Work Text:
Nayeon runs as fast as her little legs allow her to, giggling when she dodges Jihyo’s hand reaching for her. They’re playing tag in the school playground, and Nayeon has been managing to not be it since the start of their recess. Jihyo’s face is red now, so Nayeon, ever the annoying friend, turns around and sticks her tongue out at her.
She wants to show off, show everyone how good she is at running backwards. Instead, she stumbles and falls into someone who happened to be walking behind her. They both fall to the ground, Nayeon on top of the poor kid.
Jihyo seizes her chance and tags Nayeon before running away, not bothering to help her up.
Nayeon gets up and dusts her knees, rubbing her sore butt. She’s ready to follow Jihyo and have her revenge, but she stops when she hears the girl— Mina —sniffle. Nayeon looks at her worriedly and winces when she notices her knees are scraped and the juice box she had in her hands is spilled all over the floor.
“I’m so sorry!” Nayeon scrambles to help her up, panicking when she begins to cry. She doesn’t want to get into any trouble, she’s tired of being put in time out. “Please don’t cry…”
Mina keeps sniffling as tears run down her round cheeks. Other kids are starting to look at them, wondering what’s going on. Nayeon has to act quickly before a teacher notices.
She grabs Mina’s arm and tugs her away from the playground and into their classroom. Mina trips a bit on the way, and her knees sting, but she follows Nayeon regardless.
Mina sits on her desk at the front of the class, her feet dangling from the chair. She sobs and wipes her nose with the back of her hand. Nayeon runs to her desk at the back to grab her bag, then returns with a box of band-aids and tissues. She kneels in front of Mina and smiles at her apologetically. She begins wiping her skin with a tissue. “I’m sorry... it was an accident. Please don’t tell on me.”
“It’s okay…” Mina whispers. Her cheeks are red and puffy and Nayeon feels really guilty for almost leaving her like that, especially since Mina is new and doesn’t have any friends yet— Nayeon has noticed she sits and spends her recesses alone, but she hadn’t had the opportunity to approach her yet. Now she has, and what a way to do it.
She gives Mina the box of band-aids and smiles nervously. “Here, you can pick one. They’re super hero themed, I’m out of princess ones...”
Mina calms down when she sees them, and even smiles, making Nayeon feel relief.
“They’re my favorite, actually. Look,” Mina reaches into her bag and pulls out a folder with the superheroes on the cover.
“That one is my favorite!” Nayeon smiles excitedly, happy to meet someone who shares her interests. “Here, I’ll help you.”
Nayeon places one band-aid on Mina’s knee and Mina places the other one. When she’s done, Nayeon stands up and puts her hands on her hips.
“Now we’re matching.” She shows her own legs covered in bruises, scratches and band-aids proudly.
The bell rings, signaling the end of recess. Their classmates start walking into the classroom, but luckily Mina has completely calmed down by now.
“Oh, I almost forget.” Nayeon runs back to her desk and comes back holding a juice box. She puts it on Mina’s desk and smiles guiltily. “Sorry again.”
The teacher walks in then and everyone has to go back to their seats. Nayeon waves goodbye and leaves Mina’s side, but Mina spends the entire class smiling and looking at the colorful band-aids on her knees.
•••
It’s Mina’s sixteenth birthday party. Their whole class and some other girls Nayeon doesn’t know are gathered in the living room, in the garden, and in the hallway. There’s some overplayed pop song playing through the speakers and bouncing off the walls.
Nayeon is leaning against the threshold between the living room and the hallway, from where she can see Mina in the kitchen through an open door. She’s sitting on the counter and talking with Jihyo, Jeongyeon and Momo. She tries to be discreet, look only every now and then, but she has a hard time pulling her eyes away from the girl.
She takes a sip from her slightly spiked drink and grimaces at the sour taste. She’s holding the plastic cup so tightly that it’s close to breaking, but she tries to act like she’s not freaking out.
Despite what she tries to let on, Nayeon cares— a lot .
The space starts to feel too crowded, so Nayeon downs the rest of her drink and marches towards Mina, losing confidence with each step.
The kitchen is far quieter, thankfully, and Nayeon feels like she can breathe there.
But once she’s actually in front of Mina, everything Nayeon has practiced vanishes from her mind. She has no idea where to start, or what to say at all. And it’s not only Mina looking at her expectantly, so is everyone surrounding them. Damn Nayeon and her impulsiveness, she starts to think that this was the worst possible time and place to do this.
