Her parents argue a lot these days, especially at night when they think Tzuyu's fast asleep. And five-year-old Tzuyu has difficulty understanding it all, why can't her parents just be nice to each other? It shouldn't be that hard to get along with someone, right? Why do they always get mad for no reason? They're both good people.

Tzuyu understands not getting along with bad people. There are a few classmates she avoids in kindergarten, but it's all because they were mean to her before. So when playing with them only hurt her, Tzuyu decided she needed to play with her other friends that never ever hurt her.

Like Mina. 

Mina's her newest classmate and she's so nice. She's quiet and usually never joins in their big games but there are times Tzuyu stops playing only to sit beside her on the swings. They find something to do just the two of them eventually, and almost all the time Tzuyu's glad to leave the big group  because she has more fun with Mina. But sometimes she wishes Mina wouldn't be so shy around others so they could all play together.

Another reason Tzuyu likes Mina is because she smiles all the time. But just to her, not to her other classmates. Only her. Whenever Tzuyu does the simplest thing, Mina laughs. Tzuyu feels funny when she does, and it's not long after she finds herself doing all sorts of things just to make her laugh. The other kids don't call her funny but Mina does, and it just kind of feels special.

Today is just like any other day as Tzuyu's parents drive her to the kindergarten. They start to argue when Tzuyu's mother drives through a red light. Things escalate from there and suddenly Tzuyu feels invisible in the backseat.

When they drop her off, at first they don't notice Tzuyu getting out of the car. When Tzuyu starts walking away however, she hears her parents shouting behind her. She turns back with the purest smile and says she loves them back.

"Mina, good morning!"

Her loud voice makes the little girl flinch as Tzuyu throws her arm around Mina's shoulders. Since Mina's slightly taller, she pulls her down in the process. 

Mina visibly relaxes when she realizes it's only Tzuyu. "Morning."

"It's a little cold today. And papa said it was gonna get even more cold."

"Colder." Mina corrects.

Tzuyu ignores. "Your jacket looks cool." Her arm falls from Mina's shoulders with a grin, holding her hand instead.

Mina immediately brightens up. She tucks her hair behind her ear and puffs her chest slightly. "I know. Thanks."

"You're really cool, Mina. I wish I was like you."

Mina frowns. "Why? You're really cool too, Tzuyu!"

"Only you say that though." Tzuyu pouts. "I want to– to be cool to everyone."

Mina's frown deepens and she looks sadder somehow. "But I don't want you to be cool to everyone."

"Why?"

"...Because then you won't want to be friends with me anymore." Her voice is smaller than usual as she speaks, and her head hangs low.

Tzuyu gasps like she's heard the most horrifying thing imaginable. "No way! Mina is my favorite person."

Mina peeks at Tzuyu's face, hopeful. "Really?"

Tzuyu nods. "Yes! My favorite person in the whole world! My best best friend!" She throws herself at Mina as they walk, hugging her clumsily.

Mina lets out a loud happy laugh. "Tzuyu too! Tzuyu's my favorite too! My best friend!" Mina gets excited, but as soon as they enter the playroom, her giggles fade away. She feels everyone staring at them, whispering amongst themselves and probably calling her names... 

The other kids aren't mean to her now that she's friends with Tzuyu but it doesn't stop her from getting timid around them. Mina thinks it's impossible to be friends with anyone else.

Tzuyu doesn't seem to notice her stress and pulls her to a corner, she knows it's where Mina feels comfortable the most. They both sit down on the little chairs. "Can I come over to play today?" 

Just like that, Mina forgets about everyone else. "Sure!" She pulls her bag on her lap and hugs it, flashing a grin at her best friend. Whenever Tzuyu comes over, it's always so much fun!

"Yaaaayyy!" Tzuyu pumps her tiny fist in the air. Mina laughs before she copies her, and yells out a squeaky 'yayy!' of her own that's not as loud.

When the teacher comes and shushes everyone down, Mina stops giggling instantly, peeks behind her tiny hands at the teacher like she'd done something bad. Meanwhile, Tzuyu sulks and grabs her coloring book out of her pink backpack.

