Mina rolled over and found the area next to her empty.

She had been woken up by the cold and the blankets she had were not enough to keep her warm. She needed Sana’s body warmth or else, she assured herself, she’d absolutely die of hypothermia. Raising her head to look for Sana, she found that Jihyo and Nayeon were also nowhere to be seen. The room was empty except for Mina.

That’s strange…

As if on cue, there was a light knock on the door. Sana stuck her head in, her bright smile giving Mina the energy to sit up. Mina noticed that her friend had a toothbrush in and that her bed head was gone. Why was Mina the only one still in bed? Was everyone already up getting their makeup done?

“Hi, Minari, good morning! Is everything okay?”

Mina shook her head.. “I just woke up and…” She suppressed a pout. “...And you weren’t here! Neither are Nayeon and Jihyo… What’s going on?”

Sana opened the door a little more to lean on the door jamb. “Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but… Our managers got a call from Park Jinyoung. Apparently a song that was just released today has a bit of choreography that looks a lot like the one we have in our upcoming comeback,” Sana said as she demonstrated that part in particular. “He wants to avoid crazed fans accusing us of copying and wants us to come into the studio and replace that part with a new move. Jihyo agreed that we should all come into the studio today.”

The younger Japanese girl sighed and fell back into the bed. “I thought we had free days! This isn’t fair, we’re not supposed to have schedules or practice today!”

Sana pulled the toothbrush out of and frowned, sad that Mina was frustrated. “I know, Minari. I know. We’re all upset. Especially Chaeyoung, who was going to meet up with her brother today. She’s going to have to cancel that. But you know how it is. It’s either we learn a new choreo for that small part or we endure hate from fans claiming we ‘plagiarized’ that dance move from their idol. Jihyo explained it to us the same way Park Jinyoung explained it to her, and it makes sense.”

“We always get hate, Satang. What’s a little more? It literally can’t get any worse than it already is!” Mina had a sudden thought. “Actually… Who’s the artist?”

The older girl grimaced and told her.

Mina threw the covers over her head and suppressed a scream. “Never mind! If we get hate from that fandom, we’re dead.”

Sana nodded and stopped leaning against the door jamb. “Exactly. I know it’s hard, Minari, but Jihyo was right to make the decision to give up our free time. We need to learn new choreography.” She made a motion to leave, but seemed to remember something. “Oh, and sorry for not waking you up. All of the bathrooms are full and all of the hair stylists are already busy doing some of the members’ hair. I thought it would be a good idea to let you sleep a little more, even if it’s just five minutes. You’d just be standing there waiting otherwise! I’ll come back and let you know when the bathrooms were free, ok?”

Mina smiled, understanding. “Thank you, Satang. That’s really kind of you.”

Sana winked at her then went to finish brushing her teeth.

Mina didn’t go back to sleep, but still closed her eyes as she stressed about the day that was about to come.

Replacing a move in their song’s choreography would be difficult. They’d practiced what they already had for two whole months, since this was a big comeback, and all of it was almost second nature to them by now. It would take many, many tries to get used to even this small change, and even then, the choreographer would ask them to do it many more times. It could take all day, depending on herself and her group members.

Mina felt bad for the girl that was supposed to take her out today. She wondered if their plans for the day had been ruined because of this sudden change of plans.

Which girls were left?

After a bit of thinking, Mina remembered that Sana, Jihyo, Jeongyeon and Nayeon were the only members that hadn’t gone on a date with her yet, and all of them were very level headed and super dependable. She was sure they would be able to come up with something to make up for it on the spot.

Except... now it was very late in the afternoon. Practice had gone on for hours due to Mina and Tzuyu’s inability to get one part down right. Both of them apologized to the choreographer profusely and continued to do their best, and now they were all heading home after a grueling eight hours of practice.

Mina checked her phone and the screen displayed a big 6:29 PM. There was no way that anyone could arrange things quickly enough for them to enjoy some time together. Everyone would want to shower and rest after their hard work.

Mina had pretty much given up on going out, sure that there was no way anyone would want to go out so late, so she headed to her room where she planned on playing video games until she was able to shower.

