Chapter Text
Im Nayeon wanted so much to hate her friends. But they were dead.
And they left her the responsibility of their precious six month old daughter, Miyoung, whom Nayeon adored from afar. She was secretly appointed godmother alongside her sworn enemy from high school, Minatozaki Sana. They were in their thirties now, but the troubles ran deep.
Nayeon wishes she knew what the hell her friends were thinking when they anointed the two as godparents. They knew of the strained history, yet still pulled a stunt like this even from the grave.
“I bet it was Jeongyeon’s idea of a final prank on you.” Dahyun, another longtime friend of theirs, suggests. “One she didn’t think would actually happen.” She trails off after seeing the look of disbelief on Nayeon’s face.
“Why would they think that I’m capable of caring for Miyoung?”
Dahyun thinks this is a trick question. “Because you’re the richest one out of all of us? And Sana is a grade school teacher. She deals with kids for a living!”
Nayeon scoffs. “And that’s supposed to be the perfect pairing to care for a child?”
Another trick question, Dahyun thinks with a finger tapping her chin. “Yes?”
She throws her hands up, giving up. “You’re useless.”
It had only been a few days after the funeral when a lawyer showed up on her doorstep, telling Nayeon of her deceased friends’ wishes and changing the course of her life forever.
In a few days, Sana was to move into Nayeon’s house so they could co-parent Miyoung in a stable environment. Her safe and quiet neighborhood home versus Sana’s studio in the city. The choice was the easiest decision they had ever made and the only one they agreed on.
Nayeon liked kids fine, but she never thought to have her own in life, let alone ever get married. She loved being independent, not having to depend on someone. It wasn’t pitiful, it was her choice.
“Nayeon.” She felt Dahyun’s hand on her wrist, reeling her back down to earth. “You’ll be great.” Leave it to Dahyun to notice the underlying worry swimming in Nayeon’s eyes.
Because to be quite honest, Nayeon was a lot more worried about getting along with Sana for the baby’s sake.
~
A drink slid across the white marble tabletop towards Nayeon. She vividly recalls telling her friend that she wasn’t drinking tonight.
“Momo, I have to be up early in the morning, remember?”
“And yet you still came out with me tonight.” Hirai Momo, a friend she made through her job. Nayeon dealt in selling priceless modern artwork to the highest bidder. It wasn’t shady work, but, she made sure to get the best security system for her home. “Relax. Have one last drink before you become a mom.”
Nayeon snatched the drink, downing half of it in one go. Momo’s left eyebrow rises ever so slightly. “Never say that again.”
“Is Sana hot?”
Of course Momo asks this when Nayeon is mid sip. She spits out her drink, unceremoniously wiping her mouth with the back of her sleeve. “What the hell?”
Momo holds her hands up in defense. “It’s an honest question.” Nayeon all but growls in response. She did not want to answer that. “I’m dying to finally meet her.”
“Why would you want to meet the person who made my life a living hell during my formative years?”
“Are you sure she didn’t just have the hots for you? It would explain a lot.” Nayeon tries to refrain from surging forward to strangle her friend. “Why would your friends choose you two if they truly didn’t think it would work out?”
Nayeon slumps in her seat, sighing. “I’ve been asking myself that everyday now.”
Before the funeral, Nayeon would only run into Sana during parties thrown by their friends or Jeongyeon and Jihyo. And even then, she would avoid the other woman at all costs. She had witnessed Sana with the baby only once at the last party they were at.
It was Jihyo and Jeongyeon’s annual New Year’s Eve party and Nayeon was her usual level of drunk: teetering on the cusp of being sloppy. She had managed her way up the stairs and onto the second floor, stumbling around to find the bathroom at the end of the hall.
She hears a noise coming from the bedroom, the door slightly ajar. Nayeon nosily peeks through it, surprised at what she sees. Sana swaying back and forth on a chair, rocking Miyoung to sleep in her arms. The sight made something within Nayeon churn.
“Nayeon? Is that you?” Sana calls out quietly. Nayeon quickly shuts the door, her heart erratic from being caught staring. She realizes her mistake in being too loud when she hears Miyoung crying.
“Damn it.” Nayeon mumbles to herself. She was going to regret this.
She opens the door again and enters the room. She stands awkwardly, noticing now that Sana was up on her feet pacing with the crying baby. “D-Do you need any help?”
“Can you hand me her pacifier? It’s in the go bag.”
“Go bag?” Nayeon repeats dumbly.
“The pink square bag by the nightstand.” Nayeon successfully retrieves the green pacifier and hands it over. Miyoung’s cries come to a slow stop. “That’s better.”
Nayeon was in awe of how Sana just knew what to do. That natural instinct. She envied it.
~
Ecstatic didn’t even begin to describe how Minatozaki Sana felt when she got the news. She had always been Jeongyeon and Jihyo’s go-to babysitter, the baby whisperer so to speak. The love she had for Miyoung was immeasurable. She also likes to think that she is Miyoung’s favorite aunt.
