By the time Jimin meets up with Minjeong for their flight, she's only dealing with a minor headache. She could go for several more hours of sleep, but the last-minute packing got in the way of sneaking in another nap.

Judging by the look on Minjeong's face, she can relate.

At least, that's what Jimin's hoping is the reason. She wouldn't really know, the ride to the airport was different. They don't exactly ignore each other; for the most part, everything's the same. They share their usual greetings and chat about everything else in the entire world but the obvious.

Jimin can sense this heaviness in the air – not good or bad, just different – but Minjeong's nonchalance has her questioning if she's making it all up. From the surface, it looks as though Jimin's the only one who can feel it and that heaviness follows them all the way to the airport.

─

Like before, Jimin takes care of everything. She hands off Minjeong's boarding pass and tells her where to put her bags and which direction their gate is. Minjeong follows along like usual too, but something's still off.

It's not until they reach the small snack kiosk just outside of their gate that Jimin catches her staring and Minjeong's indifferent façade falters. Brown eyes dart away and a light blush begins to cover her cheeks before she's busying herself with deciding between a box of Dots and Sour Patch Kids.

Jimin goes on to browse through the magazines too, but she can't help glancing up every so often to see if she can catch Minjeong in the act again. If she does, then maybe that means she's not alone in this cloud of heaviness that surrounds them? She couldn't possibly be, right?

They both know it's there because they can both pinpoint the exact moment where things changed for them. And yet, here they are – two of the smartest people on campus – acting completely clueless.

In Jimin's defense though, she's not usually one to talk about anything after but she feels like Minjeong needs this. And maybe deep down, Jimin needs this too. She needs to know where they stand and how they're supposed to act around each other now.

She just wants Minjeong to be the first to bring it up, but so far Jimin's not sure if that'll happen. It's not so much the silent treatment nor is it a cold shoulder because Minjeong's still talking to her, but it's definitely something and Jimin doesn't know what to make of it.

All she knows is that whatever it is, they need to sort it before they touch down in Lima or things are going to get even more awkward for them.

─

"Do you want the window seat this time?" Jimin asks tentatively as they approach their row.

Minjeong bites her lip, "Is that okay?"

"Sure," Jimin nods before stepping aside so that Minjeong can slide in first.

She remembers the last time they flew together and Minjeong's initial hesitance of it all. They focused on anything but flying until Minjeong finally felt comfortable enough to admire the view. When she got there, that's all she wanted to do – just stare out of the tiny window, pointing out clouds and the colorful shapes below.

A fear of flying is all about creating distractions and if there's one thing Jimin's good at it's being distracting. However, she doesn't know if she's needed all that much this time – she figures they've both got enough on their plate to keep themselves preoccupied for the entire trip.

─

They're about half an hour into their flight and the suspense is killing Jimin.

She's going through bag after bag of the complimentary pretzels and she doesn't even like pretzels, she just needs something to keep herself busy.

Meanwhile, Minjeong has her nose in a book – a book that's completely written in Korean by the way – and quietly flips through the pages. She's a blank page and Jimin hates how she can't get a read on her. She tried matching her indifference, but Jimin's head is filled with way too many questions to be anything but indifferent.

The closer they get to Lima, the louder they beg to be asked.

─

When another ten minutes goes by, Jimin's finally had it. Enough is enough, she just has to rip the band-aid off!

"So about last night..." Jimin surprises herself when the words tumble out, but her confidence is fleeting.

Minjeong peeks up at her, waiting for the rest of the sentence to follow.

Jimin swallows dryly, those pretzels are coming back to bite her now. It's fine though, it gives her time to remember what the hell she was going to say next.

"Just so we're on the same page about things," She goes on. Her heart is racing and she's getting that gross under boob sweat but she's already opened the can of worms, she might as well dump the whole thing out.

Surprisingly though, Jimin notices the quick flint of Minjeong's eyes and the sheer panic there.

Maybe she's not alone in feeling the weirdness after all?

Minjeong bites her lip nervously, "Uh-huh?"

Jimin wants to go about this cautiously because saying the right thing is important but it also has never been a strong suit of hers. For both of their sakes, she just wants to lay everything out on the table.

"What happened there?"

It's a little more straightforward than Jimin was aiming for but it does the job.

Minjeong on the other hand averts her gaze to the book in her lap and fidgets with the cover.

