Minjeong holds a gigantic pizza slice in her hands, trying to figure out how on earth she was going to fit the thing in . Her eyebrows were furrowed, and a frown painted her lips as she turned the slice in all angles, bringing it to her lips multiple times until she gave up and stared at Jimin for help. 

The older woman had already been watching her, eyes wide with adoration and a smile bigger than Minjeong had seen. 

“How do you—,” Minjeong pauses after seeing Jimin’s smile, “—what?” 

“You’re cute, Kim Minjeong.” 

She blinks away, trying to dodge Jimin’s bluntness. When she looks down, her blonde hair curtains the way her cheeks burn with evidence that Jimin’s words were definitely affecting her. 

“Still not a date?” Jimin quirks a brow. 

Minjeong shakes her head, “not a date.” 

Jimin lets out a dramatic huff, shrugging, before picking up her own slice of pizza. 

“Do it like this, Kim Minjeong.” 

Minjeong watches as Jimin folds the large pizza slice in half, then takes a big bite from the tip of the pizza. 

Jimin moans in contentment as she happily chews on her food, doing a little dance that even Minjeong can’t help, but giggle at. 

“You like that?” Jimin smiles when Minjeong nods, giggles growing into full blown laughs when Jimin continues to do her little jiggy upon seeing that Minjeong found it very amusing. 

“C’mon, take a bite.” Jimin gestures towards Minjeong’s pizza in her hands. 

Minjeong does take a bite, and Jimin stares at her with wide eyes and full of anticipation. She chews, expression remaining blank as she swallows. 

“So?” Jimin bounces in her seat. 

Minjeong shrugs, “it’s just pizza.” 

“Tell me that’s the best pizza you’ve ever had right now.” Jimin looked at her with wide eyes. 

Minjeong takes another bite of the pizza, looking at Jimin blankly as she chews and swallows. “It’s good, but the best?” 

Jimin depletes into her seat, facepalming herself as she shakes her head. “She’s showing too many red flags, Jimin.” She mutters to herself, and Minjeong rolls her eyes. 

“Have you ever had a deep dish?” 

“That’s not real pizza.” Jimin quickly rebuttals. 

“Never tell someone from Chicago that.” 

The offended look on Minjeong’s face made Jimin laugh. Instead of continuing on with their little banter, Jimin’s expression softened, and she asks, “so, Chicago. Why’d you decide to leave?” 

She sees a flicker of discomfort flash through Minjeong’s face, but the latter quickly recovers, and she’s thinking of her words. 

“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.” Jimin assures her. 

“No, it’s fine.” Minjeong scratches her head. “I’ve moved around a lot, by myself. Chicago was where I stayed the longest, but I felt…” she shrugs, “I felt that I needed another change of scenery. Chicago was getting a little too… depressing.” A watery chuckle leaves Minjeong’s lips, and Jimin watches her play with her food. 

“Is there something you’re looking for?” 

Minjeong looked genuinely unsure, “I don’t know.” 

“Perhaps a girlfriend from New York who enjoys pizza and is really good company?” Jimin playfully wiggles her eyebrows, and it pulls Minjeong out of whatever deep thoughts were going through her mind. 

Minjeong scoffs, suppressing her smile. “No. Dating isn’t really my thing.” 

“Why’s that?” 

The blonde shrugs, “it’s just another person that I’m giving the power to let me down. I’m dealing with enough people disappointing me in my life. I don’t need another.” 

Jimin wasn’t expecting that answer, but it didn’t cause an awkward tension in the air like Minjeong would have thought. Usually, people weren’t open to her bluntness, especially when it contained her dark humor and when she freely and carelessly talked about her poor upbringing. 

“Well, you haven’t had a Yu Jimin in your life before.” Jimin’s smile was soft, rather than a flirtatious smirk or nothing smug. “You can depend on me, Kim Minjeong. I’ll try my hardest not to let you down, I promise.” She tapped her heart with pride. 

Minjeong scoffed, but a smile laced her lips softly. “You don’t even know me, Yu Jimin.” 

“I will.” Jimin nods, determined. “I already like what I know.” 

_

“Yu Jimin!” Aeri sputters, eyes wide and steel against the view of her best friend at the twenty five meter platform of their gym pool. “What are you doing up there? Are you crazy?” 

Jimin looks down, feet dangling off the edge, and seemingly deep in thought until her best friend comes yelling into the swim and dive pool. 

“Aeri, I’m just—,” she tries to yell back to ease her best friend’s anxieties, but Aeri already starts climbing the stairs to get her down. 

“You’re trying to kill me, Yu Jimin.” Aeri grumbles. 

Jimin sighs, but a smile stretches onto her lips, as she listens to Aeri’s grumbles and patiently waits for her to reach her. 