She found Jihyo there, talking on the phone excitedly. That was good, because a few members gave Jihyo a hard time today during practice. While they understood the circumstances, they couldn’t help but and make her work twice as hard for agreeing to take their free day away. Mina found it good that Jihyo was able to take it like a champ and still come out of the intense choreo practice in good spirits.

The young Japanese plopped down on her bed and rubbed the arms that were sore from the intricate hand movements their dance called for.

For a second, she wondered if the ‘girl of the day’ was sad or upset that she wouldn’t be able to take Mina out today. Mina sure was. She was becoming addicted to finding out who’s turn it was and learning where their date would take place.

Briefly, she glanced at Jihyo, who was making wild hand gestures as she spoke to whoever was on the other side of the phone. She wondered if the leader was the girl of the day.

No way, Jihyo wouldn’t give up her date with Mina, would she? She was the one who had agreed with Park Jinyoung to cancel their free day, so it couldn’t be her. Jihyo was probably the member Mina was closest to nowadays, and Mina was sure Jihyo felt the same. Jihyo would probably do her best to make sure nothing happened to their special day.

But actually… Mina squeezed the pillow in her arms at her intrusive thought.

Did Jihyo feel the same? The time they spent together, did her friend love it and appreciate it as much as Mina did? If the girl of the day was indeed Jihyo, then that would hurt. It would mean that Jihyo would rather work and dance than spend time with Mina.

Mina shook her head, banishing the thought that her friend, the one that loved and cared for her, the one that spent hours knitting with her yesterday, didn’t enjoy Mina’s presence.

Sana had explained it very clearly that morning why they had to work. If it was Jihyo’s turn today, it wasn’t that she didn’t care about skipping her date with Mina. She would be protecting her and her group mates from hate and ‘plagiarism’ allegations. Obviously!

Right..?

Again she shook her head and threw the pillow to the side. Yeah, it definitely had to be someone el—

“–you so much!” Jihyo’s megaphone-like voice interrupted Mina’s thoughts. “I owe you big time! How about I take you and Eunbi out for ramen sometime...? Okay. Okay. Yes! I’ll see you then! Once again, thank you so much!” Jihyo hung up and noticed Mina.

Oh. She was talking to GFriend’s Yerin, Mina assumed. Jihyo, Yerin and her group mate Eunbi were really close, often going out and eating ramen at GFriend’s dorm.

Envy made its way into Mina’s veins.

“Oh, hi Mina! I didn’t notice you were there. You ok?” Jihyo bit her lip, a sure sign she was worried. Why?

Mina nodded, swallowing the envy. Now was not the time. “Yeah. Little tired, but I’m alright. Sorry for listening in on your conversation, by the way.”

Jihyo shrugged and made her way toward Mina. “It’s fine. You would have found out about it soon enough anyway!”

“Found out about your phone call? What do you mean?”

Jihyo grabbed Mina’s shoulders and gave them a small squeeze. “You’re not too tired to go out, are you? Because I just set something up for us!” The world’s biggest smile shone upon Mina. “Surprise! Today it’s me!”

Upon hearing that, it was like Mina’s body had never gone to practice that day, like she had never doubted Jihyo’s love for her. She was infused with so much happiness that she felt like she was about to explode! The thrill of finding out who the secret girl of the day is never failed to excite her!

“You know what, I suddenly feel like I could run a marathon!” Mina joked, jumping up and down. Jihyo beamed, impossibly filling up Mina’s internal battery. “But what did that phone call have to do with this? What did you mean by ‘you would have found out about it soon’?”

A sly smile crept onto Jihyo’s face.

“Whaaaat? You’re not gonna tell me?” Mina asked after Jihyo put a finger to her own lips, as if to say that it was a secret. “You have to tell me!”

“All you need to know is that it’s gonna be fun!” Jihyo hip-bumped her and made her way to the closet, already picking an outfit. The sly smile found its way back. “Get dressed, Minari. Choose something you can move around in. And sweat in.”

“W-where exactly are you taking me? Why would I get sweaty?”

“I already told you, it’s a secret! You’ll see when we get there!”

Mina raised her arms in defeat, accepting the fact that Jihyo wasn’t about to spill anything. Once the Korean girl had a plan, nothing could stop her from exacting it.

