“Did you get the snacks I sent you?” Karina Yoo asks as Minjeong settles the chicken parmesan in front of her.

 

“Yes.” The girl replies, sliding across the seat opposite of Karina Yoo, “Was the comparison of the snacks to yourself necessary though?”

 

Karina Yoo grins at the question, a look of pride plastered all over her face that Minjeong just badly wants to wipe away.

 

“Of course,” the celebrity claims, “It was to motivate you to eat them diligently while you think of me,” winking at the other girl as if to charm her more.

 

This earned a disgusted look from Minjeong. “I would almost gag every time I remember what you wrote. It didn’t help at all, Jimin.”

 

Karina Yoo simply snorted, “Now why are you lying? I know my pretty face had been popping up in your head every time you took a bite of the delicious croissants.”

 

Well, true.

 

In fact, Yoo Jimin had been in Minjeong’s head 24/7 as of late. The girl had somehow wormed its way inside Minjeong’s mind and decided to make herself at home, settling down like a fearless occupant enjoying her space rent free.

 

But Minjeong would die first before she admits this fact out loud.

 

“Believe whatever you want to believe,” Minjeong rolls her eyes, leaning back against her chair as she soaks in at the sight of Karina Yoo in front of her, “But thanks I guess. I haven’t thanked you properly for that.”

 

It was Minjeong’s way of asking the girl where had she been, considering that it has almost been a week since she visited the diner. Minjeong had prepared herself for the teasing she would get from Karina Yoo about the snacks, expecting that the girl would show up the next day.

 

She didn’t.

 

Minjeong would swallow the disappointment that came bubbling up her stomach every night when there was no sight of a tall, annoying celebrity appearing at the door of the restaurant.

 

She blames it on the croissants.

 

Minjeong reasons that she wanted to know where Karina Yoo bought it so she can personally visit the pastry shop. But since the singer was absent for almost like a week, Minjeong wasn’t able to ask her about it and was hopelessly left craving for the heavenly croissants after running out of the bread.

 

(Minjeong tells herself she was craving for the croissants only, not for a pair of beautiful feline eyes and arrogant mouth with a beauty mark beside it. Of course not.)

 

“Yeah, sorry about that. They gave me tons of things to do this week.” Karina Yoo says, catching on to the unspoken inquiry in Minjeong’s statement, “I have been to voice lessons, photoshoots, interviews, variety show filming; name it. I was all over the place so I couldn’t come to hear you say that I am the best woman in the entire universe.” playfully finishing it with a waggle of her brows, though her pair of tired eyes gave away the fact that she was indeed been busy to the point of exhaustion.

 

Minjeong ignores the mischievous remark, “Have you at least been getting enough sleep?” frowning at the bags under Karina Yoo’s eyes that weren’t there the last time she saw her. “What time do you usually finish?”

 

“Around 2AM? I get home around 3 depending on the distance from my schedule.”

 

“And what time would you wake up?”

 

“5, 5:30..”

 

Minjeong found her jaw dropping at the revelation, “That’s like 2 hours of sleep! How do you even survive that?”

 

Karina Yoo just shrugged, “I’m used to it.”

 

Minjeong isn’t. “Well it’s not healthy,” she sighs, clearly disturbed at the lifestyle of the celebrity, “You should at least catch up on your sleep when you have time. Take some naps in-between breaks. You shouldn’t even be here right now you should be sleeping.”

 

Karina Yoo snorted, “Says who?”

 

“I say.” Minjeong retorts back, determined. Karina Yoo’s laidback attitude on her unhealthy routine slowly making her pop veins in all the wrong places, “Getting 2 hours of sleep isn’t healthy for you, Jimin. But since you cannot help it because it’s basically part of your job, you should compensate your sleepless days whenever you’re free. Just like now. You should be resting instead of being out here chitchatting.”

 

“Relax, Minjeong,” Karina Yoo reached for her hand on the table, resting her own on top of Minjeong’s to reassure her that, “I’m fine okay? It’s been days that I haven’t seen your pretty face and I missed you. I needed to see you before I lose my mind.”

 

Minjeong in a breath at the statement.

 

Even with bags under her tired eyes, Karina Yoo will always find a way to knock the air out of Minjeong’s lungs, leaving her panting and light-headed.

 

Staaphhhh..

 

“S-stop with the nonsense,” she looks away with an obvious heat flooding her face, “Just eat your dinner so you could go home and rest.”

 

“I’m not eating that.”

