Life never was that easy before. Dahyun never had so much fun before in her days. She used to live with constant worry and it wasn't easy to distract her from the problems of her life. But there was one thing that made her the most relieved. Jihyo was smiling and since they had moved in with Tzuyu, Dahyun haven't seen her big sister cry. So how was she not supposed to be very thankful to Mina, Sana, and Momo for letting them stay? And their mother didn't appear since they had moved out. Dahyun hoped that it was because she was in rehab. That they would soon get their mother back. Or a better description would be for Dahyun to find out how their mother truly is. She wanted to believe that Jihyo also wanted their mother to be back with them. Because wouldn't they be a bigger family then? And the more people the merrier. 
Even though Dahyun wasn't worrying about anything recently. She was wishing they could stay with Tzuyu, Mina, Sana, and Momo forever. Jihyo had a similar thought. Living with the Hirai family was the best choice she had ever made. And another choice that she made and was proud of was filing for the restraining order. It seemed to scare their mother as she had never bothered them again after that. Jihyo tried to stop caring but it wasn't that easy to do. She was still worried. She saw how their mother lives. And she wouldn't like to receive a call that their mother was found dead. Though in the house there wasn't a lot of time to think deeply. Especially, when Nayeon was there. Jihyo definitely found Nayeon admirable. Nayeon was an actress but she didn't care the slightest about what people say about her. She has been doing all those embarrassing things for a month and a lot of articles were published about it. But it was thanks to the actress's fans as well. They were supporting her with everything. Though Jihyo could never be like Nayeon. Always in the spotlight. Her history with mother would be the only thing the public would be talking about. By living with the Hirai family Jihyo learned one more thing. It wasn't like Jihyo wasn't aware of that before. But it was very obvious when she started living with them. Mina always worried her. Again, that wasn't anything new. Jihyo wanted to talk to Mina. As if she didn't know before that getting anything from Mina was a tedious job. That was why she decided to ask someone else. Sana was out of the question. Sana already was acting in a way that if Jihyo mentioned she is worried about Mina, her friend would have a mental breakdown. So Momo was the best choice. But founding Momo alone these days was a miracle. Nayeon kept Momo to herself every day. They would take the kids with them and the rest of the adults would just do whatever. Jeongyeon would stay over a lot and then wasn't the best time to face serious problems. Though that day was lucky for Jihyo. The kids were sticking to Nayeon and Jisoo as the two women were performing for the three little kids. And Momo was just watching as well. Jihyo thought that she wouldn't miss a lot if she went with her for a moment. So she walked up to Momo and tapped her on the shoulder then gestured for her to follow. Momo obeyed her and the two of them walked to Jihyo's room. There Jihyo closed the door after they were inside and took a deep breath.
"Mina is acting off." Momo looked at Jihyo with a blank expression for a while and then shrugged.
"When isn't she?" Jihyo had to admit Momo was right. Which made the whole situation even sadder. Momo didn't mean to dismiss the problem. Mina was always like that. She never talked about how she felt. Even with Momo. She kinda understood why but Momo always felt better after talking to Mina about her burdens. But she could never convince Mina to do it.
"Okay, fair point. But she was honest with me when we made up. And then she again went back to being closed on us. Does Sana have any luck with her?" Momo shook her head. Sana never complained. Though Momo was sure that Mina never said anything to her either. Momo still wasn't even sure how Sana and Mina started dating. Because there was no way Mina confessed anything. 
"Look, Jihyo. You could try talking with her. But I am sure she would just brush you off. She would always say there are more important things to take care of. I have been through this since we met." Jihyo lowered her head. Mina helped her just like that. With such a serious problem. And Jihyo wanted to do something for her. Momo watched Jihyo think. She was very glad for Jihyo. Mina never had many friends. Actually, there were only three people Momo could call Mina's friends. And Jihyo is one of them. And Sana obviously counts as one. The last one was a guy back in their school days. To whom they didn't speak anymore. But it also wasn't like Mina didn't talk to people. She did. Everyone liked her. She just never got close to anyone. So Momo was very scared that somehow Jihyo would leave at some point. Though the scariest thought was that Sana would leave. Momo definitely didn't think that she would. But what if after some years she would get done with the way they all are. With the way Mina is and would just leave. Momo was sure that Mina had exactly the same fear. And she was sure that Mina would not take it. 