It had been a tumultuous time since their deaths and Sana worried what would happen to Miyoung. Selfishly, she had hoped that there would be a way for her to adopt Miyoung so she could stay with someone familiar.
But being granted custody as the godmother in their will was only something she could conjure up in her wildest of dreams.
Sana packed up her entire studio apartment, leaving behind some boxes of things she didn’t need anymore and gotten too lazy to sell or donate. She didn’t really have much besides her wardrobe all stuffed in a duffel bag and her most prized possession: a bear plushie she received when she was a child.
“Farewell.” She took one last longing look around. Sana stepped out and closed the door, almost like she was ending a chapter in her life’s story. She would be entering a whole new chapter soon and it scared her, but it also gave her immense purpose.
Sana loved her friends, and she would do anything for them. Anything.
And out of respect for their wishes, Sana planned on setting aside her differences with Nayeon for the sake of the baby. She refuses to cause a problem that could potentially ruin this entire arrangement.
Sana pulled up into a long driveway, glancing down at the Maps app on her phone to double check that she indeed had the right address. She had never actually been to Nayeon’s house personally.
Well, their house now.
She tentatively knocks on the front door, not knowing what to expect, but what happens next wasn’t even on her list of thought up scenarios.
“You must be Sana!” A woman, seemingly around her age, wearing gray sweats and a cropped athletic top, opens the door. “I’m Momo. Nayeon has told me so much about you.”
“Momo! I told you not to answer the door!”
Sana’s ears perk up at Nayeon’s voice. She assumed that it was coming from upstairs, and her assumptions were proven to be true when Nayeon barreled down the stairs.
“Excuse my friend, she was just about to leave.”
Momo scoffs, shoving her feet into her shoes and grabbing her keys. She doesn’t spare another glance towards Nayeon, but she does unabashedly check Sana out. “See you around.”
Sana has no idea what to say to that, so she tries to muster up a friendly smile instead. Momo is barely out the door when Nayeon slams it shut. “Sorry about that.”
The air is awkward. “It’s no problem. She seemed nice.”
Nayeon groans, rolling her eyes. “You better not be saying that just because she was flirting with you.”
“She was?” Sana teased. “I couldn’t tell.” Her joke managed to get a chuckle out of Nayeon. Perhaps the first time Sana has ever gotten any positive emotion out of the other woman. While sober, that is.
“Um,” Nayeon gestures up the stairs where she had come down from not even five minutes ago. “I was just setting up your room before you got here.”
She follows Nayeon up, her eyes taking in the lack of surroundings. No personal photos lining the walls, instead there was just art. Scarce furniture here and there, but they looked brand new and unused. As if Nayeon had just gone splurging at Ikea that same day.
“Your room is right across the hall from mine.” Nayeon opens the door for her, but they stood still in the hallway. Sana notes how well the other woman is hiding her nerves, but she could tell from the way her hands shake. “And the room next door will be the nursery.”
Sana gulps ever so slightly. The realization was starting to creep up on her. “Crazy, right?” She whispers. “They really trusted us to take care of her.”
Nayeon averts her gaze. It was starting to dawn on her too, taking care of a child with someone she swore she would hate for the rest of her life. “Absolutely crazy.”
~
Nayeon and Sana sat quietly on the couch in the living room for an unknown amount of time, waiting for the social worker to arrive with Miyoung.
Afraid to speak and disturb the peace, Sana resorted to fidgeting with her hands. The anticipation was eating her alive. She didn’t even realize how obvious it was becoming until she felt a larger hand still hers. “Stop that.“
“I’m sorry.” Sana waited for Nayeon to immediately remove her hand from hers, but it remained still. She turned to look at the other woman. Nayeon’s gaze, distant, was fixated on a miniature sculpture that stood by the fireplace in front of them. Sana belatedly remembers Nayeon’s profession, the artwork around the house making sense now.
Sana glances back down at their joined hands. She feels a warmth spread, but she isn’t quite sure if it’s from comfort or nerves. Or both. Or none.
Before she could think about it for too long, the sound of the doorbell snaps them back to life.
They scramble to the entrance.
“Hello! You two must be Nayeon and Sana.”
“Yes!” They simultaneously answer. Nayeon opens the door wider and Miyoung makes a motion towards Sana. She wanted to be carried by her.
Sana moves to grab her, but stops herself. “Is it alright?” The social worker nods, handing over Miyoung. The baby squeals gleefully. Sana beams, and Nayeon’s heart lurches. She doesn’t remember the last time she’s held Miyoung.
“Since the house assessment is already done, I would just like to ask you two some questions.”
This is what Nayeon feared. Of all people, a social worker would definitely be able to sniff out the negative tension between the two. Although, Nayeon thinks they have been relatively alright so far.
