"Oh, Chaewon?!"

"Good evening auntie...is Minju available?"

You know how ridiculous you look right now. It started raining when you decided to finally knock on the other Kim's household. It wasn't just any rain though...it was heavy and would transform into a thunderstorm at any moment. Your bangs were sticking on your forehead and your school uniform, which you haven't changed out of by the way. was completely drenched. You still had a mission to accomplish though, and no rain, no matter how heavy it was, could stop you.

"Please come in Chaewon!"

Minju's mom hurries you inside and you take off your shoes. You feel bad that your soaked self is probably getting their floor wet. 

Her house looked the same as it did before. It was only her and her mom there, with her dad somewhere else in a different family, you remember her crying into your shoulder when she told you her father left. 

"Chaewonie...he-he's gone. He said he had someone else, somewhere else to be...he left us!"

Poor little Minju was crying on your shoulder, and you suddenly felt angry at her father. Her father that she would always try to make proud, but he never noticed her. Her father that would never mind her any attention. You'd vow to make sure nobody would hurt her ever again. 

You would also kick his once you get taller and stronger!

"I'm sorry Minmin."

You don't say much to her. You just let her cry out her feelings into your shoulder. You needed to comfort your best friend.

You did eventually buy her some mint choco ice cream once her sobbing settled down. 

You shake your head at the memories, look to the side and find a table dedicated to Minju's awards. Honor roll, robotics, the girl was still as nerdier as ever. 

"Mom who's at the door?"

She stops at the second step of the staircase and looks at you in shock. She opens to say something, but nothing comes out.

"Uh...hi Minju..."

There's that awkward silence...yet again. She doesn't say anything and just continues to start at you in utter shock. I mean, you rushed over to her house and stayed outside when it started raining cats and dogs. So yeah, you would be in shock too if you were her.

Her mom stares at the two of you and realizes the situation. She also realizes you're still soaking wet and you needed to dry up or else you'd be getting sick the next morning. 

"Minju! You should take Chaewon to your room and get her some spare clothes, poor dear is soaking wet."

Ms. Kim breaks the tension between the two of you, and you see Minju release a puff of breath and nods at her mother, signalling for you to follow her upstairs into her room. You remain hesitant and stick to your spot for a bit, but you realize you needed to probably stop leaking rain on their floor, so you bow to Ms. Kim and follow Minju into the second floor.

As you head upstairs behind the brunette who still has not said a word to you, you look around and notice the little details that reminded you of when the two of you were still best friends. You remember the computer room on the left where the two of you used to play games, and where you would occasionally try to scare Minju with those scary pop up videos. 

Once you reach her room, you see that not much has changed. When she closes the door behind her and heads to her walk in closet to fetch you some dry clothes and a towel, you take a tour around, as it's been years since the last time you were in her room. The last time you were here, you two didn't exactly end on good terms either, but you were determined in changing that.

You glance at her desk and find her laptop with a mess of homework, writing utensils, and documents that looked like it had to do with robotics. On the right, you find her bulletin board filled with pictures and memories, which were mostly of her robotics friends posing with the robot and trophies at different competitions, but you also find those where it's just her and her mom. 

You're shocked to see that she still kept a few polaroid photos of the two of you together. You take a look at a memorable one, and you were reminded of the time that she first got her polaroid in the summer before high school had begun.

"Chae! Look at what my mom got me!"

You were hanging out at your best friend's house for a sleepover, and you were resting on the bed when the latter suddenly decided to jump on you out of excitement, which scared you a bit. It also hurt a little...but you would kill to see her excited over anything.

Minju sits up along with you grogging to sit up as well, and she enthusiastically shows you a mint green Fujifilm polaroid camera.

"They ran out of the white ones...but I thought of you when I saw the mint green and I got it! Come! Let's take a picture together, you'll be the first person on my camera."

You happily oblige to the other girl's request as you squish your cheeks against hers and smile widely for the camera. The flash does catch you off guard, which caused the device to capture a picture of you with your eyes closed and face scrunched up. You pout as Minju laughs at you and you playfully hit her on her shoulder.

"Aww, you're so cute, my Chaewonie"

You pout even more and Minju pinches your cheeks. You rub your face against her like a little cub, and start smiling. You like Minju's face. Minju's face is soft, and nice, and soft, and precious, and delightful, and did you mention soft?

You're glad that Minju has you as her first photo, which she stuck to her bulletin board.

