It was 4 am when Mina’s head popped up.

It was the third time she checked the clock, and it probably wouldn’t be the last if this feeling continued.

She wasn’t miserable. The opposite, actually. She was full of love. So, so full of love. These past two days had done wonders to her self esteem. Tzuyu and Chaeyoung had been nothing but the sweetest girls ever, each helping her get rid of an anxiety that had haunted her over time.

Mina still worried about Ray, but not as much anymore. If Tzuyu, who was able to visit her home country of Taiwan even less than Mina visited Japan, was able to compose herself and keep her head straight when it came to her dog, then Mina could too. Both girls Skyped their respective dogs often, even during promotions, so their dogs would have an even harder time forgetting them. This calmed Mina the most. She might not be there physically, but her image on the screen seemed to be enough for Ray. After all, every time she came home, Ray still waddled his way over to her and nudged her affectionately. He still loved her as much as he used to.

Admittedly, she had come to fear the Japanese promotions because of this reason. Each trip to Japan meant the possibility of visiting her home, and each possibility of visiting her home meant there was a chance to have her heart broken by an important friend that did not recognize her. Now this fear was gone, and Mina looked forward to going to Japan. Her furry friend would be waiting for her. She knew this now.

She also learned that she had more in common with Tzuyu than she thought, much more than just loving dogs. Tzuyu was also quiet and observant, but not boring, not ever. They could enjoy each other’s silence comfortably and talk without feeling any pressure to do so. Being with Tzuyu was almost like... being with her other half.

With Chaeyoung, Mina had learned that she was appreciated for what she could do, even if it was just knitting. The comments on her knitted beanie post still rolled in even though it had been more than a year since she posted it. That told her that people loved coming back to it to admire her work.

To add to that, her burning fear of her teammate was completely extinguished. She now only saw Chaeyoung as she was, a kind and creative younger friend that wanted to spend more time with her.

Mina put her head down again, smiling to herself. All she could think about was all of the things she had learned and would learning about herself with the rest of the members. She wondered what each girl had in store for her, like where they would take her, and, secretly, she also wondered how long it would take them to crack her open. Tzuyu and Chaeyoung had managed to find an insecurity within Mina and demolish it completely before her very eyes, and she had no doubt that the rest of the six girls would do the same just as quickly.

For once in her life, Mina was absolutely okay with exposing her fears. If opening up to other people and letting them help her ease them away felt this good then she wished she had done it since the beginning.

After fantasizing about the future for a bit, Mina lifted her head again and checked the time. Only five minutes had passed!

She turned in bed and found herself face to face with a sleeping Sana. There wasn’t much light in the room, but Mina’s night vision had always been pretty good, so she could study her features pretty easily.

She looked so peaceful and comfy, with hanging slightly open and her deep breaths. She looked cute, Mina thought, not for the first time since they’ve shared a room. Sana’s face was always full of expressions ranging from extremely excited to full of distress, so seeing it like this, so serene and relaxed… Mina’s love-filled heart only swelled more.

She rolled over carefully, trying not to wake Sana, until she was extremely close to the girl. Somehow, without waking up, Sana noticed this change and wrapped her arms around Mina, pulling her close. Mina struggled to hold her giggles, because this whole thing was cute and so was Sana.

After waiting for a minute to make sure Sana was sound asleep, Mina moved some hair away from her forehead and gently placed a kiss there. She felt like maybe if she did that, the love she felt in her heart would be transferred through the kiss into Sana’s thoughts, letting the sleeping girl know how much Mina appreciated her. It was cheesy, but Mina didn’t care much at that moment.

A smile graced Sana’s sleeping features, one that made Mina’s heart flutter. She didn’t know how Sana had felt that, considering she was a bit of a heavy sleeper.

Maybe, just maybe, the kiss did its intended job.

Mina carefully removed Sana’s arms and positioned herself back into her spot on the bed. She thought that kissing Sana’s forehead would be enough, but clearly, it was not, because her heart still fluttered with affection.

That’s when she heard a shuffle on the other side of the room. It was Nayeon, tossing herself into a better position. Jihyo grumbled a bit but went back to sleep almost immediately.

Mina then knew what to do.

She tiptoed her way over to Nayeon and Jihyo’s bed, careful not to trip on the shoes Nayeon had haphazardly thrown off that night.

