Third pov 

It's been a month since Mina and Chaeyoung met at their parent's province. Since that night, Chaeyoung felt a little light in her heart. She promised that she would seek help whenever she felt like her old self returned. She was just stubborn back then because she felt like a burden and too much to handle to her friends. Chaeyoung sacrificed a lot so that her friend wouldn't worry. She even chose to stay in America so she couldn't see Mina because the truth is, she still loves Mina. She needed Mina. But she didn't know how to fix herself back then, so she chose to find herself and be better. She tried everything to forget Mina but she couldn't. She tried to date a few women, but it didn't work until she found out that Mina was getting Married. 

Flashback 

Third's pov

"Chaeyoung, please stop using me. I know I can't replace what is her name again? Mini? Mila?" the girl is thinking of the name. 

"Mina," Chaeyoung said while looking away. 

"right Mina. The one you are always calling when you are drunk or sleeping. I'm so done, Chaeyoung. Let's end this." 

"Somi, I'm sorry-" The girl slaps Chaeyoung, and the people in the restaurant are looking at them now. 

"my name is Nancy you" Nancy angrily stood up and left her. 

"great, Chaeyoung. Just great." Chaeyoung calls the waiter and pays their bill. 

Chaeyounng decided to walk than ride a cab. She wants to feel the cold breeze while walking. She always wants to see the city lights and many people because it makes her calm. It is so funny how she used to hate crowded places, and now it turns out to be one reason she feels so relaxed and calm at the same time. 

"I'm home, mother!" Chaeyoung while taking off her shoes 

"how's the date with your girl? Are you planning to bring her to Korea?" Nayeon said while preparing her dinner in the kitchen 

"we broke up." while walking to her Unnie and stealing her Unnie's dinner. 

"what? I thought you guys were okay?" 

"it doesn't matter, Unnie. I'm happy that I'm free now, so let's eat" before the spoon landed in , Nayeon stopped her. 

"Let me guess, and you were calling Mina's name when you were with her again, didn't you?" Nayeon is looking straight at her. 

"Unnie can we eat now because I'm hungry." when she's about to dig the food and try to eat, Nayeon stops her again. 

"Chaeyoung, do you still love Mina? If you still love Mina, why you-" 

"ahh! Okay, okay, I will not eat. I'll go upstairs and sleep instead" she got up and now went to her room. 

"Yah! Son Chaeyoung! I'm still not done talking to you!" Nayeon shouts because she's running upstairs to skip Unnie's sermon. 

"Goodnight, Love you!" before she closed the door. 

Chaeyoung took a quick shower and wore a pajama. She flopped herself in her bed because it was a challenging and tiring day for her. She is now staring at the ceiling because she is thinking about Mina. 

"ah! Stop Chaeyoung. You need a distraction." she fetches her phone and scrolls on her Instagram acc. She just likes some of her friend's photos. She saw her friend's group photo, and she was smiling at the same time. The truth is, she misses her friends so much, but she can't do anything. 

"I miss you guys. I'll see you all soon." 

She was just scrolling and scrolling until she saw a familiar photo. She saw Mina in a wedding dress. She is curious, but she is scared to know the truth. She clicked Mina's profile and saw the photos of Mina and a guy who looked like a happy new wed. Suddenly her tears start to fall. 

"I'm glad that you didn't wait for me. I made the right choice." while wiping her own tears. She zooms in Mina's photo and kisses it. 

"I am glad that you are happy now and building a family. I'm happy that you are happy now, Mina. I just want you to be happy, even if that 'happy' doesn't include me anymore." she put her phone down and cried herself out until she fell asleep. 

end of flashback

It's 11 am now, and Chaeyoung is still sleeping. Nayeon and the gang are preparing their surprise for Chaeyoung because today is Chaeyoung's birthday, and they want it to be a special one and a welcoming party to them. 

"Jihyo, did you call Mina?" Nayeon asked her while cooking. 

