a/n:

Final confirmation that you have chosen to read JeongMi's ending.

If you're actually looking for the MiChaeng ending, please return to the previous chapter, Chapter 16.

 

Everyone on the correct page?

THEN LET'S ING GO.

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“Jeongyeon-unnie!”

“Oh, hey Mina. You’re here!” the performer gave her a big hug as soon as Mina got to her side, the two of them meeting up to enjoy a Saturday afternoon together.

Instead of her two cheeky friends pretending to be her, Jeongyeon was the one who voluntarily invited her crush to hang out this time; she had learnt to secure her phone from others by now, since it seemed easy to snatch.

 

Mina was simply happy that she was able to spend some time with Jeongyeon.

Since she was not the type to invite people herself, all she was capable of doing was to wait for the older girl’s move- and thankfully, she made one.

“What do you have in mind for today?” the dancer smiled with anticipation.

“I was thinking of going back to that arcade we first hung out at.” Jeongyeon revealed, “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure no one touches you this time… apart from me.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing” Jeongyeon cleared out . “So what do you think?”

“It’ll be nostalgic, so why not?” Mina smiled softly back despite still not being a big fan of those places.

She was more than willing to go for her friend though.

 

The two chatted happily while they walked on the streets side-by-side.

As they occasionally had to squeeze through some crowds due to it being a Saturday afternoon, Jeongyeon made sure Mina was safe from any stranger’s touch by shielding the girl’s sides with an arm, gently shoving people away if they came to close.

If anyone was to touch Mina, Jeongyeon made sure it was only herself.

 

With the weather gradually shifting to Spring, Mina had already dressed for the new season out of excitement even though it was still quite breezy outdoors.

As they stopped for the traffic light, the performer realised how Mina seemed to be trembling slightly from the cool air, making her remove her own jacket.

Without a word, she draped it over Mina’s shoulders, making the girl’s heart skip a beat uncontrollably- though she managed to pretend that she was totally calm.

“You’re such a gentlewoman.” Mina teased while gladly accepting the offer, knowing how Jeongyeon wouldn’t let her refuse anyways. “I truly wonder how many Juliets you’ve managed to attract with your chivalry.”

“None.” Jeongyeon deadpanned. “The only Juliet I got was Im Nayeon, and I’d be more than willing to drink extra bottles of poison for that to never happen again.”

Mina couldn’t help but laugh out loud from Jeongyeon’s Tom-and-Jerry-like friendship with her senior. “Aren’t you nice, Romeo?”

“I’m only like that towards her, don’t worry.” the Romeo-actress grinned, “Oh, we’re here!”

 

Learning her lesson, Mina stuck herself close to the girl’s side as they entered the chaotic building; since it was an afternoon on a weekend, the place was jam packed with all sorts of guests.

Jeongyeon regretted bringing her shy friend now that she remembered how popular such places were during weekends, yet she truly wanted to return with her.

Knowing how Mina would be too kind to say anything, Jeongyeon decided that they should leave as soon as they can.

“Let’s just play one game and go elsewhere, Mina-ya.” Jeongyeon had to scream though the ruckus. “There’s way too many people here today.”

Knowing how her voice could never be heard in an environment like this, Mina proceeded to lean towards Jeongyeon’s face instead of shouting back at her face. “Sounds good!” she spoke directly into the performer’s ears, her breath caused Jeongyeon’s body to react in a mature manner.

She couldn’t help it, as hearing Mina’s voice up-close while her breath tickled her skin- the sensation was too overwhelming for her to handle.

 

Not wanting her feels to ruin the moment, Jeongyeon quickly dragged Mina towards the only game that they had played the last time they were here.

The performer then pulled Mina closer, her turn to speak into the dancer’s ear.

“Want to compete for a wish again?” she asked, resulting Mina to shiver from her breath against her skin.

She didn’t realise how it felt, and now she finally knew why Jeongyeon’s face was so red after she had done it to her earlier.

“S-Sounds good.”

“I’ll try extra hard this time, since I already know how good of a baller you are.” Jeongyeon grinned as they waited for the guests before them to finish their game.

After they were done, with two swipes of Jeongyeon’s arcade card the girls simultaneously pressed their ‘start’ button.

 

Both of them were incredibly into their competition, neither one sparing a single second to rest their sore arms.

