“Do you think they caught on?” Momo asked nervously despite the cheerful smile on her face as she waved goodbye to Dahyun and Chaeyoung. She lowered her hand and turned to face Sana and Mina with a more troubled disposition, “Don’t you think we were acting kind of suspicious?”

Sana waved the bob-haired girl’s comment off, taking her place at Mina’s right side, “No way. You worry too much, Momoring. Now,” Sana smoothed over the top of the younger girl’s head gently, “What was it that you wanted to tell us?” Sana’s eyes were soft and comforting. Momo assumed her spot on Mina’s left side wearing her own encouraging expression and squeezing her hand reassuringly.

Mina couldn’t count the times she thought about how thankful she was for her two best friends. She clutched on to both their hands as if doing so allowed her to gain courage from their touch. “I saw her again before meeting up with you and Dahyun and Chaeyoung-chan. She was waiting for me by my locker but there was a mini mob swarming around her, asking about…that.” Mina’s expression hardened, “She was trying to talk to me but I just got what I needed from my locker and left.”

“You avoided her again?” Momo popped her head forward to better gauge how Mina felt about the encounter.

“Again?” Sana voiced her confusion, “What do you mean ‘again?’”

Momo moved her eyes to answer Sana, “Mina and I ran into Nayeon and Jihyo in the hallway at break today. Jihyo was calling us over but Mina didn’t want to talk to her. And Nayeon…” Momo trailed off.

“Nayeon?” The tone of the older girl’s voice piqued Mina’s interest, “Did something happen between you and Nayeon?”

“I don’t know. She’s been kind of distant lately. I kind of feel like she’s avoiding me.” Momo’s brow knitted together in thought.

“She’s been weird with me too!” Sana echoed.

Mina pursed her lips, “Wait, how long has this been going on? I remember you asking about her last night.”

“Last night?” Sana looked over to Momo questioningly, “Why didn’t I hear anything about this?”

“It’s okay, it’s not important. She’s probably just under a lot of stress or something.” The corner of Momo’s mouth curled upward, not quite reaching her eyes. Sana noticed and knew the girl was more concerned about this Nayeon thing than she was letting on.

“Momoring, I-” Sana’s text tone interrupted her. She fished her phone out from the side pocket of her school bag. It was a text from Jeongyeon.

{Jeongyeonnie <3, 3:58pm}:

Hi Sana-ya~ I’m going over to Jihyo’s on Saturday to help her get ready for her date with Kang Daniel and I told her I’d ask if you could come too since you’re so good at date prep and stuff. She’s really nervous about it and I know you would know just the right thing to say to make her feel better (: It’d mean a lot to her (and me!) if you were there to support her

Mina glanced at the screen, quickly reading the message. Sana saw that she caught a glimpse and turned the phone away. “I won’t go,” she stated simply.

“Go where?” Momo asked. She held her hand out as Sana passed the phone over.

“No, you should go,” Mina asserted, “Jeongyeon’s right; you are really good at these kinds of things.”

Momo was handing the phone back when the text tone rang again. Mina read the new message on the illuminated screen.

{Jeongyeonnie<3, 4:01}:

Jihyo wants Mina to come too! Can you ask her?

Momo’s eyes flashed to Mina, but the younger girl continued to stare at the text until the screen went black again. It made her so happy to hear that Jihyo wanted her to be there but how could she support the very thing that tore her heart to shreds?

Sana snatched her phone and quickly pocketed it, “No, I won’t put you through that. I’m going to tell them that we’re not going.”

Mina blinked away the stinging sensation at the corners of her eyes, “Sana, it’s okay. You should go.” Even if it hurt to see her with Daniel, Mina wanted Jihyo to be happy and if Sana going to help her get ready was going to do that then so be it.

Sana rest an assuring hand on Mina’s shoulder, “I’ll talk to Jeongyeonnie about it and if I really have to go.”