Someone else sits beside Tzuyu and Mina leans over so slightly to see who. It's Yerim.

"Hello." Yerim smiles.

Tzuyu greets her back with a huge grin as Mina looks away, ignoring the exchange between the two. She takes out her own coloring book and opens up a page full of penguins– it's almost fully colored except for a few little ones at the side. With her tongue peeking out of , deeply  concentrated, she picks up a pink crayon and starts coloring.

"Woahh! You're really good at that!" Yerim leans over to her, elbows on the table as she stares in awe at her coloring.

Mina feels her cheeks redden and pulls her book a little closer to herself. "Thanks," she mutters.

"Mina's the best." Tzuyu boasts, as if she's talking about herself. "She never colors out of the lines! And, and she always picks the prettiest colors too."

Mina smiles bashfully when Yerim nods in agreement. And then all of a sudden, she asks her something.

"Mina, can we be friends too? Please?" Yerim starts fidgeting with her hands, unsure how Mina will respond.

Mina's eyes widen. "F-Friends?"

Yerim nods aggressively.

Mina glances at Tzuyu, who stares back with her big curious brown eyes– waiting for her to reply. A wide smile lets them know her answer first before she says, "Sure!"

Yerim's worried expression melts into a smile. "You're really so cool Mina!" She settles back on her chair and rummages through her little bag to take out her materials. When she realizes a few are missing, she skips her way to the small cupboard across the room.

It might seem like it's nothing to others but Mina feels over the moon with this turn of events. It seemed impossible just seconds ago, but she managed to make a friend other than Tzuyu ever since she moved here. 

Suddenly she feels a clammy hand grab hers in a tight grip. Her smile fades a little as she looks at the owner of it, startled.

Tzuyu stares up at her with the softest expression, leans in a little and whispers. "Is Yerim your new best friend?"

Mina's brows rise high at how dejected Tzuyu looks, staring down at her lap. "Of course not! Tzuyu is Mina's only best friend!"

"You really mean it?" Tzuyu looks up.

Mina nods. "Absolvedly. Mina will always love Tzuyu the most." Mina feels as though she needs to prove her point when Tzuyu still looks unsure. So she leans in, presses her lips to Tzuyu's cheek so softly she barely feels it.

Tzuyu giggles nonetheless, lets go of Mina's hand to hide her face. She peeks between her fingers and continues to giggle once she hears Mina laughing shyly at her reaction.

They stop giggling only when Miss Bae asks them what they're doing. Tzuyu replies with a grin and shows the elephant she drew to her teacher proudly. Miss Bae pats her head with a gentle smile and turns to Mina, who's clutching her coloring book tightly.

"Can I see what's there, Mina?" Her teacher asks kindly, her eyes warm.

Mina blushes and looks down shyly before handing it to Miss Bae. Although hoping for a praise deep down, she mutters how it's really not that good.

"Wow, this is amazing! I love how each penguin is a different color. You did a really good job here, Mina!"

Mina's pride swells with the compliments from an adult, and she takes back her book with a small smile and sparkling eyes.

"Joohyun!" Miss Kang, the teacher from the other classroom rushes to their side, tears glistening in her eyes. "Jennie and Lisa are fighting over the new crayons set. They won't listen to me, I don't know what to do–"

Miss Bae pats both of their heads one more time before she smiles and stands up, following Miss Kang calmly.

"I like Miss Bae."

Mina takes the blue crayon. "Me too. She's so nice. And very pretty."

***

"It's a little sudden but if Tzuyu's mother says it's okay, I don't see why not."

Tzuyu and Mina cheer when Mina's mother says this, both excited for their play date. Soon as they're in the car, sitting side by side in the backseat, Mina hugs her best friend.

Mina's mother glances at them through the rearview mirror, smiling softly at how happy and content Mina looks. "So girls, today we're ordering out–"

Mina now looks even more excited, not letting her mother finish. "Pizza!" She yells, her eyes shining bright.

"What about you, Tzuyu? What would you like, sweetie?"

