The supposed first hangout dinner with the two chemists, Tzuyu, and Nayeon didn’t happen since before they even got to choose where to dine in, the hospital called Nayeon all of a sudden because of Jihyo. 

 

When she first heard them mentioning Jihyo's name on the phone indicating that there was an emergency, Nayeon didn't hesitate to immediately sprint back to the hospital.

 

“What happened?!” The first thing Nayeon uttered when she arrived in Jihyo’s room.

 

“She’s fine now, Dr. Im,” One of the nurses inside the room said. “Just earlier, her heartbeat became even worse since it’s beating slower than usual.”

 

Nayeon nods as she maneuvers all the dextroses that are hooked into Jihyo to stabilize and alleviate the latter's condition. "Part of the heart muscles are slowly weakening," Nayeon said as she began to use ways to restore the girl's blood flow. "Her heart may become much more clogged if we don't find a heart donor as soon as feasible."

 

“How about the treatment that you asked for from Myoui's pharmaceutical, Dr. Im?” Another nurse, named 'Gab' on her nametag, politely asked.

 

“They already made progress,” Nayeon informed them, “I believe it will be ready in two days.”

 

Nayeon sighs as she stares at the younger girl’s pale face lying weakly on the hospital bed. It makes her heart wanna tear apart seeing Jihyo in this condition.

 

“I will do my best to save you.” Nayeon softly whispered and kissed Jihyo’s forehead.

 

She turned to the nurses before leaving the room, "Ms. Gab, can you inform Tzuyu to get updates regarding the heart donor?” 

 

Gab quickly nodded and slightly bowed, “Sure, Dr. Im.” 

 

Nayeon nods as a sign of gratitude, “The rest of you, make sure that Jihyo’s condition is well in the meantime. Keep an eye on her always, okay?” She uttered softly but with a visible authority.

 

The rest of the nurses nodded in sync.

 

Nayeon thanked them and left the hospital immediately. 

 

-

 

Nayeon felt exhausted from earlier, she got home from the hospital around 3:00 A.M already. She forces herself to sleep but she just can’t.

 

A lot of thoughts are eating her up again.

 

Her whole room is dark and only the light from all the skyscrapers is visible through her huge window glass. 

 

Nayeon released a heavy sigh. 

 

It’s a good thing that she doesn’t have duty tomorrow, she can stay up anytime tonight. 

 

“Might as well grab some glass of wine…” Nayeon murmurs to herself. 

 

She walks from her room to the kitchen fully at a leisure pace.

 

Nayeon's sense of liberty is at an all-time high whenever her nudeness is visible in her own house.

 

She always does this since no one else is in her penthouse.

 

Lucky enough for the ghosts, though. 

 

Nayeon could see her reflection in the enormous glass pane when she started passing through the living room; she bit her lip when she realized how gorgeous and alluring she appeared from that vantage.

 

Nayeon softly chuckles, "How come I felt with my own reflection?" She scoffs and shakes her head in disbelief.

 

When she reached for the fridge, she grabbed the bottle of wine and began pouring it into the glass.

 

Nayeon leaned bare on the kitchen counter as she began sipping her glass of wine whilst darting her gaze around the city's active life despite this late hour.

 

This is the most serene moment Nayeon has ever had for quite a long time.

 

The latter gradually caresses her temple towards her neck down to her collar bone while still sipping the glass of crimson water.

 

Calm.

 

Calm.

 

Calm.

 

Nayeon's tranquil thoughts were interrupted by the image of Mina.

 

Heavy sigh.

 

She gulped another wine and shook her head, expecting the latter's image to eventually vanish.

 

How come this is all true? How come the stars were true? Nayeon suddenly thought to herself.

 

She’s torn between believing that the stars heard her wish and believing that the popular Mina she adored from afar never really existed. 

 

She forces herself to believe the latter anyways.

 

But Nayeon knows better. She’s neither delusional nor crazy.

 

She recalls the well-known Mina vividly.

 

Nayeon dashed into her room and hastily retrieved her phone.

 

She had a flashback to something that could have clarified everything.

 

"The photos from the concert!"  She murmured to herself as she navigated the gallery on her phone.

 

Right. She snapped a lot of pictures from Mina's concerts back then.

 

Nayeon let out a gasp when she saw a slew of concert photos and videos of Mina that she had captured herself from afar.

 

Nayeon's hands are quivering as she plays one of the videos.

 

“Mina!!!” A voice, clearly Nayeon’s, was yelling at the top of her lungs as Mina was performing on the stage.

 

“I love you!” Nayeon yelled again.

 

When Nayeon checked the date, she noticed it was from two years ago.

 

She went back to watching another clip.

 

This time, her heart stopped beating owing to an inexplicable sensation.

 

Mina's gaze spotted Nayeon's camera after she walked towards the podium in an oversized reindeer pajama outfit; before heading in another way, the younger girl glanced at Nayeon once again for a few seconds and smiled at her.

 

It seemed almost unbelievable that Mina was able to spot Nayeon amidst being surrounded by thousands of people.

 

Mina's face is always present after an hour of browsing every file of the concert she took from her phone.

 

All the videos and photographs are all of Mina's performances on stage; singing, dancing, and interacting with the audience.

 

Tears suddenly rolled from Nayeon’s eyes, “It’s all true…the stars, the wish, and Mina…” she sobs even hard. 

