The blinding rays of the sun caused Chaeyoung to wake up. Met by the hard pounding of her head and the painful greeting of the sunlight, she groaned as she got up. She rubbed her temples as she took a look around. She was in her bedroom.

She tried to remember how she got there. That’s right. Jeongyeon-unnie carried me here. The night before had been hazy. She remembered taking Momo to a room, but that was the extent of her memories. The next thing she knew, she was on her unnie’s back and being hauled onto a bed.

She lazily got out of bed and put on a sleeping cardigan. was seriously parched. She desperately needed a glass of water, therefore she had no choice but to head downstairs.

On the dining table, a plate of eggs and toast awaited her. “Want coffee?” Jeongyeon got out of the food storage room and asked.

“I just need water,” she replied and immediately walked to the fridge to get a cold one. She felt that she had never been so thirsty in her entire life. She chugged a whole bottle of water in one go, feeling tighten at the coldness but she felt satisfied.

“One drink really did a number on you, huh?” Jeongyeon chuckled. “Eat before it gets worse.”

Chaeyoung sat down and started munching on the food. Her stomach didn’t want any of it, but she knew she had to eat. “Did anything happen at the party while I was out?”

“Not really. A lot of people were passed out, but Sana kicked them out at some point. Oh.” Jeongyeon suddenly remembered, “Mina left halfway. Said she had something to take care of at home. She didn’t say much, though.”

“Ah, I see. And Momo?”

“She stayed over at Sana’s. I didn’t see her as I was leaving.”

“What was that all about? Was it true? What that dude was saying to her.”

Jeongyeon sat down across from her with a cup of coffee in hand. “I don’t know all the details. My knowledge is just as much as the rumors went. But there was this guy who got expelled last year because Momo reported him for ual assault. They were close, so I thought naturally they liked each other. This guy was popular, well-known to be a good guy. Everybody liked him. I don’t know exactly what happened, but the next thing I knew he stopped coming to school and the rumors that she led him on and sabotaged him floated around the school. You know how they are. People concoct stories that would suit their fantasies.”

The younger one looked down at her plate. With how cheery Momo was, she never would’ve expected such a harsh past. She recalled her crying figure at the storage locker the first day she met her. She looked so vulnerable, like she was carrying a heavy baggage on her shoulders that not even her muscular dancer figure could handle. She supposed everybody had some sort of past they kept hidden, even those that lived in luxury.

Suddenly, her head started pounding even louder. Whatever it was Sana gave her definitely was not a beginner’s drink. She groaned as she pressed onto her temple.

“That was your first time drinking, wasn’t it? You should rest up.”

Chaeyoung planned exactly to do just that. She had nothing else to do that day and all the assignments due the next week, as expected for somebody who rarely procrastinated, she had already finished. As she placed her plate on the sink to wash, the doorbell rang, its sound resonating all over the house, making her head ache even more. Jeongyeon got up to open it, then she called out, “Chaeng! You have a visitor!”

The younger one turned around to find Mina, with a serious look on her face, standing before her. “Hey, what’s up? Everything all right at home?”

“We need to talk,” Mina said, completely ignoring her concern.

“Sure. In private?”

Mina nodded.

There was something about the older one’s demeanor that seemed odd. Chaeyoung knew something was wrong. They made their way to her room upstairs. Mina sat down on the desk chair and Chaeyoung placed herself on the bed.

Watching her look down at her lap, Chaeyoung waited. It was like Mina was trying to conjure up the words she wanted to say, replaying it over and over in her head to make sure she got everything right.

“Let’s stop this whole thing,” Mina finally spoke.

Chaeyoung knew what she meant, but she asked anyways, “Stop what?”

“This relationship we have going on. I don’t think it’s fair for you, or for anybody else that we’re fooling. Let’s face it, she was never going to get back with me. She made it clear the day she broke up with me, but I was just too caught up with myself to see that. I built up some sort of hope, a futile and desperate hope, because I was blinded by the assumption that we were happy. You can forget about the whole debt. Such materialistic things is not worth putting your heart on the line, and I’m sorry I let that happen. So, let’s just end it.”

