The days following were mundane, everyone went back to their daily lives to live on. The end of the year is near, everyone has either gone home or on a holiday for a good time. Except the four plowers, of course. Thanks to Jimin’s tenacious schedule organizing, she lands plowing jobs here and there all around their town in the peak of winter. Including on New Years’ Eve, a four-person job to plow and clean snow from a lavish residence just at the heart of town. The pay is rather scrumptious, but the timing is .

Who works on New Years’ Eve??? Well, apparently Jimin does. And Jimin makes the other three unwilling plowers work too. She’s the only one who can do that. If it were anyone else, they would never hear the end of it from Chaewon no matter how good the pay is. But because it is the sweet and considerate Jimin who lands them the job, only grumbles and curses were thrown but not physical things. That’s definitely better coming from her temperamental group of friends.

It has been a couple of days since Jimin and Minjeong last talked, and probably that’s for the best. Jimin is so busy with marking grades that she finally finished, and she has only been able to enjoy the holiday season for a bit. She went for a stroll with Aeri and her dog Cooper yesterday morning, spent the whole evening drinking and playing board games with the full gang in Yeji’s house, and this morning she went to buy New Year’s presents for her family. Seven cute matching pairs of socks for the cold season (it’s a little late, but the thought counts!), for her dad, mom, Jeongyeon, Jihyo–Jeongyeon’s wife–and herself. 

She bought one more just in case she runs into Minjeong.

A pair of socks would be the lamest birthday gift ever. Contradicting the plans Jimin had made.

Before the fall down, Jimin planned to ask Minjeong out for a five-course fine dining. She imagined that they would be dressed in their best like celebrities though behaving like juveniles going to their first ever formal. They would have loads of fun, Jimin would have given Minjeong her favorite box of chocolates and a bouquet of flowers, then at the end of the day, she would officially ask Minjeong out to be her girlfriend. Just the thought of it got Jimin blushing like crazy. 

But that’s all just a fever dream. Jimin took a leap in the opposite direction. She took a chance and ended it before Minjeong could. She spared herself from the heartbreak of an inevitable rejection. Minjeong will be happier with Jaeyun, she always has.

Other people would’ve called Jimin a coward, too afraid to face the risks of love. She did too at some point, and so did her friends, but she has her reasons.

Jimin loves Minjeong, that is never a question. She loves her so much, she loathes the possibility of Minjeong not receiving all the greater good in this world that she deserves. She would rather Minjeong be safe in another’s arms than miserable in her own. She loves Minjeong so much that she would rather hurt herself to make her happy. If Minjeong is happy, then she is happy.

Her friends tried to talk her out of that particular mindset, but it seemed that Jimin was locked in. Her friends think that maybe Jimin one day can accept that love is never perfect, always tattered with flaws albeit miniscule or significant. Jimin is trying to accept and relinquish her inferiority complex, so that’s progress enough. Jimin can learn to freely fall in love with another without the shackles of doubts in her mind later. Maybe a little too late for Minjeong, but there are a lot of fish in the sea.

Jimin doesn’t tell her friends that Minjeong is all she wants though, saving herself from the wrath that is Kim Chaewon. That doesn’t mean that Jimin’s profound feelings for Minjeong are unnoticeable. Her friends know that Jimin is set on one girl, but maybe it’s better to build her confidence over time first than plunging her into a relationship she dreams to have but too insecure to actually reach. Jimin is okay admiring Minjeong from afar, she has done it since middle school, she can manage to do it again. 

Simultaneously, Minjeong is busy packing her things to go back to Busan. Her mom pestered her the other day, asking that all of her friends–including Jimin and her circle and also Jaeyun–visit Busan to celebrate the New Year’s and her birthday altogether. Thankfully, Yizhuo helped her get out of that sticky situation (how awkward would it be to bring Jaeyun to her childhood home after all this time??) with the excuse that she’s going back to Harbin. That’s not a lie though, she is going back. And so was Ryujin and Yunjin who were getting ready to travel back home too. They agreed to celebrate Minjeong’s birthday a couple days after, since none of them went back home for Christmas, so they wanted to spend more time in the early days of the new year.

