Main characters featured in this chapter:

♡━━━ March | Mina's PoV ━━━♡

By the end of the second day of school, Sana was already calling me "Mina-chan" and Jihyo also dropped the honorifics, and they both insisted I did as well. They are so friendly that it wasn't too hard for me to get more comfortable with them.

We were making our way to our respective club locations after classes ended and Sana said, "Oh, by the way, Mina-chan, I wanted to introduce you to the rest of our friends."

"That's right. I also met a really nice first-year student called Dahyun who joined the drama club yesterday," Jihyo said. "We were going to hang out today after school and she's also bringing a friend. It would be cool if you two also came with us."

"Is everyone else going too?" Sana asked.

"Yep."

"That's a great opportunity to introduce Mina-chan to everyone then," Sana replied, sounding excited and then faced me. "That's if.... you're comfortable in joining us...?"

The thought of meeting so many new people at once definitely intimidated me. But even so, I wanted to embrace these new experiences. I didn't want to be alone anymore, and I didn't want to throw away this chance of actually having friends for once.

"I would love to go with you guys," I said, smiling at them, and Sana suddenly hugged me, surprising me. Jihyo laughed at us and Sana said, "Thank you, Mina-chan! I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun together."

I couldn't help but smile widely, even though I was a bit embarrassed by the sudden hug. Jihyo patted my head reassuringly once Sana let go of me. She had a motherly aura that made me feel calm in her presence.

"Our friends are a bit crazy, Mina, so I'm already warning you beforehand so you're prepared," Jihyo said.

I laughed in reply and shook my head, saying, "I'm sure they're great people."

Today's archery practice would be soon coming to an end. Joohyun was very attentive to everyone and was always trying to help the students who were having a harder time, including Sana.

I always practiced archery on my own with a tutor, so it was quite different to actually be in a club with other people. We learned that Tzuyu is a first-year student, despite being one of the tallest. Naturally, she wasn't the one who told us, I simply saw it on her application paper after I handed my own. She's also one of the most skilled archers here and I have noticed a rosy-cheeked Sana watching her in awe a few times.

This would be my last arrow of the day. I straightened my back and pulled the string close to the corner of my mouth. I slightly tilted my elbow and took aim, rapidly releasing the arrow. It hit the bullseye, my first one since I started practicing archery here.

Sana clapped and cheered me on, seeming amazed. "Mina-chan~ you're so good, that was amazing!" I chuckled at how enthusiastic she sounded and thanked her.

"Alright, everyone, you all did well today," Joohyun announced loudly so everyone could hear. "We'll meet here again at the same time tomorrow, so please get some rest."

Sana and I headed to the locker room so we could take a quick shower and change into our school uniforms again. After we were ready, Sana said we would be meeting her friends in front of the school so we could all go out together.

I tied my hair into a ponytail again and we started making our way to meet up with the others. We were probably some of the last to arrive, considering there were around five people there already, including Jihyo.

Sana smiled reassuringly at me, probably sensing how nervous I was, and I returned the smile. The group of people noticed we were arriving and Sana said, "Hey guys! There's someone I want you to meet." 

A dark-haired girl who's back was facing us turned around when she heard Sana's voice.

It was her.

It was the girl I met on Christmas.

The girl who kept coming back on my mind more than I'd like to admit.

 I just stared at her, perplex, and she seemed to recognize me as well because both her eyes and mouth were wide open. I could barely process what was happening when she said, "It's... it's you... the girl from that day." Her voice sounded shocked and it almost seemed like she was talking more to herself than to us.

"Wait... you know each other?" Sana asked, very confused and alternating her gaze between me and the other girl.

"Nayeon, explain yourself," said a tall girl with shoulder-length dark blonde hair that was darker in the roots. Ah, so her name is Nayeon. All I could do was stare at her though, still too bewildered to say anything.

Nayeon looked at the tall girl and then looked back at me. She now had a goofy smile on her face and explained, "I bumped into her on Christmas last year."

"Of course you did," said the tall girl, shaking her head and Nayeon playfully slapped her arm, exclaiming, "Shut up, Jeongyeon!"

Everyone else still seemed surprised. Sana and Jihyo were staring at us with a weird expression on their face, clearly not having expected this, and the other girls seemed even more confused. 

Nayeon was still smiling at me, and I could see her bunny teeth again. "I guess I can introduce myself properly now. My name is Im Nayeon, and I'm a third-year student here," she offered me her hand to shake. "What's your name?" she added.

"I-I... I'm Mina. Um, Myoui Mina," I awkwardly replied as I shook her hand. They were soft and felt warm. I could also notice they were larger than mine. 

"Mina..." I heard Im Nayeon softly whisper.

"It's nice to meet you, or u-um, see you again, I guess," I said, barely able to look at her in the eyes. For some reason, I felt very nervous and my heart was beating faster.

Nayeon chuckled and said, "It's great to see you again," she gestured to the tall girl beside her. "This idiot here is Yoo Jeongyeon. She's in the same class as me and we've known each other since we were little."

Jeongyeon rolled her eyes and smiled at me, saying "It's great to meet you, Mina. You'll soon notice that Nayeon is the idiot, not me."

I shyly giggled and replied, "It's nice to meet you as well, um... Jeongyeon-unnie."

Jihyo placed her arm on my shoulder and looked at Nayeon and Jeongyeon, playfully scolding them, "You guys are already scaring the poor girl. Please try to act like normal people for once."

I shook my head and said they were fine. I then looked at the other two girls who hadn't introduced themselves yet, still feeling a bit dazed. They were both short, so I assumed they were still first-years. One of them had really white skin and an ombré pink hair that faded into purple, and the other one had big eyes and long black hair with cute bangs that framed her face nicely.

The purple-haired girl lightly bowed and introduced herself first. "My name is Kim Dahyun, it's a pleasure to meet all of you. I am Jihyo-unnie's friend from the drama club," she gestured at the black-haired girl beside her and said, "This is my best friend, Son Chaeyoung."

"I'm Chaeyoung and it's great to meet you," she said, also bowing to us.

"I'm Minatozaki Sana, and it's really nice to meet you all," Sana said, smiling brightly at them. "I can't wait to hang out together with you!"

I smiled at the two cute first-year girls and said, "Myoui Mina. It's lovely to meet you."

"Where's Momo-chan...?" Sana asked, looking around as if she suddenly noticed someone wasn't there.

"She's late, as usual..." Jeongyeon said.

"She's probably taking a shower that is way longer than necessary after her dance practice," Nayeon explained. "Oh, there she comes!"

I looked back and there was a girl with mid-length black hair and straight bangs who was running towards us with a silly smile on her face.

"Ahhh... I'm sorry I'm late," she said, panting a bit.

"We're used to it by now, Momo," Jeongyeon said, crossing her arms and smirking.

"Oh, you're Japanese too, aren't you?" she asked when she noticed at me and smiled. "I'm Hirai Momo, it's nice to meet you~"

"Yes, I am Japanese," I replied, politely smiling and bowing to her. "It's nice to meet you, Momo-san, my name is Myoui Mina."

"There's no need for formalities, just Momo is fine," she said, waving her hand dismissively. "Or Momo-chan, if you prefer," she completed, winking at me.

Jihyo shook her head and smiled at Momo's cheekiness, saying, "Just ignore her if you want, Mina. Momo is... dif