Mina’s words, to Chaeyoung, sounded so rehearsed, like she wrote it all down on a piece of paper and memorized it. She should’ve been jumping for joy, relieved that this was all over, but for some reason, Chaeyoung felt utterly sad.

“What changed your mind?” the younger one asked.

The Japanese looked up at her with the saddest of smiles, “You deserve better, Chaeyoung. I see that now. You’re kind and loving and you deserve somebody who would treat you the same way. I don’t want to get in the way of that.”

Chaeyoung clenched her fists and muttered under her breath, “You’re so annoying.”

“Hm?”

“Nothing.” She sighed and got up, “If that’s what you want, then okay.”

“Then...” Mina got up as well, “I’ll be heading out now.” She made her way towards the door, but then stopped and turned around. “Your room… It’s so like you,” she grinned.

On the walls were some of Chaeyoung’s favorite sketches she’d made. On her desk was her digital camera, along with a couple sketchbooks and drawing books she used as reference. On her bookshelf were a few novels she had reread multiple times. Neatly leaning on its side was a ukulele she had gotten from her mother as a present when she was younger. It was a simple room, but it radiated Chaeyoung’s interests and hobbies. Even as she came there with all her seriousness in mind, Mina couldn’t help but take it all in.

“It’s cute,” Mina said. And then with a sad smile, she left.

God, you’re so annoying. How could you decide all that for me? You didn’t even ask me what I want to do. Leave it to the spoiled girl to do whatever the hell she wants. Chaeyoung slumped down on her bed, the beat of her heart masking the pounding of her head. “Even in the end, I can’t even get mad at you...” She laid down and covered herself with her blanket, hoping to trap her melancholy in and bury it.

Mina sat in her car for a good amount of time. She rested her head on the steering wheel, replaying the scene in her head. She did what she needed to do, said what she practiced in her head over and over to a point where she barely got any sleep. Is this really the right thing to do? Mina thought, but she shook her head. No, no, no, you can’t think like that. Of course, it’s the right thing. You barely know this girl. You’ve known Momo all your life. There’s no comparison.

“God, fake breaking up is so hard,” she muttered. She cleared her head and sat up straight. Putting her car in drive, she rolled away from the house.

~

It wasn’t particularly easy to avoid Chaeyoung. Though it wasn’t like she was trying either way, but it’s just that everywhere Mina turned, the girl seemed to be there. First period, Chaeyoung was behind her. Second period, she sat next to her. During lunch, she sat across her. Third period, she attempted to paint with her. Fourth period, the only time they weren’t together, Mina thought of her.

The way their school schedule worked was that Mina had her days with Chaeyoung every other day. It was a block schedule, meaning that the next day was a whole other set of classes, one of which consisted of no Chaeyoung. From her fifth to eighth period, she caught no sight of her in her classroom so she was able to focus more on the lecture. The only time she could get a glimpse of her was during P.E, when her class would walk by the other class having a different activity.

Decked out in red shorts and a plain white shirt with the school’s logo on the chest, Chaeyoung went along with the stretching exercise. It didn’t occur to her until then that her eyes would unconsciously look for her figure. It wasn’t the same case with her ex, when Jeongyeon would magically appear before her eyes. No. Mina was actively looking for Chaeyoung. She wanted to see her. She just wanted to see her. Do that, and she would feel like her day was complete.

It felt weird to her when she would walk across the parking lot by herself, when she would roll her car into parking and see the bench across empty. No Chaeyoung reading, patiently waiting for her in the morning; No Chaeyoung standing in front of her locker, patiently waiting for her after school. The days went by so much slower.

This new routine didn’t go unnoticed by her friends. During lunch one day, Sana blurted out, “You two have been so distant lately. Having a lover’s quarrel?”

“We broke up,” Chaeyoung replied with a casual tone, not looking up from her plate.

