Nayeon wakes up in a bouncy bed courtesy of her overzealous and way-too-active-in-the-morning four-year-old daughter.

“Mommy! Mama! Wake up. Wake up!”

Nayeon groans, not wanting to open her eyes just yet. Maybe if she ignores Minji long enough, she’ll fall back asleep. She loves her daughter but she needs more sleep.

Sleep. Sleep sounds nice to Nayeon.

Plus, doesn’t Minji want to stay in Nayeon’s arms where it’s warm and comfortable and safe? Nayeon sure as hell appreciates having her daughter as a cuddle buddy and maybe she should go back to sharing her bed with Minji as before.

“Mommy! Mama! Wake up awready!”

Wait.

Hold on a second.

But Minji is already awake and jumping on her bed. Then who the hell—

Nayeon’s eyes fly open to see the top of someone’s head lying on her chest with their arm slung across Nayeon’s stomach, creating a warm safe space for the two of them.

Someone who smells like jasmine. Like Mina.

Mina?

Nayeon squints her eyes at the ‘stranger’s’ head, trying to see their face, and she sees a scattering of moles across their features and—

Oh, !

It is Mina.

Nayeon barely manages to stop the urge to throw Mina off of her at the shocking realization, and she can feel all of her limbs freeze, unsure whether she should wake Mina up or scream bloody murder.

“Mama, wake up!”

Nayeon feels more than hears Mina’s groan—what with it being directed right against her chest (good Lord)—as she, too, comes to consciousness and moves to lie on her back to look up at Minji.

The action, thankfully, frees Nayeon from Mina’s hold and she tries to make space between her and Mina as discreetly as she can.

She doesn’t want Mina to suspect that they’ve been cuddling in the absence of Minji in the middle of the bed.

That’ll only make breakfast awkward.

God. Nayeon feels like she’s twenty all over again.

Even with her warring thoughts, though, Nayeon can’t help but recognize the sudden lightness that she feels after the sleep she had last night.

For years, she slept and woke up with a heavy feeling in her chest that always makes her ache for something unknown, as if her subconscious is restless because of God-knows-what reason. And yet one night with Minji and Mina easily shed that away, making her feel as though nothing is ever going to go wrong.

Her sleep last night was the most peaceful sleep she’s had in years.

And she doesn’t know if it’s thanks to Minji… or… well, Mina.

, she’s so screwed if it’s because of Mina.

“Why are you up so early, sweetie?” Mina asks, her voice still thick with sleep as she rubs her eyes to scrutinize their daughter who is still towering over their lying figures.

“Schoow! I don’t want to be wate for schoow, mama.”

Nayeon chances a glance up at the clock hanging above Minji’s bedroom doorway and sees that it’s barely past six-thirty. She could’ve had fifteen more blissful minutes of sleep (having or not having Mina in her arms doesn’t matter). “Baby, we don’t have to get up until 6:45. We have alarms for a reason.”

It sounds a lot like a whine, and Mina immediately picks up on it.

“We’ll get ready, then. You can still sleep for a bit, unnie,” she offers, sitting up and turning to face Minji. “What do you say about mama helping you this morning, Minji-yah?”

At the question, Nayeon quickly turns her attention to her daughter just in time to see her eyes light up in excitement at the prospect of doing her morning routine with her mama for the first time.

And as the same enthusiasm becomes reflected in Mina’s eyes, Nayeon can’t help but wish, not for the first time, that this becomes her reality and not just a temporary fix.

Of course, Nayeon doesn’t fall back asleep.

One is because she’s at that age where sleep will elude her once she fully lets go of it. And with how much clarity she had when she realized she had Mina in her arms, well, the effect is more effective than a coffee.

Two because she still needs to cook breakfast for the three of them, and while she would usually skip the morning meal herself and just prepare Minji’s sandwich and meals for school, she doesn’t want Mina going to work with an empty stomach (that’ll only make her look like a bad host).

And three because she doesn’t want to miss how Mina will assist Minji in her morning routine today. Minji is unreasonably energetic in the mornings and Nayeon wants to know how much of Mina’s calmness can rub off on Minji during such a time.

That last one ought to be amusing.

So, after fixing Minji’s bed, Nayeon trudges to the kitchen and the sight that greets her is enough to stop her in her tracks.

Because in the kitchen is Mina who’s wearing an apron while she’s busy preparing whatever she has in a bowl, with Minji—and Nayeon can’t emphasize this enough because she can’t believe it—calmly sitting on the counter near her, with a banana littered with ketchup in her hand.

And it looks picturesque—a commercial ad of a mother and daughter enjoying the morning as they prepare their breakfast together.

Nayeon doesn’t even realize that the two are actually talking until she sees Minji nodding eagerly with a big grin as she looks at Mina.

This is all Nayeon has ever wanted when she thought of starting a family with Mina.

Preparing breakfast with their child as they talk about everything and nothing like they don’t have work and school in a few hours.

Nayeon feels tears cloud her vision and she immediately blinks them away in case Minji catches her watching them.

It’s Mina who does catch her staring. She turns around to probably get or do something when she catches a glimpse of Nayeon standing there like she’s frozen in time.

“Oh, hey, unnie,” Mina greets with a gummy smile that makes Nayeon’s stomach flutter with stupid ing butterflies (is she fifteen?). “I hope you don’t mind but we’re preparing pancakes.”

“Pancakes, mommy!” Minji repeats with a giggle.

It makes Nayeon beam as well, the happiness of her daughter and Mina’s accompanying soft chuckle making her feel warm all over. “Need any help?”

Mina shakes her head slightly. “Almost done. Just need to fry them. You can just sit and be pretty, unnie.”

The comment, as playful and light as it is, makes Nayeon blush to the tips of her ears and she tries her best to make the heat go away as she walks to join Minji on the counter.

She doesn’t sit on it, of course, she’s too big for that now, but she stands near her daughter as they watch Mina move around the kitchen.

And what a sight it is.

Mina exudes grace with whatever she does—may it be walking or talking or eating—and her movements look so seamless, easy, almost like moving liquid.

Nayeon has always been fascinated by how she moves that she easily loses herself in watching Mina cook in her kitchen.

I miss you, Mina-yah.

“Mommy, you and mama wiww pick me up waiter?”

Nayeon blinks out of her stupor to see Minji eyeing her with a hopeful smile.

Noticing the banana peel in Minji’s hand, Nayeon first takes and throws it away before asking, “Did you ask your mama already?”

Minji nods, looking over at Mina. “Mama said yes if you said yes.”

Nayeon chances a glance at Mina to see her already waiting for her reaction but she immediately looks away when she sees Nayeon’s eyes on her. Cute.

“Yeah, of course. We can do it every day if your mama wants to.”

“I want to,” Mina immediately pipes up, stopping whatever she’s doing to meet Nayeon’s gaze head-on. Nayeon decidedly ignores the emotions she sees in Mina’s brown eyes. “I would love to do that with you, Nayeonnie.”

The way Mina says the words make Nayeon think she’s talking about more than picking Minji up.

Nayeon vehemently denies to herself she’s thinking and wishing for the same thing.

Once they’ve finished their breakfast, and Mina is relegated to helping Minji in the shower, Nayeon searches for suitable work clothes that she can lend to the other woman.

Nayeon know