"Look! I made a bulletin board for high school. It's gonna be full of memories...of us...whoever else we meet along the way. Maybe we'll make some new friends and expand our friend group with Eunbi! I can't wait to see what high school has to offer for the two of us.

"Me too Minmin." You cuddle against her once she comes back to bed with you and lie your head on her chest.

"Chaewonie...we'll be together all throughout high school right?"

"Of course. Forever and always Minmin."

Forever and always.

"Chaewon?"

You snap out of your flashback and you turn to see Minju carrying a sweatshirt and some sweats for you to change into, as well as a towel to dry yourself up. You awkwardly grunt and take the clothes, on your way to the bathroom. You don't even bother asking her where the bathroom was located as you had still memorized the layout of her house, besides, not much has changed anyway.

When you lock the door of the bathroom and get yourself fixed up, you sigh and take a look at yourself in the mirror. You take the time to reflect. What a day its been...from getting slapped, to hurting Minju, to running away from your house, to getting soaked in the rain...honestly this day felt like a whole year. 

You try to think of what to say to Minju, and you figure you should just be honest with her. You weren't always the best with expressing your emotions, and the brunette knew that, but you were determined in patching things up and making everything right again. You knew you couldn't live with yourself if you didn't fix your relationship with Minju before the two of you left for college after senior year.

Once you were emotionally prepared to talk to the other girl, you head out of the bathroom and back into her room. You hoped she was still there and not running away from you.

As you opened the door, you find her sitting on her bed seemingly zoned out as she stared at the wall. You clear your throat to get her attention and she quickly snaps out of her thoughts, and looks at you without saying anything. Well, you can't keep up this silence forever, so you decide to start the conversation since you were the one who came to her in the first place.

"I...I ran away from home."

She doesn't respond, but she does get up from the bed and makes her way over to you by the door. She stands in front of you with a blank look and you're not sure what to do. 

Uh...?

SLAP

Ouch. You can't say you didn't deserve it, but it still hurt a bit. Man, what is with you and getting slapped? This is the second one in one day. You hold your hand against your left cheek, well at least she didn't slap you where your boyfriend did earlier, and you look up at her with wide eyes. To be honest, you were kind of expecting for her to snap at one point, but you're still quite shocked.

"You...you-you're so frustrating Kim Chaewon! Is this the reason you came here tonight?"

She lets out a scoff of pain before continuing. You stayed rooted to your position and allowed her to continue her rant.

"I mean...is this all I am?! The person you come to and treat as a backup? When the others aren't looking? When you're feeling hurt? You...you say you're sorry but you leave me...I tell you my feelings and you just left me there. You left me there to cry and I...I can't take it anymore! You're driving me insane!"

You felt a tear roll down your cheek. You hurt her...not just once, but twice. She tried comforting you and you just left her again, all by herself. It seemed that she was always there for you and you weren't. But you didn't want her to think she was just a backup...god she's so much more than that.

She was never a back up to you. She was always your first. You were always thinking about her, even those two years you didn't talk to each other. Everytime you talked ill of her, you felt a bile in your throat and you felt disgusted in yourself, but you always just pushed it away. You're still disgusted with yourself, but you can't deal with the constant guilt. You need to stop being a coward.

Minju lets out a frustrated sigh and ruffles her hair as she sits back down on her bed, with her head on her hands. You really did this to her...you feel like you don't even deserve her. She was too good for this world and you took advantage of her. You broke your promise.

Not this time. You were going to make things right. 

"A thousand apologies won't be enough for me to express how sorry I am for how much I've hurt you...Minju, I...you're right. I want to make it up to you though..."

She looks up at you and sarcastically laughs, not believing what you were saying.

"Yeah where have I heard that one before?" 

You shake your head and make your way to sit next to her on the edge of her bed. You take her hands in yours, causing her eyes to widen once again. You look straight into her eyes and move closer to her body so she knows how much you mean it this time. She could always tell the sincerity held in your eyes.

"Kim Minju. I mean it this time. I swear...I'll...I'll make it up to you! I've hurt you too many times...and I'm a terrible person for taking advantage of your kindess. I was terrible for not telling you about Soobin. I was terrible for letting Gayoung think you were manipulating me and I...I even called you names...You know how much I've been protective over my reputation and the validation of others, but I-I had to sacrifice you in the process...I ruined our friendship...I ruined us...I hurt you Minju...I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry."

Your emotions have fully consumed you and you're basically sobbing now with your head down. You're too afraid to see her reaction, but you hope she understands how sincere you are this time. You do want to fix things, you really do. You'd vow to repair your friendship.