“Okay… I trust you! You’re lucky that I love surprises.” Mina raised an eyebrow at Jihyo, trying to look cool, but the older girl just laughed at her expression. Mina laughed too, the excitement making its way through all of her body.

“It’s kinda cold outside, by the way, so do you want me to tell the managers to get the van ready? You know, to warm it up while we get ready?”

“Got it covered!” Jihyo said, giving her the OK sign. “You didn’t look too tired when we arrived, so I assumed you’d accept my invitation to go out and asked the managers to keep the van on while you and I got ready!”

Mina narrowed her eyes, but kept quiet. She should have known better than to doubt the Van Gods.

The excitement crept back up Mina’s spine the moment she looked out of the window. She didn’t recognize anything, meaning that they were in a totally different district. Jihyo was really about to take Mina somewhere unexpected.

Rubbing her arms to calm the goosebumps of cold and excitement, she glanced over at Jihyo, who was peacefully looking out the window, just as Mina had been only moments before. The older girl sensed she was being watched and gifted Mina with a warm smile.

“You look really excited, Minari!”

“Of course I am! These past few days I’ve been hanging out with my friends, getting to know them and understand them on a deeper level than I could have ever imagined. I’m anxious to spend some time with you, Jihyo, and I’m glad we’re not going to feel pressured to hurry and have fun. We have all night!”

Jihyo was clearly happy with the response she got because she giggled. “I’m glad you’re not mad at us for taking your out of our room and explore the real world.”

Mina sat back and nodded thoughtfully. “If someone had told me two weeks ago that I would be impatiently waiting every day to go out with you guys, I’d call them crazy. But now… it’s amazing, you know? Every morning I awaken with the joy of knowing that one of you girls is going to surprise me with an incredibly thoughtful date. Instead of spending all day thinking about what movie I’m going to watch next, I’m wondering what cool place my friends are going to take me to and what new things I’ll learn about them.”

Jihyo leaned in and gently held onto one of Mina’s hands, looking at it as she spoke. “I can’t tell you much, even if you might already know more than you let on, because it’s a secret, but I can tell you that what you just said is exactly the kind of thing we wanted for you. There’s nothing wrong with what you do, like playing video games and all that, but– well, we missed you. We wanted to spend more time with you.”

Mina rubbed her thumb against Jihyo’s knuckles, reflecting on her friend’s words and what it all meant. She wanted to say so much, but despite being able to articulate it perfectly inside her head, whenever she tried to thank her friends for this wonderful experience, nothing good would come out.

Also, it felt good to know that her earlier feelings were unfounded. Jihyo had made sure to do both things today; they practiced and perfected the new dance moves and she found a place that they could spend time together, and for that, she was grateful. She wasn’t even really sure why she had been so envious of Yerin and Eunbi. Really, it was so irrational and embarrassing.

Jihyo was unaware of the internal struggle Mina was having and let go of her hand. She shoved her face into the window, obviously looking for something specific.

Once she saw it, she quickly turned back to Mina and rubbed her hands excitedly. “We’re almost here. Just a few more minutes.”

Mina’s muscles tightened, suddenly feeling tense. She had absolutely no clue about where Jihyo was taking her, save for the fact that she’d be moving and sweating a lot.

Jihyo pulled something out of her purse and it seemed like Mina’s muscles tensed up even more. It was a sleeping mask.

“Put this on. I wanted a blindfold, but this’ll have to do. C’mon!”

Mina took the item from the Korean girl and held it gingerly. “W-why?”

Jihyo just shrugged playfully, saying it was to get Mina more hyped up.

“Uh, okay…” Mina handed the mask to Jihyo so that she could put it on her. Jihyo gladly did so, and Mina was then enveloped by darkness.

“Don’t worry, Minari. You won’t be blindfolded for too long. I’d say we’re about...5 minutes away. Relax. I’m not taking you to a scary place.”

Relax? Easier said than done, the Japanese girl thought as she tried her best to do as she was told. Instead, her hands started shaking and her legs began to get restless. She wasn’t scared. She was excited, so much so that her body couldn’t contain it. She heard Jihyo laugh a little bit, but ignored it.

