Stay

102 | Cupid And Penguin

— B H U W A K U L —
f i r s t
p e r s o n .

“Mina, I swear, you're gonna love it,” I beamed, trying to convince Mina that we should eat out with TWICE and GOT7 next week at this new eatery I've discovered. But for now, we're heading to a bake shop Mingyu recommended.

Mina sarcastically groaned, but she chuckled afterwards. “Well, if it's just me and you, there'd be no prob. But if I have to take my members with me, then we have a prob.”

I began to pout, steering the wheel to the left to make a swift turn. Yes, I was driving Mina to the bake shop since she texted me earlier, saying that she craved cake.

Somehow, I've grown a fond of her, and I'm lucky that she became my bestfriend now. Still, I had this odd feeling whenever we address each other as bestfriends.

“Oh, c'mon. It'd be so much fun. It's been a while since our groups last hung out,” I still tried to convince her.

She thought for a while, her visage plastering discomfort. Hm, I wonder why she doesn't want to take her members with her?

Seeing how uncomfortable she was, I decided to shift the topic right away. “Mina–yah, so . . . you remember about the party that JYP's going to throw, right?”

Mina shifted her gaze onto me, thinking for a moment. “The one next week?” she asked, and I hummed a yes. “Oh, yeah. The girls and I are going to attend. What about it?”

I gripped on my steering wheel, a little harder than I thought. I used one hand to loosen my collar before glancing at her from time to time.

“I was thinking . . .” I cleared my throat. Why am I even acting like this all of the sudden? It's just Mina, my food buddy. Right?

“Yes?”

“Well, uh.” I didn't know how to start. “So Mark hyung asked Sana, and Jinyoung hyung was thinking of asking Nayeon noona . . .”

“Uh–huh?” She smiled, leaning forward to me a bit, as if she was excitedly awaiting for what I was going to say next.

Geez, why am I feeling all fuzzed up about this? “So, I thought of asking you,” I finally said.

She bit her bottom lip, gawking for a moment. “No way,” she suddenly said.

“W–wait, you mean, no? You can't?” I asked, feeling dejected already.

“No, no, silly. I just——well, can you make your words clearer, at least?” Mina huffed a sigh.

I glanced to the left and also the right side mirrors, just to see if there were any cars behind me. And so, once the coast was clear, I parked my car at the side for a moment.

Garnering some courage, I turned my body towards her, and she seemed surprised. “Right, I think I didn't make myself clear. My fault.” I stroked my fingers through my hair. “Mina–yah, would you be my date to the party next week——?”

“I do!” she beamed, suddenly calming down, clearing her throat. She and I exchanged confused looks, and so she spoke up again. “I mean, yeah, that'd be cool.”

I chuckled, finding her rather cute. “Yugyeom mentioned about asking you, but I begged to differ.”

“I would prefer going to the party with you, anyway . . .” she mumbled, fiddling with her top.