Even the previous players were watching in awe from their determination.

After the timer was finally up, the duo slumped exhaustedly against the machine as they awaited for their final score, the two of them panting desperately for air after their extreme competitiveness had died down.

Despite giving it her all, Jeongyeon was no longer confident in her basketball skills after getting destroyed by a girl who looked like she had never touched a basketball in her life; she had learnt not to act so cocky from that defeat, yet she was thankful for that lesson since it made her into a better person.

 

To Jeongyeon’s utter surprise though, she won the bet by a single extra shot- 3 points.

 

“I-I won?!” the performer exclaimed in shock while Mina applauded for her happily.

“Good job, unnie!” the dancer cheered, “You got yourself a wish. What will it be?”

“I’ll come up with one by the end of the day, but for now let’s get the hell out of here.” the older girl shouted back before grabbing hold of Mina’s arm, leading her towards the exit.

Just as they were about to leave the building, Jeongyeon felt her shoulder getting grabbed all of a sudden.

She frowned her brows upon being forced to turn back around.

 

“I’ve been waiting for you ever since you gave me a bloodied nose, b*tch.”

 

A gangster-looking fella turned out to be the owner of the hand, to which Jeongyeon had slapped off of her shoulder.

It took her a while before she was capable of remembering who the guy was.

“You’ve been waiting for me ever since? How petty can you get?” the bold performer scoffed, “Do you live here for something?”

“You shouldn’t be so rude right off the bat, missy. You don’t have any textbooks to protect you now, do ya?” the high school delinquent smirked after confirming that there were only two of them today.

Jeongyeon glanced behind him before flashing out her own smirk. “And it seems like you’ve lost your men. Were they done with your bull-crap too?”

“Shut up- I don’t need those punk asses.” he snapped, “I ain’t gonna do things like I used to anyways. Let’s settle this once and for all. How about a game of Street Fighter? Loser gets punched in the face.”

“How is that any different than before…” Mina commented from behind, yet her soft voice somehow travelled to the delinquent’s ears.

“Ah… That’s true, babe.” the guy now had a mischievous grin on his face; it made Jeongyeon tense up now his attention was back on Mina, just like how he got himself punched during their first meeting.

“How about this then? The winner gets the girl.” he pointed directly at Mina’s face, shocking them both.

“Are you dumb? Of course I won’t bet on that.” Jeongyeon growled, “You leave her out of this before I send you to the hospital, punk.”

“Hey now. I haven’t touched anyone, so you’ll be facing some jail time if you do, noona.” the boy cackled, “Are you that big of a p*ssy that you won’t even try to protect her? That’s too bad, coz’ I’m more than willing to take care of her for ya’.” he his lips as he eyed Mina, making her stomach churn in discomfort.

 

Jeongyeon turned back to look at Mina, who was looking back at them with concern.

The Japanese girl had no idea what to do since she knew the delinquent wouldn’t simply let them step outside without a fight.

“It’s okay, unnie. I believe in you.” Mina ultimately gave her the warmest smile she could muster out in her current situation.

Jeongyeon was actually trying to come up with an alternative solution, thus she was shocked when Mina basically gave her permission to bet on her well-being.

Knowing that fact, she glared back at the persistent boy. “One game. First to three wins.”

“Bring it.”

 

 

To Jeongyeon’s disbelief, the high schooler was a tough opponent.

Based on how the arcade seemed to be his second home, it was not a surprise that he was a pro-gamer.

Jeongyeon barely won the first round, and she had struggled quite hard for it too.

Just like she predicted, he soon got used to her tactics and easily earned himself the second victory.

 

The performer was anxious now.

 

She couldn’t afford to just hand Mina over to such a erted, disgusting-looking douchebag.

Yet, a bet was a bet, and Jeongyeon had already agreed to it.

There was no backing out now, no matter how much she had regretted for agreeing on the stupid bet.

All she had to do was win, and there’s no other option.

 

Unfortunately, not long after round three had begun, Jeongyeon’s health was already extremely low.

She honestly had no chance against someone who probably played the game every day after school; the last time the performer had touched the Street Fighter machine, she was studying in high school herself.

Mina watched on anxiously as Jeongyeon prayed for a miracle, while the boy was already grinning from his assumed victory.