 

Minjeong snaps her head back to the girl. “Excuse me?”

 

“You heard me,” Karina Yoo shrugs, “I’m not eating that.”

 

The girl is being ridiculously difficult tonight and Minjeong doesn’t know if she brought enough stack of patience with her to deal with Karina Yoo and her attitude, “May I know why you’re being an right now and refuses to eat your order?”

 

“I didn’t order that.” Karina Yoo was quick to defend, “You just served it the moment I settled myself here.”

 

Not totally a lie.

 

Ever since Karina Yoo frequented the diner (and ordered Chicken Parmesan in every damn visit), Minjeong always made sure to remind Mark to prepare the meal. Even when Karina Yoo stopped coming for the past days, Minjeong kept reminding their chef just in case the celebrity suddenly showed up.

 

And when she did tonight, Minjeong safely presumed that Karina Yoo would want the same order because, and she quotes, “I like chicken and I like cheese. They’re both in the same dish so I win”. Karina Yoo said it so herself.

 

So why the hell is she being a stubborn woman in her twenties right now?

 

“Well, that’s your usual order. I thought you like cheese and chicken in the same dish?”

 

“Not tonight.” Karina Yoo shook her head, “I don’t feel like eating chicken parmesan.”

 

Minjeong rubs her temple in exasperation, “Okay...what do you want to eat then? C’mon tell me. So I could tell Mark to prepare it for you.”

 

“I don’t want to eat.”

 

Minjeong snaps her head back for the second time that night she’s afraid she might have gotten a whiplash, “What?”

 

“Stop making me repeat myself, Kim Minjeong,” Karina Yoo argues, sighing tiredly as if she isn’t the one tiring Minjeong out with her act tonight.

 

“Well then at least tell me why you don’t want to eat?”

 

“I just don’t.” Karina Yoo retorts, “I don’t have the appetite to eat any non-homemade food right now. I’ve been eating take-outs this week I think I’m gonna vomit if I eat any more of that.”

 

“Then cook something for yourself,” Minjeong disputes, unconvinced of Karina Yoo’s excuse, “I don’t see any reason for you not to eat because you can very well prepare something for yourself.”

 

“That’s the thing because I don’t know how to cook,” Karina Yoo slyly made finger guns and seemingly shot Minjeong with clicks of her tongue, “I can’t cook to save my life.”

 

Minjeong stared at the girl in disbelief, “You don’t know how to cook?” which Karina Yoo shook her head in response, “Not even a fried egg?”

 

“Not even a fried egg.”

 

Minjeong felt her temple throb at the information. Of course, the seemingly picture-perfect Karina Yoo could do anything but cook, a skill so useful and sustainable to keep thyself from malnutrition but apparently didn’t make it to the girl’s list of things to learn.

 

A dumb way to die.

 

“Wendy unnie would usually cook me dinner whenever we get hectic like this because she knows I would despise eating take-outs in the long run,” Karina Yoo adds, playing with the rim of the plate, “But if my schedule had been busy, hers was outright demanding. She only got to nap in the trailer van whenever we’d travel to my schedule and then she’d be all over the place the entire day. I just didn’t want to bother her so I told her to take some days off.”

 

Minjeong sighed. Karina Yoo looked like a lost kid trying to explain herself and she suddenly didn’t have it in her to yell at the girl about how she could have tried to learn cooking before.

 

“So what are you gonna do about it? You just won’t eat because your manager isn’t here to cook for you?”

 

Karina Yoo frowns, a pout on her lips, “There are cereal and some lipton in my house. That would do it.”

 

Minjeong found herself rubbing her temples again.

 

She feels like she would regret the next words she would say but it was out before Minjeong could even entirely process the idea.

 

“Alright. C’mon,” Standing up from her seat and pulling Karina Yoo with her, “Let’s go to my place. I’ll cook something for you.”

 

The confused but blinding smile Karina Yoo showed her may or may not have sent Minjeong to the first-level pearly gates of heaven, making her think that bringing Karina Yoo to her place might not be a bad idea after all.

 

 

 

***

 

 

Minjeong takes it back.

 

Taking Karina Yoo to her place is a very bad idea. A very bad, life-changing, never-occurred-to-her, totally insane, idea.

 

Not only did she have an extra hard time to get them to her apartment without being swarmed by fans because apparently, the celebrity is nationwide-famous even her silhouette was almost recognizable by any ordinary citizen;

 

 

(“Is that Karina Yoo?”

 

“Oh my god what is she doing in this neighborhood?”

