1, 3 ,2, 4

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/38401765.

Rating: Not Rated

Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Category: F/F
Fandom: TWICE (Band)
Relationship: Im Nayeon/Myoui Mina, Chou Tzuyu/Myoui Mina, Hirai Momo/Myoui
Mina, Kim Dahyun/Minatozaki Sana
Character: Im Nayeon, Yoo Jeongyeon, Hirai Momo, Minatozaki Sana, Park Jisoo |
Jihyo, Myoui Mina, Kim Dahyun, Son Chaeyoung, Chou Tzuyu
Additional Tags: Complicated Relationships, Cheating, maybe? - Freeform, Depends,
Minayeon, Mitzu, Mimo, saida, How Do I Tag, Fluff, Angst, Hurt/Comfort,
Domestic Fluff, Bittersweet, Eventual Smut, Slow Burn, Heartbreak,
Love Triangles, ? - Freeform, kinda sad, Alternate Universe, give mina a
hug, maybe x2???, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Underage Drug
Use, Implied/Referenced Dubious Consent, Mildly Dubious Consent,
they're underage in flashbacks, ADULT minayeon, with some teen
minayeon, Slow To Update
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2022-04-15 Updated: 2022-04-24 Words: 17,405 Chapters:
10/?

1, 3 ,2, 4
by id_be_anyone_else42

Summary

Not your average love triangle…square…diamond?

God, even Mina doesn’t know anymore.

Notes

hello everyone! this is the first story that i've written and published in a longggg time. i
hope you enjoy! if you have any tips, suggestions, or comments, please leave them in the
comments of the story! i'd really appreciate it :)
 Reunion

“Mina?” A familiar voice that she hadn’t heard in years, more than a decade now, echoes in her
head. She doesn’t want to look up from her phone. Eyes hesitantly meet the eyes of the barista
standing behind the counter. Her lips part in surprise, and her eyes widen slightly.

“Nayeon.” Mina breathes out quietly. She takes in the appearance of the girl.

No longer is her hair dyed a vibrant red. There’s no dark and bold eyeliner on her eyes, and her
signature smokey eye is nowhere to be found. Any trace of the nose piercing that she had is gone,
and as far as Mina can tell, all the piercings that were once decorating her ears are gone. Even the
gauges that she proudly showed off are now gone. Mina can’t even tell that they were ever there.

Nayeon clears her throat awkwardly.

“It’s…what a surprise to see you here.” She smiles shyly. Mina nods and smiles politely.

“I’ll take an iced americano,” Mina says before looking back down at her phone and smiling as she
texts someone back.

“O-oh, alright. I’ll have that right up. How will you be paying today?”

“Just card,” Mina mumbles absentmindedly as she digs through her purse and pulls out a debit
card. She inserts it into the chip reader, and Nayeon watches her with curiosity as she taps on the
screen.

Physically, Mina had somehow managed to become a million more times more beautiful than she
was when she was younger. Not only that but there were already some slight changes with Mina
that were painfully obvious to Nayeon.

Something about her energy was just different.

Mina was glowing to put it simply.

Her eyes were practically shimmering in the sunlight pouring through the window behind Nayeon.
Nayeon’s heart warmed slightly when she saw that for the most part, Mina’s quirky mannerisms
were the same.

Mina pulled her card out and went to go sit by a window to wait for her drink. She breathed out
shakily as she watched people walk down the sidewalk. Her face felt hot and her heart was
pounding. She put down her phone with shaky hands.

Out of all people she could’ve expected to run into, the last person she would’ve expected to run
into is Nayeon. The last time she had seen the girl was in Korea.

She looks over her shoulder hesitantly, just to see Nayeon leaning on the counter where the drinks
are put and staring at Mina. The girl quickly turns away and makes herself out to be organizing the
drinks. Mina snaps her head back to face the window.

“Mina?” Another barista calls out. Mina quickly stands up, gathering her things. She grabs her
coffee from the counter and looks back up to see Nayeon standing awkwardly.

“Um…” Nayeon begins as Mina stares at her like a deer caught in headlights. Nayeon breathes out
slowly and places her hand on the counter. “Are you gonna stay for a bit? My break is in ten
minutes and maybe we could catch up…a bit?” She strains out, nearly closing her eyes in
embarrassment.

“I have to get to work.” Mina tilts her head to the side as she forces out the words. It almost sounds
like a question. She takes a step back and moves to turn around but Nayeon continues to talk and
Mina stops in her tracks.

“Excuse me.” Someone mutters as they move between Mina and Nayeon to get their drink. They
both stand awkwardly and Nayeon smiles at the man before he looks between the two curiously
and walks away.

“Well, maybe if you’re not busy sometime, maybe we could catch up?”

“Yeah, maybe.” Mina nods as she steps back.

“Maybe-“ Nayeon raises her voice now that the girls are talking to each other with ten feet of space
between them in a crowded cafe. “I could-“ Mina steps forward because she can barely hear the
girl. “Give you my number-“

“I’m really running late, I have to start heading to work. I’m sorry.” Mina says, feigning sincerity.
At this point, she’s practically itching to get away from the girl.

“Oh, okay then, sorry for holding you up. Hopefully, I’ll see you again soon.”

Mina smiles at Nayeon over her shoulder as she leaves the cafe.

“You won’t believe who I saw today,”

Mina grumbled as she chewed on the sandwich that her friend had given her. The two sat outside
during their lunch break on a park bench.

“Who?” Jihyo questioned as she sipped on her coffee. She covered her eyes as the sun moved from
behind the clouds, and dug through her bag for a pair of sunglasses.

“Nayeon.” Mina gasped out and swallowed the last bite of her sandwich.

“Who?” Jihyo questioned again, leaning her head to the side.

“Im Nayeon.” Mina deadpanned. Jihyo stared at her with her eyebrows furrowed. “From high
school.” Mina rolled her eyes with Jihyo’s eyes widened.

“Oh my god!” She gasped loudly, garnering a few stares from the children playing at a playground
a few feet away. “Im Nayeon?” She questioned once more. Mina nodded her head violently. "What
is she doing here?”

“Working at that cafe by my apartment, I guess.” Mina sighed and ran her hands through her hair.

Jihyo covers her mouth in shock.

“Oh, that’s embarrassing. You go there every day.” Jihyo points out. Mina groans.

“I hadn’t even thought about that.”

“Did you guys talk?”

“Yes- Yeah- I mean kind of…She-“

“Tell me what happened. Everything. From the very beginning.” Jihyo nodded, completely
invested in the story that Mina was about to tell. She readjusted herself on the bench, crossing her
legs and resting her chin on her hand as she leaned forward and prepared to listen.

“Well, I walked into the store and I was texting Momo, and then she was like ‘Oh my god, Mina?’
And I freaked out because I heard her voice and I looked up and it was her, Jihyo! It was Nayeon.
She kept trying to talk to me to ‘catch up’…Whatever that means. She even tried to give me her
number but I just said I was running late and left.” Mina shrugged.

“Are you gonna talk to her again?”

“I’m gonna have to.” Mina scoffed. An alarm on her phone rang. She and Jihyo sighed as they
threw their trash away and began to walk back to the hospital where they were working today. “I’m
not going to another cafe to get my coffee in the mornings. Anywhere else would be inconvenient.”

“I meant to catch up with her, Mina.”

Mina stopped in her tracks in the middle of the sidewalk.

“Are you serious?” Mina borderline screeched as she continued walking next to Jihyo. “Why
would I do that?”

“No way you’re still holding onto high school drama.” Jihyo chuckled. “And I was just asking.”

“It’s more than that and you know it,” Mina muttered quietly. Jihyo nodded to herself and
apologized.

“You’re right. It’s been a really long time though.” Jihyo shrugged. “Maybe she’s changed.”

“God, Jihyo. You wouldn’t believe it. I almost couldn’t recognize her. She had almost no makeup,
all her piercings- gone. Her hair is finally dyed a natural color.” Mina shook her head as she toyed
with her hands.

“You’re gonna be seeing her every day.” Jihyo shakes her head.

“I know. I just don’t see any reason to welcome her back into my life.” Mina sighs as she fidgets
with her hands anxiously.

“Alright.” Jihyo nods.

“Maybe you could come with me tomorrow?” Mina offered.

“Immediately no.” Jihyo shook her head. “I cannot stand that girl,” Jihyo said seriously.
 11 Years Is A Long Time
Chapter Summary

"11 years is even longer"

in which nayeon and mina have history.

Chapter Notes

thank you for the kudos! hope everyone is enjoying this story so far!

“I’m home, baby,” Mina called out as she entered the apartment. She inhaled the delicious smell of
her girlfriend’s cooking and smiled widely as she walked into the living room after taking her
shoes off. “Ba-“ She begins to call out before she feels two strong arms wrap around her waist. She
melts into the embrace.

“Hi.” She murmurs. Mina turns to face her and takes in her appearance. Beautiful as always.

“Hi, Momo,” Mina says with a wide smile. “I missed you.” She says shyly before lacing their
fingers together.

“I missed you too,” Momo replies with bright eyes. “It’s finally the weekend! She exclaims. She
presses a kiss to Mina’s lips and giggles when Mina chases after her lips with her eyes closed as she
pulls away and leads her into the kitchen. “Taste this,” Momo says seriously, waving a fork with a
piece of meat on it in front of Mina’s face.

“Oh my god,” Mina says with her mouth full. “More please.” She says and opens her mouth wide.
Momo scoffs as she turns off the stove.

“No, wait until it’s time to eat.”

Mina pouts. “Fine.” She huffs as she sits on the counter. “How was your day? What did you do?”

Momo hums as she transfers all the food that she cooked onto plates. “I opened up the studio at
6:30 this morning since the teen girls are preparing for statewide championships. We practiced for
a couple hours. I worked one on one with the girls on the choreography. I met with that lady, and
we discussed the uniforms for the girls, and we finally put something together- which is exciting.”

“Show me when they come in.”

“I will.” Momo smiles and moves to wash her hands. “Then I just went through my classes as
normal, went to go check out new locations for the second studio during lunchtime. Went through
some more classes- we got like six new students today by the way.” Momo says happily, and
Mina’s eyes widen in surprise.

“That’s amazing, wow.”

“Then I came home and started cooking. And showered. What about you?”

“The usual. I worked inpatient today.” Mina nodded. “There was a really sad case of this little girl,
maybe 13 years old? We finally diagnosed her with childhood-onset schizophrenia. I got her
started on medication, and we did some talk therapy.”

“Oh, that’s awful,” Momo said sadly. She gestured for Mina to sit at the dining table and grabbed
her hand as she led her to sit down. Mina thanked Momo for the food and kissed the top of her
head as she sat in front of her plate. She began to eat.

“Other than that, my day was pretty normal. I’m happy that we’re finally making some progress
with her. It’s hard to cope with something like that at such a young age, I can’t imagine.”

The two continued to chat over dinner. Once they both finished, Mina went to go wash the dishes,
and the two giggled as Momo hugged her from behind.

“Wanna do a movie night? We could stay up late.” Momo suggests. Mina beams.

“Yes! You have to pick the movie, though. I can’t decide for the life of me.” Mina feels Momo nod
against her. Mina cleans her hands as she puts the last dish on the dish rack. “I’ll go shower while
you pick.”

“Actually- baby, can you go pick something up for us?”

“We just ate, though?”

Momo shakes her head and smiles. “Truthfully, I don’t think I’m gonna make it past 10 without
some coffee. And pastries.”

Mina’s eyes widen. “Coffee? At this time? If you get sleepy then you should just sleep.”

“I still want pastries though. C’mon, it’s a short walk, Mitang.”

Mina stays stiff in her place.

“Please?” Momo begs. Mina sighs and snatches the house keys off the counter along with her
wallet while still looking at Momo.

