////// 2024 //////
The wind blew, albeit softly, whisking away the dried up leaves scattered around the stone pavement. Mina stops momentarily, tucking a few blonde locks behind her ears, and observes a handful of people striding the same pathway as she had but with more enthusiasm than she currently has.

She doesn’t know what she was doing there. For days, Mina contemplated going, coming up with excuses one after another. Yet those reasons were casted aside when she thoughtlessly booked a 6AM flight back home.

Sure she could have cancelled, or even if she couldn’t, she could have not shown up. But she didn’t. All she ever did that night was pack up her suitcase and leave as early as she could.

Maybe escaping the paparazzi was one reason, and maybe attending her best friends' wedding was another. But there was still something Mina felt like seeing back home, whether it was a what or a who, she wasn’t ready to acknowledge it, not just yet.

Plus, it was already too late to go back now. Especially not after she sees that familiar smile and all too excited voice of her friend, waving and shouting at a distant.

“Mina!! Here! We’re here!”

She takes a deep breath and exhales all hesitation building up within her. Her hands latching onto her bag, she strolls over to her waiting friends.

“Mina! I’ve missed you!” The other girl quickly closes the gap, arms encircling around Mina’s body.

“I’ve missed you too, Sana.” Mina returns the hug, smiling warmly as she does so.

“I thought you couldn’t come. We all did, well most of us did.” another person from behind them says aloud. Mina looks ahead and finds Dahyun standing with a flower in hand. “This is for you by the way.”

Mina smiles at the sweet gesture.

“What matters is she’s here” Sana interjects, linking an arm around Mina’s

“She could have called me a couple of days earlier, you know” Dahyun mumbles back, softly but loud enough to catch the disappointment from her voice. “I could have won the bet then.”

The revelation takes her by surprise. She hadn’t been able to come to any gatherings, the last time she was here was five years ago. Sure she had been avoiding reunions with friends, but to bet on her attendance was another thing. Something Mina didn’t like at all.

“I owe Jeongyeon now.” There it was, the name she hadn’t heard for such a long time, a name she never thought could make her feel just as she used to years ago.

Never did Mina think it would bring back those emotions she believed were all gone now. She was certain they weren’t there anymore, yet a mention of her name, even out of spite from Dahyun, still gave her that aching feeling she never felt for a while.

She wants to ask, she needed to ask, but before Mina even could, she finds herself being pulled by Sana towards the exit

“Let’s go, everyone’s waiting.”

\\\\\\ 2010 \\\\\\
The pristine blue sky was beginning to change to a murky shade of gray. Then she hears the sound of rain slowly dripping above her. Tap tap tap…. She contemplates for a full second before deciding to stay. It was the right decision though as not long after, the rain started to pour down heavily.

She sighs and leans her back against the wall by the school entrance. Mina was not the type to overlook this kind of important detail yet found herself forgetting to grab an umbrella this morning when she left for school.

She doesn’t see the rain stopping any minute now and she finds herself considering the idea of running through the heavy downpour. It wasn’t the best idea but it would get her back home a lot earlier. Then again the image of her mother scolding her wasn’t great either.

She lets out a groan, long and loud.

“Here.” She hears a voice, and sees an umbrella offered before her. “You can use this.” She hears her again.

She looks up and sees her. She remembers her face, sees that face every day along the corridors of the school, too happy and and too lively early in the morning. But she doesn’t remember the name, but she remembers her always around the student council president.

Mina never had the chance to say anything back when she felt a hand take her own and placed the umbrella on her palm. The girl’s hand was warm, Mina thinks to herself, but shakes the thought when she finds the girl bracing the heavy rainfall, not before bidding her goodbye with that same smile Mina sees every single day.

Mina ponders for a full minute how this unbearable cold rainy weather suddenly felt a little bit tolerable. She looks down on the umbrella and notices the name imprinted along the handle

...Yoo Jeongyeon d(>_<)b

////// 2024 //////
Around her are her friends she never seen for years and yet somehow Mina felt like she never left home to begin with. They all welcomed her with much warmth she never anticipated. They shared stories, and exchanged playful jokes, filling the entire late afternoon with laughters she had been missing dearly.

It could have been perfect. Mina thought for a second before cursing herself for even thinking this way. She was really beginning to be an unappreciative friend, if she could even be called a friend. This was the first time she went back home, maybe called a few times in those years,but this is the first time she gets to see them, she should be ecstatic to be around her friends yet all she could think about is that one person not in the same room as hers.