"We really don't have to talk about it," She says shyly.

Jimin's brows rise. She wasn't expecting that answer, especially from Minjeong.

"Really? Huh," Jimin pops another pretzel into her mouth and chews in a dumbfounded daze. "I figured you'd want to hash things out. You're all about that."

"Yeah well," Minjeong continues to look anywhere else but Jimin. "There's not much to hash out."

Jimin's brows rise even further. "That's not what Johnny's bathroom door would say," She quips without thinking.

It has Minjeong looking up at her for the first time and Jimin can see the embarrassment written all over her face. That's a first for her, usually girls leave feeling the complete opposite. It's humbling in all the wrong ways.

"That...It was just a one-time thing," Minjeong finally admits.

Jimin nods slowly, feeling as though there's more to be said.

She's heard the whole just a one time thing many times before and usually there's a cockiness to her because she knows it isn't true. Girls always come back, but this time – it's different. This time, she shares in the embarrassment and confusion of it all even if she wasn't the one who started it.

"It was a stressful week," Minjeong continues to explain. She's looking away again and her features are hard but it's not directed at Jimin, it's inward. It's like she's trying to reason with herself and all Jimin can do is watch. "After hearing about my English Lit results and then having to do the retake and the party and...and you."

Jimin softens, "Yeah."

"Just...things with Jake aren't working out like I thought they would," Minjeong continues, her tone growing harsher out of frustration. "That day in the library, before the party, I saw him, and then just like that he was gone again. It's like that part of him is getting smaller and smaller and all that's left is this sucky excuse of a...I don't even know."

"That might've been my fault," Jimin replies with a guilty smile in hopes of alleviating some of Minjeong's stress. "I really leaned into the whole protective girlfriend act, so that probably didn't help things."

"No, it wasn't that," Minjeong assures her with a smile. "You were great."

"Oh," Jimin turns bashful. She quickly masks it and puffs out her chest, "I'll keep that in mind for next time he runs his mouth around me."

Minjeong cracks an even bigger smile at that before it slowly melts away into something more solemn. She crinkles her brow in deep thought.

"What is it?" Jimin wonders.

"I guess I'm just feeling... I don't know what I'm feeling and maybe that's why I got a little out of hand last night," Minjeong admits. "Which is such a bad excuse, but...yeah. I'm all over the place at the moment, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Jimin attempts to brush off. She hates the way Minjeong seems to shrink in on herself so she just wants this to be swept under the rug already. "I'm the one that talked you into coming out with us last night."

"Yeah, but you didn't talk me into kissing you."

Jimin falters. She's right about that, that was all Minjeong.

"So I'm sorry," Minjeong mumbles with a shy glance in Jimin's direction. "I know I shouldn't have done that. I can't even say I was acting, because we both know I wasn't. There was a part of me that knew I was crossing a line, but the other part of me didn't really care. I just wanted to feel something for a change."

There's a lot to unpack there, but Jimin chooses to leave it for now.

"I guess I forgot about the consequences of it all though. I didn't think about how it would affect you," Minjeong adds before taking a big deep breath. "So I'm sorry, Jimin."

Jimin watches her for a moment while she attempts to craft a response. She's spent all day wondering how this conversation would go and if she's being honest, it went a lot better than she thought. She figured Minjeong would either pretend it never happened or chalk it up to a thing she does when she's drunk, but it was neither of those things.

Minjeong admitted she knew what she was doing, despite the copious amount of alcohol in her system, she knew what she was doing and who she was doing it with. Because when it comes to feeling something for a change, Minjeong chose her.

What's that about?

It's probably for the best that Jimin doesn't do a deep dive of that question.

"It's cool," Jimin ends up saying. There's an assuring smile on her face as she reaches over to squeeze at Minjeong's hand, "Like you said, it was just a one-time thing."

"Exactly. Oh, I'm so relieved," Minjeong sighs and overlaps their hands. She smiles like the clouds above have finally parted for her, "I've been thinking about this all day and I was so worried that I screwed things up between us. You know? I don't want to make things weird, especially since we'll be spending the rest of the weekend together."

Jimin nods, feeling a little more at ease too.

"Like we're friends but we're also fake girlfriends," Minjeong continues with the cutest contemplative look on her face. "Sometimes I guess it's hard to tell the two apart. We're so good at doing both, it's so easy to slip back and forth between the two. Sometimes, I don't even realize I'm doing it."

