it’s funny how mina can’t recall a single thing from any of her classes today. but if she were told to give a list of nayeon’s favorites she’d be able to name all of them. 

nayeon’s favorite color? purple. 

nayeon’s favorite hobby? singing. mina’s never heard it but she’s sure nayeon’s voice is angelic. 

and nayeon’s favorite ice cream flavor? strawberry. that was a no brainer. nayeon craved it whenever she felt stressed too apparently...

these were only a few of what mina learned. 

if mina were told to recount one of nayeon’s childhood experiences, she would be able to recite every detail. like that one time nayeon apparently had gotten into an accident when she was younger, causing a slight weakness of her left leg. at first mina couldn’t believe the story, especially since nayeon spoke so humorously about it. but the brunette willingly showed off a scar on her left leg and mina had no reason to think otherwise. it did however, spark concern in mina that nayeon often practiced diligently with that same left leg weakness. 

“obviously there’s no reason to worry about my leg.” nayeon had assured when mina asked if she was fine with all the work cheerleading had them do. 

“if you didn’t notice it earlier, that means it’s not something to notice now.” she added, and mina couldn’t argue with that. 

then there was also the random facts mina picked up from nayeon’s stories. 

like how the girl hates holding umbrellas. 

or how the girl easily cries. in fact, mina has seen it firsthand already. 

or how the girl could probably talk for hours and make the most boring topic sound interesting. mina would listen to everything still. 

honestly, mina could go on and on. she could list everything she finds intriguing about nayeon and it would probably take her the whole day and more, because she’s finding all of nayeon intriguing. 

“i’m sure you have way much more to say when you’re with your best friends.” there was a pout on nayeon’s lips when she said it. it had mina go blank for a second. 

mina thinks of her conversations with sana and momo. out of the three of them, mina had always been the listener they needed, only ever putting a couple sentences here and there whenever it was needed or whenever mina got a little too passionate about her games. 

mina doesn’t admit it, but she really doesn’t want nayeon to stop talking. she doesn’t want to stop learning new things about the brunette. she doesn’t want to stop listening to her voice, that’s just so full of emotion and passion. 

so as her reply, mina shakes her head fondly. “i like listening.”

‘to you.’ 

mina leaves that part out. 

now, observing from the classroom window, mina watches as nayeon positions herself in weird angles just so she can take pictures of every member sleeping on the team. the blonde shakes her head with a grin, smiling even wider when she sees nayeon giggle at a picture she’s taken. oh that’s right, nayeon is super childish too. 

eventually, nayeon does wake her team members up and within the span of ten minutes they have already snapped themselves into practice mode, it’s amazing really. they’re already doing drills and stretches like they hadn’t just been snoozing on the field earlier.

what mina finds more amazing however, is how childish nayeon turns into charismatic captain nayeon with a snap of the finger and it’s probably one of the most attractive things mina’s ever witnessed. 

(even when detention eventually ends, mina finds herself lingering in the classroom for just a few minutes more.)

--

“alright girls! gather round!” nayeon calls. immediately the cheerleaders start surrounding her in their usual after-practice circle. the sun has just begun setting and nayeon’s seeing her members in a different light. literally and figuratively. since recently, they’ve only ended practice by the time the moon sufficiently made her way into the sky and by then, the field lights would have already been lit up. 

but also, these girls have shown their incredible capacity to hold themselves as jyp high’s renowned cheerleading team. despite today being a chill practice, nayeon had seen just how much effort they put in, reminding her time and time again just how lucky she is to be leading such a team. 

they aren’t sweating as much and neither are they breathing as hard. they’re all smiling and joking around like usual but nayeon sees that same determination in their eyes once she starts their team chant. a break surely was deserved. she knows for sure, she has no reason to doubt them.

“three more days from now, let’s take the win!” she exclaims and they raise their hands together in an eruption of cheers. 

minutes after, nayeon watches as the girls bid their goodbyes and one by one go home. beside her, someone speaks. 

“you lead them well.”

the voice doesn’t even remotely come close to the soft voice of the person that comes to mind. but nayeon sees the blonde anyway and she has to shut her eyes and blink them several times to make sure she isn’t seeing things. 

it’s just coach sunmi. 