 

“Are you sure it’s her?”

 

“I think so? The figure looks like her?”

 

“Yeah, and look at the shadow. It looks like her.”

 

“Should we go ask?”

 

“What? No! What if it’s not her? That’s embarrassing.”

 

“Well what if she is? There’s no harm in asking.”

 

“No, come on. Let’s not embarrass ourselves.”

 

“But—“

 

“Let’s go. My mom’s waiting for us. That’s not Karina Yoo, trust me.”)

 

 

But the celebrity also started cooing at the baby pictures framed somewhere in her living room once Minjeong successfully managed to sneak her inside her home without her neighbors from two floors below noticing.

 

 

(“Oh my god you are such a cutie when you were younger, Kim Minjeong!”

 

“Does that mean I’m no longer cute now?”

 

“No, not at all. You’re still cute now but you’re specifically the cutest when you were younger!”

 

“Oh s-shut up. I’m not..”

 

“Yes you are! Look at you~ So tiny and so baby..”

 

“I am not a baby..”

 

“Can I have one of these? Please?”

 

“No. Wait, yah! Put it back!”)

 

 

Above all, it’s the stray cat situation that got Minjeong reevaluating if it was indeed a good idea to have Karina Yoo in her place. The said situation being the stray cats that she had been feeding since she moved in have stubbornly followed them to her place, particularly Karina Yoo, something that she has tried so hard to prevent.

 

She is a college student with a hectic life. She doesn’t have time to take care of pets despite loving animals. Minjeong was contented feeding them from time to time but stopped herself from going to the extent of bringing them inside her place so they won’t make themselves comfortable.

 

Seems like her effort to keep the cats at arms’ length has been flushed down the drain because here they are, happily rubbing themselves on Karina Yoo’s calf, in her living room.

 

“They are so cute!” the celebrity fussed, squatting down to the cats’ ears, much to their pleasure. “You didn’t tell me you have cats, Kim Minjeong!”

 

“I don’t.” Minjeong huffed, “They are stray cats that I have been feeding ever since I moved here,” opening her fridge to see what she can cook for the celebrity.

 

“Aww look at you being such a kind person,” Karina Yoo commented, a playful tone in her voice, making Minjeong roll her eyes in defiance as she inspects her freezer for the meat she remembered buying.

 

“Shut up. They were just annoying brats who wouldn’t stop rubbing themselves at my feet until I give them something. So I had to give in.”

 

She hears Karina Yoo giggling just in time for her head to pull back from the inside of the fridge and look up. Minjeong met a sight that is probably the most pleasing view for her up to date.

 

Karina Yoo casually seated on the floor of her living room, petting and making baby noises for the poor stray cats as they loudly purr from her gentle caresses.

 

Minjeong thinks the girl looks just in place; like Karina Yoo was made to be there, the missing flavor to the dull and boring white walls of Minjeong’s apartment.

 

And Minjeong she…

 

She finds herself suddenly wanting for time to stop just so she could soak in at the beautiful sight a little bit more, buy her a few more seconds so she could ingrain this moment in her subconscious and store it in a compartment dedicated for pleasing memories she’d gladly go back to.

 

But of course, what Minjeong wants, she doesn’t get.

 

“Do they have names?” she heard Karina Yoo asking as her heart eyes followed the cats’ movements.

 

The question pulled Minjeong out of her reverie, shaking her head as she quietly collects herself from the fleeting moment of weakness.

 

“Uh, no. I haven’t given them names.”

 

Karina Yoo looked up at her, a little frown on her face. “Why didn’t you give them names? I thought you said you feed them?”

 

“I do,” Minjeong turns back to the fridge and pulls out items from the inside, “I just don’t find the need to name them since they’re not my pets.”

 

“How do you address them whenever you feed them, then?”

 

Minjeong shrugs, “Kitty kitty?”

 

Karina Yoo’s childish whining echoes inside Minjeong’s apartment, amused fits of giggle filling in between.

 

“What kind of name is that, Kim Minjeong?”

 

“The perfect name,” Minjeong finds herself chuckling at her own reasoning, looking up to see that Karina Yoo is already looking at her with an amused smile on her face.

 

Easy Minjeong.. it’s not like this is the first time you met her eyes like this..

 

“You are such a dork,” Karina Yoo shook her head, smiling. “I think we should give them names. The kitty kitty nonsense has to stop.”

 

Minjeong tries to ignore the jolt in her body when she heard Karina Yoo refer to them as a ‘we’. It’s normal to call them that right? Correct plural pronouns..