Her friends take pity on her, though, especially Jihyo, who has had to listen to Nayeon talk about Mina more times than anyone should. They don’t ask any questions, they just stand up and leave. Frankly, they’ve been waiting for this moment, wanting Nayeon and Mina to sort everything out so that their group can go back to hanging together without the tension in between.
Jihyo pats Nayeon’s butt on her way out— a way for her to show her support.
Once they’re alone, Nayeon stares at Mina dumbfoundedly, frozen in place. Mina looks just as nervous, if not more. She fiddles with a ring— the matching one she has with Nayeon, the one the older girl bought for her for Mina’s fourteenth birthday.
Nayeon stands in front of Mina, keeping her distance and biting her lip nervously. They’re both blushing and avoiding each other’s eyes.
After a minute of the most uncomfortable silence ever, Mina softly speaks up.
“I’ve missed you.”
Nayeon lowers her head and keeps her eyes on her dirty shoes. “I’m sorry.”
Ever since Mina’s fifteenth birthday party a year ago, things have been weird between them. Things were okay, fine , as they always were; but one game of spin the bottle later, everything became uncomfortable.
After that, it didn’t take long for Nayeon to realize why it irked her so much when people would get too touchy with Mina or why her heartbeat always picked up when Mina was too close to her.
They both started making excuses to not hang out alone, cancelling plans and more often than not putting their friends in uncomfortable situations. Everyone but them seemed to know what was going on.
“You’re not the only one to blame here,” Mina shrugs and purses her lips, trying to ease the guilt she knows Nayeon feels. “I haven’t been the best friend, either. It’s ok.” Mina whispers, brushing it off.
Nayeon hates seeing Mina act so hesitant, unsure of every word she says. She’s shy with everyone else, but not with Nayeon. Not after she worked so much to earn her trust and get to see her goofier side, the one who wasn’t afraid to joke around and laugh loudly with her.
And Nayeon desperately wants that Mina back, so she pushes her embarrassment aside, and at the risk of losing whatever dignity she has left, says what has been bouncing around her head for months now.
“I know I’ve been a terrible friend, and I’m sorry for not getting it together sooner. I’m sorry if I hurt you, which I think I did... But I’m tired of this and I think it’d be best to just be honest. I don’t want to be your friend anymore.” Nayeon makes a pause to take a deep breath, but she chooses a terrible point to stop.
“What?” Mina asks, hurt evident in her voice. She jumps from the countertop, ready to leave.
“Not like that! Oh my god, I’m sorry,” Nayeon steps closer and grabs Mina’s wrists, “What I meant is I… I really like you.” Nayeon whispers, avoiding Mina’s eyes. “It’s really hard to be your friend when all I wanna do every time you laugh is pull you close and kiss you.”
There’s a beat of silence in which Nayeon thinks of all the possible worst case scenarios ; but then Mina surprises her by surging forward and hugging her tightly.
“I thought I had done something wrong,” Mina sniffles, standing slightly on her tiptoes to rest her chin on Nayeon’s shoulder.
“God, no, you could never do anything bad, ever.” Nayeon chuckles, rubbing Mina’s back soothingly.
“You could’ve said something sooner,” Mina playfully slaps Nayeon’s shoulder when she pulls back.
“I’m sorry, but it’s all… very scary. I brought you something, though.” Nayeon reaches for her back pocket and pulls out a small envelope. “A peace offering.” She laughs dryly in an attempt to dissipate the tension and the fact that Mina hasn’t said anything about her love declaration.
“You didn’t have to.”
“Mina, it’s your birthday. Of course I had to.”
Nayeon hands her the envelope and Mina thanks her quietly. She rips the paper and pulls out a dainty chain with a heart charm. Mina holds it against her palm, smiling at how pretty it is. There’s a letter N carved on the back of the heart.
When Mina looks up, she finds Nayeon holding a similar necklace, pulling it up from under her shirt with her thumb.
“Mine has the M,” She explains, suddenly very red. “Thought we could use an upgrade from the rings, you know. Add something…”
Mina bites her lip and smiles, not knowing whether to look at Nayeon or at the gift.
“You don’t have to wear it if you don’t like it.” Nayeon says in almost a whisper, nervous at Mina’s lack of response. When Mina hands her the necklace, Nayeon’s heart stops, thinking that she messed everything up.