With the chance of ending it all with a final strike from the delinquent-

 

… Their screen monitor suddenly turned black.

 

“WHAT THE ?!” the high schooler screamed in rage.

“W-What happened?” Jeongyeon also questioned, although she soon found her answer as she saw someone’s foot scooching away from the disconnected cables beside the machine.

“Oh, oops.” Momo pretended to act shocked with zero effort. “My bad. I’m clumsy.”

“That’s no lie, she’s really clumsy.” Sana giggled as the boy glared at them both- until he recognised the owner of the textbook that fractured his knuckles.

“I-It’s you…” he gasped in shock. “Why do you always get in my way?!”

 

Momo moved incredibly slowly as she approached the boy, until she suddenly reached out in a blink of an eye to grasp onto his collar, pulling him closer towards herself.

Jeongyeon gulped nervously from witnessing Momo’s terrifying expression from the side; she couldn’t imagine how she looked up front and up close.

The guy must’ve been sh*tting his pants.

“Because I won’t let any man live a comfortable life after upsetting Minari, b*tch.” Momo hissed lowly, making the bystander’s skin crawl from her terrifying behaviour.

Jeongyeon could’ve never imagine for the girl to act this way, yet here she was, within the same location where she had first met the other two Japanese students, witnessing it with her very own eyes.

 

As soon as Momo released the guy’s collar, his legs gave up on his and he dropped onto the floor.

Sana immediately dragged the girls out of the building before the security guards could come and check up on them.

 

“Moguri, I’ve told you to go easy on him!” Sana instantly scolded her friend as soon as they were back on the streets.

“… I did.” Momo pouted.

“I think you’ve traumatised him for life, Momorin.” Mina added while patting her friend gently on the head as a sign of gratitude.

Jeongyeon realised she was the only one who was stunned from what had just happened. “Was that… supposed to be normal or…?” she turned towards Mina in search for clarification.

Mina could only let out a soft sigh. “It’s not often, but Sana and I have both witnessed it a few times in the past.”

“Daebak…” Jeongyeon marvelled. “That was the coolest yet scariest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“I was cool? Thanks Romeo.” the usual-behaving Momo grinned happily towards the performer who subconsciously flinched from her reply; the image of Momo’s death-hungry face kept on resurfacing within the performer’s mind, still sending chills down her spine.

“Well, me and Momo have other things to take care of so enjoy the rest of your date, okay?” Sana abruptly waved them goodbye with one hand while the other dragged Momo away by her collar.

Momo seemed to be protesting about leaving, yet they were already far gone by the time Jeongyeon could respond properly to their sudden arrival and now departure.

“… Well, shall we?” Mina poked the older girl by the arm, snapping her out of her state of shock.

 

Knowing that they had used up a lot of energy for the game- and for Jeongyeon personally, to take in the scary image of a protective Momo- Jeongyeon brought themselves to a nearby café which just happened to be the one they had went to after Jeongyeon got discharged from her stay in the hospital.

“Are we taking a trip down memory lane?” Mina laughed as they entered the familiar shop together.

“Isn’t the nostalgia great though? It really brings back the memories.” Jeongyeon smiled.

“We’ve been through quite a lot during the past few months, huh.” Mina hummed as they went through the menu before placing down their orders.

Suddenly, Jeongyeon gasped upon a realisation. “Yah- we’ve never gotten the chance to talk about our performance!” she exclaimed, making Mina drop agape in shock.

“Gosh, you’re right! It’s been so long already…” she giggled at themselves, “Why are we like this?”

“I guess we’re just too focused on enjoying the present.” Jeongyeon chuckled, “But I’d like love to hear your feedback about how we did back then- if you could remember.” she teased.

“Of course I do. It was such an important day for me that I’m positive I remembered everything.” Mina smirked back with confidence.

“Oh yeah? What did we do backstage then?”

“You made really bad jokes in hopes to kill time.” Mina burst into laughter right after remembering what the older girl had said. “Baa-baa shop? Really?”

“Dang, your memories are no joke.” Jeongyeon marvelled. “Well? How did we do?”

“Great, considering your condition.” Mina answered. “I made plenty of mistakes myself from being so nervous though.” she revealed shyly, nodding politely to their waiter who had brought their orders to the table.