“oh— coach!” she exclaims and watches as the older woman raises her brow. 

“what’s wrong? you look like you just saw a ghost.”

‘i just saw mina.’ nayeon thinks to herself. 

“no... no! i was just stuck in my thoughts... you kind of caught me off guard there.” she tries to play off. 

“well okay...” sunmi nods, seemingly unconvinced. “but like i said. you’re a great captain and you carry this team well. even with the short practice you all still prove that the jyp team is one of the best. i’m proud of you.”

compliments are rare when they come from coach. usually, nayeon would be elated, eyes wide, all jumpy with a smile stretched across her face. right now though, she can’t seem to fully appreciate coach sunmi’s compliment because nayeon is thinking of a certain blonde saying it instead. 

nayeon remembers how sincere mina had sounded when she uttered the words. she also remembers how much joy she felt hearing them. thinking about it now still gives her a warm feeling. 

she smiles to herself. did she ever properly thank the blonde?

“that means a lot. thank you.” nayeon says, softly. 

when she looks up however, coach sunmi is looking at her with a tilt of her head and furrowed eyebrows. nayeon tenses up. 

“thank you so much, coach! you don’t know how much i appreciate it!” she quickly exclaims, bowing her head 90 degrees. her actions quickly earn a laugh from the coach and nayeon feels a pat on her shoulder. 

“you don’t have to say it twice.” she chuckles. “i think maybe you need some rest now, you should go home, the girls have left already.”

nayeon nods, embarrassed, with a bite of her bottom lip. “yes, coach.”

long after coach has left nayeon remains on the field. perhaps she really does need rest. the lack of sleep is probably the cause of her seeing things. maybe she’s thinking too much. 

but then nayeon finally makes up her mind. she may need sleep but at the moment, she needs ice cream more. 

she pulls out her phone to dial her best friend. 

“what do you want?” jeongyeon answers. except it sounds weirdly realistic. as if jeongyeon was talking to her in person. nayeon instinctively checks her body temp to see if she’s sick. first she’s seeing things, now she’s hearing them too. 

“i need ice cream.” nayeon says, voice tinged with desperation. 

“so?” again, jeongyeon sounds so real and it’s really beginning to mess with nayeon’s head because there’s no one in front of her. 

“so?” nayeon repeats. “let’s go get ice cream.” she whines. “treat me to some ice cream!”

suddenly the line drops and nayeon gasps. she is more than offended. 

“i’m gonna kill that ostrich.” she fumes. 

“excuse me?” she hears from behind her. 

it’s jeongyeon, along with the soccer gang, dahyun, jihyo, and tzuyu. nayeon sighs in relief realizing she wasn’t hearing things. but then she gasps in disbelief. jeongyeon had been right behind her all this time.

“you know, if you were behind me all this time, you shouldn’t have answered the phone and just came up to me.” nayeon crosses her arms. “i thought i was losing my mind for a sec.”

“jeongyeon unnie was trying to scare you.” jihyo tells her, earning a glare from the tall short haired blonde. 

nayeon eyes her best friend. 

“actually, we just ended practice and we saw you standing alone here emoting like you’re in some movie—”

“you should be an actress unnie!” dahyun suggests randomly, smiling extra wide. “for a moment, i actually thought you were seriously stressed.”

“i think she’s feeling the scenery too much. it’s making her reminisce. let her be, guys.” jihyo adds with a teasing grin. 

“i’d throw up if i ever see nayeon on any screen.” jeongyeon gags. 

nayeon scoffs. here she was actually stressing herself out and her friends are making fun of her because they think she’s being overdramatic. 

“i hate you guys.” she mutters. 

“well okay...” jeongyeon shrugs. “we were just about to get ice cream. guess you don’t want to join us then.”

“what?! the ice cream was my idea!”

“come on guys. nayeon hates us, she wouldn’t want to get ice cream with us.”

suddenly, the soccer gang is in on teasing nayeon as they all start to make a run for it, knowing nayeon would never be able to keep up. 10 seconds in and nayeon’s already panting like she’s running a marathon. she curses their soccer training for making them lightning fast runners. 

(any by