~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

They’ve been the best of friends for a long time, for as long as they remembered.

 

Jeongyeon was Nayeon’s first friend when she first moved to Seoul; Nayeon was the first person she showed when she learned her very first song on the guitar; Jeongyeon was there for Nayeon, listening to her cry for nights when her parents had a divorce; Nayeon was the one who stood up for Jeongyeon when she was being made fun of in school.

 

They were always there for each other.

 

Always.

 

They were so close even their parents and siblings are starting to doubt that they are dating each other. Upon hearing those words, Nayeon would usually frown as she shake her head with a disbelief expression on her face, while Jeongyeon would tease, “Oh please, I deserve someone so much better than Nabongs.”

 

But what the bunny-tooth girl didn’t knew was that her friend had been in love with her for quite some time now.

 

Jeongyeon thought she shouldn’t let the girl know her feelings yet, afraid that it would change a thing in this friendship.

 

Just being friends with Nayeon was good enough. Being able to hold her hands and cuddle with her as a friend was good enough.

 

She never minded any of that anyways.

 

This night, they were both in bed, with some slow pop songs playing in the background, Nayeon wearing the pink pajamas with white stripes while Jeongyeon wearing a blue and purple matching one as they have a small talk with each other. It wasn't near winter, and the weather wasn't cold at all, but both of them were tucked in bed lying underneath the same piece of blanket. 

 

Jeongyeon had always loved being in the same blanket as Nayeon, because it smells just like her. 

 

It was wool-made, so soft whenever it comes contact with her own skin. But what she really loved was Nayeon's scent that has lingered on it, her naturally sweet scent topping with the fragrance of body lotion that she uses every night. 

 

Never knew a scent like this could be this addictive to Jeongyeon.

 

“Jeong, have you heard of the new transfer student? I heard he just moved back to Seoul from New York.” The bunny tooth girl asked as she stared up the ceiling.

 

Sleepover has always been their favourite.

 

“You mean Jinyoung? Yeah, he’s in my class.” Jeongyeon answered, her eyes on the other girl’s.

 

She thought Nayeon was the prettiest girl she has ever seen, the way her eyes form into a curvy line and the way her bunny tooth reveal themselves whenever she smiles. She swears the smile was the only thing that she’s living for.

 

“What? He’s in your class?? Why didn’t you tell me that??” Nayeon got panicked, almost jumped up from the bed.

 

“Why should I? You think you’re that important to me that I have to share everything I know with you?” She teased, looking at the girl who’s already sitting up.

 

Nayeon pouted, but what she didn’t know was, Jeongyeon had been sharing her heart with her since the start.

 

“Anyways, he’s kinda cute. I bumped into him at the hallway a few days back and he smiled at me!” The girl squealed as she buried her own pink cheeks in her palms, probably too shy to let her friend know she was blushing.

 

Upon hearing that and seeing Nayeon who was a blushing mess, Jeongyeon felt something odd in her heart.

 

It was unpleasant, and heavy.

 

Was it jealousy?

 

“You’re not even that cute, why would he be smiling at you?” She teased with a huge lie.

 

But to her, Nayeon was literally the cutest person alive.

 

“Yah when will you stop teasing me, Yoo Jeongyeon! I mean, we’re in senior year now, maybe I should start dating someone…” Nayeon said as she fidgeted her fingers.

 

Jeongyeon looked at the girl beside her, praying hard that she would be the one dating her, instead of any other people.

 

She knew nobody could love Nayeon as much as she does.

 

“Don’t date for the sake of dating. You should wait until you find someone who’s nice to you, loves you more than anything else and shower your annoying with love and affection all the time.” Jeongyeon said as she landed a playful tap on the tip of Nayeon’s nose, making the bunny-tooth girl blinked as she flinched backwards.

 

Those words were true, while in Jeongyeon’s mind it’s just the picture of herself holding Nayeon’s hands.

 

“Oh my god!! Why am I imagining Jinyoung doing all these to me!! I think I’m having a crush on him, Jeong. It’s so great for you to be in the same class—” Nayeon continued blabbered on, but the other girl was barely listening.