“Same here. There was a couple of times I thought I was going to accidentally lose grip of my cane since my cotton gloves were so slippery, but thankfully that never happened.” Jeongyeon sighed in relief. “I say we did pretty well based on all the factors we had.”

“You were the one who really did well, masking away the pain and all that.” Mina’s eyes softened up upon recalling the painful memories of Jeongyeon’s screams again.

Those memories haunted her even until this day, as she had never felt so scared and upset in her life.

She felt powerless in a situation where she wanted to be of a help, but she couldn’t do anything other than to listen to Jeongyeon’s words.

“Your knee… It’s all recovered by now, right?” Mina asked lowly.

“Of course! Don’t worry about it.” Jeongyeon reassured. “I’m not lying so that you wouldn’t worry. Trust me.”

 

Mina stared straight into the girl’s eyes to confirm her statement, resulting Jeongyeon’s heartbeat to increase- not because she was lying or anything, but because Mina was looking at her so intensely that she felt like she could see right into her soul.

The dancer finally flashed a soft smile after confirming Jeongyeon’s innocence. “Well, you know I’ll always be here for you if anything like that happens ever again.”

“I mean- I hope it won’t, but thanks.” Jeongyeon cackled before taking a sip of her drink.

 

All of a sudden, her eyes glistened up again upon remembering something else.

Without another word, she rummaged through her bag while Mina watched on with curiosity.

“I can’t believe I almost forgot.” Jeongyeon scolded herself as she pulled out an envelope. “Jihyo would’ve killed me for wasting her time and effort.” she handed it over to the girl before her, who opened it slowly.

Mina instantly gasped upon seeing what it contained.

 

It was the pictures from the photoshoot they had helped Jihyo with during the winter.

 

“Oh my gosh, they turned out so well…” Mina marvelled in awe, admiring every single shot. “Jihyo-unnie is such an incredible photographer.”

“She’d be super happy to hear that.” Jeongyeon smiled as she admired the view in front of her; Mina’s shining pair of eyes, the big smile on her face, and the pure joy radiating out of her- the sight was heart-warming for Jeongyeon on a breezy spring afternoon.

“I had to beg quite hard to get those from her, but it’s worth it.” Jeongyeon said as she stared on lovingly. “It’s all worth it.”

“Thank you so much, Jeongyeon-unnie. I’ll treasure all of them forever.” Mina beamed happily as she stored them carefully back into the envelope, placing their memories safely into her bag. “It really makes me want to take more pictures in the future. It’s a great way to capture the moment and to remember the past.”

“That’s true. Memories fade away if you don’t cherish them enough.” Jeongyeon huffed as she secretly took out her phone.

Unfortunately, she got caught red-handed as her camera’s shutter sound was left , making her curse at herself for being careless.

 

“… Did you just take a picture of me?”

“N-No. It was a selfie.” Jeongyeon quickly turned her camera to selfie-mode before showing it to Mina.

The dancer already knew what she had done, but of course she couldn’t get mad at her playful friend.

“Let’s take one together then.” Mina said as she stood up from her seat, making her way to stand behind the seated Jeongyeon.

She wrapped both of her arms around the performer’s neck and rested her chin onto one side of Jeongyeon’s face, their hair tickling each other’s cheeks.

Jeongyeon instantly felt her heartbeat pumping faster within her chest, yet she didn’t want to ruin the moment with her shyness.

She quickly brought up her phone and took a few pictures of themselves before Mina released herself from the spontaneous back-hug.

Jeongyeon already missed her touch as soon as the Jasmine aroma faded away, but she still had to control herself in public.

“I-I’ll send them to you right now.” the performer cleared as she did just that, unable to bring herself to look at Mina in the eye anymore.

Feeling the buzzes of her phone within her pocket, Mina checked her notifications with a smile. “Got them, thank you.”

 

After they had finished up with their treats and chatted for a couple more hours unknowingly, the two girls made their way back to the campus as the sun was already starting to set.

Jeongyeon had the urge to take Mina’s hand many, many times during their walk, yet she never brought herself up to do so.

Despite having an intense amount of feelings for the girl, she has yet to discover whether she felt the same way back.

Even when she knew the dancer didn’t despise skin-ship due to the younger girl allowing her to lay her head onto her lap once, Jeongyeon was so afraid to make a wrong move during the last crucial moments that she didn’t dare to do anything.