"I will try. But I feel like it could fail anyway. I think Sana should try as well." Momo sat on the bed and massaged the bridge of her nose. Sana tried alright. 
"She will. I am scared though." Jihyo sat next to Momo and waited for her to continue. She didn't have to worry Momo would just leave it like that. But if Momo was scared then Jihyo would definitely hate whatever that was. "That you would leave, that Sana would leave. And Mina would not take it. She might not say it but you are very important to her. And so many people she loved left." Jihyo hugged Momo. She understood what Momo meant. She never planned on leaving. But that was never a certain thing. 
"I am not planning on leaving. And I think Sana wouldn't leave even if you threw her out of the house." Momo laughed at the truth in those words. She trusted Jihyo. Because why wouldn't she? Jihyo was someone that gave others a strong feeling of assurance.
"Thank you. Make sure to inform Mina." Jihyo nodded and slowly pulled away. Momo nodded at her as well. Then the two of them came back to the living room where the kids were still watching Nayeon and Jisoo play. The three little girls were very enthusiastic, to say the least. Momo and Jihyo smiled warmly at the scene and silently joined the kids on the floor.

"Did you ever told Sana you love her?" Nayeon was sitting with Mina in the living room for around half an hour and all she was doing was scrolling through her phone. So the sudden, not related to anything question caught Mina off guard. She stared at Nayeon for a moment but the actress didn't even bother to look at her. Mina wondered why Nayeon didn't go with Momo, Sana, and the kids to the park. As she would do for the whole week. 
"Of course." Mina looked back to her book and thought that it would be it. She could only hear the audio of some video Nayeon was watching. So Mina didn't give it more thought.
"Like when? You know, you can tell her you love her." Mina glanced up from her book and met Nayeon's eyes. She couldn't figure out what Nayeon was thinking about. And it worried her. Mina didn't want to talk about that. So she did what she does the best. Avoid the question.
"Like when you are not here. I know I can." Nayeon raised her eyebrow as if she doubted that Mina told her the truth. Mina didn't care though. She just wanted to read her book and relax. 
"Do you even show any strong emotions? Like you know, love, hatred, sadness, happiness." Mina put her book on the table and sighed heavily. She wondered who gave her the idea to ask about all of that. And she had a pretty good guess. Momo. She didn't blame her sister. Mina knew she was worried. Albeit, she would rather keep it to herself.
"I do. You can see me happy a lot." Nayeon finally understood what Momo meant when she said Mina is a master at stubbornness. She rolled her eyes and put her phone on the table. 
"Yeah, yeah. Let me put it that way. Do you ever name your emotions? Do you actually recognize them and say them out loud?" Mina felt like she was in danger. That was not supposed to be the way her day should go. She just wanted to leave but that would be immature. So she became desperate to drop the subject.
"Nayeon, I really don't know what is the purpose of that. I am fine, everyone is fine. Why would we complicate things?" Nayeon was kina impressed. Mina might've been a better actor than she was. She really could convince you to believe her even if you knew it wasn't exactly true. Nayeon didn't want to irritate Mina more though.
"Okay, sorry, sister-in-law. Let's just relax for now. I bet there would be a lot of cleaning to do when they all would get back." Mina nodded with a soft smile and took her book back. Not saying anything else. Nayeon also reached for her phone and decided to leave Mina be. Nayeon told her she would be in the kitchen preparing coffee. Mina shot her a quick look to let her know she heard it and Nayeon was out of the room. She kept thinking though. Mina helped her with fixing her relationship with Momo. She listened to Nayeon's every idea and encouraged her to do it. Even if Mina actually always ended up shocked because whatever Nayeon did it wasn't what she imagined. The only problem was that even Momo said she was helpless. So how was she supposed to help Mina? 

