“Unnie. Can we talk?”

Nayeon hums from her perch on the edge of the table, unsure what Mina wants to talk to her about. They’ve just finished drafting their new project’s contract and Nayeon doesn’t know why Mina is still standing across from her and—

“I want to explain why I left.”

Nayeon automatically stands up from her perch at hearing those words. Did she hear that correctly? “What?”

“I want to explain why I left,” repeats Mina diligently. “If you want to hear it?”

Well, this is sudden. Nayeon knows she’s been waiting for Mina to explain for weeks—hell, years—but now that Mina’s actually planning to do so, Nayeon’s suddenly unprepared for it.

What prompted Mina to explain now of all days, anyway? And here in the office, no less. Granted that it’s past 5PM and most of their officemates have clocked out already but still. This isn’t the best place to do it, is it?

Nayeon wants to scoff if only it wouldn’t scare Mina into backing out. She owes her this.

She’s just lucky enough that this Friday, Sana and the rest of their friend group volunteered to pick Minji up from school and treat her to ice cream afterward. So, an explanation from Mina here is feasible, and Nayeon doesn’t have to worry about her daughter.

Nayeon thinks someone from their friends might have tipped Mina off about it.

“After what almost happened to Minji,” Mina says after receiving no other response from Nayeon, “I just thought anything is possible, and I don’t want to waste any more time stalling.”

Oh. Nayeon hasn’t realized that the incident has affected Mina so much that she’s willing to explain now. Even if Nayeon wants to pry and ask Mina how she’s been after what happened, she knows her place. And this isn’t the best time either.

Mina’s going to explain. .

Nayeon tries to go for nonchalance despite her heart trying to leap out of her chest. “Well?” she prompts. “Why did you leave, then? Was there someone else?”

“No!” The conviction in Mina’s voice surprises them both. And it’s that kind of tone that convinces Nayeon that there wasn’t a third party involved. She’s never heard Mina sound so offended and steadfast. “No, there wasn’t someone else. I would never do that, unnie.”

Okay. No third party. “Then what?”

This time, the fire in Mina’s eyes dies down and she suddenly sounds so defeated when she says, “When I was on my way to our wedding, my… doctor called.”

Doctor? Nayeon doesn’t ever remember that Mina went to a doctor before their wedding. So, what doctor?

“I didn’t tell you about it,” Mina explains as if she’s read Nayeon’s mind, “but a few weeks before our wedding, I had myself checked. It was just a general checkup really—you know how appa is with my health—but the doctor found some abnormal cells in my lymphatic system.”

The words, despite their clarity, don’t make any sense to Nayeon. She’s still kind of reeling from the fact that Mina is explaining already and yet she’s not understanding anything that’s coming out of . “What?”

Mina shrugs, not meeting Nayeon’s confused gaze. “I had lymphoma, unnie. I found out about it on my way to the wedding. And I… I panicked. My doctor said cancer and I blocked out the rest of what she said. I thought my days were numbered, so I ran. I ran because I didn’t want to be a burden to you or our friends. I’ve seen what cancer does to people and their loved ones so I left with no goodbyes because I-I couldn’t… I wouldn’t have been able to leave if I saw you.

“It was just in the early stages so it was easy to prevent. Appa’s medical connections also helped a lot, so, I received all the best attention and treatment I could get while I was in Japan.”

The floor underneath Nayeon seems to sway. Mina had cancer?

That’s why she left? Because she had cancer? And Nayeon didn’t know about it? Mina, her ex-fiancée, the mother of her child, her Minari had cancer? What? How? When? How come Nayeon never found out that Mina had cancer?!

Wait… had?

“You said had?” Nayeon finally says, the words almost unable to go past the lump in . It’s too much all at once. But at the same time, not enough. Mina had cancer. She—

Mina nods, the expression on her face unreadable to Nayeon. “I underwent radiation therapy in Japan, and now… I’m cancer-free. Appa did everything he could to ensure it.”