Tzuyu looks like a deer caught in headlights once she hears her name. There's something sad about the look on her face after that, but Mina's mother can't quite place what it is. "I like pizza too." She says, her voice soft and shy as she looks out the window, Mina's arms still holding her tightly.

It's right then, Mina's mother has her first suspicions that something isn't right. She doesn't voice it out. It's been a tiring day at work. She scoffs to herself quietly because when is it not? She then smiles, determined not to let her mood affect the little girls. "Pizza it is then."

Once they get home, Tzuyu acts more like herself. Mina giggles and throws her bag away without a care (her mother decides to let it go this once because Tzuyu's here), running to her room. She probably is expecting to see Tzuyu right behind her but when she looks back and sees her best friend neatly placing their bags against the wall, she runs back to her side. "Come onnn," she whines, impatient as she grabs Tzuyu's hand and pulls her to her room.

It's Tzuyu's favorite thing in the world.

When Mina's excited like this, when Mina's being herself, when Mina's comfortable, when Mina's showing her sides she's never showed anyone else.

They play and play. Once they get bored of playing, Mina puts on Lilo and Stitch. She freezes it and gestures for Tzuyu to wait before running out the room. Once she comes back, she's carrying as many snacks as she can in her little hands (which isn't many).

Mina's mother catches them stuffing their faces, chocolate smeared all around their cheeks. They don't get yelled at, much to Tzuyu's surprise, but Mina's mother makes them clean their mess and takes away the rest of their snacks. Because apparently Mina isn't allowed to eat them as she pleases. 

Mina shrugs. "But Tzuyu's here," is all she says in her defense.

At any rate, the movie's left unfinished as Mina and Tzuyu take Ray, Mina's precious dog, out to play before it gets dark.

Tzuyu's way too happy about this, and a little jealous because she doesn't have a dog.

"Did you tell your parents?"

Tzuyu shakes her head sadly. "No. But I just know it. I know they won't get me one."

"But you have to try. My parents said no at first too." Mina scratches behind Ray's ear and kisses his soft fur. 

Tzuyu copies her and places a few kisses of her own. Ray wiggles his tail happily. "Yeah..."

"If they won't get you one, then I will! I promise!"

Tzuyu giggles because she knows it's unlikely and when Mina's mother calls them inside for dinner, the childish promise hangs emptily in the air, forgotten.

When Tzuyu sits down, she feels out of place. It's weird because that never happened before in Mina's house. She's sat at their dinner table more than twice now, but this time somehow feels a little different. 

Mina's older brother has football practice so he's not home just yet. Tzuyu feels bad for feeling relieved at this. It's not that she hates him, it's just because he's very tall and a little intimidating. Mina tells her that he's the nicest brother ever but Tzuyu still has her doubts.

Mina's father meanwhile, greets her with with a smile as usual, not surprised at all to find her here. He cracks a joke that makes them laugh and Mina's mother hits his shoulder lightly. He catches her hand and holds it gently for a few seconds before letting go. The jokes keep coming until Mina's mother wordlessly stuffs his mouth with pizza, having had enough of it. They laugh louder at that.

"Oh," Mina's mother picks up her phone, "Your mom is calling Tzuyu, is she coming to pick you up?" Before waiting for an answer, she accepts the call. 

Tzuyu sinks down in her chair, her smile long gone.

~

"I understand. I'm terribly sorry about this. Yes, I had no idea. I should have called you first." Mina's mother nods, "Of course." She holds her phone out to Tzuyu, who's on the verge of tears, her bottom lip wobbling. "She wants to talk to you, sweetie."

Tzuyu shakes her head. Mina hugs her tighter, thinking her best friend is in trouble. "I don't wanna go home!" Tzuyu yells, her tears finally flowing down her cheeks.

Mina's mother sighs softly. She looks down sadly at the sobbing girl before holding the phone against her own ear once again. "I'm guessing you heard her."

There's silence for a few seconds except for Tzuyu's crying.