 

“What do you have in mind?” she asks, settling every ingredient on her counter top so she could start cooking.

 

“Hmmmm,” Karina Yoo wonders out loud, her thinking face looking so adorable Minjeong do not have it in herself to look away. “How about Myong and Myang?”

 

Minjeong perked up at the names. They have a really nice ring to it that Minjeong finds herself smiling at the suggested names, “That’s cute. Who’s Myong and who’s Myang then?”

 

Karina Yoo pulled the brown one to her lap, “This one is Myong,” she pointed at the black one who was walking its way towards Minjeong, “That one is Myang.”

 

A ball of fur suddenly curled around Minjeong’s legs and she looks down at the black cat rubbing itself on her ankle. Minjeong squats down, smiling when it started purring loudly when she petted it. “I think she likes her name.”

 

“Right??” Karina Yoo exclaims. “I think Myong likes hers too! Aren’t you, Myongie? You like your name Myongie, don’t you?”

 

Minjeong isn’t the type to be soft at something, at least not openly. But right now, with Karina Yoo baby talking Myong looking so.. so contented, Minjeong can feel herself, together with the sturdy walls she had been building for years of self-preservation, melting in every sense of the word.

 

Ghad, this is crazy..

 

 

 

***

 

 

(“We should adopt Myong and Myang.”

 

“W-we?”

 

“Yes. You and I, Kim Minjeong.”

 

“B-but why?”

 

“Coz adopting pets are better than buying them. We won’t be spending anything and we can save poor animals on the streets. It’s a win-win.”

 

“No, I mean, why us? We aren’t living together or something to adopt cats..”

 

“Oh? Is this you asking me to move in with you? Coz like, I’m—”

 

“Oh my god no! O-of course not! Why would you even—we’re not even—ugh! Nevermind.”)

 

 

 

***

 

 

“Alright, eat up.” Minjeong puts down a bowl infront of Karina Yoo who had been eagerly waiting on the table. She saw the girl visibly light up at what she prepared.

 

“I’ve been craving for some donnaengmyeon!” the celebrity exclaims, clearly delighted at the dish, “How did you know that I’ve been craving for cold noodles? I didn’t remember telling you.”

 

Minjeong fights the blush that was threatening to spread across her face, clearing to mask it as she settles across Karina Yoo. “You look like you could use some soup. And I just know that the take-outs you’ve been eating these days are dry as heck so I thought cooking something with broth would be a good idea.”

 

“It’s the best idea.” Karina Yoo corrects, down to her third slurp of the noodles, “And it’s delicious! I could marry you right now Kim Minjeong.”

 

Minjeong finds herself snorting at the remark, mentally patting herself for successfully hiding the disarray she felt upon hearing the compliment.

 

“People always say that when they’re hungry. Trust me, I work in a diner.” she chuckles at the sight of the celebrity practically inhaling the cold noodles. Minjeong eventually rolls her eyes when she saw how messy the celebrity is upon looking up from her bowl.

 

“But it’s true though. It’s delicious and I want this kind of meal every day of my life.”

 

Unconsciously, Minjeong had reached out to the celebrity, wiping something on the girl’s lower lip that she had been eyeing the moment she looked up from her slurping. She didn’t even know what she was doing until Karina Yoo grabbed her wrist when she was about to pull away.

 

Minjeong heard herself yelping at the contact of Karina Yoo’s hand on her wrist. But the sound of her heart beating erratically in her ribcage was found more deafening in her ears she was praying to the gods, the universe, anyone who can hear her pleas, that Karina Yoo doesn’t hear the rabid pounding in her chest.

 

“Minjeong-ah.” Karina Yoo whispers, soft and delicate and soft..

 

“Hmm?” was all Minjeong could manage, too tongue tied to formulate a real word.

 

Karina Yoo’s piercing brown eyes is making it hard for her to maintain the eye contact, feeling as if she is baring herself at an untamed vixen ready to pounce on her any second. Minjeong can practically feel herself dissolving like a candle wax the longer she counters the celebrity’s burning gaze on her.

 

It is not a judging stare though; more like, puzzled and calculating. As if Karina Yoo is trying to gauge something in Minjeong just by the stare itself.

 

And perhaps, Minjeong was right. Maybe Karina Yoo was indeed gauging something because when she heard the next words, Minjeong had to gauge something in herself too.

 

“Do you still not find me interesting?”

