Mina awoke with a start. When she opened her eyes, it took her a second to register where she was. She couldn’t move and she felt incredibly warm. She tried to wiggle free of whatever was restraining her, but when she tried to bring her arm up and out from the covers the pressure surrounding her wrapped tighter around her body and a soft whine broke the morning silence.

Mina rolled her head to the right and was greeted by Sana’s sharp nose just inches away from hers. She turned over to find exactly what she expected: a muss of short black hair softly snoring (which she deducted to be Momo, of course).

A deep feeling of comfort and warmth overtook her being. What in the world had she done in her previous life to deserve such kind and thoughtful best friends as these? She smiled and craned her neck up to kiss the crown of Momo’s head, earning a groan from the sleepy girl. She rolled back over to press her forehead to Sana’s.

The light-haired girl sleepily blinked her eyes open to see Mina’s gentle smile. A grin of her own spread across her face to see her friend in much better spirits this morning. Sana cuddled closer and poked Mina’s side, tickling her, “Good morning, Minari.”

Mina jerked away from the older girl’s hands, accidentally bumping Momo’s still sleeping form. The bob-haired girl yelped.

“Sorry, Momoring!” Mina sat up and looked down to check the damage she’d caused.

Momo didn’t answer, her hair still covering her face as she let the silence drag on. Mina looked to Sana, scared. Suddenly, Momo popped up and pounced on Mina. “You’re going to pay for that, Mitang!”

Momo’s hands went to the younger girl’s sides, tickling her. Sana joined in, jamming her fingers into Mina’s neck. Mina’s laugh echoed off the walls, filling the room with a light, tinkling melody.

“That sound is music to my ears,” Momo encircled her arms around Mina and wrapped her in a tight bear hug, nuzzling her cheek into her dark hair.

Sana quickly joined in, “We’ll always be here for you, Mina. Remember that. We will always have each other’s backs.”

If she was being honest, Mina still felt like there was a gaping hole in her chest where her heart was supposed to be, but knowing that she had the best support system in the world right here by her side reassured her that she could make it through whatever the world threw at her. That included absolute heartbreak.

As the three girls broke out of the embrace, Mina noticed the way Momo’s gaze lingered on the picture on Sana’s bedside table in the corner of her eye. Call her crazy but she couldn’t help but relate the look in the older girl’s eyes to the feelings in her heart. But soon enough Sana’s voice brought them both back to reality.

“Alrighty then, I guess since we’re up, we should start getting ready.” Sana looked at the time on her phone, “6:23am, wow, good thing you woke us up, Mina.” Sana hopped out of bed and went to her closet to take out her uniform. “Well, come on! Don’t you guys want to get breakfast?”

“Oh! We need to get something for Dahyun-chan this time. I promised her.” Mina slid out from under the covers and headed toward the bathroom to start her morning routine.

“Oh yeah, don’t forget about Dahyun-chan,” Momo folded her arms and fitted a pout on her face, “Hmph.”

No response.

“Hmph!” She grunted louder. Sana ignored her and continued to change into her uniform. Mina came out from the bathroom all ready to go. Momo felt her ears burn up, frustrated at the lack of attention she was receiving.

“Hm-hmph!” She mumbled a third time, rustling the blankets around with her legs to create more noise.

Sana sighed and finally looked over, “What is it, Momo? Why aren’t you getting ready?”

Momo only glared back and huffed. Sana raised her eyebrows, inquiring what her tantrum was all about.

Momo felt the mattress dip and a gentle hand on her shoulder. “I’ll get you something too, to make up for forgetting yesterday.”

Momo whipped around to look Mina in the eye, “Really?”

The younger girl nodded and smiled sweetly.

“Oh my god, all that just because you’re a little salty about not getting a piece of bread?” Sana walked over and threw Momo’s uniform on her lap, “Hurry up and change so we can go get your precious pastry.”

“You know what? You don’t have to get me the bread, Minari. I want Sana to buy it for me instead.” Momo met Sana’s gaze and stuck out her tongue.

“What? No way! Why should I?” Sana refused. Momo shrugged and laid back down.

Mina clicked her tongue and tried to tug the covers back off the older girl, “Come on, I’ll just get you something, Momoring.”

“No. I want Sana to get it or I’m not getting up.”

Mina looked to Sana. Sana shook her head vehemently. Mina tapped the watch on her wrist and the light-haired girl sighed, rolling her eyes as she gave in, “Ughhh, fine, but you’re only getting one.”

“Five.” Momo rolled over to negotiate.

“Two.” Sana narrowed her eyes.

“Four.” Momo sat up.

Sana folded her arms across her chest with a smug look on her face, “Three or nothing.”