Nayeon’s mind is still reeling. Mina had cancer. She left her because she had cancer?

Nayeon knows how much that kind of disease affects a person and the people around them. She’s seen enough drama series to know. She’s read enough medical articles when she’s bored to know the basics of the disease, at the very least. Still, Nayeon can’t quite wrap her head around it. So, what she does instead is to rewind what Mina just said.

She got news about cancer cells in her system on her way to their wedding venue with Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung. Minutes before she arrived. And then Mina ran away because she didn’t want Nayeon to suffer because—

Hold up. Wait.

Mina was with Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung that day because of something about superstitions, about the bad luck of seeing the bride before the ceremony. So, practically all of their friends insisted that Nayeon and Mina get ready in separate venues and just meet up at the actual wedding place. And with Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung being Mina’s best friends in their circle, they were delegated to come with her.

And if Mina was with Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung when she received that call…

“You said on your way to the venue. But you were with Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung.” Nayeon stares at Mina, wishing that what she’s thinking isn’t true.

It can’t be… can it?

Nayeon has had her suspicions for a while now but this can’t be it. It just can’t be. Surely, this isn’t the secret that Jeongyeon’s been keeping from her. Jeongyeon wouldn’t do this to her.

Nayeon wants to believe Jeongyeon isn’t capable of doing such a thing to her.

Or is she?

Mina’s jaw visibly clenches but she doesn’t say anything to confirm nor deny Nayeon’s assumptions.

“Mina-yah.” Nayeon’s voice is almost begging. She doesn’t like how she sounds but she just… she can’t… because if Jeongyeon knew then… “You were supposed to be with Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung on the way to our wedding.”

Mina’s gaze meets hers and it’s practically pleading for Nayeon to stop asking questions. As if she wasn’t the one who wanted to explain in the first place. “Unnie.”

But Nayeon wants to know. She needs to know the truth. All of it. It’s her right. Mina owes her this. “Did they know?”

Mina’s jaw clenches and she tears her eyes away from Nayeon’s, knowing full well that meeting her gaze will only crumble her defenses even further. Mina is Nayeon’s weakness as much as Nayeon is Mina’s. It’s always been that way with the two of them.

“I…”

“Mina-yah, did they know?” Nayeon presses. Her chest already feels tight and she feels like there’s not enough air around them but Nayeon has to know. Did Jeongyeon know? Did Chaeyoung?

Please say no. Please say no. Please say—

“I made them promise not to tell you.”

.

The walls seem to have closed in on Nayeon and she can hardly intake air to sustain her lungs. Jeongyeon knew. Chaeyoung, too.

For five years, Nayeon tortured herself with the thought that she wasn’t enough for Mina. That whatever she and Mina had was a hoax with how easily she abandoned her on the most special day of their lives. Five ing years, she blamed herself for why Mina disappeared.

But Jeongyeon knew the truth? All this time?

“I know Mitang.”

“She wouldn’t have left you for no reason.”

“Minari loves you too much to hurt you intentionally.”

“Unnie, don’t be mad at them,” Mina pleads the moment Nayeon stops breathing altogether at the revelation. “They… They wanted me to tell you. Jeongyeon-unnie wanted me to stay. She told me that whatever treatment I needed all of you would be there for me. But I didn’t listen to her. I—”

“That’s why Chaeyoung followed you,” Nayeon cuts her off abruptly. Sudden clarity making her feel more level-headed. No. Not level-headed. She’s far from it. But she remembers it more vividly now.

Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung were supposed to arrive at the wedding venue with Mina. But they made up some excuse that Mina had them go first so she could better prepare for her vows.

And after the acceptance that Mina stood her up, Nayeon and the rest of her friends went home.

But not Chaeyoung. She said she was going to search for Mina.