When the van finally stopped, Mina heard their manager in the shotgun seat speak.

“Remember the rules. They’ve always been the same. Don’t stray too far, don’t attract too much attention. We’re only a phone call away. Now have fun!”

Jihyo grabbed Mina’s hand and helped her out of the van, making sure she didn’t fall along the way. Safely on the ground, she grabbed the blindfolded girl’s shoulders and led her towards the building—or what Mina assumed was a building— before them.

Mina’s shivering was out of control now. It didn’t help that it was incredibly cold outside and that her knees were wobbly.

“There are some steps ahead of us that go down. Be careful,” Jihyo instructed, and before she knew it, Mina overcame the stairs.

At the bottom of said stairs, there was something in the air that Mina couldn’t quite place. A buzz that was barely there, yet absolutely present. That changed the closer they got to their destination. It grew, somehow, shaking Mina to her core.

They seemed to walk for hours, though Mina knew it was less than a few minutes. The sound of her footsteps echoing in the silent area they were at just made everything seem more eternal, like they were walking down some endless hallway.

“Let me get the door,” Jihyo said eventually, and after hearing a creaking door being forced open, Mina was suddenly overwhelmed with a deep bass coming from speakers somewhere to her right. Was that what she had felt in the air earlier?

There was a loud rolling sound somewhere in front of her, and someone shouted over the music.

“Okay, take it off now, Minari.”

She wasted no time. The blindfold was off in a flash, and Mina found herself in an impossibly large, industrial looking area that was only illuminated by neon lights that hung on every wall and the sparse industrial lamps that hung off the ceiling.

There were a few people in skates going around a huge wooden floor, and it dawned on Mina where exactly they were. Mina looked at Jihyo in surprise, not expecting her to take her to a roller rink. The older girl just winked at her and led her to the area where one can rent skates.

“Whoa!” Mina gawked at the live DJ in one corner. “I haven’t been to a roller rink with live music before!”

“I knew you’d like it! I’ve been here a few times myself and it’s probably the coolest part about this whole place!”

Mina’s lips formed an ‘o’ as Jihyo continued toward the employee in the skate rental area. As Jihyo was about to explain the differences between each kind of skate and how the wheels affected the skater, Mina recovered from her wonder and raised an arm, giving her a small smirk.

“No need. Back in Japan, I used to skate with my friends all the time.” She pointed to the kind of skate she knew she needed. “Did you think I’d never done this before?”

“Admittedly, yeah, I thought I had found something that you’ve never tried before, but hey, at least this means we’ll have more fun competing, since you’re definitely not a beginner and all.” The last part of her sentence was joined by a playful shove. Mina recovered and stuck her tongue out.

“Well, I’m definitely no expert! I’m not cut out for roller derbys, but I sure can speed skate faster than the average girl.” Mina quickly bowed in thanks when the girl at the desk handed her the skates. “Wanna race? There aren’t many people around.”

Jihyo chose her skates as well and led Mina to a separate area to put them on. She sat and finally answered the Japanese girl’s question.

“Depends. What do I get if I win?”

Mina tapped her chin, pretending to think about it. “Hmm. How about… a kiss?”

Jihyo dropped her skate loudly. She scrambled to get it, looking around in hopes that no one heard the crash. Once sure no one did, she widened her eyes in Mina’s direction. “What?“

“I’m kidding! God, your face is so red right now!”

Jihyo finished tying the laces and cupped her own cheeks in hopes to stop the pink from spreading. “That came out of nowhere!”

Mina shrugged. She was in a good mood. “Perhaps. But don’t worry. I know that a kiss isn’t worth all that trouble.” She turned in her seat and spotted an area where one could purchase snacks. “Okay, how about this? You buy me rice cakes if I win. If you win, I’ll buy you whatever you want. Sounds fair, right?”

Mina found Jihyo staring through her, as if she was lost in her own thoughts.

And she was. Jihyo was still stuck on Mina’s offer. A kiss? What did that mean? Mina isn’t the type to flirt like this...

Jihyo hadn’t ever really thought about it, but she wasn’t totally against it. Even if it was just a kiss on the cheek, the thought of it actually happening made Jihyo’s face flush more than it had before and her heart race faster than a skater.

