Minjeong didn’t expect this at all.

She just wanted her zipper on her back to be fixed, but the subtle touch of the raven-haired girl on her back sent shivers to her whole body. Not only that, the other girl looked so ravishing with her outfit. Jimin looked so fine, and Minjeong couldn’t help but admire and stare.

Her lips. 

Minjeong couldn’t stop herself from looking. The shade of the lipstick made Jimin’s lips more attractive and plumper, she can’t help but want to ki- stop.

“Thanks,” the blonde girl said as she proceeded to move to the other side of the room to put on some jewelry and make-up. She pushed those previous thoughts away to prevent herself from doing something out of line. She tries to concentrate on what she was doing, but it was hard to do when she can see the raven-haired girl from the mirror, still confused, from what just happened.

She just hopes Jimin’s would brush what happened off as nothing. 

“I should head down and wait for you there,” the raven-haired girl said. “Sure,” she tried to keep her voice monotone, not to give away her real feelings.

The moment she heard the door close, she breathed out all of the tension she held in. She leaned on to her drawer for support as she tried to regain her composure. Jimin will be the death of me.

She knows she told her best friend earlier that day that she is careful around Jimin, however, at times like this, she just can’t help but crumble and surrender. She sighs heavily and shakes her head, No, Minjeong, Jimin is off-limits.

As she finishes preparing, she slowly goes out of the room, into the living room. She took a bit of time to prepare herself to face Jimin again, in a better state. She then hears voices in the living room.

"I heard you took up Business Management at the same University as Minjeong."

"Yes, Abeonim."

“Oh, how is it so far?.”

“I have been enjoying it, and I have learned a lot.”

She could hear her dad hummed in response, “I tried to convince Minjeong to choose the same course or at least anything related to business as a course so that she could succeed me, but she pursued a different path.”

“Oh Yeobo, you know your daughter already, she doesn’t like business or handling people.”

“I know, I know.” She hears her dad chuckled, “at least you are interested in business, Yooji. If ever you need a place to do your internship or in the future, you need someplace to work, don’t hesitate to contact me.” She sees the three of them sitting in the living room. She also notices how formal Jimin was sitting, she must be really nervous.

“Oh Abeonim, you don’t have to.”

“It’s okay, and you deserved it, darling.”

“You’re spoiling her too much, Appa,” Jimin and her parents looked over her as she walked down the stairs. She smiled at Jimin, who the latter reciprocated sweetly. She went near Jimin and laid her hand on the other girl’s shoulder to ease her nervousness.

“Minjeong’s right, Yeobo,” her mom commented, “They haven’t even reached senior yet or even close to graduating.” 

“Yeobo, Minjeong’s not succeeding me. With Yooji in the picture, she could be my successor, especially once they elope in the future.” This comment made the girls blush hard.

“Eh?” 

“Appa!”

Minjeong’s mom laughed at the reactions of the girls, “now that everyone is here, let’s go?”

The comment made by her dad caused their drive to the restaurant more awkward.

Minjeong’s parents continue to bombard them with questions and some side comments about their relationship and how they saw it coming that both girls would end up together. They even brought up silly stories of when they were young. 

She knew that her parents would do this, but it seemed she wasn’t prepared enough. The blonde girl just wants to disappear at that moment out of embarrassment. Jimin, on the other hand, was a bit more comfortable now and tries to answer as much as she can the queries of the blonde girl’s parents as the other girl couldn’t.

To keep her parents off their backs, Minjeong decided to speak up, “Appa, how’s the business? I heard from Omma that you guys will need to travel again soon.”

She hears her dad sigh, “The business is going well, and what your mother said is true. We are about to open a new branch on Jeju, so we are needed to be there for the preparations and the opening.”

“How long will you guys be gone?”

It was her mom’s turn to answer, “around a week or two, dear.” She looked over them at the back, “Minjeongie, you are already a big girl, you know what to do, right?” The blonde girl nodded at her mom, “Yes, Omma. Don’t worry about me.”

“Also, girls. Unlike before where we just let you guys do your thing in Minjeong’s room,” her dad commented, “I know you kids are adults now but still be mindful and be careful, understood?”

“Oh Yeobo, let them be. It’s not like they could get pregnant.”

“Appa! Omma! Please, for my sanity.” Minjeong exclaimed as she hid behind her hands. Both parents laugh at the reaction of their daughter, while Jimin can’t help but blush and laugh at the same time. They eventually changed the subject as they started to feel sorry for teasing their daughter too much. 

“Yooji-ah, how’s your mother, by the way?” Minjeong’s mother inferred.

“Omma’s doing great.”

“I hope she is not that lonely lately, especially since all of you girls are not at home anymore.” Jimin smiled at the concern, “Jisoo Unnie comes home every now and then to help out as her University is quite close here.”

“Oh, no wonder, I have seen Jisoo at the market from time to time.” 

“Yooji, how’s your family business?” Minjeong’s dad inquired. “Ah, Our store’s been thriving well too, Abeonim.”

