The hallway on the senior floor was quiet and uninhabited as it's already late in the afternoon. Anyone with a sane mind would've already been at home by now except the two people at the lockers. Nayeon was leaning against the row of metals, arms folded over her chest as she tried to fight the coldness of February. She wonders how Mina could look so unbothered in this weather wearing just that hoodie she stole from her closet as she observes the Japanese keyed in the lock combination of her locker. She heard Mina gasps when something — okay, a lot of things, fell out of her locker the seconds she swung it open. Nayeon looked down at a pink envelope and box of chocolate that fell near her feet and rolled her eyes.

 

"Just another day of being miss popular," she says, straightens up and bent down to help Mina collect now scattered objects on the floor. She held the heart-shaped chocolate box in her hand. "Seriously? It's not even Valentine yet."

 

Nayeon observes the small gap on top of the locker and wonders how can they even manage to fit this box through that. Whoever this person is, their effort— "You can have that. It's your favorite." —would be a total waste since it's going into Nayeon's stomach anyway.

 

Nayeon shrugs, putting the box under her arm and proceeds to open the envelope in her hand but before she could read the first sentence, a hand snatches the letter away. "Nope, this one is mine."

 

"So, you do like the attention after all." Nayeon says, dejected as she watches Mina shove the letter and probably another ten of it inside her bag then slams the locker shut. She wonders why Mina always gives her the other things—foods especially, like the chocolate just now, but never lets her read the letters as she follows behind the Japanese towards the school entrance.

 

/

 

"You should tell her."

 

Nayeon turns her head and looks questioningly at the president. "Tell her what?"

 

Jihyo didn't answer, instead turning her head towards where Nayeon previously looked at, making Nayeon follow her action. "You've been boring a hole at the back of Jinwoo's head for a while now."

 

"I don't like him." Nayeon says, clicking her tongue in annoyance. Her frown deepens when she sees Mina giggling at whatever the told her. She bets it wasn't anything entertaining Mina is just too nice to tell him off. But then her eyes accidentally meet Mina's when the Japanese looks behind Jinwoo's shoulder and Nayeon scrambles to look away, almost shoving her drink off the table. Jihyo chuckles at her friend's panicking state, her tone teasing when she says the next words.

 

"Oh, I wonder why."

 

/

 

"Nayeon-ssi."

 

Nayeon turned around from rummaging through the contents of her locker to a nervous looking guy behind her. Raising an eyebrow slightly as she watched him shuffle restlessly on his feet. "Can I help you?" Please do not be another confessor, Nayeon prays in her mind. She had already broken enough heart for today.

 

The boy's eyes darted around nervously, like he was afraid of something which is weird because he was about to confess to her. If there's anything he should be afraid of, it was Nayeon rejecting him. When he finally looked at Nayeon again, she was about to ask him again what the hell he actually wanted but before she could open , the boy shoved something into her hand.

 

"Nayeon!"

 

The call from the end of the hallway surprised both of them, making them jump slightly on their feet. Nayeon turned her head towards the sound and saw Mina walking closer to them. She then looks back to the boy, ready to reject him as politely as she can but the boy beats her first.

 

"Please give it to Mina-ssi." He hastily said then fled from the hallway.

 

"Another admirer?" Mina teases as she stands beside her, looking down at a chocolate bar and a small envelope in Nayeon's hand.

 

"It's for you actually." Nayeon says, turning to look at Mina to show her the name on the envelope. She sees the Japanese's eyebrows raised in surprise as she takes the things. "Really?"

 

"Yeah, congrats on getting yourself a secret admirer." She said, then turned around and walked towards the entrance, Mina who was still fascinated by the fact someone liked her following her closely behind.

 

It was like an unofficial rule in this school, if you accept the first gifts, the others would soon follow. It's as if the first one is the green light for the others to do the same. And Mina accepted the first one. Well, it's actually Nayeon but that's not the point here and the damage also had been done.

 

So the following week, the gifts and letters never crease, always spill out of her locker whenever she swung it open. And sometimes too, they use Nayeon as a freaking dove.

 

Mina first received it when they were sixteen and now two years later, she still received it. Every single ing day.