You feel her hold your hands tighter, making you cry even harder. You missed her so so much.

"Chaewon...I don't know. I'm trying to trust you, I really am, but...everyone around you, you've always cared about their validations more. Gayoung, Soobin, the whole school, your parents-"

At the mention of your parents, you're quick to cut her off and explain what happened.

"I...I stood up to them...my parents I mean. For you."

She's shocked. You've never disagreed with anything your parents said and she knew that. Even when you went to her and she told you how they were mentally abusing you, you wouldn't listen to her. But you realize that now

"What-?"

"I stood up to them. They...they were calling you names Minju...I couldn't bear it any longer. They never cared about me, they only cared about having a daughter to flaunt for their friends. They only cared about my achievements that made them look good. They...they never liked my friendship with you...I was so stupid. Please Minju...take back your stupid best friend who has no idea what she's doing...I need you...I need you in my life...my Minmin."

She becomes frozen at the mention of her old nickname. Minju removes her hand from yours and turns away, looking confused with herself. You can't lose her this time. You can't let go.

So you pull her in...for a hug.

She's surpised and keeps her arms by her side as you continue to sob into her shoulder. You hold her as tight as you can...as if in any moment she would be taken away from you. You want your hold to express your feelings and how much you need her in your life. You want your hold to show her that you really won't be leaving this time. Really.

"I'm sorry Minju...I'm so sorry."

You cry on her shoulder, probably making her hoodie wet at this point from the waterfalls coming out of your eyes. A few minutes pass and your cries subdue to tiny sniffles, allowing her to remove you from her shoulder, but still holding onto the sides of your arms.

You figure she'd just tell you to go home. To leave her alone forever. You think she'd just tell you to never talk to her or bother her ever again. You think she'd just tell you to go away and that she doesn't trust you anymore. You think she won't accept your apology.

You think you really are too late.

But you're not.

You feel a sense of warmness on your left cheek, where she had previously slapped you. Oh...it was her lips. Huh, you never noticed how good her lips felt on your skin. Granted, she did give you kisses on your cheeks before...but, it felt different now.

Other than the warm lips on your cheek, you felt butterflies in your stomach. You feel weaker. 

Once she removes herself from your face, she looks at you with shock. She opens to a wide amount of apologies

"I-I'm sorry I wasn't-"

You quickly peck her cheek to tell her it was okay. You've never kissed her on the cheek before, but you realize now is the perfect time. You also realize you like kissing her face.

Minju's face turns into a tomato and you couldn't stop yourself from giggling. It seems that she likes it, so you continue to give her kisses, all over her face, just to truly show her how sorry you are.

You kiss her on both of her cheeks.

peck

Her forehead.

peck

Her nose.

peck

Her neck.

You think you might have overdone it with the last kiss, but when you see her shriveling up and yelping, you start laughing at her reddened face. You hope things can stay like this forever.

"Chaewonie...you're making me embarrassed."

At the use of your old nickname she gave you, your smile widens. You feel a new sense of happiness and absolute excitement that you tackle her into her bed and start snuggling her chest.

Warm.

She felt warm. It felt as if you could ignore reality, and it was just the two of you at this moment. Just Kim Minju and Kim Chaewon. She smells like sweet cherries and roses. You can feel her heartbeat and you snuggle into her even more. Oh how much you missed cuddling with her.

"Can I stay the night, Minmin?" You look at her with pleading puppy eyes.

She hums in response, caressing your hair and pressing her forehead on yours. You feel safe, warm, and content. Minju feels like home, and you wish for this moment to never end. You could lie in her arms forever with no complaints. You smile against your best friend, and kiss her jaw out of affection. You tend to get clingy in the evening.

"What are you gonna do about your parents?" She asks, opening her eyes and looking at you, your limbs still tangeled with each other.

"I don't know...I'm sick of living in that environment. I hurt people...I don't know where I'll go to be honest..."

"You can stay with me." She caresses your cheek and gets closer to you, looking at you with a sense of affection and love.

"I-I can't do that-"

"Yes you can. I'm sure my mom wouldn't mind. She missed you anyway."

You interwine your hands with hers and stare at her with worry. You really don't want to impose on the Kim family, especially with what you've done with Minju. You're not even sure if her mom likes you anymore, knowing how much you've hurt and damaged Minju.

"Hmm..."

