Mina was in a kind of high spirits all day, her body felt light, she wanted to smile all the way, share her happiness with everyone.

And this was not due to the fact that they were taken on an excursion.

No.

The excursion was exciting, there were so many new places, so many new knowledge.

Mina listened, took notes , took pictures, asked the incomprehensible meaning of words or figures of speech.

All day they rode by bus, then walked, and the day greeted them with its calmness and warm ray of sunshine.

Mina recognized her classmates from a new perspective.

She laughed more at their jokes, enjoyed delicious food and drinks.

Yes, a tour of historical temples gave her new knowledge of South Korea, but it was not historical epochs that gave her heart lightness.

Confessing to herself afterwards, she clearly knew the answer.

DaHyun .

All the lightness, smiles, fluttering of the heart, the feeling of butterflies in the stomach, all thanks to DaHyun , or rather her mirageous appearance, which pursued her, wherever she went, so that she did not see. DaHyun was with her all the time, even if only mentally.

Mina imagined how they would walk here, how DaHyun would answer her questions.

Instead of the tour guide's voice, which was annoying, Mina heard DaHyun's lively voice , saw her gestures, her smile, her fascination with any object in the temple or statue that they had just passed by.

Love at first sight.

If the past Mina looked at the real Mina, she would have laughed in her face, not believing her words.

Past Mina did not believe in love at first sight.

She always thought the word was a cliché.

There is no such thing, she assured her old friends, eating ice cream in the park, when they repeated the opposite.

“You just haven't met that person yet. Your soul mate - the friends answered condescendingly.

Soul mates, another word that the past Mina didn't believe in. How can you fall in love with a stranger? Mina always believed that first you need to get acquainted, make friends, then after that you understand whether this person suits you or not.

So thought the past Mina, who lives in Japan.

But as soon as she moved to Seoul, South Korea and went to school, everything changed in one click of a finger. More precisely, when DaHyun smiled at her, greeting her in a friendly manner.

One smile and the real Mina lost her heart.

And every day the feelings are only stronger and deeper.

She often asked herself the question: Should I tell about feelings or live with them without revealing them?

And so far there has been no answer.

Therefore, now she timidly touched her fingers, shyly smiled, looked tenderly, talked softly.

Maybe someday I'll tell her that among the letters she receives every day, there is also my letter.

Later in the evening, when she returned home, she began to lay out from the school bag those textbooks and notebooks that she would not need tomorrow, a white envelope accidentally fell out. The first thought was if this letter was for Chaeyoung , but then she remembered that DaHyun had found it and gave it to Chaeyoung, “ bewildered ” .

Cutting carefully with scissors, Mina took out a folded sheet of paper, unfolded it, saw the words printed, without a signature.

There, only two lines were printed in Japanese.

Why not even showing up

You seem to be standing before my eyes ...

- Sorry, before my eyes there is already a person with whom I am in love - closing the letter and carefully putting it back in the envelope, said Mina.

Then she opened the first drawer of her desk, took out a stack of similar envelopes, and put it there.

Mina was not blind, she saw, knew, but could not respond to the feelings of the one who wrote to her.

A message suddenly came to the phone, Mina opened the screen, smiled softly at the one who wrote, her heart jumped to when she read:

“Today I was not talkative and ignored you in response to your question.

Sorry, I'm just emotionally drained today.

Tomorrow, we will not be able to meet,

Chaeyoung already knows.

When I'm free, write.

Good night, Minari .

Dubu ".

The soft smile remained for a long time as her eyes reread the small message from DaHyun .

She put the phone to her chest, sighing convulsively, sat down on the bed, then lay down and raised the screen to her eyes again.

- What is the answer to me? Write, the usual - quickly began to gain: - Sweet dreams, DaHyun and. Maybe a smiley face or a heart ... No, no, not a heart, oh my god ... Everything, I send everything. A few words, and my heart beats as if I said them personally to DaHyun. Oh, go crazy!

Falling asleep after time had passed and she had calmed down, Mina realized that she would not see DaHyun's morning smile tomorrow. Do not hear her voice, do not admire the rays of the sun dancing in DaHyun's hair .

Nothing terrible, I'm used to waiting.

In addition, this time you will have to wait only until the evening.

*

After receiving a message from Mina, DaHyun put her phone aside and looked at the script she had read and corrected before. She did not like some of the text, she frowned, thinking how to write so that it was not so noticeable.

- Today I will not sleep. I need caffeine. It's good that the parents are not at home, so it will be easier to work. So DaHyunie , you can. Start over, you can do it.

You just need to remember the moment when you first realized that you fell in love with your best friend .

It was stupid, she turned to me, showing her drawing of the landscape. I admired the bowed head, her dimple on the cheek while smiling. Yes, that moment of insight will never be forgotten.