“Fine.” She groans and Momo cheers, peppering her face with kisses. Mina grins. “See you in a
bit!”

“Mina?”

Oh god.

Mina can barely force out a smile. She waves at Nayeon as she approaches the counter.

“I haven’t seen you in a couple days.” Nayeon points out as she walks up to the cash register. Mina
nods tiredly.

“Why are you here this late?” Mina tries to make it sound as nice as possible but upon seeing
Nayeon tense, she can’t help but feel a little guilty.

“Uh…I picked up another shift.”

Mina nods in understanding. “Can I get two blueberry muffins…fi-four warmed chocolate cookies
and….a cheesecake?” Mina sighs and shrugs. Nayeon chuckles quietly and nods. Mina pays and
goes to sit down at a table. The cafe is almost completely empty. Apart from Mina and Nayeon,
there’s only a man at the very back typing passionately on his computer. Mina gets so lost in her
own head that she flinches in surprise as Nayeon puts down a paper bag with her order in it in front
of her and plops herself down in the chair across from her. Mina grabs the bag and puts it next to
her so that she can see Nayeon. She opens her mouth to leave but Nayeon quickly begins talking.

“It’s crazy that we’ve run into each other all the way out here, isn’t it?” Mina eyes Nayeon
carefully as the girl stares at her seriously. She puts up a finger to tell Nayeon to give her a second
and Nayeon nods. Mina pulls out her phone.

TO: Momoring <3

7:32PM - Cafe is a little packed might take me a while to get back home. Sorry!!!

FROM: Momoring <#

7:32PM - that’s alright! I’ll see you in a bittttttttt

Mina sighs as she puts her phone back into her pocket.

“You know I always wanted to come live here.” Mina smiles, and Nayeon’s eyes widen upon
realizing that Mina is going along with the conversation.

“I’m happy you made your dreams come true,” Nayeon says sincerely. “Um…” She strains out
awkwardly. “How’s life- like-…what have you been up to all these years? Fill me in on
everything! If you want-“ She cuts herself off as she sees Mina’s eyes narrow slightly. “I mean you
don’t have to! I’m just curious…”

Mina makes herself comfortable in the seat.

“Well…I graduated…went to school with a friend for two years and we both ended up getting into
this program that allowed us to study abroad which is how I ended up here. We both ended up
transferring. I majored in psychology. Went to med school and now I’m in my psychiatry
residency. I only have two years to go before I’m officially a psychiatrist.” Mina nods.

“Woah…” Nayeon says in awe. “Th-that’s amazing, Mina. You always talked about that stuff but
it’s crazy to see that you actually did it! I’m happy for you…Wow.” Mina looks down at her hands
bashfully and feels her face grow hot at Nayeon’s sincere praise. The two sit in a slightly less
uncomfortable silence for a few moments before Nayeon leans forward slightly and clears her
throat to get Mina to look back up at her. “And…are you seeing anyone right now?”

Mina tenses and inhales sharply. Nayeon stares at her expectantly and Mina hesitantly nods.

“Yes…I am. You remember Momo?”

“Not quite.” Nayeon sighs and leans back into her chair.

“Um, my best friend that lived in Texas? That I would visit every few years?”

“Oh,” Nayeon says absentmindedly.

“Yeah, I told her I was moving to the U.S, and she decided to move in with me given that we were
going to be attending the same university. We’ve been dating for about six years, almost seven.”
Mina says proudly. “She owns a dance studio a-and she’s an instructor. Her studio is really nice,
and she has these dance teams, and they’re so amazing, you wouldn’t believe it. Every year they
make nationals. A few years ago, they took the national title and have been first every year since
then. They’ve been nation champs for like four years. They’re preparing for the state
championships right now and Momo was telling me that they’re gonna have major news outlets
there to interview her and the team!” Mina says excitedly. Finally feeling comfortable speaking to
Nayeon. Nayeon smiles slightly upon seeing Mina so happy. “She’s a great chef too.” Mina
giggles. “You might’ve seen her here a few times, she comes here way more than I do. Uh, she has
long black hair with cute little bangs and her hair is a little wavy…she has blonde streaks?”

Nayeon gasps as she remembers the girl. She sinks into her chair as she remembers her sweet
disposition. The woman was oh so polite and tipped Nayeon generously. No wonder.

“I remember now. She’s beautiful.” Mina blushes.

“She really is,” Mina says dreamily.

“Six years is a long time.” Nayeon smiles widely. “11 years is even longer.” She says blatantly and
the smile falls off Mina’s face. The two stare at each other for an excruciating amount of time
before Mina sighs.

“What about you? What have you been up to?”

“Not much.” Nayeon shrugs, clenching her jaw at Mina who simply waved off her comment. “Just
going to community college and working here.”

“What are you going to college for?”

“Computer science.” Nayeon sighs. “I didn’t enroll into college up until two years ago so I still
have some time to go before I actually start getting into the important stuff.”

“I gotta go,” Mina says abruptly with a displeased look on her face.

“Why?” Nayeon asks aggressively. The two stare at each other and Mina narrows her eyes at the
girl. She leans close to her as she stands up and plants her hands on the tables.

“You have some audacity to be acting the way you are after everything you did,” Mina mutters
quietly.

“How am I acting?”

“The way you are." Mina scoffs. "Just stop."

"Stop what?" Nayeon exclaims.

"Talking to me, Nayeon. Stop it. You and me- we’re not gonna be friends again. I don’t care about
what’s going on in your life, I don’t care if you’ve changed. I don’t care about you, in all honesty. I
don’t know what’s your deal with wanting to start a conversation with me but I want you to know
that the effort is extremely one-sided, alright?”

“Okay…” Nayeon replies, meeting Mina’s gaze hesitantly. The latter grabs her bag and leaves the
cafe.
 14 & 16

“Mina, go sit by the new student so you two can do the partner work together.” The teacher
commanded.

“Of course!” Mina nearly shouted as she grabbed her bag and plopped in a seat next to the girl
she’d been hoping to see again for weeks.

To think that somehow, she ended up in her class. It was the second week of school when Mina had
first seen the girl.

She had walked into the building and immediately saw her at the stairwell that led to her first class
of the day. Mina was entranced upon seeing the girl. As she went up the stairs, she wanted to stop
and compliment the girl so badly, but her intimidating look made her run away.

“Hi,” Mina said shyly. The girl turned to face her and gave her a tight-lipped smile.

“Hey.” The girl nodded at her, putting her headphones away. The girl moved closer to Mina as she
pulled the paper towards herself. “I don’t wanna do this.” She attempted to make conversation.

Mina had been slightly excited to start the project, but she nodded anyway. “I don’t want to either.
It’s not due until two weeks from now.”

“We can start it some other time then.” She shrugged. “If that’s okay with you.” Mina nodded.

“Wanna sit in the hallway then? So we don’t get in trouble for not doing anything?”

This time the girl smiled genuinely.

“Let’s go.” She said mischievously.

“So, what’s your name?” Mina asked as the girl walked next to her quietly. Mina wiped her
sweaty palms on her jeans, checking if any teachers were monitoring the empty halls.

“Nayeon.” The girl said and flashed the girl yet another charming smile.

Mina’s lips parted in awe. Nayeon was the coolest girl she’d ever met. Hair dyed a fiery auburn,
piercings decorating her ears, and bold eye make-up. Not to mention her amazing sense of fashion.

“What’s yours.”

“I’m Mina.”

“I like your shoes, Mina.”

“I like your outfit, Nayeon.” Mina giggles.

The two fall into a comfortable silence for a few minutes until Mina breaks it again.

“Are you in 9th grade by any chance?” She questions insecurely.

“Do I look like I’m in 9th grade?” Nayeon laughs loudly and Mina smiles weakly, shaking her
head sadly. “You have to be in 11th grade, at least. Right?”

Mina shakes her head hesitantly. “I’m in 9th…” She mutters quietly.

Nayeon’s head nearly pops out of its sockets. “

Huh?”

“I-I’m in 9th grade?” Mina speaks up.

“No, I heard you! I was just surprised. So what- you’re like 15, right?”

“14,” Mina chokes out.

Nayeon giggles. “You’re cute. I’m 16.”

“Oh wow.” Mina gulps. “Way too old for me then.” She half-jokes. Nayeon laughs loudly.

“You know, at first I thought it was really stupid that I was getting put in a class with a bunch of
9th graders, but I think that I’ll like it now that I know you.”

“Class was a little boring for me too…” Mina replies shyly.

“Not anymore, I hope?” Nayeon nudges Mina’s side with her elbow.

“No, not at all.” Mina shakes her head with a soft smile.

“I’m glad.”
 Right v. Wrong
Chapter Summary

mina and nayeon lightly discuss their past

Mina sighed sadly as she stared at Nayeon's work at the register. Jihyo stared at her as she watched
Nayeon with glazed-over eyes.

“Mina?” Jihyo shakes her gently. Mina snaps her head back towards Jihyo.

“Yeah?”

“You weren’t lying when you said she looked different.”

“Yeah…” Mina breathes out. “I was too harsh” She admits.

“Yup.” Jihyo nods quickly as she takes a big bite of her muffin. Mina groans and lets her head flop
back. She stares up at the ceiling and Jihyo eyes her. “Stop that. We’re in public.”

“My bad,” Mina whispers as she sits back up and fixes her posture. Jihyo smiles as she wipes her
lips with the back of her hands. She watches Mina continue to stare at Nayeon. She crosses her
arms and leans onto the table.

“You wanna talk to her again.” Jihyo states. Mina frowns as she turns her head backward Jihyo.
The latter doesn’t miss the way that Nayeon looks their way as soon as Mina turned away. Thank
god for peripheral vision.

“I do.” Mina sighs. “And I don’t understand why.” She groans as she rakes her hands through her
hair to ease her frustration. It was a bright Sunday morning and Momo was busy teaching at her
dance studio. Mina had decided to invite Jihyo out for breakfast.

“You wanna know what I think?”

“We’re both psychiatrists you don’t have to psychoanalyze-“

Jihyo narrows her eyes and points at her. “I think that a part of you genuinely needs closure on
everything that happened,” Jihyo says earnestly.

“Why would I need closure? Forgetting her was closure. There are no feelings there either, Jihyo. I
just don’t care about her anymore.”

“Well, obviously you do if all you’ve been doing for the past 15 minutes is stare at her and
occasionally speak up about how you feel a little guilty. Hell- getting in her face like that a couple
days ago and telling her that you don’t care about her shows that you care and you know it!”

“I can’t believe I said that.”

“It was mean.” Jihyo nods, moving to coax the same statement out of Mina.

“It was…” Mina sighs and Jihyo celebrates the victory internally. “I don’t-“ Mina stops herself and
sighs for the nth time. “I don’t understand. I should be over it all.”

“Maybe you just need to talk to her, Mina. Who knows…you’re always the one saying that things
happen for a reason. Maybe like…what is that you say?” Jihyo snapped her fingers in the air,
earning the two looks from people in the cafe. “Aha!” Jihyo smiled, almost villainously. Mina
stiffened up in her chair and furrowed her eyebrows as she watched Jihyo sit with a crazy look in
her eyes. “Maybe! The universe sent her your way for a reason.”

Mina rolls her eyes. “I haven’t said that-“

“Nerd,” Jihyo mutters under her breath.

“I haven’t said that since I was like 12.” Mina grunts loudly and Jihyo almost spits out her food as
she tries to hold in her laugh. “Look, this all feels very stupid to me. You know what, maybe seeing
her just freaked me out a little? Instead of being so deterred from her, I should just treat her as I
would any other person. Things ended a certain way and I already dealt with it long ago. Long,
long, long ago. It’s that simple.”
“Mina.”

“Yes?”