 

The question sent Minjeong staggering, holding unto dear straws that she herself had been trying to make sense of as of late. The question wasn’t too vague; but it wasn’t clear either.

 

Is Karina Yoo talking about finding her interesting as a celebrity? Or is Karina Yoo talking about…something else?

 

The questions in Minjeong’s head are too loud she didn’t hear the opening of her door and the footsteps that came after. Even Karina Yoo seems oblivious as well, too engrossed in expecting a response from Minjeong that she didn’t notice the presence of another person suddenly joining their company.

 

It was only when a sudden ear-splitting, head throbbing, seriously non-human, shriek came resonating inside the four-walled apartment that Minjeong and Karina Yoo finally noticed the presence of the intruder.

 

“Oh my goddddd!!” the loud screech came, Minjeong and Karina Yoo both snapping their heads up at the voice, “Oh my goddddddd!!!!!”

 

Minjeong saw the eyes of the intruder travel on her wrist locked around Karina Yoo’s hand, making her pull away from the grasp of the celebrity after feeling conscious for some reason.

 

“N-Ning Yizhuo..” Minjeong stutters, awestruck at the sudden presence of her bestfriend a.k.a the biggest Karina fan to ever exist (not her words), “W-what are you doing here?”

 

“What are you doing??” Yizhuo corrects, clearly dumbfounded at the presence of her ultimate bias at her bestfriend’s house. “What is going on??”

 

Karina Yoo, who casually resumed her meal as if Minjeong isn’t trickling cold sweat at their situation, answered her, “Minjeong here decided to feed me tonight.”

 

This earned another set of sound from Yizhuo, this time a very surprised gasp that Minjeong finds herself physically flinching at.

 

“You’re real?” the poor girl asked, more to herself, “I am not hallucinating?”

 

“No you’re not. I am indeed here, Ning Yizhuo.”

 

Another gasp. “Y-you just said my name.” to which Minjeong has a hint as to what will come next.

 

And she’s right. In situations as unforeseen as this one, there is always this flight response Ning Yizhuo would always get into.

 

Active, straight up, denial.

 

“Oh no, this isn’t real. No no no no no, this gotta be some weird dream.” She frantically says to herself, suddenly walking back and forth within the small space of Minjeong’s kitchen with one palm on her head, her other hand on her hip. “This isn’t real Ning Yizhuo. You gotta wake up. Wake up sister! Why aren’t you waking up?!”

 

Minjeong saw her bestfriend started slapping her face as if to really wake herself up and it was getting stronger by the second, “Yah yah, stop it. Stop hitting yourself!”

 

“No no no, stop talking to me. You are not real. You are not Minjeong unnie. She is not Karina Yoo. I am not in the real world I need to wake up.”

 

“No, Ning Yizhuo listen to me—”

 

“Oh my godddddd, you really sound like Minjeong unnie,” Yizhuo panics, shutting her eyes close this time, “I swear this is just a dream but why do things feel so real??? Is this a side effect of eating my favorite sundaegguk? Am I getting hypertension while asleep that’s why I get dreams that are so vivid like this??”

 

“Ning Yizhuo—”

 

“Oh my godddddd, am I dying? Is this what dying feels like? I thought it’s supposed to hurt as heck??”

 

“Ning Yizh—”

 

“Please, I can’t die yet!! I have a lot of dreams for myself!! I’m too young to die I have my entire life ahead of me!! Plus I am yet to tell Minjeong unnie about the strawberries I hid in her closet! Those will rot!”

 

“What—”

 

“Oh dear oh dear oh dear. Please please please, wake me up from this dream please—”

 

 

“NING YIZHUO!”

 

The desperate pleas and mantras ceased, replaced by a sudden, deafening silence.

 

“C’mere,” Minjeong coaxes, gently dragging the poor and dumbfounded girl to her seat across Karina Yoo, “Take a seat and eat while I tell you everything.”

 

And that is how Minjeong ended up explaining everything to her traumatized bestfriend in the middle of her kitchen at 12 midnight. From the story of fatefully meeting Karina Yoo at the convenience store to the affiliation of the celebrity to her boss Kim Yerim. Minjeong leaves out the parts where Karina Yoo told her about her interest in her. That would be the last thing she would do considering Yizhuo’s crazy tendencies and well.. Karina Yoo is basically across them. She’s not going to expose the girl like that.

 

“And you didn’t tell me about this??” Yizhuo nagged, crossing her arms at Minjeong who could only look sheepish, “How long were you planning to keep me in the dark?”