“Jihyo? Hey!”

Startled, Jihyo snapped back to reality.

“Huh?” She had somehow managed to half listen to what Mina said, so she quickly recovered with “Oh. Yeah. I’m down. I think they sell gelato not too far from here, so if I win, I’d like that.”

Mina finished with her skates and stood up. “Sounds good. There’s no way you’ll win, but I’m down if you’re down. Let’s go!”

Carefully, they made their way to the rink. Mina made small talk on the way.

“So, how’d you heard about this place?”

Jihyo smiled instinctively. “The Source Music building isn’t far from here, so Yerin and Jung Eunbi from GFriend showed me this place! In fact, they’re the ones I called before. It’s the conversation you overheard. I had planned something else, but this unexpected dance practice changed everything.”

“So you called them up for a favor?”

“Yeah! They told me this place was open at this hour and even paid for the skates and everything.”

“Wow, that’s nice of them…” Mina recalled her earlier intrusive thoughts and cringed, feeling stupid that she had felt envious of their relationship with Jihyo all the while they were helping Jihyo with her date with Mina.

“We’re here!” Jihyo gestured to the nearly empty rink. “So how are we gonna do it? Most laps in five minutes or what?”

“What do you usually do with your friends?”

“Well, usually Yerin, Eunbi and I warm up a little bit, then race and see who can do five laps around the rink first. Yerin usually wins, but I’m pretty good at it too!”

“Let’s do that, then! Maybe I’ll impress you!”

Jihyo nodded, making a show of warming up before starting. “You’ll definitely impress me. I haven’t seen you race yet, but I’m honestly preparing myself to lose already. You said you’ve already skated before, so that means you’ve definitely had years of practice before. You’re always good at whatever you do!”

Mina blushed, but hid it by imitating Jihyo and stretching too. “You think so?”

“Totally! I think that I’ll be inviting you over with Yerin, Eunbi and I so that we can skate together. They really seem to like you, so this is the perfect opportunity!”

Mina’s blush grew too big to hide and Jihyo caught a glimpse of it despite Mina’s best efforts to act like she was just stretching. Those words were just what Mina needed. The thought that Jihyo loved her so much that she even wanted to invite her to spend time with her other friends…

“Wow,” she said aloud, startling Jihyo a bit.

“Wow? What are you thinking about?”

Mina giggled and finished stretching. “I’ll tell you when I’ve won.”

Jihyo rolled her eyes and shrugged. “Or you can tell me once I’ve won. That sounds much better.”

“Oh, you’re on. I can taste the rice cakes already.”

The skating rink was pretty much empty by now, all of the other patrons of the rink heading home to sleep. This was perfect for Mina and Jihyo, who were getting into position.

“And I can taste my gelato already too! Five laps, remember that, loser!”

“See you then, loser!” Mina shouted, starting without letting Jihyo know.

“Hey!” Jihyo let out a laugh as she watched Mina cheat, then laughed harder when the Japanese girl tripped and fell on her .

“That’s what you get, cheater,” Jihyo said as coolly as she could as she skated past Mina. Mina scrambled to get up, but she was laughing too hard to help herself up and ended up falling over again.

“Help!” Mina managed to say between fits of giggles. “I can’t- I can’t get up!”

Jihyo smirked at her, ignoring her pleas for help. She made one lap around the rink before feeling pity for Mina, who was still on the floor, her giggles calming down but still totally there. The older girl fake sighed and slowly made her way to Mina.

“Gimme your hand,” Jihyo ordered, a stupid grin on her face growing while Mina struggled to get up.

She wasn’t sure why Mina was laughing so much, because despite falling over being hilarious, it wasn’t that hilarious. (But gosh, this laugh of hers was contagious.) She found herself laughing as well, and when Mina pulled on her arm to help herself up, she pulled a weakened Jihyo down and both fell on the floor.

Mina’s face was red from the nonstop laughter, and Jihyo could all but stare at her friend.

Was...was she always this cute? The way she hid her smile behind her hand, the way her eyes crinkled, her gummy smile… The desire to kiss her was unbearable.

