Main characters featured in this chapter:

♡━━━ May | Nayeon's PoV ━━━♡

“Morning, noona,” my little brother lazily said as he walked outside the bakery’s kitchen door. He was surprisingly already all dressed up for school.

“You’re up early,” I jokingly said, sipping a bit of my coffee. “That is if you’re awake at all.”

Jungkook snorted and shrugged. “I’m hungry,” he simply said, taking a bite of the sandwich he had in hands and sitting on the other side of the table I was at.

I giggled, amused at his antics. “Wanna walk with us to school today?” I asked, glancing at my watch. “Sana’s probably gonna be here soon.”

“Sure, why not?” He answered, stuffing his mouth with more food, leading me to roll my eyes.

“Have some manners, boy,” I scolded, shaking my head.

“I said I’m hungry!” He protested.

“You’re starting to sound like Momo,” I absentmindedly said. “Are you sure you two aren’t hanging out?”

“Maybe I should start hanging out with her, she sure sounds like a lot more fun than you,” Jungkook jokingly answered, and I wrapped a napkin into a paper ball and threw it at him.

We both laughed, and he threw the ball back at me. We may bicker a lot, but Jungkook and I are actually very close siblings. He always has my back and I always have his. It’s how our parents raised us, and it’s how it’s always been.

“Sana-noona is here,” he said, noticing the arrival of my friend and waving at her.

“C’mon, we should get going,” I said, getting up and gesturing for him to do the same.

He followed me to the door as I opened it for Sana. “Good morning,” she said, with her usual drowsy voice as she hugged me.

“Good morning,” I replied, returning the hug.

“Morning,” Jungkook said, smiling brightly at her.

“Good morning, Jungkookie,” she answered, sounding a bit surprised. “It’s unusual for you to be up this time, isn’t it?”

He shrugged, saying, “Trying something new, today, I guess.”

“He’s just up because he was hungry,” I deadpanned, and Sana giggled. “I’m sure he’ll go back to his old habits tomorrow.”

“Geez, nice to know that you have this much confidence in me, sis,” he joked, and we all walked out of the store to go to school.

I bumped on his shoulder playfully, and Sana seemed amused at our exchange. “You two are really close,” she softly said. “I wish I had a sibling too.”

Kindly smiling at her, I put one arm around her shoulder and said, “You have me and the other girls, Sana. You’re like a little sister to me.”

She rested her head on my shoulder as we walked, and I gently patted her a few times. Jungkook remained silent, but he knowingly smiled at me when I glanced in his direction.

Two familiar figures could be seen as we passed through the school gates. Chaeyoung and Mina sat on a bench underneath a cherry blossom tree. Mina had her phone in hands and seemed to be showing something to Chaeyoung.

“Hey, girlies,” Sana cheerfully said when we were close enough to them. The pair seemed surprised at first, but both smiled at us upon realizing we were there.

“Hey unnies, JK, good morning!” Chaeyoung said, with her usual cute, dimpled smile. “

“Hello,” Mina greeted, lightly waving at us.

“JK?” I asked, sounding confused.

“Oh, that’s how she calls me,” Jungkook explained, chuckling. “Morning, Chaeng.”

“I didn’t know you two were close,” I said, surprised.

“We’re both at the video game club so it was inevitable, I guess,” Chaeyoung said, shrugging. She then glanced at Jungkook, as if she remembered something. “Oh, speaking of which, Mina also plays that game we were talking about yesterday!”

Chaeyoung pointed at Mina’s phone, and Jungkook bent his torso a bit in order to look at the screen. “This game is really cool,” he said, smiling brightly. I curiously also tried glancing, but honestly, I couldn’t really understand what the game seemed to be about. Sana seemed to be on the same boat as me.

“Yeah, I quite like it,” Mina said, timidly smiling.

“Mina-unnie actually loves video games, she’s really good at them!” Chaeyoung exclaimed, sounding excited.

“Oh, really?” My brother replied, smiling at the two girls. “Why don’t you come to visit the video game club someday?”

Undoubtedly, the direction their conversation was starting to make me feel a bit uncomfortable, as I was reminded of, the day Mina first met my brother and people started teasing her about liking him. What if it is true?

“True, it would be so much fun!” Chaeyoung said, looking at Mina and waiting for her answer.

“I think Minari is probably too busy with archery club,” I abruptly said, overwhelmed by the stinging feeling of jealousy that was creeping up on my chest.

Mina glanced at me, an unreadable expression on her face that made me feel somewhat ashamed. Did my intervention confuse her? Upset her? I knew I had no right to say that, but it happened before I could even stop myself.

“Who are you to make decisions for her?” Jungkook said, his voice still sounding playful, but I knew he was right. Chaeyoung and Sana suddenly went silent as I bit my lip, not knowing what to respond and raising my eyebrows.

“I appreciate the concern, Nayeon-unnie,” Mina said, trying to relieve the tension and kindly smiling at us. She then glanced at Jungkook and shyly added. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to spend a bit of time there, right?”

“Our club president probably wouldn’t mind it either,” Chaeyoung said, although seeming a bit more hesitant than before.

“Great! If you can be excused from your club activities for a day and make sure to stop by one of these days,” Jungkook happily said. He then waved at us and started walking away “I gotta go now, see you guys later!”

As we all bid him good