Those responsible for preparing dinner were cleaning the kitchen, cleaning, and ventilating the room, and could not stop their loud laughter, which erupted every time their gazes crossed. Of course, they will be scolded, but after they hear the whole backstory, they will also laugh. The girls were 200% sure of this.

20 minutes ago

Nayeon came out of the shower refreshed and in a good mood. Sana sat on the sofa with her legs tucked under her, holding a plate of snacks, watching the drama enthusiastically. Nayeon sat down next to her, reached for the snacks with her hand, threw them into , chewed them, then took a handful again.

"What are you watching?"

“I don’t know,” she shrugged, “I just turned it on. Unnie, you took another shampoo", Sana pouted, turning to her older friend, her eyes questioned the answer that followed immediately:

"There is half as much left, Sana. Mina will return home soon, and I also know that JiHyo also likes this scent."

"Hey, are you implying that I used too much shampoo? " She lovingly pushed him on the shoulder, still with pouting lips.

“No, I’m just telling it like it is,” Nayeon playfully winked at her, leaning completely on the back of the sofa, again taking the snacks and throwing them into .

“Unnie, I’m hungry,” Sana whined after a while, her rumbling stomach.

"And what do you suggest? Cook dinner? " Nayeon said without thinking, then realized her mistake and quickly shook her head negatively. "No. Sana. I'm against. Let's wait for Momo or Mina."

"No, we will cook dinner for everyone. You know how to cook, Nayeon-unnie, and I will help with preparing the food. I’m special at this,” Sana said proudly, sticking out her chest and dragging the resisting Nayeon into the kitchen.

"But…"

"So, unnie, what are we going to cook? " Sana smiled, putting her hands on her hips.

Nayeon could only sigh in despair, rolled up the sleeves of her robe, took out her phone from her pocket, opened the channel “How to cook from scratch: a step-by-step recipe,” found a rather simple-looking recipe, and read it out loud.

"Stuffed egg roll. We need eggs, cheese, salt, vegetable oil. So, for a snack until Momo, Mina and Jeongyeon cook something delicious. We can also fry bread and ham."

" Great idea, unnie. We have it all,” Sana said in a delighted voice, standing in front of the open refrigerator. “I’ll get everything now, wait,” she said enthusiastically, she began to take out and put eggs on the kitchen table, thinking about how many of them they needed, then sliced cheese, took out ham and, for some reason, strawberry jam.

Then, opening the top cupboard, she took out bread, vegetable oil, salt and, for some reason, pepper.

Smiling happily, she looked at Nayeon, she showed her “ ok ”, went to the stove, the gas, put a frying pan on low heat, poured oil into it, and while it was heating up:

"Sana, break three eggs, add salt, shake with a fork and pour here."

“It will be done, boss,” Sana saluted cheerfully.

What could possibly go wrong, you ask?

Just break the eggs, mix and pour into the pan.

Simple matter, right?

But not for the hurrying Sana.

She so wanted to please her unnie, to show her that she could handle even such an easy task.

I did it.

Rejecting the eggs.

Everything was floating in the bowl, even the shells. While they were removing the shells, the frying pan became so hot that the mixture poured into it immediately stuck to the bottom.

"It's okay" Nayeon's catchphrase, constantly repeated - we can try again. We still have time.

No matter how much they tried, the eggs burned.

"If we can’t get eggs, then we’ll fry bread and ham. This time it will work out" Nayeon said without losing optimism, patting Sana on the shoulder, hugging her, putting her in the right mood.

Slice the bread as thick as your little finger, fry it on both sides until crispy, put the ham on top and repeat frying until the bacon is crispy.

Even a child can cope with this.

The fact of the matter is that two children were now operating in the kitchen, carefree Sana and self-confident Nayeon.

“We can definitely handle this here,” they nodded to each other and started preparing the ingredients.

Bread and bacon.

"Maybe some more cheese on top? " Sana suggested, her finger from the strawberry jam.

“Come on, it will be much tastier this way,” Nayeon agreed.

Bread, bacon, cheese.

What could possibly go wrong, you ask?

The bread was browned, the bacon was slightly fried, everything really turned out perfect...

“Unnie, look how beautifully I sliced the cheese,” Sana boasted, showing the thinly sliced cheese.

"Great, Sana. Place it on top of the bacon. For best effect, cover with a lid..."

