"You seem to be getting closer with her."
"Hm?"
Nako glanced over at Minju as the car came to a stop, "over the past two years you've been getting closer with Chaewon-unnie again."
To that, Minju fell silent.
"You're turning red."
"No I'm not."
"Yuri told Hii-chan and I that she caught you too really close on the couch a couple days ago."
A muscle on Minju's mouth twitched, "..."
"Unnie?"
"Okay we kind of sort of kissed that day."
That caught Nako off guard, "wait you did?"
"Yes."
"On the lips."
"Yes."
"So are you two..."
"No."
"Then what are you two?"
"..."
"Is this a situationship type of thing?"
"Neither of us want to start dating again."
"Mhm..."
"And we both agreed that it might be best if we stayed as friends."
Minju weakly chuckled, "I'm sure you remember, we started dating really quickly after we met in high school."
"Yeah it took you two only a couple weeks before you guys were up in each other's business."
Minju flustered up from how Nako worded yet, "so, we're starting over slowly, I don't know what's going to happen but we're not gonna try to date anytime soon."
"So why'd you guys kiss."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Minju-unnie?"
"I have no idea."
"Was that the only time?"
"Yes."
"So you guys are gonna be like- friends with benefits or something until you two start dating again."
Minju stared, mouth agape, at her best friend.
"I'm kidding."
...
...
...
"Impulse."
"What?"
Minju ruffled her hair back, looking away from Nako's stare, "it was just impulse."
"Who kissed who?"
"Both of us did."
Nako sighed, shaking her head, "don't get hurt again when I'm gone, unnie."
"I won't."
Minju exited the car alongside Nako, raising her voice slightly so the younger girl could hear through the loud bustling of people.
"Stay safe okay? Text me when you get there."
"I will!"
The two shared a hug, Nako pulling away when she heard a sound from her phone.
"Ah- Hii-chan's already inside."
"Chaewon dropped her off?"
Nako shook her head, "she took public transport, Chaewon-unnie's at home with Yuri."
Minju nodded, giving the Japanese girl a smile, "say 'hi' to your parents for me yeah? I haven't seen them in a while."
"Got it! Bye unnie~"
Minju waved as Nako headed into the airport, a soft smile resting on her lips as she headed back into her car.
The drive was rather smooth, not a lot of traffic at this time of day, when suddenly a ringtone cut off the music from the radio.
"Hello?"
"Minju-yah~ Did you already drop Nako off at the airport?"
"Yeah I'm coming home right now. Why?"
"Yuri found this mall-like place that opened up nearby, do you want to come with us? We're planning to eat lunch and look around first before heading over to some restaurant for dinner."
'mall-like place?'
"What about her girlfriend?"
Chaewon barked a laugh from the phone, "girlfriend? You mean Yena-unnie?"
"Yeah, are they still not dating?"
Her laughter died down into a snicker, "nope, not yet."
"She's with her family right now so it's just gonna be the three of us, but she might join us for dinner if that's okay with you."
"Yeah that's fine with me. Do you want me to come over right now?"
"If you'd like! We're planning to leave in a couple hours though."
Minju chuckled, "alright, I'll be there soon."
After the two college students had begun to talk again after that day in Chaewon's room a couple years back, Minju had begun to have a hard time distancing herself from the older girl again.
Not only did she promise to be there for Chaewon, and protect her so nothing like that would happen again.
But...
In all honesty, Minju had missed Chaewon in the few months that they weren't on talking terms.
Of course, she never admitted it to anyone.
Even herself.
She knew she didn't want to be anything more than friends for now, and she also knew that Chaewon wanted the same thing.
But it was hard being "just friends" when someone you used to love, let alone your first love, was right next to you.
Minju wasn't ready yet.
She didn't know if it was worth it, the possibility of getting hurt, again, and by the same person at that.
And she could tell that Chaewon was scared as well, however hard she tried to be a better person.
Minju sighed as she parked her car, taking a few moments to think before heading out and locking her vehicle.
'I'll just let things flow the way they're going right now.'
Knock Knock...
...
...
Minju glanced down as someone opened the door, "hey Yuri."
The hamster smiled, letting the older girl in, "hello Minu-unnie~"
"Ah-"
The frog glanced up, meeting eyes with Chaewon as she froze mid-going into the hallway, one hand holding her phone, the other holding a toothbrush that was in her mouth, her posture terrible while wearing an oversized t-shirt and basketball shorts.
But before Minju could say anything, Chaewon sprinted to her room, making the younger girl tilt her head.