Momo and Sana both snapped their heads towards her in surprise, and then at Mina. Their eyes begged for an explanation. Mina cleared , “It happens. I mean, you don’t need a scientist to see that we’re not romantically compatible.”

Sana narrowed her eyes at her, “You two are being awfully nonchalant about all this, especially you, Mina. I noticed first-hand the devastating effects of Jeongyeon dumping you, and now that you’re finally all chill about it and moving on to Chaeyoung over here, you’re letting her go. Just like that.”

“Let it go, will you?” Mina said with a sigh. “We just rushed into it, that’s all. Didn’t we, Chaeyoung?” She turned to the younger one, her eyes pleading to go along with her.

“Yeah,” Chaeyoung nodded. “No hard feelings.” It was all she could say, because that’s all Chaeyoung would do— going along with everything she said.

“Well, whatever. No use in me getting into it if you’re both so calm about it.” The cheerleader finally started digging into her lunch.

Momo kept silent by herself. That thud in front of the room, the omelette wasted on the carpeted floor, the sound of the front door shutting. That was Mina, she thought. She saw us and now they’re broken up. It was all too much to be a coincidence. What she did definitely triggered this. All these thoughts kept racing in her mind. Momo didn’t know how to feel about it all. She felt guilt churning in her stomach, but there was also some sense of relief. But more than anything, she felt terrible for even feeling the latter. She felt like such a horrible friend.

If only there was just something to put her emotions to rest. Something that could give her thoughts a clarity of how she should deal with it all. Should I pursue it or should I leave it? she thought.

Even when they always saw each other, even though they were so close, Chaeyoung felt so far away from Mina. The Japanese would get a look at her, and she would seem so unreacheable. There was that gnawing in her chest, like it was itching for something. Is this what it’s like to miss somebody? Even with Jeongyeon, she never felt it this intensely, and maybe that thought opened her eyes to something. Because that feeling of missing someone was overcome when she saw Chaeyoung smile. Just to see her happy like that, Mina was content.

She looked at Momo who looked up at her in turn. Mina smiled at her with all her sincerity. That smile seemed to say Go get her, you .

She definitely saw us, Momo thought. And she definitely broke things off for my sake. And she’s definitely telling me right now that it’s okay, with that stupid, overly kind smile on her face. Honestly, Mina, you’re too nice. Momo slightly shook her head at her.

Mina clenched her jaw and then gave her a light kick under the table. Momo bit her lip and kicked back.

“Ow!” Sana yelped and turned to Momo. “Did you just kick me?”

“Huh?” Momo turned to her. “No. Yes. I mean, sorry. My leg fell asleep.”

After lunch, Momo dragged Mina to the side while their friends make their way to their next class.

“You saw me, didn’t you? That night,” Momo confronted. “I know you’re doing this like some good samaritan, and I’m telling you now, stop worrying about me.”

“I know you like her. And seeing you two that night made me realize that I don’t feel that for her,” Mina lied. She bit her lip as she tried to formulate her words. “She deserves somebody like you, and you deserve someone like her. So, I’m telling you, don’t blow it and wait around until you start regretting it.”

“But she likes you...”

Mina shook her head, “No, she doesn’t. Trust me when I say that you have a chance. You saw the way she defended you.” She smiled and reached up to part her friend’s bangs from her face. “You’re beautiful and you have a good heart. There’s no way she won’t fall for that.”

“But isn’t it too soon?”

“Love is timing. And this is it. Go get her.”

~

The Asia Pacific International Chopin Piano Competition gathered aspiring pianists from all of Asia to compete with a piece of their own in front of a row of judges. It wasn’t something Sana could ever be interested in, but as they say, one would often get blinded by their heart that they don’t even think about all that stuff. Watching Dahyun’s eyes glitter with amazement was more than enough motivation to go.

As promised for coming to her party, Sana had acquired two tickets to the event after endless begging from her parents to use whatever powerful connection they had to get them. A favor like that didn’t go without a price, of course. It was her parents after all, so naturally they used that on her to get her to do something they want. And that something happened to be playing dress-up for one of their stupid annual parti