She also had a lot in her hands, constantly in the vicinity of her friends these days to prevent her from breaking down if ever the memory of their last conversation came to mind. She has settled on a plan of action on how to confess to Jimin, it’s just the nerves get to her a lot. Especially since she’s so preoccupied with Jaeyun coming over for New Year’s. There’s a lot to think about in very little time space.

Her friends, as passionate and as expressive as they are, fully encourage Minjeong every step of the way. Come to think of it, Minjeong is the only lowkey one in the group. To her other three friends, this is the perfect moment to motivate Minjeong to be more gutsy and take more risks. 

Yizhuo, Ryujin, and Yunjin aren’t strangers to Yu Jimin. Yizhuo spends a lot of time with her as a product of her situationship heavy involvement with Aeri, Ryujin was the perfect point guard to Jimin’s brilliant power forward, and Yunjin was neighbors with Jimin all throughout her childhood and their family remains close friends. They know very much what Jimin is like, and they are completely aware of Jimin’s tendency to self-depreciate. It’s a general secret at this point.

Minjeong needs to up her game. Jimin has done so much for her the past two years, it’s her time to shine and make the final checkmate move. And her friends are doing very well to make sure that it happens right and soon. Like, very soon. 

Though the time and date has yet to be determined since they’re all going home for the New Year’s, the setting and the procedure is set. She would stay over at Yunjin’s, so she can knock on Jimin’s childhood door and ask her for a walk to talk through things. To be honest, that’s the best idea that’s without the schemes her three friends heavily suggest to do (they tainted Jimin’s guest bedroom once, she won’t taint Jimin’s childhood bedroom too!), but it should go fine. Jimin isn’t hard to please, but Minjeong trembles in nerves every time she imagines the scenario. She won’t strive for perfection, but she wants it to go right as Jimin is deserving of.

Though through all that layer of anxiety and fear, she can’t wait to tell her how much in love she is. She’s in so much love, Jimin has no idea. It is as if she’ll explode into thousands of pink heart-shaped confetti if she doesn’t express these feelings soon. Jimin erupts butterflies and tingles in her stomach. Her loving gaze can physically skip a beat of her heart or two. Her soft touch burns her skin with comforting warmth that is beyond belief. Her tender words draw her heartstrings together in a knot so ironically animating. Her simple yet meaningful actions squeezes the air out of her lungs so refreshingly invigorating. 

She owns the entirety of Minjeong’s heart and soul. Her Jimin, every inch of her being belongs to that girl who first stole her attention at that middle school locker room, and that same woman eventually stole her heart in the middle of that frat house dance floor. And she can’t wait to tell her just that.

It is 9pm on New Year’s Eve. They could have been going home to their families, enjoying hot chocolates and watching Christmas movies together. They could have been wearing ugly sweaters and not feel embarrassed for it, as that is the only thing keeping them warm in this peak of winter. They could have been standing under mistletoes with their significant others greeting their lips in a warm kiss.

But no, that’s all just imaginations. Because they have to work. Thanks to Jimin.

“ing working on ing New Year’s Eve,” grumbles Chaewon as she pushes snow off the first sidewalk. She’s almost done with this one, but there are more to go. So much for enjoying the holiday season.

Yeji, adjacent to her, scrapes the leftover snow that managed to be excluded from Chaewon’s rather violent pushes with another smaller rake, “At least we’re not on truck duty.”

Yes, they are split into two teams. Two with the truck, two with the rakes. Many would argue that the truck is considerably the better means for the job, but it is also the most tiring. You have to plow back and forth the road, then make sure that most of the pushed snow doesn't end up clogging another road by manually raking it to the sides since the truck is too big to push snow to the sidewalks (in which the snow rake team will have to take care of). To be honest, both methods are equally as tiring. Plowing snow is tiring. But Jimin likes to do it, and so do her friends on any other day.

The lavish residence they’re plowing snow in is going through some revitalization for the new year, it seems. Lawns and gardens are being cleaned, sidewalk gutters are being unclogged, the public playground is being refurbished. Even just this morning there were tree fellers cutting down the branches on the big trees to make them look more acceptable rather than just a messy lush.

