The whole atmosphere is stern and Mina doesn’t know if she is allowed to chuckle or if she has the right to feel nervous because her best friend sitting across her seems really serious about what they are about to talk that afternoon.

“Jihyo, I really don’t know if I will start to be scared of that aura of yours or should I just run away and go straight to my date tonight?”

“Don’t.”

“Come on now. We already talked about this, right? I’ve been talking to you about her every single night and I really don’t have any plans on backing out, now that I am very much certain about my own feelings.”

“Mina, what if I tell you that she’s not someone you can protect?”

The girl heaved a deep sigh and look somewhere else, trying to distract herself, but her gaze just came back to Jihyo who has a concerned look for her dear friend.

“Seriously though, why can’t you just turn her down like you always do to your other suitors? What’s with her that you seem to be suddenly fond in entering a relationship when you’re actually a scaredy cat in commitment and taking risks?”

Mina scoffed, not because she wants to prove Jihyo wrong, but because it’s essentially true. However, since the girl has already been trying to pursue her for over a year now, which sets a new record because her other suitors only lasts for a maximum of 7 months after Mina shows that she’s really not interested, the girl seems serious about her intention and so tries to build her true feelings, and not because she’s consistent.

Jihyo, alongside with her consistent suitor, has also always been consistent in reminding her that she should just keep moving forward and focus on her own goals, instead of meddling with other topics in her life, just like the Mom that she is, not just as a sister and as a best friend.

And it was also Mina’s first time not listening to Jihyo’s words and literally following her heart, not wanting to hear other’s opinion about her own life because that’s when she realized that she’s actually her own person and therefore she should decide for herself, whether or not it will be liked by the people around her, because she knows herself better than anyone else.

It is because she is actually hoping for better days with Chaeyoung. Mina is actually hoping that the girl, who is her ever consistent suitor who never fails to prove that she is worth entering Mina’s heart, is finally the one for her. That’s how ‘hopeless romantic’ she is, amidst almost everyone stopping her from having and enjoying her own love life while still minding her own business and goals.

She honestly doesn’t care if people will suddenly just be distant from her just because she didn’t follow what they are telling her for the first time because her gut feeling tells her that she is doing the right thing, and therefore she shouldn’t let go of that moment, of that very chance that has been given to her and grab everything about it.

Mina doesn’t have any regrets. She doesn’t have any regrets when it comes to Chaeyoung. 

And that’s why, that day, right after Mina had a quick talk with Jihyo, she went straight to the restaurant Chaeyoung has instructed her to go and that’s where they had a dinner date and where Mina finally told her sweet ‘yes’ to the girl.

“Really?”

“Yes, as in, yes, I will be your girlfriend since today, Chaeyoung”

There’s an unexplainable delight in Chaeyoung’s face that made her embrace the girl in front of her right away and Mina just can’t hide the fact that she feels so giddy and extremely happy with what just happened. Everything feels surreal that even the people around them congratulated them and the Head Chef even gave them a free meal to celebrate their relationship.

It was a happy one, a satisfying one, even. Everyone is envious that the two looks so damn in love with each other and feels like they don’t fight a lot because it is evident that Mina is not regretting with her decision and Chaeyoung is serious about her intention of loving the girl in the best way she can, doesn’t have any plans on hurting her. Mina’s suitors also backed out after knowing that she’s actually into that kind of person, that doesn’t seem to pass Mina’s standards, but just as what they say, love can still be blind.

Chaeyoung is so precious for Mina and that is the reason why that even if she was the one who always wants to be babied, ever since their relationship started, she was the one who puts a lot of efforts more to give back what Chaeyoung has done for her when she was just courting her.

She wants to keep protecting her, just like what she has said to Jihyo and assured her that she will keep on protecting her, even if her best friend already said that she’s not someone she can protect. It is because Chaeyoung once mentioned to her that she always feel lonely and alone, being hurt by everyone in the past and she really gave her very best to gain herself back and love a girl that she knows she can give the world to.

It was an amazing relationship. They take their time in almost all of the things in their life—knowing each other surely and gradually. They talk about everything under the sun, not speeding up things and enjoying every moment they have together.

“What is happening to us, Chaeyoung?”

It was supposed to be a great night as they are near in celebrating their 700 days as a couple, but Mina suddenly noticed the change in the way Chaeyoung looks in her eyes, how she holds her, and how she keeps on trying to go on with their relationship.

“You say that this is what you want, but your eyes are telling me a different story”

They are just cuddling under the stars, at the top of an empty hill, enjoying the night breeze when Mina just keeps on noticing how she doesn’t feel the familiar warmth Chaeyoung is always giving her ever since their relationship started. It feels like it gradually becomes colder, one that gives chills not in a physical aspect, but in emotional one, that totally, literally touches her heart.

“A future without you is a world without color, filled with monochrome coldness”

She said in a monotone voice, staring at the most amazing view she can see in her whole life, yet it gives a sting in her heart knowing that it doesn’t feel romantic and special anymore, considering their current conversation and how Chaeyoung can’t even defend herself with her actions towards the girl, as if indirectly saying she indeed want to already get out of that supposed to be a perfect relationship.

Maybe Chaeyoung really isn’t the one for her. Maybe she’s just overreacting and overwhelmed when Chaeyoung was so determined to pursue her and be with her. Maybe she’s just amazed with the fact that there’s actually someone who can stand her personality and her whole being. Maybe she was just stunned, and not actually looking at other details, besides the feeling and emotion she risked for that relationship. Maybe Mina was wrong all along, she just can’t admit it.

“Looking only directly at you, so you don’t go away”

Because Chaeyoung suddenly fell out of love, without any clear and specific reason, and Mina eventually let go as looking at her eyes makes her heart break, for the first time.

It was supposed to be a great night under the twinkling stars with just the two of them, but when Mina woke up the next day, feeling so empty and unwanted, disappointed in herself, Chaeyoung was not there anymore. In this universe, she still didn’t end up with the girl she took a risk with, and gave her full commitment.