"Why are you sending me back again?"
Minjeong asked while looking at the girl beside her.
Jimin glanced at her, chuckling. "You need to prepare yourself for school, love."
"That's like, two days after."
"Don't you want to check your house?" The taller girl responded. "Ever since you came from Busan, you've been staying at mine."
"Says the one who keeps telling me not to go home."
Jimin laughed. "And I'm letting you to go home this time, you might as well take the chance."
Minjeong didn't say anything and just sighed.
Jimin woke her up earlier from a peaceful nap, just to tell her that she needs to go home. It confused the hell out of her because the last time she asked the girl if she could go home to check her house, Jimin started pouting at her, not wanting her to go.
Which is not really a problem for Minjeong, so she agreed.
But now Jimin is pushing her to go home, and they are currently inside her car, on their way to Minjeong's house. Not that the latter completely disagreed on going home, because what Jimin said was true, she actually needed to check her house. It was just very…suspicious.
Twenty minutes have passed, and Jimin is now unbuckling Minjeong's seatbelt. Minjeong got out of the car and glanced at her house before facing the girl.
"Why are you pouting?" Jimin smilingly asked.
"Am I?"
"You are."
Minjeong didn't even realize that she was.
"Ah, well…" Minjeong muttered, spacing off for a second. "…I don't know."
"I'll come back tomorrow, don't worry." Jimin chuckled, pulling Minjeong close to her and eventually hugging the girl. "I'm going to miss you, though."
Minjeong hugged her back. "Then why are you sending me back?"
"Love," The taller girl couldn't help but to laugh. "We already talked about this, right?"
The short haired girl sighed.
"Fine." She pulled away from her. "Go home now. Drive safely, okay?"
"Hmm," Jimin leaned closer, her lips pecking Minjeong's forehead, then down to the girl's lips, kissing it softly.
She pulled away and smiled. "I will. I love you."
"I love you too."
Jimin went inside her car, rolling down the windshield to wave at Minjeong before driving away. The latter watched the car go until it was out of her sight, before going inside her house.
She immediately went to the kitchen and opened the cabinets. She smiled as soon as she saw the stack of snacks inside.
'Gotta thank Jennie Unnie for that.'
Minjeong was too busy checking her snacks that when her phone rang, she just answered it without looking at the caller.
"Hello?"
"Pup…"
Minjeong froze.
"…Ning?"
"Hey," She heard the singer's soft chuckle. "How are you?"
"Ning…"
She couldn't believe it. She even checked the name of the caller to see if it's actually real or she's just missing Ningning so much that she's already hallucinating.
But it is real.
"I miss you, Pup."
Ningning is actually calling her.
"Where are you?"
"Aw, you're not going to tell me that you miss me too?"
"Ning, I swear to God," Minjeong went out of the kitchen. "Where are you right now?"
"In China."
Minjeong's shoulders slumped.
"…Just kidding." The singer chuckled. "Open the door, Pup."
It didn't even take a minute for Minjeong to do what Ningning said. She immediately ended the call, running towards the door and opening it.
"Ningning!"
She greeted the girl with a big hug, and the latter gladly welcomed her.
"Hi," Ningning giggled, wrapping her arms around the girl tightly. "Is this your way of saying you missed me too?"
"You stupid." Minjeong whispered, burying her face on Ningning's neck to prevent herself from crying. "Why didn't you tell me you came back?"
"Well actually, I just literally got here in Korea today." Ningning pulled away slightly. "After I dropped my luggage at my unit, I immediately came here."
"You're not feeling jetlagged?"
"I do, a bit."
"Come inside." Minjeong pulled her inside the house, dragging her towards the living room and pushing her gently on the couch.
Minjeong sat beside her.
"Do you want to rest? Or do you want to eat first?"
"I'll do that later." Ningning chuckled. "I actually came here to…you know, talk."
The short haired girl went silent.
"I know I just left so suddenly…after what happened. And I'm sorry for that." The singer glanced at her. "But you do understand why, right?"
Minjeong nodded. "I do."
"I needed to get away from you for days, not because I'm planning to unlove you…" Ningning smiled. "But because I wanted to have some time to accept the truth. To accept that you won't be mine."