"Yes, she's a little... stressed. What? Of course not! No problem at all. I'll drop her off tomorrow with Mina. You take care." She turns away, quietly speaking. "And don't beat yourself up over this, okay? I hope it all goes well for you two in the end. Don't worry about Tzuyu, we got her."

"Mommy?" Mina looks up, her tiny hands clutching Tzuyu's pink sweater. She seems worried about all of this. "Is Tzuyu going home?"

"No baby, she's staying." Mina's mother crouches down and looks straight at Tzuyu. "But what you did was wrong, Tzuyu. Your parents were so worried about you."

Tzuyu sniffs. "They don't have to. I have everything with me. It's all in my bag."

"But you didn't tell them anything, honey."

"But Mama and Papa don't tell me anything either!"

"They will eventually, believe me. They're just sorting things out at the moment. But they both love you very, very much."

Tzuyu looks down. Nods as she wipes her tears. "I know."

"And that doesn't change just because they can't get along as well anymore, okay?"

"Okay." After Tzuyu mumbles this with a sharp intake of breath, Mina wordlessly pulls Tzuyu to her room, never once letting go of her. She looks back at her mother once, and sees her walking towards Tzuyu's bag.

Mina's mother sighs as she opens up the bag. There's a toothbrush inside wrapped in napkins, pajamas, a picture book about animals, a little stuffed toy and... a small amount money. She chuckles quietly as her husband places a hand on her shoulder. 

"Tzuyu had it all figured out, huh?"

"She's a really smart girl." Mina's mother smiles, holding the stuffed toy in her hands. "It must be so hard for her."

~

"Mina," Tzuyu mumbles in the dark, pulling the sheets up to her nose. "Do you think I can have a sleepover at your house everyday?"

Mina turns to her side to stare at Tzuyu, afraid that her best friend will start crying again. "I can ask mommy."

Tzuyu nods slowly.

Mina shuffles closer to her. She can hardly make out where Tzuyu's face is but when the door slightly opens and light seeps in, she sees her. Tears in her big doe eyes, clutching the sheets with a death grip.

"Tzuyu," Mina doesn't hesitate to hug her. "Don't cry...please." Her eyes well up almost like a natural reaction to Tzuyu's tears.

***

Tzuyu's parents get a divorce when she's six. Tzuyu decides to stay with her mother purely because she doesn't want to move away. Her father understands, and makes promises to visit her whenever he can. It makes things slightly better.

Mina never leaves her side. Even more stuck to her than before. Tzuyu appreciates this mostly because they have play dates a lot more than usual.

Tzuyu gets glasses in third grade and when Mina first sees it, she squeals about how cute she looks. Whatever insecurities Tzuyu has about her glasses evaporate in that moment.

After Mina makes it to the voleyball team in 7th grade, Tzuyu helps Mina dye her hair red because it 'goes well with the jersey'. She watches as Mina starts playing more and more in their matches against other schools, watches as she slowly leaves the bench and becomes a stable member of the team. She cheers for her all the way.

Mina first feels the sting when someone asks Tzuyu to the formal in 8th grade. Although Tzuyu rejects the boy politely, Mina can't stop thinking about it. She's said 'no' to a few others herself but witnessing Tzuyu doing the same thing feels different. When she asks, Tzuyu simply says she refused because she promised to go with her, but Mina still wonders what if, what if they hadn't made a promise? Would Tzuyu go with him? 

Mina wouldn't want that.

***

Headache.

A really bad headache is all Tzuyu's getting from the textbook. She drinks a sip from her coffee even though she knows it plays no part in keeping her awake. Coffee doesn't affect her much like it does Momo, who's currently passed out on her bed, faceplanted into the same copy of the textbook that's in Tzuyu's hands.

She decides to give Momo ten more minutes before waking her up. And prepare more coffee for her too.

A loud sigh escapes from her and she forces herself to look down, reading the underlined sentences over and over again.

It's not long after that she loses her focus again, bored out of her mind. She glances at her other friend across the room. "What time is it?" She asks.

"3:24 am."

Tzuyu feels panic settle in her chest, suddenly it looks impossible to go over everything now. "."

"Yep."