"I get that," Jimin agrees with a chuckle.

"So," Minjeong bites her lip. "What happens now?"

"Well," Jimin inhales deeply. "I guess we just move on? We can pretend like last night never happened if it's easier? Just a little bump in the road, so problem solved."

"I – okay, yeah. Sure," Minjeong smiles but it isn't as bright. "We can just forget about it."

Jimin pretends she doesn't notice the blonde waver upon hearing her words and she pretends like it doesn't create an even bigger ache in her chest. They've got more important things to focus on though, not this momentary lapse of judgment, so Jimin knows it's for the best.

"Okay," Jimin says. "Great."

"Yeah."

"So...it'll be a big weekend," Jimin tells her to refocus. "We're lucky that we're arriving so late. We've missed all the Good Friday festivities and having to spend hours at church, but there's still Easter Saturday and Sunday so be prepared for the chaos."

"There's an Easter Saturday?"

"Yup!" Jimin replies. "And an Easter Monday too but we'll be heading back by then. We just have to make it through the weekend and we'll be fine. Fair warning though, there's going to be kids everywhere."

Minjeong only looks a little concerned, "Why?"

"My mom's got the biggest yard so the egg hunt is always at our house," Jimin tells her. "It's open to the entire block too so the little moochers will be all over the place. How are you with kids?"

"Uh I'm not sure," Minjeong scratches her head. "I've never been around them."

"No little cousins or anything?"

Minjeong shakes her head, "I told you I don't really have a big family."

"Shit."

"What?" Minjeong frowns. "Is that bad?"

"No, no. It's not bad," Jimin chuckles. "You'll just miss out on a few more brownie points but I'm sure we'll be fine. We can just hide in the kitchen the entire time. It's the only place the little heathens aren't allowed."

Although Jimin was trying to be reassuring, judging by the look on Minjeong's face she didn't do too good of a job.

─

When they finally land in Lima, Jimin's already organizing a ride home. Jessica had been adamant that she be the one to pick them up, but Jimin didn't want to burden her with trying to wait up for them so late. Besides, after the day she's had she would rather not end it with Jessica analyzing her every move.

At least her and Minjeong are in a much better place so that's one good thing to come from it all.

They quietly make their way to baggage claim, but the quiet is more so out of exhaustion rather than the heaviness from before. In fact, Jimin hasn't felt it in a while now and it allows her to finally relax.

They lean against each other while their tired eyes watch the belt wind its way in a big circle, waiting for their suitcases to slide out. Their flight wasn't too full so they don't wait long before Jimin's comes tumbling out first.

"I'll get it," Minjeong offers as Jimin leaves her side. There's a playful glint in her eye as she looks back over her shoulder, "Don't want you hurting yourself like last time."

Jimin rolls her eyes and laughs, "I didn't hurt myself...it was just heavy."

"Uh-huh," Minjeong teases as she easily lifts the bag off of the belt with one hand. She sets it down and pulls the handle up before guiding it to Jimin. "Here you are."

"Thanks," Jimin grumbles through a smile.

Minjeong only giggles as she goes back for her own suitcase. Jimin watches her lift it with ease again. She nearly makes a comment about showing off, but she ends up getting distracted by the curve of Minjeong's ass in those jeans as she crouches down. Whoever made them needs a raise, because they're really doing the Lord's work!

Thankfully though, Jimin catches herself before Minjeong does. After their talk before, she really doesn't need to add that to the list of things that could complicate everything.

─

Once they get to Jessica's, the house is dark aside from the porch light left on. Jimin looks around for the spare key her mom hid for her and works on getting the door open. Then the couple quietly makes their way inside and up to Jimin's room, careful not to disturb anyone as they go.

It's always so weird coming back to her old room and seeing how everything is just as she left it. The only thing out of place is that her mom's changed the sheets to something that fits the season despite Jimin's dislike for overly floral patterns.

"God," Jimin slumps on the bed. "I'm exhausted."

"Same," Minjeong replies softly as she sets off unpacking. "You want first dibs on the bathroom?"

Jimin shakes her head, "You can go."

"Wow," Minjeong chuckles. "You really are exhausted."

"I might just fall asleep like this," Jimin jokes as she shuts her eyes.

"Don't. You're still in airplane clothes."

"True," Jimin sighs and pushes herself up to unpack too.