But Mina gathers her hair up in her hands and, still facing Nayeon, says “Help me?”
Nayeon is breathless, nodding dumbly and almost dropping the necklace with how shaky her hands are. She hasn’t been this close to Mina in a while, and it’s making her heart beat like crazy. Their faces are an inch apart, she can smell Mina’s perfume, the one she was used to smelling on her pillows when she stayed the night. She can feel Mina’s eyes fixed on her face, only serving to make her even redder.
“Thanks, it’s really pretty.” Mina says right against her lips, not giving Nayeon a chance to catch her breath.
“Mina…”
“Hm?”
“Would you go out with me?” Nayeon whispers, unable to take her eyes from Mina’s lips.
Mina laughs and nods, smiling widely. Nayeon mirrors her smile, feeling her cheeks hurt. She also feels her chest a million times lighter.
Nayeon places unsure hands on Mina’s waist, and Mina rests hers on Nayeon’s shoulder. Mina feels Nayeon sigh against her lips, and kisses her. It’s brief, simple, but it’s enough to make both of their hearts burst.
•••
Nayeon has her cheek pressed against the car window, mouth slightly ajar. She’s deeply asleep, but a hand shaking her shoulder makes her jolt awake. She blinks repeatedly and winces at the sour taste in her mouth.
“Where are we?” Nayeon’s voice comes out rough.
“Almost there.” Mina replies.
She fell asleep ten minutes after getting on the road, letting Mina drive by herself for hours, with only the company of their carefully crafted Spotify playlist. Now they’re parked at a gas station in the city, and Mina is holding a tray with two paper cups.
While Nayeon looks terrible — her hair is messed up, she has dried drool on her chin, and dark circles under her eyes —, Mina looks unbothered and neat as always, as if she hadn’t driven for about three hours. She has big sunglasses that make her look elegant and not a single hair out of place. She elegantly sips from her iced coffee, raising her pinky finger.
Nayeon struggles to get the seatbelt off, but once she does it she scrambles out of the car. It’s hot outside, the summer sun unforgiving on them. She stretches her legs and back, and groans at how tight her whole body feels.
Mina hands her her drink uninterestedly, not even looking at her.
“I can’t believe it was your idea to move to a different city for college, and yet I’m the one who has to drive.”
Nayeon pouts, trying to catch Mina’s eyes. Her girlfriend glares at her, frowning. “I can take it from here…”
Mina holds the frown for a few seconds more, but then she laughs and shakes her head. “I’m just messing with you. But it’d be nice if you can stay awake now.”
Nayeon kisses her cheek as an apology and drapes her arm over her shoulders. “I’ll do all of the unpacking, I promise.”
Mina lowers her sunglasses and looks at her, entertained. “Baby, we both know you won’t.” Nayeon pouts and Mina kisses her. “I don’t mind. You were tired and, honestly, driving in silence for once was therapeutic.”
“What do you mean for once—”
The rest of the drive is nice; now that Nayeon is awake and with sugar coursing through her veins, she turns up the music and sings along to every song, making Mina sing the duets with her.
Not only that, but Nayeon also spends a lot of time staring at Mina unashamedly. She looks so attractive driving, wearing her sunglasses, running a hand through her hair and blowing bubble gums. Nayeon snaps a couple of pictures, making Mina smile, and she sneaks in a few kisses despite Mina complaining that it’s dangerous.
Their (Mina’s) car is small, and it’s crammed with so many things that Nayeon thinks it’s a wonder it’s going as fast as it is. Renting a truck seemed like an unnecessary expense, so they just filled the backseat and the trunk with their suitcases, Mina’s computer set up, and a keyboard Nayeon insists was too important to leave behind.
The apartment they’re renting is small, too, or cozy , as Nayeon likes to call it. Definitely enough for the two of them. It’s close enough to both of their schools that they can be there in fifteen minutes, and there are many stores nearby if they ever need to buy anything in a rush.
They already took care of most of their furniture, with the help of their parents and their friends. They have a couch, a fridge, a microwave, a mattress on the floor and a bed they have to assemble.
Nayeon and Mina walk into their new home carrying their bags and dragging whatever else they could to avoid too many trips from the car and up— the stairs are gonna either kill them or force them to get in shape.
After everything is somewhat settled, Nayeon and Mina plop down on the dusty mattress, still covered with plastic. They’re both sweaty and dirty, but in that moment they couldn’t care less.