Or perhaps Nayeon was a genius. Why didn't she think of it before? There was Sana after all. Who else to ask than Mina's girlfriend? Nayeon was lucky enough that she was allowed to stay in the Hirai family house so often as she fixed her relationship with Momo. They weren't dating yet or so Nayeon thought because Momo didn't say anything about that. But it was still great. It was definitely a moment where Jisoo was needed to avoid unnecessary drama. Though Nayeon would never call it that way. She used the opportunity when Mina was out on a night shift. She crept to Sana and Mina's bedroom scaring the poor woman inside.
"Nayeon, what the hell?" Sana observed Nayeon look around the hall and then closing the door. Nayeon walked up to her and sat them on the bed. Sana was weirded out. 
"So Mina helped me a lot recently. And I couldn't be more thankful. That is why I want to help her." Nayeon smiled proudly at worried Sana. The silence that appeared after Nayeon's words wasn't planned. Sana started playing with her hands and didn't look at Nayeon. The actress didn't like that reaction.
"Nayeon, it's very sweet of you. Thank you. But I am afraid you won't be able to help." Nayeon didn't expect Sana to be so pessimistic. Sana was the most optimistic person she had ever met. So it felt wrong. 
"Shouldn't you be joyful and you know, encouraging?" Sana wanted to do that but what was she supposed to do in that situation? It was Mina they were talking about. Sana knew how she was. She liked to know she could read Mina but in reality, she was an enigma most of the time. It was always shocking when Mina showed strong emotions in front of her. And most of the time those were negative emotions. Sana blamed herself then for bringing them up. As seeing Mina crying wasn't her favorite sight. Sana then realized she didn't reply in a while and she looked at Nayeon.
"I want to be but I know Mina. It will not end up well. I think she will just become even more distant than she is. You know, it's alright if she wouldn't say that she loves me or if she wouldn't give me attention when I want to. It's still Mina and I love her." Nayeon didn't expect to hear something like that from Sana. The girl that always argued with Momo as if they were five as well. But there was no doubt. Nayeon could see it.
"When Momo told me you were Mina's stalker I didn't expect you to be so in love." Nayeon patted Sana on the shoulder and giggled at her frown.
"I wasn't stalking her. We just worked close to each other and took the same bus. And I was too shy to talk with her for a while." Sana couldn't believe they were all still bringing that up. She was aware that it looked suspicious but she didn't mean anything bad. At least Mina never mentioned it. Nayeon laughed and Sana took a deep breath.
"Chill, my other sister-in-law. How did you get together then? If Mina can't share her feelings." Nayeon was ready for some funny or embarrassing story. But she didn't get it. Which was quite shocking. It involved Sana after all.
"We just did? I don't know. We started hanging out and then I got the courage to ask her out. And trust me you don't want to go on dates with Jihyo. She was trying her best to not let us be alone. But Mina always agreed to those dates. So I was sure she must've liked me as well. And I don't know, one day Mina introduced me as her girlfriend so I didn't complain." Nayeon scratched her head. They really did that. "Though I asked her once if we were dating and she said, well, weren't we for the past few months." 
"This is the weirdest love story I have ever heard of. I gotta turn it into a drama. I will be playing you. But seriously, can't you do something? You are her girlfriend." Sana rolled her eyes at the thought of Nayeon being serious about the drama. But then she thought. She tried to get something out of Mina so many times. And she tried to help Mina understand so many things. But sometimes she had a feeling like it made Mina more distant.
"I can only try." The door opened before Sana could finish and Jihyo appeared in the entrance. She eyed the two women and tried to figure out if this was about Momo or Mina. 
"You are talking about Momo or Mina?" Nayeon glanced at Sana because she wasn't sure if she could tell Jihyo the truth. But Sana answered on her own.
"Mina." Jihyo nodded and walked in. She closed the doors carefully and moved closer to the two women.
"Mina is acting off. And yes I know, when isn't she. But somehow it feels like she is more than usual. Or maybe it's because I started living here and I notice more things now." Nayeon thought that Jihyo and Mina were like Jisoo and her. With some differences but still. They were just so close. And it was interesting that they became so close after working together. Nayeon worked with many people and yet she only ever had Jisoo. And Jinyoung was there as well. It was just that Nayeon didn't work with them.