When Aeri finally gets to her, she doesn’t dare to walk towards the edge where Jimin was sitting. She outstretched her arm and wags her hand for Jimin to come to her. 

“Jimin, you’ll fall.” Aeri clicks her tongue. 

“I won’t.” Jimin chuckles, “I’ve done this many times, Aeri.” 

“What?” Aeri’s scream bounces off the walls and echoes. “Many times? Are you crazy?” 

Jimin snorts, and finally stands up. She walks towards an anxious Aeri with a knowing look and pursed lips. “What did I say about worrying about me so much?” 

Aeri huffs, “that’s not funny, Jimin.” 

The latter copies her huff, before flinging her arm around her very much so upset best friend, and leading them back down the stairs. “I just come here to think, Aeri. That’s all.” 

“Think about what?” Aeri pouts, “you usually tell me everything.” 

Jimin chuckles and brings their heads together in a soft clash, ruffling her best friend's hair in adoration. “Of course, I do.” 

Aeri, still very much upset, rolls her eyes and crosses her arms in a huff. “Then tell me.” 

Heaving a sigh, Jimin leads them out of the gymnasium pool, and back into their school campus where students swarm around freely during their free period. 

“I think I may have… dived too deep into something…way too quickly.” When the words come out of Jimin’s mouth, Aeri pulls away slightly to give her a look. “What do you mean?” 

Stopping in the middle of the quad, Jimin brightens into a smile as her eyes look into the distance. Aeri raises a brow at her best friend, and when Jimin nods her chin to a certain direction, Aeri finally looks where the latter’s smile is directed to. 

“The new girl?” Aeri questions. 

There, on top of the bleachers, Minjeong is laughing as she takes pictures of a playful Yizhuo as her muse. 

“What do I do, Aeri? I can’t seem to stop thinking about Kim Minjeong.” Jimin sighs again, with a dreamy smile and a glint in her eyes. 

Scrunching her face, Aeri looks back at Jimin’s lovestruck expression, and pushes her face to the side. “You look like an idiot in love.” 

Jimin turns her smile to Aeri, “is that what’s happening? Love? I thought I just had a weak heart.” She playfully clutches onto her chest, and Aeri immediately punches her on the shoulder after the lame joke she had just pulled. 

“That’s not funny, Jimin!” 

Jimin laughs, “oh relax.” She crosses her arms, and her eyes find their way back to Kim Minjeong’s smile. “I’m already living with it, and unless, by some miracle, I get bumped up the transplant list and get a new heart, indulge in my dark humor, Aeri. Please, you’re the only one I can tell them to.” She shoots her best friend a dramatic look, earning her another punch on the shoulder. 

Huffing, and quite still annoyed, Aeri crosses her arms and glances at the person responsible for Jimin’s smile. “You’re pursuing this? Like seriously?” 

“Pursuing?” Jimin cocked a brow. 

Aeri nodded, “yeah, like… you’re actually serious about this? You like Kim Minjeong and you want a relationship with her.” 

“I do like her.” Jimin says genuinely, “but I’m not in a rush, Aeri.” She chuckles, “ironic, coming from someone with a heart like mine, huh?” 

Aeri frowns. 

“I’m taking my time from now on.” Jimin hooks her arm around Aeri, “I don’t want to live on the edge of my seat expecting death like that. I don’t want that to ruin my experiences, so I’m taking my time and living in the moment.” 

A sigh comes from the shorter girl, “you’ll have to tell her, you know… if you start to mean something to her, and if she starts to mean something to you. You can’t keep this from her.” 

“I will.” Jimin nods, “when the time is right. If time allows it.” 

_

“Did anyone ever tell you, you’re made to be in front of a camera?” Minjeong chuckles at the model-like poses Yizhuo was making after every click of her camera. 

“Maybe once or twice,” Yizhuo’s smirk is playful, tilting her shoulder boastfully. 

Minjeong only chuckles, shaking her head, as she looks over the photos she had taken. 

“Hey, you got eyes on you.” Yizhuo snorts, “two pairs, actually.” 

Minjeong frowns, looking up with her brows furrowed in confusion. She looks around, “huh?” She turns her head, moving her gaze slowly until she finds bright eyes staring at her with a smile just as blinding. 

“Yu Jimin has a little crush on you.” Yizhuo teases, “she’s probably talking to Aeri about you right now.” 

Minjeong rolls her eyes, lowering her head back down to her camera, and maybe to hide the small blush forming on her cheeks. “Shut up. Either way, I’m not interested.” 

Yizhuo stared at the two friends from across the field. She crosses her legs, resting her chin on her palm. “I’m not supposed to tell you this, but she came to me this morning asking what your favorite drink was.”