her neck to her cheeks.

Nayeon stares at the beautiful girl full of admiration. She wraps both of her arms around Mina's waist, forgetting that they're in public and people would see them. Nayeon doesn't care and continued to stare at woman locked in her arms. Mina does the same, she mirrors the gaze and the emotions on her orbs. The goddess shakes her head subtly before forming a tiny smile. "You just don't learn." she murmurs before omitting the tiny space they had in between. The kiss is sloppy at first, a bit hesitant but when Nayeon feels Mina's grip on her arm, the goddess decides to take it deeper. She gently bites Mina's lower lip before tracing it with her tongue but she didn't go deeper as she's well aware they're in public, Mina hates these things.

It didn't pass her mind that disappearing and leaving Mina alone would be a difficult thing to do. She blames her mother, for being so cruel and letting her experience the pain as if it's true. Nayeon wants to lift the spell immediately; she wants to be free. She doesn't want to feel guilty in leaving a poor woman broken.

But then her mother's voice plays back in her mind.
"Are you sure?"

Is she really sure?

Is the spell really that powerful for her to feel too much pain by just the thought of going back home and not seeing Mina anymore?

Maybe Nayeon also doesn't learn. She knows it's not the right thing to do yet she wasn't able to stop herself from doing it.

Mina has a knack in falling for people who would leave her at the end of the day and despite knowing this, Nayeon still contributed to the girl's suffering. The two of them just don't learn.

------------

I'm really awkward with people, please forgive me if I don't reply to comments that much....... This is why Mina is so relatable cuz she's an introvert haha