Chapter Text
Nayeon loves attention. She basks on it, lives for it. And people give it to her, no questions asked. Whenever she walks into a room, everyone stops, the time stops and it slows as she graces them with her remarkable existence. Everyone bends on her demands. There’s an unspoken rule: you can never say no to Im Nayeon.
So imagine her genuine shock when the girl standing in front of the vending machine just looks at her briefly after Nayeon clears her throat three times, then proceeds to stare at the machine once again.
Nayeon scoffs and taps her shoulders. The girl doesn’t squeal nor shakes. Huh, if this was another person, they would be crying in joy by now. “I’ve been standing here for almost fifteen seconds.” The girl mutters a small apology and politely points at the other machine, “You can use the other machines, they have the same drinks.” The audacity of this thing to order her around! Nayeon stays and just waits for the girl to finish. She will teach her a lesson for ignoring the Im Nayeon .
However, Nayeon forgets about that when the girl makes tiny noises when she finally decides to pick a watermelon drink. Nayeon watches her smile as she puts her coins in and excitedly grabs her drink. Maybe Nayeon smiled too while watching her.
“Are you done now?” She frowns and walks past Nayeon, ignoring her for the second time. Nayeon is seething in anger as she turns to watch the girl walk away, puts on her earphones, sipping the stupid watermelon drink elegantly with her pinky out.
She has never felt this disrespected before. Who the hell is that girl anyway? Nayeon angrily jeers as she loudly sips her yogurt drink, chewing the straw. She drinks it in quick successive gulps, walking in loud stomps as she crumples the carton as it quickly empties out.
She reaches the student council room and sees Jihyo, with Jeongyeon sitting across her table and slams the disintegrated box. “How dare she!” Jeongyeon jumps and stares at her in horror. Nayeon paces around the room and vents out. Jihyo quietly picks the box and throws it in the bin under her table.
They let Nayeon whine about the girl at the vending machine. She went on and on about disrespecting the “Im Nayeon”, “how dare that girl not faint when the great Im Nayeon touched her?”, “why did the girl not shake when Im Nayeon talked to her?” Jeongyeon propped her head on her hand and dozed off. Jihyo just proceeds to read the papers.
“And when she just looked me dead in the eye saying the other machines are available, I just wanted to strangle her.” Nayeon imitates choking with both hands through the empty air and Jihyo shakes her head. “How dare that girl talk to me like that? Ugh, then she walked past me when I AM talking to her?! Unbelievable!” Jihyo hums and continues reading, ignoring Nayeon’s dramatic skit. Jeongyeon opens her eyes and yawns. “You’re done?”
Nayeon slams both hands on the table and eyes her friends. Jeongyeon jumps again, Jihyo remains unfazed, shuffling through pages. “Are you two listening to me?”
“Nayeon, you’re being annoying again.” Jeongyeon grumbles. They know how dramatic Nayeon can be. They are used to it. But she is not really a bad person. They also know that, but Jeongyeon thinks she can be “a little too much.”
Nayeon is about to pull her hair out of frustration and that’s the only thing Jeong says. She turns to Jihyo just to get even madder. “You’re used to people kissing your ass and now you meet someone who doesn't. You are throwing a fit.” Jihyo says straight to her face. Jeongyeon snickers and sticks her tongue out. Nayeon kicks her shin and walks out. The taller girl cries while hugging her potentially bruised leg. “Ice cream later.” Jihyo reminds Nayeon before she loudly slams the door.
It’s been two days since the absurd event and Nayeon still cannot let it go. It is a big deal for her. She is staring at the window, more like glaring at it, as she is sinking on the car seat. Dahyun is worried about her. “You’ve been like that since yesterday, is there something wrong, unnie?” Nayeon shrugs and tells her she’s fine. You see, Dahyun is the complete opposite of Nayeon. She just can’t tell her sister she is throwing a bitch fit. It will mar her good sister rep.
At lunch, Jeongyeon is loudly chewing her food and pointing her chopsticks at Nayeon. “Dahyun is the kindest person I’ve ever met. I still refuse to believe she’s your sister.” She really is. Dahyun will help a chicken cross the street, and if ever an apocalypse happens, her sister will feed a stray cat her scarce food even if it means she’ll starve.
They are talking about Dahyun because she volunteered to help in an outreach program. Nayeon smiles, she’s proud of Dahyun. “It’s good for her to do it. Our mother said it’s for college applications.” She is enjoying her lunch when she sees the source of her stress and wrinkles for the past forty eight hours. She abruptly stands and glares at the girl’s back leaving the cafeteria.
“Oy, Im!” Nayeon ignores Jeongyeon’s calls and walks out quickly to catch up with the vending machine girl.
She follows her. “Hey, you!” The girl doesn’t turn around. She is really asking for it.
Nayeon calls her once more and holds her shoulder to make the girl turn and face her but suddenly she feels the air getting knocked out of her lungs. This tiny idiot elbowed her hard. Nayeon coughs and kneels on the empty hallway, holding her probably fractured rib. “Stop it, Momoring.” Wheezing, Nayeon looks up at the girl frowning at her phone screen, tapping fast and hard. She’s wearing those damned earphones again.
