The sound of an alarm echoing around the quiet room woke Minjoo up.

The brunette slowly fluttered her eyes open, turning off her alarm, not moving for a few seconds before slowly sitting up with a soft groan, stretching her stiff muscles then sighed when her body felt lighter.

It's not just any other day today. Today, Yujin will come home here to Seoul from London after graduating and getting her degree in Business Ad. Minjoo is having mixed feelings at the thought of meeting her ex-girlfriend after four years of not seeing or contacting each other. But Minjoo stayed positive, she's confident enough to say she moved on already after their horrible break-up and would try her best not to be awkward around her since before they got into a romantic relationship, they were best friends.

She sighed, ruffling her disheveled hair before getting up on her feet, wearing her fluffy slippers before striding towards the bathroom to wash up. It's just seven in the morning so she took her time to wash up properly and she's on a leave today since Yena forced her to— she even personally asked Chaewon at the office two days ago because she doesn't want her to worry about her future-girlfriend and even invited the head manager to her and Yuri's wedding. The head manager didn't seem to mind it, Yena and Chaewon knew each other and also, the duck and her boss are acquaintances so the one day leave is not a problem at all. Perks of leading a successful clothing line, connections, and powers everywhere.

Yujin will be fetched later at lunch at the airport with the squad, courtesy of Yena, and go straight to her and Yuri's house for the welcome party, only exclusively for the IZ Cool Squad only. Yes, it's their squad's name, and yes, they were such losers back then.

Her heart then started to drum furiously at the thought of her ex again. She's just curious about how she currently looks like and her changes, is she still the idiotic Ahn Yujin? The childish and playful Ahn Yujin? Did she grow up taller than she was before? Is her hair still brown and short?

Is she the same Ahn Yujin that Minjoo loved for years?

Minjoo shook her head harshly, trying to shake off the crazy thoughts, and sighed, splashing water over her face, waking her up completely before wiping her wet face with a towel then stared at her own reflection.

“Stop it, Minjoo… The moment you guys finally have closure after long years, you'll finally feel light and peaceful.” She whispered under her breath then hung her head low, sighing.

—

“Let's meet in Seoul next month, then?” A person with a cute height said, looking up to stare at her friend who's taller than her by almost 20cm.

The taller one grinned, patting her head. “Sure, Nako.” She replied, giggling as Nako hissed at her, slapping her hand off away from her head, annoyed and sulking that her friend is making fun of her adorable height again.

Chuckling, the taller one walked across her room and dragged her luggage and bags outside the apartment, making sure she locked it before walking off with Nako to the elevator, to the ground floor.

“Are you sure you're ready to meet her?” Nako muttered when silence took over them at the elevator. Silence answered her. But when the elevator dings and opened, she saw the other smiled at her, confident and cocky.

“Of course. Why wouldn't I?” She asked, mock lacing her tone as they walked off the elevator and exited the apartment complex, spotting the taxi waiting for her. Nako helped put the luggage in the trunk with the driver's support as she checked her vulnerable things inside her backpack.

Nako walked in front of her and gave her an accusing look. “Very well then, seems like you completely moved on from her then,” She said, chuckling. “Ahn Yujin.”

Yujin rolled her eyes. “Tss. I've been telling you that ever since three years ago. Whatever.” She said, shrugging, making Nako laugh loudly. “That's a lie, but okay.”

The taller huffed at her, flicking her forehead, earning a small and cute grunt from her small friend. “Anyway, Danielle might ask my whereabouts, say the truth that I already went home to my homeland, and never ever give my number. Rose might look for me too, do the same thing.” Yujin casually reminded, making the Japanese girl huff in annoyance. “Yikes, you and your never-ending flings! Oh god,” She said and made some gagging noises. She really hated dealing with Yujin's overly obsessive and clingy flings.

Laughing it off, Yujin gave Nako a pat on the shoulders again. “Well then, my friend. See you soon?” She said with a gentle tone. Nako nodded, giving her hum. “Sure. Have a safe flight, Ahn.”

And Yujin slipped inside the taxi, the vehicle immediately driving off after she gestured to the driver to drive. She didn't bother to look behind or outside the window, she occupied herself by listening to music and napping inside the car.

She can't wait to go home to Seoul again, to meet her friends again, to see Minjoo again.

—

When Minjoo arrived at Yena and Yuri's lovely house, all of them were already there, decorating the place already. Almost all of them also placed a one day leave just for this day, but thanks again to Yena's connections, they didn't have any problems with having a day off— although some like Chaeyeon who's the Founder and Head Instructor for WIZ Dance Studio and Eunbi, who's managing and the Head of LVER Law Firm, they got their offs easily because they're the bosses.

It's just almost 9 in the morning yet they're already loud and quarreling over whether to use confetti or not. Of course, Yena and Hyewon are arguing again. Minjoo smiled in amusement when Sakura shoved them both away and tasked them on cleaning the yard and garden, earning a groan from both of them but shuddered in fear and rushed over to the storage room to get the brooms when Eunbi hissed at them.