While Minjeong heads off to get changed and ready for bed, Jimin does the same and changes into some pajamas. She usually waits up for Minjeong to finish, but she figures the faster she changes the faster she can fall asleep.

Off comes the bra and sweater in exchange for a baggy top and she's already feeling ten times more comfortable. Next are her sleep shorts but they're barely over her ass when Minjeong suddenly appears again in the doorway.

"Shit," Jimin curses under her breath in surprise. She hikes up her bottoms so fast that she gives herself a wedgie. When her eyes land on Minjeong, she finds her stuck there blushing with brown eyes wide.

"Sorry, I should've knocked," She stammers and tears her eyes away from the sight. "I-I forgot my toothbrush."

"Yeah sure," Jimin attempts to play it off like she didn't just have the crap scared out of her.

Minjeong quickly wanders in, keeping her eyes down as she grabs the toothbrush before scampering away again. Once the door closes behind her, Jimin lets out a breath. With her many years of cheerleading, Jimin's no stranger to changing in front of someone so why was that so weird? Despite their conversation on the plane, Jimin has a feeling that this might be a very long weekend for them.

─

After Minjeong finishes up in the bathroom, she creeps back into the bedroom with a tentative tap at the door just to be safe. Jimin doesn't say anything though, just pulls the door open to reveal that she is indeed fully clothed this time.

"Your turn," Minjeong tells her.

"Thanks," Jimin replies and leaves the room.

She spends a little too long washing her face and brushing her teeth, hoping that maybe by the time she gets back to her room Minjeong will already be fast asleep. She can leave the weirdness of today behind them and they can start over again tomorrow and everything will be as it always is – wouldn't that be nice?

But by the time Jimin ventures back into her room, Minjeong's still awake.

She's on her hands and knees, smoothing out the extra comforter they stowed in Jimin's closet from their last visit. Jimin notices her pillow has been stolen again too and now resides at the top of Minjeong's makeshift bed.

"You're doing this again?" Jimin asks.

"Well yeah," Minjeong shrugs as she reaches for the spare sheet to lay out. "The same rules still apply."

Jimin smirks, "Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously."

Jimin shakes her head in disbelief, "So you're fine with stealing my bed last night... "

"I didn't steal it, you offered."

"And you're fine with wearing my clothes..."

Minjeong gives her a look, "Again, you offered."

"And you're fine with having your tongue in my mouth..."

"It's way too soon to use that against me," Minjeong pouts.

"Fair. But you see how silly this is, right? Sharing a bed with me," Jimin continues with a chuckle. "That's where you draw the line?"

Minjeong's movements pause and it looks as though she's contemplating giving up, but she doesn't. She just meets Jimin's eye and matches her confidence.

"Well, if I don't draw a line then who will?" Minjeong asks.

Now it's Jimin's turn to be left speechless. Is she trying to say that Jimin doesn't know how to abide by boundaries because if anyone's busting their ass to control themselves, it's Jimin!

Or maybe she's got it all wrong? Maybe this is Minjeong's way of saying she's the one who needs them? She has no idea!

When Minjeong turns away to finish making her bed, Jimin can only do the same.

She's still not sure she gets what Minjeong means, but she doesn't want to go hashing it out either. She's done with that for the day, so it's best that she just goes to sleep as fast as she can before she digs herself into another confusing hole.

─

The next morning, Jimin awakes to find Minjeong's already gone again. Her makeshift bed is neatly put away, hidden in the closet, and her pillow is back beside Jimin's head.

Similar to the morning before, Jimin looks around the room groggily. If only she could snuggle back down and catch another hour or so of sleep before heading downstairs, but she knows she probably shouldn't leave Minjeong unattended like that for too long.

With the big Easter lunch Jessica has planned for tomorrow and all the preparations needing to be sorted, Jimin's sure it's all hands on deck and her attendance is being anxiously awaited. Still, she lies there a little while longer trying to get herself in the right headspace.

She tries brushing off last night and the night before. She tries to forget about the party and the feel of Minjeong's hands on her, so strong and sure. The way Minjeong's lips glided so effortlessly against hers and the taste of her gin-soaked tongue. She tries forgetting the sounds of Minjeong's little whimpers and all the ways Jimin hoped to hear more of them—

"Hey, you're awake,"

Minjeong's voice has Jimin's wandering hand jolting from the juncture of her thighs in an instant and she's praying to all things holy that her face doesn't reflect what was nearly about to happen. Thankfully, Minjeong's too busy wandering over to her suitcase though to notice anything off.

