now and forevermore. || michaeng au

(i apologize if i write some wrong-ish things, just based this story on some.. kind of real-ish imagination i had)

the bell rings.

"alright, class, see you on monday," their professor said, "congratulations on your last day of school!"

it was a nice friday that day, the skies going pink with the sun setting, and the fresh breeze of winter soaring around the environment. mina zipped her bag shut, while her seatmate, and best friend, chaeyoung, was using her phone. their classmates were chatting around and preparing to leave the room as their subject teacher exited the class. a silence surrounding the two students disappeared when nayeon, who had just finished arranging her locker, spoke up.

"we need to go to the mall tomorrow. girls hang out before graduation!" nayeon cheered, hiding her lock in her school bag.

"yesssss! i've been wanting that for so long!" sana exclaimed, "who else is gonna come?"

"i'll definitely be there," momo grinned.

"me too," said jeongyeon, who had her arms wrapped around nayeon.

"should we invite the others from the other section? like jihyo and dahyun?" nayeon asked.

"go ahead, the more, the merrier, they say!" sana's lips formed a small smile, as they all now had their eyes on chaeyoung and mina.

"how about you two? and tzuyu?" jeongyeon questioned the three.

"yeah, i'll come tomorrow," chaeyoung answered, placing her phone down to face the other girls.

"of course," tzuyu replied to her.

"mina?"

"i'm not sure if i can go tomorrow, my parents have some business to attend to, and i need to come with them.." mina paused, "er.. sorry. i'll make it up to you girls next time."

"it's alright, mina, we understand. and we'll make sure to get that stuffed penguin you kept on staring at the other day," sana assured her friend.

minutes passed so swiftly as they all enjoyed their conversation. well, most. chaeyoung, on the other hand, was staring at her desk, deep in her own thoughts. the short girl was anxious, terribly so. she wanted to confess to her crush (more of a 'i've fallen in love with you'), myoui mina, her seatmate, classmate, and best friend before they separate after graduation. but with the extreme fear of rejection, and more, another friendship broken, she thought to just write a letter instead. that way, in the future, when she moves on with this 'little crush-ish phase' and reads the letter again, she'd realize how stupid she was in the past to feel something like that to your own best friend. it's wrong, it feels so bad. something oh-so-small like that could ruin a friendship, and chaeyoung didn't want that. she had this desperation to confess but had to keep her feelings to herself. as if she'd have hope or a high chance of mina liking her back.

of course, mina, which chaeyoung had assumed correctly, has a crush on a guy. the slightly taller girl had used this guy crush that she has as a topic for most of her conversations with chaeyoung. the chances for her to get liked back kept on dropping lower and lower. although, chaeyoung, who was trying to become the best kind of best friend, tried to be supportive despite mere jealousy. mina's feelings for that guy weren't feigned, and chaeyoung's feelings for mina weren't feigned either. the thought kept on messing with her head.

the only thing that could keep her neutral and sane was her own imagination. what ifs on the person she had fallen in love with liking her back. their joyful moments together. although this was reality, chaeyoung had to stick to the truth most of the time to not let herself fall harder. it was silly, really, having feelings like this and invalidating and rejecting yourself in every aspect. the truth was difficult to face. mina was her best friend, and she knows that mina only likes her as a mere best friend, nothing more than that.