She still need a little longer before she was completely ready to reveal her true desires.

 

 

“I knew this would be the last place you’d like to take me today.” Mina smiled as they entered the dance studio, where they had spent quite some time alone in order to perfect their dance routine.

“Since everywhere else was a place we’ve went to before?” Jeongyeon grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, you’re right. I did want to take you down memory lane today.”

“Is this for the anniversary of our friendship or something? Why all of a sudden?” Mina joked, yet she didn’t realise how nervous Jeongyeon suddenly became.

 

The performer knew it was time.

This was the final destination she had in mind for their ‘date’, yet she seemed to still lack the nerves to confess.

Jeongyeon wanted to punch herself in the face for suddenly becoming a coward, yet she couldn’t do so when Mina was already looking at her worriedly.

“Unnie?”

“Oh, sorry.” Jeongyeon shook her head before giving her an awkward smile.

“Is there something wrong?” Mina approached her, now quite concerned. “You seem troubled, Jeongyeon-unnie.”

“I’m… just struggling to come up with a wish.” Jeongyeon blurted randomly just to get the conversation going; the longer she paused, the more awkward it would be for the two of them. “I promised that I’d come up with one by the end of the day, yet I’m running out of time.”

“Really? After all this time, you still haven’t thought of something?” Mina exclaimed in surprise. “You don’t have anything you want? I could come up with a lots on the spot.”

“Oh yeah? What would you wish for if you had won then?” Jeongyeon raised her brow, “Last time you earned one, you wasted it for our performance so you couldn’t use it for your personal reasons either.”

“Well...” it was Mina’s turn to get stuck with the sudden turn of a table. She soon came up with something which made her smile happily. “I would ask for affection. I’ve noticed that you’re not the type who’s into skin-ship, so I’d use this chance to force you to be touchy with me.”

 

 

… That was completely not the case.

 

Jeongyeon had to force herself to hold back her laughter in order to keep up the act.

She was actually dying to show physical affection for her crush, yet was simply afraid that she’d go too far to the point she’d make her uncomfortable.

She’d rather restrict her desires completely than destroy the bond she had created after so much effort. She felt like it wasn’t worth the shot.

 

The performer was incredibly surprised to find out that Mina would actually want her affection though, since- just like herself- Mina doesn’t express such a desire.

They were both the type who’d simply accept it when it’s given , yet never beg for it no matter how much they craved for it.

Jeongyeon felt a little relieved now that Mina had subconsciously helped her confirm a critical information she had been dying to know; she felt like she was prepared now.

 

“I think you’ve helped me come up with a wish, Mina-ya.” Jeongyeon said as she approached her crush with a bit more confidence.

“Really?” the oblivious female beamed as Jeongyeon stood before her. “What is it?”

Jeongyeon stared deeply into the dancer’s eyes in all seriousness, which made Mina gulp from the intensity.

Suddenly, there was a strong within the air.

 

 

“I wish for you to kiss me.”

 

 

 

Jeongyeon immediately cringed at her own words in the insides, yet she remained somewhat calm on the outside.

Mina was merely blinking from her words, still requiring some time to process the simple sentence in her brain.

To the performer’s surprise, instead of becoming flustered or upset, Mina’s lips arched into a shy smile.

“Seems like you’ve also wasted your wish, Jeongyeon-unnie.”

 

“H-Huh?” Jeongyeon found herself being the one who’s flustered instead. “How come?”

Mina took a single step forward to decrease the distance between them even more, cupping the older girl’s face with both of her hands.

She slightly tipped on her toes as she stared into Jeongyeon’s eyes, literally face-to-face.

 

“I would’ve kissed you even if you didn’t use your wish on it.” Mina breathed before planting her lips gently onto Jeongyeon’s.

 

Finally experiencing the moment she had been yearning for, Jeongyeon pulled themselves into a rougher kiss as her arms wrapped around Mina’s waist.

The ballerina’s hands removed themselves from her face and instead hooked around the performer’s neck, supporting herself securely as she was still on her tippy toes.

The two girls’ lips danced to the tempo of their heartbeat, their sweat and saliva mixing together just like their performance.

 

It was the best thing Jeongyeon had ever asked for, and Mina knew she wouldn’t mind granting a few more extra wishes.