“Chaeng didn’t have to look for you, did she?” Nayeon asks, unable to keep her voice level. She’s had her suspicions but she wishes she was wrong. Even just this once. But she isn’t and that hurts more. Chaeyoung kept this a secret from her. Jeongyeon lied to her. Her traitorous best friend. If Nayeon can even call her that now.

“She and Jeongyeon knew where you were.” Nayeon can’t believe the words that come out of . “Jeongyeon couldn’t leave but Chaeyoung could. So she did in her stead.”

“Unnie.”

“And even with all the conspiring among the three of you, you still didn’t know about Minji.” It’s practically a scoff. Nayeon can’t help it. She’s barely holding onto her temper as it is.

Because how could they?

Years. For years, she suffered. Jeongyeon watched her while she ing suffered from losing the love of her life.

Nayeon lost everything she ever knew, had to raise a child without her ‘supposed’ partner, and Jeongyeon just watched.

How could she?

“Unnie, please. Just let me—”

“Why couldn’t you just have told me?” Nayeon snaps and she hates how she knows that she’s seconds away from crying evident in closing up and nose getting sour. “Was I so unreliable that returning to Japan was better than battling cancer in Korea with me? Your supposed wife?”

How could they keep this a secret from her? For five long years? They knew! Chaeyoung she can forgive but Jeongyeon?

All the lies Jeongyeon fed to Nayeon throughout the years. All the excuses she made in Mina’s stead. All the reasons she made up to not make Nayeon hate Mina. How dare she? How could she?

“That’s not—” Mina tries to say but Nayeon won’t let her speak now. Not anymore. Because if Jeongyeon lying to her hurts like a then Mina not trusting her enough to stay makes her want to scream until is sore and every pain she’s endured in the past five years is gone.

It’s too much.

She can’t.

The dam that Nayeon’s been holding on for so long for the sake of her daughter finally breaks.

“I would’ve been there for you through it all, Mina-yah!” It’s a scream. Nayeon doesn’t care who hears her. She’s past the point of caring. “If you just let me. If you trusted me! How could you, Mina-yah? How could you? We were supposed to get married—build a life together. Have our happy family with Ray and all the strays we would adopt. And you threw all of that away because you were scared?”

Mina opens to speak but Nayeon has had enough.

“I know cancer is life-altering to you and the people around you but did you really think that my promise of loving you for the rest of my life was all bull? That all those I said when we couldn’t sleep were lies? I loved you, Mina-yah, and I promised to love you through whatever problems we were going to have. We said it was us against the problem. You swore to me it’s always going to be us against everything else.”

Nayeon’s voice finally breaks at the end and she angrily wipes at the wetness that she feels on her cheeks. Now is not the ing time to be vulnerable.

Mina looks so broken that it immediately makes Nayeon feel guilty. And yet the pain persists.

“I’m sorry,” Mina whispers, her voice almost drowned out by Nayeon’s heavy breathing. “I know apologies won’t cut it but I was so scared, unnie. I didn’t want to hurt you. You have to believe me. Please. I’m sorry.”

The Nayeon of five years ago would’ve accepted Mina’s apology in an instant. The Nayeon now who’s had to endure years of raising her daughter while still nursing her broken heart? No way in hell.

“You hurt us both, Mina-yah,” Nayeon says as if her statement isn’t obvious. “For no reason other than you’re scared. We lost five years. You missed Minji’s milestones. You broke my heart. Because you didn’t trust me and my love for you. Because you’re a coward.”

Mina flinches at the venom in Nayeon’s voice but Nayeon can’t find it in herself to care. Mina, Chaeyoung, and Jeongyeon kept secrets from her. For years. She’s entitled to her anger.

“I was,” Mina agrees, voice no more than a whisper. “I still am. Every time I visit the doctor I’m scared that they’d tell me I have a recurrence.”

Nayeon wants to snap again. But she’s feeling exhaustion slowly seep into her bones and she just wants to go home to her daughter to forget this conversation ever happened.