"Yes, Unnie. Are you sure that Chaeyoug is okay when Mina is around?" Jihyo said arranging the grocery 

"of course. It's been eight years, Jihyo-yah. She'll be fine, plus I want to meet my niece with her." 

"niece? What are you talking about? You are her grandmother." Momo drops the other grocery, and they are all laughing.

"Can you please be careful with the booze, big eater?" Nayeon said, and Momo put her hands up and surrendered. 

"where are the others?" 

"Tzuyu and Dahyun are buying the cake. Mina said that she will pick Katarina first and go here straight." 

Nayeon noticed that Momo was eating everything on the table. 

"Momo, can you please get out of the kitchen because you will be going to eat all the foods here, don't you?" Jeongyeon hit her head and scolded her 

"Jeongyeonah, that's very nice of you. You should kick her in the ." 

"oh, shut up, Sana. You are the one who is now drinking the booze for later." Jihyo just faces palm.

"Kids, please leave Jihyo and me here in the kitchen" Nayeon rolled her eyes and signaled them to leave them. 

They are all busy preparing for the surprise before Chaeyoung wakes up. They know Chaeyoung so well. If Chaeyoung gets drunk, she gets up so late, so they take advantage of that. The others have already arrived, and since it's a costume party for Chaeyoung, they are all wearing Onesies. Nayeon is wearing a bunny one, Jeongyeon is wearing a green dragon, Momo is a duck, Sana is a hamster, Jihyo is a unicorn, Mina and Katarina are penguins, Dahyun is a Charmander and Tzuyu is a dog. 

"Guys, can you put all booze away from me? I feel like I'm going to throw up." Dahyun said while holding her nose. 

"How many beers did you and Chaeyoung drink last night?" Nayeon said while sitting comfortably in the chair, and she leaned her head to Jeongyeon's shoulder. 

"I don't know, Unnie. But she insists tho and blackmailing me that her birthday is coming so as her best friend, I'm the one who will accompany her last night" the pale girl rolled her eyes. 

While they are talking about the surprise and, of course, about the birthday girl who got drunk last night, someone rings the doorbell. No one dared to move and open the door, but Tzuyu got up because she was the maknae. 

"Okay, oldies. Just relax there, don't move," The tall girl said, and her Unnies are just laughing at her action. 

Tzuyu checked the monitor first before she opened the door. She smiled when she saw the two penguins smiling at the monitor. 

"Hello, penguins. Welcome to the party." 

"Auntie Yodaaaaa!" Katarina jumped on her, and Tzuyu carried her. She saw Mina was looking so nervous and she knew why "Mina Unnie?" 

"o-h Tzuyu?" 

"I said let's go inside. Are you okay?" 

"y-yes, I'm okay," she utters while calming herself. 

They go inside to meet her friends, and Mina greeted them individually. But she is looking for someone. 

"oh my god, Mina, it's been eight years since the last time I saw you, and yet you are still beautiful." Nayeon hugged her, and they were both crying now. "oh, here she is, she's so cute. I think she got it from me." 

"yah! Yah! Why are you guys crying? This is a party, for sake." Jeongyeon scolded them. 

"language Jeong," Nayeon said. 

"But they are crying too." Jihyo pointed to Momo and Sana. 

"We are just happy. It feels like a reunion. After eight years, we are complete again." Momo said while wiping her tears. 

"Okay enough, guys, let's wake up the tiger now." the pale girl said while holding the cake. 

"Auntie Dahyun, can I hold the cake? I want to surprise Auntie Katarina too." 

"Katarina? You are Katarina. This is not your birthday, kiddo-" Nayeon hit her head. 

"ouch! Yah Unnie!" 

"Idiot. Chaeyoung's English name is Katarina. Are you really her best friend?" 

"She never said that she has an English name tho" She pouted. 

"FAKE FRIEND." the tall girl added. They are all laughing at the conversation. 

"Okay, here's the cake Katarina. Let's go?" Katarina is holding the cake carefully so she will not drop the cake. 

