Chapter Text
“My brain hurts,” Minnie groans, head falling back into Miyeon’s lap for the nth time.
They were currently at Shuhua’s, cramming for the last exams of their high school lives. Well, at least Miyeon, Shuhua, and Soyeon were. Soojin, Yuqi, and Minnie couldn’t focus for shit. Every conversation was filled with Soojin griping over some math problems, Yuqi being confused, or Minnie complaining.
“When will I ever need this?” Soojin was this close to giving up and being fine with scoring low.
“You need it order to get into SNU, so we can all go to college together.” Shuhua reminded her, nose deep in her notes.
Oh right. That’s what they all planned, they all applied for the same university. Miyeon from a couple of years ago would’ve laughed at her and called her stupid if she chose a college just because her friends were going there. But to be honest, she didn’t care. They were nice people and Seoul National University just happened to have a lovely music program.
Having secured that fat bag, Miyeon didn’t need to worry about tuition. All she had to do was write about her sob story of a life and she had the college board floored. Hell, they even gave her a little extra money as compensation. Needless to say, she was set and only saw these exams as child’s play. But her girlfriend despised studying, she even went as far as trying to avoid it her entire high school life, winging it and taking the passing with the minimal scores she got.
Soojin was the same, she was smart but rarely applied it to actual school. She was one of those kids that were told they were “gifted” so she didn’t really try. Saying it was useless for her to try on a test that measures one type of smart, or whatever stupid excuse she chose for the day, she had a lot.
Minnie and Soojin sound bad but studying with Yuqi was like pulling teeth. That girl had the attention span of a goldfish and had a weird way of memorizing things.
“Wait, there are 5,280 ft in a mile, right?... Oh so like 5 tomatoes… ‘5-two-eight-oh’… I think? Right? Miyeon… I need help on this one.”
“What? We don’t even use feet in Korea?” Miyeon and Shuhua looked at the Shanghai puppy in confusion.
“I don’t think I’m gonna make it to the exams,” Yuqi whined face planting into her opened textbook.
Checking the time, it was almost 5. She had to be in Dr.Bae’s office by 5:30. There wasn’t much for them to talk about anymore, for the most part, she had already resolved her years of childhood trauma.
Was what her dad did wrong? Yes. Was there anything she could do about it? No. She can’t change the past, she didn’t know how many times she’s repeated that phrase in her head, cause she couldn’t. What happened was already set in stone. Even if she were to change the past, it wouldn’t bring her here, bring her to Minnie, her friends, or Mochi. Yes, one never forgets Mochi.
But after long strenuous talks and Dr.Bae dissecting her mind, she came to the conclusion that there was no saving him. He may have pretended like he knew what she went through but there was no way she’d ever make him see the full shit storm her life was, nothing close to it even. So she had to get over it. Some people were just born stupid. Her father was one of those people, he didn’t have the emotional intelligence to be able to empathize with his real daughter, and she had to accept that. Leaving him in the past along with those memories.
And for her mom… She would always love her, it was her mom . But if she was being real, she didn’t really know her. She was too young to really grasp what kind of person Seungyeon was.
“Uhh, I have to go soon, actually.” Yuqi was in the middle of asking her where babies come from.
“Oh, do you need a ride?” Minnie shot up, excited by the prospects of leaving the snooze fest this study session was.
“Yeah, that’d be great.” She was shoveling her papers and books into her backpack and grabbing her things. Slipping one of Minnie’s hoodies over her head and walking to the door.
“You know, if you wanted a jacket I could’ve bought you one.” Minnie opened the passenger’s side for her.
“But I like your clothes, they smell like you.” She teased.
“It’s okay, they look better on you.” She starts up her car, giving Miyeon’s cheek a kiss.
___
“So, how are you today.” Dr.Bae clicks open her pen and brings it to her paper routinely.
“Fine, I’m just preparing for finals. School’s going to end soon.”
Raising an eyebrow, “You sound surprisingly indifferent, you’re not scared?”
“Scared of what?”