“That’s good to hear,” Minjeong’s mom expressed, “I haven’t been able to talk with your mother lately because of my constant traveling. Send my regards, dear.”

“Yes, Omoni.”

“Yooji, dear, you can call me ‘Omma’, remember?”

“Ah,” Jimin glanced over Minjeong, who smiled and nodded, “Yes, Omma.”

“Ah, that is not fair.” Minjeong’s father suddenly interjected, “You should call me ‘Appa’ too, just like before. It has been kinda boring only to hear Minjeong say it to me.”

Minjeong rolled her eyes at what her dad said, “You guys should have made another kid other than me, then, Appa.” 

She then noticed how Jimin became silent as her dad continued to rant about how they didn’t want to raise another Minjeong. She glances at her and immediately notices the sadness plastered on her face. I guess this is still a sensitive topic for her.

She reached out and intertwined their hands. Jimin glanced at her, confused at the gesture. 

Minjeong gave her a warm smile and a little squeeze. She saw the other girl softened and returned a small smile.

She knows she could never ease the issues Jimin was facing, but at least, through these gestures, she could give a bit of comfort.

They held hands until they reached the restaurant.

------

The birthday party of Wendy and Yeri’s mom was held at a restaurant in the city, next to their town. Minjeong wasn't familiar with it but based on what Wendy had told her, the restaurant serves delicious food.

Once they arrived, the blonde girl immediately noticed the number of relatives present in the venue, it seemed Wendy's family was able to invite the majority of their relatives. She sighed heavily, great, looks like it’s time to test my social skills.

Along with Jimin and her parents, they greeted Wendy and Yeri’s family first, especially her aunt a happy birthday, “happy birthday, Auntie,” Minjeong expressed as she embraced the older woman.

“Oh dear, thank you very much.” She looked over to the blonde girl’s side and saw Jimin, “oh, Jimin-ah.”

“Auntie, happy birthday,” both hugged. 

After a bit more talk, the fake couple and Minjeong’s parents separated as her parents wanted to talk more with her cousin’s parents. Both Minjeong and Jimin decided to go straight to their table to eat before fully engaging with anyone. However, everywhere they went, they were held hostage by a relative or two.

The majority of their conversations focused more on greetings and asking who Jimin was. Minjeong was getting a bit tired explaining to everyone that Jimin was her (fake) girlfriend. She almost wants to take the microphone off from the lounge singer and declare it herself to end the questioning, but she digresses.

Thirty minutes had passed, Minjeong was tired. She doesn’t understand how a human can interact with other humans more than necessary. They were able to find their table and thank the heavens above as no one decided to disturb them. 

“That was...fun,” Jimin commented. “I told you it’s going to be tough,” Minjeong slouches on her chair. "You say that to me but it looks like you're the one who’s tired." The blonde girl sighs heavily, "This is why I am not a fan of family gatherings." 

“I can clearly remember how excited you were to attend these kinds of events when we were kids,”

“I was just a kid back then, I didn’t know better.” Minjeong groaned, “All I think about whenever I hear there’s a party is free food and bonding time with my cousins.” Jimin chuckled at her response. “Why are you not bonding with your cousins now, then?”

“As you can see, I am still recharging,” Jimin shook her head as she listened, “and besides, I can talk to them later.”

Minjeong took time and stared at Jimin as the other girl looked around, “you looked really nice, by the way.”

“Hhmm?” Jimin immediately looked at Minjeong, not sure if she just heard a compliment from the girl. “I said you looked really nice.” 

“Oh,” Jimin blushed a bit, “You too. The black dress too, it look-” Minjeong saw a strand of the other girl’s hair outlying on her face, she nonchalantly put it aside, which caused Jimin to blush harder and stumble with her words. “L-looks go-good on you.”

Jimin looked away immediately and cleared . “Do you want me to get, you know, food, for us, both?” She stood up, not waiting for the other person to answer. As she was about to fully leave, a hand stopped her, “You should stay, I’ll be the one to get food for us.” Minjeong was about to stand up when Jimin stopped her, “No, you should rest. You said earlier that you need to recharge, remember?”

“But-”

“Don’t worry, I still remember all of your allergies.”

Minjeong wanted to retort but after seeing Jimin giving her a knowing look, she slumped back on her seat. “Just rest, okay?” Jimin squeezed both shoulders of the blonde girl in comfort before leaving.

On the other side of the restaurant, not too far from the couple, was Yeri, observing them, too intently.

“They’ll melt, you know.”

“Huh?” Yeri looked over to where the voice came from, it was Joy, who was looking at her amusedly. “I said, they will melt if you continue to stare at them too intently.” Yeri immediately rolled her eyes at this comment and focused back on the couple.

She sees her cousin, Minjeong keep on looking over to where Jimin was, lining for the buffet, “Not anymore my ,” she harshly whispered as she sipped through her iced tea. 

