nayeon arrives the practice area right before their coach arrives and for the first time, she forgets about how tired she is from running. all throughout the practice she’s in an unusually good mood for some reason. even when a few members make repeated mistakes, she’s much less strict than she usually would be.

soon enough practice ends without nayeon even realizing it. after their last cool down exercise, nayeon and their coach thank them for a productive practice, then dismisses them.

“you’re in a good mood, nayeonnie.” sana comments.

nayeon recalls drinking the tastiest strawberry milk she had ever tasted in a classroom with the girl who saved her from detention. she remembers their short conversation—an exchange of apologies. she remembers the way the blonde bashfully avoided her eyes when they spoke. and how adorable she looked all speechless when nayeon finally caught her eyes just before she left.

“i guess i am.”

“did something good happen?” momo joins in.

“someone gave me a strawberry milk drink.”

“that's cute! who?” sana chimes in, raising her brows in a suggesting manner.

“well you guys know her pretty well actually.”

--

mina slept like a baby last night. good dreams and all. and so far the school day has been fairly nice. she has not once stopped thinking about the way nayeon looked at her yesterday. how the girl’s eyes gleamed brighter than she had ever seen it. and how her plump limps formed a perfect heart when she smiled.

sana and momo were quick to notice her extremely good mood during lunch but surprisingly, they never asked about it. they only shared knowing looks that mina didn’t quite understand but she’s glad they aren’t too curious because mina isn’t really sure how to describe her situation either.

it’s like her heart goes thump thump! and her head goes plop! or the way her legs go gurglegurgle!

mina really can’t even begin to describe the way she feels around im nayeon…

weirdly enough though, sana places a hand on mina’s shoulder right before they went their separate ways to their respective classes.

“good luck!” she had told mina, with one of those sana smiles that tell her everything’s gonna be alright. mina doesn’t know the reason for the sudden words of support but sana’s random like that sometimes so she returns the smile to her squirrel of a friend.

“i should be saying that to you.” she says. “you guys have a game to cheer for later don’t you?”

“games are nothing.” sana waves her hand. “it’s the competition we’re really focused on. you’re coming to watch, right?”

mina never bothered with public school events. they really weren’t her thing. but she was always there to support her two best friends at the games or competitions. yes, for her two best friends only and definitely not to see their captain or anything…

“of course i am.” mina assures. “always”

“see you later then, mitang!” sana winks before waving goodbye and catching up with momo who has spent the past few minutes at the vending machine trying to decide what she wants to snack on.

“see you, satang” mina waves back, shaking her head fondly as she watches her two best friends argue about choosing a snack.

soon enough, mina finds herself in her last class. her least favorite teacher and subject. somehow though, it was bearable. the only thing that ever motivated her in class was that it would be over and that she could finally leave school. but recently, she has been a bit more motivated to get to detention for some reason. maybe because she found peace in the empty classroom. watching fellow schoolmates outside on the field was amusing. it was funny how many sports members were actually quite goofy during practice but turned into absolute beasts when they were in game mode. it was like watching a behind-the-scenes. mina thinks that maybe, the detention is actually a blessing in disguise.

her thoughts are interrupted by a soft thud on her desk. she first sees a slender hand placed on top of her desk and when she looks up to trace its owner, her heart stops for a moment.

“hi notebook thief.” nayeon greets with a charming smile, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

‘hi, heart thief.’

‘wait, what?’

“hi.” mina responds, trying her hardest to make it seem normal. but she did it! she was able to say something while maintaining eye contact with the girl. this was some progress.

“come to the game later.” nayeon says boldly.

mina smiles. she hasn’t missed a single game and she definitely won’t miss one now.

“i’ll be there.” mina manages to reply, although her whole body feels as if she’s on fire. she has to rest her face on her hand to hide the growing blush on her face

“good.” nayeon nods. “i’ll see you later then.”

mina nods, unable to think of anything else to say. maybe she’s reached her capacity for talking to nayeon while making eye contact.

she spends the rest of class preparing herself mentally for later as she thinks of all the possible things to say, and all the possible directions their interaction could go later at the detention classroom.

nonetheless, mina is elated. is she really on a talking basis with JYP high’s popular cheerleading captain? it was surely something to be proud of.

when class ends she leaves first as always, too afraid that if she looks at nayeon, she’ll forget everything she had spent the past hour practicing in her head.

--

nayeon pouts. “why does she always disappear right after class?”

“she probably wants to get as far away from you as possible.” jeongyeon replies, which earns her a slap on the arm. nayeon doesn’t have a comeback however, instead she starts feeling the tiniest bit conscious. what if she really was annoying the blonde? maybe what she had done earlier in class was too bold…

jeongyeon seems to read her mind. she elbows the brunette lightly. “are you really worried about annoying mina?”

nayeon looks down. she can’t help but feel a little concerned for some reason.

“you annoy everyone. what’s new?”

just when she thought her best friend would actually say something comforting for once, jeongyeon proves her wrong once again and it earns her yet another slap on her arm.