This girl is really driving her crazy. Nayeon quickly stands and grabs her phone. The girl whines and is about to berate when she sees Nayeon’s raised brow, oozing bad mood, and attitude. “It’s you again.” The girl utters an exasperated sigh. Nayeon reads the nameplate on the breast pocket of her blazer. Myoui Mina. The audacity of this Myoui Mina to use that tone on her when she probably just broke a rib.
“ You elbowed me hard and that’s the first thing you say?” Nayeon inhales deeply and grabs Myoui Mina’s phone closer then pulls out the earphones for a sassier effect, she thinks. Mina gasps and pouts. It’s kinda cute but Nayeon ignores the reaction and smugly puts the phone in her pocket. Mina’s jaw drops open. “You’ll get your phone when I think it’s time.” Nayeon walks past her, just like Myoui did before. She adds an elegant hair flip.
You’re lucky you met me, Myoui.
Mina is changing books when she hears Sana ranting about texting Mina the whole day and receiving not even one response. “I get that you are playing, but maybe just leave me on read so that I’ll know you’re even alive.”
Mina loudly closes her locker and hits her head on the metal door, dramatically releasing a heavy sigh. “I don’t have my phone with me. Nayeon stole it.”
Sana loudly gasps and covers her mouth. She peers around and pulls Mina to the corner. The walls have ears, she says. “You mean, Im Nayeon? How did that happen? I didn’t know you guys were friends?! I’m so sorry to hear that.” Mina thinks her friend doesn’t have to know that she purposely ignored the school’s most loved queen just to see her reaction so she left out that part and went on the story that she accidentally elbowed Nayeon because she thought it was Momo when she touched her while playing her game. Sana is clutching her belly after hearing the story.
“You’re screwed, Mitang.” Sana chuckles. Everyone on the campus fears her, but they like her too. She isn’t nice to everybody, and she loves being the center of attraction. She loves attention, and everyone gives theirs to her. Mina doesn’t get it. So, she did a little experiment. It totally backfired like a failed lab test exploding.
Dahyun is Mina’s classmate, so she hears some stories about Nayeon. Whenever Dahyun talks about Nayeon, everyone is just not sure whether Dahyun is describing the same person. And by everyone, it means Mina. Mina is not even sure if it is because they are siblings or Dahyun just sees good in everyone, but she often says that her sister is a kind person. Chaeyoung just agrees with her. Maybe she can ask Dahyun to get her phone later.
(Sana is still laughing about Mina’s story. “The only way you can get that phone is when you grovel for her highness’ forgiveness.” Mina can’t even think about it. She can see Nayeon growing so big, looking down on her, sitting on a throne made of bones. Her eyes are glowing red and evil as she sits on the high throne demanding Mina to “kneel” in a loud, echoing voice ending with a manically evil laugh. The thought sends shivers down her spine.)
After her class, Mina asks Dahyun for help. She tried her best to tell Dahyun the story in as little Nayeon the villain as possible. Like she accidentally bumped into Nayeon during lunch break. Not entirely a lie, so she won’t feel guilty. She’s now calling the devil’s incarnate to meet her. Mina is biting her nails waiting for the result. Is this what it feels like to bargain with Satan? Dahyun beams at Mina and says the most horrible thing Mina can ever hear. “My sister said she’s already home, she can meet you there if you want to.”
Mina gives Dahyun a half-hearted yes. The ride to their house is fine. But Mina feels like she’s going to be sick. “Oh, and unnie said she didn’t mean to get your phone.” Oh, Dahyun, if you only know.
They pull up in front of a lavish house. Dahyun shows her around until they meet Lilith sitting in the garden, drinking innocent infants’ souls brewed into tea. She’s reading a book and Mina sees her phone resting on the table. Thank god, it's safe!
Mina is silently sitting, listening to Dahyun and Nayeon animatedly talking. Her hand is itching to touch her phone. “Dahyunie, can you give us some time alone?” Mina still cannot believe her ears, Nayeon is talking to someone in such a gentle manner.
Dahyun happily obliges and whispers to Mina, “Don’t be shy, okay?” Just nod and smile, Mina. Nod and smile.
The moment Dahyun is out of earshot, Nayeon’s demeanor changes instantly. “Your phone has been buzzing for the whole afternoon, it’s annoying.” She pushes the phone towards Mina, eyeing it with irritation.
“Look, I’m sorry for hitting you, I thought-” Nayeon raises her hand. Mina finds herself stopping. “Okay, whatever, I forgive you.” Mina blinks and takes her phone. “Oh. Okay? But still, I want to apologize. I hit you hard. I didn’t mean to do that.” Nayeon does not respond, she’s silently sipping her tea. Clearly, Lilith is uninterested in Mina’s sincere apology. You know what….
Mina heaves a sigh and continues, “But you didn’t have to take my phone though.” This catches Nayeon’s attention. She places her teacup in a loud thunk, interlacing her hands and eyeing Mina like a prey. “Ah, ah. As for the phone,” Nayeon leans close and snatches her phone back. Mina blinks in confusion, ”You’ll only get it if-” IF? No way in hell she will be taking any agreement from her. She will not get manipulated. That’s it, enough doing deals with the devil.