 

/

 

"Shim Jinwoo?"

 

"No. Too full of himself." Nayeon distastefully said as her mind flashed back to what she'd witnessed during lunch.

 

"Ahn Jihoon?"

 

"No. He's too..." Nayeon stopped, her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to come out with something. "... short for you."

 

As if that's even a problem. But hey, Mina deserves the bestest out of the best and it's Nayeon's job as her best friend to filter out the imperfect one.

 

They were lounging inside Mina's room after the class ended with Nayeon sprawling like starfish on Mina's bed. Mina had told her she had something important to ask her that Nayeon had to reluctantly cancel her trip to a cafe nearby with Momo for that new chocolate cake everyone has been crazy about. But now she regrets it. She should've fought harder to resist those puppy eyes of her and left Mina right there and then in the school hallway if she knew this is what the Japanese meant by important.

 

"How about Suzuki Yuto?"

 

"Euw, no."

 

"Park Jaehyung?"

 

"Hm, nope."

 

"Im Nayeon?"

 

"No- wait, what?" Nayeon lifts her head in surprise and looks at Mina who's sitting opposite her at the study table. There's an amusement on Mina's face when Nayeon looks at her and she rolls her eyes in response. Although inside, she felt the total opposite. It's obviously a teasing but her stupid heart still react to it anyway, racing faster than Dominic's 1970 Dodge Charger R/T.

 

"No." She says, laying back on the bed and stares at the glow-in-the-dark scattered on the ceiling above her. The stickers had been there for six years now. She remembers putting it together with Mina when they were twelve. The Japanese couldn't sleep if the room was too dark but had a headache if she left the light on, her brother is already too old to sleep with her and Nayeon couldn't come for sleepovers everyday to accompany her. So, on one summer day when they went into a convenience store after a play at the park, Nayeon grabbed the glow-in-the-dark stickers she saw from the shelf, choosing it over the grape flavored popsicle she loved so much so that Mina won't be too afraid to sleep alone. They had so much fun decorating the ceiling that afternoon, aside from the fact Nayeon almost fell down the ladder twice and got herself killed.

 

In spite of that, she was glad this little trick worked and wondered if Mina's still afraid of dark up until now.

 

She still hadn't taken it off, so perhaps yes?

 

"No?" Echoes Mina's voice inside the room, pulling Nayeon out of her thoughts. For a moment, Nayeon thought she had accidentally uttered her thought out aloud but then remembered their previous conversation.

 

"No." She says.

 

"And why is that?" There's a playfulness in Mina's voice when she asks, indicating that she's just teasing. Nayeon didn't look at her this time, instead lifting her finger and traces the shape of the moon and stars and planets above her. Because you didn't mean it, she wanted to say but instead, "Because I'm not easy."

 

Nayeon got up into a sitting position and smirked at her to cover up her true feelings and it earned a scoff from the black haired girl. Not that Mina would notice it, she just never did. Her eyes follow the Japanese as she gets up from her chair and carelessly plops into the bed, intentionally trying to crush Nayeon with her body. Nayeon yelps in surprise before quickly scooting over.

 

For a moment, they just lay beside each other in silence, only the sounds of their steady breathing could be heard in the room. It feels so peaceful. Nayeon closes her eyes, an unconscious smile stretched on her lips. But then Mina had to break the silence and the peacefulness and maybe Nayeon's heart too with her next question. "How about Jinyoung sunbae?"

 

Nayeon's eyes flutter open at that and she turns her head to the side, breath hitching when she realizes just how close Mina is to her. Her senses heightened as she can now strongly smell Mina's perfume and shampoo. She scooted away quickly for the sake of her own sanity. The Japanese weren't looking at her, which is something Nayeon glad for—she's too young to die from a heart attack, as she was busy staring at the glow-in-the-dark on the ceiling.

 

"The vice-president?" Nayeon asks and Mina hummed in response.

