Mina can easily recall how she met the love of her life. She was strolling through the calm market of Bern on a calm Saturday morning, finally getting the chance to explore the city that she’s been living in for a month. She felt the cool air hug her exposed skin and she was thankful that she decided to clad herself in a thick grey blazer over her double layered top. Despite growing up in Japan and Korea that experience similarly freezing temperatures, she still found the cold pinching at her skin. She hugged her folder she had in her hand in a pathetic attempt to get warmer.

 

Moving to the European country alone for university, she had no one she knew there and she had been too busy the past month with settling in and adapting. She knew this feeling all too well as when she was younger she moved to South Korea from Japan but this time, she was really alone. She loves being alone and getting to know new places and people but being alone in a foreign country still scared her. She shook her head and breathed out a deep sigh as if to breathe out her worries. Despite all the stresses in her head, the beautiful atmosphere that surrounded her made her unknowingly smile a small smile.

 

“Beautiful girls, here’s some tulips,” a random florist on the street directed at her and a slightly shorter girl she just noticed that was walking near her.

 

“Me?” Mina and the girl both said at the same time, looking at the man and each other with confusion all over their faces.

 

“Yes, you two,” the florist laughed and gave each of them three tulips which made them smile widely.

 

“Thank you, thank you so much,” Mina bashfully took the flowers and bowed at the man as he handed them flower by flower.

 

“Ah, thank you,” the blonde girl smiled widely and bowed.

 

The two girls looked at each other with a wide smile and laughed awkwardly as they walked away from the florist who kept smiling at them. After realising that the other girl was still walking near her, she decided to speak up in an attempt to make friends. After all, it isn’t every day you get to meet someone at such a circumstance.

 

“Are you Korean?” Mina asked in the Korean language, turning her head to really look at the girl.

 

“Yes, wow this is the first time I’ve met a Korean here,” the girl replied in Korean excitedly and smiled so widely that the brown orbs that Mina were looking at disappeared.

 

Mina couldn’t help but smile back at the girl’s beautiful smile. She was so busy admiring the smile that she almost forgot to reply back.

 

“Actually, I’m Japanese but I moved to Korea when I was 16.”

 

“That’s so cool that you’re fluent at at least 3 languages. My English is pretty rusty. I’ve only been studying it for half a year,” the girl laughed, making Mina laugh softly. “Wait, what’s your name? I’m Dahyun, Kim Dahyun.”

 

“Mina, Myoui Mina,” she held out her hand for a handshake but Dahyun moved her hand away for a warm hug which made Mina squeal in surprise, making the both of them laugh as they separated.

 

“By the way, I can help you with English if you’d like,” Mina offered making Dahyun look up with grateful eyes.

 

“Mina-ssi is so kind, wait what year were you born?”

 

“1997, you?”

 

“Sorry Mina unnie not Mina-ssi, I’m a year younger,” Dahyun laughed awkwardly.

 

Mina laughed out loud, causing Dahyun to blush at her awkward mistake.

 

“It’s okay, Dahyunie.”

 

They fell into a comfortable silence while walking in no particular direction with Mina following Dahyun and Dahyun following Mina (they really were going nowhere). They just wordlessly walked side by side around the market. Mina suddenly noticed the folder Dahyun had in her hand that had the same stamp as hers.

 

“You go to University of Bern too? What are you studying?”

 

“I’m studying World Literature. You?”

 

“What? No way! I study World Literature too. Isn’t there only one class for that? How come I haven’t seen you before?”

Dahyun was surprised at how expressive the quiet Mina suddenly was and started laughing at how adorable she found the older girl. Mina was getting a bit frustrated at how Dahyun laughed at her but hid it with a small smile to control her mood swing.

 

“I’m sorry I was actually following you for a minute when I thought I recognised you from somewhere. I was going to ask you if you recognised me too, but the florist spoke up,” Dahyun said very quickly and awkwardly fidgeted with her folder and the three tulips she held in her hands. “I’m not a stalker or anything!”