“Again, I’m sorry for hitting you, that was uncalled for. For the phone, you can keep that.” Mina glares at Nayeon who’s crossing her arms. “I’d rather get a new one than follow your terms. Not everyone likes you, Nayeon.” Mina storms out. Mina apologized, that’s enough. She can just buy a new phone, dealing with Nayeon is not worth it.
Nayeon smirks and reaches for her book to resume reading. “Challenge accepted, Myoui. ”
Mina is silently minding her business while Momo and Sana are busy copying their assignments due in the next hour. Lunch break is supposed to be their rest time and chit-chat time but these two seniors are too lazy, they love to cram.
“Momoring, stop moving Jeong’s paper, dammit!” Sana groans and pulls the paper close to hers. Momo frowns and pulls the paper towards her. Mina boringly watches fighting for the piece of paper. The least that everyone wants is to have the vice president’s paper torn apart.
“Just what if one of you takes a picture and the other uses the paper?” Mina grabs Momo's phone and takes a quick snap of the paper, shoving it back to her while pushing the paper to Sana. The two finally stop bickering before her.
Mina suddenly feels a chill on her spine, like someone is watching her, and turns around only to see Nayeon staring at her. Nayeon smiles evilly while waving her phone in the air. Yeah, she can shove that into her- “Mitang, why Nayeon still has your phone?”
Sana frowns as she also stares at the demon. Mina sighs in defeat. “I didn’t get it.” She would do anything other than talking with Nayeon again. Their meeting is brief but it’s enough to tell Mina that she won’t be wanting or needing more interactions with her.
Momo stops writing and grabs Mina’s phone. “So you just bought a new one?!” Sana inches closer and whispers, “Did she ask you to do something?” Momo’s eyes widened.
“Oh my god? Did she, Mitang?” Mina grabs her phone back and slouches. “Maybe she did, but I didn’t listen.” They already stopped writing, waiting for Mina to continue her story but the time is running out. “Just finish that assignment and let’s not talk about this.”
Mina is met by an equally confused Dahyun when she returns the Japanese’s phone. “Nayeon unnie said you forgot it last time.” Mina is hesitant to take her phone back but she has to, she will not want Dahyun to ask more questions. Dahyun only beams at her and surmises, “You must have had fun talking with my sister for you to forget about your phone!” Mina cringes and awkwardly laughs along with Dahyun. This pure poor child, your sister is a she-devil. “Haha. Right.”
And when Mina thought her day could end smoothly, but oh boy, she’s dead wrong for even thinking of a peaceful day. Mina’s about to get her things inside her locker when she sees Nayeon already leaning on it. She quickly turns around and instantaneously decides with herself to just go home but the devil already noticed her. “You’re not escaping, are you?”
“I didn’t know I was held captive,” Mina mutters in an unpleasant tone, looking at Nayeon uninterested. Just when Mina tries the hardest to avoid bumping into Nayeon, which is not supposed to be that hard since they don’t even go in the same building, but still, Mina finds herself conversing with the demon and losing tons of her sanity by just dealing with her.
This encounter is very unfortunate but the last thing she wants is to lose in their verbal spat. Leaving a visibly stupefied and angry Nayeon behind has a really satisfying effect. The universe sure knows how to make life a tragic comedy.
Nayeon sneers as she moves away from Mina’s locker, crossing her arms, and hovers over the younger girl. She’s trying to assert dominance by using her inch-tall advantage against Mina and she isn’t being subtle. “I am here to get my apology.”
Mina can’t believe what she’s hearing. She rolls her eyes and scoffs. “I already gave you one, Nayeon.”
“That was not enough. It’s insincere.” Nayeon squints her eyes on the younger girl.
She inwardly sighs, Sana’s suggestion might work at this moment. “Do you want me to grovel then?” Nayeon smirks, inching closer. “That won’t be necessary, Myoui.” God, what does she want from her then? Mina knew from the very start that dealing with Nayeon would be hard but she didn’t expect she’d be in this kind of situation, to begin with. She shouldn’t have messed up with her that day!
“Fine. I’m sorry, Nayeon.” Nayeon freezes. Confusion is etched all over her face. Mina is on her way to kneel down when Nayeon holds her arm. “What are you doing?!” Nayeon hisses at her, wary of anyone seeing them down the hallway.
What? She doesn’t want Mina to kneel and apologize? “I’m going to kneel down.” She says in a matter-of-fact tone.
“Just treat me to some ice cream! Don’t do something embarrassing.” Nayeon scoffs and pulls her towards the parking lot. Nayeon’s cheeks are tinted slightly pink but Mina does not notice.
Mina finds herself paying for Nayeon’s favorite Baskin-Robbins flavor, “Love Struck Strawberry.” and even orders three other flavors. Might as well order something for herself.
She does not expect Nayeon to eat all these flavors without feeling sick. Nayeon is happily switching from one flavor to another and even asks to try Mina’s mint chocolate chip. “Let me have just a little.”
Before she can even say yes, Nayeon already scoops a spoonful.