She stood before Nayeon’s side of the bed, the left side, unsure if she should remove the covers from the older girl’s face. After fighting herself a bit, she carefully threw off the covers, making sure it wasn’t too sudden. She didn’t want to wake Nayeon. All she wanted was to do was kiss her.

Mina was met with the absolutely gorgeous sight of Nayeon’s sleeping position. She had her arms and legs splayed all over the place, leaving practically no room for Jihyo at all. Mina allowed herself to laugh a little, wondering how Jihyo ever managed to get a night of peaceful sleep if Nayeon always slept like this.

Shaking her head, she leaned over and placed a soft kiss on the spot above the girl’s eyebrow. Just like Sana, a ghost of a smile appeared on Nayeon’s face. Mina watched as Nayeon slowly curled into a ball almost immediately after the kiss and cuddled closer to her stuffed animals.

Jihyo probably sensed the bed shifting and moved herself so that she wasn’t hanging precariously over the edge of the bed anymore.

Satisfied and sure that both girls were totally asleep, Mina pulled the covers up to Nayeon’s nose and tucked her in. Really, though Nayeon was the oldest in their group, none of the girls could resist babying her. There was just something about her that made one want to do it.

The tenderness in Mina pushed her to kiss Nayeon once more, and so she did, this time above the other eyebrow.

Sighing, Mina tiptoed again, this time to the right side of the bed, Jihyo’s side. The leader was now a lot closer to the center of the bed, so Mina carefully climbed on, careful to not make it dip too much. Only five seconds before, she planned on kissing Jihyo and going back to sleep on her own bed, but upon lifting the covers away from Jihyo's face, she felt the need to cuddle Jihyo a bit. She had always liked sleeping next to Jihyo, since the older girl oozed warmth and love, and right then, that was exactly what Mina needed.

When she finally settled, she reached for Jihyo’s fisted hand and gave it a small squeeze. Leaning over, Mina pressed her lips to Jihyo’s cheek.

Jihyo’s eyes fluttered open instantly, allowing Mina to look into them in the darkness of the room. Were Jihyo’s eyes always this large and beautiful? Or did it take this long for Mina to finally appreciate them? She wasn’t sure, but the sight gave Mina the urge to kiss Jihyo’s cheek again.

Jihyo giggled quietly as she let Mina kiss her again. “Mina, what are you doing?” she asked once she had suppressed the giggles.

Mina blushed and settled closer to Jihyo now that she was awake. “I just wanted to kiss you. I kissed Nayeon and Sana, too. I don’t know why. I’m just… I just love you guys so much. That’s all.”

“You never do that,” Jihyo observed after a small pause.

“Y-yeah, I know,” she muttered. “Things have been changing lately. I’m understanding more things, and I’m opening up in a way that I never thought I would. It's making me realize just how much I love you guys.”

To that, Jihyo just grinned, and despite having just woken up, the grin carried so much energy that Mina felt it fill her up. She was now wide awake, staring lovingly into Jihyo’s eyes.

Her grin slowly disappeared, and Jihyo turned so that her back was facing Mina. She took this as a sign to leave her to sleep again, so Mina was about to get up, finished with what she had come there for, when Jihyo reached back and held Mina’s wrist.

“No, no. I was just getting comfortable... Please stay. Can we cuddle like we used to?” Mina was surprised at Jihyo’s tone when she asked if they could cuddle. The leader’s voice was honey sweet and very desperate. How could Mina say no to such a cute plea?

Mina nodded and settled back in, her front pressed onto Jihyo’s back. She wrapped her arms around her waist and buried her face into her neck.

"I wanted to cuddle anyway. Thank you for letting me," Mina whispered.

Jihyo made a small noise and relaxed under her touch.

"Let's go back to sleep, okay, Mina? It's 4 am and the last few hours of sleep are the most important."

Mina nodded against Jihyo's hair, not sure how she’d be able to do so after getting blasted by Jihyo’s sunshine ray.

“Goodnight, Mina,” Jihyo whispered, pulling Mina impossibly closer. “We love you.” A pause. “I love you.”