“Deal!” Momo jumped out of bed and skipped to the bathroom, beaming.

“Did I just…get played by Hirai Momo?” Sana looked incredulously at Mina who just stared back with the same disbelief in her eyes.

“What are you guys waiting for? Let’s go get some breakfast!” The bob-haired girl stood in the doorway all dressed, washed up, and ready to go, a glint in her eye as she smiled and looked back at them.

~

Chaeyoung’s brow crinkled up as she made her way down the hall. Dahyun was usually lurking right outside of her classroom when class let out for morning break but today she was no where to be found. In fact, she didn’t even walk to school with her and Jeongyeon this morning.

As Chaeyoung continued into the cafeteria, she saw a small group gathering at the corner of the room where she and Dahyun usually sat.

“Ugh, I guess I gotta find somewhere else to sit. Hopefully, she can find me.”

But before she turned away to find another spot, Chaeyoung caught a glimpse of the dark-haired girl at their table in the center of the group of students.

“What the hell?” Chaeyoung squeezed her way to the front of the crowd to get a closer look.

“Who were they?” A boy called out from somewhere behind her.

“Just a couple of my friends from the high school across the street.” Dahyun flipped her hair as she spoke. “They’re Japanese.”

“How do you know them?” This time the girl just to Chaeyoung’s left spoke up.

Dahyun’s eyes were tracking the source of the question when they landed on her best friend’s face.

“Chaeyoung-ah!” She blurted out. Dahyun’s eyes widened and her face flushed a pale pink in embarrassment for being caught in such a surprising predicament. Chaeyoung looked at her in complete confusion when the determined look suddenly returned to Dahyun’s features.

She pulled the short girl into the center of the group. “They’re friends of Chaeyoung’s cousin,” she announced.

“Hey! I know you! I saw you hanging out with Yoo Jeongyeon yesterday!”

“Oh my god, the softball superstar?”

“Is there any other Yoo Jeongyeon?”

“Yeah, she’s my cousin.” Chaeyoung said distractedly, still perplexed as to what was going on. She looked at Dahyun who was just grinning at the crowd.

Chaeyoung leaned in closer to whisper in the older girl’s ear, “What is happening?”

“I don’t know! People have just been following me around since this morning. I think they saw me walking home with Mina unnie, Momo unnie, and Sana unnie yesterday.” Dahyun whispered back, keeping up her smile.

“Sana?!” Chaeyoung’s sudden outburst startled the group around them. The short girl felt her ears heat up.

“O-kay, um, how about I tell you guys more later. Chaengie and I are just going to enjoy the rest of morning break.” Dahyun awkwardly waved her arms around, shooing people away.

Chaeyoung watched as the crowd dispersed when she caught the gaze of a tall girl with long, flowing hair and a pretty face. They stared at each other for a moment (or maybe it was a few long ones) before Chaeyoung felt a tug on her sleeve. She looked over to see Dahyun rummaging through her bag. When she looked up again, the girl was gone but before Chaeyoung could give it a second thought Dahyun’s voice regained her attention.

“Chaeyoung-ah! Here! This is from Sana unnie herself.” The dark-haired girl held out a strawberry tart. She watched as her best friend’s eyes lit up in absolute delight as she graciously accepted the pastry.

“So, what happened yesterday?” Chaeyoung asked as she opened her treat.

Dahyun took a seat at the table and motioned for Chaeyoung to do the same. “Mina unnie, Momo unnie, and Sana unnie walked me home.”

“Wait, wait,” Chaeyoung sat down and looked her in the eye questioningly, “Since when did you start calling them ‘unnie?’”

Dahyun shrugged, “I feel comfortable around them, I guess.”

Chaeyoung’s eyebrows rose in interest. “Comfortable? With three people she barely knows? Especially someone as pretty as-”

“But, Chaeng, they’re so cool! Especially when they talk in Japanese!” Dahyun fangirled, “I want to hang out with them again soon! Oh my gosh, wait. Do you want to walk home with them today? They gave me their numbers so I can ask Sana unnie or Mi-”

“YES!” Dahyun looked up to find Chaeyoung looking her straight in the eye, crumbs and traces of whipped cream decorating the corners of . “I-I mean, sure, why not. Go ahead and text her-THEM. Go ahead and text THEM.”

Dahyun eyed her seemingly flustered best friend and pulled out her phone. Her fingers danced quickly across the screen then showed the phone to Chaeyoung. “Sent!”

She felt the phone vibrate almost immediately and retracted the device from Chaeyoung’s face.

{Sana unnie, 9:42am}:

Yessssss! I would love to walk you two home <33 I’ll ask Mina and Momo if they wanna come too.

She turned the phone back to Cha