Mina silently eats her ice cream, while Nayeon continues to take pictures, happily humming. For a moment, if Mina didn’t know better, it is almost as if Nayeon can never do wrong. Her eyes can smile, does that make sense? It’s very nice to watch her enjoy her ice cream. She gleefully screams as she takes every scoop. Nayeon savors each flavor, with her eyes closed with a big smile while still biting the spoon. It looks stupid but because she’s Nayeon…. She looks… beautiful. There you go, Mina gives Nayeon a compliment.
“I know right?” Mina snaps out of it and frowns. “Huh?”
Nayeon smirks and flips her hair. “You were staring at me. I know, I know I’m so pretty but you didn’t have to gawk. Gosh.” she feigns shyness while biting on the spoon. Mina can only assume it’s supposed to be flirty.
And that is the reason why Mina will never tell Nayeon her compliment. She doesn't know Nayeon personally. She knows so little about her. Aside from the fact that she is popular and a little mean but the school populace lets her because of pretty privilege. There’s a saying that you can never say no to Nayeon.
But with the short period of time that Mina has spent with Nayeon, she has confirmed, Nayeon hates not being paid attention to. Like when Mina starts holding her phone she can feel Nayeon glaring and swats her hand. She demands attention and Mina will admit, she can command the attention she demands.
Mina doesn’t realize she just wasted a whole hour listening to Nayeon dissecting every character Rachel Mcadams portrayed up to ranking the Hamilton songs based on how ‘listenable’ it is when she’s in the bathroom. Mina never in her whole life has seen this coming. Nayeon is a freaking nerd.
After all the ice cream has melted and turned to goo, Nayeon decides it is time to go. They are standing outside the shop, Mina refuses to be driven home. The least that she needs is Nayeon knowing her address. Before going into her waiting car, Nayeon fumbles on her phone, and Mina’s phone starts ringing.
Nayeon has taken the initiative to exchange their phone numbers. “I want you to answer the phone before it reaches three rings, Myoui.”
Mina is dumbfounded and just silently watches Nayeon’s car move as it disappears from her line of sight.
Nayeon tosses herself back and forth in her bed. She adds more pillows, throws away her blanket but she still cannot sleep. She completely turns off her lamp and opens her windows to let the moonlight peek into her room but still to no avail. Nayeon groans and ruffles her own hair, glaring at her phone on the bedside table.
Myoui Mina hasn’t texted her good night, and it’s bothering her. If it was some other girl in the school, they would have spammed Nayeon by now. But this girl didn’t even bother to send her a dot.
Nayeon glares at her moonlight faintly gleaming against her wall, exposing the movie posters, LP record covers Jihyo and Jeongyeon chastises her every time they come in her room, and the polaroid pictures on the corkboard below it. “This is fucking ridiculous.” She angrily grabs her phone and calls Jeongyeon. it takes her friend five rings before answering. “Nayeon? What the hell?! It’s literally 1 am why are you-”
“Five rings, Jeong. Five rings.” She hears the sheets rustle. “Nayeon, I was sleeping! What is it this time.” Jeongyeon yawns loudly. Her voice is raspy and tired. But Nayeon ignores that. “Mina has not texted me since I gave her my number.” There’s a long pause. Nayeon frowns and checks her phone, Jeongyeon is still on the line.
“Fuck you, Nayeon.” Jeongyeon hangs up on her. What the hell? Her concern is very urgent and her friend just rudely ends their phone call. Alright, maybe she feels a little guilty for waking up Jeongyeon in the middle of the night. Nayeon groans and throws her phone on the opposite side of her bed as she seethes in anger. You will be dealt with, Myoui.
When she said last night that “Mina will be dealt with” Nayeon means it with her whole heart. Someone needs to be reminded that she is Im Nayeon and no one can do THAT to her. How dare this Myoui girl keep her up all night because she has to wait for her to text a message? A simple ‘good night’ would have tucked her last evening but Myoui did not even bother to send an emoji. There are bags under her eyes that she had to conceal and staying up all night is definitely not good for her overall health.
This should not happen again! So now she will end it.
“Unnie?” Dahyun calls her attention. Nayeon hums and smiles brightly at her sister. She’s met with confused expressions - Dahyun’s head tilts on her right, eyebrows scrunched together, and her eyes questioning.
Nayeon musters a bigger smile and ruffles Dahyun’s hair. “Nothing, I’m fine, Dahyunie.” But that does not seem to convince her sister. She fiddles on the buttons of her uniform. “You’ve been like that recently, unnie. Tell me when you’re ready, okay?” Dahyun smiles at her and looks away, opening the car window, feeling the breeze.
How can she tell Dahyun THIS? It’ll look weird. The last thing she wants is Dahyun getting the wrong idea. In a worst-case scenario, Dahyun may think she actually likes Myoui - knowing her sister, she will probably devise an elaborate plan to make sure they get closer. Like locking them inside the stockroom behind the gym, expecting by the end of the day, they have become closer or one of them confesses their feelings and they will eventually start dating.
And that’s definitely not the end game Nayeon wants. It’s horrible.
The whole morning, Nayeon thought of nothing but ways to make sure Mina regrets missing the opportunity to get on her good side. She’ll make sure her next few weeks are the most miserable weeks of her life.
