[Mina's POV]

There's a lot of things I wish I could say. My head is filled with thoughts but I can't seem to find the right words and voice to say it. But at that moment, I felt like I was able to write everything I want. For once, I have no regrets.

My steps felt lighter as we climbed up the bus and took the seats at the very back.

It was a fun day, albeit a bit tiring. I placed my head on Chaeyoung's shoulders. Despite her height, I like how her shoulders feel like a cozy spot to lay my head down. She placed her hand on my head and tapped it a little bit. I smiled.

"Did you have fun?" she asked.

I nodded.

"That's nice. It was a great day, wasn't it?" she was my hair now.

I nodded again.

"Chaeyoung-a..." my voice was soft.

"Yes, Minari?" she answered, still running her fingers across my hair.

"Who did you write to?" I asked, trying to sound casual.

She paused. Hesitating. I guess I'm not good at trying to sound casual.

"M-my eomma (mom)..."

My heart sank a little. Right. What was I expecting?

"...you know, w-with our schedule recently, we haven't really seen each other that much. There's a lot of things I really don't get to tell her..." her voice faltered.

I controlled my urge to sigh. Why am I disappointed? It's just right for her to write to her mom. That's just logical, right?

"How about you?" she asked in a low voice.

You. Pabo.

"A friend." I sat upright. Adjusting my seat, trying to avoid her gaze.

[Chaeyoung's POV: Back at the Dorm]

"YOU SAID WHAT?" Jeongyeon's voice is naturally loud, but it seemed way louder now.

I covered my ears, "ugh, you heard what I said. I don't want to repeat it." I slumped my head on top of the pillow.

Jeongyeon hit me with a pillow

"Hey. Get up. You're still not finished cleaning." 

I sighed and dragged myself up. I started to remove the fairy lights from the ceiling.

Right when Mina and I went back to the dorm, I saw Jeongyeon sitting at the couch. Waiting for me, she dragged me to their bedroom before I could even say goodnight to Mina. 

Momo was lying down in the middle of the bed, just staring at the blinking fairy lights and curtains draped over the bed. Jeongyeon's dagger looks made me immediately start cleaning up.

"I told you it was alright." Momo muttered. "I like the lights."

"Soon, the curtain would collect dust and the lights might catch fire. I don't want that kind of hazard in my bedroom" Jeongyeon threw a pillow at Momo.

Momo threw back the pillow while making silly faces.

"Your eomma? You wrote to your eomma?" Jeongyeon hissed as she turned her head at me.

"I-I... you know I didn't actually wrote to my mom." I stuttered.

"Then why on earth did you tell her that?"

"I panicked."

"That doesn't make sense." Momo was shaking her head.

"You know that movie 'How to lose a guy in 10 days'?" Jeongyeon asked.

I nodded.

"Is that what you're doing? Are you trying to lose Mina?"

"ANIEYO!" I protested.

"Then what the hell are you doing?"

"Isn't that movie a romcom with a happy ending?"

"Yes. But the girl in the movie is purposely trying to lose the guy but ended up falling for him." She stood up, "you, on the other hand, are trying to make the girl you like to fall for you and with the rate of how things are going... might end up losing her." Her face is 5 inches close to my face.

Jeongyeon placed her hand on top of my head. "Get yourself together."

I sighed. "But in just a couple of days, she'll receive the letter and find out that I actually wrote to her."

"Right, but that's snail mail. What if it takes more than a week to get to her?"

I winced at the thought.

"The point is, don't wait for the letter. Do something to turn things around."

I sighed.

"Did she tell you who she wrote her letter for?"

I nodded. "Chingu." (Friend)

"Oh..." both of them said in unison.

"Wae?"

"Well, chingu usually means someone in the same age as hers..."

"I'm aware of that." I said.

"Who do you think is that chingu. Someone in Korea."

Sana? Momo? They're not the same age.
"Jihyo?" I guessed.

"Why on earth would she write to Jihyo?" Momo scoffed

"I don't know. Thank you for... being a great leader?" Okay, that doesn't make any sense.

They both laughed. I wasn't trying to be funny.

They both paused. Looking at me, still trying to guess. My eyes widened.

Jeongyeon opened , "Namja-- (Boy--)"

"NOOOOO!!!"

Day 4

[Mina's POV]

"Americano?"

I lifted my head and saw Chaeyoung's smiling face with a cup of iced blended Americano in hand.

I weakly smiled back and reached for the cup.

"Gomawo. (Thank you)" I took a sip and the cold coffee instantly made me feel refreshed and a bit energized.

Chaeyoung sat next to me at the floor.

We're at the practice room and we've just finished rehearsing for our unit stage.

Momo and Jihyo are at the other end of the room practicing their choreography.

"Are you excited?" I asked her.

She grinned. "I'm excited about a lot of things." Her dimples are showing.

How can I resist you? I tried looking away.

Nayeon and Jeongyeon are just a few feet away from us, their heads leaning against each other while watching something at Jeongyeon's phone. I felt a bit envious for some reason.

Then I felt a weight on my shoulder, Chaeyoung's head is leaning against it. I tensed up a little.

"I'm craving for some Ganjang gejang (Soy sauce marinated crab)" she said.

I realized that I'm also hungry. "I'd love to have some Yukhoe (Steak tartare) right now."

Her head perked up. "Oh! I know a nice restaurant that serves the best Yukhoe and Ganjang gejang in Dunchon-dong." She clapped her hands, "it's just a few blocks from our house. Let's eat there later."

That sounds nice. I nodded. "I'll tell the other members—" I was about to stand up when Chaeyoung grabbed my arm and pulled me down.

I lost my balance and fell on top of her. I froze.

With my palms against the floor, I'm carrying the weight of my body so I wouldn't collapse on top of Chaeyoung. My arms were shaking but I kept them still as it was the only reason our faces are more than three inches away from each other. Neither of us tried to move. Her eyes locked on mine, and I to hers.

I gulped.

"I-I..." I watched Chaeyoung's lips as she tried to speak, "I would prefer if you don't tell the other members about our dinner plan later" she said slowly, in a whispered tone. I felt goosebumps at the back of my neck.

"A-arraseo..." I whispered back.

*Clap! Clap! Clap!*

"All right, everybody! Break is over. Stop fooling around! Let's start again!" Momo's voice broke off the moment. I immediately stood up, and so did Chaeyoung.

I tried to avoid looking at her, but I can see that she'd been stealing glances on me at my peripheral vision.

I was expecting the members to start teasing us but I guess nobody saw what happened. Or I guess they're just used to things like that. Skinship is not new and happens quite often to the members. Momo and Dahyun, Sana and Dahyun... I looked at Dahyun, trying to get away from Sana with both and arms and her right leg coiled all over her body.

"Aish! Jinjja, unnie!" she's trying to push Sana's face away.

"Just.one.kiss." Sana's not giving up that easy.

I felt a slap on my . I turned around and saw Nayeon unnie with her toothy smile. She winked at me. Well, I guess somebody did see.

I blushed.