“Talk to her,” Jihyo says seriously. “I have some errands to run. I’m sure her shift is ending
sometime soon.”

“Ji-“

“See you later!” Jihyo shouts. Mina scoffs as the doorbell chimes and as Jihyo happily skips down
the sidewalk, probably aware of the glare that Mina was giving her at that moment.

Okay.

Mina eyes the register for a while and waits for the opportunity to walk up to Nayeon. Once
everyone is gone, Mina hesitantly stands up and makes her way to the counter. Her legs almost feel
as if they’re about to give out. Nayeon’s eyes look sad as she meets Mina’s.

“Are you almost done with your shift?”

“I got fifteen minutes left.”

“Can we talk?”

Nayeon sat down with wide eyes on the white couch that definitely cost more than a year's worth
of her rent by the looks of it.

We should talk somewhere other than this cafe. Too noisy.

“I’m sorry,” Mina said wholeheartedly as she sat on the ottoman in front of Nayeon. “What I said
last week was really rude and I apologize. You didn’t deserve that.”

“I’m being pushy.” Nayeon shrugs. Mina tilts her head to the side.

“Why?” She questions genuinely.

Nayeon swallows nervously. “I wasn’t expecting to ever see you again,” Nayeon admits. “Let
alone to speak to you. I didn’t wanna mess things up and I really do think that it’s a lovely
coincidence that we’re meeting again. I could understand why you wouldn’t really want to see me
again though.”

“It was just high school drama.”

“It was more than that. You know it, I know it.” Nayeon shrugs. “I mean I really did some things
that would screw with a person for a long time. If I was in your position I’d be livid if I ever had to
see you again after all that.”

“I didn’t ever want to see you again,” Mina affirms. “But us being here now- as much as I don’t
want you…to be part of my life-“ Mina says blatantly. Nayeon appreciates her honesty. “This
weird sense of familiarity with you is throwing me off.”

“Mina, truthfully, I want us to at least be friends again.”

At least.

She watches Mina tense and scrambles to get the girl on her side.

“I mean as soon as I messed up- which is not when I actually did it but a little before- I knew I was
making a mistake. I’m sorry that I ever let my pride get in the way of me apologizing to you. Trust
me when I say that how things went is not how I wanted them to go, please.” Nayeon begged.
Mina turned away from Nayeon.
“Why’d you let all that happen then?”

“Mina, I was dumb. I was just stupid. I was just a kid-“

“Are you really gonna try and pull that with me?”

“You’ve always been more mature than me.”

“No! Nayeon- you are a person. You knew right from wrong and you chose wrong. You let things
get way out of hand without a care in the world and now just because all this time has passed, you
think we’ll suddenly be okay now? Why would you even try and assume something like that?”
Mina shouts at the girl.

“I felt helpless!” Nayeon blurts. Mina rolls her tongue over her teeth as she shakes her head.

“Like you always have?”

“Yes, Mina! I’m telling you the truth, please accept it!”

“I know the truth!” Mina huffs. “I’m fully aware of it- just because I accept it doesn’t take away
the right for me to still feel a certain way about what you did!”

“This conversation isn’t feeling very productive,” Nayeon says, mostly to herself Mina realizes.
Nayeon reaches out and grabs Mina’s hand, getting ready to say something. Suddenly, the front
door swings open and both she and Mina snap their heads towards the person standing in the
doorway.

“Who is this?”
 Im Nayeon
Chapter Summary

nayeon might just be given a second chance

“Look, I can explain-“

“I know you from somewhere,” Momo says with a slight sneer in her tone.

“I’m a barista at the cafe down the street!” Nayeon gasps out as Momo stalks towards her. Nayeon
stumbles back and Mina reaches out to stabilize her. Momo’s eyes flicker between her and Mina
rapidly.

“No.” Momo shakes her head. “I know you from somewhere else.” Mina freezes in place,
remembering how she explained everything in detail about what went down between her and
Nayeon as it was happening and even sent a picture of them together once or twice.

Nayeon easily picked up that Momo must’ve been aware of who she was. “You don’t.” Nayeon
squeaks as she shakes her head rapidly, easily hiding behind Mina as Momo took a step forward.
Momo scoffs.

“Really? Who is this?” Momo demands, raising her voice at Mina.

“Um…uh…”

“We work together!” Nayeon snaps. “At the…hospital. I’m a…what was it…” She mutters to
herself.

“W-we don’t work together…she’s a med student and she’s doing her psychiatry rotation. I was
observing her and she decided to stop by to ask me about something- but Miss…Miss Kim was just
about to leave. See you later! Hope that family thing goes well!” Mina says rapidly as she leads
Nayeon out and slams the door in Nayeon’s face.

She turns on her heels and faces Momo, who has a hurt look on her face.

“I’m gonna go change into something more comfortable.” Mina smiles and rushes to their
bedroom. She stiffens as she hears Momo pad down the hall. The girl brushes past her and grabs
some clothes and a towel. Mina watches as she walks into the bathroom and locks the door. Mina
sighs as she pulls some pajamas out from her dresser and changes. She sits on the bed picking at
her nails as she waits for Momo to come back out. The older walks out eventually and is also now
dressed in pajamas with slightly damp hair thrown up in a bun. Mina scoots back and lays on the
bed, gesturing for Momo to cuddle with her. The latter settles into Mina’s side and hugs her tightly.
“Let’s take a nap,” Mina says randomly.

“Why are you lying to me?”

Momo’s tone nearly breaks Mina’s heart.

“I’m- I’m no-“

“Please stop,” Momo says harshly. “Who was that?”

“It was…”

“Im Nayeon.” Momo deadpans, looking over the sunglasses perched on her nose. Sana shakes her
head.

“Who is that?” She asks quietly as she sips on her piña colada. Momo and Sana turn their heads as
they hear Dahyun sing from the kitchen inside. The younger sees them and blushes in
embarrassment. Sana shifts her attention back to Momo.

“A girl that Mina basically dated for most of high school, technically only dated for four months,
and had a huge falling out with. She works right around the corner from our apartment, Sana-yah.”
Sana chokes on her drink as she contemplates Momo’s words.

“Why is that a big deal though?”

“Mina was at home with her when I wasn’t home. I had to go back to get something real quick and
they were sitting super close together. Mitang even tried to lie to me about it. Eventually, she
confessed and we had a little talk about it.”

“A girl from high school?” Sana questions in confusion.

“Can I hear about this?” Dahyun questions and Momo nods as she gestures for her to sit. Dahyun
kisses Sana’s cheek as she moves the girl to sit on her lap. She wraps her arms around her tiny
waist. Momo nearly wants to roll her eyes at their affection.

“I mean technically they had all this really weird shit going on between them up until Minari
moved here.”

“Must’ve been bad then.” Sana points out.

“I don’t know the whole story.” Momo shrugs. “Only what Mina was comfortable enough to tell
me. But this girl really screwed with her. Maybe it’s not much of a surprise since the last time I
thought they had talked was still somewhat recent, but that was still five years ago. I don’t
understand why they’re talking to each other now, why Mina is giving her her time.”

“Wait, what’s going on?” Dahyun chimes in.

“Alright.” Momo sighs. “Mina and this girl, Nayeon, had an extremely complicated relationship in
high school and this girl literally tormented her for years and because of everything she did to
Mina, I guess it made her high school years absolutely terrible,” Momo says sadly. “And the other
day I came home and I guess Mina wasn’t expecting that because she was sitting with Nayeon in
our living room and they were super close to each other- holding hands and everything. It was very
strange. Not to mention that this girl works in a place that’s literally five minutes away from our
house. Mina goes there every morning to pick up coffee. I’ve even talked to Nayeon a few times
and I didn’t even realize it was her.”

“Every day?” Dahyun guffaws. “They must’ve been talking for a while then.” She gasps. Sana
shakes her head.

“Don’t say that baby.” Sana shushes her and kisses the side of her head. Momo rolls her eyes.
“What did Mina say about it?”
“That she’d run into her recently and they decided to catch up,” Momo says simply and Sana and
Dahyun simply furrow their eyebrows in confusion.

“Th-that’s it?”

“Exactly!” Momo shouts. “It doesn’t check out, why would she lie to me at first, why was she in
my apartment?”

“I say give Mina the benefit of the doubt,” Sana says sincerely. “It could definitely be a possibility
that Mina ran into her and somehow they ended up talking about things. Based on what you said,
maybe Mina needs that. Mina is usually honest with you though, so I think her lying is the only
thing that should be a concern. There’s a ton of reasons why she might’ve lied, it doesn’t have to
be for a terrible reason.”

Momo sighs. “You might just be right.”

“You sure she isn’t going to be home for a while?”

“Positive this time. She’s a few hours away.” Mina affirms as she welcomes Nayeon inside the
apartment. “She’s pissed at me.” Mina groans as she shuts the front door and locks it.

“Look, Mina.” Nayeon settled on the couch after hanging her purse on a chair. “I just wanna talk
about things without us getting into a shouting match. I want to talk to you about some things,
which is what I’ve been trying to get it. Every time we talk though, it ends with one of us feeling
miserable and the other feeling pissed. If you don’t wanna hear what I have to say, I’ll leave. If
you’re open to hearing me out, we can continue talking. Either way, I’ll respect what you have to
say.” Nayeon says gently.

“Go ahead.” Mina settles.

“From the very beginning, there were lots of things wrong with our relationship…”

“Do you have a crush on anyone?” Nayeon whispers as they sit on her bed. It was late at night,
and she and Mina were having their first sleepover. Mina fidgets with her hands and can’t meet.
Nayeon’s gaze.

“I do.” She mutters weakly. “They’re older than me though so it’s pretty meaningless.”

“Mina…” Nayeon begins with a giggle. “I don’t know if you could tell-“ She places a hand on
Mina’s bare thigh and the younger’s heart races. “But I’m a pretty open-minded person. You don’t
have to say ‘they’re’ to hide the fact that this person is a girl.” She chuckles as Mina’s eyes widen.
“Is it a girl?”

“Y-yes…”

“What do you think of when you think about her?” Nayeon questions and leans forward slightly,
drawing invisible shapes on Mina’s thigh with her finger. Mina’s face grows hot but she pushes
herself to be brave.

“I just think about how pretty she is and…stuff. Like- she’s really cool and funny. She’s also
smart…”
“5th-grade adjectives to describe the girl you like? I’m sure she wouldn’t be happy to hear that.”
Nayeon smirks.

“O-oh…okay-“

“Be more descriptive.” Nayeon urges.

“Well…I think she’s the hottest girl I’ve ever seen. She makes my heart race just by l-looking at me
and sometimes she does little things that I end up thinking about for days on end. Sometimes she
talks to me and I can feel how kind her heart is. She isn’t the most emotional person but when she
does open up she’s so raw…I just admire her for everything she is. She always makes me laugh and
she really is the coolest girl I’ve ever met.” Mina confesses, finally meeting Nayeon’s sharp gaze.

“I thought I was the coolest girl you’ve ever met?” Nayeon questions, tilting her head to the side.
Mina narrows her eyes at the girl slightly. Nayeon waves it off. “What else? Tell me the good
stuff.”

“What do you mean?”

“Mina, you’re a virgin last I heard, you must have some pretty wild thoughts about this girl.”
Nayeon laughs as Mina turns visibly red, even in the darkness of her room.

“W-what?”

“Do you have thoughts like that? Yes or no?” Nayeon demands.

“Th-that’s a pretty personal question.” Mina screeches as she leans away from Nayeon, feeling the
heat from Nayeon’s body grow closer to her.

“You’re breathing so hard,” Nayeon mutters and gently runs her hand up and down Mina’s thigh,
accidentally running her hands under her shorts slightly. “Relax. You gave yourself away
already.” Nayeon shrugs.