As she took her shoes off, she glanced over at Yuri, who shrugged with an equally confused expression.
The two stared in the direction of the hallway as they heard a dull thud coming from Chaewon's room.
"Is she okay?"
"She probably tripped on something, there's piles of laundry on her floor."
"When did she wake up?"
"A little before she called you."
"No wonder Hitomi took public transport."
"Yeah, you think Chaewon-unnie can wake up that early during break?"
Minju chuckled, her laugh easing into a smile as she heard Chaewon's door open.
Out came the radish, fully dressed, hair nice and clean, small backpack in hand alongside her phone and keys.
She was a completely different person from the messy bedhead girl Minju saw a few minutes ago.
The vast difference was hilarious.
"H-hey Minju-yah."
Minju raised an eyebrow, "hey... Are you okay?"
"Yeah... Yeah why?"
"Uhhh you're out of breath, and we also heard something fall from your room."
Chaewon rubbed one of her arms as she looked away, "don't worry about it."
The frog laughed alongside a snickering hamster, the radish grumbling under her breath, a little flustered in embarrassment.
"I haven't seen you run that fast since we had high school P.E."
"You should see her on a day-to-day basis, she's slower than a grandma at home."
"Yah, what the hell Yuri."
Yuri made her signature brat face, "mwo~"
Chaewon walked up to them, headlocking her younger sister as she smiled at Minju.
"Any~ways, we're gonna leave right now, if you're ready."
Minju chuckled at their sibling interaction, "yeah I'm ready."
"Unnie, you can sit in the front seat."
The frog glanced over at Yuri, who struggled to pull away from Chaewon's hold.
"You sure?"
"Yeah- Unnie get off of me-"
Chaewon cringed away as Yuri elbowed the side of her stomach, "ah- yah."
"Yeah I'm sure."
The radish shook her head as she rubbed at where Yuri hit her, "did Yena-unnie say she's coming for dinner?"
"Yeah she said around five."
The three walked out of the house, heading to Chaewon's car.
"Yuri you're such a brat."
Yuri mimicked her older sister's tone, Minju chuckling as they all sat down.
Chaewon pouted as she started her car, "you're laughing?"
"I think Yuri's pretty funny."
"See Minju-unnie likes it."
Chaewon rolled her eyes, "yeah yeah whatever."
"I could stop talking again if you want me to, it's not that hard."
That made both of the older girls in the front double back and turn to face Yuri.
"Y-yah Yuri I-I didn't mean it like that-"
This made the hamster laugh.
She continuously, playfully, smacked at her older sister's arm.
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I'm just playing with you unnie."
Yuri gave her a cutesy smile, which Chaewon returned with a scrunched up face before turning back to start driving.
Soon enough they arrived at the place Yuri had found, seeing people of all ages come in and out, ambling about or talking amongst tables.
"Woah."
"This looks cool."
"Yuri, how'd you find this?"
The hamster shrugged, "I was bored and Chaewon-unnie wasn't awake yet so I was just looking through my computer."
The trio entered the building, looking around as their little hang out began...
As they explored, a certain store caught the eldest girl's eyes and she gasped.
As if it was by instinct, Chaewon suddenly hugged Minju's arm, startling the younger girl from her sudden movement.
"Oh my God they have this here?"
But then she realized what she was doing, and she seemed to recoil away.
"Ah- s-sorry Minju."
"No no it's okay, don't worry about it."
Minju chuckled, "take it easy unnie, I don't mind."
Yuri watched the whole scene unravel, raising an eyebrow as Chaewon practically shoved her hands into her pockets.
'Unnie's so weird.'
As they walked into the store, Yuri kept "accidentally" bumping into Chaewon from the side, causing her to constantly bump or come closer to Minju from the other side.
Seeing that they both didn't notice or care, Yuri began to nudged Chaewon's arm, pushing her slightly into Minju every so often.
"Yah, stop it."
Minju glanced over just as Yuri nudged Chaewon closer to her again, and while continuing to look elsewhere, she linked her arm around Chaewon's, putting her hand into her pocket as well.
It was only when she glanced at Chaewon, that she noticed the older girl was slightly red at the cheeks, her lips pursed to keep silent.
Minju chuckled, nudging Chaewon, "what did I say unnie? Take it easy."
"Yeah, relax unnie."
Chaewon glared in mock annoyance at her younger sister, but soon enough her shoulders relaxed, the three chatting away as they continued to walk around the stores.
Sure the two weren't dating anymore... Nor did they want to anytime soon...
But who said that they couldn't be close?