Aeri and Jimin are in the truck, with Aeri in the driver’s seat. They agreed to split the work time for who will be driving the truck, and Aeri decides she’ll drive first. It’s comfortably silent, none of them speaks, only the low volumes of the radio playing Christmas songs can be heard. That is until Aeri blurts out.

“I was asking Yizhuo out for a date, officially,” Aeri says rather sheepishly, “That’s why I brought her to meet mom.”

Jimin is taken aback. She knows of Aeri’s situation with Yizhuo, it mirrors hers and Minjeong exactly the same, “And?”

Aeri takes a deep breath, driving the truck with an average speed, “She said no,” She tells Jimin, shoulders slump and breaths ragged, as if holding back a choke of sob, “She said she waited too long.” Jimin’s heart breaks with Aeri’s.

She knows how long her best friends have been in this arrangement, looping back as far as freshman year of high school. She knows how much Aeri cares yet how much Aeri holds back. It hurts seeing her best friend long standing pining turns unrequited, just because she took too long.

“I’m so sorry,” Jimin is genuine, her hand reaching up to rub Aeri’s shoulder comfortingly. Aeri laughs with a tear or two that escaped her tear ducts, and she wipes it quickly.

“It’s not your fault,” Aeri sniffles, smiling as wide as she could. It doesn’t reach her eyes like it usually does,  “I’m just telling you so you wouldn’t make the same mistake.”

Jimin furrows her eyebrows, “What are you talking about?”
 

“You should tell Minjeong how you feel, Ji,” Aeri looks at her for a moment, her gaze steel but soft. Jimin doesn’t quite understand the pointed look that Aeri gives her, urging and somewhat aching, but she does after seconds. She realizes it too.

Before Jimin can respond, a large tree branch falls on top of the truck that Aeri and Jimin are in, smashing the truck’s roof and windshield to pieces. A shrill scream pierces through the night hour, panicked voices calling the emergencies to come over quickly.

Minjeong sits on one of the benches just outside of the airport international arrival gate, her own suitcase standing right next to her. It’s a little over 9pm, and her train to her hometown, Busan, (no pun intended) will leave in an hour. Jaeyun comes back today, and she promises that she’ll pick him up from the airport herself. Jaeyun will be staying for a couple of days, with the sole purpose to celebrate Minjeong’s birthday together. After Jaeyun arrives, the both of them will travel together to Busan. But Jaeyun will be staying in a hotel instead. She wouldn’t want her ex to be staying at her house, much less now that she has yet to straighten things out with Jimin.

She explained everything over the phone to Jaeyun the previous day, very much like what she explained to her friends before (not forgetting to spare the steamy deets because that is the least thing she wants her ex to know. She prefers he never knows forever). She made it clear to him that what they have now are strictly platonic, never again will they cross the lines of friendship into something more. Jaeyun understood wholeheartedly with little teasing remarks here and there (“Awww our little Minjeongie isn’t so little anymore, renting hotel rooms and wearing Christmas lingeries–,” “Oh shut up!”), and apparently somebody stole his heart in Australia too. The Jimin to his Minjeong. That made Minjeong’s heart bloom, she’s glad everyone found their own happy ending in the end.

She swipes her phone’s lock screen as it chimes a text message from Jaeyun saying just landed, in which she replies with an okay and a thumbs up emoji. She only needs to wait for him to fetch his checked-in luggages and they’re good to go. Just as she’s about to put her phone back in her jeans pocket, it rings again. A phone call from Chaewon, her dearly beloved cousin.

She rolls her eyes, Chaewon never texts. She calls even for the most trivial things, like asking where her socks went or has she finished cooking the Shin Ramyun she once asked Minjeong to cook for her. Chaewon is the definition of an annoying cousin. 

Minjeong presses the green phone button to answer the call, but before Minjeong can mutter a lazy greeting and the usual “what do you want?”, Chaewon beats her to it. 

“You need to come to the hospital now,” Chaewon’s tone is firm and noticeably troubled.

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