 

Mina looked at her incredulously which made Dahyun nervous, until she started bursting out laughing. Dahyun couldn’t help but smile at how her gums showed when she laughed, despite the situation she got herself into.

 

Dahyun interrupted her laughter with an accusative remark, changing to English to surprise the other, “But you didn’t even recognise me despite being in the same class for a month!”

 

 

 

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The new friends spent the whole Saturday exploring the city together, finding comfort in each other’s presence. Mina found Dahyun uniquely charming. She saw that the younger girl was a hyper and bright ball of sunshine, but she was also naturally quiet. Dahyun was the kind of company that she really loved. The calm and comfortable silence was what she appreciated with Dahyun’s presence and Mina had a feeling that she would learn to adore her new companion.

 

Unsurprisingly, she did (quickly). 

 

The two had separated at almost 11pm after they had dinner and Dahyun even insisted on walking Mina home just to make sure she was safe. Mina found it amusing as the girl also lived at the same dormitories only 2 floors above hers. After laughing about it, she let Dahyun walk her to her door just to ease the younger girl’s heart. After all, Mina didn’t mind the girl and there was no reason to refuse. The girls hugged each other goodbye after spending almost 12 hours together.

 

As Mina was getting ready for bed, she was smiling to herself about the great day she had and suddenly, her phone vibrated. Sana, her childhood best friend, was calling. As she picked up the video call, she glanced at the clock and calculated that it was around 7am in Korea.

 

“Why are you calling at 7am?” Mina answered the call, worry evident in her voice.

 

“I’m always up by 6am to run with Momo,” Sana laughed and threw a peace sign at her.

 

“What? Since when do you ever get off your gay to do something remotely active?” Mina’s eyebrows raised.

 

“Since Momo promised me she’ll let me take a shower with her every time I do,” Sana smirked.

 

“Oh my god, did I just hear what I just heard?” Mina’s eyes widened.

 

Just then Momo walked into the frame and announced her presence,”Mina-chan, good morning!”

 

“Momo, are you really letting Sana shower with you?”

 

The sudden question made Momo blush. She threw a glare at Sana, who giggled, before smiling at Mina.

 

“It’s not like there’s any harm in that. It’s just us showering together,” Momo said quickly as she kept blushing.

 

Sana giggled and tenderly kissed Momo’s blushing cheeks while patting Momo’s head. Mina watched the two interact intently and suddenly squealed, making the two look at her in surprise.

 

“Oh my god, are you guys finally dating?” Mina excitedly exclaimed at the two.

 

Sana and Momo blushed and looked each other in the eye before speaking up at the same time,”What do you mean by finally?”

 

“I always thought you both look good together, considering you both act like a married couple. Everyone thinks you guys have been dating since forever. It took you guys long enough!”

 

The three laugh it off before asking Mina how her day has been. Mina smiled as she thought about the wonderful day she had with a certain blonde.

 

“I went out with this girl. Sh-“

 

“A girl?! You went out on a date? Without telling us?” Mina got interrupted by the two screaming at her.

 

“Oh my god, no! She and I just ran into each other in the market and realised we both were in the same class. Oh, and she’s Korean too. Her name’s Dahyun,” Mina clarified but the two just started hugging each other tightly and kissing the air teasingly, making Mina roll her eyes.

 

“You guys are so tiring to talk to, I’m going to sleep,” Mina sighed.

 

“No, Mina-chan don’t leave me with Sana,” Momo screamed in terror as Sana started to shift on top of Momo.

 

Mina couldn’t help but laugh at the two.

 

“I miss you guys,” Mina looked at the small screen of her phone solemnly.

 

“We miss our baby Mina too,” Sana cooed at the youngest, making all of them burst out laughing.

 

The three conversed for another hour before letting Mina rest.

 

 

##############

 

Monday came quicker than Mina expected. Her Sunday that she typically spent rushing her unfinished assignments and keeping up with her classes was gone in a blink of an eye. She walked in 10 minutes early for class and sat in the back corner of the class like she always does. Usually, she would start reading the material for the day but she had finished doing so the night before, so she just stared at the entrance of the lecture hall waiting for a certain someone. 

