It was a bright day. The campus was full of energetic students chatting and doing school projects. I could hear their chatters and laughters even from the cafeteria. The ambiance was just right for this special day.

I averted my gaze from the peaceful scenery outside and focused on my reflection on the window, carefully studying myself from head to toes for the umpteenth time. My usual bed hair was nicely styled and tied into a ponytail. The natural makeup Hyewon helped me put on was still in tact. The usual worn out jeans were replaced by high quality stonewashed skinny jeans and so was my tops. A loose pastel pink V-neck pullover felt soft against my skin. Both borrowed from Hyewon. A pair of off-white sneakers were giving an light accent on my outfit today and I desperately hoped she’d approve this new look on me. I blinked a few times to affirm my lenses were in place too. 

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“Unnie, try to relax a bit. You are making us nervous too”. Yena mentioned it again with grimace. Hyewon also chimed in. “You still got 15 min to go. You’ll get yourself worked up too much before the real date starts". 

My jaw was set firm from the nervousness, my teeth clacked slightly. I gave them a desperate look. Both of my frieds just facepalmed with a little shake of their heads.

It was the day I'd set my lunch date with Minju. Unable to focus on anything else, I just headed to the cafeteria half an hour early. Yena and Hyewon tagged along to make sure I wouldn't bolt at the last minute as well as for the emotional support. 

“Remember the rules”

Yena prompted, her tone almost threatening me. I nodded vigorously and looked at my clenched hand. On there were the basic dating rules they wrote down for me.

“Let’s reharse. Hyewon, you are Minju, just arriving here”. Hyewon excitedly hopped on her feet and headed over to the entrance door. With Yena's hand signal I heard her 'action!'. Hyewon fake-catwalked back and halted in front of me. “Hi”. “Umm, hi?”

“CUT!! Be more enthusiastic! It’s your first date and first impression is very important”

Yena passionately lectured me the right attitude she probably googled last night. What she said was right, but I couldn't get into it at all as Minju herself could walk in any moment. How could I be practicing it right now?! “Are you insane!? She could show up in any moment!". Yena and Hyewon growled at my retort. "You better practice deep breathing at least. You almost hyperventilate every time Minju comes within 10 meters". Which was true. I forced out a grumbling 'okay'. After all, it was for me. No matter how ridiculous it looked, it would help calm my nerves. Plus, I needed a distraction.

I closed my eyes and imagined Minju in front of me, looking astonishing with her dazzling smile. My heart skipped a beat. With Yena’s cue, I inhaled deeply, pausing for a moment and exhaling slowly. Repeating the exercise, I actually started to feel a lot better. Hyewon and Yena joined me as we repeated the routine.

“What are you guys doing in the middle of the cafeteria?”

A familiar voice snapped us out from our team activity. Eyes reopening, I found the other school goddess looking back at me. “Yiren!”. We almost squealed, her eyes rounded in surprise at our volume. “Sorry, I guess we are not used to seeing you like this." Said Hyewon with a sheepish smile. A soft smile crept on Yiren’s face as she approached closer to us. She tilted her head slightly, a sign that she was still waiting for her question to be responded. “W-we were just doing some random stuff”. I hid the shameful truth from her. Yiren definitely didn’t need to know the real reason behind our silly action, again. She looked at me for a short while, then smiled modestly.

“I see. She was called by one of the teachers after the second period. She should be here anytime soon”

She didn’t specify who 'she' was. However, it was crystal clear to us all. My heart started drumming with anticipation. 

“Like finally, huh?”

Suddenly, Chaewon emerged from my back and rested her arm on my shoulder, startling me in the process. She was peering sideways with a soft smile. She then faced the other girls to greet. Yiren spoke.

“How did your first meet up with Hii-chan go?”

“Oh it was a lot of fun! I have her number now and we promised we'd go check out a new bakery in town soon! All thanks to Kkura unnie”

A contented smile spreaded across her face and a warm feeling spreaded in my chest as I recalled the said night out. 

With a bit of strategic mind, I summoned a social bytterfly Nako that day. The three of us all went to the same middle school. Setting up a reunion while adding Chaewon as a close friend from college was nothing out of ordinary and we all went to a karaoke bar in town. It turned out that having Nako was an brilliant idea after all as I was already nervous thinking about today's lunch date. As soon as we got inside of the bar, she went full blast on Twice's numbers with their upcoming concert tickets in her pocket. Hii-Chan dancing and laughing at Nako's tendency to go overboard with basically everything she did did a wonder to loosed up Chaewon as well. They ended up giggling at Nako's antics. It was an absolute cute sight to behold.

“Wait what, you guys know each other?”. I was pulled back from my little flash back when Yena's abrupt, puzulling tone came in. “Yeah of course, Minju and I go way back. And I actually started working at the same agency with Yiren”. Chaewon casted a glance over Yiren and she simply nodded in confirmation. A look of confusion became more evident on Yena's countenance. “Why were you on the competition then? You are friends with Minju and Yiren, your crush is Hii-chan. I don’t see any reasons for you to participate the event unless you are a glutton like Hyewon. But I don’t think that's the case either”. Hyewon snapped her fingers and joined Yena.  “Oh yeah, that’s true!". Her curiosity piqued as well as mine. I knew that they were friends but this thought never occurred to me until now. 
“Oh that, yeah, maybe I’ll tell you later. It’s time”

Chaewon emphasised the last words and gave me a look, tilting