Instead, her brain opted for something less impulsive.

“I love you.” She said it with all of her heart, hoping that it got the message across. The girl in front of her was beautiful, and Jihyo knew that she wanted to make her laugh like this for the rest of her life.

Mina slowly stopped laughing, her eyes wider than the moon. She looked at Jihyo, something shining in her eyes that couldn’t be deciphered.

“I– I love you too.” The stutter wasn’t hesitation. Mina was just a little shocked at the sudden confession. It caused a sensation in her heart that could only be described as pure adoration. Suddenly, the sparkle in Jihyo’s eyes was more beautiful than any star she had ever seen, especially when it was paired up with the cute smile that she was giving Mina right now… It made Mina’s smile return, wider than it had ever been this night.

Mina chuckled awkwardly, hoping she hadn’t been staring at Jihyo for too long, and slowly got up, making sure her skates didn’t betray her again. After dusting herself off, she outretched her hand toward Jihyo. “Let me help you up.”

The Korean took it kindly.

“I’m going to tell you the truth,” Mina began, rubbing her face as she spoke, “all that made me feel like I just gained a six-pack. I’m so tired already.”

“Sounds like you’re just chickening out from the race, Myoui.” She sent her a little wink to let her know she was teasing.

“Not chickening out,” Mina pouted, “just postponing it for another day. How about we just skate? No racing, just going around and having fun?”

“Sounds good.” Jihyo felt merciful and agreed to race some other day.

“Sorry for bringing you down with me. I was just so weak from laughing so much that…”

“I know,” Jihyo answered, knowing Mina wasn’t sure how to finish her sentence. “It’s okay. You’ve always been the type to get giggling fits...along with Sana. It’s cute though.”

Mina gave her another gummy smile and grabbed her hand. “Thank you. Let’s skate like this,” she said.

“As long as you don’t fall over and pull me down again, then of course!” Holding Myoui Mina’s hand was always a pleasure.

“No promises!”

They found out they skated at around the same pace, making it super easy for them to hold hands and skate.

They didn’t fall anymore, much to Jihyo’s relief.

After about thirty minutes, Jihyo received a message from their managers.

“They’re asking if we’re almost done,” Jihyo said to Mina. The small frown on Mina’s face saddened Jihyo.

“Tell then that we will be soon.”

“Well, we can stop skating now. I think we’ve done a fair amount of skating, don’t you?”

“I think we should sit and cool off first,” Mina suggested, pointing to the nearest seating area. “I’m way too sweaty to walk out into the freezing cold.”

Jihyo agreed and together they sat at an open booth.

“Thanks for warning me, by the way. If you hadn’t told me to wear clothes that I can sweat in, I would have worn a sweater and thick pants! Imagine that! I’m sweaty enough as it is, but in that getup, I would have died after the first five minutes!”

“Right?” Jihyo laughed, but her next thought sobered her right up. Was it okay to mention it to Mina?

Maybe it was for the best to bring it up carefully.

Jihyo looked at her nails as she spoke. “I hope you had tons of fun. I just hope you’re not too tired tomorrow. I don’t want you to be and groaning about your sore muscles during your next date.”

“Oh, I can assure you, I’ll be fine. I’ve endured worse. Remember, during promotions, all we ever do is dance.” Mina winced at the memory of their last comeback. It was the most tiring one of all, and no amount of hot baths helped at all. “For weeks on end, that’s all we do. A little bit of dance practice followed by skating isn’t too much for me.”

She almost changed the subject but the faraway look on Jihyo’s face stopped her.

“Jihyo?” She looked like she had something to say. Mina could see it easily.

“Hmm?”

The Japanese girl inched forward, letting her friend know that she was willing to listen to whatever was on her mind. All Jihyo did was cross her arms and sigh, though she was probably thinking up a way to talk about it.

It must be something that’s really bothering her, Mina thought just as Jihyo matched Mina’s seating position.

“I’ve been worried that you guys are actually mad that I decided to make us go practice today. I feel like… like maybe you think that I should have consulted with you all before doing that.” Jihyo’s expression changed into one of deep thought. Clearly it had been bothering her for a long time. “It’s the first time in a long time that we’ve gotten so many days off and, well, I took that away. I know I did.”