They all go upstairs, and Dahyun slowly opens the door, signaling them to go inside. Mina's eyes are roaming to Chaeyoung's room on the other side. There is a lot of drawing and paintings on the wall. She noticed something because the room was so messy. It's not a big deal, but Mina knows Chaeyoung is a neat freak. She saw a drawing too that is familiar to her. But when she's about to go there, they are singing a happy birthday now, so she just steps back. 

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHAEYOUNG!" 

Earlier that day 

Third's Pov 

Chaeyoung woke up because there were many thuds, and it was loud downstairs. She got up and rubbed her eyes. She saw a Tiger Onesie on the table with a sticky note. 

"Wear this birthday, girl. Please don't you dare not to wear this or else I'll never cook a delicious pancake again - your pretty mother" she smiles with the last part of the letter and quickly put it back on the table. 

She goes to the bathroom and takes a bath. After taking a bath, she uses the hairdryer because her hair is long now. After all, she never cut it too short, just a trim since she left Korea. After that, she wore a long white shirt and short pants because she thought the party would start at noon and didn't want to wear that tiger onesie while eating breakfast. She decided to go downstairs because she was hungry and when she saw her Unnie was cooking, Chaeyoung walked to her and was about to call her, but suddenly she heard Nayeon is talking to Jihyo. 

"Jihyo, did you call Mina?" Nayeon asked her while cooking. 

"Yes, Unnie. Are you sure that Chaeyoug is okay when Mina is around?" Jihyo said arranging the grocery 

"of course. It's been eight years, Jihyo-yah. She'll be fine, plus I want to meet my niece with her." 

Chaeyoung is confused about why are they are all gathering and why Mina is coming. 

"oh , today is my birthday." she's running now back to her room because she knows her Unnie so well. Every year, when Chaeyoung's birthday, she always loves to surprise Chaeyoung, and she doesn't like to ruin it because she knows that her Unnie prepared this for a long time. 

She carefully closes the door, so they can't hear it. She leans on the door and sighs. 

"This is really funny. I forgot my own birthday." 

She flopped her body on her bed again and stared at the ceiling. 

"Okay, what am I going to do now while waiting for them to wake me up." 

She grabbed her phone and played some games to distract herself. She was playing for almost one and a half hours. 

"Ah! I don't like to play anymore. My teammates are stupid!" she tosses her phone and turns her body and looks at the window, and sees a painting. A painting of Mina when they were still in high school. She quickly stood and hid it on the back of her cabinet, but it was too big, so half of the painting was visible. She is struggling now with how to hide it, but suddenly, she hears many thuds on the stairs, and she quickly goes back to her bed and pretends to sleep. 

"Tzuyu, is the camera ready?" Nayeon asked. 

"Yes, Unnie." 

"Okay. 1 2 3!" 

"Happy birthday Chaeyoung!" they are all shouting, and Chaeyoung pretending that she just woke up, get up. 

"Happy birthday Auntie Chaeyoung! Make a wish." Katarina said while holding the cake, and Chaeyoung just messes her hair. 

"Okay." when Chaeyoung is done, she blows the cake. 

Dahyun walks closer to her to kiss her. 

"happy birthday, bro-" Chaeyoung cupped Dahyun's face. 

"Stop, stop, stop! I'll take a shower first. Guys, please wait for me downstairs." 

"But bro, it's okay if you smell-" Tzuyu covered her best friend's mouth. 

"let's go, eagle. Leave the birthday girl alone." 

They all laughed at their Dongsheng action. "guys, let's go now so we can finally eat." 

When they are all left, Chaeyoung locks the door and finds a blanket that can hide half the painting. 

"Damn it! I forgot to put all of my paintings in the basement." 

When they finally covered it, she went to her table, grabbed the tiger onesie, and went to the bathroom to wear it. She put on light make-up and sprayed her favorite perfume. 

While she was walking downstairs, she saw her friends waiting for her. 

"Chaeyoung, sit in the middle, and let's start the ritual" Momo dragged her and forced her to sit. 

"What ritual-" Dahyun kissed her lips. 

"what the !" Chaeyoung said while wiping her lips. 

