What are we?

5

Jeongyeon's nerves intensified as she watched the minutes tick away on her phone, the glow of 11:59 pm casting an anxious atmosphere. Clutching the wrapped Nintendo Switch even tighter, her heartbeat echoed in sync with each passing second.

She always greets Mina at exactly 12am on the Japanese girl's birthday. It used to be easy and fun, but not today. Mina does not talk to her when they are completely alone, a far cry from what they used to be.

She eyed the small brown teddy bear beside her, she bought it yesterday from a stall near the school. It can record messages, and Jeongyeon recorded her message in that teddy bear for Mina. She used to write handwritten letters for the girl. But she wanted to make this birthday extra special, since she not going to lie, she is hoping for their reconciliation.

Jeongyeon sighed, and eyed Mina from the bed across from her. The girl's back is facing her. She does not even know if the girl is still awake or has already fallen asleep.

12:00am, Jeongyeon's phone vibrated. The football player pursed her lips and stood up. Her eyes fixated on Mina. Should she wake the girl up? Jeongyeon walked towards Mina's bed and eyed the girl. She felt relieved to see Mina is already in deep sleep.

She couldn't help but smile as she stares at the girl's face. She's so beautiful. The person who will steal Mina's heart would be the luckiest person ever, and she hoped the girl will fall in love with a good person

Jeongyeon placed the nintendo switch and teddy bear on Mina's table. She glanced at Mina and before she go back to her bed, she placed a soft kiss on Mina's cheek, and then whispered, "Happy Birthday."

-

Mina woke up from the sound of the alarm that coming from her cellphone. She glanced at it and saw that there are some messages from Jihyo. The Japanese girl ignored those as she already know that it is a birthday greeting.

Mina rubbed her eyes to brush the sleep off of her system. As her eyes landed on her study table, her yawn stopped. There is a teddy bear and something that is wrapped in a blue gift wrap with white ribbon.

The Japanese girl automatically smiled at the sight of it, and knows exactly that it is from Jeongyeon. Though on the other hand, she felt a little guilty that she does not talk to the girl as frequent as they used to be, and there is a literal barrier between them. She knows Jeongyeon would never understand that it is to protect her heart from falling deeper in love with the football player.

But whenever she tried to say something to Jeongyeon, she always feel extremely awkward and scared. Mina sighed, and stood up from her bed, and sat on her study table.

There is a note at the chest of the teddy bear saying 'press me', with furrowed brows Mina pressed the teddy bear's body wherein she felt the button inside it and then Jeongyeon's voice echoed the room.

"Minari." Mina gulped at the sound of the football player's voice. "Uh... I know we are currently in a rough situation, but I want you to know that despite of what happened, I always love you." There was a pause on the recording, and Mina can now feel the lump inside her throat.

"Well, you're sixteen now," Jeongyeon chuckled. "You can now stop calling me eonnie." The girl continued, and Mina let out a soft chuckle.

"You're growing more and more beautiful in each passsing day, and I know there will be boys that will court you, but I know you are not an easy girl, because you're my sister. We were raised to be tough." Jeongyeon giggled.

But Mina felt the pain that struck deep inside her heart, she will always be Jeongyeon's baby sister, and Mina thinks it is about time she accept that sad fact and move on.