 

Yizhuo’s raised eyebrow and intimidating aura would have worked on Minjeong if not for the really adorable pout on her lips.

 

“I wasn’t planning to keep you in the dark,” Minjeong defends, “I-I just don’t know how to break it to you.”

 

“Why?” it was Karina Yoo who asked this time, “Are you ashamed of me?”

 

“What??” Minjeong snaps her head up at the question, incredulity written all over her face. “Where did you even get that idea?”

 

“Well it took you long enough to tell Ningning, your best friend,” Karina Yoo reasons, “If it wasn’t her barging in tonight and finding me here, you wouldn’t have told her.”

 

“I would have. I was just waiting for the right time,” Minjeong retorts, angling her body so she could face Karina Yoo better, “I will never be ashamed of you, Jimin. There’s no single plausible reason to be ashamed of you of all people.”

 

This time, Minjeong was adamant in maintaining eye contact with Karina Yoo, hoping that she can successfully convey the candor in her words through her eyes. Minjeong doesn’t know why but she doesn’t want Karina Yoo to feel that she is any sort of uncomfortable letting others know that they’re somehow acquainted, let alone be ashamed of her.

 

At any rate, Minjeong should be the one asking Karina Yoo. She is just a lowly, college student working at a diner to get by in college and the girl in her kitchen right now is a literal superstar. If anything (and she would have been foaming in the mouth right now if this was her a month ago), it should be Karina Yoo who should be embarrassed to be talking with Minjeong.

 

But before Minjeong could go on about her soliloquy, a small, contented smile adorned Karina Yoo’s face, a course of pride suddenly surging through Minjeong because she did that.

She didn’t know when it started but seeing Karina Yoo shoot her a smile like this has become Minjeong’s silent goal every time they are together. Right now, she feels ecstatic to see it up close.

 

“What a character development you got here. Just last month you wanted nothing to do with Karina unnie,” Ning Yizhuo cuts in with her assessment that Minjeong basically expected, “Right now, you’re professing your love to her.”

 

Minjeong felt heat rushing all over her face, “What nonsense are you talking about? I’m not p-professing my love to anyone. I’m just answering her in all honesty because what is there to be ashamed of anyway.”

 

Yizhuo doesn’t seem convinced, “Right..” looking back and forth the two women across her, intrigued.

 

Minjeong decided to cut in through her thoughts before the girl could even go deeper.

 

“So that’s just about it, Ning Yizhuo. I won’t be introducing you to each other since you basically know her already. I hope you’re not weirded out or something.”

 

“Weirded out?” the youngest of the three exclaimed, “This is actually the greatest thing! It means I could actually be friends with my ultimate idol aacckkkkk!” her fangirl mode suddenly on a raging mode as compared to her intriguing stares awhile ago.

 

Yizhuo is suddenly staring at Karina Yoo as if she just saw her for the first time and Minjeong, as much as she is worried her bestfriend might pounce on the celebrity right then and there, is actually relieved that she successfully diverted the girl’s attention away from the blatant and unnamed tension between her and Karina Yoo.

 

Good save, Kim Minjeong..

 

And so Yizhuo went on and on about loving Karina Yoo, from how she became a fan to how she appreciates the girl in every performance and songs under her name. Much to Minjeong’s amusement, the celebrity happily listened to Ningning. She paid attention to everything the girl was talking about and would shyly brush away compliments the girl would throw her way.

 

It is somehow a foreign sight to see the girl so bashful because whenever she’s with Minjeong, Karina Yoo would all be smug and smirking. Right now, the celebrity is sort of prim and proper; it was almost as if she was calculating whether to let loose and let her guards down.

 

So Minjeong stares at her.

 

She doesn’t exactly know why but she was hoping that by doing so would at least make the girl feel a little bit reassured that Yizhuo is a friend and she will never judge.

 

And perhaps it worked. Maybe it did because when Karina Yoo catches her eyes for a moment while Yizhuo goes on and on about that one performance at Music Bank, the girl sent her a grateful smile. As if she had read what Minjeong was staring about and that she’s thankful for the reassurance.

 

When she felt a hand on top of hers under the table, Minjeong completely understood. Karina Yoo found her hand resting on her knee and silently intertwined their fingers, conveying feelings that cannot be conveyed through words because it was Yizhuo’s turn to speak (and boy does she speak).

 

So they settle for this.

 

Nevermind Minjeong’s ears burning at the tips. Nevermind the rabid beating of the muscle enclosed in her ribcage. Nevermind her sweaty palm and cold fingers.