You just need to remember the moment when you decided to hide your feelings.

The moment when Miyu Mina, a transfer student from Japan, crossed the threshold of our school. Chaeyoung turned to me with his mouth open and secret whispered: Bro, I have, it seems, have fallen in love.

And the moment that you don't even need to remember, it just remains to live.

It's getting harder to hide every day.

I am afraid that after this performance my life will completely change.

Chaeyoung is not stupid, she knows me, she reads me.

After watching the performance, Chaeyoung will understand and then ...

Then…

No, it is too early to think and imagine what will happen " then ."

At the moment, there is the word "now".

**

They did not see each other for the next weeks. DaHyun became very busy and rarely wrote or replied to messages. It seemed that as the performance progressed, DaHyun began to drift away from her friends. And at times it seemed like she was ignoring them, especially Chaeyoung . At first, Chaeyoung thought that in this way her friend gave a chance to be alone with Mina, to become closer to her, to prove herself. But as the days passed, their conversations became less frequent, the nocturnal correspondence with jokes and teasing became more abrupt, with an interval of reply from DaHyun . And Chaeyoung also noticed that as soon as the conversation touched her feelings for Mina, DaHyun apologized, informing her that she urgently needed to do something.

She wrote off her attitude towards herself by preparing for the play, forgiving her, patiently waiting for their life to return to its usual course.

And while she waited, she complained to Mina, sitting in her room, accidentally drawing some lines in her sketchbook:

- DaHyun ignores me too . She completely stopped communicating with me. This performance completely took her attention. Now all thoughts are only about him.

- DaHyun just needs to concentrate, because you know, she was given such a difficult task - Mina justified her, bending her knees to her chest, half-sitting on the bed.

- When will it be finished? More than two weeks have passed, and it is only in the second stage of development. She made new friends, with whom she is more interested than with me - a jealous tone sounded in her voice, Chaeyoung tightened her grip on the pencil in her fingers, pressing on the line.

- You don't need to be jealous, Chaeyoung - put her feet on the floor, sat down closer to the girl, put her hand on her friend's leg. - DaHyun loves us.

- Loves - Chaeyoung chuckled , shaking her head, looking sideways at her. “I saw that particular smile,” she whispered softly.

- What are you talking about? What a smile? - blinked Mina, not understanding what the conversation was about.

-That smile, special for me… she gave it to another person… and to me… - she swallowed with difficulty, bit her lower lip, and turned away.

- Oh! Chaeyoung , you ...

- I'm just saying that I don't like it and that's it - Chaeyoung interrupted her , moving away from her. Mina's hand slipped from her knee and hung idle.

Could it be that feelings change directions?

Lately, Chaeyoung has begun to wonder if she is really in love with Mina as she used to think?

Or all her emotions were just admiration for the girl.

But thoughts all the time revolved around DaHyun and my heart beat strangely in my chest at the mention of only the girl's name.

Chaeyoung is confused and needs help to unravel her tangle of feelings. And she only knew one person who could help while DaHyun was busy. Miyu Mina, sitting across from her.

I need to tell the whole truth, take this small step towards understanding.

- Mina, I wanted to say for a long time, but did not dare - I looked uncertainly at the friendly looking friend, - those letters that you receive every day, they ...

- I know, Chaeyoung , I know - Mina smiled sadly. - I'm sorry, but my feelings are not mutual. I have long and hopelessly in love with another person.

There was silence for several minutes as Chaeyoung listened to the rejection.

Strange, I should be sad, but for some reason it is so easy for me, as if the weight had left my shoulders.

- As it turned out, my feelings for you were just admiration and a little love. I needed to voice them to understand who I really love, ” Chaeyoung breathed , jumping up from her seat, bending over and hugging Mina tightly. - I need to call DaHyun - unnie ...

- No! - loudly exclaimed Mina, breaking free from the embrace. Chaeyoung flinched at the volume of her voice, she did not expect to hear from the quiet and balanced Mina. And in no way did she expect to see this look, which clearly warned her. And then it dawned on her:

- It can't be - she gasped, looking at her carefully, - you are in love with DaHyun ...

“Yes, I love her and decided to talk about my feelings after the performance,” Mina said boldly, blushing sweetly.

- Mina- unnie , I'm sorry ... - Chaeyoung sighed , shaking her head, sadly looking at her friend, - DaHyun is worth fighting for her.

-It's not up to us to decide, Chaeyoung. In this case, the main thing that matters is DaHyun's feelings for us. If it turns out that we both lost, then ...

-We will do our best to convey to DaHyun 's beloved our point of view on protecting her heart.

- In the meantime, we will just show with hints what she means to us - with the last word, Mina and Chaeyoung entered into a tacit agreement, thus acting wisely, without losing their long-term friendship.