 

She was sure she felt a light pinch in her heart when she hears what the latter said, but seeing her smile made her forget about anything else.

 

///

 

The week went by with how Nayeon dreamed about dating with Jinyoung.

 

Of course, he’s a guy who excel in academics, all the science and mathematics seems so easy to him. Being a triathlon athlete, he had a well-built body, making him look extra charismatic. People said that he comes from a rich family, literally born with a silver spoon in his mouth. And that oh-so-charming smile that he hangs on his face is what really made every girl went crazy for him.

 

Including Nayeon.

 

He’s the perfect guy that every girl wanted.

 

Nayeon always told her friend how lovely Jinyoung was, how great he looked, and how much she would want to date a guy like him.

 

But everything she told Jeongyeon was like wind that blew through her ears, she never cared how great of a person that guy was. What she really cared was that, from the way Nayeon tell her about that guy, she knew Nayeon liked him so much.

 

One day, Jeongyeon was doing her work in class, suddenly somebody stood in front of her.

 

It was that perfect guy.

 

“Hi Jeongyeon.” The guy said, with a big charming smile on his face, showing his bright teeth.

 

“Hello Jinyoung.” Jeongyeon greeted back, smiling on the outside while frowning internally because it’s rare for him to come talk to her after weeks of being in the same class.

 

“I just wanted to ask you about something—” He said, as he started going on and on with a long, pointless buffer.

 

Jeongyeon had stopped listening to him long ago, while she's just staring at his face blankly, thinking which part of him attracted Nayeon to be this fond of him.

 

“—So, you’re friends with Nayeon, right?” The guy asked, slightly tilting his chin.

 

Snapping back to reality almost immediately, Jeongyeon nodded.

 

“I find her cute. Can you introduce her to me?” Asking with a smile on his face, he’s having his palms together in front of his chest, like he was begging for Jeongyeon to help him.

 

At that moment, Jeongyeon didn’t knew what to say, although she had already saw this coming the moment the guy started talking about Nayeon.

 

Jinyoung seemed like a nice guy with all the dreamy traits, Jeongyeon knew that.

 

Nayeon has been head over heels for this guy since the start, she knew that as well.

 

But she had been in love with Nayeon since forever, how could she just ignore the feelings she had in her heart?

 

“B-But---” Jeongyeon uttered, as her heart was felt sinking.

 

“Come on Jeongyeon, please help me.” The guy pleaded.

 

She never cared about how much help this guy needed from her, or how the guy promised to treat her to buffet lunch after this. It’s really just Nayeon’s smile that made her promised to help him.

 

Jeongyeon wanted Nayeon to be happy, and she knew by doing this, Nayeon would be the happiest girl alive.

 

“Sure.” She mouthed gently, as she hung her head low, probably trying to hide her red eyes.

 

That was the first time Jeongyeon knew the feeling of heart break.

 

///

 

That night was the night where Jinyoung was going to confess to Nayeon. They’ve went on a few dates, and it didn’t took long for the both of them to develop more feelings with each other.

 

Jinyoung got Nayeon’s house address from Jeongyeon, and asked her to help go set up the props in front of Nayeon’s house.

 

Jeongyeon didn’t wanted to, but she didn’t knew how she ended up at the mall buying Nayeon’s favourite Royce’ chocolate, a bouquet of Blue Iris and candles of all sizes with some fake rose petals.

 

Buying all the stuff to help Jinyoung really made her felt sick to her stomach, but she helped.

 

After buying all of the things she knew Nayeon would love, she met Jinyoung outside Nayeon’s house secretly.

 

Both of them first placed the candles on the ground, scattering the rose petals on the front yard of Nayeon’s house before lighting the candles up. When everything was ready, Jinyoung was standing at somewhere visible, holding the bouquet of flowers that he probably didn’t know the name of and the box of chocolates which he didn’t knew why was Nayeon’s favourite.

 

Jeongyeon really didn’t wanted to be there. But Jinyoung told her to stay to help him take the video of how surprised Nayeon would be later on, and to keep as a memory as of how both of them got together.

 

Rolling her eyes secretly, Jeongyeon hid behind the pillar as Jinyoung made the phone call to Nayeon, telling her to come outside.