 

All that matters is how delicate these all feels as Karina Yoo traces her thumb on Minjeong’s skin while she listens attentively to Yizhuo across her.

 

It almost felt scandalous having their hands tangled under the table as Ningning yaps on about her obsession with Karina Yoo right to her face. Almost.

 

But it altogether stopped feeling like one because Minjeong felt…contented, at peace to be having Karina Yoo’s warmth under her fingertips.

 

Minjeong realized that there is nothing to feel scandalous about something so soothing. Even if there is, Minjeong doesn’t give a flying .

 

At least at this moment she doesn’t.

 

She doesn’t because all Minjeong could feel is how having Karina Yoo’s hand interlaced with hers is calming and right and enough.

 

This is enough, Minjeong thinks. She is enough.

 

 

 

***

 

 

(“So tell me about the strawberries you said you hid at my closet?”

 

“What? When did I say that?”

 

“Awhile ago when you were hyperventilating.”

 

“I said that?”

 

“Yes. Loud and clear.”

 

“Oh my gosh. That was like a month ago unnie!”

 

“A month ago?!”

 

“Yes! Remember when you wouldn’t give me strawberries whenever I come here because you said you always run out of them? So I hid them out of spite.”

 

“What the , Ning Yizhuo?!”

 

“I’m sorry! You were being a strawberry hoarder and you know how obsessed I am with that fruit!”

 

“So you had to hide them?!”

 

“Yes! It was the only way!”

 

“You insolent child! YAH! GET BACK HERE!”)

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

“Are you sure it’s clear?”

 

“Yes unnie, I just told you. There’s no one in the premises right now.”

 

“How about the fences? Have you checked the fences?”

 

“I did. It’s clear. You should trust me more when it comes to this, as her number one, most trustworthy and ultimate fan.”

 

Minjeong rolls her eyes even though the girl over the line couldn’t see it, “Yeah yeah whatever. She’ll be down in five. Tell me if you see anything suspicious.”

 

“Aye captain~”

 

Minjeong ends the call and turns to the girl who was playing with Myong and Myang near the door. It was a sight to behold but Minjeong couldn’t keep Karina Yoo any longer, not with how late it was and the celebrity still has a schedule at 5AM.

 

“Jimin,” she calls out, making the girl look up with a residual grin on her face from the cats’ playfulness, “Ningning said it’s clear. You should get going.”

 

Jutting her lower lip out, Karina Yoo stood up from her knee after patting the cats for the last time. “I don’t want to go..”

 

Minjeong found herself sighing. She doesn’t want to admit it but she shares the same sentiment as the girl.

 

“I know,” she chose to say, “But you have a schedule early in the morning and it’s pretty late. You need to rest and get some sleep.”

 

Karina Yoo continues to pout, “ schedules. Who needs them anyway?”

 

“You, apparently.” Minjeong chuckles, “So you could keep your superstar status and number one position in brand ranking reputation.”

 

Karina Yoo raised an amused brow at this, “Look who’s updated about that stuff other than Ningning. And you said you aren’t a fan..”

 

“I was there beside you during this conversation with her a while ago, dummy,” Minjeong retorts, “Don’t be so full of yourself,” walking to the direction of the door only to be stopped by Karina Yoo’s tall figure hovering above her.

 

The girl’s Jo Malone Blackberry and Bay fills Minjeong’s nostrils, almost sending her reeling at the richness of the scent and proximity of it all.

 

“W-what are you doing?” poor Minjeong could only stutter, avoiding the girl’s eyes that are boring holes into her.

 

“Being close as possible because I might not be around to see you for the next few days.”

 

This made Minjeong look up, meeting the eyes she was trying hard to avoid a while ago, “You won’t?”

 

Minjeong almost felt Karina Yoo shrugging with the very close distance they are in. “I’m not yet sure. But the last time I checked, tonight was the only night I don’t have a schedule until 2AM. Unless there will be changes, it would stay that way for the next few days.”

 

Minjeong could only nod in response. She prays that her face will not show how she is really kind of saddened by the information.

 

“Well, all the more that you need to get going so you could have more time for sleep.”

 

But Karina Yoo ignores this. “Won’t you miss me?” she asked instead, sending Minjeong to hold unto her straws of self-preservation yet again.

 

Why is this girl making it so hard for her?

 

“Does it really matter?” Minjeong finds herself asking, leveling up her gaze with Karina Yoo’s intense one. The girl isn’t the only one who knows how to be bold here.