"We're so gonna fail." Tzuyu frowns, pushing her thick glasses up and pinching the bridge of nose.

"Relax, we'll do fine," the only other awake person in the room says, looking up from her phone briefly to glance at her.

"Do fine?!" Tzuyu scoffs. "We're still on cellular respiration, Mina! We haven't so much looked at the rest!"

"Yeah, whatever." Mina waves her hand nonchalantly. "We're first years, Tzuyu. We're allowed to up." Mina grins at her phone. It's almost– no, it is very insulting.

"Seriously?" Tzuyu breathes through her nose harshly and stabs her pen on the diagram, almost tearing the paper.

After saving one last picture of Tzuyu glaring at her in her puppy print pajamas, wearing thick-rimmed glasses, looking absolutely adorable with the textbook in her lap, Mina slips her phone into the pocket of her sweatpants.

"Oh good, you put down your phone." Tzuyu says, voice sarcastic. "Improvement."

Mina's red hair falls over her eye as she giggles, sitting down on the couch next to Tzuyu. "You get so grumpy during midterms."

Tzuyu's hold on the pen loosens and she immediately looks apologetic. "Sorry,"

"No, it's fine." Mina laughs. 

Tzuyu rubs her aching shoulder and moves up to her neck, her hair thrown down one shoulder.

Mina notices, gently slides her own hands up on Tzuyu's shoulders. There are no words exchanged as Tzuyu turns her back to her, and Mina starts massaging the stiff shoulders of her best friend. Her fingers press down on the sore muscles, applying pressure to just the right places. She eases most of the tension out of Tzuyu's body and Tzuyu groans when she finally stops after a few minutes.

"Thanks," Tzuyu rolls her shoulders.

"Don't mention it. I'll wake Momo, I'm sure we can figure this out."

Mina's phone falls out of her pocket when she stands, the screen still bright, unlocked. Tzuyu grabs it as her best friend walks away towards Momo.

Pictures of her adjusting her glasses, pouting at her textbook, frowning, glaring, questioning life....it's all in Mina's phone. Tzuyu's eyes widen as she goes through them. She holds the phone up and looks at the owner of it, "What the hell, Mina?"

Mina stops trying to shake Momo awake and blushes deep red, subtly patting her pocket to make sure the phone that was in Tzuyu's hands was really hers. "I was just–" She attempts to grab the phone but Tzuyu quickly pulls it to herself.

"Why do you like taking ugly pictures of me? I look so horrible in these," Mina knows Tzuyu's deleting the pictures so she grabs Tzuyu's arms and tries to stop her.  But her best friend lifts up her legs and prevents her from getting closer. Mina moves them out of the way as she dives in, but this time Tzuyu pushes her face away with her hand.

"Stop," she mumbles, Tzuyu's knee that's digging into her stomach kind of hurting. "Don't delete them."

"Why? So you can blackmail me again?" Tzuyu grunts, losing the strength to hold Mina up with her arm and legs. She lets go and Mina falls on her lap, squeaking a cute noise that doesn't fit her cool-kid image.

Mina hugs Tzuyu's waist and buries her face in the side of it. "You're so unfair. I only did that once," Tzuyu can barely hear her muffled sulking voice.

"Yeah, and it traumatized me." 

Mina presses her lips together and turns her head a little just to breathe. "So I can't take pictures of you anymore?"

"I didn't say that," Tzuyu looks away, her fingers playing with Mina's crimson locks.

"Then what did you say?"

Tzuyu huffs. "I said you can't take photos of me where I look like one of the infected from Resident Evil."

"But you weren't like that at all in those. You were so cute, that's why I took them."

Tzuyu's hand in Mina's hair stops caressing for a while and it makes Mina think she's messed it all up. The more they grow up, the harder it becomes for Mina to compliment Tzuyu without letting her huge crush on her show. It's pure torture and Mina's so tired.  But as she rethinks her life choices that led up to this moment, she finds herself regretting nothing. Those pictures are worth it, honestly.

Then she feels cold hands on the sides of her head, lifting her face up and finally cupping her cheeks (phone abandoned on the couch), making her flinch because of the coolness. Tzuyu looks into her eyes like she's searching for something and it feels so intense Mina has to look away.