“Scared to move on, scared to open a new chapter of your life? College is a big step.”
“I don’t know, I never really enjoyed high school, to begin with. I spent all my lunches alone and didn’t talk to anyone. I only just made friends, who are all planning to go to the same school as me.”
“I see,” she wrote down a couple things in her notepad. “How’s your grandma, not working as much?”
“Yeah, whatever work storm that was going on has passed. Now she just sleeps all the time, she must’ve been tired.”
“That’s good,” Dr.Bae flashed a charming smile. Man, whoever this woman’s wife was, was damn lucky.
They spent another hour just catching up, sharing little bits and pieces of her life. Miyeon had never been the most vocal or upfront person so this was good for her. A chance to say whatever was on her mind without judgment was liberating, it made her a happier person.
“And remember, mental health is a right. Never be afraid to ask for help.” Dr.Bae wished her farewell on the way out of her office, her grandma was waiting for her in the car downstairs.
All this self-care showed Miyeon sides of herself she didn’t even know existed. She started feeling more confident in herself, her thoughts, and opinions. Like she had unlocked her a new part of her life. As odd as it may sound, things seemed brighter now. She didn’t look at things from a dark, pessimistic perspective, now she approached things with vigor, curiosity even.
In the wise words of Seo Soojin, “Self-love is the best love” .
There weren’t a lot of people in Miyeon’s life but the few that stuck around were the most important to her. Sure, they annoyed the hell out of her sometimes but she loved them. Shuhua pestering her to get out of bed and hang out with her, Yuqi recommending her thousands upon thousands of tv shows they could watch together, Soojin offering her wise advice and her support, Soyeon sharing their passion for music and newfound hatred for Taemin, and Minnie, her girlfriend.
Minnie was so many things in one. She was cute, kind, and soft when she wanted to be, extremely impatient, tsundere, and jealous other times. Now and again, she referred to her as her savior in her head. Minnie saved her from so many things. The unimaginable pain of being Cho Miyeon was just too much to bear sometimes, but Minnie made it worth it.
“How was it?” Her grandma greets her, re-buckling her seatbelt and starting the car up.
“Okay, we just talked about school stuff.”
“Wanna get some seafood?”
“Huh?”
“I don’t know, I’ve been craving sushi these days.” Her grandma was from Incheon originally, a place known for great seafood.
“Okay,” Miyeon agreed.
When Eunbin said she wanted sushi, Miyeon expected them to eat at one of those cute little conveyor belt places where you could pick whatever roll you wanted. But instead, they were sitting in a fancy Michelin star restaurant where the chef showed them their live fish before taking it back into the kitchen and slaughtering it.
“Hmmm, the yellowtail looks good.” Her grandma seemed completely oblivious that everything on the menu was $50 or more.
“Uhh, I don’t know. It’s kind of expensive…” Miyeon was sweating, the grilled cod cost more than her whole outfit.
“Treat yourself, Miyeonnie. I make enough for you to eat whatever you want,” Eunbin insisted.
Still not completely convinced, Miyeon tries to order the cheapest thing… which was still $54.99 but there was no bargaining with her hungry grandma.
They finally got home, Mochi pawing at her legs wanting to be held. He was such a grumpy old man now but still enjoyed her cuddles. Maybe it was her changed state of mind, or maybe it was actually true, but their little apartment looked vivid. She remembers being afraid of the long dark hallways at night, the vast open space of the living room.
She hated open spaces so much she used to spend hours in her closet, it brought a sense of security. But after her mom had passed, she started fearing confining places, traumatized. It used to be so bad she couldn’t even open doors, too afraid of what may lie on the other side.
Their white walls adorned with small pieces of modern art, shelves filled with family photos, Miyeon’s old school pictures dating back to late elementary. Once empty corners now filled with happy looking house plants, all green and vibrant, bringing a fresh aura into their opened abode.