 

It took Nayeon 10 minutes, and Jeongyeon didn’t even need to ask to know that Nayeon must be busy dressing herself up, trying to look a little bit better for the guy. Then, they heard someone unlocking the door before Nayeon walking out from the door.

 

Jinyoung confessed, and Nayeon accepted him.

 

Jeongyeon was there, taking their videos and photos of how happy they were.

 

Jinyoung thanked Jeongyeon for helping, while Nayeon, for had been blushing and smiling from ear to ear all night long.

 

It was her favourite chocolate, her favourite flower and the way he confessed was perfect; but only Jeongyeon knew all these details about her.

 

And Nayeon knew that.

 

Jeongyeon knew she knew that.

 

Jeongyeon went back home that night, watching the video she took for at least a million times as she cried her lungs out in her blanket.

 

The wider Nayeon’s smile was, the more pain her heart felt.

 

Is it supposed to be this hard to love somebody?

 

///

 

Jeongyeon remembered the day they announced their relationship within the school, people almost went crazy. Some said they were a god-made pairing, while some said Jinyoung was too good for Nayeon.

 

Ever since that day, Nayeon would stick around with Jinyoung almost every day.

 

Jeongyeon’s heart was a mess, it felt like there was a fire in her heart, burning up every strands of her everytime she sees the girl walking around with her new boyfriend.

 

But she understood.

 

Nayeon was so in love with Jinyoung as much as Jeongyeon was for Nayeon.

 

Maybe that’s why she understood.

 

Soon enough, their weekly sleepover turned into a monthly activity and Nayeon who used to call Jeongyeon every night stopped calling, but was calling Jinyoung instead. And this made her thinks that she is so easily replaced by somebody else. 

 

It hurts Jeongyeon so much, but there’s nothing she could do.

 

Drifting apart from each other, Jeongyeon found herself becoming close with another girl in class.

 

A cute, gentle Japanese named Mina.

 

She speaks softly, unlike Nayeon who always shouts, and she was quiet, unlike Nayeon always having something to rant about.

 

Jeongyeon tried to ignore the feelings she had for Nayeon by spending time with the person who shares so much opposite traits from Nayeon.

 

This day after class, she finds the bunny-tooth girl waiting for her outside her class. It's been months since she experienced this, because she's only here for Jinyoung ever since they started dating, never once for her friend.

 

Nayeon waved at her, and she never knew how much she has missed seeing Nayeon waiting for her outside her class until this moment, which Jeongyeon replied with a "Hey, what's up?".

 

"Can't I miss my best friend?" Nayeon said, but her eyes were obviously roaming across the classroom behind her friend's back.

 

"I thought you only have Jinyoung in mind?" Jeongyeon teased, as she pointed at the guy who was walking out from their classroom.

 

Nayeon did not answer, eyes still scanning through the small classroom as if she was looking for somebody.

 

"Is that her?" She asked, as her gaze fixed on a girl who wasn't far away from them.

 

Jeongyeon turned around as she followed her friend's gaze, just to find that she was looking at Mina, who's slowly packing her bag, arranging the books and papers into it.

 

"What do you mean her?" Dry-chuckling, Jeongyeon asked.

 

"I heard someone saying that Yoo Jeongyeon is now dating Myoui Mina. So I came here to see for my own eyes. Hmm... not bad, she's pretty. Never knew you have great taste in women." Nayeon said, as she nodded nonchalantly, almost as if she doesn't mean a thing she just said.

 

"Since when you started believing in gossip?" Jeongyeon asked adding a dry chuckle, as she stared down at Nayeon's face.

 

Somehow, she looked rather sad.

 

"Since the gossip are starting to make sense. Sleepover at my place tonight?" Nayeon offered, as she signaled for her boyfriend to give her another minute as she talked to her friend.

 

"T-Tonight?" Jeongyeon stammered.

 

"Had plans with your new girlfriend?" Nayeon asked, eyes slightly widening.

 

The taller girl shook her head almost immediately.

 

"Cool. I'll see you tonight then." The girl said before turning her back, adding a small wave at the taller girl who's just staring as the couple walked away.