First period, their teacher just bore her so she proceeds to scribble her plans (in case she forgets since this is very insignificant, totally.) Key points to remember: one, it seems like Myoui Mina is aware that Im Nayeon is not someone you should cross, but she proceeds to do so anyway. Two, although she’s a terrible texter, Mina acknowledges that Im Nayeon’s beauty is truly godlike and irresistible - she stared at her yesterday for exactly one minute and twenty-eight seconds. It’s long enough for Nayeon to conclude that-
“Ha, Myoui Mina LIKES me.” Nayeon chuckles slowly and encircled the end of her notes, Mina’s name in all capital letters. “That makes everything easier for me.” The takeaway? Myoui Mina is trying to get her attention. Well, since Nayeon is ever so generous, she will give it to Mina.
During recess, she does not see Myoui Mina at all. Momo is also alone today, walking around holding her food, totally lost in her own world. Nayeon barges into the student council’s office when she hears Sana is there. Interestingly enough, she stumbles upon a rather suspicious ambiance. Sana is suspiciously leaning a little too close to Jihyo - she’s standing beside her, a hand is holding on the headrest of Jihyo’s chair while the other is on the table. That’s the exact scenario when Nayeon enters the room.
She cannot help but suppress a smirk when she sees Jihyo jumping on her seat, clearing her throat, and quickly scrambling the papers before her. “Uh, y-you’re ahem, asking about the club activities, right?” Nayeon plays dumb and watches the whole thing in amusement. Jihyo’s eyes are sending Sana a signal to take a hint and go along but the glint of mischief on Sana’s brown eyes is noticeable.
As much as it is entertaining to let Jihyo suffer, Nayeon does not have time to waste, she has to interject. “That was one awful acting, Hyo.” Jihyo blushes hard and subtly raises a finger that Nayeon totally ignores. She eyes Sana and crosses her arms. “Where’s your friend?”
Sana frowns and shrugs. “I don’t know. But it looks like she’s hiding from you.” Nayeon sighs and turns around to leave the room. But not without a final word. “Go on, continue your fun ‘club activity’ there,” Nayeon says without looking back.
“IM NAYEON!-” She doesn’t hear the rest as she slams the door shut.
Now let’s play a little game, Myoui Mina.
Unfortunately for Nayeon, no, Mina is not intentionally hiding from anyone or anything at all. Well, she is actually. She has an important event in the game she’s currently into and Mina will not risk getting disturbed by Momo or Sana or anyone at the moment. So, she immediately heads to her secret place: the Art club’s room. It’s often empty during breaks and lunch. Chaeyoung does not really disturb her, Tzuyu always minds her own business (unlike certain someone), and Dahyun’s usually just playing the piano. So it’s safe to say this room is THAT spot.
Today, Dahyun says she’s going to play a piece from Johannes Brahms or something. Mina doesn’t mind, the piano actually calms her down. Chaeyoung has one strict rule though when they come here, and Mina thinks everyone in the club adheres to that: KNOCKING BEFORE YOU ENTER THE ROOM, and there is another special rule. When the “DO NOT DISTURB” sign is put up, no one is allowed to knock at all. The latter is used often when they are painting something. Dahyun says members of the club tend to get a little sensitive when they are disturbed while painting.
That’s also convenient to Mina, Chaeyoung is currently planning to paint something so she put up the sign for total concentration. That means no one is going to disturb them the entire lunch break. A whole hour is enough for Mina to grind. An entire hour for Chaeyoung to conceptualize, a good siesta for Tzuyu, and for Dahyun to play the piano. Peaceful isn’t it?
Until it isn’t.
Mina should have taken the sudden cloudiness and the clammy, hot shade it gave as a foreshadowing that their peaceful lunch break is about to be ruined. When she suddenly started to have a 3 losing streak, she should have left the room and ran. The lead of Chaeyoung’s pencil kept on snapping, Dahyun’s chair suddenly felt like it was mounted uncomfortably making it hard for her to play smoothly, Tzuyu complaining that her legs were too long for the worn out couch - there were signs and Mina totally ignored them!
Im Nayeon slides the door open, she does so hard it bounces a little almost closing again if not for her right foot. Chaeyoung sighs loudly and points at the blaring red placard hung up on top of the door’s little glass panel. Nayeon frowns and looks at the door. “Oh. My bad.” She’s definitely not sorry.
Dahyun is still struggling to get the perfect height of her seat. “Unnie? what are you doing here?” Nayeon wordlessly walks in, pulls Mina out of her chair, and waves at them. “I’m stealing Mina for a bit.” Chaeyoung only shrugs and points at the door. Tzuyu slightly moves on the couch, staring at them before she shifts and sleeps again.
Mina’s only hope now is Dahyun but she is too preoccupied about her seat to notice that her friend is about to be taken by the devil. “I see. Have fun!” Dahyun, no!
Nayeon’s hand is humongous and it’s wrapped around Mina’s wrist. Mina takes note that they are heading to the deserted area of the school. They walk past the gym. Yep, Mina’s gonna get beat up here. The stockroom behind the gym is the best place to do that. She instinctively checks Nayeon’s nails. These long claws are gonna scar so bad.