Her grandma snatches a bottle of soju from the fridge and heads out on their small balcony, beckoning Miyeon over. They take a seat on the old creaking bench they’ve set up some time ago and Eunbin pours two glasses. Staring with wide eyes, was her grandma pouring her a glass? Does she know she’s not 19 yet? No, there’s no way Eunbin could’ve forgotten a detail like that.
“Come on, loosen up a little bit.” Her grandma flashes her a warm, hearty smile.
If she didn’t know better, she’d think Eunbin was trying to peer pressure her into drink alcohol for the first time. But she wasn’t and it wasn’t her first time drinking and the doctor definitely did not need to know that.
Taking a seat beside her grandma, she sipped on the strong-tasting drink. It was quite the scene, Miyeon pretending to react to the taste like she had never tasted it before as she and Eunbin peacefully basked in the night-time buzz of in the city of Seoul.
“I’m going to miss you, Miyeonnie.” Her grandma sighed.
“It’s not like I’m going that far,” she laughed at her grandma’s theatrics. “I’ll make sure to visit plenty.”
“Don’t worry about me, worry about Mochi. He’s gonna be an even bigger grump.”
They spent the rest of that night reconnecting, making promises to stay in touch. It felt nice, she was the only living relative Miyeon had and she was so lucky. The years of patience and kindness Eunbin showed her filled the hole her parents caused inside her, her grandma was precious to her. Her own personal cheerleader, Cho Eunbin.
___
The morning of exams, the school halls were filled with students trying to cram their heads with last-minute information and the frantic atmosphere was enough to make even the smartest students crack. And by the smartest students, Minnie meant Shuhua. That girl was so shaky she was practically vibrating, reciting chemical formulas under her breath since yesterday. Miyeon seemed relaxed though. She just read through a couple of note cards on their drive to school and went on as usual.
Going into her exams with an empty head, she came out yawning. Tests really weren’t Kim Minnie’s thing, she hated high school academics and her exam ranking showed for it.
“How’d it go?” Miyeon was waiting for her outside of class, seniors were allowed to leave after they took their tests. Their whole group was going to Yuqi’s to watch some new k-drama in her home theatre.
“Eh,”
“Eh? What does that mean?” Miyeon looked anxious, even though she probably scored high marks.
“I don’t know, I just took it.”
“Well, did you feel like you understood the questions?”
“I guess?” Minnie shrugged.
“You guess?”
“Hey, I just answered the questions and tried to get out of there as quickly as humanly possible.” Minnie slung an arm around her girlfriend’s uniform-clad shoulders and lead them out of the school.
“You’re going to be the death of me, Kim Minnie.” Miyeon rolled her eyes, getting into the car.
Soon, everyone coupled up in Yuqi’s massive house, focusing on the plot details of the enthralling show projected on the screen.
Forgetting the previous stress of national test-taking, Shuhua was passed out in her girlfriend’s embrace while Soojin played with her hair. Miyeon was half-awake too, leaning into Minnie’s side as the Thai girl intently focused on the characters in the show. Soyeon and Yuqi were snuggled under like 5 blankets, giggling at some videos on her phone and not really paying attention anymore.
Minnie was born lucky, there was no arguing that. She was born into a rich family, she had nice brothers, and was generally pretty popular at school. But she scored big time with Cho Miyeon, Miyeon was like the human equivalent to winning the lottery. She didn’t know being with someone could make you feel like that.
Miyeon made her feel lots of things. A warm tingling sensation in her lungs whenever they talked, the rapid heartbeat thundering in her chest whenever she smiled, the stupid smile she wore whenever Miyeon laughed. Minnie was one of those people who thought they were above high school relationships but here she was, whipped out of her mind for Cho Miyeon.
___
“YAH! MINNIE NICHA YONTARARAK, GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE!” Mic bellowed from downstairs.
Trying to blink herself into consciousness, she jumped out of her bed and scrambled down the stairs, expecting a whole lecture from whoever was calling her in such a tone. Almost tripping over her own feet, she made it downstairs.
“CONGRATULATIONS!!!” Her family waiting at the end of the stairs with a cake and party poppers, setting them off and scaring her.