“What do y-you mean?”

“You obviously think about her like that if you don’t wanna answer the question. Might as well tell
me at this point. I think we know each other pretty well, your secret is safe with me.” Nayeon
affirms, squeezing Mina’s thigh gently. Mina bites her lip and squeezes her thighs together.

“I think we should go to bed, we have to get up for school early and we have our next final too.”

“You and I have stayed up on the phone way past…” She opens her phone to check the time.
“Midnight. I’m sure you’re still awake at this time anyway.”

“Why do you wanna know so bad?”

“Can a good friend not be curious?”

Mina sighs. “I just think about…kissing her…and stuff.”

“And stuff?” Nayeon wiggles her eyebrows. Mina slaps her shoulder and Nayeon grunts loudly.

“You’re pushing it.”

“Do you even know how to kiss?”

“Yes!” Mina says proudly.

“How?” Nayeon rolls her eyes.

“One time, Jihyo dared me to kiss her-“

“That’s weird.”

“No, it’s not, it’s Jihyo. Anyways, I couldn’t do it so she just leaned forward and pecked me on the
lips. It was at a party. All of our friends went crazy.”

Nayeon sighs in disappointment. “That’s not a real kiss.”

“Whatever, I wanna save my real first kiss for a person that really loves me then. Someone who I
won’t regret kissing.” Nayeon hums and stares at Mina for a moment before leaning forward and
kissing her suddenly.

Mina whimpers into the harsh kiss and tries to move away, but Nayeon chases after her lips and
continues to kiss the girl. Eventually, Mina melts into the kiss- finally figuring out the functions of
it. She sighs as Nayeon pushes her onto her back and straddles her as they kiss- gently, languidly.
The kiss is wet and a little clumsy. However, Mina can’t focus on any embarrassment that might
come out of the kiss. All she can focus on is the smell of Nayeon and the taste of her. All she can
feel are Nayeon’s hands hesitantly crawling up towards her breasts before they stop and settle on
her waist instead. All she can feel are the butterflies in her stomach and Nayeon’s soft lips.

“That’s your first real kiss.” Nayeon huffs as she pulls away. “I’m your first real kiss.” She says
seriously. Mina stares up at Nayeon in awe as she breathes heavily. “I’ve liked you for a long
time.” Nayeon whispers, ghosting her lips over Mina’s. “I hope the girl you were talking about was
me.”

“It is,” Mina says quickly, wrapping her arms around Nayeon’s neck.

“I really like you a lot, Mina. You think you’ll regret kissing me?”

“I don’t,” Mina whispers gently. “How was it?”

“A little too wet.” Nayeon chuckles. Her tone quickly shifts. “Practice makes perfect though,
right?”

Mina smiles and nods before leaning up to kiss her again.

By one in the morning, the girls find themselves with disheveled hair and slightly swollen lips. They
lay in comfortable silence and Mina smiles contently as Nayeon tightens her hold around her. They
were spooning. As Mina began to fall asleep, she felt Nayeon shaking behind her gently. She
quickly turns when she hears the girl sniffle.

“Wh-what’s wrong?” Mina questions genuinely with pure worry in her tone. She cups Nayeon’s
face as she cries.

“I-I feel terrible, Mina.”

“Why?”

“I’m a cheater, Mina…my boyfriend…” She hiccups through sobs. Mina’s eyes widen slightly
upon learning the crucial piece of information.
-

“Correct.” Mina shrugs. “But Nayeon, if you think I’m mad about stuff having to do with our
romantic relationship in high school then you’re mistaken.” She scoffs. “It’s not even that I’m mad.
Back then, you had absolutely zero redeemable qualities. I always told myself that I would never
associate with a person like you ever again. You’re a liar, you’re a shallow person, you’re
manipulative, you just use people-“ Mina begins to list off before Nayeon cuts her off.

“I was. I was those things. Do you really not think that I’ve changed?”

“How could I? Last time we spoke you were already grown and you were still putting me down for
feeling things- you’re even trying to do it now!” Mina shouts in frustration.

“You could know by giving me a chance.” Nayeon gasps out desperately. “I’m sorry, Mina. I
really am.” Her voice breaks. “Please…” She begs. “All these years you’ve never left my mind. I
promised myself that if I ever saw you again I would apologize and mean it but now that you’re
really here, sitting in front of me, I can’t help but want more than that. I’ve changed, Mina. Please,
let me show you.”

“I’ve changed too,” Mina says abruptly. “I’m not the person that you used to use as a human
fucking doormat, I’m not a timid little kid anymore. I’m not going to let anyone disrespect me,
especially you. I have amazing things going on in my life right now and I’m not gonna let you ruin
it.”

“I won’t,” Nayeon promises, desperation evident in her tone. “Please, give me another chance. Just
to be friends?” Mina sighs.

“As soon as you mess up, we’re done.” Mina says seriously. Nayeon breathes out in relief and
smiles widely.

“Understood.”
 Teenage Angst
Chapter Summary

mina gives momo an explanation

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

“Who’s bag is this?” Momo questions as Mina walks into the apartment, arriving from work. A
pink channel bag is clutched in Momo’s hand as she stands in the middle of the living room,
waiting expectantly. Mina shrugs her backpack off quietly and sets it down on the floor. She
reaches out for the bag and Momo forcefully puts it in her hands.

Mina doesn’t see the use in lying.

“It’s Nayeon’s.” She says apologetically. Momo scoffs and sits on the couch. “She was here while
you were with Sana and Dahyun yesterday.”

“You told me you didn’t do anything when I got back yesterday.”

“I lied,” Mina says simply as she sits next to Momo. “We talked about things and she asked me for
a second chance.”

“As friends?”

“Yes,” Mina says quietly as she picks at her nails. “I’m gonna give it to her.” She shrugs. She
thinks about how the situation is kind of funny. She’s sure that her 16-year-old self would’ve been
ecstatic to talk to Nayeon again. Momo holds her hand as she watches Mina space out. She
remembers when Nayeon broke up with her. She cried almost every night for at least a month or
two. Every waking minute was spent thinking of her and she remembers being unable to open up
her heart to anyone else as the years way by. Nayeon would come back after random periods and
dangle hope in front of her face before snatching it away with cruel words and even more cruel
acts. And to think that Mina still spent high school with hopes to reunite with Nayeon again
someday. Once Mina graduated, she stopped hearing about Nayeon or anything related to her and
shifted between deep feelings of hatred for the girl and a solemn desire for friendship with the only
person she’s ever been that close to. It was nonsensical, but Mina easily came to the conclusion
that a lot of the time love didn’t make sense. Eventually, thoughts of Nayeon came to a stop and
she became the type of person that pops into your head every once in a while. Mina would either
entertain the thought and think about what could’ve happened if things went right, but, If she didn’t
entertain the thought, she would simply acknowledge it and push it out of her mind. She thought
that she didn’t care about the girl anymore, but it was becoming evident that she still had some care
for her, just stored away in the back of her brain.

“Why?” Momo murmured.

Mina breathed in slowly. “I don’t know.” She answers truthfully. Momo squeezes her hand.

“Mina.” Momo chimes. Mina looks up at her girlfriend with a conflicted look in her eyes. Momo
leans forward and kisses her gently.

“I can’t think straight on this for some reason. The past few weeks have just been flying over my
head, Momoring.” Mina confesses. “It’s added a whole new layer of stress to my life.”

Momo shakes her head as she caresses Mina’s face gently. “Why are you letting it get to you?”

“I-I don’t know,” Mina repeats. “It’s not like I’ve been keeping it solely to myself, I’ve been
talking to Jihyo about it.”

“Why not me?” Momo questions sadly yet genuinely. Mina sighs and buries her face in her hands.

“I hate lying to you.”

“So why are you doing it? O-over some girl who doesn’t care about you? You don’t know
Nayeon, and you never did know her. Time and time again- she proved to be a shallow, miserable,
pathetic excuse of a person. If you were around her any longer you probably wouldn’t have the
future you have today. Every time she hurt you, I was the first person you talked to. I thought I was
the person you could always confide in? Why not now?”

“You would’ve gotten jealous,” Mina states firmly.

“I would always put that below how much I care about you.” Momo raises her voice and Mina
slumps in defeat, knowing her words are true. “Talk to me,” Momo begs desperately. “Tell me
everything that’s on your mind.” Momo pleads.

“Let me think about it then.” Mina stands up. Momo nods, giving her time to gather her thoughts.
Mina paces around the apartment while Momo watches her anxiously. Eventually, the girl sits back
down and lays her head on Momo’s lap. Momo sighs and gently runs her fingers through Mina’s
hair. This was nothing new to Momo. Almost routinely, Mina would begin to slip into these little
breakdowns. It had been something that had been going on since Mina was a pre-teen. She easily
became stressed and anxious. From what Mina had told her, the girl wouldn’t think straight and
would go through her days almost in a daze. She’d let issues pile up and dwell on her mind without
actually thinking about them. It’d get so bad that the stress would start to pour into her body and
show itself physically. She’d space out often, her body would always be tense, and she simply
wouldn’t be herself. In the early years of their relationship, Momo would catch it when it was too
late. She’d find Mina balled up somewhere alone in the apartment, sobbing out desperately and
mumbling to herself about her worries. It was enough to shatter Momo’s heart multiple times over.
She committed herself to recognize the patterns and easily picked up on when and how to intervene
before Mina fully fell apart. It was ironic that Mina was a psychiatrist but could barely help herself.
At the same time, however, since they were kids, Mina had always put everyone else above herself.
It was one of the first things that Momo began to love about Mina.

“Are you okay?” A little girl screams. Momo lays on the sidewalk crying, her bike flipped upside
down and the front wheel still spinning wildly. Momo ignores the girl running from across the
street. It was a hundred degrees in San Antonio that day. Momo's teary vision doesn’t allow her to
see the girl in front of her. All she could make out was the pink dress she was wearing and her
short hair matched with bangs. “Daddy!” She screams as she sits next to her on the sidewalk. An
older man walks up to them from across the street with a first aid kit in hand. Momo hiccups as she
finally calms down and Mina wipes her eyes gently. “You’re just bleeding a little bit.” She says
and gives her a gummy smile. She tries to help Momo sit up but strains beneath the weight of the
taller girl. “H-how old are you.”

“Five,” Momo says miserably.

“You look bigger than five,” Mina says in awe. “I’m-“ She holds up four fingers. Momo tries to
look past her but Mina blocks her field of sight. “Hey! I see you at the playground all the time
during recess. Wanna be friends? I don’t have any but if I had a friend I’d want her to be as pretty
as you.” She says and smiles widely. Momo grows shy and looks down at her lap. The girl looks at
Momo’s knee. “All cleaned up!” She says excitedly and Momo exclaims in awe. “I was distracting
you.” She says mischievously. She visibly grows a bit shyer.

“I wanna be friends. I’m in kindergarten.” Momo nods rapidly.

“My mommy’s a teacher so I’m just in daycare but we play at the same time as your class does.”
The girl helps Momo up. Momo leans down slightly to continue talking to Mina.

“Thank you, sir,” Momo says politely as the girl’s father smiles. He stands behind the girl as she
watches Momo expectantly. “I’m Hirai Momo.”

“I’m Myoui Mina. M-I-N-A.”

“She’s learning how to spell.” Her father snickers. Mina huffs in frustration.

“Daddy, I already know how to spell! I’m just practicing so I can write more goodly in English.”

“Goodly?” He teases and Mina sighs, realizing that she made the same mistake as usual.

“Me and my bestest friend ever are having best friend talk. Please go.” Mina says sassily. Momo
giggles.

Momo quietly wiped her own tears away as she held Mina. The girl was sobbing into the crook of
her neck, thinking of everything that had been plaguing her mind recently. Not only Nayeon had
been bothering her, but it caused her to spill over more easily than she was hoping for.