They stopped in front of the stockroom’s entrance. Nayeon lets go of her wrist and crosses her arms, glaring at Mina. Now what? Mina tries to do a quick recap: Did she do something that will potentially anger Im Nayeon? Ugh, but nothing really comes to mind. Didn’t they part ways yesterday just fine though?
Mina observes that Nayeon is totally restless. She isn’t talking but her right index finger is repetitively tapping against her left arm. Her phone’s notification rings, Mina is certain that’s her game. She needs to get this over with. “What is it this time?”
The tapping stopped. But Nayeon’s glare just feels angrier now as she inches closer. “YOU are asking ME ‘what is it this time?’ Myoui? You really have the nerve.” This snaps something in Mina.
“I have the nerve now?” Nayeon does not move further. She’s three steps away from Mina. Which is weird, Mina is certain Nayeon would have taken her personal space to intimidate her, this time she did not do it. But she is still mad. What the hell is wrong with Nayeon?
Nayeon scoffs and pulls out her phone, shoving it in Mina's direction. It’s the iMessage app with Mina’s name on top. “What is this?” The disbelief on Nayeon’s face really confused her but it was quite entertaining. Although it bothers Mina to not know why the older girl is really frustrated.
“Are you kidding me, Myoui?” Nayeon rubs her nape and mutters unintelligible words Mina assumes are voodoo curses. “I’m afraid, I really have no idea what is going on…” Nayeon groans and walks three quick steps forward and out of instinct, Mina closed her eyes and winced. She expected a quick blow in her stomach and a deep scratch on her face but nothing came.
She flutters her eyes open and Nayeon is equally confused as her. “What are you doing?” Mina checks her body, maybe it’s just adrenaline but she is unscathed. Nayeon somehow understood what Mina thought would happen and rolled her eyes. “Do you really think I would beat you up and ruin my nails?”
Mina slowly nods and scratches her head. “If you’re not, then…” Nayeon shoves her phone to Mina’s face this time. “You didn’t text me last night, Myoui, what the fuck is wrong with you?”
After the last word is uttered, It appears that it’s not only Mina who is taken aback by what Nayeon just said. Even she is flustered. Mina cannot really process the whole thing but if she is not mistaken, Im Nayeon is mad because she didn’t text her last night…
“I didn’t know I had to. I’m sorry.” Nayeon runs her hand through her hair and groans. Mina is now super confused. What the heck is going on? Seriously. Nayeon is now pacing before her, Mina just witnessed a two-minute soliloquy of Im Nayeon but she doesn’t understand it really. After the performance, before Mina can even clap, Nayeon suddenly asks her a question.
“You like me, don’t you, Myoui?”
Mina’s phone falls against the hard concrete.
She opens her mouth to reply but no sound comes out of her throat. It feels parched and dry. Mina’s palms are sweaty and clammy, which must be the reason why her phone fell. And her knees are mysteriously weak, making her buckle backward and hold against the stockroom’s door handle. Mina is suddenly exhausted. “Wait, give me a minute, let me just process what you just told me.”
Nayeon’s left brow shoots up, “What? You didn’t think I would notice?” Mina takes a series of deep breaths and replies. “No, I didn’t actually think you would think that I like you.” How did Nayeon come up with that conclusion? They barely know each other.
Mina closes her eyes and thinks of possible ways to tell Nayeon she’s wrong without burning their school to the ground. Come on, Mina! Think of a solution. Like the Jimmy Neutron spill every time he has a new idea, she makes a quick neuron travel. Hence, Mina came up with three possible responses.
First, Mina will ride with it and pretend she indeed likes Nayeon. Which is A TERRIBLE IDEA. There’s no way she’d do that. She’d rather purposely stub her toenail and eat rotten raw eggs for breakfast and get salmonella. Although surely, Nayeon will leave her unscathed, the gloating, winning grin- Mina can already imagine. However, she’s not crazy enough to go through with this idea.
Idea two, Mina will tell her that she got it wrong. There are two end scenarios for this: Nayeon will not believe her and Mina will be haunted for the rest of the school year, OR Nayeon will get angry and Mina will still be haunted for the rest of the school year. That is not good either.
Third, Mina will transfer schools. They are in the middle of the term but who cares, the only solution to this is if Mina will never see Nayeon again. She can just ask her parents to help her process the papers asap. She can explain it to her friends vaguely and live her life peacefully.
A life without Nayeon is surely fulfilling.
But wait, WHY WOULD MINA LEAVE? IT’S NOT HER FAULT THIS GIRL IS SO FULL OF HERSELF. “You know what, I’ll just tell you the truth.” Mina heaves a deep sigh and closes her eyes.
Here goes nothing.
“I don’t like you, Im Nayeon. Not at all,” Before Mina can even finish, she opens her eyes and sees Nayeon beaming, nodding smugly. This is going to end so badly. The fourth idea is this, rejecting her highness flat out right. Which is probably gonna end with Nayeon turning Scarlet Witch and Vanya Hargreeves, ruining everything that’s in her way. Well, in the watered down version for faint hearted ones, she can turn into Regina George and write her in the Burn Book as the the skankiest bitch she’s ever met. But, alas, Mina concedes, “I guess I can just cover my nose and eat rotten eggs after all.” Mina whispers and slouches in defeat.