“AAAAAAA!” She trips on the last stair and falls face-first into Mac.
“Happy graduation, pabo.” Mac slaps a party hat onto her head and straightens her out.
She was far too familiar with this family tradition. Every time a Yontararak graduated or passed a significant milestone, it was the family’s duty to throw them a surprise party early in the morning and take funny pictures of them. Maybe this was karma for the times she terrorized her brothers during their graduations, sandwiched in between them, and having the blinding camera flash shoved in her face.
“Got gettem!” Mic slapped her backside as she trudged back upstairs to get ready for her last day of school.
“Shut up,” She was still barely awake from that surprise attack.
She never thought she would miss high school until she stood in front of her full-length mirror, dressed in her cap and gown. She remembers being a nervous freshman, having come fresh off the boat from Thailand. She was always self-conscious of her Korean, she wasn’t a fluent speaker and thought people would look down on her for being a foreigner.
But on her first-day orientation, a pale Taiwanese girl animatedly started talking to her right off the bat. She was also a foreigner, rambling on about how she was new to Korea and was looking to make, as she put it, “life long friends”. Minnie thought she was insane, this girl had somewhat of an accent but talked comfortably. A part of her wanted to be like Yeh Shuhua, uncaring about her insecurities, so she stuck by her side.
After getting settled into the new school she was thrust into, she saw some crazy girl with poofy thick hair arguing with Shuhua in mandarin. Song Yuqi, the daughter of the infamous Song Lucas. Everyone knew who she was, a girl fluent in 3 languages, mandarin, Korean, and English. Why she was about to get into a fistfight with Yeh Mark’s daughter was unknown, but they invited her to eat lunch with them anyways.
The next year, Shuhua caught something fatal. Feelings. Feelings for Soojin, the cold, rich, Seo Soojin. Minnie remembers sitting on the bleachers, hyping Shuhua up after practice. That girl had it bad, the only thing on her mind was the moled beauty… all the time… everyday… And they rest was history.
Although she hated school, the memories she made with her friends there were something she wouldn’t trade for the world. That time she and Yuqi pranked those football boys who bullied Soojin and Shuhua. Or when she and Soojin both got detention for playing Super Bass over the school loudspeaker during exams season. And of course, Miyeon’s legendary 17th birthday. People got so wasted they said their hangovers lasted for 3 whole days.
“Minnie! We’re leaving in 5 minutes!” Her mom announced.
“I’m ready!” She sprinted down the stairs, two at a time.
“There’s no way I’m letting you wear converse to your graduation.” Her mom shook her head, arms crossed.
“What? It’s not like anyone’s gonna see them under this thing anyways.” She pouted.
“Minnie,” Her mom warned
“Alright, we’re gonna be late!” Minnie avoided. Straightening out her violet sash imprinted with CUBE’s emblem, she heads out the door.
___
This not what Miyeon imagined her graduation to look like. Cramped inside CUBEs huge gym, sitting in hard wooden chairs while their president went off about how their graduating class was their school’s pride, blah, blah, blah. The thing that ticked her off the most was that they were seated in alphabetical order, so she couldn’t sit with her friends. And on top of all that, her grandma had to leave as soon as she dropped her off because there was an emergency at the hospital. Some kid swallowed a lego or something, she wasn’t really paying attention to what her grandma, only focusing on the detail that she wouldn’t see her get her diploma.
Eunbin made sure so text Shuhua’s dad and ask him to film the whole thing so she could see it later. It was weird, how her grandma and Mark were good friends. Actually, all their parents were good friends with Eunbin, she was a naturally amiable person.
Once their teachers finished their teary speeches, they one by one started calling names and kids started filtering onto the stage to pose with their diplomas.
When the principal announced, “Cho Miyeon.” Kids scattered throughout the dense crowd cheered for her, making her blush.
She would forever be remembered as the girl who had that insane party. Kids basically worshipped her based on that and she didn’t even really throw the party, Shuhua did. Regardless, they cheered for her and she quickly got off the stage after awkwardly smiling into Shuhua’s dad’s camera.