Mina rests her head on Nayeon’s arm, and Nayeon plays with the ends of Mina’s ponytail.
They stay in silence as they take everything in: the place is still mostly empty, so everything they say reverberates. They’re gonna need to paint some walls and fix a few leaks in the roof, but it’s worth the price of the lease. It’s definitely gonna need a lot of work, but both of them are eager to do so, turning their apartment into their home.
Nayeon can already picture how everything is going to be once they get to decorating. She’ll fill the walls with pictures of them and their friends, she’ll set up Mina’s computer in the spare room to make it an office, and she’ll build a shelf for Mina to put all of her comic books. Mina, on her part, can’t wait to prepare meals for them and wait for Nayeon with a warm cup of tea when the girl comes home late from her classes.
At that moment, they don’t need to say anything. Sharing a single look is enough to say everything they’re feeling, every bit of excitement and love.
•••
If anyone else was in Mina’s position, they’d probably be mad, or annoyed, or just anything but happy. But Mina is happy, even in the tricky situation she’s in.
She’s wearing an uncomfortably tight dress and high heels, walking on a sidewalk and carrying most of Nayeon’s weight. Nayeon says she’s not drunk, but Mina knows she is. If she wasn’t, then Mina wouldn’t have her arm around her waist and Nayeon’s arm around her shoulders, pulling her down with each step.
Despite all of that, Mina is happy. They were out celebrating her promotion at her job, and she doesn’t blame Nayeon for drinking a little too much. Nayeon was maybe more excited than Mina herself, buying everyone rounds and making announcements every thirty minutes that Mina was the best in the world and that everyone should know it.
Even now, as she struggles to keep her eyes open and move her feet, as she slurs her words and breathes alcohol near her face, Mina thinks she couldn’t love Nayeon more if she tried.
“You know what,” Mina interrupts Nayeon’s rant about why Mina should get promoted to CEO and untangles herself from Nayeon. She takes off her heels and Nayeon plops back against a wall, trying hard to focus her eyes on Mina. She hands Nayeon her heels and then stands in front of her. “Hop on my back, we’ll get home quicker.”
Nayeon does as she’s told, not without a lot of struggle, but finally she manages to get on Mina’s back comfortably. She lets her arms hang, holding Mina’s shoes, and she rests her head against Mina’s hair. As soon as Mina starts walking again, Nayeon resumes her rant. Mina laughs loudly, feeling an overwhelming amount of love, and she’s glad they’re alone in the empty street because she wants to keep living in this bubble of her and Nayeon alone forever.
Mina only puts Nayeon down once they reach the entrance of their house— there’s no way she’s carrying her up the stairs. Nayeon drags her feet inside and Mina fumbles with her keys to close the door. She might be more sober than Nayeon, but she had her fair share of shots too.
Nayeon is all over her as she tries to close the door, wrapping her arms around her waist and kissing her neck. It tickles Mina and she laughs, which makes her drop her keys. Nayeon isn’t any help, not letting go of Mina even as she crouches down to pick up the keys. Nayeon’s hands start to wander and Mina fumbles even more, wanting to hurry to close the damn door.
They only lose balance on the stairs three times.
Once they’re finally inside their apartment, Nayeon drops Mina’s shoes and takes off her own. Now that her hands are free, she holds onto Mina’s hips and kisses her properly, making her sigh against her lips.
Mina walks backwards, tangling her hands on Nayeon’s hair. She stumbles on the couch and breaks the kiss.
“Mhmm, let's go to bed,” Nayeon says against her lips, having a hard time pulling away from her.
“You go ahead, I’ll be there in a minute,” Mina kisses her once more and pats her cheek lovingly. Nayeon does as she’s told and drags her feet to their room, keeping a hand on the wall to keep her balance. Mina watches her go, biting her lip, heart racing a million miles per hour.
Mina has had something in her mind for a while now. It’s always present— when she wakes up next to Nayeon, when they eat lunch together, when she returns home, and basically during every moment she spends with her girlfriend.
And that something finally settled on Mina’s mind tonight. She was hit with the realization as they walked home and now there was no way Mina could get rid of the thought.
Mina goes to the kitchen and grabs two glasses of water to take to the bedroom, along with pain killers. She knows they’ll need them in the morning and neither of them will want to get up.
When she walks into the room, she can’t help but burst out laughing. Nayeon fell asleep in the middle of undressing, so she’s laying on the mattress with half of her body dangling from the edge, and with her dress bunched up around her waist.