Nayeon frowns and hums. “What?” She is smiling so wide. Mina grasps the threads of the poor doll and says the line that she will regret forever. “I REALLY like you.” Nayeon pretends to be surprised and covers her mouth. Her whole school should thank her, she’s catching the grenade for them.
Mina watches Nayeon's face turn into a sinister evil smile. The background turned green and foggy. “I’m so sorry, Mina. But I don’t feel the same way.” Nayeon flicks her hair and walks away. A fucking sicko. Did she really think Mina didn’t know that already? What, she just wants to reject Mina? Oh, she’s truly unhinged, huh?
But with that out of the way. Mina is safe and she saved the world. No one got injured and Nayeon didn’t commit arson. Mina sighs and holds onto the walls of the stock room. That was so dehumanizing. Yes, Im Nayeon has that effect too.
“You are oddly in a really good mood, it’s terrifying.” Jihyo points out when Nayeon walks into the student council’s office. Nayeon happily hums and sits on the couch and reads the freshly printed school paper for this quarter.
She flips through the pages and stops. “Oh, Myoui Mina is part of the school pub?” Jihyo raises her brow and stops typing. First of all, Nayeon is never interested in whatever is written on their school paper. She checks the centerfold to see her pictures and will never open another one until the next quarter. Nayeon is suspiciously happy today and she’s reading the paper to the point that she notices Mina’s name at the end of the article.
Jihyo slowly closes her laptop and folds her hands together. “Sana said-” Nayeon’s arched brow almost reaching the ceiling made Jihyo clear her throat and fix her blunder. “I mean, I heard the moderator invited several students to be guest writers.” She observes Nayeon’s reaction with the piece of information she gave away. “Perhaps she’s one of them.” Nayeon nods, repressing a smirk and continues skimming through the paper. “I see.”
Jeongyeon walks in and the bag she’s holding falls to the ground. Nayeon stops reading and turns around. “What the hell happened to you?” Jeongyeon is quivering and points at Nayeon. “I could ask you the same thing! Since when are you interested in the school paper?!”
See, Nayeon is acting really weird. Jihyo is not overthinking.
“She even read one of the articles, Jeong.” Jihyo sighs loudly and stretches. Jeongyeon’s jaw is about to fall. “SHE WHAT?!” Nayeon tosses the magazine to the table. “You guys are overreacting.”
Jeongyeon picks up her bag and sits across Nayeon. “The fuck, we aren’t.” Jeongyeon glances at Jihyo then asks, “Did something happen to her?” Jihyo shrugs and stands up. She picks up the magazine and flips through the pages.
“Myoui Mina’s article piqued her interest,” Jihyo hums and reads Mina’s article. Jeongyeon’s nosy ass stands behind Jihyo and reads the article with her. Well, it’s a good article. Jeongyeon nods and grabs the magazine. “I haven't read my copy yet.”
Jihyo chuckles and takes the spot beside Nayeon. “You two never bothered to read the school paper ever.” Jeongyeon mumbles and tosses the magazine to Nayeon. “I read this sometimes,” Nayeon opens the magazine once again. “I leave these in the bathroom so whenever I get an upset stomach, I’d have something shitty to read.”
Jeongyeon laughs and slaps her knee. “Well, my dogs like their articles a little too much. They usually read it before me so…” Jihyo ignores the two bicker about who should have more pictures in the centerfold.
Someone knocks on the door and gently pushes the door open. It’s that pretty and tall freshman. “Excuse me, I am here to submit our class proposal for the festival.” She stops midway when she sees Jeongyeon. You see…
“Hey, Tzuyu! Are you still-”
“Vice President, if I remember correctly, I already said no.” Jeongyeon stomps her feet and chases after the freshman. “Aw, we really need you in the track team. Can’t you ditch archery? I bet Bae Irene is a strict captain!”
Jihyo accepts the paper she submitted and adds it to the pile. Jeongyeon will work on that later. Probably after she’s finished bothering this girl. Tzuyu rubs her nape and groans. “She is. But I will still decline your offer.” Jeongyeon continues to follow her outside of the office. “Aw, come on! Your long legs are being wasted standing all day pulling that stupid bow. We have unlimited drinks in the track team too!” Tzuyu only shakes her head and opens the door, briefly bowing to Jihyo before she attempts to bolt and leave Jeongyeon behind.
Their voices fade as the doors close. Nayeon is still engrossed in the magazine so Jihyo decides to interrogate her. “Are you really not going to tell me why you are in a great mood today?”
Nayeon beams widely and loudly closes the magazine. “Let’s just say I got my revenge.” Jihyo scowls and watches Nayeon leave the student council office, happily hopping toward the door.
Well, Jihyo is a friend but Nayeon intends to keep the cause of her good mood a secret. Jihyo is terrible at keeping things subtle with Sana. And the least that she wants is for her plans to be ruined.