"Yeah," Jimin croaks and shifts uncomfortably. "You been up long?"

"Not really," Minjeong answers. "I thought about heading downstairs but I figured we should see everyone together first so I just took a shower instead."

That's when Jimin notices that Minjeong has her hair up in a towel and beads of water still slide down her neck. It has Jimin struggling to focus, wondering what it would be like to be those little beads.

Minjeong watches her curiously with her brow raised. When Jimin meets her gaze, she snaps to attention again.

"Huh?"

"I didn't say anything," Minjeong continues to eye her. "You okay?"

"Yeah, no. I was just thinking – good idea about the shower," Jimin rambles. "I should do that too and then we can go down together...the stairs, I mean! We can go down the stairs together."

Jimin's mortified, absolutely mortified. What the hell is going on with her?

Minjeong just shrugs before unraveling her hair towel. "Okay," She says. "I'll wait up for you."

"Cool," Jimin replies before quickly getting out of bed and finding something to wear today.

So much for things not being weird between them! Seriously, what is going on? Jimin figures the coldest shower possible will probably be enough to get herself in check.

─

Lucky for Jimin, nothing kills a mood faster than spending breakfast with her mom, Taecyeon and Grandma sat at the dining table while a picture of Jesus hangs on the wall across from her. Anytime Jimin looks up, it's like he's staring right back at her – judging her for all the filthy thoughts she keeps having about Minjeong.

She's sorry, okay? She can't help it! Maybe she should've taken her mom up on that offer to go to mass earlier? That would've sorted her out real quick...probably.

Meanwhile, Minjeong is happily chatting away with Jimin's family completely unfazed. She fills them in on how classes are going and what she and Jimin have been up to lately – not including Johnny's party obviously – and their wonderful time at the Brainiacs' Ball.

Minjeong's a damn pro.

Jimin wishes she could be half as switched on as she is right about now. If it wasn't for the blonde, she would be failing to make this convincing. Their last trip, they were still butting heads – trying to one-up each other – but a lot has changed since then.

"Congratulations again," Jessica says which pulls Jimin's attention back to the conversation at hand. There's a proud smile on Jessica's face as she adds, "Most Brilliant Brainiac. Now that's something you should be very proud of!"

"Oh, I am," Minjeong replies. "It was so unexpected, it caught me completely by surprise. That was probably the best part about it."

Jimin nods and mimics Minjeong's infectious grin, "You should've seen her. Minjeong was so shocked she didn't even hear them call her name."

"It's true," Minjeong giggles. "I completely blanked for a second. It didn't seem real until I made it on stage and they were handing me a trophy."

"I saw pictures," Grandma says because apparently, she talks to Minjeong now. "You both looked so beautiful."

"Yeah she did," Jimin flirts right on cue and Minjeong blushes all the same. "I had the prettiest date there."

"So did I," Minjeong confirms with a soft touch to Jimin's arm. "Jimin looked stunning."

Jessica and Grandma smile fondly at the pair while Minjeong goes on with her story. Jimin quietly listens too, interested to hear Minjeong's recounting of that night from her point of view and wondering if what they experienced align. She gets what Minjeong means though, it's hard to tell the difference between what's real and what isn't.

─

A while later, Jimin's helping Grandma bring out carton after carton of hollowed-out eggshells while Minjeong helps Jessica in the kitchen. There's dozens of stacks of these cartons and Jimin wonders if her mom might've gone a little overboard this year.

"How many people are coming to this thing tomorrow?" Jimin asks as the banquet by the dining table is nearly covered in stacks of cartons. "All of Lima?"

"You know your Mom," Grandma chuckles. "She always extends the invite to everyone. If you don't have a place to go– "

"You can always come here," Jimin finishes Jessica's infamous line. She looks around at the empty shells and cringes, "Well I hope she's sending these people home with a tub of egg gunk or else we're going to be having omelets for a very long time..."

Her and Grandma laugh at that and for a moment Jimin finds herself feeling thankful that they can bond like this again.

Their relationship was a little rocky the last time she came for a visit, with her reluctance to accept Minjeong mixed in with her usual stubbornness, but things have really turned around since Jimin has been able to maintain a long-lasting relationship for once.