Not that she isn't happy being there, she is. But everytime the door swings open, she can’t help but look, hoping to see that familiar face greet her with a smile she had been accustomed to. But that someone never came though. And with every passing hour, the smile on Mina's face weakens.

She let out an exasperated groan, and let herself take a glass of wine and walk away from the door view, far enough to keep her anxiety under control.

Mina takes another sip, fighting the urge to look at the door again as she hears it swing open.

“She had to stay at the cafe.” a familiar voice snaps her out of her trance. Mina looks up to find Jihyo taking a seat across from her. “You’re looking for her, right?”

It was a gesture Mina didn’t want to be found out. She was around friends after all, friends who gathered to be there for her and all she could do was to look for someone who didn’t bother to show up, even for a short time.

“Jeongyeon, I mean.” the other clarifies, a knowing smile dangling on her face.

Mina raises an eyebrow, wondering if she had been this obvious all afternoon. She hasn’t been good at expressing her emotions vocally, her face though, always has been. And Jihyo managed to catch onto that, she always does.

“It closes at 10pm”

\\\\\\ 2013 \\\\\\
“Mina!”

She hears that jovial voice call her from the street. It has only been a couple of hours since she and her family arrived from Japan but there it was, her name called out by that impatient friend of hers. She peeks through her window and sees Jeongyeon happily waving her hand.

“You finally bought it!”

“They’re ready to be ridden!” Jeongyeon flashes a grin, clicking on the bicycle bell.

“Do you even know how to ride that?”

“No. I walked the bike with me,” Jeongyeon nonchalantly replies, statement drenched with sarcasm that Mina only laughs in return. “Come, let’s walk it together!” she jokes further, earning an even louder laughter out of the other girl.

Not long after, Jeongyeon is pedaling her way around town with Mina riding behind her. The wind feels good, Mina notes mentally, closing her eyes as she enjoys the cold breeze grazing her skin. She sinks in closer then smiles a little wider, noting further how the warmth of Jeongyeon’s back is a lot better.

Ride slows down and eventually comes to a full stop.

“You see that.” Jeongyeon starts, pointing her finger across the street. Mina follows the outward finger down to an empty lot. “I heard they’ll be building commercial space there. And that little corner over there, would be the spot for my own café, simple, nothing pretentious, just good coffee-..”

“Will there be bread?” Mina quickly asks

“Tons of bread. It’ll be the best tasting bread! I’m sure of it.”

“How so?”

“Because I made them!”

Mina giggles at Jeongyeon’s lack of humility, and replies with the same amount of enthusiasm as her friend’s “I can’t wait!”

Jeongyeon laughs knowingly as she starts pedaling again. “How about you Mina?”

“I think ballerina or maybe an actress.”

“I see” the older girl murmurs appraisingly, then adds “You need to be pretty to be one”

Mina playful pinches Jeongyeon “You’re saying I’m not?”

“N-no-no,,,not at all.” the older girl stammers. Mina hears that worried tone on friend's voice, and smiles at how adorable panicky Jeongyeon could be. She tries to pinch the girl again, a playful one, but is too taken aback by what she hears next, “when I first saw you I thought you were so pretty. Really too pretty, really very pretty Mina.”

////// 2024 //////
Mina doesn’t know what has gotten to her. They will be seeing each other tomorrow anyway, she was sure of it. Yet she’s there, standing by the dim lit street, looking at her faint reflection by the glass window of a closed coffee shop. She wants to turn around and walk away. Mina almost never is the one to take the initiative- the first step, she had always been in the receiving end. But now, she’s uncharacteristically taking one, while trying to dismiss the thought of desperation. Yearning always does make you one.

They have time tomorrow, she argues mentally but sighs in defeat eventually knowing tomorrow is not enough. And the day after, well she’ll be gone by then, back to her apartment, drowning with work and endless inquiries of her previous whereabouts.

All she has is now.

And right now, all she wants is to see Jeongyeon.

She steps forward, calming her nerves down as she does so, and gently knocks on the glass door. Mina laughs at how pathetic she must have looked right now. She's an actress for god's sake. Being in front of thousands of people performing never became a problem, not to her. Rather, she finds it simple, easy, challenging in the least. But for some odd reason, her body is being unusually uncooperative. The thought of seeing Jeongyeon, of finally seeing her after all these years, she couldn't help but tremble a little.