Mina nodded with a weak smile.

~~~

Tzuyu trained her eyes on the school gate ahead of her. The street was packed but she didn’t have to do much to weave through the crowd; people usually got out of the way when they sensed the regal aura about her. She was well aware of all the stares she received everywhere she went. She didn’t know why people treated her that way; it always just sort of happened. But she was used to it so it was easy for her to ignore it most of the time.

The horde of middle school students cleared a narrow path for her all the way to the school gates. As she passed through, she caught sight of two familiar faces that filled her with joy. It was the two girls she bumped into yesterday: Dahyun and Chaeyoung.

They were talking to two older students from the high school across the street, “Not the same ones from yesterday,” Tzuyu observed. One was tall (almost as tall as her from the looks of it) with tousled short blonde hair and the other was a considerably shorter brunette (closer to Chaeyoung’s height). Tzuyu’s eyes to softened at the thought of the smaller girl’s name. She gingerly stepped toward them, listening in on their conversation.

“Yeah, we were with Momo, Sana, and Mina unnie yesterday,” Dahyun nodded at an enquiring Jihyo. Jeongyeon eyed the younger girl carefully when she said her girlfriend’s name. She was trying to figure out a way to confirm Sana’s suspicion of Dahyun’s crush on her.

Jihyo replied with a string of questions, “How was Mina? Was she okay? Did she have a stomach ache or anything?”

“She seemed fine to me. It didn’t look like she had a stomach ache but…” Chaeyoung answered, quickly locking eyes with Dahyun.

Should she mention that weird vibe they felt when the three Japanese girls suddenly broke into their native language? Dahyun shook her head; it wouldn’t do any good to make Jihyo and Jeongyeon worry about something they, themselves, knew nothing about.

“Yeah, no, nothing wrong,” Chaeyoung finished.

Jihyo crossed her arms. That confirmed it then. Mina really was avoiding her. Now all she had to do was find out why, then she could remedy it and this whole debacle would be behind them.

As Jeongyeon continued to scrutinize Dahyun, she noticed a tall, dark-haired girl staring at them from a little farther back, by the school gate, “Hey, do you guys know that girl?” She nodded coolly toward the entrance.

The two younger girls turned around. Upon seeing who it was, a toothy grin appeared on Chaeyoung’s face, “Tzuyu-ah!”

Dahyun was grinning too and she waved for the girl to join the huddle.

A small smile formed on Tzuyu’s face and a warm feeling spread through her body. She slowly approached her new friends with their high school companions, bowing low in greeting.

“So pretty,” Jihyo thought as she got a better look at the tall girl.

“Good morning, Tzuyu!” Dahyun greeted enthusiastically.

Chaeyoung hopped to Tzuyu’s side, “Yeah, good morning!”

“Hello, Dahyun and Chaeyoung. Good morning.” Tzuyu replied in her soft, muddled pronunciation. Dahyun found it to be just as cute as it was yesterday, if not more. And her politeness only added to it. The foreign girl’s smile wavered slightly when her eyes landed on the two older girls.

“Oh! Guys, this is Chou Tzuyu. She’s a transfer student from Taiwan. We met her yesterday,” Chaeyoung happily introduced their new friend.

“Hi, Tzuyu. I’m Jeongyeon. I’m Chaeyoung’s cousin.”

“And I’m her best friend, Jihyo!” Jihyo threw an arm around Jeongyeon’s shoulders, “I grew up with all of them. It’s nice to meet you!”

The two older girls smiled kindly. Tzuyu noticed the way some of the middle school students around them stopped to stare and whisper. A couple of high school students stopped outside the gate too.

Dahyun noticed Tzuyu picking up on all the attention on their small group, “Jeongyeon unnie is the star player of the high school’s softball team, Jihyo unnie just got asked out by one of the hottest guys at the high school, and I-”

“You?” Jihyo scoffed mockingly.

Dahyun put her hands on her waist proudly, “I am the talk of the town.”

Jeongyeon raised an eyebrow, “The what of the what now?”

“Dahyun was the center of attention yesterday,” Chaeyoung rolled her eyes, “People wouldn’t leave her alone.”

“Why?” Jihyo looked at Dahyun in fake disbelief.

Dahyun removed her hands from her waist and shrugged, “Sana, Momo, and Mina unnie. I guess some people saw me walking home with them two days ago and wanted to find out more.”

“I believe those three being together attracted a lot of attention, but you being the center of attention?” Jeongyeon smirked playfully, “I’m going to need some evidence.”

“Well, Tzuyu was there!” Chaeyoung nudged the tall girl, “She can tell you.”

