March 24, 2027

7:34 AM

She woke up to the sound of her girlfriend barging into their shared bedroom, wearing an apron over her work outfit and singing, “Happy Birthday,” to her. She brought her a cupcake on a on tiny plate, complete with a lit candle for her to blow on. Mina didn’t like celebrating her birthday as much as the average person. In fact she often ignored it and treated it as if it were any other day. Her girlfriend, on the other hand, had a very different mindset. She believed that birthdays are special occasions because you never know if you’ll be able to make it to the next one. Mina laughed at her lover’s explanation. She found it cute, albeit a little dark. She told her that she didn’t have to do any of it, but she always insisted, and Mina eventually got used to it. “Jeong, sweetie. It’s still too early,” she said, hiding herself under the covers. 

“Nuh uh, I woke up at five in the morning to make this for you, now you’re gonna blow on it and eat it.” Mina emerged from under the covers and gave her a smirk. Jeongyeon knew exactly what was going on inside her girlfriend’s head. “Spare me your juvenile wit, please,” she said. Mina laughed at her girlfriend’s response and finally decided to acknowledge her kind gesture. She closed her eyes, silently made her wish, then blew on the little candle before leaning in and giving Jeongyeon a kiss. 

7:40 AM

It was a surprisingly cold Wednesday morning in Kobe, at least that’s what Mina thought. She thought she’d have a warm morning since spring finally came, but she was wrong. She blamed climate change for a moment but immediately brushed it off and went back to eating. Jeongyeon went all out with the breakfast she had prepared for Mina. She made her an applewood bacon and eggs flatbread and a Monte Cristo, both of which took about an hour to make only for Mina to jokingly refer to them as, “breakfast pizza,” and, “a ham and cheese sandwich,” respectively. She frowned at her girlfriend’s remark but quickly went back to smiling when she got a kiss on the cheek. Mina ate breakfast alone, however, for Jeongyeon had to go to work. Hence, the whole apron-over-her-suit thing she did earlier. She didn’t mind being alone. She knew that her lover had something planned for today, so she decided to indulge herself in the momentary peace and quiet for as long as she could, which was about 20 minutes. Jeongyeon told her that she had a present for her, and that someone will come knocking on their door at around 8:00. She was indeed very curious about what exactly her girlfriend had in mind for her special day, and though she would never admit out loud, she was also very excited to find out. For now she simply enjoyed her delicious breakfast. 

Jeongyeon’s cooking continually amazed her. This wasn’t the first time she’s done this for her, and she certainly hoped it wouldn’t be the last. She suddenly thought about how Jeongyeon would make a wonderful wife. “Woah there, Mina,” she thought as she took a sip of her coffee, “don’t scare her off.” Her thoughts immediately dwelled on someone she hadn’t thought about in a very long time. This was the one thing she hated about being alone, because it also meant she was alone with her thoughts. She did her best to shrug it off but to no avail, so she quickly finished her meal and decided to go for a quick shower. 

8:10 AM

Normally, she’d be at work by now, but her boss very kindly gave her the day off, even though she didn’t ask for it. She kind of wished she were at work so that she’d feel preoccupied since the shower did nothing at all. All she had now to distract her was Jeongyeon’s present, whatever it was. As if on cue, she heard a knock on the door just as she was drying her hair. She checked herself out in the mirror first before heading out of her bedroom. She wore a black tank top and pink pajama bottoms, which to her looked decent enough. Not like she really cared what some dude would think about her appearance, it was her birthday after all. After opening the door, however, she found out it wasn’t just some dude.

“Hi, Mina.” She expected a delivery of flowers, balloons, an oversized teddy bear, a dog, a chimp even... anything other than what stood before her.

“Chaeyoung,” was all she could say. She phrased to more as a question than anything. She wondered for a moment if fate was toying with her for thinking about her ex-girlfriend for the past half hour—

“I, uh... Jeongyeon asked me to come, to spend the day with you, she told me I’m her gift to you, whatever that means.” —or maybe her girlfriend just had a twisted sense of humor.

~

What it Means to Love was just the beginning. Some cliché bull to tickle your balls with. Ooooh, cliché bull would make a wonderful title for another story. Anyway, now we get to the real . I’m gonna you guys up with this one...

Or I could this story up...

Doesn’t matter. SOMETHING’S GETTING ED UP.

But I do hope you enjoy what I have planned.