 

///

 

Laying in bed, both of them stared up the ceiling with some slow pop songs playing at the background.

 

Nobody said a thing, and it felt extraordinarily quiet in that room. It wasn’t completely awkward but Jeongyeon senses something odd, but sure as hell she doesn’t liked it.

 

“So, how’s things with Jinyoung?” She asked, acting as if the guy didn’t update her almost every week, like he was showing off to her what they did during their dates.

 

She didn’t know why the guy told her about their dates, and she didn’t know why she’s still listening to him either.

 

Maybe because part of her wanted to make sure that Nayeon is really happy, while another part of her wanted to know how it feels like to date Im Nayeon.

 

She didn't mind if it was coming from another person’s mouth; it was better than nothing at all.

 

“As usual. Study date then ice cream, then he sends me back home.” Nayeon said, adding a small sigh at the end, which Jeongyeon didn’t knew why.

 

It wasn't really hard to tell that the girl was obviously bugged by something.

 

“I’m glad that he’s treating you well.” Jeongyeon said with a smile because she really mean it.

 

“He’s okay, I guess. How about you? How’s Mina?” Nayeon asked.

 

“Mina? She’s just a friend.” Jeongyeon said, adding a smile at the end of the sentence.

 

And Nayeon probably saw that soft smile on her friend’s face.

 

“She seems to be the type of girl that you’d like. So quiet and gentle. Remember when you said you don’t wish to find someone as annoying as me?” The bunny tooth girl said as she dry-chuckled.

 

Jeongyeon kept quiet after hearing that, because she couldn’t tell the girl how much she liked her bubbly voice and playful slaps everytime she said something stupid.

 

She couldn't tell her how much she liked her.

 

Just then, the short-haired girl’s phone rang and she picked it up.

 

Looking at how wide the smile on Jeongyeon’s face was and how her voice became a pitch higher than usual, Nayeon knew clearly that it was a phone call from Mina.

 

Not knowing exactly why, Nayeon felt uneasy.

 

She took her phone out and started sending texts to her boyfriend, the guy who she has had a huge crush on, but it seems like it wasn’t enough to cover up the unpleasant feeling in her heart whenever she heard Jeongyeon giggled over the phone.

 

Why was she feeling this way?

 

///

 

After that night's sleepover, for some reason, both the girls seemed even drifted. It was as if now that they have somebody else in their life, they should keep a distance between each other.

 

Sometimes, they would still see each other across the hallway or cafeteria when they're having their lunch break, but neither one of them would make a move to talk to each other.

 

"Jeongyeon? You alright?" Mina asked, as she looked at the girl sitting in front of her, staring blankly at a certain far away place of the cafeteria.

 

"Y-Yeah." The girl snapped back into reality quick, as she dropped her head and continued to munch on the burger in front of her.

 

The food was tasteless, if you asked her.

 

Of course she had been looking at the bunny tooth girl who was constantly giggling and chuckling at something the guy just said like it was the funniest thing she ever heard. As she laughed, her gentle slaps landed on the guy's arms.

 

It has always been her habit to slap or push the person beside her whenever she's laughing too hard.

 

How much Jeongyeon has missed Nayeon doing that to her.

 

"Anyways, my parents came back from Japan and they brought back some snacks. I'll bring some for you tomorrow, okay?" The Japanese girl asked, and Jeongyeon's face brighten up a little as soon as she heard about the snacks.

 

"Oooohhh did they bring the dinosaur biscuits too?" Jeongyeon asked, with a bright smile on her face. It has been her favourite since her first try.

 

"Of course they did! I know you love it, I told them to buy lots and lots of it!" Mina said as she giggled at the girl who was smiling like a kid now.

 

"Yayyyy!!" The girl exclaimed and she clapped her hands like she was a seal, making Mina laughed harder.

 

"--Nayeon? Are you listening?" Jinyoung asked, as he gently patted on the girl's head.

 

Nayeon, who was supposed to react to her boyfriend was just having her eyes fixed on the short-haired girl who was laughing and clapping her hands so happily at the other side of the cafeteria.

 

"Babe?" The guy called out, and the moment he grabbed on Nayeon's hands, she snapped back