“It’s hard.” Mina sobs. “Seeing these people every day. Little kids that were failed so terribly by
their parents and now they have to deal with it. It’s hard knowing that I can’t fix everyone’s life for
them.” Mina shakes her head. Being so empathetic came with its consequences when it came to
being a doctor. “Lately it’s just been really bad. I’m working in a community hospital right now
and sometimes my patients- no- most of the time- they can’t even afford the medications that can
help them. These people are fragile, Momo. Having the support they need could turn their whole
lives around.” She exclaims in frustration. “I feel terrible for wanting to be done with it already. I
feel so helpless yet I know if I push harder I can help, I can make a difference. I just physically
cannot push myself anymore. It’d be- It’d be reductive for the people that I wanna help. I’m still
learning when to take a step back….N-not only that but I just- I don’t feel content…” Mina admits.
 “I don’t know why, but something is lacking." She continues. "I don’t know if it's that I’m just
becoming depressed again or what…Jihyo is my friend but seeing her be so sure of herself and be
so logical instead of emotional, I can’t help but envy her. I’ve always felt like what I want is just
out of reach. On top of that, Nayeon suddenly comes back into my life right when I forget about
her. Why?” Mina sniffles. “She asks to be friends again and that simple question brought up all the
insecurities that I held as a teenager. I know it’s all meaningless now but sometimes, thinking about
it, I can’t help but feel like I’m just a child. To answer your question from earlier, I think a part of
me still needs closure.”

Mina begins to calm down.

“I think that all this time maybe I just needed to feel in control when it came to her. It was hard
getting my life turned upside down so young and it was even harder having to accept that the one
person who cured my loneliness at that time and seriously understood me didn’t care as much as I
thought they did.”

Momo feels a pang in her chest. That shouldn’t have hurt as much as it did.

“It’s simple. We’ll either stay as acquaintances, we’ll become friends, or I’ll cut her out of my life
for good.”

“Mina?”

“Yes?”

“You know that…I do care about you? And that I’ll always try my best to understand you?”
Mina’s eyes widen and she nods violently.

“Oh god, Momo. I didn’t mean for it to sound like that. I know, love. You’re the best thing that has
ever happened to me.” Mina says honestly. She cups Momo’s cheeks and kisses her gently. Momo
smiles and hugs Mina tightly.

“To be honest, I can’t help but feel a little teenage jealousy flame up a little too. I was always
jealous of Nayeon because I’ve always loved you.”

Mina squeezes her hands.

 “You have me now, and that’s what counts.”

“I’ll have you forever, right?” Momo asks with a bright smile. Mina beams.

“My heart is yours, Momo.”

“You'll need a heart though, so I’ll give you mine,” Momo says cheekily.

Chapter End Notes

how's the pacing of this story so far? that's what stresses me out most of writing
lol....this book is already outlined from start to finish but it's somewhat difficult to get
the crucial pieces connected. let me know what you all think! i appreciate the love :))
 Pure Intentions
Chapter Summary

momo and nayeon have a chat

The past month had consisted of Nayeon’s and Mina’s budding friendship. The awkward tension
between the two slowly dissipated as days went by. A part of it was easy for both Nayeon and
Mina since they both had been close before.

Yet something about it wasn’t sitting right with Momo.

“An iced latte please,” Momo says seriously, staring straight ahead at Nayeon.

The girl’s eyes widen as she nods quietly.

“Isn’t your shift going to be over soon?”

“Um…y-yes. Why?” She asks as Momo puts her card into the chip reader.

“I wanna talk to you.” Momo’s eyes meet her gaze, and Nayeon goes pale. “If that’s alright.”
Momo smiles at Nayeon, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. Nayeon nods slowly.

“I have five minutes to go…if you w-want you can sit at a table outside.”

“Alright.” Momo makes her way out of the shop and waits for Nayeon outside. Eventually, Nayeon
makes her way out without her apron on and an iced latte in hand.

“Here you go.”

Momo smiles thankfully. “Look.” She begins and takes a sip of her coffee. “I can smell the bullshit
in your ‘intentions’ from miles away.” She deadpans. Nayeon tenses in her seat. “Mina is a sweet
person and I’m pretty sure that the major reasons why she’s allowing you to make yourself a part
of her life again are one- because she always runs through these if, buts, and what if’s in her
head…and two, it would’ve kept her up at night if she dismissed you without giving you a chance.
And-“ She points at Nayeon. “It’s not because you’re you or because you’re special, but because
that’s just who she is. She treats almost everything like that. She sees the good in everyone.” She
finishes quietly. Nayeon sighs loudly.

“Momo, from my understanding you’ve always had a little thing for Mina and, I get how that
must’ve been hard for you when we were…together-“ Nayeon shrugs. “But I’m really only trying
to be her friend. That’s it.”

“I’ve never been so set on making friends with someone in my entire life.” Momo chuckles. “But
from my understanding, you kept trying to talk to her to ‘make amends’ or whatever. Your story
doesn’t check out.” Momo narrows her eyes at the girl. Nayeon scoffs.

“Who even are you to be speaking to me like this? You’re questioning me like I’m-“

“Why are you in New York?” Momo interrupts. The question is simple, and Nayeon should be
able to answer it. She stutters and Momo silences her, knowing that she won’t be able to confess.
Nayeon sighs in defeat.

“I’m not even gonna contemplate that because I’m sure I’m not gonna like the answer.” Momo
closes her eyes and draws her hands through the air. She sighs deeply. “It’s one of these three
things, you really want to make friends with my Mina again because you know you screwed up a
long time ago, and it’s been bothering you since then for some reason, you’re trying to do
something else with Mina, or you’re doing it to clear your conscious. I’m letting you know…that
I’m onto you.” Momo says simply and plants her hands flat on the table. Nayeon stays silent.
“That’s all.” She stands up to leave.

“Momo,” Nayeon calls out. The woman turns to face Nayeon. “I’m really just trying to make up
for everything I did.” She tries to assure. Momo paces towards the girl and stands in front of her,
leaning down.

“I can ruin your fucking life,” Momo whispers. “If I find out that you’re still a liar, and that you’re
here to mess up the good things that Mina has going for her right now, I will do it. I could walk in
there right now and tell them that you, Im Nayeon, are a terrible, untrustworthy person. You’re a
chronic fucking thief, I wouldn’t be surprised if you were still doing drugs, and you were a high
school bully that everyone could tell had nothing going for them. Look where you are now.”
Momo gestures at her. “ I’m sure I wouldn’t even have to go into detail before you get fired. Good
luck finding a job anywhere else if that happens.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Nayeon shouts, garnering the attention of the few people
sitting outside. “You don’t know me. You don’t know who I am. I could not care less about you,
by the way. You and I never knew each other personally. If you’re so insecure that you have to
come to where I work and attempt to intimidate me, then that tells me all I need to know about
you.”

She stands up and grabs her bag. “I have to get going. I promised Mina that I was gonna have lunch
with her.” She smirks at Momo slightly and leaves.
 Hopes
Chapter Summary

mina reunites with a different friend

the past is revealed and perspectives are changed.

Big update - 5,000 words +

Chapter Notes

PLEASE READ: There is a content warning for this chapter. Read below for details.

This chapter WILL be touching on some topics that others may be sensitive to. As
stated a few chapters ago, Mina and Nayeon met when Mina was 14 and Nayeon was
16. There will be flashbacks to that time period with content that may make you
uncomfortable. The very sensitive topic is NOT explicit and heavily relies on
implications from the characters, just to let you know.

The content warning for this chapter is for: dubious consent (sex scenarios that lack
clear consent and often involve themes such as intoxication, coercion, manipulation,
abuse of authority, etc.) Please remember, the scene that this content warning is
needed for is not explicit (DOES NOT GO INTO DETAIL). Other sensitive topics in
this chapter include underage drug use and nudes. Again, I did not go into detail.

“Mina.” Momo questions as she watches Mina dig through drawers for an oversized shirt for each
of them, breathing heavily and bangs clinging to her slightly sweaty forehead.

“Yes?“ She turns with a shy smile on her face. Momo can’t help but scan her eyes over her figure.
She opens her mouth to speak- but hesitates. “What is it?” She questions, eyebrows furrowing
together. Momo pats the spot next to her and Mina crawls into bed. She straddles Momo’s lap with
a small smile and brushes her messy hair out of her face. Momo sighs, placing kisses across her
chest. She thinks about how Mina and Nayeon went out together again, they had been hanging out
so much recently.

“You shouldn’t be so welcoming with Nayeon.” Momo pouts, it was starting to become a daily
conversation. Mina sighs in frustration and moves to get off Momo but the girl keeps her anchored
down by her hips.
“Momo, it’s a little unfair that you get to hang out with your friends almost every weekend but on
the rare occasion that I hang out with a friend, you start making a big deal out of it.” Mina scoffs.

“Only because this friend is Nayeon.” Momo frowns.

“What is this, Momo?” Mina raises her voice. She closes her eyes and takes deep breaths. “Be
honest with me.”

“What is it?”

“Are you jealous?” Mina questions in a quiet voice. Momo sighs and nods.

“And, I don’t know how many times I have to say it Minari, but something just feels off to me.”

Mina cups her face gently and kisses her chastely. She leans back.

“All we did was have lunch together, went to this film store, and walked around the city talking for
a while. That’s all, Momo. There’s nothing to worry about. I’m not letting her cross any of my
boundaries…” Mina pauses with a soft sigh. “But- you tell me to cut her off or distance myself and
I’ll do it. You’re always my priority, baby.”

Momo feels a pang of guilt in her chest.

She takes a deep breath.

“Mina, I think that it’s just that it makes me feel a little insecure, given your past with her. That’s
it. I just needed some reassurance, that’s all.”

“You sure?”

“Positive,” Momo affirms quietly. She looks at the girl up and down and slowly meets Mina’s
gaze. “I know you’re mine.” She continues. She leans forward and kisses the girl aggressively,
leaving Mina to simply yelp at the force. She hooks her hands on Momo’s shoulders, feeling the
raised marks that she left with her nails earlier. She whimpers when Momo’s hands cup her tits
roughly.

“Y-yes…” She moans quietly as Momo moves down and takes her right nipple in her mouth,
sucking it gently.

And the night was lost.

The next day, Mina found herself in a house that she had not been in, in a very, very long time.
Chaeyoung walks over to her with two glasses of wine and hands one to Mina.

“Thanks,” Mina replied tiredly, eyes opening lazily.

“How come you’re so tired?” She questions.

“Work.” Mina sighs and almost downs the glass. Chaeyoung eyes her for a moment and smirks
knowingly. “ What ?”

“ Nothing .” Chaeyoung giggles, twirling a pencil in her hand. “I’ve missed you.” She says
genuinely. It’s been such a long time since I’ve seen anyone so I’ve also just missed company in
general.”

“Move to the city,” Mina suggests light-heartedly.

“No, I love living here on my mountain,” Chaeyoung says with a toothy smile. “Thank you for
driving all the way out here to visit me.” Chaeyoung clasps her hands together.

“What have you been up to?” Mina asks curiously, watching the fire raging in Chayoung’s
fireplace.

“Painting, drawing. Planting all sorts of things. Learning how to cook. Talking to trees.”
Chaeyoung shrugs and the two burst out laughing.
-

“Hi…” Mina says awkwardly, looking up at a small girl sitting high up in a tree.

“Hi.” She barely hears the girl’s reply. Mina turns to her mother.

“She’s so weird.” A 13-year-old Mina whispers to her mother. “Please, can I stay somewhere else
this summer?”

“Did you not say you wanted to see New York?”