Mina isn’t expecting much, she knows Jeongyeon is too tired for today anyway. Just a glimpse of her and maybe a few pleasantries are enough for Mina. After all, Mina doesn't get to have more than that, especially when she had given the other girl less in the past 5 years. But was that really enough though? Mina could only hope the older girl thinks otherwise.

She finally sees someone taking a step out of the kitchen. A faint light glowing behind the figure, enough for Mina to see who. She sees the girl's eyes widen a little in surprise but quickly softens as her lips curve up a smile. The other walks closer and Mina sees her clearly now, her blonde hair haphazardly framing her small face, stopping unevenly just around the shoulder, longer than what she had remembered. Mina thinks for a while how it actually suits Jeongyeon perfectly.

Mina waves a hand, returning the warm smile with her own. She could not believe how much she misses her, how just by looking at her, a surge of emotions would instantly come back.

The door swings open and she finally hears that voice she had been hoping to hear since this morning, “Hey you're here. Come in.”

Mina’s smile widens as she takes her step inside. The place is simple, gawky in the least. It does not boast elegance but has its own charming features, and at most has this calming vibe, just as what Jeongyeon wanted 11 years ago when they were young and dreaming about the future.

“Just as you said it would be. I bet the bread tastes wonderful.” Mina manages to say, eyes travelling around then settling onto the woman behind her.

“I try it to be.” Jeongyeon laughs, scratching the back of her head. It wasn’t Jeongyeon to be modest about something. Mina expected her to brag a little at least. This was something new for Mina. Now she wonders if there are other new things she's no longer aware about. And the thought saddens Mina in a way she never thought it would.

She then sees a flash of concern in Jeongyeon's eyes. And before she could even try to dismiss it, Jeongyeon utters “Sorry I couldn’t come. I had to prepare the cake for Sana and Dahyun’s wedding.”

Mina almost let out a laugh, she finally sees the old Jeongyeon, her dear old friend who would worry about upsetting someone over the smallest of things. “It's okay. Besides, I wanted to see you..r shop”

Mina was quick to bite her lip from saying ‘You’

"Since you’re here, we might as well have a party of our own.” Jeongyeon suggests with a wink. Mina tried not to snort at the flirtatious attempt Jeongyeon made. The gesture actually made Mina miss the older woman a little more than she already has been.

“Oho, what do you have?”

Jeongyeon walks around the counter, takes two wine glasses and a bottle from the fridge “I got wine and... “ eyes trailing at the kitchen door “and some bread. Do you like bread?”

That wasn't even a question. Jeongyeon remembers. But she had to tease Mina, at least once. It's been five years since they last talked, and Jeongyeon found it too easy to take a jab at her by acting like she doesn't remember anymore.

Jeongyeon smiles goofily at her direction, and Mina can’t help but burst into laughter.

Mina knows.

\\\\\\ 2015 \\\\\\
“Jeongyeon-chan~”

Jeongyeon hears her name called from a far. She knows whose voice it belongs to- that sweet, affectionate, unrelenting girl she had come to be friends with. Mina is first to turn around and sees Sana in a haste to take Jeongyeon around her arms.

“I miss you!” Sana tries to reach for her lips for a kiss but meets Jeongyeon's right palm instead. “Stingy!”

“Yah! Not on the lips!” the tallest one exclaims dismissing the now pouting Sana clinging onto her.

Mina giggles at the childish antics of her two friends. This was nothing new for them. The first time she witnessed it did surprise her but it eventually grew on her. Sana is upfront with her emotion, something she deduced, and something Mina never was. And when she found a liking to Jeongyeon, all Sana ever did was shower Jeongyeon with much affection she could give.

“I’m not giving up Jeongyeon-chan!” Sana quickly lands a kiss on the cheek to which Jeongyeon accepts without any resistance she once used to have. And it probably also grew on Jeongyeon too, the unrelenting affection that is. Sana is after all, not bad to look at.

“She’s been into you since last year.” Mina muses as soon as Sana left.

“And I managed to learn a few tricks since then.” Jeongyeon proudly replies back, now showing those tricks- the “in-your-face palm lips slap”, the “bend-to-the-side kiss on the cheek evade”, or the “duck-out-the-embrace”, which if they were to be honest, have been futile. Mina chuckles at the silliness Jeongyeon manages to do openly without any shame from the prying eyes of students around them.

“Why don’t you give her a try?”

Jeongyeon stops from the enactment and stares at Mina. She purses her lips, then lets out a smile, a kind of which Mina has not seen before.

