Admiration is what follows Dahyun’s name when Mina hears it the first time. She catches the name in conversation while taking notes on her upcoming exam. Momo and Sana are discussing the likelihood of wooing their respective crushes when they come upon the topic of Dahyun.

Kim Dahyun, talented pianist and number one in grades amongst sophomores, just a year under Mina.

She can’t help but focus on the way Sana’s mouth automatically tilts upwards at the mention of Dahyun’s name, and the way Momo’s eyes crinkle like a memory is settling itself in her mind. Mina doesn’t get it, really. She doesn’t understand the fondness behind Momo and Sana’s smiles as they discuss Kim Dahyun, who is all but a mystery to her.

* * *

It’s Chaeyoung who Mina hears from next. It’s during their walk home from the school late one evening after the younger needed help with prepping for an exam.

Mina takes note of the way Chaeyoung’s dimple impossibly deepens as she tells a story about Kim Dahyun, talented pianist and apparent class clown.

“And, you know what? She just starts dancing! Oh my god, like, literally flapping her hands and arms about as she presents—“

Mina doesn’t catch the rest of Chaeyoung’s story, only paying mind to that same fondness that leaks from Chaeyoung’s words that mirrors what she saw in Sana’s smile and Momo’s eyes.

When they reach home, Chaeyoung is bright red from laughing, practically heaving as she tries to catch her breath after the culmination of her story.

(“God, 'Like an eagle,' she says! Can you believe it?”)

It’s crazy how Kim Dahyun seems to bring so much joy to those who know her even when she’s not there. If it’s not Chaeyoung’s upstart of giggles after she finished her story 10 minutes ago, then it’s the way Chaeyoung tells her the same story the next morning like she forgot she told Mina the day before (or just because she wants to tell it again).

* * *

It must be some kind of joke at this point, is what Mina thinks when she stays late one day with the student council for the school festival.

If it’s not her two best friends or her favorite neighbor, then it’s her three acquaintances at the one club she regularly attends.

Mina says acquaintances because she’s not close enough to them that she considers them friends. She only sees Jeongyeon and Nayeon when she attends student council meetings unless the former is hanging around Momo and Sana who she has class with. The only person Mina can even consider a friend is Park Jihyo, who leads the council despite being a junior.

She’s filling out documents and going over other classes’ festival plans when Nayeon and Jeongyeon burst through the door smiling brighter than she’s ever seen them do so.

Mina wants to ask them what’s got their mood so high, but Jihyo, thankfully, beats her to the punch when she says, “What’s got the two of you idiots smiling?”

There’s an exchange of light jabs from Nayeon and a couple of light insults thrown by Jeongyeon, but it’s all just play. Mina almost goes back to the documents when she overhears that name again ‘Kim Dahyun.’

“We ran into her on our way back,” Nayeon says barely able to contain the grin that breaks out on her face, perfectly showing her two front teeth. The way Nayeon smiles carelessly after speaking reminds Mina of how an older sister would fondly talk about a younger sibling.

Jeongyeon sighs in content, like the interaction lifted all the weight off her shoulders.

“Did you know,” Jeongyeon starts, “she’s playing a song for the festival’s show?”

Mina watches as Jihyo’s eyes widen and she observes the silence that floats between the three oddly, like she’s missing some crucial information that they know and she doesn’t.

Jihyo’s eyes flash with an emotion Mina just barely picks up on, only because it’s familiar. It’s fondness again. The same as Sana and Momo’s, similar to Chaeyoung’s, but more closely related to Nayeon and Jeongyeon’s: the fondness of an older sibling.

Fine, Mina