 

Nayeon turned her head back to look at the ceiling, frowning as she tried to think anything bad about the said vice-president, but unfortunately, came out with nothing. Park Jinyoung is… a perfect guy. Excellent in both academics and personality. Or basically in everything. Everyone in school liked him. That man has no flaws. Good-looking too. He should be okay for Mina but why does her tongue feel so heavy to utter the words? Her mind and heart gave an opposite response. Nayeon shut her eyes close, taking in a deep breath as she felt sudden frustration and something she didn't want to name stirring inside her. Then open her eyes back.

 

"He's okay." She finally said.

 

/

 

"You're so dumb." Jeongyeon said in exasperation, looking so close to go Randy Orton on Nayeon right there and then inside the cafeteria for everyone to see. Maybe a concussion is what her friend exactly needs to finally stop being an idiot.

 

Nayeon rolls her eyes at her. Well, tell me something I don't know, she wanted to say but held back and focused back on her lunch instead. Her gaze seemed to be focused more onto the table these days when usually, it would be wandering around searching and admiring a certain person in the crowd. A person that now seems so content spending her lunch with Mr. oh-so-perfect across the cafeteria.

 

"Well, at least this time she didn't have the audacity to shoot daggers at him since it's her own fault." Jihyo said, emphasizing the last three words then proceeded to pull Nayeon's tray away when the brunette just ignored her words. Nayeon looks up, ready to protest at the loss of her chicken nuggets but the look on both of her friends' faces shut her up immediately. She then slumped in her seat in defeat.

 

"She wasn't even serious when she said that. What can I even say?" She asks, rubbing her temple tiredly, already could feel the impending headache just by thinking about it.

 

"There was so much you could've said like a simple yes or of course or pretty please Mina I've been liking you since forever but you said what? I'm not easy?" Jihyo looks at her in disbelief. "You're easy, Nayeon. It only took you a tulip." She said.

 

"That's not true." Nayeon retorted.

 

"And I'm not Park Jihyo."

 

Nayeon won't admit it out aloud, but she still remembers the day as clear as the glass of water on the table. The day when the weather was so nice. The beginning of Spring is definitely the perfect season to play at the park with so many flowers blooming around and that's what a seven years old Nayeon exactly did on that day. She was playing tag with Jihyo and Jeongyeon, running around happily like they have nothing to be worried about in this world. Well, they were seven there's nothing to worry about, really, except when her favorite grape flavored popsicle was out of stock at the convenience store across the park.

 

After playing tag for hours, the trio soon grew tired of it and decided to play another game—hide-and-seek. And a rock, paper and scissor later, it decided that Jihyo is the one who is gonna find them and both of her and Jeongyeon scramble quickly to find a place to hide.

 

It's just starting but Nayeon was already feeling frustrated as she still couldn't find a place to hide after Jeongyeon stole her spot behind the tree and shamelessly kicked her out of there. Jihyo's countdown was almost finished by then so without thinking much and out of fear of getting caught so early and lost to Jeongyeon, the place thief, she quickly jumped into the bush near the jungle gym.

 

A surprise squeak left her lips when she noticed someone else already in there and she only played with Jihyo and Jeongyeon...? The other occupant looks equally surprised as she stares back at her with her big doe-eyes.

 

"Who are you?" Nayeon whispers curiously.

 

"Mina." The girl answered timidly. Her voice was unclear but Nayeon understood that one word just fine. The girl's eyes weren't on her anymore, she was looking at her own hands as they fiddled with each other. She looks nervous but Nayeon was just too excited at the thought of getting a new friend to notice it.

 

"Hi, Mina! My name is Nayeon. I'm seven years old. And I, I can count till one thousand!" She proudly said.

 

And maybe boasting your intelligence was not really an effective way to make new friends as Mina just kept mum after that. Not even fascinated at the fact Nayeon could count till thousand. But seven years old Im Nayeon was a fighter, she didn't give up without a fight so she tried to initiate the conversation once again. "What are you doing in here, Mina?"

 

"I don't know." Mina replied, her voice grew even smaller that Nayeon had to scoot closer to hear what she said this time and only stop when she's just a few inches away from Mina, the tip of their sneakers touched.

 

Something white caught Nayeon's eyes when her eyes linger around Mina and she pointed at it. "What is that?"