“The city, I meant!” Mina shouted in frustration. She sighs as the girl starts to make her way down
to the tree and widens her eyes upon seeing that she’s barefoot.

“And Chaengie’s parents will take you there." Her mother continues. "I’m gonna stay here for a
few nights and then I’m flying back home. It’s only a couple weeks, enjoy your time here, Mina. It’s
already settled. Don’t be ungrateful.” She says sternly.

Mina’s and Chaeyoung’s mothers had been best friends since they were young. Mina had faint
memories of being a toddler and playing with Chaeyoung when she was just a baby. The younger
had known Mina all her life. Mina’s mother was chosen to be Chaeyoung’s godmother when
Chaeyoung's mother learned that she was pregnant with her first child. The girl would visit them
from time to time when they lived in Texas, but this was the first time she’d be seeing Chaeyoung in
10 years with no actual communication beforehand. “Your auntie misses you too. Be nice.”

“She’s not my aunt.” Mina sneers.

“Mina’s not as nice as I remember.” A 10-year-old Chaeyoung says in annoyance. “I’m never that
rude to my mom.” She says bluntly.

“Try going through puberty.” Mina’s mother jokes and the two laugh. Mina growls and stalks into
the house, dragging her heavy luggage behind her.

…
“You’re not happy to be here.”

“You’re a genius, Chaeyoung.” Mina scoffs as she flips a page in her book.

“Scoot over.”

“No.”

“You know, that’s my bed that you’re laying on that I’m being nice enough to share with you.”

She sighs and rolls over. Chaeyoung smiles and sits crisscross next to Mina on the bed, looking
down at her.

“What?” Mina rolls her eyes.

“I missed you, a lot,” Chaeyoung says genuinely. “I missed a familiar face...apart from my
parents and little brother of course. Living in the countryside is hard. The school that I have only
has 28 kids and only five are in my grade. I don’t fit in there, people think I’m a little weird.”
Chaeyoung shrugs. Mina closes her book and sighs.

“I go to a huge school and I still don’t fit in.” She admits.

“I’d think with how pretty you are that you’d be super popular.”

“Exactly.” Mina whispers, joking with Chaeyoung. The younger bursts out laughing.

“Come outside with me.” Chaeyoung offers. Mina huffs tiredly but takes her hand. When they
finally arrive outside, Chaeyoung quickly moves in front of something, and Mina eyes her
suspiciously. “Close your eyes, stupid.”

“Don’t call me stupid.” Mina sneers. She shrieks in shock when she feels something thick splash
all over her. The older nearly starts crying when she sees red paint all over her CNBLUE t-shirt.
“What the hell, you moron!” Chaeyoung snickers, almost looking like a 5-year-old boy with her
crooked grin, short hair, and a bottle of red paint in hand. Mina looks around widely, before
spotting all the paint behind Chaeyoung set up on a table. She reaches forward and grabs a bottle
of blue paint, and runs towards Chaeyoung. As the sun goes down, all that can be heard are their
screams that eventually turn into laughter as they splash each other with paint. The two mothers
watch as and smile at how the girls quickly warmed up to each other once again. Eventually, Mina
finds herself running inside, panting. “Mom, can I visit here at like anytime I can?” She begs.
Chaeyoung looks at the mothers with pleading eyes. They laugh it off, but the wish was fulfilled
and the two continued to visit each other until Mina graduated from high school.

Mina smiles at the fond memories she has with the girl that pop into her mind as they converse.

“So…” Chaeyoung begins. “What is plaguing your mind?” In a funny, whimsical voice.

“What?”

“You look so stressed, Mina.” Chaeyoung points out seriously. “What is it?”

That was the thing with people who’ve known you most of your life, they read you so easily.

That vulnerability was always welcomed with Chaeyoung.

“Do you really wanna know?”

Chaeyoung smirks and Mina sighs with a small smile on her face.

“I…made friends with someone who I used to be close to in high school because I ran into her
here.”

“Who?”
“I never really talked to you about her…” Mina mutters and Chaeyoung’s eyes widened. “The
relationship was rocky from the beginning and I didn’t wanna tell many people to spare myself
from the embarrassment,” Mina admits.

She tucks her hair behind her ears and sits crisscross on Chaeyoung’s couch.

“So, I dated this girl when I was 14.” Mina begins. “I had a crush on her for a couple months and
one day…”

“What’s the matter with you?” Mina scoffs as Nayeon paces away from her. It was lunchtime and
in the middle of her animated conversation with Jihyo, Nayeon got up from the table and left in a
fury. The two girls watched the older storm out and Mina sighed before apologizing to Jihyo
sincerely and following the girl out.

“Leave me alone.” Nayeon grunts.

“Please stop doing this,” Mina begs. Nayeon comes to a slow. The past few days had consisted of
Nayeon storming off at random times and refusing to talk to her for the rest of the day. “What is
it?” She questions quietly, grabbing Nayeon’s hand. She circles around the girl and walks
backward in front of Nayeon as she walks to the stairs.

“Go away.” Nayeon raises her voice.

Mina leans against the railing. “You’re annoying me.” She admits and Nayeon looks up at her
with a hurt expression. “I’m trying to be here for you and you’ve been nothing rude to me for the
past three days. Don’t even say it’s because I won’t leave you alone. After all, you’ve been mean
since the first time you stormed off and I didn’t even say a word.”

Nayeon sighs in defeat.

“I’m sorry.” She says genuinely. “Look, I don’t wanna talk about it with you right now. I’ll tell
you some other time.” Nayeon nodded. Mina smiled.
“I’ll leave you be then.” Mina smiled genuinely and reached out for her hand, squeezing it gently.
“I’ll see you in class.”

“See you, Mina.”

Later that day, as Nayeon walked Mina to the bus she took home, as usual, she pulled a folded
piece of paper out of her pocket.

“Um…here,” Nayeon said awkwardly.

“What’s this?” Mina questioned with a faint blush tainting her cheeks. Nayeon shrugged
awkwardly and walked away. As soon as she was out of sight, Mina dashed onto her bus and
unfolded the lined piece of paper.

Mina,

What we have is different. I feel it. I hope the feeling is not one-sided though. Yet, I can’t help
but feel like it is when I see you hang out with Jihyo. You two are so close and I can tell you two
care about each other a lot. I can’t help but feel a little jealous over that. When you hug Jihyo or
hold her hand, I will look and wish I was in her place. Do you like me as much as I like you? Do
we have something different? You have a special place in my heart, Mina. Even though I
haven’t known you for long, I’ve connected with you in a way I’ve never connected with anyone
else. Not only do you listen to me, but you understand me, and that’s something that no one has
ever done for me before. I have feelings for you that I rather not act on because of my boyfriend,
obviously. I’m feeling very confused and angry with myself and I want to work through this
before I do anything. Although I have the sneaking suspicion that you may have a crush on me
too, I’d like for us to stay friends just for now. If you don’t like me, then I hope we can stay
friends regardless and that this doesn’t weird you out or anything.

Nayeon.

“I can’t believe you deprived me of this when it was happening!” Chaeyoung exclaims. “What
happened after that?”

“I was the happiest I’d ever been up to that point,” Mina says nonchalantly. “We didn’t stick to our
deal of remaining just as friends, though. We held hands all the time. Whenever I hung out with her
we would cuddle in a way that friends wouldn't. We would flirt with each other a lot too.” Mina
says, even after all these years she can’t help but feel a little guilty for what she did. “I knew it was
wrong because she had a boyfriend…but I just did it anyway. Eventually, she went back on what
she said and told me that she was confused and didn’t really have feelings for me…but then we
had a sleepover and she kissed me.” Mina said quietly.

Chayoung’s eyebrows raised as she became more intrigued.

“And then she cried because she felt guilty since she had a boyfriend and I couldn’t help but feel
guilty too. I told her that we’d stay friends until she worked through everything and at that time we
stuck to our word. We kept getting into arguments, though, and one day, while we were on winter
vacation, she stopped talking to me. I didn’t see her, she didn’t call me, and anytime I tried to call
her there would be no answer. I gave up and I was miserable…but then the day after Christmas, she
called me. She broke up with her boyfriend because she wanted to move forward with me. A few
days later…I invited her over to my house for another sleepover…”

Night had fallen, and Mina’s parents were sound asleep in their room down the hall.

It was late.

Mina whimpered quietly into Nayeon’s mouth as the girl kissed her forcefully.

“Come on.” She panted as she pulled away. “You said you wanted to.” With a slightly annoyed
tone to her voice. Mina looked around the room anxiously. The only light that was in the room
came from the candles on her nightstand. Nayeon looked gorgeous. Red hair tied up in a high
ponytail, wearing a grey tank top, and the shortest blue shorts that had Mina blushing when she
walked out of the bathroom after she finished changing for bed.

“I-I know-“ Mina stutters.

“Then let’s do it.” She says forcefully, pinning Mina down and kissing her more. She yelps in pain
and squirms away from Nayeon.

“Stop grabbing me like that, you’re weirding me out, Nay. Please, give me some time.” Mina says
sadly, curling up into a ball. Nayeon sighs and lays down.

“You gave me mixed signals over the phone last night.” She says in frustration.

“What do you wanna do at the sleepover?” Mina questioned into the tiny flip phone innocently.

“I don’t know.” Mina heard, she blushed. She could practically hear the smirk on Nayeon’s face
from the other side of the phone.

“You don’t know?” Nayeon says quietly. Mina feels her face grow hot. Nayeon had already told
her about her extensive…experience…in bed. However, Mina knew nothing of those sorts of things
yet. Nayeon giggles when she doesn’t hear a response from Mina. “Maybe we could get a little
closer…Mina.”

“Like how?”

“Like sex,” Nayeon says bluntly and Mina pulls the phone away from her ear in shock. She buries
her face into her pillow before putting the phone back near her ear. “Mina, this is serious, okay
baby?”

“Baby?” Mina questioned in surprise, feeling butterflies go wild in her stomach at the name
Nayeon had called her. That was the first time anyone had called her that. Looking back on it now,
she can’t help but pity herself when she was younger. Her heart was focused on something so
innocent while Nayeon had something else in mind.

“Mina, I’m serious,” Nayeon said firmly. “Would you have sex with me?” Mina gulps and thinks
for a moment. What if Nayeon wouldn’t like her anymore if she declined? Would she be upset?
Nayeon was always easy to anger.
“I would,” Mina replies quietly. She had meant it, but at the moment the scenario was mostly
theoretical.

“Okay,” Nayeon said, the joy and cheekiness warming her cold tone. “Would you…maybe want
to? Tomorrow night?”

“Maybe,” Mina answered.

“Maybe?”

“Yes, Nayeon, Maybe.” Mina giggled. “I gotta go, I’ll call you back when I’m done eating
dinner.”

“Talk to you in a bit then, baby.” Nayeon chuckled.

“I said maybe,” Mina mutters quietly, almost feeling like a child being talked down on by an
angry parent.

“Okay, whatever, Mina. You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Nayeon shrugged with an angry
look on her face and stood up to turn on Mina’s tv.

“Nayeon!” Mina whines. “I want to but I’m just not ready yet.”

“Well, you should’ve told me that.” Nayeon scoffed. “You got me all excited for no reason.” She
murmurs as she goes through Mina’s DVR and plays an episode of dream high.

“I didn’t mean to.” Mina apologizes. She tries to get Nayeon to look at her but the girl ignores her.
“Na-“

“Get off!” Nayeon shrugs her off, almost shouting. She watches the tv with furrowed eyebrows.
“You don’t want to then just don’t but don’t make me feel bad about it! It’s not a big deal! Just go
to sleep or watch the show, Mina.”