"Come on Chaewonie! It's like a sleepover but forever. We can always wake up next to each other, watch movies, cuddle, go to school together...I mean uh-if that's okay with you?"

She still looks at you with doubt. You had some major fixing to do, and it was clear it wasn't going to happen overnight. Don't worry Minju, you won't leave her this time and you'll be back as her savior.

"I, no-no, Minju. Look, don't ever think like that again, okay? I'm here to stay this time. Don't worry." You hold her face and make sure she looks into your eyes when you tell her of your sincerity. 

"Okay..."

Now you're not sure if she completely trusts you yet, but you're willing to build it up again. No matter how long it takes, you would make sure to have that sense of trust and close bond again. You missed out on two years of Minju, and you make sure not to repeat your mistakes. You learned from them, and time won't be stopping. You can't continue to live in regret.

"Say, how about you go to prom with me Minmin?" You're not sure what prompted you to ask your best friend that question, but since you decided to live life without regrets, why the hell not.

"Um, actually Wooseok asked me already...it's kind of a friend group thing..."

Oh.

Of course it was him. That boy. You could see the way he looked at Minju, you weren't blind. The way he defended her, the way his eyes glaze over your best friend. You didn't like him for some reason even though you never interacted with the senior.

You feel a pinch in your heart and you wonder what that feeling was. You possibly couldn't be jealous right? Who cares...Minju didn't even like boys. But still, you couldn't help but let the green monster consume you for just a bit.

"But uhh, you were going with Soobin anyway right? We could just hang out there!"

"Right...Soobin." To be honest, you completely forgot about that he asked you to prom. You haven't even talked to him after the whole incident. You saw that he sent you multiple text messages, but you ignored all of them. All the calls, texts, whatever. You now realize, you don't love him. You never did.

You should probably dump him soon. Maybe after prom? He was paying for your ticket and transportation, so you kind of had to rely on Soobin in order for you to go to prom. You didn't want to miss it either by ending your relationship before the event, since Minju would be there, and it was her first dance you didn't want to miss. Your other friends would also attend, and you didn't want to ditch them either.

"You know, Yena wanted to ask Yuri, so the whole team's been helping her." She changes the topic and you smile since she always knew how to make you feel comfortable when you needed to.

"Ahh, those two aren't dating?" With the way the duck looking girl stood up for Yuri and attacked Soobin, you assumed they were in a relationship, but apparently not. You wonder why though, they seemed like a good couple.

"See everyone thinks that! They both like each other but are too much of a coward to tell each other."

Well, you couldn't exactly blame them for being cowards since you're one yourself. Well, were, or trying to be at least. Anyways, you understand the cowardice feeling. Maybe you should interact with Minju's friends more, but they hated you anyways.

"The team and I were thinking of ways to help Yena. We actually had this plan of constructing a quick robot that would have a sign saying 'follow me Yuri', then it would lead her to-"

Your grin widens as she rambles about her idea for Yena's promposal. You realize how much you've missed hearing her little rants and how her eyes lit up like the moon at night when she was expressing her passion.

That's something you've always loved about her. You've always loved how she talked so openly about robotics, about her friends and their antics. You've always loved how she would make adorable and cute little faces when she was confused in the middle of her rant. You also loved her cute little angry, but not really angry, face she would make when something small troubled her. You love looking deep into her eyes and seeing a sense of...freedom. Her brown eyes would literally shine as she looked up at the ceiling, you realize you didn't need to go star gazing ever if Minju just had that look in her eyes.

As she continued her rambles, your smile goes down and you focus on the girl in front of you. There was a feeling in your chest that you couldn't quite describe. It was like a warming, tingly feeling near your heart. 

You had the feeling of always wanting to stay by Minju's side. Always wanting to see her happy, wanting to go out to different places and enjoying your time with her. Always wanting to feel her warmth against you and holding her as tight as you can. Never letting go.

Oh...

You think you know why you're feeling like this. Why you suddenly have the sensations in your chest. Why you were feeling a pinch in your heart when she told you she was going to prom with Wooseok.

Love.

Jealousy.

Ah...love.

Wait...love?

That's it isn't it...you love her, don't you?

And not just love in a platonic way. You love love her. 

Yes...you did. 

And that was okay.

You realize now, it's okay. It's all going to be okay, as long as Minju would be by your side. As long as your best friend was there with you, always sticking with each other. Maybe now you wanted something a little bit more. But it was okay if Minju was there...you just wanted Minju.

Your Minmin.