"For what?"

“I heard that this way the cheese melts faster,” Nayeon said with a smart look.

“Yes, I heard that somewhere too,” Sana confirmed.

The two “children” did not consider the time. They decided that there was plenty of it; they went and decided to prepare the table for the arrival of their family.

Then... well, you yourself understand what happened next...

֎

Opening the doors to their shared apartment, Mina expected to see the most terrible picture she had ever imagined while their car was driving to the house. But surprisingly, the house smelled of fried eggs, bread mixed with meat, the hallway was clean, the kitchen also sparkled. The only thing that resembled a pogrom was a mountain of unwashed dishes piled up in the dishwasher.

The “children” are neat, with a wide smile on their faces, no repentance.

So they cleaned up most of the dirt before we arrived ,” Mina thought, looking around carefully, trying to understand what they wanted to cook.

"Nayeon-chan, what have you prepared?" Mina asked curiously, looking into the kitchen, then Chaeyoung in air through her nose and involuntarily her lips:

"It smells like bread and eggs."

“We didn’t get the eggs, but... ta-da,” Nayeon said proudly, pulling out from behind Sana a plate with barely burnt bread with ham and some kind of powder. " While we wait for the ordered food, we can chew this."

"Can they be eaten?" Tzuyu asked with all seriousness, bringing into the kitchen the bags of groceries that they bought on the way home.

“They’re edible,” Sana confirmed, showing a thumbs up.

"Are we sure we won't get indigestion? " Asking Chaeyoung was already reaching for the toasted sandwich and unscrewing a large piece. “Hmm,” the girl hummed, chewing thoroughly, “very sweet.”

"Why is it sweet? It must be salty" - taking a bite of the sandwich from Chaeyoung, taking a bite, chewing," Sana, it seems we confused salt with sugar"Nayeon suddenly laughed, patting Chaeyoung’s shoulder with her palm.

"Have you mixed up anything else?" DaHyun asked, taking and biting the sandwich doubtfully. - Oh, I like it! - swallowing, biting again, then eating another one from the plate.

A little later, when the others returned and the ordered food was delivered from the restaurant, the girls sat down at the table and began their meal.

Nayeon, out of habit, sat in the middle (somehow it was customary that she was given a place at the head), with an expectant smile, she looked at how her friends were seated. Momo is next to her, Mina is on the left side, then Sana, JiHyo, Jeongyeon, DaHyun, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu.

On the table, in addition to their prepared sandwiches, there were many other dishes, irritating hungry stomachs with their smell.

“Maknae, start,” she said, nodding to Tzuyu, unfortunately, the girl could not refuse the older unnie, so she carefully brought the food to and tried it.

Her eyes widened on their own, her hand took more, and then more, until there was nothing left on the plate.

With the same (unexpected) pleasure, the girls also started dinner.

And of course, during dinner we got hooked on cooking Sa Nayeon. Gobbling up both cheeks, the “children” began to tell each other in chorus, interrupting and complementing each other. Most of the sound was their laughter mixed with words, but the essence was clear. Only instead of reciprocal laughter from their friends, they heard restless ones from Momo and Mina, and scolding from JiHyo, teasing from Jeongyeon , an attempt to protect DubChaeng .

“Okay, okay, don’t grumble, MiMo,” Nayeon said carelessly, contentedly rubbing her full stomach with her palm, looking mainly at Momo.

"Why MiMo and not MoMi?" Momo asked jealously, taking the remains of food from the plate.

“What’s the difference,” Nayeon shrugged, “you both start with the letter “M”, say thank you that I didn’t call you “M&M”,” she joked, and she burst into loud laughter, not at all expecting that there was someone other than Jeongyeon for her will support you with laughter.

I was wrong.

Mina burst out laughing, appreciating her older friend’s joke, which incredibly surprised everyone present. It’s rare to hear such a loud laugh from the quiet girl Mina.

“By the way,” Mina suddenly said, letting out a laugh, glancing in Nayeon’s direction with amusement, and began rummaging in her pockets, and then taking out a small package. “Here, unnie,” Nayeon handed the gummy bears, “I accidentally bought them in the store, it has a new taste.” Um, I remember you mentioning that you haven't tried it yet, so I...