"Chaeyoung language!" Jihyo said while covering Katarina's ear.

"Happy birthday, bro, my best friend and partner in crime. And oh, that is a punishment since you forgot our ritual. Don't worry, no malice." she looks at Chaeyoung with a wink. 

"Okay, I'm next" Nayeon kissed her cheeks. "happy birthday, my child. Here's my gift" Nayeon, give her a red velvet box. "open it later, okay? Love you!" 

Chaeyoung chuckled, and when her Unnie left, she saw her friends are falling in line in front of her. She wants to escape, but her Unnie stops her. 

"Do we really need to this guys?" she rolled her eyes. When she saw her friends pretending to be sad, she just smiled. "I miss them," she said to herself. 

She defeatedly sighs. 

"Okay, can y'all stop sulking?" 

They kissed Chaeyoung one by one, including Katarina. On the other side, Mina is nervous and fidgeting her finger. 

"Self stop being a weirdo. You can do it!" Mina said it to herself.

When it's her turn now, she looks at Chaeyoung, looking at her while smiling. She walked slowly closer to Chaeyoung, cupped Chaeyoung's face, and kissed her forehead. It feels like the old times for Mina. Mina doesn't know why she felt like this, but all she knows is, she's happy to see Chaeyoung again. 

She rests her forehead on Chaeyoung and closes her eyes. 

"Happy birthday, tiger. I miss you." Chaeyoung, on the other side, was surprised. 

Their friends are just looking at them. There is a long awkward atmosphere around them. "t-thank you, Mina." 

Suddenly, Dahyun cleared and killed the awkwardness around them. "Yeah! Happy birthday Chaeyoung! I hope you get taller this time." 

Mina opened her eyes and realized what was happened just now. She stepped back and went to her seat. She hides her face because she's blushing and feels embarrassed. 

They ignore what happened because they know why Mina's behavior is like that. They understand how Mina suffered while waiting for Chaeyoung and blamed herself. They saw Mina suffer when her parent's arranged marriage to someone she didn't know. They know Mina has been through a lot so, they let her be. Mina once said that if she saw Chaeyoung again, all the mistakes she made, she would make it right, but Mina doesn't know how risky she's going to do. 

They are already eating and talking about how their life went. There are so many questions in Chaeyoung that she is avoiding, especially when asking about dating. Chaeyoung is just looking at their friends while laughing. 

"it's so good to be back," Chaeyoung said to herself. She has been craving for this moment for so long. Eight years ago, she promised herself that she wanted to show her friends that she was better than before when she returned to Korea. Not the messy Chaeyoung that they saw in that state. She really does appreciate the sacrifice that her friends made to her. 

"Guys, I think I need to go now. Katarina is already sleeping" Mina was getting up to carry Katarina, but Chaeyoung stopped her. 

"Katarina can sleep in my room." Chaeyoung smile. 

"is it okay? Where are you going to sleep?" 

"100% in Nayeon Unnie's room," the tall girl said. 

"shut up, Yoda, and I can sleep on the couch, you know? My body fits there, you giant baby." 

"Yeah, sure, because you are too small," Tzuyu smirked. 

While Tzuyu is teasing her, Chaeyoung sees Mina is struggling to carry Katarina. 

"Mina, do you want me to carry Katarina?" Mina was surprised by Chaeyoung's action. 

"n-no, no, it's okay. I can carry her." 

"Small bean, did you forget that Mina Unnie had abs? She never stops going to the gym, you know." the tall girl said. 

"Did you know that your best friend had abs, too? she gained so much muscle." Nayeon held Chaeyoung's arms and rolled the sleeve. "see? Look at her biceps. When we were still in America, she had her own gym in our house." Nayeon proudly smiles and smirks. 

"Chaeyoung, I can carry Katarina, don't worry. I'm taller than you." Mina said while walking to the stairs and going to Chaeyoung's room. Her friends are laughing at their conversation. 

"Yah! Come back here! That's not fair!" 

"Okay, tiger, stop whining. Time for booze!" Jeonyeon got up and go to the fridge.