“i hate you jeong!”

“hate you too, grandma! mehrong~” jeongyeon runs off knowing nayeon would never be able to catch up.

-

nayeon arrives their practice area and before a minute passes, she’s already greeted by the inseparable duo.

“nayeonnie!” sana exclaims.

“sana! momo!” nayeon greets with equal enthusiasm

“we came early so you could have more time to go do your thing!” momo chimes, with a wink.

nayeon erupts into a grateful grin. “thank you so much! i owe you guys.”

momo watches in awe at nayeon running off again. “i’ve never seen anyone so excited to poop.”

“yah, dummy. she’s going to visit mina. she explained this yesterday. were you listening?” sana rolls her eyes at her airhead of a friend.

“oh really? i thought she went to mina after she did her thing…”

sana doesn’t reply. she just she shakes her head.

“sanaring,” momo starts. “you know mina doesn’t know how to properly communicate with people right? how much more if it’s nayeon? aren’t you a little worried?”

“we’ll step in when it’s truly needed. mina would hate it if we were meddling.” sana replies.

-

nayeon unconsciously smiles when she sees the blonde sitting at her usual seat by the window. there’s a pink milk drink sitting atop her desk and nayeon can’t help the fluttery feeling in her stomach at the sight.

mina turns her head to her, giving a slight bow and it causes nayeon to giggle as she makes her way to the blonde and takes the seat beside her. she too, places the yellow drink on the desk and the surprised expression on mina’s face makes her go uwuwu. she finds it cute how mina seems to pretend she’s unfazed but is actually easily flustered. afterwards, mina retrieves the straw of the drink and places it inside of the carton, sliding it over to nayeon’s desk. flattered, nayeon returns the gesture and slides the prepared banana milk drink over to her side.

“so what do you do for fun while you’re here, mina?” nayeon starts, sipping on her drink.

“nothing really.” she replies coolly. “i do like seeing everyone doing their thing out on the field.”

nayeon turns her head to the window. she never noticed but it’s actually a really great view of all the sports team and outside activities taking place. a little farther on the right, she can see the cheer team’s area on the field.

“wow, you can see us practicing from here huh.” nayeon observes, and shortly after, mina falls into a coughing fit, probably from drinking too fast. out of concern, nayeon instinctively pats her back softly.

“i’m fine, thank you.” mina replies, backing away a little quickly, as if she had to avoid nayeon’s touch.

nayeon quickly places her hand on her lap. maybe touching her was a little overboard. but it makes her start to wonder if mina is really annoyed by her presence? nayeon waves it off however, she doesn’t let the thought bring her down.

“it must be funny seeing me make all those mistakes. i’m sure it’s entertaining.” nayeon starts, laughing softly. “how embarrassing.”

“no, the cheerleading team always looks good. you lead them well.” mina says, turning to the window.

the compliment makes nayeon’s heart flutter for the nth time.

“hmm, so you do observe us.” nayeon watches as mina tenses in her position. “now that i know we have an audience, i’m a little pressured now.”

“you guys aren’t the only ones i look at, though.”

nayeon frowns at mina’s straight forward statement. she just hums in response. she gets up and makes her way to ledge of the classroom window for a better view (and hopefully catch mina’s face). secretly she glances at mina who’s no longer looking out of the window. instead she has turned her head back to her desk. now, nayeon’s looking at the back of her head, yet again.

“ooh the soccer team’s looking really serious.” she remarks. “we’re gonna win today’s game for sure.”

…

nayeon pouts. mina’s completely silent

“the weather’s looking really nice too, don’t you think? i think it’s perfect for today.” nayeon gushes.

…

still, there is no response, not even a reaction. nayeon leans a little closer to mina, but the girl turns her head even more.

nayeon inhales deeply.

“i’m really excited for this game. it’ll be refreshing hearing people support us before the big competition. it always feels like a rush. since you're going, i could save you a front row seat if you want?”

mina doesn’t respond. the blonde doesn’t even turn to look at her. it makes nayeon wonder if the blonde just doesn’t like her face.

“don’t you—"

“have practice?” nayeon finishes for her. after all her tries at starting a conversation, all the blonde is going to ask is if she has practice. she scoffs in disbelief. this girl has some nerve. she gets it. mina probably wants her to leave right now. but it’s a little unfair, she thinks. in fact it’s confusing her and it’s frustrating her. sometimes she thinks mina likes her, but then mina acts like she can’t stand being around her.

“is that really all you’re gonna say?” nayeon grumbled.

mina doesn’t even react. well nayeon can’t see her face but she’s sure the blonde is probably expressionless like she imagines.

“sorry. i am a bother sometimes.” she continues. “but i’m really trying to make it up to you and be your friend. maybe you don’t want me around, but i can’t simply act like everything is normal when someone else is facing the consequences for my actions.” nayeon lets out. “at least tell me what i can do or if there’s anything i could give to you in exchange.”

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