Summary:
Mina and Chaeyoung have always been the best of friends but a falling out near Burger King might've just ruined their chances of becoming more than that.
Many years later, they meet again.
—
2008
Mina was opening a can of Spam when she heard a series of impatient knocks on their front door. She almost dropped the can opener due to the sudden disturbance. She wasn't expecting any friends over and her parents already left her a note that says they'll be staying late at their convenience store in town, as per usual.
"Hold on a second!" She yells to whoever was the cause of the unwanted noise just moments ago as she grips a frying pan holding it behind her back using her left hand. She opens the door slowly while she held her breath and braced herself for the worst: a burglar, a murderer, the milkman who was obviously always chugging milk making him prone to regularly asking to use their bathroom and leaving a smell so pungent or worse Ronald Mcdonald. She shudders at the thought but soon stops when a slightly smaller girl comes into view in front of her looking at everything and anything but Mina.
"U-uhm," the shy girl managed to croaked out, still not looking at Mina. The taller girl stifles a laugh and gestures for her to continue with her left hand, forgetting it was holding a frying pan as of the moment. The girl then backs away with wide eyes full of fear and her hands in a "karate chop" pose.
"I can explain why I'm holding a frying pan right now. I promise I'm not a freak." Mina says in a rushed manner eager to defend her innocence. The smaller girl just nods albeit a little unconvinced but continues where she left off as Mina puts away the frying pan placing it on the table beside their front door.
"I-I'm Chaeyoung, your next door neighbor and my mom asked me. No not asked more like forced me to come here and ask if you'd like to join us for dinner. We're having Kimchi-jjigae and I'm pretty sure we're going to have leftovers which my mom makes me bring to school in a thermos and nobody ever talks to the kid with thermos sou-"
Mina slammed the door on Chaeyoung's face only to open it after a few seconds. She was then met with a visibly confused smaller girl with her jaw slacked and her eyebrows furrowed which only scrunched up more when she saw that Mina was giggling to herself.
"Did you just shut the door in my face?" she asked in a disbelieving tone. Mina nods as she locks the door behind her and pulls Chaeyoung with her towards the smaller girl's house.
"I'm Mina by the way and you know what? I'd still talk to you in school even if you had thermos soup."
Chaeyoung lets out a snort and Mina decides that this girl was the most adorable human being she has ever met.
2010
Mina stayed more in the Son's household than she did in their own house. She even has spare clothes inside Chaeyoung's closet for when she stays the night, a toothbrush inside their family bathroom and their fridge was stocked with Mina's favorite yogurt drink.
"Minari! Hurry up! The movie's about to start!" Cecille, Chaeyoung's mother, calls out for her as the three, Chaeyoung, her mother and her father, got comfortable on the couch. They were about to watch "Forrest Gump", the family's favorite movie of all time. Mina rushes in and takes a seat beside Chaeyoung and in the middle of the two grown-ups.
Mina and Cecille have memorized every dialogue in the movie and would recite it at the same time the character's would earning a loving gaze from Chaeyoung and Robert, her father.
Cecille was a free spirit despite being a hands-on mother she was also an artist who would paint on her free time and sell paintings online but only to those she deemed worthy enough. She was also a theatre actress, playing shows on their local theatre in town.