“Mina, don’t spoil her,” there was a squeal along with Jeongyeon, and then a tight hug from Nayeon:

"I wanted to buy them soon! Thank you, Mina, you are the best", immediately unpacking, taking out one of the “green bears”, she threw it into . " It’s so unusual, but I like it. Thank you " Nayeon smiled widely, her eyes sparkling happily.

Mina seemed to wake up, realizing that the courage that had helped her to at least briefly cast aside her shyness was gone, again returning her to the quiet, nondescript girl (only Mina thought so).

Nayeon, on the contrary, thought that Mina is a rather interesting girl, and she is not so reserved, you can talk to her.

"You won’t even share " Jeongyeon trying to take away the jelly bears from Nayeon - well, let me try it too, I was the first to talk about this taste.

“I won’t give it, it’s mine, Mina bought it for me,” she stuck out her tongue, throwing another teddy bear into , rolling her eyes at the ceiling in bliss. “So tasty, incredibly tasty, Mina, where did you buy them, tell me in my ear,” Nayeon asked, leaning closer to the girl, offering her ear with an expectant expression on her face.

Mina was confused.

So close, she smells so good - the thought flashed through while Mina tried to calm down her loudly beating heart in her chest, which literally drowned her out with its pounding.

" No. Mina. Don’t tell her anything,” Jeongyeon protested, running around her place and ending up next to them, pulling Nayeon away from her friend. "Let him suffer just like me."

While the members were making fun of the two older girls, Mina came to her senses because when Nayeon was pushed away from her, she accidentally grabbed Mina’s knee. More precisely, she didn’t grab it, but ran her palm along her thigh to her knee.

Her breath caught, as did her heart, filling her entire being with a hot flame. Mina felt the flames rising to her cheeks, threatening to appear to everyone.

She spent the night without sleep. And this is not only because of what happened, no, for another reason. They stayed overnight in NaMoS's apartment; by drawing lots, Mina was "lucky" to sleep with Nayeon. In her bedroom, on the same bed, one of unnie's arms is thrown across her body, hugging her. Warm breath warms the back of her head, and one of her legs rests on her bent legs.

How can you sleep here?

So Mina couldn’t.

In the morning, she managed to take a nap, but she was instantly awakened by Nayeon’s lips that touched her cheek, so the older unnie decided to wake up her friend.

"Get up, sleepyhead. Our schedule begins in the morning", Nayeon said in a voice hoarse from sleep, the first, getting out of bed, straightening her pajamas as she went, walked to the exit. "I'm gonna take a shower. Momo and Jeongyeon are preparing breakfast, JiHyo went to collect the necessary things, she will be back soon. The kids went to walk the dogs. Oh, yes, please wake up Sana,” Nayeon asked, closing the doors behind her.

Goddess, what are you doing to my heart?

֎

The goddess apparently really decided to play with Mina’s heart, because in recent days she has encountered Nayeon constantly, wherever she goes, even if it’s just to pop into the store after making an appointment late in the evening or go out for a walk, stretch her muscles, and get some fresh air. Nayeon was everywhere.

If before they could not connect the dialogue with each other, then after that dinner from Sa Nayeon, Nayeon began to communicate with Mina often, challenging her on any topic.

After almost a month of such conversations, Mina wondered how it was that they were now alone in the house with an errand from Jeongyeon to finish Sana's birthday cake instead.

“Mina, all you have to do is turn off the oven in 10 minutes, take out the cake and decorate it,” Jeongyeon whispered, pulling Mina into the hallway, leaving Nayeon sitting on the sofa, flipping through the TV channels. – Please keep an eye on Nabong .

“Don’t worry, Nayeon-chan won’t touch the cake – “ I won’t take my eyes off her, ” Mina added to herself, saying goodbye to Jeongyeon.

Mina is a responsible person, you can always rely on her, Jeongyeon was sure that nothing would happen during the hour of her absence.

Unfortunately…

Things didn't go according to plan.

Nayeon was really in Mina's sight.

Yes, I didn't take my eyes off it.

Only for a minute, when she turned away to take out gloves with which you can pull the hot baking sheet out of the oven.

The first thing I heard was a loud creak and a “boom”.

The second is a painful squeal from Nayeon.

Fear crept to her fingertips when she turned around and saw:

Nayeon presses his palm to himself, tears flow from his beautiful eyes, currently looking at the redness and swollen index and middle fingers.