Mina sighs and takes a second to admire Nayeon in all her drunk glory. She sets the glasses on the bedside table and moves to help Nayeon.
She gently finishes taking the dress off and throws it on the pile of clothes Nayeon left on a chair when she was getting ready. She then gets a clean shirt from the wardrobe and hoists Nayeon up, takes off her bra and struggles to fit her arms and head through the shirt.
Nayeon doesn’t wake up even when Mina, not so gently— admittedly tired from pulling Nayeon’s dead weight —yanks her until her head is resting on the pillow.
Once Nayeon is settled and snoring, Mina changes too. She sits on the bed and runs her fingers through Nayeon’s soft but tangled hair, moving it out of her face. Her cheek is squished against the pillow and Mina can’t resist the urge to lean down and kiss all over her face.
This seems to wake Nayeon up, as she turns her head and tries to capture Mina’s lips instead. Mina laughs at her poor attempt to coordinate her body.
Mina gets under the covers with Nayeon and moves them so that she’s resting on her chest. Mina sneaks her cold hands inside Nayeon’s shirt, running her fingers up and down her back and making her shiver.
“I love you so much.” Mina whispers. It’s dark and warm in the room and Mina doesn’t want to disrupt the peace they both feel in that moment. She kisses Nayeon’s forehead and the older girl hums, nuzzling her nose on Mina’s neck.
“Love you too…” Nayeon says sleepily.
“No but… I love you a lot . So so much.”
Mina doesn’t mean to, but she can’t help tearing up. She quickly sniffles and clears her throat, not wanting to ruin the mood by crying— even if they’re tears of pure happiness.
Even in her drunk state, Nayeon notices this. She lifts her head from Mina’s chest and rests on her elbows. She cups Mina’s cheek and caresses her face lovingly, frowning at her in worry.
“I’m okay,” Mina laughs, wanting to soothe Nayeon. “I’m just too happy.”
Nayeon clicks her tongue and rolls her eyes playfully. “You’re a baby—”
“Marry me.”
Nayeon’s teasing dies on the tip of her tongue. Her jaw falls a bit and she looks at Mina like she’s not real. It sobers her up quickly.
“I mean it.” Mina smiles, eyes scanning all over Nayeon’s face. Her hands keep on tracing patterns on her back. “I want to be with you forever. I want to marry you and have kids and grow old in a house on the seaside. I want everything with you, Im Nayeon.”
Nayeon looks at Mina like she’s crazy, because she knows she means it. She sobs out and falls on top of Mina, hugging her.
“Will you?” Mina asks, wrapping her arms around Nayeon as tightly as she can.
“Of course I will.” Nayeon says through a closed up throat. “I love you. I love you. Forever, I love you.”
Mina giggles and turns them around so that she’s lying on top of Nayeon, peppering her face and neck with kisses. Nayeon grabs her head and makes her kiss her properly, although it’s hard to kiss when they’re both smiling so big.
•••
Mina’s hands are shaking and she can’t stop tapping her foot against the carpeted floor. She crosses and uncrosses her arms, walks back and forth, and even puts on a youtube video to guide her breath to calm down.
She checks her dress for the millionth time that day, and it’s still as pretty as the day she tried it on for the first time. It’s a mint colored dress, with a flowy skirt and exposed shoulders. And the best part of the dress was that it had pockets, and inside those pockets, Mina carried her matching ring and necklace that Nayeon had given her when they were kids. The necklace had many charms now, as Nayeon gifted her a new one each year.
But now, they’d have a different set of rings to match. Still, Mina always wanted to keep those items close as they meant a lot to her.
A knock on the door pulls her attention from fixing her bangs on the mirror.
“Yes?”
The door opens slightly and Nayeon peeks in, covering her eyes with a hand.
“Can I come in?”
Mina relaxes the second she sees Nayeon. She pulls her into the room and makes her uncover her eyes.
“You picked this dress, dummy,” Mina tries to tease, but her voice comes out shaky due to the nerves. Nayeon picks up on it immediately, of course, and she pulls Mina into a hug.
“You’re not having second thoughts, are you?” Nayeon asks not-so-jokingly— she might not show it as much, but she’s very nervous as well.
“Of course not.” Mina breathes deeply, inhaling Nayeon’s perfume. She lets Nayeon hold her for a minute, rocking her slightly. Being alone with her before the ceremony was all she needed to calm down and remember that this was all just a day to celebrate with their friends and family, but their love remained the same as it always was.