“Yo,” She greeted casually as she entered the wide yard. The others greeted her back with a series of 'hi's' and smiles. Yuri met her halfway, holding the blue balloons. “Hey, Minjoo, a favor,” She said and Minjoo hummed, taking off her purse and placed it on the table.

“What is it?” She asked, fixing her purple hoodie. Yuri pouted. “Can you bake the cake for Yujin? You know her favorite,” She answered, making her freeze instantly but recovered a second after. “If that's okay? You know her, she prepares home mades.” The younger added.

Of course, Minjoo knew very well.

“Sure.” The brunette responded with a small smile, earning a squeal and hug from Yuri, dragging her to their luxurious kitchen. “Everything is complete here, the ingredients and stuff. You know what to do, right? If you need support I'm there outside helping the others!” She rapidly said and Minjoo could only nod and watch Yuri dash outside, leaving her there— oh Chaeyeon is there too, cooking.

Minjoo took a deep breath before grabbing the apron, tying it before she got into business. When she was preparing the ingredients, fresh blueberries resting on the countertop caught her attention.

“Unnie, I absolutely love your blueberry cake! It's my favorite!”

“Blueberry, then…” She muttered, shrugging before continuing to do her thing.

It's almost 12 and the squad is already in the waiting area of the airport, waiting for the arrival of the plane from London, England. They were chattering about Yujin's looks and other things while Minjoo was occupied with her cellphone, texting Hitomi and Chaewon alternatively. Hitomi's curious and stuff while Chaewon just wanted to entertain her. And she's glad for that, she's distracted and the nervousness disappeared but she knows it won't be for too long, she can even see herself throwing up when the announcer finally announced the arrival of Yujin's plane.

And when the announcer did, Minjoo almost jumped from her seat, hands trembling and heart thumping from nervousness.

The squad excitedly ran to the gate, dragging Minjoo along with them, and waited there for a few minutes. Sakura noticed it and held her trembling cold hand. “Hey, it's okay. It's just Yujin.”

Minjoo gulped. “Easy for you to say that, we parted with bad terms y'know.” She answered and Sakura chuckled, patting her back. “Wow, where's the confidence from before?!”

But the brunette didn't answer and hung her head low, as usual. The Japanese woman pouted, reaching for her lover who's talking with Yena about Yujin. Chaeyeon looked at her, confused. “Love? Anything's wrong?” The dancer asked, and Sakura simply puckered her lips towards the nervous Minjoo.

Chaeyeon and Yena looked at each other. “You two are going to get along like years ago, although it might be awkward at first, but you know Yujin, she's not the ignorant type and would still smile at you even with y'alls … a little bit dark past.” Yena tried to reassure and Minjoo just laughed at her, her nervousness not decreasing at all.

And the exit opened, people who came from London slowly exiting from the gate. And there's where Minjoo wanted to throw up badly but she played it cool, clearing and straightening her hoodie.

Maybe if she and Yujin parted on good terms then she shouldn't be worrying a lot like this but no, they're not on better terms and had a lot of unresolved misunderstandings when Yujin left Korea. It's just easy to think that everything will go smoothly but the moment she's finally standing in the middle of the airport, she wanted to run away.

She heard Yena gasp, and her heart stopped for a second right there. The others started to stand on their tiptoes, gasping also when they saw a familiar tall figure walking down the exit, making her way like a fashion runway.

Minjoo's eyes started to shake. She can recognize that figure anywhere.

There's Ahn Yujin. She is wearing a black coat, partnered by jeans and simple white sneakers but she stood out among the rest, especially with her electric blue hair— Minjoo noticed that people stretching their necks to stare at Yujin. She's walking down with confidence and full of charisma that even the squad had their jaw dropped, even when they were in high school, Yujin was already a head-turner but now, she can literally make people bow and kneel with her heavy gaze alone.

She changed a lot. The innocent and childish Ahn Yujin is nowhere to be seen anymore, it is placed by the charismatic and oozing of confidence Ahn Yujin. Her features also sharpened making her more attractive and appealing than before. And it seems like she got taller because Yujin towered over them when she walked closer.

Minjoo witnessed at how the taller woman's luscious lips curve up into a— rather smirk, her signature idiotic grin was nowhere to be seen either. The woman also looked mature now, her build got more broad and big, and her posture screamed elegance and professional.

Hyewon screamed first. “AHN YUJINNN!” She yelped and ran towards the woman, hugging her tightly as she could while Yujin hugged back as she laughed wholeheartedly, picking her up lightly from the floor and spun her a bit, leaving her luggage near her.

Yena reacted next, running towards the two while squealing too, jumping to both of them, making Yujin's smile go bigger, not even whining about the weight. Chaeyeon ran after, tears already forming into her eyes when she jumped at them, ruffling Yujin's long electric blue hair as she sobs against Yena's jacket.

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