She looked away. "I still love you, Puppy. And I don't think that will ever change. I came here to tell you that personally. But I also want you to know that I'm happy for you. I'm happy that you finally managed to fight for your feelings for Jimin."
Minjeong looked at her in shock.
"Y-you know?"
"Why do you think Jimin suddenly wanted you to go home?" Ningning laughed. "That girl is so in love with you, I swear. I had a hard time telling her to let you go just for a day so I could talk to you. She's that clingy."
"…Sounds just like her." Minjeong muttered, before facing the girl. "But wait, you talked?"
Ningning nodded. "The day before the flight, I talked to her on the phone. That happened in the middle of the night, and you were asleep, according to her."
"Why did you call her?"
"I didn't call her." The singer chuckled. "She called me."
"Huh? Why?"
Ningning shook her head.
"The things she does for love."
"Hello?"
"Hi, uhm…This is Jimin."
Ningning rose up from the bed. She was about to sleep, but hearing Jimin's name from the end of the line suddenly made her feel awake.
"Uh, hey." Ningning greeted awkwardly. It's her first time getting a call from the girl, or even talking to her properly. "Why did you call?"
"Okay," She heard Jimin taking a deep breath before speaking. "First and foremost, I want to apologize."
"…Apologize for what?"
"For everything that happened between you and Minjeong, between us." Jimin sighed. "I know we never really had a good relationship with each other because of the situation we are in. I want to apologize for competing with you for Mindoongie." She explained. "That doesn't mean that I'm regretting fighting for Minjeong, though. I just want to apologize for making a fight with you because you're her best friend."
"I know." Ningning finally spoke. "I'm sorry too."
"So uh…are we good now?"
The singer couldn't help but to chuckle. "It wasn't a big fight, Jimin. And I don't hold grudges…unless you don't take care of Minjeong."
"I'm taking care of her. I promise you that."
"Good." Ningning nodded her head in satisfaction. "You still want to say something?"
"…Minjeong misses you, Ningning."
Ningning didn't speak.
"I know you went away to have time to process everything, and I'm not forcing you to come back," Jimin said. "But please come back."
"…I thought you're not forcing me to come back?"
"I don't know how to word this properly, give consideration."
Ningning stifled a laugh. She could almost hear the frustration in Jimin's voice and it amuses her.
"Like I said," Jimin sighed. "Mindoongie misses you. She's happy with me but I know she's still thinking about you and Aeri. She's still holding back, Ning. She really wants to fix the situation first before finally making herself happy."
"I do have a plan to come back." Ningning spoke. "…I already accepted it, anyway. I'm just looking for the perfect timing."
"Well, isn't this the perfect timing?"
"What, you want me to book a flight in the middle of the night?"
"That's not what I meant." Jimin snorted. "Do you talk to Minjeong like this?"
"Most of the time. She's fun to tease."
"I agree." Jimin said. "But going back, don't you think it's already the perfect time to go back? For Minjeong to settle her friendship with you before Aeri?"
"I don't have money. Send me some." Ningning joked.
"Okay."
"…You know I'm joking, right?"
"I know." The girl answered. "I'm just saying, you won't have a choice but to go back."
"Wow, talking about not forcing me to come home." The singer snorted. "I have one condition, though."
"Shoot."
"I want to spend a day with Minjeong…" She immediately followed the words with, "And Minjeong only. I don't want to have a big kitten following my Pup."
"Seriously? A day?"
"Yup."
"But…"
"Stop your clinginess for a day, will you?"
Jimin didn't answer.
"Oh, come on!"
"Alright, fine." Jimin sighed. "Just a day."
"Uh-huh."
"Then you're going back to China after that."
"The audacity."
"Just kidding." Jimin laughed.
Ningning shook her head, a smile slowly appearing on her face. From that moment, she thought,
Maybe…maybe Minjeong is in good hands already.
And maybe that's just what she needs to know, before she can finally let go.
"So that's why…" Minjeong slowly nodded her head in realization.
"Pup," Ningning called her. "You don't have to worry about me. This time, focus on yourself, Not to other people, just you."
"One more to go."
"Uh-huh." The singer nodded, before standing up. "Now that it's finished, let's go to your kitchen. I'm hungry as hell. Jimin didn't even give me time to eat on a restaurant." She sighed. "That girl, really."
Minjeong laughed.