Miyeon made sure to let out a couple hollars when her friends got up too, patiently waiting to see them after the ceremony.
“I’M FREE!” Soyeon yelled once they all met up in the still heavily crowded place.
“FINALLY!” Soojin added, earning a light slap from Shuhua.
“Guy’s get closer,” Minnie’s mom motioned them with her hands. Holding her phone out to take a picture and standing in that classic mom picture-taking pose.
Squishing together, Miyeon almost passed out from how hard Yuqi was hugging her. But at last, they finally got a good photo with all of them, even after Minnie kept blinking. It was a miracle they even had enough time to take all the pictures their parents made them stand for.
From the corner of her eyes, Miyeon saw Taemin and Jieun begin to approach them. Most likely coming over to graduate their daughter on graduation, but no. Taemin made eye contact with her and started walking over. The grip she held on Minnie’s hand slowly got tighter, pulling Minnie’s attention towards her.
“Wha-” And then she saw it, the mortified look on her girlfriend’s face. Pushing Miyeon behind her as to shield from the pure evil coming towards them.
“Uhh, Miyeo-” Was all he could say before Minnie’s fist went careening into his nose, sending him flying backward.
Miyeon expected many things, but she didn’t expect Minnie to punch him. The loud boisterous laugh erupting from Soyeon couldn’t be missed, when she saw the Thai girl sock her dad in the face. Soojin and Shuhua were subtlely cheering in the background and Yuqi was giggling so hard she started snorting.
Taemin yelped out in pain, clutching his freshly broken nose dripping a few drops of blood. And Minnie winced from the impact her fist took, quickly shaking it and pulling Miyeon out of the building as fast as her legs could take her. Everyone around them was shell shocked, speechless at the scene of head section leader Jeon Taemin being taken out by a teenage girl. Soyeon was unable to control her laughter as her mom scolded her.
Miyeon held a hand over her mouth, trying to suppress her own laughter as Minnie dragged her to the roof of the school.
“You didn’t have to do that, pabo.” Miyeon grabbed Minnie’s bleeding hand and applied a bandaid onto her bleeding knuckles. Her fist slightly clipped Taemin’s tooth as a by-product of breaking his nose.
“I wanted to!” She puffed up her chest in pride. “Plus he deserved it,” Minnie muttered under her breath, immediately softening under Miyeon’s undivided attention.
“Idiot,” Miyeon kisses her on the cheek after tending to her wound.
“Can we just stay up here?” Minnie looked at her expectantly. “I’m really not in the mood to get my ass kicked by my parents.”
“I guess, it’s not like I have anyone waiting for me anyway.” She pulled them to the small stoop on the roof where she used to eat her lunch before she figured out there was an abandoned music room in the literature building.
There they sat, spending their graduation watching the sunset over their school. The sea of students carrying bouquets of flowers and wearing the same purple sash they had on could be seen bellow, gathering with their friends for a fun night out. Resting her head on Minnie’s shoulder as they dangled their feet off the edge of the building.
“Wow, we did it. We graduated.” She finally let out, Miyeon nodding against her. “Did you like it? High school, I mean.”
“Not really,” She said with bated breath. “I didn’t have anything to look forward too for such a long time,”
“Mmm,” Her girlfriend hummed in acknowledgment.
“I didn’t have any friends, any interests, but now I have you guys. And as cheesy as it sounds, you guys brought the best out of me.”
The sky set into a nice shade of pinkish-orange, clouds obscuring the dimming sun, Minnie felt content with her being. Their black graduation gowns forgotten behind them and the peaceful cooling spring breeze was the only thing feining against their existence at this moment. It was like they were in their own little world, upon the empty rooftop. Looking down at the little people, the little cars, as if nothing could touch them only the sweet rays raining down on their youthful skin.
“Let’s just stay like this,” she sighed. “Just until the sun sets.”
“Anything for you, Cho Miyeon.” Minnie smiled in return.