 

Nayeon can’t even understand herself.

 

She’s supposed to be happy that her wish came true.

 

But at the same time, it feels like, “I robbed her of the life she’s meant to have...” She uttered her thoughts aloud.

 

 “How selfish can I be?” She whispered in the midst of her agony.

 

Nayeon cried her eyes out the entire night, till there were no tears left in them.

 

She sobbed uncontrollably for a long time until she unconsciously finally fell asleep.

 

 

---

 

 

The constant ringing of the doorbell jolted Nayeon awake.

 

She grunts because she isn't willing to wake up just yet. Her eyes are still droopy from last night.

 

Nayeon wouldn't have much of an option except to respond anyway.

 

She wore her oversized sweater quickly without the need to wear shorts.

 

The doorbell rang once again.

 

"Can't you ing wait?!" Nayeon snarls in disbelief. 

 

Nayeon walked towards the door and violently opened it, “What?!”

 

Tzuyu and Sana's grumpy faces flashed out at Nayeon.

 

“What do you mean ‘what’, Im Nayeon?!" The lawyer, all set to launch into her rant at Nayeon,

 

"Do you even know what time it is—oh, wait," Sana paused in the middle of her sentence and cupped Nayeon's face immediately to  scrutinize the latter’s puffy eyes, "You cried." She concluded.

 

"I didn't!" Nayeon protested, attempting to divert Sana's gaze.

 

"She certainly did," Tzuyu remarked as she walked into Nayeon's house without waiting for the latter's permission to let them in.

 

Tzuyu dashed to the kitchen, intending to make a late breakfast for Nayeon. She is aware that her friend is not in decent shape.

 

“Don’t lie to us, Nayeon. What happened?” Sana asks, skeptical of Nayeon's statement.

 

“Nothing, really! I swear! ” Nayeon whimpered.

 

“Why are your eyes swollen then?" Sana queried once more.

 

“Maybe she’s done last night,” Tzuyu sarcastically speculated.

 

Nayeon took a deep breath.

 

These two seem to have no faith in her no matter what she says. 

 

However, she can’t say the real reason why she was in agony last night though.  

 

If she tells them, neither of them will believe her; in fact, if she does, they may laugh at her again.

 

"I was only worrying about Jihyo's condition,"  Nayeon spat out, "That patient I told you about." 

 

It’s not a lie but it’s not the whole truth either.

 

Sana appeared to be surprised, “Oh. Park Jihyo? Your friend in high school—”

 

“You don’t have to worry about her, Nayeonnie. Jihyo’s name is already on the waiting list in a heart hospital facility,” Tzuyu interrupted from the kitchen, cooking some scrambled eggs and bacon, “She will have a heart donor by next month. I made certain of that.”

 

Nayeon’s eyes widened.

 

“You’re really the best, Chuwi!” Nayeon exclaimed as she rushed over to Tzuyu and hugged her tightly from behind. 

 

They heard Sana intentionally clearing from the living room, which made the two girls in the kitchen giggle.

 

“Someone’s jealous.” Tzuyu softly chuckles.

 

“I’m not!” Sana yells from the living room.

 

After throwing some foolish disputes at each other, the three girls ate their late breakfast together served by Tzuyu.

 

It's been a long time since they've had the opportunity to reconnect in this way.

 

Nayeon is simply overjoyed to be with her two soulmates today. The discomfort she'd been experiencing since last night has subsided.

 

“Oh, , by the way!” Sana almost spat out the ice cream she was eating. 

 

Tzuyu glared at Sana when she saw some ice cream on the table. So clumsy. 

 

“What?” Nayeon, full of marshmallows.

 

“I forgot to tell you that Ace Entertainment called me to represent their artists for a lawsuit.” Sana excitedly says.

 

Nayeon raised her eyebrows, “Ace Entertainment? Isn’t that the entertainment where Once’s based in?” 

 

“Yes!” Sana plastered a suspicious smile, “And guess what?” 

 

“What, ?” Tzuyu, tired from all these thrilling s. 

 

Sana glared at Tzuyu and stuck her tongue out like a kid. 

 

“I’m representing Dahyun, Chaengyoung, and Jeongyeon—” 

 

Nayeon was practically choking from all the marshmallows she had shoved into before Sana could complete her statement.

 

Tzuyu hurriedly reached her out a glass of water, “That’s what happens when you act as if you have never been fed for a month.”

 

Nayeon coughs while glaring at Tzuyu and at Sana who bursts out laughing.

 

“Chill out, Nayeonnie. The marshmallows are all yours. It’s not going anywhere.”

 

“I was shocked by what you said!” Nayeon yelled her defense when she had finally recovered. 

 

“Understandable,” Sana teased.

 

“Anyways, I will represent them since they are planning to file a case against their former manager who allegedly defrauded them by robbing billions of their money. The manager conned these three innocent pretty girls.”

 

Nayeon’s jaw dropped.

 

“No way! That’s a hell of a jerk!” Nayeon remarked.

 

Tzuyu stated nonchalantly, "True and hence must face the repercussions of the crap they did."

 

"I'm genuinely planning to make him lose his own game," Sana agrees.

 

“Right. We don’t tolerate ugly es, do we?” Nayeon replied, sassily raising one of her brows as she scooped Sana's ice cream.

 

"We certainly don't," the two girls affirmed.