 

“Yes. Definitely.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because it’s you,” Karina Yoo casually responded, as if she didn’t just make Minjeong lose her emotional balance at the answer, “Everything about you matters to me Kim Minjeong.”

 

Minjeong had to look away.

 

The tenacity in Karina Yoo’s eyes was domineering Minjeong couldn’t hold it with her collapsing one any longer. She had to avert her gaze and collect herself from the words Karina Yoo just dropped. The amount of emotional outbursts that she had been experiencing since meeting the celebrity had probably reached its new peak tonight, leaving Minjeong to in a long, deep breath to gather herself, albeit futile because she is still a wreck.

 

“You’re making it so hard for me, Jimin.” Minjeong whispers, sounding so conflicted, “It’s becoming a bit of a challenge to resist this, this thing, whatever this is.”

 

“Then stop resisting,” Karina Yoo encourages, tilting Minjeong’s chin with her finger so she could meet her eye to eye, “The more you resist it, the more it persists. Stop fighting it.”

 

Minjeong felt herself leaning in to the touch, leaning in for something else. Karina Yoo is suddenly so close and her plump lips are looking so full from the proximity. Minjeong can already feel the warmth radiating off the girl’s body with how close they are at the moment.

 

It doesn’t help that the fingers keeping her in place was extra soft and smooth, making gentle circles on her chin that kept Minjeong hyperaware of her surroundings.

 

If she could just.. just a little..

 

But before things could even meet halfway, Minjeong’s phone blared. A loud, obnoxious sound that made her and Karina Yoo jump out of the bubble they were in, forcefully reverting them back to reality.

 

Ning Yizhuo is calling…

 

Of ing course.

 

“Minjeong unnie, Karina unnie is not yet here.. Has she left already?”

 

Minjeong found herself rubbing her temples profusely at the call and whatever it was that was supposed to happen if not for the call.

 

“Uh, n-no. She is yet to go down,” Minjeong glares at the celebrity who chuckled when she heard her stutter, “She was playing with Myong and Myang and they were all being clingy. But she’ll go down now. Is there anything suspicious so far?”

 

“None right now. But I saw two women pass by me that’s why I called. Tell unnie to come down faster while there are no people in sight.”

 

“Yeah okay. Sure. She’ll be right there. Thanks Ning.”

 

When the call ended, Minjeong was met with a smug-looking Karina Yoo. All gentleness and somber she sported just seconds ago dissipating into thin air and is replaced by her usual playful demeanor.

 

“Using Myong and Myang as a scapegoat, huh?” the celebrity smirked that kind of smirk that Minjeong always badly wanted to wipe off her face, “Didn’t know you have it in you, Kim Minjeong.”

 

“Oh shut up,” she hit the girl on the arm, earning a giggling yelp, “Go now before someone sees you here.”

 

Before she could even completely push Karina Yoo towards the door, the singer turns at Minjeong and opens her palm.

 

“Give me your phone,” to which Minjeong just stared at incredulously, “Just give me your phone, Kim Minjeong.”

 

Having no energy to argue, Minjeong handed her phone to the impatient woman. A few taps here and there and Karina Yoo hands it back to her.

 

“There. I got your number and you got mine. So you could call me whenever you miss me. You’re welcome.”

 

Minjeong could only scoff at the audacity.

 

“Whatever makes you sleep at night,” pushing the girl towards the door even harder now, “Go, now. Yizhuo is waiting.”

 

“Wait wait.” Karina Yoo halted on her steps, “One more thing.”

 

“What is it now?” Minjeong whines, exasperated at the constant interruption of the girl from completely leaving her place. The prospect of hitting one famous superstar in the face and getting sued for assault sounds inviting for Minjeong.

 

But before she could even dwell on the idea, Minjeong felt a pair of soft lips on her cheek, leaving her practically breathless for a millisecond before she eventually relearned the art of breathing after the said lips pulled away, only for the same pair of lips to hover a little above her ear and knock the air out of her lungs again when Karina Yoo whispered:

 

“A kiss on the cheek so you’d crave for my lips just as I craved for yours. Good night, Minjeong.”

 

It was only after Karina Yoo left that Minjeong finally lets out the breath she didn’t know she was holding. It takes another breath for her to lean her head against the closed door and another long, meaningful one before she finally mutters to herself, her heart racing and knees buckling,

 

“You’re such a sad, helpless gay, Kim Minjeong. So sad. So helpless..”