" Nayeon-chan, what happened? " her heart sank in my chest from the tearful face of the older girl. She wanted to hug her, hold her close, and calm her down with caresses, which she did, dropping everything and running up to her.

The situation became clear in the blink of an eye - the automatic oven door slammed shut, not giving Nayeon's hand time to completely free itself from its grip.

Thoughts quickly attacked Mina’s brain with advice on what to do in such cases, but fear and worry for Nayeon almost broke her. With shaking hands, she carefully took Nayeon's hand and gently pulled it to the sink, where she the cold-water tap.

“Stay like this for now, I’ll bring some ice,” but she couldn’t take a single step before she was held in place by a puppy-dog look from Nayeon, who begged her not to leave. “I’ll be right back,” she assured, gently touching her holding hand with her finger.

"Mina, it’s so painful", there are tears in her eyes, her lower lip is protruding, Nayeon looked so much like a child, Mina, despite the situation she found herself in, could not look into Nayeon’s eyes for a long time.

Too adorable and cute, I can't stand it.

After the first aid, Mina was about to call the manager to tell her about the situation, but Nayeon stopped her again:

" No need, I’m already better. Just stay with me."

Before the girls arrived, Mina sat with Nayeon, calming her heart every time her older friend touched her, being incredibly close to her.

By the time they returned, Nayeon was asleep, all the energy spent on stress and fear had completely exhausted her.

Mina told them everything, but this did not help them in the following days, when the members began to tease or frown jealously (this was part of Chaeyoung towards Mina).

Nayeon honestly didn’t understand why she was being teased, but Mina understood perfectly well, blushing every time. when one of the members recalled that evening.

The truth is that Nayeon fell asleep on Mina's lap, with her nose buried in the girl's stomach, her arms tightly wrapped around her waist. And when they tried to put her in her bed, she sleepily clutched Mina, screaming like a child whose favorite toy is taken away.

This picture was incredibly funny, some members even filmed a video.

Yes, it was funny for the members, but not for Mina, who found this moment very embarrassing.

֎

" Minari, I think the goddess gave you many chances to be brave for unnie. Maybe it's time to confess, huh?" Sana asked quietly, sitting next to Mina on the sofa in the recording room, waiting for her turn to record their new song.

Now the object of Mina’s desires was just trying out her voice, standing not far from them, intently reading the text.

"How many more “accidents” will there be until you finally dare?" Momo, who was sitting on the other side of her friend, assented to her.

“I won’t be able to take the first step,” Mina sighed with a charming smile looking at Nayeon, noting to herself how beautiful she was in a tracksuit, her hair was a mess.

“You don’t have to do it, just let it happen,” Sana advised, nodding at Nayeon’s smile when she suddenly glanced in their direction.

"But when I let this happen, what a mess happens..."

“Minari, you’re so cute today in that beret,” Nayeon’s voice sounded out of nowhere, still looking in their direction. - It suits you so well.

“Thank you,” she stuttered, shyly tucking a stray curl behind her ear.

“You see, Nayeon-unnie will do everything herself,” Momo grinned, seeing how pleased her older friend became after Mina’s answer.

" I'm not sure…"

"What are you not sure about, Mina? " Nayeon suddenly appeared next to them, looking at the girl with all attentiveness. "If you want, I can share my confidence with you."

She’s definitely flirting with her , Sana thought, and Momo mentally added to her words:

We are definitely the odd one out here .

Mina just thought about:

Maybe the girls are right, maybe I should let this happen?

"Nayeon-unnie - meeting a curious glance from her, Mina could not hold it for long, but before lowering her eyes, plucking up courage, - are you free after the recording? – Mina asked, nervously fiddling with her fingers.

" Yes" and without waiting for the next question, Nayeon herself asked her: "Let's go eat? " she smiled, ignoring the teasing from Sana and Momo. “We never went out just the two of us, I know so little about you, but we’ve been together for 2 years already.” Well, do you agree?

Mina managed to nod in response, using up all the courage she had. However, Nayeon was pleased with this answer.

"Great, then it's decided! Good luck with your recording, Mina! And you too Momo, Sana!"

Mina watched the older girl disappear into the recording room, putting on her headphones, winking at her as she looked up and looked through the glass.

Still, I was able to take the first step. Goddess, help me to continue to do it.