Nayeon immediately heads to her sister’s class and peeks through the back door. Dahyun mentioned something about their class finalizing what they’ll do for the festival. By the looks of it, they are not done voting yet. Dahyun is in front, with their class president (Nayeon isn’t sure who that is, who cares?)
She scans the room and sees Mina, bored to death, spinning a pen on her right hand. Alright, target sighted. Nayeon pulls out her phone and calls Mina. The younger girl checks her phone and visibly freezes. Oh, anyone can tell, Nayeon is having fun. Way too fun.
Mina only stares at the screen and doesn’t move a single muscle. Nayeon’s grin slowly turns to a frown. “How can she ignore her crush’s call?” Shouldn’t she be jumping in glee that I called her after dumping her?
Nayeon quickly types a text.
Pickup the phone
Read 3:15 pm
Nayeon crosses her arms when she sees Myoui Mina reading the message and immediately locks her phone. Clearly she’s not listening in their meeting. She’s not participating aside from voting either. So what’s stopping her from responding to Nayeon’s call and continuously ignoring her text? Ugh, this is getting on her nerves.
“Alright! We are doing cafe then!” Dahyun announces and the meeting is finally over. Mina immediately bolts from her seat and leaves the room. Nayeon watches her reach the back door and she just couldn’t stop herself from breaking into a wide smile seeing Mina slow her steps when she finally notices Nayeon.
Mina blinks and slowly walks out, taking a sharp turn to avoid Nayeon. But not today, Myoui. Not so fast.
“Myoui Mina!” Nayeon calls her name loudly, enough for everyone in the hallway to hear. Nayeon walks toward the girl and smiles. “Did you not see me by the door?” Mina gulps loudly. Yes, yes. Nayeon may look like she’s smiling brightly right now, but Mina and Nayeon both know, that smile is far from friendly.
“Unnie?” Dahyun trudges toward them and tilts her head. “What are you doing here?” Nayeon smiles at her sister and grabs Mina’s wrist. “Mina and I have to talk about something.”
Again? It’s clearly written on Dahyun's face. But she doesn’t say anything. Dahyun furrows her brows but doesn't pry. “Oh. Okay. I have to submit this to the student council. How long will it take you guys to talk?”
Mina finally finds her voice and drags Nayeon away before she can say something outrageous. “Don’t worry, Dahyun. We will be quick!”
The only perfect place to talk to Nayeon is the stockroom at the back of the gym. It truly makes sense that Mina drags Nayeon here right? Mina exasperated sighs the moment they arrive at their spot.
“What is it this time?” Nayeon eyes their joined hands. “My, my, I know that you like me that much, but I think you will need to let go of my hand first.”
Mina immediately lets go of her hand like a boiling hot kettle too scalding to touch. Nayeon watches the girl clear her throat and ask her one more time, “What is it?” Hmm. This is truly odd. “Huh, if this was the others, they would be a blushing mess right now. What’s up with you?”
“What?” But Nayeon cannot really prove that, it’s not like she has the numbers of all the people who confessed to her. She doesn’t call these people, heck she doesn’t even know most of them. That’s just based on Nayeon's experience, these people will start twitching when Nayeon greets them or smiles at them.
So why is Myoui Mina….
“Didn’t you confess your love for me, Myoui?” Mina freezes and rubs her temple. “Is that why you wanted to talk to me? You rejected me already, right?” Mina groans and leans against the wall. God, this is giving her a major headache!
Nayeon nods. “Well, that’s true. But why aren’t you….” Oh, Nayeon is truly crazy! She has to put an end to this. Mina walks closer to Nayeon, frowning and finally pieces things together. “Look, Nayeon. I really-”
“No way!” In the worst case scenario, Jeon Somi, the campus herald, stumbles upon them holding her phone. “Look guys, I know I’m live right now but someone is confessing to Im Nayeon right now.”
Mina refrains herself from turning around. Somi is behind her, approximately just twenty steps away. But she probably doesn’t know her either. So, if Mina runs in the opposite direction, she can avoid eternal embarrassment. Before Mina can run past Nayeon, the latter holds her wrist and tells Somi to stop the livestream.
“Somi, stop the stream.” Nayeon calmly tells her and Somi immediately complies and smiles. She slowly backs away and waves, “I swear I didn’t know you were here. I didn’t do it on purpose!” She yells as she runs back to the main building.
Mina slumps and holds on to the wall. Before this day ends, everyone will probably figure out that Mina “asked Nayeon out” God, this is torture for Mina. But Nayeon is having a field day.
“Ah, I didn’t even do anything. Luck is really on my side.” Mina groans and swats her hand away. “Just tell them you turned me down. It’s not like you’re going to be lying.” Nayeon rubs her chin and ponders.
Mina scowls at Nayeon and adds. “It’s just one of the many confessions you’ve been through. Just clear things up.” But Nayeon has a different plan. Of course, she’ll use this opportunity to torment Mina even more. Nayeon will never pass up a perfect chance for entertainment.
“No, let’s start dating. Today is our first day.”
Mina staggers and hits her head against the stockroom’s door. “Oh, Mina. You don’t have to be so overjoyed.” Nayeon revels in Mina getting flustered. Well, Mina is blushing, what can she say?
“See you tomorrow.” Nayeon smiles and leaves.