“I have you.” she says, and continues, with such sincerity Mina didn’t expect, “I like spending my time with you, Mina.”

Mina stares away but not much to cause any awkward silence, and shifts their conversation to another topic. She didn’t want her emotion to get the best of her. Mina knows Jeongyeon loves to joke around. And this was no different.

////// 2024 //////
They talked for hours, sharing stories of each other that they only heard about today. Mina learned how Jeongyeon had to leave for Paris 4 years ago to learn Pastry making, how Jeongyeon struggled being on her own in a foreign land without any one by her side, how Jeongyeon worked multiple shifts so she could pursue her dream, how Jeongyeon finally managed to do so 2 years ago when she first opened her café, and how Jeongyeon and her walked the same path despite being away from each other.

They drowned themselves with more stories, laughter and now lukewarm red wine which both unconsciously hadn’t touched for quite some time now.

Mina knows this moment won’t last forever, so she lets her eyes focus on Jeongyeon, and watch with intent on every movement her face makes. From the slight curve of her lips, down to how her eyes form crescents when she laughs. Mina wants this memory engraved, something she could go back to when Jeongyeon is no longer in front of her, when she is no longer an arm away from her.

“How’d you know I’d come?”

“I didn’t. I only wished that you would.” Jeongyeon admits, voice softening as she adds "I really wanted to see you."

For a moment, Mina couldn't say a thing. The tone of Jeongyeon’s voice surprised her. She couldn't quite put a finger on the emotion behind it. Longing? Compassion? Affection? Something of each all rolled into one... or that Mina has forgotten how Jeongyeon always loved to joke around.

But for now, Mina had no clue. She still had to respond though, and she settles with an arrogant retort “Wish granted.”

Both burst into fits of laughter, and it slowly reminded Mina the many many times they have been like this. A reminder that made Mina realize that both of them were actually wishing for the exact same thing.

“Can’t believe Dahyun and Sana are getting married tomorrow!” Jeongyeon shoots with amusement in her tone.

“I never even knew they were together.” Mina tells her, adding “How did that happen?”

“Well” Jeongyeon purses her lips then continues “Nayeon and I set them up together. It wasn’t really smooth at first, but they did find their footing after a while. I remember telling Dahyun to try harder instead of giving up right away.”

“Playing cupid now aren’t we?” Mina teases.

“I could arrange you too, you know.” Jeongyeon proudly replies, holding that self-assured grin up.

“No thank you.”

“Ah,” the older one crosses her arms and plops her back from the seat. “You don’t really need my help anyway. How was your last relationship?”

Mina an eyebrow up “You read about me?”

“It’s Jihyo!” Jeongyeon manages to say without faltering “She’s been following stories about you” Jeongyeon blushes in an instant, and Mina, a cunning being that she is, wanted to deepen that blush but finds Jeongyeon too adorable to do so. So she opts to smile instead.

Jeongyeon’s tone quickly changed from panicky to deep concern, “Are you okay?”

“Better now.” Mina returns with a reassuring smile. “So this wedding, whose plan was it anyway.”

Jeongyeon’s mouth parted a little, taken aback by the change of topic. She wanted to ask more but decided not to. If Mina wanted privacy, Jeongyeon would always respect that.

“It’s more like exchanging vows in front of people you love. Marriage was not an option since it’s not legal yet but they are committed to be together forever. So they just woke up one morning and decided to make that in Dahyun’s term “forever” a “now”.” she ends with a puking gesture. Mina giggles at the childishness

“Imagine Sana marrying Dahyun and not to you. I remember she was all over you before.”

“I’m surprised I didn’t do anything about it.”

“Why didn’t you?”

The question slips right out of Mina’s lips, quick enough for her to regret asking. There was silence after the question was out in the open. She sees Jeongyeon’s smile drops. Mina wanted to throw a joke but couldn’t build any confidence to say anything back, she never was good at lightening the mood anyway.

Jeongyeon smiles again, gentler this time around, and speaks with such sincerity that catches Mina off guard,

“I had you.”

\\\\\\ 2016 \\\\\\
It has been a week since Mina had broken up with the girl from her class. Jeongyeon couldn’t remember the name, not that she bothered knowing, but that’s beside the point. She needed to console her, enough for Mina to forget the name as well. Maybe convincing her to watch a movie with their friends was not the best way to, especially when the chosen genre was romance.

Jeongyeon throws an angry look towards Jihyo who unfortunately was responsible for picking the m