 

Mina looks at where she pointed at, a small smile stretched on her lips as she lifts the thing from the ground and shows it to her. "It's tulip."

 

"It's pretty." Nayeon says, reaching up to touch the white flower carefully.

 

Mina's eyes lit up at that. "I know, right?! I picked it over near the entrance! And I see the yellow ones near the slide." She stopped and seemed hesitant before shyly saying. "Do you want to pick it with me?"

 

"Sure!" Nayeon excitedly said. She quickly gets up and offers her hand to Mina to help the girl to stand up and then pulls Mina out of the bush to find the yellow flower together, totally forgetting about the hide-and-seek game that's still going on.

 

She lost the game to Jeongyeon but it's okay she gained a new friend.

 

"Listen, Nayeon." Jihyo started, successfully snapping Nayeon back to the present. She turned to look at Jihyo and gulped at the seriousness she sees on her friend's face. "They aren't together yet. But that would change soon if you keep on being a chicken like this. Mina is like the nicest person I ever met. So, I know even if she didn't feel the same way," Jihyo stopped briefly when she noticed Nayeon's face dropped. "But hey who knows, she could've reciprocated your feelings all this time for all we know. But, just in case she didn't. I'm sure she'll still want to stay with you as your friend. You two have been friends for ages. If she can stand your that long, I'm sure she won't just easily throw this friendship away just because you catch feelings for her. And I say this because I know one of the reasons you're afraid to confess aside from you being a chicken is because you're afraid of losing her."

 

Nayeon broke her gaze away from Jihyo. She didn't like what she heard because it was partly true. Nayeon is scared. She doesn't want to lose Mina. Even if it's at the cost of her heart being broken again and again.

 

/

 

It was late afternoon, the both of them were inside of Mina's bedroom, trying to put on the glow-in-the-dark stickers on the ceiling. Mina was holding down the ladder to stabilize it because Nayeon just can't seem to stay still even in a dangerous situation like this.

 

"Nayeonnie, stay still!" Mina annoyedly said when Nayeon swayed for nth times on top the ladder.

 

Nayeon looked down and grinned at her, her front teeth showing. "I trust you to catch me when I fall."

 

"You weigh like a baby elephant, Nayeon. There's no way I could catch you without one of us having a concussion after."

 

"Aww, and here I am thinking you would do anything for me."

 

"You're not the Juliet you think you're, Nayeonnie." Mina amusedly said, then pat her leg to make her focus back on the task. "Now finish it quickly, Juliet. I need to take shower."

 

"Your wish is my command, Princess Mina." Nayeon said, trying to deepen her voice to imitate the voice of a knight and then proceeded to raise her hand in salute. The sudden move caused her to sway once again and before she knew it, her feet had left the step and Nayeon fell onto the floor with Mina under her.

 

"You do catch me after- Mina?"

 

Mina had her eyes closed when Nayeon lifted her body and looked at her. "Hey, it's not funny okay. Wake up." She shakes Mina's body, but the Japanese remain unmoving. Nayeon waited for Mina to finally open her eyes and laugh at her for panicking but that never happened as the Japanese remained motionless on the floor. Nayeon started to feel a dread filled inside her, making her vision blurred and she scrambled on her feet, running out of the room. "Uncle! Aunty!"

 

/

 

That was the first closest thing Nayeon had ever felt to losing Mina.

 

/

 

As cliché as it sounded, the little pep talk from Jihyo didn't work and if anything, it made Nayeon do exactly the opposite. And that opposite being said is, if she saw Mina a hundred meter away in front, Nayeon would spin around on her heels and walk into another direction even if she knew the new path would take her twice longer than usual to reach her destination. When Mina asks if she wanted to hang out together, Nayeon would make so many excuses to reject her that it's starting to sound borderline ridiculous. Well, excuse her she ran out of excuses. Though Nayeon thinks having to watch her goldfish giving birth is a pretty believable excuse. It has been going on for a week now and Mina still hasn't questioned her about it so Nayeon thinks it all good. The excuse, not Nayeon. It's very very hard for her as she missed Mina so much that it hurts—both physically and mentally. They have been together for ages, almost inseparable since that day they met at the park, that not having Mina around thi