What happened to wanting to know the truth? Hypocrite.

“You don’t have to forgive me,” Mina is saying, face contrite even as she won’t meet Nayeon’s eyes. “I didn’t even have the decency to say goodbye. But I want to make it up to you. You and Minji both. If you’d let me.”

“I wasn’t the only one you left behind.”

Mina gives her a sad, knowing smile that Nayeon knows carries enough pain that could crush a person whole. “I know.”

“Jihyo, Dahyun, and Sana would probably forgive you in a heartbeat,” Nayeon muses, and she knows they will. They probably already had forgiven Mina. “But I… I can’t. Not right now. I can’t even look at you without being reminded of your cowardice.”

Mina flinches again and Nayeon aggressively stomps down the urge to take back what she said to ease Mina’s suffering. Instead, what she does is to give reassurance. Because, unlike Mina, she doesn’t like letting things fester until it eats away at her every waking thought. “We’ll talk soon,” she promises. “I need to process all of this.”

Mina nods and Nayeon doesn’t miss the way her eyes gain a flicker of hope. “Of course. Anything you need, unnie.”

Mina gives her one last lingering look before turning back and leaving Nayeon’s office without another word.

Nayeon has never dreaded their Saturday hangouts.

Until today.

Her conversation with Mina has been replaying in her mind all throughout her journey home, dinner, Minji’s bedtime story, and even the following day during breakfast and lunch with her daughter.

And now that nighttime has fallen, she doesn’t know how she’ll face Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung. Or if she even wants to. Should she confront them? Ask them subtly, see if they’d fess up? Casually bring up that Mina already explained?

Nayeon doesn’t have any answer to any of her questions and it’s making pain throb in her skull.

She’s exhausted.

She just wants to get this over with. This has been bugging her for 5 years now, after all. She’s quite sure it’s time to put this whole thing to rest.

So once Minji is put to bed and they’re preparing for their weekly movie binge, Nayeon says what she’s been wanting to say for the last 24 hours.

“You knew why Mina left.”

Everyone in the room goes silent, their eyes on Nayeon. Even Momo who’s already munching on popcorn stops with her hand halfway to as she looks over at Nayeon with wide eyes.

“What?” Jeongyeon asks, confusion all over her face, and Nayeon can’t stand it. How dare she act like she doesn’t know anything? Even after all these years?

Surely, as co-conspirators, Mina would’ve already told Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung that she explained. Nayeon really wants to scoff at the three’s failed collaboration even when they had five years to ing perfect it.

Instead, it simply grates on her nerves even more.

Liars.

“What are you talking about, unnie?” Jihyo asks what everyone else is probably thinking.

Without even removing her eyes from her traitorous ‘friend,’ Nayeon answers, “Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung ing knew why Mina left and they didn’t tell me.”

There’s a gasp. Nayeon doesn’t know who it comes from. She doesn’t care.

Now that she’s started, she can’t stop.

Chaeyoung doesn’t say anything, probably too shocked to do so.

But it’s the realization that dawns on Jeongyeon’s face that makes Nayeon snap.

“Nabong—”

“Don’t you ing call me Nabong,” Nayeon exclaims, unable to hold in her emotions any longer. “You knew why Mina left me and you kept silent all these years? You were my best friend, Jeongyeon-ah! You were there when I blamed myself for why Mina left. And you knew?”

All pretenses of innocence drop when Jeongyeon finally confirms Nayeon’s suspicions by saying, “I made a promise to her.”

“As if that makes it better?” Nayeon asks, agitated now that Jeongyeon’s lame excuse is a ‘promise.’ She’s even more pissed that she doesn’t even sound remorseful at all. “You made a promise to me, too!”

 “Nayeon—” Jeongyeon moves to step closer to her but Nayeon immediately backs away.

“Oh, no. You don’t get to talk now.” Nayeon is shaking her head. She’s done. Done with people’s bull. Done with