Mina breaks the hug and slides her hands down Nayeon’s arms until they reach her hands. She bites her lip, eyeing the woman up and down. She makes Nayeon spin, admiring how beautiful she looks.
Nayeon’s dress is similar to Mina’s, but the color is baby blue. She has a white flower tucked neatly behind her ear. Much like Mina, her makeup is light.
“Wouldn’t it be fun if I said no when the priest asks?” Nayeon teases her and Mina’s loving stare turns into an annoyed glare.
She slaps Nayeon’s arm softly and pushes her away. “You’re not funny.”
Nayeon wraps her arms around Mina’s waist and picks her up, spinning in place and getting Mina to laugh. When she puts her back down, she places her hands around her neck and kisses her softly as to not mess up their makeup.
“I can’t wait to say yes.”
“I know, I’ve heard you practice in the shower.” Mina rolls her eyes and presses their foreheads together.
They hear someone calling for Nayeon outside of the room and share a nervous look.
“I’ll see you at the altar.”
Nayeon walks away holding Mina’s hand until she’s far enough she has to drop it.
•••
It’s eight a.m, a sunday, and Nayeon is barefoot in the kitchen cooking a fried egg. She yawns and moves the pan around, waiting for the yolk to cook just how Mina likes it.
Mina, who is nine months pregnant and waiting in bed for Nayeon to bring her breakfast.
They haven’t been getting much sleep lately, because the kicks in Mina’s tummy had become more frequent and harder , and because the estimated due date was just around the corner.
Nayeon is making toast when Mina waddles into her room, eyes wide, face pale and jaw clenched. Nayeon immediately wakes up, rushing over to her wife.
“What—”
“It’s coming.” Mina whispers, holding onto the kitchen sink.
Nayeon’s eyebrows move comically as she tries to get the words out of her mouth.
“ What? ”
“The baby is coming.”
“The baby is coming!” Nayeon makes a sound between a laugh and a sob, and she starts pacing around the kitchen, unsure of what she’s supposed to do next. Mina sighs and grabs her arm, guiding her to the living room.
“Go get the penguin bag and the car keys.” She waddles with one hand on the small of her back, and turns off the stove Nayeon left on while her wife runs around the apartment looking for the bag. “On the couch, Nayeon!”
“Right! I knew that!”
She parkour jumps over the backrest and slings the bag around her shoulders. “Let’s go!”
“You’re still in your pajam—”
“Let’s go!”
Nayeon picks Mina up and maneuvers down the stairs, despite Mina trying to reason that she’s perfectly able to walk by herself. Nayeon puts Mina down on the passenger's seat and throws the bag to the backseat, then jogs in her slippers to the other side of the car.
When she gets in, she grips the steering wheel tightly. All the color is drained from her face and she huffs trying to calm her heart. Mina rolls her eyes and grabs Nayeon’s hand, ignoring the pain when Nayeon squeezes her fingers.
“Start the car, sweetie.” Mina says with all the composure she has left.
Nayeon seems to act on autopilot, doing everything Mina tells her. Mina starts to wince in pain, cursing the baby for being so impatient.
They stop at a red light and Nayeon drums her fingers on the wheel.
“Nayeon?”
“Yes?”
“This isn’t the route to the hospital.”
Nayeon turns to look at her, absolutely terrified. “...It isn’t?”
“Do you even know what hospital we’re going to!?” Mina has run out of patience by now. “You had one job Nayeon! One! Fucking! Job!”
“I’m sorry!” Nayeon looks around on the car as if anything there would save her from Mina’s rage.
The light turns green and Nayeon slams on the accelerator and U-turns, earning a few honks.
“My wife is about to give birth, you dickheads!” She yells out the window.
“Nayeon!” Mina grabs her arm tightly, clawing her skin without meaning to. “Do you even know where we’re going!?”
“Of course I do… But can you please guide me?”
They manage to get to the hospital safely, and Nayeon frantically yells for a nurse to get a wheelchair.
Nayeon’s legs feel like jelly. She walks next to Mina and the nurse, trying to keep the coffee she had earlier in her stomach. She’s gonna pass out any minute now.
“You’re doing great, love.” Nayeon pets Mina’s hair.
“I’ll assassinate you.” Mina grits her teeth.