"I know. I will try to talk to her. But I can't promise anything. It can go two ways. Either it will not do anything or it will be a disaster." And it was enough to go on with. The three of them didn't discuss how Sana would do it. There was no good way of doing it. She just had to try her luck the next day and hope it would do nothing. She didn't want to make Mina feel worse. But somehow Sana could only think that it would fail.

It wasn't the best day to do that after all. Mina didn't say anything but Sana could sense something happened at work. Because after coming back home Mina immediately took Gucci on a long walk and then after coming back she started playing games in their room. Sana was very hesitant to have that talk. Mina would ignore her for sure. Albeit she had to try. So she sat next to Mina's legs and waited for a reaction. Mina kept her eyes on her console and didn't even take her headphones off. Sana knew it was risky but she reached for the headphones and took them off. Mina immediately glanced at her and then back to the console and frowned. Sana knew what was coming.
"Why did you do that? I have died. Now I have to go through that level again." Mina didn't wait for explanations though. She took the headphones from Sana's hands and put them back on. She focused on the game again and Sana rolled her eyes. She couldn't do it the nice way. She grabbed the console and hid it behind her back. Mina stared at her shocked. 
"Mina, please talk." Sana's eyes were soft and she hoped that it would encourage Mina to loosen up. But it didn't work. Mina just took off the headphones and extended her hand.
"Give it back, Sana. I am close to finishing it. You can talk to Momo or Jihyo." Sana knew she shouldn't do it. But perhaps it was the only way it could work. It was to piss Mina off. So she threw the consol on the ground. Mina couldn't believe it. She stared blankly at the consol on the ground and was trying to understand why Sana did that.
"We need to talk. What happened at work? I know something is bothering you." And Mina knew what that was about. She didn't have the strength to talk though. There was nothing to share. Whatever happened should stay at work. 
"You could have destroyed it. You can't just throw it like that." Sana tried to annoy Mina but she was the one that was losing patience. Mina moved from the bed and picked the console. She looked it over and sighed in relief when she saw it was fine. 
"We are rich, you can buy another one. But you can't buy good health, Mina. You can feel better though if you talk." Mina went to the desk to put the console on it and Sana stood up and walked up to her. She grasped Mina's hand and tried to face her girlfriend. But Mina wasn't cooperating.
"I am fine." Mina pulled her hand away and tried to leave the room. Sana stopped her by standing in front of the door. 
"Fine is not great. There is something. Why can't you understand that talking about your feelings is good? What are you scared of? I don't know because you won't tell me. You are always listening to me for hours when I feel sad or angry. Why can't I do the same?" Sana was met with silence. And it didn't calm her. She thought that Mina would cry soon. Albeit that was the way to go about it.
"Sana, let me go." Mina's voice was unusually quiet. Sure, Mina's voice was soft but it wasn't that soft. So it meant Sana was getting there. She felt awful but it could help.
"No. You are not going out until you will talk. Be selfish. Think about yourself. What will I do if you talk to me? I will obviously help you." It wasn't working. Sana really had to say something that would stab Mina in the right place. She held back her tears and swallowed. "You are hurting me, Mina." Sana couldn't read anything from Mina's face. And it wasn't anything new. But she hoped that it would work for once. Now Sana felt like an for saying this. Sana lowered her head and was ready to move away but she heard a thud. She looked up and saw Mina kneeling on the floor with her hands covering her face. Sana's heart hurt at the sight and she immediately sat next to Mina. She was crying. It was silent but Sana could see the tears drop on the floor. She much rather had angry Mina than broken Mina. She pulled Mina into her arms and started caressing her head. But she kept telling herself that it was alright. Because Mina let it out. It felt like an eternity. Mina just wouldn't stop crying. Sana also started sobbing at some point. It was probably a heartbreaking sight. And then the softest voice reached Sana's ears.
"I am so sorry. I didn't want to hurt you. I didn't mean to. Please, forgive me. Please, don't leave me." It hit Sana hard. She didn't mean to make Mina feel that way. It wasn't supposed to go that way. But maybe that was what Mina was scared of. 
"I won't leave you. I don't have to forgive you anything. You didn't do anything wrong." Sana felt like that would be a long night for them. But it most likely wouldn't be spent on talking. The positive of the situation was that Mina showed emotions. So it was a win for Sana in the end. Or so she hoped.