“So why aren’t you dating that Goo Jimin girl?” Jonghyun prods into her life like the annoying brother he was. “She seems to be quite smitten with you and she also seems to be a really nice girl. Why not go for it?” 

“It’s Yu Jimin,” Minjeong corrects, wearing her bag over her shoulders, ready to head out the door. “And… don’t ask me questions about my love life.” 

Jonghyun blinks at her, “but you don’t have a love life.” 

Minjeong rolls her eyes, “I’m leaving.” 

She heads out the door before Jonghyun can say anything else. Minjeong has already lectured him on never showing up on campus again unless he wants to be kicked out of the house. Jonghyun seemed to understand the seriousness of her warning, and didn’t fight her on it. 

Yizhuo is already sitting at her seat when Minjeong arrives in their first class of the day. She doesn’t see the banana milk and sage green post-it on her desk, but Minjeong doesn’t think about it too much. 

Maybe Jimin was running a little late. 

“Hey,” Minjeong greets her friend. 

“Jimin didn’t come by yet.” Yizhuo tells her, as if reading her mind. 

Minjeong plays it off, “I didn’t ask.” 

Yizhuo snorts, “but you were thinking it.” 

She doesn’t say anything, resting her head on her arms, and closing her eyes to take a nap. It had been almost two months of Jimin giving her love notes in the morning, and maybe she had grown accustomed to having her day start off that way. Like a routine. 

Minjeong doesn’t like the feeling of looking forward to something that can easily stop and make her feel like she had been forgotten and left behind. So, Minjeong convinces herself that she doesn’t care. She doesn’t need the stupid love notes and the banana milk to ensure that she would have a good day. 

The next time she opens her eyes, it’s to the sound of the bell ringing. Minjeong lifts her head up to an empty desk. She stares at the tan color of her desk, and frowns. No love note. No banana milk. 

She glances at Yizhuo, and her friend only shrugs. 

Weird. 

_

“Aeri, you should be in school.” 

When Aeri finally looks at Jimin to glare at her, she catches sight of how pale and weak her best friend looked, and she immediately softens into a pout. 

Jimin’s eyes widened, mouth opening to say something else, but Aeri started to cry very loudly. 

“U-Uh,” Jimin looks out of her room window to see a couple of nurses and doctors stopping in their busy hustle to look into her room where the cries were coming from. “Aeri, shh, I’m fine.” 

“You’re attached to a machine,” Aeri points to the monitor, “my best friend is attached to a machine.” 

Jimin’s eyebrows furrow, and her bottom lip starts to tremble. “No, you can’t do that. If you cry, then I’ll start to—,” she blinks her eyes rapidly to try and stop the tears. “Aeri, I’m not supposed to—, I’m supposed to rest my heart, so don’t do that or I’ll—,” 

Aeri in her lips, forcing herself to stop crying when she starts to understand what Jimin was trying to tell her. 

“Your heart stopped beating while you were asleep.” Aeri whimpers, “you can’t tell me to go to school and expect me to learn and pretend like my best friend isn’t in the hospital.” 

“It’s happened before, and I turned out okay both times.” Jimin tries to reason, which only makes Aeri more mad. 

“That doesn’t mean it’s any less scary!” Aeri’s voice rises, but she automatically clasps her hands over . “I’m sorry, that—I shouldn’t be yelling.” 

Jimin sighs, and reaches for Aeri’s hand again. “I’m fine, okay? I’ll be here for a couple of days like last time, and you’re not going to miss school just because I'm here.” 

“Yes, I am.” Aeri rebuttals, “I won’t leave this room until you do. I don’t care if I fail a class.” 

“You need to pass all your classes to graduate next year.” Jimin reminds her, “your dream is to attend Columbia University right?” 

Aeri pouts, “our dream is to attend Columbia.” 

“I don’t think it’s possible with how many classes I’m missing, Aeri.” 

“You’re still top of the class.” 

“No, you are, Aeri.” Jimin says with confusion. 

“No,” Aeri takes a piece of paper out of her backpack, “you’re top of the class. See?” She points to Jimin’s name that had the number one right next to it, her own name right below at number two. 

Jimin gasps, “Aeri, no you didn’t.” 

“What?” Aeri avoids her eyes, putting the paper back into her backpack. “I got a question wrong on the last math test. I guess I didn’t study as much as I should have.” 

Her best friend squints her eyes suspiciously at her. “Uchinaga. Aeri.” 

“Fine!” Aeri throws her hands up in defeat, “I purposely got a question wrong so you can one up me, okay? It would balance out the amount of absences you have because of hospital stays and your appointments. Columbia won’t care about your absences if you were top of the class with the highest gpa.” 

Jimin frowns, “you shouldn’t have done that. You’re jeopardizing your own future for me because I’m at a disadvantage. That’s not fair, Aeri. Why would you think I’d be okay with that?” 

Aeri heaves a sigh, hands at her temples, and she stands to start pacing around the room. “I know, I know. I’m sorry, b-but I just—, I want you there with me, you know? And this isn’t jeopardizing anything because we will make it together.” 

“You have done exactly what I hate the most. This is the reason why I keep my condition a secret. I don’t want to be seen as someone who’s at a disadvantage, Aeri.” Jimin tells her with a stern voice. “You are top of the class because you deserve it, and I don’t want to ruin that for you.” 

“But you are at a disadvantage, Jimin. Not every student has doctors appointments twice a week. Not every student lies on a fricken hospital bed because their heart stopped beating in their sleep.” Aeri felt like she was crazy with fear. She was so scared. She didn’t want to think about going to college without her best friend. She didn’t want a life without her best friend in any aspect. 

“I think you should leave, Aeri.” 

Taking in a deep breath, Aeri looks at Jimin with wide eyes. Her breath staggers when she exhales, “w-what?” 

“I need to be alone right now.” 

“A-Are you mad at me?” Aeri blinks rapidly, “I’m sorry, Jimin. I just—, I-I wasn’t thinking. Don’t be—,” 

“I’m not mad at you, Aeri.” How can Jimin be mad when her best friend was always thinking about her first? 

“T-Then…” Aeri holds her tears in, lips frowning and trying hard not to break into another sob. 

“I just need to rest, Aeri. And you need to go to school.” Jimin assures her, “promise me you’ll go to school every day that I am here.” She juts out her pinky for her best friend to take. 

Aeri stares at her pinky, then back at Jimin who looks at her expectantly. She hooks their pinkies together, knowing that Jimin had already been upset enough, fighting against her with stubbornness will make Jimin even more upset. 

“Also, promise me you’ll give Minjeong banana milk every morning.” Jimin adds, and Aeri only nods. 

“I will absolutely not be writing her love notes.” Aeri says firmly. 

“You have to!” 

“No, Jimin.” 

“B-But Aeri!” 

“She’ll know it’s not your handwriting.” 

Jimin pauses, a blush forming on her cheeks. “You think she’ll notice?” 

Aeri wipes at her eyes, before going to sit back down on the chair she had previously been sitting on. “Of course she will. You write like a kindergartner.” 

With a frown, Jimin starts to think. “Fine. I’ll write them all right now,