Mina sighs and hugs the teddy bear Nayeon gave her a while back, watching her favorite show
miserably with tears welling in her eyes. She can’t even pay mind to it when Bae Suzy shows up on
the screen. All she can think of is Nayeon. She wouldn’t mind losing her virginity to the girl…she’d
only known her for a couple months though. Maybe Nayeon had just been having a bad day and
was looking forward to hanging out with Mina. This is never how she imagined her first time. She
never had a clear picture of it, but she certainly never imagined it in her bedroom down the hall
from her parent's room.

“It’s not too late for me to go home.” Nayeon rolls her eyes, shifting uncomfortably. Mina stares at
her wordlessly. Nayeon turns towards her eventually. “What?”

“Kiss me,” Mina murmurs.

Please just show me that you still like me, she thought.

“Don’t just ask me that because things are awkward. Say it because you mean it.”

“I mean it.” Mina’s voice cracks as she grabs Nayeon’s hand. “Please kiss me.”

Nayeon smiles slightly and leans forward, kissing Mina softly. Mina sighs into the kiss and tenses
as Nayeon lays her down.

“Can I touch you?” She questions quietly. Mina can’t find it in her to answer, so Nayeon answers
for her. Her hands trail under her shirt and Mina stares up at her ceiling as Nayeon pulls her shirt
above her breasts. She cups the mounds and squeezes them harshly. Mina’s face screws up in
discomfort. “Let me touch you,” Nayeon says. “You’re beautiful, Mina,” Nayeon says, hovering
over her with a soft smile. There she is. The sweet, loving Nayeon that she loved the most.

“You’re the most beautiful,” Mina says in awe.

“I’ll protect you no matter what, Mina. You need to trust me.” Nayeon nods. “I’ll be gentle.” She
promises. “I wanna show you how much I love you.” She kisses Mina again. “Do you want to?”
Mina bites her lip as she thinks. Nayeon’s head drops and she sighs disappointedly again after a
moment of silence from Mina’s end. She opens her mouth to speak, but Mina rushes to answer.

“I do.”

Chaeyoung stares at Mina with pity in her eyes.

“What the hell, Mina?” Chaeyoung questions genuinely as she walks to the kitchen. She grabs two
beers from her fridge and hands one to Mina after popping it open.

“Thanks,” Mina says, now fully awake, despite it slowly becoming nighttime.

“She basically pressured you into fucking.” Chaeyoung says in disgust.

“I guess... I regretted it so much. I could barely talk to her the next morning. Eventually, though,
that’s kind of all I knew how to do with her. Anytime she’d get mad at me or jealous or just bored,
we’d…you know.” Mina gestured wildly and laughed emptily. “Ugh. That’s not even it. We went
to the mall one time and she shoplifted from a bunch of stores, thought the cops were onto her, put
all the things in my bags when I wasn’t paying attention, and when she got caught, she threw me
under the bus and told the security that she was only doing it because I asked her to. And that’s
when we were actually dating. The whole sex thing happened months before she asked me to be
her girlfriend.” Mina chuckles dryly. “I got in so much trouble because of her. There were a few
people at our high school who were in gangs and they sold all kinds of things. They were scary to
me. They’d get alcohol for parties and would sell anything from weed to like…pills, Chaeyoung.
Nayeon was doing drugs all throughout her last year of high school. We met when she was in…
11th grade and I was in 9th. We would smoke weed together sometimes.”

Mina bursts out laughing and Chaeyoung’s jaw drops with shock before she bursts with laughter
too.

“It wasn’t much of a problem at first, until one time she begged me to buy some from one of those
guys in the gang and he scammed me,” Mina said through laughs and clutched at her stomach.
“And she got so pissed-“ She gasped for air between laughs. “The deal was that I’d buy it with my
own money and she’d pay me back but the guy gave me a black baggie with crushed up tea herbs
in it. I didn’t know shit about weed at that point but even I knew something was up when I looked
inside and that bag and it smelled like green tea.” She wheezes. “I was so scared when I gave her
the bag and she freaked out, Chaengie. She freaked, she yelled at me and I even asked her to help
me get my money back because I couldn’t tell the school or the cops, or else I would’ve been in
trouble. I swear to god, I tried to corner this guy when he walked out of the bathroom before class
to get my money back- picture me being a tiny and skinny kid, looking up at this super tall dude,
trying to intimidate him into giving me my money back.”

“How much did you spend?” Chaeyoung asked, fanning herself to cool down after her laughter.

“A hundred dollars.” Mina shook her head and took another swig from her beer. “He told me if I
ever tried to talk to him again that he’d kill me.” Mina deadpanned. “I was scared for like two
weeks straight. Nonstop…" Mina shivered. "Nayeon stole from me a ton of times too- to buy drugs
once she started trying other things. Money that I would specifically tell her was important, she’d
steal. It was sad but she had no one to be there for when she broke down except me. I had to
forgive her for it, at least that’s how I felt back then. I just started hiding my money. God, the list
goes on…She bought me a pack of cigarettes and I got hooked on them so easily.” Mina scoffed.
“It was a nasty habit that I had for about 4 months before I quit. No one ever knew, only her. When
I quit she tried to get me to start again, but I really just couldn’t because I hated smoking so
much.”

Mina shrugged.

“I was so stupid!” She exclaimed. “I put myself through all that shit for a year before I finally had
it. I only went through it all because I wanted to give her all these chances and I had absolutely no
backbone. I was like a human doormat. I don’t know how I did it. I was falling out of love and I
didn’t want to be in a relationship with her anymore. I was walking to her class after school to talk
to her and low and behold, I saw her kissing some guy in the hall. She saw me and tried to explain
but as soon as I broke things off, she got angry at me. She started dating that guy literally the next
day. I was heartbroken.” Mina admits.

“I cried multiple times a day for the longest time, I could barely keep my head up at school because
I had two classes with her and I sat next to her in both. Every day, I had to deal with her talking to
her friends about some guy and how much she loved him.” She sighed. “And just as things got
better, I found out that one, she was going around telling people that I liked girls which was the
worst thing in the world to deal with, and two, she had pictures of me naked. God knows when she
took them but she was showing them to her friends and her friends were telling their friends…and it
was just…a mess. I started getting bullied, blah, blah, blah, switched schools, and then everything
was okay.”

“Jesus fucking christ.” Chaeyoung sighs, rubbing her temples. “Did your mom know you were
going through all that? Your dad? Jihyo? Momo? Anyone?”
“No one ever knew everything. Jihyo picked up bits and pieces throughout everything and even
beat up some guys that were harassing me at some point and Momo didn’t know until it was all
over. You’re the only person I’ve actually ever completely opened up to about it. Momo knows a
third of what I told you and she…hates Nayeon more than anything.”

“I’m happy you got that fresh start at least,” Chaeyoung replied sadly, staring at her best friend.
Mina sighed and a small smile appeared on her face. Chaeyoung leaned back and narrowed her
eyes at the girl. “What?”

“I still had feelings for her despite all that.” She confesses. Chaeyoung’s eyes nearly bulge out of
their sockets.

“What!”

“We even got back together in secret for a few months, right before I graduated.” Mina giggled.
“At that point, I knew better and I had this constant feeling of dread cause I knew it was gonna end
badly.” We talked things over, she never explicitly apologized but I guess I knew she wanted to say
sorry. She was sweeter to me that time around and we dated for about six months. One day though
I spent the night at her apartment. It was the weekend. I slept in till noon and when I woke up there
was a note next to me saying that she was at work and that she’d pick me up from my house when
she got back from work and I guess I ended up falling back asleep instead of going back
home...Chaeyoung, I literally woke up to the sound of her and some girl making out like ten feet
away from me, undressing each other. It was so awkward just getting out of her bed and leaving.
She tried reaching out to me over and over and I was just over it. I never answered her calls. The
last time I saw her was in an airport right before I moved here and she made small talk with me and
told me that she never really loved me in a sort of light-hearted way and it felt like a slap across my
face. I got up while she was talking to me about something and walked away. She chased me to ask
me what was wrong and I just told her to finally leave my life…and that’s that.” Mina shrugs.

“And this is that person that you’re friends with again.”

“Yes…” Mina says, beginning to doubt her decision. Chaeyoung raises her eyebrows.

“Strange that she’s here in New York.”

“She works at a coffee shop I go to almost every morning.” Mina sighs. “That’s how we ended up
talking and she kept chasing me trying to get me to give her yet another chance. She begged me to
be friends and to trust that she’s changed. Strangely enough, for the first time in the entirety of me
knowing her, she seemed completely genuine.”

Chaeyoung looks puzzled.

“Truly, I didn’t care enough about the past to hold on to it and let it still affect me five or six years
later, so I just accepted. However the moment she does something that crosses my boundaries,
that’s it.” Mina says carelessly.

“That’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard, Mina. I feel terrible for you.” Chaeyoung sighs.

“You shouldn’t,” Mina says quickly.

“I understand you becoming friends with her again, despite everything. While it might sound a little
nonsensical coming from anyone else, it makes perfect sense from you. You try to see the best in
everyone but you know where to draw the line, now at least. I know I don’t have to worry about
anything like that happening again…it’s just that- something about this situation is weird.”

“Momo says that too.” Mina frowns.

“Hmm…” Chaeyoung rubs her chin. “I mean do you not see it, Minari? I’m sure you told her
about how you wanted to live here someday, correct?”

“Yes?” Mina says in confusion.

“What’s she doing here?”

“She’s a barista and she’s going to community college.”

Chaeyoung scoffs.

“That, my friend, is strange. Why would she come all the way here from Korea just to do that?”
Mina flattens her lips into a line, a puzzled expression on her face. “Maybe you have a point.”

“Mina, what if she came here…In hopes to find you?”

 Wine
Chapter Summary

sleepy mina drunk mina totally rad mina

and nayeon

Chapter Notes

sorry friends, this chapter is gonna be a little short. i'm done with vacation and i've
been super busy and exhausted these past two days. i typed my fingers off yesterday
and this morning lol. i hope you all can enjoy this short little chapter. comment your
thoughts if you'd like! thank you for enjoying 1, 3, 2, 4...does anyone have any ideas
for why this book is titled that?

“Mina!” Nayeon says with a wide smile, leaning in and hugging the girl tightly. Mina squeezes her
gently and leans back. “How have you been? I haven’t seen you in a bit.” She says as she closes the
front door. Mina sighs with a soft smile as she drops her bag on one of the seats in Nayeon’s living
room.

“I’ve been catching up with work.” She chuckles. “Momo and I flew out to Japan and stayed with
her family for a week.”

“How nice.” Nayeon smiles genuinely. “I’ve always wanted to go to Japan.”

“I’ll show you all the good spots someday.” Mina giggles, joking light-heartedly. “What have you
been up to?”

“Not much. I’ve just been on break from school…working, hanging out.” Nayeon shrugs. “Would
you like a cup of wine?”

“Yes, please.” Mina nods. “Momo is at the state championships with her team right now.” Mina
smiles happily. “She took off last night and I offered to go...but she told me I would distract her if I
went.” She scratches the back of her head in embarrassment when Nayeon bursts out laughing. The
two often hung out in Nayeon’s apartment, talking about life and inquiring about what they’ve
been up to. Nayeon sits on the couch next to Mina, unlike usual. Mina stiffens slightly, wondering
why Nayeon didn’t take her usual spot in the chair across from Mina. “We’re gonna celebrate at
this nice restaurant if her team wins. If we go celebrate, which I’m positive we will, you should
come.” Mina nudges her. Nayeon sighs and shakes her head.

“I wouldn’t want to make her uncomfortable, Mina. Thanks for offering though.”

Mina slumps slightly. “She told me to invite you for dinner though. A while back. We’re inviting
lots of friends, she wouldn’t mind, Nayeon. Promise. You should really come.” Mina says eagerly.
Nayeon smiles at the hope evident in Mina’s eyes and nods slightly. Mina’s smile grows and the
older rolls her eyes playfully when Mina squeals.

