"Hurry up!"   Nayeon shouts to the driver of our car who happens to be her wife, Jeongyeon.   "Pabo, do you want me to get jailed here in Japan? This is the speed limit, deal with it!" She grumpily steps on the break and Nayeon squeals to the top of her lungs. Her wife giggles pointing to the red light infront of them.   "Sorry, just following the rules of the road." I laughed along Jeongyeon, trying to hide the tense creeping on my nerves.   I’m really getting married today.   Nayeon is seated beside Jeongyeon while carrying baby Dongyeon on her arms. She took a glance of me from the front mirror and noticed the uneasiness in my eyes.   "Momo, is there something wrong?" She asked, evident tone of motherly concern can be heard.   We're all distracted by Hana's giggle. "Look, she's doing that gesture again." Our gaze shifted to my hands where her gaze is fixed. Well, except for the driver, of course. Guilty as charged, my hands are forming the same circle gesture whenever I wanna refer to something.   "Cut her some slack, it's normal to feel the 'whole d*mn zoo' inside your tummy when you're about to get married." The driver saved me from thinking answers for her wife's interrogation.   "OUCH!"   "Yoo Jeongyeon, your kid can hear you! Don't cuss when you're 6 meters near him."   The stoplight turned green and the mini lover's quarrel has put into an end.   I'm Hirai Momo and today's my wedding day. I never expected to marry my childhood bestfriend. Someone who swore that she's not, by any chance, marrying a dense person such as me.   We're childhood friends and it isn't any smooth and easy sequence of events. It's not love at first sight neither, just a love blooming carefully while our hearts are taking their time to realize that we're actually, without any other options possible, meant for each other.   It still gives me some cringe but I like it anyway.   **Flashback   Minatozaki Sana is a classmate when we met at the same highschool here at Japan. We instantly clicked the moment we finally get a decent eye contact. I was introducing myself on the first day of class and stuttering because of the pressure all the other stares the students are giving me.   But there's just one person whom I felt confident to look at– that girl who looks just as stupid as I am. She tried to keep her giggle all to herself but she's obviously failing. That made me laugh too, right infront of everyone and she bursts into laughter herself.   I can see in my peripherals that our classmates are looking at us weirdly and I couldn't care any less. We're on our own world and that's when our first conversation(or not) started.   "Why are you laughing like that? You look like a crazy squirrel!" I shouted onto her as if nobody else is around.   "You stutter with your short tongue and your accent is very strong!" she tried speaking between her laughs.   In the end, we are both standing outside the classroom on the first day of school– our hands raised up while facing the wall.   I should be actually upset and blaming her for what happened but whenever we make another eye contact, it will be always far from any forms of awkwardness possible.   We just laughed together.   At first, I didn't feel anything Everyday, we argued But I guess we didn't hate each other   That's when our friendship started. We were inseparable after that– always spending time together, playing pranks together, not to mention that one very time when I went to the clinic because I had a serious tummy ache since she let me drink an expired milk only to find her on the other side of the ward because she drank the expired milk herself. Pretty much we're always together.   We don't speak about boys that much. If we do, we just criticize them as a hobby. That time, we're not yet aware that we actually sway the other way around.   I'm honestly very grateful to know that she lives right next to my house so we got the chance to spend the vacation together. We went shopping, played at the amusement park, wasted our money on arcade, and went to a picnic.   She became the bestest of my friends although it's actually way too much of a trouble to have two fools next to each other. Well, who cares? It's fun to have two dorks next to each other anyway.   One year quickly passed by and we're still on the same class. This time, as sophomores. Sana and I were definitely planning on rocking this year and filling it with fun.   We started by getting late on the first day.   That– is definitely not a part of the plan.   And what happens to late students at the first day of school? They stand in the middle of the school grounds. Nobody is allowed to move, sit, or rest. Just breathe. To add up to the embarrassment, a seemingly innocent freshman came to us asking directions for her class.   "I'm sorry but do you know where BDZ building is?" A soft shy voice invaded our ears. She must be an angel sent from the heavens.   "Yes, ugh, it's that way!" Sana answered. I sweat in nervousness. Between the two of us, Sana can speak to strangers confidently. That's one of her charms.   However, the girl infront her is on another level of charming.   "You better run now before the teacher catches you." Sana instructed the freshman further. The girl gave us a slight nod and off she ran.   "Penguin." Sana muttered.   "Eh?"   "She runs like a penguin, I like her. Let's catch her again by lunch?" I blushed at what she said.   "No, I don't like her. Our group is limited to the two of us."   "Liar." She grinned and laughed her usual annoying laugh.   "Besides, the school is way too big to find her. She might be on her class right now, listening diligently to the teacher." I defended my judgment and soon after, the teacher came back to our place with another girl to tag along us.   The penguin girl.   "Or not." Sana winked and the girl looked at us with an apologetic smile.   "Sorry nee-chan. I got lost again on the way." Sana just shook her head and smiled. I guess it can't be helped. We're going to get stuck with her until lunch.   "Great, you already knew each other. Now stand here and don't you three dare do anything inappropriate." The teacher left and looked for other latecomers. This is such a drag.   Sana showered the girl with her excited gaze and sweet smile. "It's totally fine. We're actually talking about eating lunch with you."   "Y-yeah." I can only stutter. Sana knew she needs to save my awkward a*s.   "By the way sweetie, I'm Minatozaki Sana and this is Hirai Momo. You can drop the 'nee-chan'. Feel free to get comfortable with us."   The girl politely bowed and giggled in the most feminine manner possible. "Nice to meet you senpai, my name is Myoui Mina."   Sometimes, when you stare at me I'm afraid things'll get awkward So I just stare at the floor   We spent the rest of three years stuck with each other. It's always me, Sana, and Mina. At first I felt awkward with Mina but Sana made a way to break the ice. Everything seems to go really well until Mina came to us one day with a guy behind her.   "Momo senpai, Sana senpai!" There goes my mood. My eyes won't leave the guy's face as if he's taking Mina away from us. Sana instinctively hugged Mina from the back, dragging her a little distance from the guy.   The poor innocent boy froze on his spot; our ready-to-fight intent must have reached him.   "Chill down you two. You seniors are being way too protective, I'm already a junior." Sana pouts and the guy giggled nervously.   "He's my partner for a project. Just wanted to tell you that I can't make it today because we both agreed to start on it today after class. I'll text you two, ok?"   Off she ran with her 'partner'.   It's been a while since it's only me and Sana. It's two months until graduation and the seniors are already preparing for the ceremony. Today, Sana and I am going to spend our time alone again after three years. Time flies so fast, indeed. When we're together, it will be a lot quiet. It seems like we spent time together all the time, we already know what the other is in mind.   We are playing inside the computer shop when Sana decided to break the silence. "Momoring, you like that guy, don't you?"   "Wha– oh sh*t!" My character died. Way to go Sana.   "Gotchu!" She became a laughing mess when she was able to kill my character with a lame trick.    "I knew he's not your type," she faced me.   "but you were caught off guard."   "So what are you trying to say, cheater?" I glared, pretending to be upset from her trick.   "I'm saying, you're crushing on someone." Remember your typical highschool themed anime? I felt like one of the characters when out of nowhere, I just blushed.   I'm literally thinking of an excuse because I, myself, can't seem to understand what is exactly I'm feeling   "You can confess now to me while you have a chance." That pulled me out of my trance.   "Eh?–"   "It's fine if you don't want to speak about it yet. I'm just here, nee-chan." I look at her weirdly while her laugh made me blush. Maybe I really am crushing on someone. Someone whom no matter how I try to chase, I'm just a slow turtle who can't catch up to her.   The day was well spent except that Mina was not around to celebrate our possibly last hang-out together. I'm not even sure which college should I head to. By this time, students must already have a pick. However, I'm left here wondering what course should I even take.   We are walking home when I suddenly opened about the topic. It's perhaps the first time within this day. "Sana, which college are you heading to?" She hesitantly opened .   "I'm not yet so sure, how about you?" I smiled, as I expected, we think alike.   "I don't really know. It would be hard to go to college without a friend so tell me if you have one in mind. I'll choose that too." She just shrugged it off with a grin on her face.   "What job do you want to do in the future?" This is where the talk leads to somewhere so I started thinking of answers to her questions.   "I don't know… Any job that pays off well so I could buy myself some grilled meat everyday." I muttered as if I'm making a lot of sense.   "Ehh! Why not be the person who cooks your own food. That would be really convenient!" I clapped my hands once and stopped walking. Sana noticed that I got left behind so she looked and my direction only to find my excited gaze.   "SATANG YOU'RE A GENIUS!" I held her by the shoulders and shook her gently. "That's it, I'll be trying culinary. I'll do well with it!" She started laughing so I laughed along. She's literally the best person to understand me more than I could.   "But what about you, Sana? What do you wanna do after college?" We started walking again, killing time to talk about the future.   "Me? Hmm, I want to travel the world and go to places I haven't ever been." I imagined a Sana being a pilot and it is definitely a chaos. She might punch the wrong button and flirt with her co-pilot. No matter how I think about her being the leader of a flight, it looks hilarious yet terrible.   "You'd die trying to fly a plane. It's complicated, you know?" I earned a slight hit because of that.   "Baka*, I want to be a flight attendant." Now tha