It seems like everything's going according to plan. All Jimin needs to do is close the deal which would be some type of confirmation that this relationship has shown her family that she really can be responsible, that she's capable of being in a serious relationship, that she's worthy of a career with Jessica.

She's just not sure when that kind of acceptance will come.

Now that she's acknowledged the end is near during her talk with Jaemin, she really needs to get the ball rolling. It's not fair to keep Minjeong trapped like this; at some point, she's going to want out and Jimin will have to give her that. But until then, they have their roles to play and appearances to keep up.

For her sanity's sake, Jimin just hopes that this acceptance comes way sooner than later.

─

Once Jimin finishes with bringing out all the eggshells, she moves on to setting up the various bowls of dyes and containers of confetti and glitter.

"Wow!" Minjeong's eyes widen as she joins Jimin at the table. "What's all this for?"

"Cascarones," Jimin supplies. "Usually a Mexican Easter tradition, but hey, why not take part in it as well?"

"Oh! I've read about those!" Minjeong replies excitedly. She looks over all the colorful bowls on the table and asks, "Can I help?"

Jimin smiles at her enthusiasm, "I'd be struggling if you didn't. Check out how many we have to do."

Minjeong glances to the banquet where at least a hundred hollowed eggshells await them.

"Woah," Minjeong chuckles. "You'll have to give me a crash course, I've never done this before."

"That's okay. I'll teach you," Jimin assures her. "It's super easy because the shells are already cleaned and stuff. You just need a delicate touch for the rest of it."

"I can do that."

Jimin finds herself smiling again, but Minjeong doesn't see. She's too preoccupied with scoping out which color combination she wants to try first.

There's this childlike giddiness about her that Jimin finds so endearing. If Jimin were tasked with making all the cascarones alone, she'd totally bail out but with Minjeong around it doesn't seem so bad. In fact, she's actually kind of looking forward to doing something a little silly with her for a change.

"So like I said – super easy," Jimin starts as she brings over a tray of eggshells. "You take one, dip it in the dye you want, put it back in the carton so it can dry and then we hope it doesn't get stuck. Once they're dry, we fill them with confetti and glue a piece of tissue paper over the hole. Done!"

"Okay, yeah. Easy!"

"Right? Okay, let's get—"

"Wait!" Jessica suddenly enters the room holding aprons. "Put these on."

"Mom..." Jimin groans. "Come on."

"What?" Jessica gives her a look. "You want to stain your clothes?"

Jimin slumps, "No."

"Okay then, listen to your mother," Jessica tosses one to Jimin before turning to Minjeong with a sweet smile and offering her an apron too. "Here you go, my dear."

"Thank you," Minjeong bows her head as Jessica turns to leave.

Jimin quickly throws her hair up into a bun before getting the apron on. She notes the floral pattern and rolls her eyes because of course her mom has Easter-themed aprons.

Minjeong does the same and pulls her hair into a low ponytail, but somehow she ends up looking way cuter in little yellow chicks and pastel tulips. Jimin wonders how she does it, but then as if Minjeong knows she's watching, the blonde looks up and asks.

"How do I look?"

Jimin considers telling the truth, but instead she only smirks.

"You look ready for your first cascarones experience."

Minjeong giggles, "I totally am! My family would never do anything like this."

"That's boring."

"Super boring," Minjeong confirms as she plucks up her first eggshell.

Jimin smiles and notes Minjeong's sleeves, "Oh. You might want to roll those up."

"Hmm?"

"I'll do it for you," Jimin offers.

She reaches over the table for Minjeong's wrist and starts to cuff her sleeves.

It's slow and meticulous for some reason, but Jimin only figures that if she folds them properly then they won't slide down and get in Minjeong's way. It has nothing to do with how Jimin's stomach cartwheels at the very feel of her fingertips grazing Minjeong's skin.

It has nothing to do with that at all.

"Thanks," Minjeong says.

"No problem," Jimin ducks her head before averting her attention to the task at hand. "Okay. Think we can get all these dyed before lunch?"

Minjeong eyes the stacks and smirks, "Let's see."

─

They end up taking a little longer than they anticipated, but all the shells that were once a pale white are now dyed various shades of pinks and yellows and purples. They're set aside to dry for the next couple of hours which allows Jimin and Minjeong a chance to make a coffee run and grab something to eat.