Tzuyu flicks her forehead.

"Ow! The hell was that for?" Mina shuts her eyes close in pain, holding her forehead.

"Please, 'so cute' my ." Tzuyu scoffs, picking her book up from the floor. "Just who are you fooling right now?"

"I'm being serious!" Mina whines and sits up.

"Well, I really don't feel cute right now. I feel incredibly tired and anxious, so you better go wake Momo. I'm about to lose my damn mind."

Mina sweeps her hair back with a sigh, but doesn't argue further. She simply picks her phone up and walks towards Momo.

As she keeps trying to shake Momo awake, she checks her gallery out of curiosity, and its a nice surprise when she sees the photos are still there, nothing deleted at all. She glances back her shoulder, mouth agape, and catches a glimpse of Tzuyu's pink cheeks.

It's right then Momo wakes up with a snort, and Mina just realizes she's been shaking her all this time. "I wasn't sleeping! Wasn't sleeping!" Momo yells to no one in particular as she lifts her face from the textbook she's drooled all over on.

Mina smiles fondly as Momo wipes the drool on her chin, her eyes barely open. "Go freshen up a bit Momoring, we're not done just yet."

Tzuyu frowns to herself. "Speaking of freshing up, do you think Sana might have died? She's been in the bathroom for like, hours."

"...Sana went home, Tzuyu."

***

"I don't get it."

Mina frowns as she stretches her legs, subtly glancing at the bleachers.

"She comes to watch every game and waits for you until practice is finished so you can go home together." Sana helps Mina stretch her back. "And you still think she doesn't like you?"

"We're best friends." Mina groans as she pushes Sana's back and helps her stretch. "That kind of stuff is normal."

Sana scoffs. "Okay." They both stand up and shake their legs. "You're right. Look, Dahyun also came today. She's over there, next to Tzuyu."

Mina looks at the bleachers, seeing Dahyun quietly sitting next to Tzuyu.

"She's here to see Chaeyoung play, like any other best friend." Sana smiles sweetly, her voice almost sarcastic? Mina can't tell. 

Then Dahyun spots them and waves with a huge grin.

"Is what I assume you think. But Dahyun comes to see me, her girlfriend." Sana waves back with both hands.

Mina stops her because she looks so dumb doing that. "How do you know she's only here to see you? Can't she be here to support both her girlfriend and her best friend?"

Sana laughs. "Yeah but the thing is, do you, by any chance, remember Dubu coming here at all before we started going out?"

Mina seriously thinks about this. She feels sad for Chaeyoung once she realizes the answer is no.

Sana lifts her brows, tilting her head towards the bleachers. "See?"

Mina turns her head, and freezes once she makes eye contact with Tzuyu. She can hear Sana snorting next to her when she does a little wave. Tzuyu fiddles with her glasses and waves back.

Mina looks back at Sana. "I don't know..."

Sana rolls her eyes. "Just confess!"

"We've been friends forever! I can't just go up to her and confess."

"Sure you can."

"Yeah, I don't think so." Mina shakes her head, annoyed. "For s sake Sana, she remembers the time I peed myself in kindergarten and cried for thirty minutes straight. I really doubt she finds me attractive."

Sana laughs. "So what? Everyone pees themselves in kindergarten."

"Not Tzuyu."

Sana's smile disappears and she unfolds her arms. "Are you serious?"

Mina nods.

"Never? Not even once?"

"No Sana, but you're missing the point here–"

"How is that possible? Every kid does that! Are you absolutely sure you've never seen Tzuyu pee herself like, ever?

"Oh my god," Mina groans loudly. "Yes, I'm absolutely sure I have NEVER seen Tzuyu pee herself!"

And that's exactly when a sleepy Momo decides to appear, her eyes half open as she leans on Sana. "We're about to start the team drills, what's going on?"

Sana smirks. "Nothing much. Just Mina complaining how she's never seen Tzuyu pee herself."

Momo's eyes fly open, suddenly wide awake. "Whoa."