The last time she had a chat with her wonderful dumb cousin, Minjeong told her she doesn’t have those feelings anymore. But based on what Yeri is currently seeing, it’s still there. Like, she can clearly see a huge sign at the top head of the blonde girl, shouting how much she’s still madly in love with the raven-haired girl. What she’s confused about right now was the fact that why would her wonderful dumb cousin deny it when they are in a relationship already? Something doesn’t add up.

Even though she’s not that close to Minjeong, she knows how her cousin has a tendency of saying stuff that is totally opposite to her actions. Did she slip when I asked her about her feelings? Yeri is not sure, but all she knows, she’s going to get to the bottom of this.

“Yeri-yah, you do know this is the birthday party of your mom,” Joy expressed, “you should be talking to your guests or at least entertain them or something.”

“Unnie and her boyfriend are taking care of that,” Yeri nonchalantly answered, “and besides, the majority of the people here are old people, adults, they don’t need me to entertain them. They can do that themselves.” Joy could only shake her head.

“So now, you are entertaining yourself by spying over your cousin’s love life. Again.”

“I’m not spying.”

“Okay then, gawking over them to a point it’s borderline creepy. How’s that? It’s a mouthful but it fits perfectly well to what you are doing.” Yeri annoyingly looked at her friend who only gave her a knowing look. “So what? It’s not like I’m breaking some rules or any law by doing this.”

“Yeah, you are not,” Joy retorted, “but once Minjeong notices you gawking over them, she will kill you.”

“I am not scared at blondie.”

Joy raised her eyebrow, “Yeah, sure. Cuz’ the last time you did something stupid and out of the line, Minjeong was very very furious at you.” Yeri looked at her friend before sighing. “You don’t have to remind me of that, I know my mistake and I will not do it again.”

“Are you sure? Cuz’ what you are doing right now is somewhat similar from before, you are meddling into Minjeong’s affairs again.”

“I’m just concerned,” Yeri rubbed her temples and sighed, “there’s something off about them. I can’t really pinpoint what, and I feel like my dumb cousin is hiding something from me.”

“Yeah, she did it to prevent you from meddling.” Yeri shot Joy a glare, “What? You know I’m spilling the truth here." Joy expressed this as she drinks her iced tea, "The letter was clearly your fault.”

Yeri immediately slapped her friend's arm, “stop reminding me.”

"Aww," Joy rubbed her pained arm, “Girl, you really need to find a boyfriend.” Joy expressed as she sat comfortably on her chair, “or a new hobby or something other than you meddling over your sister or your cousin’s love life.”

“First of all, I am not meddling. I am observing, there is a difference,” Joy rolled her eyes, “second, I don’t need a boyfriend or anyone for that matter as I have a lot of things to do in my life other than having a lover.”

“Yeah, like what?” Yeri glared again at her friend, “lastly, I do have a hobby.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Okay,” Joy defeatedly says, “suit yourself, bestie.”

Around this time, Jimin was back at their table and both she and Minjeong were eating their dinner sweetly. They seemed to have a fun conversation as Jimin chuckled quite a lot of times to whatever Minjeong was saying. “They are a lovely couple, don’t you think?”

“Yes, they are,” Yeri said, “but they act more like friends than lovers right now.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like, you can clearly see that they like each other, but for a new couple, they are not touchy,” the younger Kim looked over her friend, whom she knows had a lot of experience in terms of dating, “Joy, didn’t you say before that during the honeymoon phase, couples can’t keep their hands off each other?”

“Yeah.”

Both of them looked over the couple a bit more, “Well, they don’t look like they are in a honeymoon phase in the relationship to me.”

“Maybe they move differently compared to others.”

“Nope, something is definitely off.”

Joy could only sigh. The tall girl let her do the gawking as she checked her phone. After some time, the boredom of doing nothing is getting on to her, she decides to snap Yeri from her 'observation mood'. “Yeri-yah,” she held the other girl’s shoulders, “as your plus one, I encourage you to stop gawking at them, or else-”

“Or else I would be angry,” both girls slowly looked over to where the voice came from, it was from Minjeong. She was staring at them, coldly, with her arms crossed.

“Hi Jeongie,” Joy shakily greets.

“Hi Joy, I didn’t expect you to be here.”

“You know, I’m the forced-plus-one of your meddling cousin here,” Yeri glared at her friend, “It’s nice to see you again, Jeongie. You looked really good.”

“Thanks, you too. I hope the food is delicious enough to minimize your hardships as my meddling cousin’s forced-plus-one.”

“Oh, definitely. Wendy Unnie has excellent taste. This restaurant has amazing food.”

“So true.”

“Can you guys stop pretending I’m not here?” Yeri finally talks.

“Oh Hi there, Yeri,” Minjeong said coldly.

Sensing an armageddon is coming, “Welp, I think I am still hungry,” Joy stood up from her chair, “I think I need to eat more of that delicious dessert.” She left the two cousins alone.

“Yeri-”

“I’m not