“Y-you remember-“ Mina hiccups. “I have to stop drinking with friends.” She shakes her head
violently and then groans when she induces a headache.

“Mina, I think that’s enough,” Nayeon says anxiously, feeling somewhat tipsy herself as she picks
up the almost empty bottle of wine and takes it to the kitchen. She eyes it for a moment and shrugs
as she downs the rest of the wine, deciding that it’d be pointless to store away such a tiny amount.
She giggles at Mina’s blank face as she sits next to her on the couch. Or at least tries to. Mina
shrieks when Nayeon accidentally sits on top of her and squirms away, staring with wide eyes
while Nayeon clutches at her stomach as she laughs.

Mina groans. “I was gonna say-“ She raises her voice. “Remember when we dumped paint all over
our homeroom teacher and she got so pissed.”

"Oh my god, yes!" Nayeon screams dramatically.

“She wouldn’t even speak,” Mina says coldly. “She just stared at us until her face went bright red.
It felt like she was trying to blow us up with her mind.” Mina deadpans and Nayeon wheezes,
nodding in agreeance.

“Wait, why did you think about that?”

Mina shrugs with pursed lips.

“You make the funniest faces.” Nayeon giggles, leaning forward and resting her head on Mina’s
shoulder as she laughs. Mina chuckled as she watched Nayeon. “I think the funniest face you’ve
ever made was that one time that the principal caught us kissing outside and was teasing us, your
face was so red and your eyes went all wide. It was adorable.”

Mina nods awkwardly and looks around the room.

“Um-“

Her phone rings.

“Momo’s calling me on FaceTime.”

“Answer.” Nayeon shoves her.

“I was going to,” Mina replies sassily. “Momoring!” She screams when she answers the call.

“We won!” Nayeon hears Momo shriek in delight from Mina’s phone. Mina bursts out laughing
and Momo watches her quietly with a small smile on her face.

“I’m proud of you baby!” Mina says happily when she finally calms down. “I knew you could do
it!”

“I’m proud of myself too,” Momo says with a triumphant smile. The two converse about Momo’s
competition for a bit while Nayeon watches with interest. Mina tries to side-eye her discreetly but
fails miserably. Nayeon bursts out laughing for the nth time at Mina’s strange expression and
Momo’s eyebrows furrow in confusion. “Who’s with you?”

“Nayeonnie!” Mina shouts, turning the phone towards Nayeon abruptly. Nayeon smiles awkwardly
and waves.

“Congratulations on your win, Momo. Mina always tells me of how amazing you and your team
are.” She smiles warmly.

“Thanks, Nayeon.” She says, somewhat dismissively. “Mina?”

The youngest turns the phone back towards herself.

“Are you guys drinking?”

“Just a little,” Mina says as if Momo couldn’t see her blotchy red face.

“I’ll make sure Mina gets home safe,” Nayeon shouts.

“I don’t need help.” Mina groans.

“You do,” Momo says sternly. “We’ll talk more when you sober up. Have Nayeon take you home
when she can or get an uber or something, I’m heading out now. I miss you a lot and I wanna see
you when I’m back.”

“Alright.” Mina pouts. Momo sighs.

“I’ll see you in a bit. Love you.” Momo blows a kiss.

“I love you more, like way more. I will see you later.” Mina tries to wink but fails miserably.
Momo blushes but feigns annoyance. “Bye-bye.” Mina finishes and hangs up.

“Here, Mina,” Nayeon says, handing Mina a bottle of water. “I think we should go now.” She says
with a soft smile. “Are you okay with me driving you home?”

Mina nods, somewhat tiredly. Nayeon puts her shoes on and grabs Mina’s hand, helping her up
from the couch. Mina smiles gratefully and grabs her bag as they leave. Eventually, the two make
their way into Mina’s sleek black car and Mina hands Nayeon the keys. On the way back to Mina’s
apartment, the girl falls asleep in the car. Nayeon tenses when she realizes she has the
responsibility of waking Mina up from her nap. She parks the car and sighs, turning to face Mina.
She lets the girl sleep for a couple of minutes, never taking her eyes off of her, watching every
movement and taking in Mina’s appearance. Her bangs were messy and covered her eyes. Her lips
slightly parted. The soft rise and fall of her chest. Nayeon leaned over carefully and brushed her
hair out of her face cautiously, before placing her hand on Mina’s thigh and shaking her gently.

“Mina? You’re home.” She whispers as Mina stirs awake. Her eyes open slightly before she shuts
them again, leaning close to Nayeon and grabbing her arm, before quickly falling back asleep.
“Mina,” Nayeon sing songs. The girl frowns in her sleep and her arm goes up, hooking around
Nayeon’s neck gently. The older blushes and moves away from Mina slightly. “Mina, wake up.”
Nayeon raises her voice. Mina groans and yawns tiredly as she stretches and rubs her eyes. “It’s
been a long time since you’ve woken me up.” She mutters quietly. She sits in the passenger seat for
a moment, still working on waking up completely as she looks out the window at the parking
garage.

Nayeon cannot help it. She tries over and over to look somewhere else, but she can’t help but stare
at the girl next to her. Mina sighs and gathers her bag and keys.

“I’ll see you soon, Nayeon.” Mina smiles gently. Nayeon nods wordlessly and the two stare at each
other for a moment before Nayeon impulsively leans forward and kisses Mina’s cheek. She rubs
off the mark that her lipstick leaves on her milky skin gently. Mina’s lips part in surprise and she
avoids Nayeon’s gaze.

“Oh shit.” Nayeon blurts. It doesn’t register in Mina’s mind immediately. Eventually, she perks up.

“Wh-what?” She stutters, rubbing her cheek.

“How am I gonna get back home?” Nayeon laughs. Mina’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “Would
it be okay if I waited in your apartment for a bit? My roommate Jeongyeon works around this area
and she should be getting off soon, like in 15 minutes. She can pick me up”

“It would be perfectly okay.” Mina smiles, getting out of the car and circling around to open the
door for Nayeon.

“Thank you, Mina. You’re too sweet.”

Nayeon practically melts at Mina’s gummy smile.

 Sana
Chapter Summary

mina and nayeon find themselves in an apartment with sana

Please read notes if you have time :)

Chapter Notes

I'm really sorry but this is gonna be another somewhat short chapter. I'm trying to get
out updates whenever I can but I'm super stressed about school right now. I have a ton
of exams coming up and I was working really hard to get my grades up before the term
ended (which I did, yay me) I'm absolutely exhausted though. I think I'm gonna take
my time with updates from now on. It feels like I'm starting to make the mistake of
prioritizing quantity over quality. I'm gonna take my time to get some really good
chapters written for all of you guys, so I apologize if the wait between chapters is
somewhat long.

However, I have a story that I sort of abandoned a while ago that I got inspired to re-
write. It's already uploaded and it's a minayeon fanfic titled 'for lovers who hesitate' If
you'd like something else to read in between updates, that book will have chapters
being added given that the story is already written for the most part. I'd appreciate it
immensely if you took the time to check out the first chapter that's up now :)

“Thanks for letting me hang around for a bit,” Nayeon says once more as they take the elevator to
get up to Mina’s apartment. Mina smiles at her and shakes her head.

“It’s nothing, really.”

“You’ve always been the sweetest person, Mina.”

The younger blushes. They step out of the elevator. “C’mon,” Mina says quietly, taking Nayeon’s
hand as she leads them down the hall to her apartment. Nayeon squeezes her hand slightly and
breathes out shakily. Mina lets go when she reaches for her keys to unlock the door and opens the
door for Nayeon, allowing her inside.

“I’m never gonna get over how beautiful it is in here.” Nayeon marvels.

“Thanks, Momo decorated it actually.” Mina chuckles. Nayeon remains silent. “Um-“ Mina clears
her throat awkwardly. “Wanna sit on the couch while we wait?”

“Sure…” Nayeon mumbles quietly, rounding the white couch and sitting. Mina walks around the
apartment for a moment before making her way back to the living room. Nayeon pats the spot next
to her. Mina complies, sitting directly next to Nayeon. Their so close that their thighs are touching,
but neither of them moves.
“It’s pretty late,” Mina says awkwardly, hoping to start some kind of small talk. Where did this
awkward feeling come from?

“I’m really happy that we’re on good terms again,” Nayeon says quietly and randomly as they sit
on the couch. Mina nods tiredly.

“Me too…I missed you for a really long time.” Mina confesses. Nayeon turns to her and meets her
eyes. The two stare at each other for a few moments. Nayeon leans forward slightly. Mina tenses
under her gaze, her breath hitching in her throat. Nayeon looks down at her lips briefly before
meeting her eyes again. Mina’s breathing picks up as Nayeon begins to close the distance between
them.

“Mina?” A voice screams out and they both startle, somehow ending up a good few feet away from
each other within a few seconds. Mina’s throat tightens and she nearly begins to heave when she
sees Sana standing in the hall that led down to the bedroom that she shared with Momo.

“Wh-what are you doing here?” Mina questions, tucking her hair behind her ears. “I didn’t even
hear you.”

“I can tell,” Sana says dryly, eyeing Mina and Nayeon with confusion in her eyes. “I was looking
for a jacket I left here a couple nights ago, Momo told me I could come to get it. I have a spare key
so….” She gulps. “Who’s this?” She questions hesitantly.

“This…is my friend, Nayeon-“

Sana’s eyes widen.

“She’s just waiting for her roommate to come to pick her up because she had to drop me off here
and her car is back at her place.”

“She couldn’t have waited outside?” Sana shook her head.

“It’s pretty late…and cold.” Mina shrugs, unable to meet her long-time friend’s eyes.

“Jeongyeon is actually here, Mina. Thanks for…everything. Hopefully, we hang out again soon.
Uh, it was nice meeting you, Sana.” She rushes out. She quickly leaves the apartment and when
Mina turns to face Sana again, the girl looks furious.

“What the fuck were you doing?” Sana seethes.

“Nothing!” Mina says defensively. “I-I know it probably didn’t look right but I really did
nothing…” She sighs and sits back on the couch. Sana sits next to her quietly.

“I’m friends with Momo just as much as I am with you. You know that, right?”

Mina nods quietly. She, Momo, and Sana were neighbors when she lived in Texas. They would all
play together frequently as children. Sana moved to Korea a few years after Mina did, and despite
their distance from Momo, they all remained close friends all their lives.

“I wouldn’t do something like that to Momo,” Mina whispers.

“I know you wouldn’t,” Sana reassures her. “But…it did look like you were close to doing so.
Mina, you’re a grown woman, alright? You can’t be fooling around with people like you’re in high
school.” Sana sighs.
“I’m not doing that!” Mina sneers and moves away from Sana. “I never did that, and I never will. I
wouldn’t do that, Sana. Stop assuming things. I have no idea what she was doing, and I’m just as
confused as you are!” She borderline shouts.

“I know who she is, by the way.” Sana frowns. “That girl from high school that you used to date. I
haven’t told Momo this yet, but it’s fucking weird that you’re hanging out with her, regardless of
what the relationship is. That girl fucked you over several times and Momo is obviously
uncomfortable. You’re stupid to not realize, Mina.” Sana groans. “That girl was trying to kiss you
just now, in case you didn’t realize.”

Mina stays silent.

“Mina, stay away from her. I can’t believe this is the first time I’ve seen you in a while and the first
thing I see is you with that girl like that.” Sana scoffs. “I’m gonna tell Momo eventually by the
way.” She says, completely pissed off.

“Wha-what? Sana, I already-“

“Mina, I’m home!”

The two exchange looks, a glint of anger evident in Sana’s eye.

The girl feels dangerous, and Mina nearly feels glued to the ground.

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