“Fair!”
They walk past a hallway and Nayeon notices a lot of people gathered there, some dressed as nurses and doctors with different colored uniforms. The real nurse makes a turn, walking with Mina into an elevator, but Nayeon stays behind, distracted by all the people and all the camera equipment.
Nayeon’s jaw drops when she spots her favorite actress reading a script on one of the waiting room chairs.
A woman with headphones and a paper holder approaches Nayeon. “Excuse me, you can’t be here, this area is reserved for a private rehearsal.”
“That’s Kim Dahyun!” Nayeon points at the actress, smiling in excitement.
“You need to leave.”
“Im Nayeon.”
Nayeon slowly turns to look at Mina, who escaped from the nurse and is standing with difficulty, but determined. The nurse comes running after Mina, shooting Nayeon a disapproving look.
“Do you have a death wish?”
“I’m sorry, baby,” Nayeon’s voice shakes. She lowers her head and follows Mina, hoping her wife won’t be too harsh on her later.
(Hours later, when Mina is crushing her hand and throwing all kinds of insults at her, Nayeon knows she can’t complain.)
•••
“I think that’s all.” Nayeon says out of breath as she drops a heavy box on the floor. She wipes the sweat of her forehead with the back of her hand and stretches her back with a pained expression.
Mina takes over drying her face, using a napkin, and hands her a glass of cold water.
“I’m sorry you have to do all the work.”
Nayeon closes her eyes and gulps down the water. She shakes her head, brushing off Mina’s apology. “Nonsense, I don’t mind. You have a handful already.”
“The handful is asleep.” Mina whispers, referring to their daughter Chaewon who passed out after a long day of driving and taking boxes down from the U-haul truck.
“What about this one?” Nayeon places a loving hand on Mina’s baby bump, rubbing a thumb over the warm skin.
“Hm, they’re kinda hungry...”
“I’ll fix something up,” Nayeon chuckles, kissing Mina and then leaning down to kiss her stomach.
After Chaewon was born three years ago, they realized their apartment had become too small for the three of them. They turned the office into a nursery, and every corner of the rest of the house was taken over by baby clothes, diapers, and an overall mess they had a hard time cleaning up.
When the results of Mina’s second pregnancy came in, Nayeon wasted no time in looking for a bigger place. Their new house is beautiful, perfect for their family, with a big backyard and a pool, something Mina had always wanted.
Mina sits down on the couch and opens one of the boxes Nayeon left in the living room. She finds a few books and some of the portraits they had on their old room.
At the bottom of the box, Mina finds a photo album that she made for Nayeon for their last anniversary.
The first pages are pictures of them as kids and teens, badly taken selfies at sleepovers and at school. Mina gasps when she finds one from her sixteenth birthday. She was in front of her cake surrounded by her friends, and Nayeon was next to her, with an arm around her waist and the pretty smile that wouldn’t leave her face after she confessed to Mina.
The next pictures are of them in their graduation, kissing with their diplomas and throwing their caps in the air. There’s some from the graduation party : Nayeon and Mina in someone’s pool, wearing their dresses still and with the makeup running down their smiling faces. Another picture is of Nayeon dipping Mina like in the movies, kissing her while also balancing a drink on one hand.
Then come the pictures of them in college and in their apartment, a couple of dates and Nayeon sleeping in weird positions.
The album ends with pictures of Chaewon. Mina’s favorite picture is one of them in the delivery room with a newborn Chaewon in Mina’s arms, and Nayeon crying more than her wife and kid combined.
“Food is ready!” Nayeon announces happily, carrying two cups of instant ramen. But her smile and arms fall when she spots Mina crying on the couch. “What happened?”
She rushes to kneel next to her, then reaches out to wipe her tears.
“Sorry, it’s the hormones.” Mina chuckles, leaning into Nayeon’s touch. “You know I love you a lot, right?”
“Of course, baby.” Nayeon gets up to sit next to Mina and hugs her, tucking her face in her chest. “And I love you just as much. Multiplied by a million, actually. To the moon and back a billion times.”
Mina laughs through her tears at how cheesy Nayeon is sometimes.
“How come we’ve been together for almost twenty years and I’m still not sick of you? At all?”
“I ask myself that all the time.” Nayeon laughs. She kisses Mina, letting her lips linger on her skin. “But I want to be with you for twenty more, and then forty more, and then a hundred more.”
“Sounds like a perfect plan.”