The red on Mina's cheeks match her hair color. "WHAT."

Momo holds her hands up. "Not that I'm judging Mina, but never thought you of all people would be into that sort of thing."

"I. Am. Not." Mina says through her gritting teeth. Her red hair falls over her eye and that's when Momo and Sana take a step back.

"Listen, we love you all the same!" A clueless Momo says, placing a hand on Mina's shoulder ever so gently, sending Sana into a laughing fit.

As Mina tries to convince Momo she only misunderstood, Sana crouchs down, holding her aching stomach as she laughs louder. 

***

"Oh my god! Your hair!"

"Do you like it?" Mina smiles. "I actually wanted to dye it last year but I decided to wait until I made the team." She shakes her head, allowing her orange hair to sway. She then grins playfully and does a little dance with her hands. "And well, now that I have a different jersey with my name on it..."

"You look...amazing." Tzuyu takes a step forward and runs her hand through Mina's short ginger locks. "It really suits you."

Mina blushes. "I uh...have a game this friday, are you–"

"I know. I'm going with Dahyun." Tzuyu's smile slowly fades. "Are you worried about it?"

Mina hums. "A little since it's the final game. I'd hate lose when we've come this far."

"You'll do great." Tzuyu reassures. "Don't even think otherwise." Her hand in Mina's hair falls down to her shoulder and slides down her arm before gently grabbing her hand. Mina screams a little inside. "And hey, uh. If you win, let's go somewhere after the game. You know, as a reward for you or something." Tzuyu's almost shy as she says this, not meeting Mina's eyes at all.

Mina doesn't know why she herself gets nervous. They're not even talking about a date. It's just.... hanging out together. 

"I'd like that. Have somewhere in mind or are we going to McDonald's again?"

"The park near the lake? I like that place."

Mina nods with a soft smile. They used to go there almost all the time when they were little. "I like it there too."

***

They don't win.

They have the first two sets but the other three is a disaster. The whole team does their best but they don't win. 

Mina especially tries so hard. She doesn't make even one move that's not calculated, jumps after every ball– her knees hurt by the time the game is finished even though she's wearing pads.

Somehow this game felt important than the rest. The talk she had with Tzuyu never left her mind. There was something different about her that day, something different about the way she smiled and held her hand. She had to win. She had to win so she could see what that was all about. She had to know before her mind made up reasons of her own that would only hurt her later.

But she couldn't win.

As she sits there, all of the disappointment pulling her to the ground, making her slouch, Mina ignores Sana's hand reaching out to her. She hears Sana sigh. "It's not the end of the world."

Then she feels a towel wrapping around her shoulders. "I told you. You did great." Tzuyu whispers to her ear and when Mina turns back to look, she sees her best friend's warm smile.

Chaeyoung ruffles her hair. She stands up and sees her other teammates smiling and congratulating the other team. She suddenly feels dumb for being so dramatic but Mina just hates losing. She sees the team captain Jeongyeon, hugging the cheerleader captain, Im Nayeon. They're hugging so tight and Mina only remembers then, its their last game because they're seniors. Her eyes find Sana holding hands with Dahyun and Chaeyoung throwing her arm around one of the girls of the opposite team as they talk and laugh.

"Come on, let's go."

Mina stands up with Tzuyu's hand in hers. "...to the lake?"

Tzuyu playfully hums and shakes her head. "Nope."

***

They go to Mina's house. Her brother is away in college, her parents are out of town to visit her grandparents. So the house is empty when they enter.

Mina doesn't need to tell Tzuyu anything as she walks up the stairs to take a shower. She feels her muscles relax under the warm water, and suddenly thinks about Tzuyu downstairs. Her heart doesn't calm down in the slightest as she changes into fresh clothes and walks towards her best friend, her hair dripping wet.

Tzuyu's occupied with something in the kitchen. Mina wants to surprise her with a hug but somehow, doing that now feels like it would mean a lot more than the few times she wrapped her in a backhug before. The atmosphere is different. Mina can't exactly tell what causes the change, but it is different.

"What are you doing?"