Mina smiled into Jihyo’s neck and reveled in the moment for a bit. Before she could reply back, Jihyo was already snoring gently. It made Mina a little sad that she couldn’t tell her that she loved her and their friends just as much, but the sadness didn’t last for very long at all. How could she, when she was practically exploding from all the affection in her body?

Mina closed her eyes, doing her best to sleep. They didn’t have any scheduled events, not for a while now, but Mina knew that in a few hours, another one of her treasured friends was going to take her somewhere and get to know her better.

This thought seemed to flip a switch in Mina’s brain because as soon as the thought ended, Mina’s eyelids felt heavy and her grip on Jihyo’s waist loosened. Before she knew it, she was fast asleep.

 It was 10 am when Jeongyeon carefully opened the door to their room.

Mina was a light sleeper, she always had been, so she woke up first.

The first thing she felt after waking was sweaty. Why? Why was it so hot?

Jeongyeon smiled at her and simply said that they had slept enough, and that she had made a few pancakes.

Surely they were burnt, but Mina was thankful for the girl’s effort.

When Jeongyeon left, she raised her head and was met with a heartwarming sight.

Somehow, within the span of six hours, Sana had managed to sneak her way between Mina and Jihyo and was now fast asleep with her face buried in Mina’s chest. Nayeon and Jihyo were in a similar position, with Jihyo settled in Nayeon’s arms. All four of them were pressed together, filling Jihyo and Nayeon’s bed to the brim.

Mina looked down at Sana, who was groaning and making faces as she tried to wake herself up.

“G’morning,” Jihyo croaked out, her voice thick with sleep.

“Morning, Jihyo.” Mina winked at her as best as she could when the girl pulled herself away from Nayeon.

Nayeon whined and pulled Jihyo closer.

“Nayeon, let go, I’m suffocating!”

The oldest girl grunted in reply but let Jihyo go.

“Good morning to you too, Nayeon,” Mina smiled, watching as she stretched her limbs and purposely hit Jihyo with her forearm. Jihyo whined and Nayeon tried to apologize to her with kisses.

“No, no—morning breath! No, Nayeon!”

Sana laughed onto Mina’s skin and finally opened her eyes, blinking away the sleep. She looked up at Mina and gave her the cutest smile.

“Morning, Minari. How are you feeling?”

How was she feeling? She was feeling… so incredibly loved, she was feeling loving towards her friends, she felt happy, she felt excited for what the day would hold… she could go on forever.

“I’m feeling great,” Mina replied, settling with a word that encompassed all of that as much as possible. “What about you, Satang?”

“Me too. I feel amazing,” she said, tickling Mina’s collarbones with her breath. "Especially with all four of us like this."

"Me too," Jihyo and Nayeon said in unison.

"Jinx! Too bad it was sweaty, otherwise it would have been perfect," Nayeon said as she tried to kiss Jihyo again.

“You can't even imagine what it was like for me," Jihyo complained and swatted Nayeon away, "I was in the middle!"

"Hey, hey, Jeongyeon made pancakes for us,” Mina announced before they started wrestling again. She pulled Sana off of her and got up to put on some pants.

“They’re probably going to be burnt,” Nayeon said with an eye roll as she smacked Jihyo.

“Probably, but you know that all of us are going to find them delicious anyway and beg for more,” Jihyo replied as she smacked Nayeon back.

Nayeon chuckled and nodded, rubbing her arm. “Yeah. I know we will.”

As Mina searched for a shirt to wear to the dining area of their dorm, Sana appeared beside her with a smile on her face. She rested her chin on Mina's shoulder and watched as she searched her closet. After about a minute of silence, Sana spoke up.

“You look happy,” she noted.

“I am. I don’t know what’s happening or what started this whole thing, but I’m starting to think that maybe I should have opened up long ago. The weight on my shoulders is shrinking and it’s...the best feeling ever.”

Something flashed in Sana’s eyes. Before Mina could try to guess what it was, Sana leaned over and kissed her forehead.

“I’m glad to hear that Mina. You really have no idea.”

She left her side as soon as she said that, hopping over to the kitchen to get some pancakes before Dahyun ate them all.

Mina stood there, suspicion crossing her mind, feeling like she knew which friend had been the catalyst of all of what was happening.

Ultimately, she shrugged it off. Maybe she’d have to thank her later. For now, Mina got dressed and joined her friends in the kitchen.