Mina placed her hand in Jihyo’s, hoping that it would stop the tears that were b in her leader’s eyes.

“I didn’t really think much about it until I bumped into Chaeyoung during practice. She wasn’t angry, but she definitely looked upset. I tried to talk to her and, you know, apologize, but the choreographer wanted us back into position, so I missed my opportunity.”

“And that’s been on your mind all day, huh?”

“Is it that obvious?” Jihyo chuckled a bit, the tears receding a bit. “It didn’t ruin the date, did it?”

“Well, no. I honestly didn’t notice it at all.”

Jihyo nodded and closed her eyes. “I see. That’s good. I really would have hated it if you had noticed and became distracted by it. I didn’t want you to think I didn’t enjoy the date, so I tried my best at hiding it.”

Mina’s jaw tightened. Jihyo wasn’t crying, sure, but clearly this conversation wasn’t doing her any good. If she’d learned anything from these past dates with her friends, it’s that talking about your problems and rationalizing your thoughts is supposed to help. Maybe Jihyo needed some help with that.

And so, Mina got up from her seat and slid into Jihyo’s, linking her arms with the older girl’s. Jihyo looked confused, so Mina spoke quickly.

“Jihyo, listen, I know that I’ll never understand the pressures of being a leader. I’ll never know your thought process when you have to make last-minute decisions. Never. But trust me when I say that I know we’re not rookies anymore, and that because of that, you’re given more responsibilities. We’ve been TWICE for more years than I can count on one hand, so I’ve seen you make more and more decisions each and every passing year.” Mina wrapped an arm around Jihyo just to put the girl’s head down on her shoulder. Jihyo complied easily.

“This morning, Sana explained it to me why it was important that we learn the new moves. At first I tried fighting it, but yours and Producer Park’s decision was a good one. Ultimately, you’re making sure we don’t get hate for looking like we’re copying another popular artist.” Mina paused, breathless from feeling like she had just spoken for an hour. But the peaceful look that graced Jihyo’s features was worth it. She could speak for an actual hour just to make her feel better.

Jihyo raised her head, probably to speak, but Mina put a finger to her lips. She still needed to say something.

“Wait. I know what you’re going to say. It’s about Chaeyoung being upset at you. Right?”

The Korean girl nodded wordlessly.

“Talk to her about it. Soon. You couldn’t during practice, but at the dorms, you’ll have enough time. Be kind and be considerate. You know exactly why she’s upset. She loves her brother and had been waiting for so long to meet up with him. But she also. Loves. TWICE.” Between every pause, she squeezed Jihyo even harder. “If you explain well, she’ll forgive you, because she loves being in this group. I know she will, because you’re an amazing leader that loves her members, because she’s an understanding girl, and because you had a reason to decide what you did.”

Jihyo sighed, a smile creeping it’s way onto her face.

“You’re right,” was all she said.

Mina patted Jihyo’s head before letting her go. “And Jihyo? Don’t internalize things. Let it all out. If you’re sad, don’t hide it from us. Just because you’re our leader doesn’t mean you can’t lean on us. Promise me you won’t do that anymore?”

Jihyo saw Mina hold up her pinky finger and placed her own around it. “I promise. I’m doing my best to be your leader, I swear, Mina.”

“I know! I can always tell.”

Jihyo felt the love for Mina within her swell. It gave her enough courage to speak up and say what had been on her mind when the negative thoughts weren’t.

“And my kiss?”

Mina’s eyebrows reached her hairline. “Kiss?”

Jihyo tapped her cheek. “Yeah, you promised me one, remember?”

Mina rolled her eyes, recalling that it was only said playfully. “Hmm. I don’t. Are you sure I promised one? I jokingly suggested kissing you if you won, which, by the way, you didn’t.”

“I think I deserve it, though!”

Mina could hear her own blood pumping in her ears. She stood up and winked at Jihyo, pretending her words had no effect on her, then turned toward the door. “How about this? Take me out here again soon, and we race. Then, if you win, I’ll kiss you. If I win, you kiss me. Sound good?”

Jihyo really, really liked the sound of that.

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