 

The Korean girl walked in the class and immediately made eye contact with Mina as if she knew the girl was going to be there. The girl’s tired eyes curve as she smiled widely and waved excitedly at Mina. Mina smiled back and watched Dahyun briskly walk to the empty seat beside her.

 

“Can I sit beside you?” Dahyun asks in English.

 

“Of course, Dahyunie,” Mina smiles brightly at her.

 

As Dahyun was about to ask Mina how her Sunday was, she was interrupted by a Swiss boy from their class who started to talk to Mina.

 

“Hi, I’m Leon. You’re really pretty, what’s your name?” he flashed a charming smile.

 

“Thank you, I’m Mina,” she didn’t want to be talking to him but she politely smiled back.

 

“Can I have your number?” Leon smirked at her, completely ignoring the existence of Dahyun.

 

Mina didn’t want to be rude but she really wasn’t interested. It made her so uncomfortable that she held Dahyun’s hand as a cry for help. She didn’t need to because Dahyun already sensed her discomfort by her facial expression that Leon was too oblivious to notice.

 

“Sorry, she’s my girlfriend. Please don’t bother her anymore,” Dahyun spoke up.

 

Mina’s jaw dropped as she heard those words escape from Dahyun’s mouth. She watched Dahyun look at Leon with a look that practically said “try me”. Leon backed away and smiled defeatedly.

 

The girls looked at Leon, expecting a homophobic comment but was surprised to hear him apologise.

 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realise that you had a girlfriend. You two look good together,” Leon sincerely wished the two and walked back to his seat.

 

The two, still holding hands, looked at each other with a look of disbelief.

 

“What did I just get us into?” Dahyun sighed and let go of Mina’s hand to facepalm herself.

 

“Well, my new girlfriend, I’ll return the favour anytime you’re in a situation like this,” Mina smiled reassuringly.

 

 

 

##############

 

 

The two paid attention to their morning lectures, or at least tried to. Dahyun would note down certain words in her notebook that she may not understand so she can google it later and poked on Mina’s cheek to wake the sleepy older girl up whenever she dozed off. Mina would smile sheepishly at Dahyun and thank her softly every time she did so. Dahyun quietly laughed to herself each time.

 

It was finally their 2 hour lunch break. Dahyun quickly packed her bag and watched Mina gracefully pick her stuff up and stuff them into her bag.

 

“Are you a ballerina or something? I think you’d be a great one considering how much grace you ooze out in every single thing that you do,” Dahyun spoke up as Mina closed her bag.

 

“The exaggeration, I can’t breathe oh my god,” Mina laughed loudly, covering in an attempt to muffle her laughter which made Dahyun laugh along with her. “But yes, I studied ballet in Japan before moving to Korea.”

 

Dahyun nodded as Mina put her bag on her shoulders. Wordlessly, Dahyun took Mina’s hand and pulled her out of the classroom quickly.

 

“Wh- Where are we going?” 

 

“I’m buying you an americano,” Dahyun kept tugging at Mina’s hand, who didn’t protest.

 

Mina quickened her pace to walk by Dahyun’s side, wriggled her hand out of Dahyun’s to link arms with her to the café.

 

“Dahyunie is such a good girlfriend,” Mina jokingly said as she used her free hand to pat Dahyun’s head, followed by the both of them laughing.

 

The two quickly found the café and entered. The aroma of coffee hit their noses as they opened the door with their arms still linked. The two only untangled their arms when they found a table near the glass window. The two glanced around the peaceful café with a warm smile on their faces as they sat down.

 

“How’d you know I like americano?” Mina asked first.

 

“I didn’t,” Dahyun smiled. “My unnies used to go on diets and forced me to do it with them, and americanos were one of them.”

 

“You must miss them a lot, because I miss my unnies too. Honestly, I’m more like the oldest than youngest among them,” Mina laughed as she thought of Sana and Momo.

 

“Same,” Dahyun laughed with her. “Nayeon unnie and Jeongyeon unnie would always be fighting like a married couple and I’ll be there trying to control the two of them. They’re so emba