They find themselves at the Lima Bean instead of Jimin's usual Starbucks and she already feels slightly uneasy as they venture in. She didn't realize this was the way she was headed until she's pulling into her old parking space, and now that she's here she can't exactly leave.

The cafe brings back so many memories of her high school days. It's basically what kept her from getting perfect attendance her Senior year, but hey – at least she was caffeinated. She remembers many afternoons spent studying here too but with a different blonde in her company.

That is, until things got complicated. For most of her Junior and Senior year, she spent a lot of her time here alone. Of course, those days seem so far behind her now. She just hopes that she doesn't run into anyone she used to know. She's not in the mood for that kind of blast from the past.

"By the window?" Minjeong suggests while Jimin takes a look around.

"Yeah, sure."

Minjeong happily leads the way, unfazed by Jimin taking a walk down memory lane. She can't wait to tell Jaemin that the staff is basically the same which he'll get a kick out of because the guy behind the counter swore he'd get a football scholarship over Jaemin.

"What are you getting?" Minjeong asks as she slides a menu between them to share. "I have a craving for something covered in whipped cream."

Jimin chuckles, "I'll probably get something light – save room for tomorrow. Knowing my mom, she's going to have a massive spread for lunch."

"You're right," Minjeong taps her chin as she keeps browsing the menu. "I should do the same, I definitely need a coffee though. I feel a crash coming on."

"Me too," Jimin agrees and they go on to pick out what they'll have before Jimin goes up to order for them both.

Once she gets back, Jimin sits beside Minjeong in a comfortable silence. They're both scrolling through their phones and every so often, Jimin will show Minjeong a picture of some girls from her squad vacationing somewhere tropical. They'll both complain about how nice it looks before scrolling on.

It's nice, bonding with Minjeong like that. For once, Jimin's not overthinking anything or having some weird girl-boner for her. They're just... Jimin and Minjeong, friends bonding over regular stuff friends bond over and it's so easy.

If only it could always be like this.

When their order arrives, they move on instinct. Jimin's pushing aside the olives from her salad so that Minjeong can steal them, while the blonde drops a few potato wedges onto Jimin's plate in return. They pick off of each other's plate without a word, they barely even realize they're doing it. It's second nature, almost as if it's something they've always done.

"This is so good," Minjeong compliments her Frappuccino before nudging it in Jimin's direction. "It's basically all sugar so I see why you like them."

Jimin narrows her eyes playfully before she moves to take a sip. She hums in delight and it's followed by an approving nod before she's offering her own drink to Minjeong.

"Starbucks still runs the show here but damn," Jimin says. "They can't compete with a Lima Bean Frap."

"True," Minjeong nods. "I wish there was one on campus. We could go there like every day."

Jimin's reminded again of her past. She's heard something similar before but that pact never made it past Sophomore year. It would've been nice to have some company back then though. She's sure Minjeong would've made a good study partner or at least someone to share a table way too big for just one.

"What are you thinking about?" Minjeong asks. Her cheek bulges as she chews and there's a twinkle in her pretty brown eyes.

Jimin hadn't realized she was being watched and dabs at her mouth with a napkin.

"High school," She supplies. "Wondering what it would've been like if we went together."

"Oh," Minjeong chuckles. She reaches for her drink and swirls it as she ponders. "You think we'd be friends?"

Jimin has to think about that. They're only close now because of this crazy fake dating thing, but back then? What would've tied them together? What would've been the reason she'd break ranks with the Cheerleaders and hang out with someone like Minjeong?

She supposes it would be because Minjeong's sweet. She supposes she wouldn't be able to help herself. She'd have a soft spot for her then just like she has one for her now.

But Minjeong doesn't really need to know all that.

"Maybe," Jimin offers with a smirk. "But if you're getting a higher GPA like you are now then we'd definitely have some problems."

Minjeong lets out a laugh, "Of course. You just can't stand someone else being on top for once."

Jimin laughs along with her, but there's a little voice in her head that teases her for disagreeing. The moment they shared at Johnny's is evidence enough that Jimin doesn't mind someone else taking the top spot every so often.

Especially if that someone is Minjeong.

"We should get back," Jimin says – trying to sound casual. "See if my mom has anything else for us to do before tomorrow. I have a feeling there's a long list hiding somewhere."

"Okay," Minjeong nods and goes for one last potato wedge. "Let's go."

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