They gather in the living room, Nayeon and Sana returning to the couch with Miyoung while the worker stayed standing. “Have you two planned out a schedule yet?”
“A schedule..?”
“Yes, a schedule. I’ve observed that it usually helps new parents get on their feet. A rhythm, so to speak.”
Nayeon and Sana exchange worried looks. “We haven’t yet.” Nayeon speaks. Sana turns back to Miyoung and makes a silly face. “But we will get right on that!”
“Brilliant.” The worker claps her hands together. “Just one last question. Who will be the main provider of the household?”
What a nice way to ask who makes more money between the two. “Me.” Nayeon says with no hesitation. She ignores the side glance Sana gives her. “We chose my house, after all.”
“Great! Well, I suppose that’s everything for now. I will come over and check in every few weeks for the next couple of months.” The social worker starts to walk back to the door, waving goodbye to Miyoung.
Nayeon swiftly gets up to get the door for her. “That’s it?”
The worker nods. “For now.” She steps out of the house. “Good luck!”
Good luck?
Nayeon breathes a sigh of relief. Now she can relax knowing that Miyoung is finally here and safe with them. “Do you want to say hi to Auntie Nayeon?” She hears Sana ask Miyoung in a tone reserved for babies. It was admittedly kind of sweet. Cute.
“Hi, sweetheart.” Nayeon pouts, opening her arms and expecting a hug. What she gets is baby spit all over her face. Sana’s loud cackle is enough to send her into a laughing fit too. “It’s good to see you too!”
~
“How’s it going?”
Sana quietly closes the door to her new room. Nayeon had taken over on baby watch, giving her a break to relax for a bit. She was hesitant to leave Miyoung alone with Nayeon, but she was fast asleep in her crib.
“It’s going alright.”
Myoui Mina, another friend of theirs, had called to check in. She worked overseas and only came back for the funeral and couldn’t stay longer to help out. Mina was always the calm, level-headed bridge between Nayeon and Sana.
“How’s Nayeon doing?”
Sana scoffs lightly. “She’s managing. Her house is huge.” Mina’s laugh floats through the speaker.
“You two better be getting along. Fake it until you make it. Do whatever you need to do to make this work. It’s for Miyoung.”
Sana knows this. She sighs. “I know, Mina. I’m still wrapping my head around everything.”
She spends the next five minutes catching up with Mina, begging her to come visit them soon, whining about how she will no longer have a social life.
“So you would choose a shot of tequila at a club over Miyoung?”
Sana is aghast. “No! Do not get my words twisted, Myoui Mina!”
After some time passes, Sana starts to get uneasy by the utter quietness of the house. “Hey, I should probably get going.”
“I’ll come around soon. Goodnight Sana, and tell Nayeon I said hello too.”
She hangs up and makes her way back to the nursery next door. Sana thinks Nayeon purposely put the nursery in the room right next to hers, but there would be no point in calling that out. It would only cause an unnecessary argument.
Opening the door, she softly gasps at the sweet sight of Nayeon singing a quiet lullaby to Miyoung. Her back was to her, having no idea that Sana had just entered the room. She leaned against the door frame, content in watching the rare moment.
Sana could tell Nayeon was tired too, with the way that she was starting to doze off in the middle of humming.
“Nayeon?” The woman in question jolts alive. Sana sort of regrets disturbing the peacefulness, but it was starting to make her feel uneasy. She wasn’t used to feeling peacefulness around Im Nayeon.
“Yeah?” She grogs out.
“I could take over if you want to get some sleep?”
Nayeon ignores her. “Should we put a bed for us here? In case we want to be closer to her throughout the night?” Her eyes are glossy, exhaustion and delirium definitely hitting her. Why would she be thinking about sharing a bed?! “I mean, we wouldn’t be sleeping together. We’ll take shifts.”
It was like she read Sana’s mind. Heat creeps up her neck. Nayeon seems to have grasped onto some sense of reality, because she clears her throat awkwardly. “It was just a thought.”
“No, it’s- it’s a good idea. We should probably stay with her until she gets bigger.”
Nayeon nods lightly. “Let’s go to Ikea tomorrow.” Sana thinks this feels a bit too domestic too fast, but she keeps her thoughts to herself. “By the way, when do you have to return to work?”
Sana hasn’t even given her job a second thought since the passing of her friends. Miyoung’s parents. Oh god. “Hey, are you alright?” She lowers herself onto the floor next to Nayeon. Her heart begins to race with panic.
“They’re really gone.”
A silence washes over them. The moonlight seeps through the cracks of the window blinds. Only the sound of a baby’s light snore. Then, Sana feels a hand wrap around hers, like earlier.
Sana knows that Nayeon gets it, they were all close friends with Jihyo and Jeongyen for decades. They grew up together through all the good, the bad, and the ugly. And all the beautiful moments too.
Miyoung’s birth.
Nayeon knows her words can never amount, so she stays silent, hoping and praying that Sana can feel it through her actions.