Tzuyu looked down to see Chaeyoung nodding for her to say something, “Um, yes. Dahyun was really the center of attention at morning break yesterday. Everyone was gathering around her in the cafeteria.” She looked back to Chaeyoung who gave a thumbs up. Tzuyu smiled, pleased with her answer.

“Wow, Dahyun-ah, look at you Miss popular,” Jihyo chuckled, patting Dahyun’s shoulder.

“Didn’t know you had it in you.” Jeongyeon rustled her dark hair. Dahyun beamed proudly. “Anyway, we should probably get going, Jihyo.”

Jihyo didn’t move; her eyes were back on the tall girl standing next to Chaeyoung.

Jeongyeon waved her hand in front of the brunette’s face, “Hello? Earth to Park Jihyo? We have to get to homeroom.”

“Hm?” Jihyo shook her head, her eyes fluttering as she broke out of her daze, “Oh, yeah. Bye, guys! Don’t let the popularity get to your head. It was nice meeting you Tzuyu!”

“Yeah, nice meeting you.” Jeongyeon flashed her signature student president smile.

Tzuyu smiled back, bowing slightly, “Yes. It was a pleasure meeting you as well.”

Dahyun and Chaeyoung waved goodbye to the two high schoolers and turned back to face Tzuyu.

“You seem to know a lot of high schoolers. I saw you were walking home with a couple yesterday too,” Tzuyu commented.

Dahyun directed her thumb behind her toward the high school, “Yeah, they’re all Jeongyeon unnie’s friends.”

“They’re pretty…” Tzuyu said in a flat tone, thinking back to the light-haired girl who greeted Chaeyoung so affectionately yesterday.

“You’re pretty too, Tzuyu!” Chaeyoung rest her hand on the taller girl’s shoulder with a goofy grin and a sparkle in her eyes.

Tzuyu’s heart skipped a beat looking down at her. She couldn’t help but smile at the compliment. A dimple on her left cheek revealed itself, “Thank you. You are too.”

Dahyun chuckled loudly, “Yeah, pretty short.”

“Hey! Low blow!” Chaeyoung protested.

“Um, duh. How else am I supposed to hit you?” Dahyun punched the space in front of Chaeyoung, aiming exaggeratingly low, “Right, Tzuyu?”

The dark-haired girl turned to Tzuyu, her eyebrows raised in expectation. Chaeyoung looked at her, silently pleading her not to play along. Tzuyu closed her eyes and took a breath, “I don’t even see her? Is she here? Chaeyoung?” Tzuyu raised her palm to her brow bone as if searching for something, looking directly over Chaeyoung’s head. Dahyun burst into guttural laughter.

“Ugh, whatever. I get it; I’m short,” Chaeyoung pouted. She looked up to see Dahyun with her arm hung around Tzuyu’s frame, the two giggling. She smiled to herself at the sight and turned to hide it, walking toward the main building, the sound of her friends’ footsteps not far behind.

~

The bell rang, indicating the start of lunch break. Jeongyeon gathered her things and geared herself up to look for Nayeon. She figured the best place to start would be her locker.

When Jeongyeon arrived, the older girl was already rummaging through the metal compartment. Nayeon looked deep in thought when the blonde crept up behind her, “Had to fend off any crazy fans lately?”

Nayeon flinched, almost dropping the book in her hand, and Jeongyeon had to snicker at her reaction. The older girl immediately recognized whose laugh it was and rolled her eyes, trying to disregard Jeongyeon’s fingers poking at her neck and shoulders, “Not right now, Jeongyeon. I’m not in the mood.”

Jeongyeon stopped her teasing, her smile morphing into a more serious expression. She didn’t realize this called for a more direct approach, “Hey, seriously, what’s going on? I haven’t seen you these past few days. Why are you hanging out with Jennie?”

Nayeon responded with silence, seemingly ignoring everything the blonde was saying. She stuffed the notebooks in her hand into her bag and slammed her locker shut. Hoping that was enough to get the softball player to stop talking to her, Nayeon turned to walk away but a firm grip on her shoulder kept her from moving.

“Nayeon, please? I’m your best friend. You can tell me anything; you know that,” Jeongyeon’s voice was consoling yet somehow stern at the same time.

Nayeon sighed, pinching bridge of her nose. She hated it when Jeongyeon pulled the best friend card. She hated it because it was true; she could tell her anything and everything (okay, maybe not everything). Nayeon was still unsure if she wanted to unpack her inner turmoil on to the blonde but when she turned around and saw the sincerity in Jeongyeon’s eyes, she knew she couldn’t not say anything.

“It was a mistake,” Nayeon conceded, “Momo and I got into a dumb fight.”

“Because of you and your precious little girlfriend,” she mentally commented.

Jeongyeon relaxed a little when Nayeon finally spoke to her, “But Jennie? Really?”

“I was being stupid,” Nayeon’s gaze fell to the floor.

“I just wanted something she couldn’t take away from me.” She eyed the blonde girl in front of her longingly, “I still do.”

“I’ll say you were,”