Tzuyu jumps and turns back in an instant, hiding what's on the counter behind her. "God! You scared me."

Mina wears her penguin slippers as she laughs at the look on Tzuyu's face. "Sorry."

Silence follows Mina's apology and Mina looks up to see Tzuyu standing tall. She looks nervous, swallowing hard now and then and observing everything around the house as if it's her first time there.

Mina hates this. She really hates this. Why is Tzuyu acting so weird? Did someone tell her something? Does she...know?

Mina feels ill. She decides she doesn't want to hear whatever is going through Tzuyu's mind. Not today. Maybe she can handle it later (she can't) but not today. Please. 

Mina plasters on a smile. "Come on let's watch that movie you talked about the whole week. What was it? Uh, something Dogs somethi–"

"We need to talk first."

Mina can't breathe. Her smile disappears. "Okay," she chokes out, her voice tiny.

Tzuyu takes a shuddering breath. "Sorry, hold on," She checks her pockets and clears as she takes out a piece of paper. "I-I wrote it down 'cuz I'm bad at stuff like this. Sorry."

Mina's confused.

Tzuyu's hands tremble as she unfolds the paper and wets her lips. She adjusts her glasses, finally reading what's written on the worn-out paper. "Mina, we've known each other for a long time. We've been best friends since we were five. And I don't know when but I started wanting more of you. I really like you." Tzuyu feels her skin getting hotter, her voice raspy from cheering Mina's name over and over at the game. "And I know I called you my sister a few times before, I don't know what I was thinking–" Tzuyu squeezes her eyes shut and crouches down suddenly, hiding her face behind the paper. "I'm sorry!" She says. "This is so stupid! I can't read it! I don't know why I ever thought this was good."

Mina laughs.

Tzuyu looks up at her for a while until tears blur her vision. She hides her face again, the paper crumbling in her tight grip. "You think this is a joke..." She's almost sobbing until she hears Mina's soft chuckles closer, feels a pair of arms wrap around her.

"I love you so much." Mina confesses.

Tzuyu doesn't believe her. "You're cruel Myoui Mina." She sniffs and slowly lifts her head. Her teary brown eyes meet Mina's. They're so close. Tzuyu just stares as Mina brushes away the tears sliding down her cheeks. Mina's thumb moves past her cheeks down to her lips. She gently parts them and leans in a little.

Before she can close the gap, Tzuyu does. She moves forward and loses her balance once her lips meet Mina's. She catches herself on her hands, trapping Mina as the shorter girl lies on her back. Tzuyu gently pulls back only to lean in again for another kiss. Mina desperately chases her lips. Tzuyu keeps kissing her, but never deepens it. Mina's happy as she is currently and everything still feels like a dream so she never tries anything else either and when they pull back, they don't know how long it's been.

"Oh my god, Sana was right." Mina breathes out.

"About?"

"You liking me." Mina pushes Tzuyu off gently to sit up. "Wait– you do like me right? I'm not reading any of this wrong?"

"How–" Tzuyu has the same look she has on her face when she solves a hard math problem but it's not the correct answer. "Just how can you read this wrong?"

***

She's so pretty.

She looks so pretty, with bits of loose hair everywhere. Her bangs are too long, Tzuyu notices in that moment, getting in her eyes. Mina doesn't bother pushing them away as she speaks to her teammates and it irritates Tzuyu a little.

Their eyes meet, Tzuyu awkwardly waves at her. Mina smiles, pushes the volleyball onto Chungha's hands and walks up to Tzuyu with a skip to her steps.

Mina rises up on her toes and pecks Tzuyu's cheek as she intertwines their hands. Tzuyu can't help but blush because of the teasing looks Mina's teammates are giving them. 

"Ready to go?" She smiles shyly.

Mina nods as they walk down the campus. "Yeah. Let's go home, I need to take a shower."

Tzuyu grins. "What a coincidence, me too."

"Really?" Tzuyu's deep gaze makes Mina's heart flutter and she gives Tzuyu's hand a tight squeeze. "We better hurry then."

Tzuyu giggles.