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Jimin started eating lunch with them a week later.  Every day he and Nina sat silently side by side as Tae and Mina chatted away.  The table would’ve been completely silent if the two of them hadn’t been talking.

“Niiiinnnnaaaaa,” Mina whined one day as they sat on their beds doing their own thing. “When are you and Jimin gonna start dating?  We can’t do double dates until you guys become official!”

“Me?  Jimin?  Dating?” Nina snorted. “Nope.  Not gonna happen.”

“But don’t you like him?” Mina asked, a bit confused.

Nina sighed and nodded. “I do…but…”

“But?”

“It’s obvious he doesn’t like me back.”

Mina just stared at her for a few minutes. “Wh-what?” she burst out laughing. “Nina-” she was cut off by another laugh. “Have you seen the way he looks at you?  He’s whipped!”

Nina watched as Mina rolled off her bed laughing and shook her head. “He doesn’t like me.  If he did, wouldn’t he have asked me out by now?”

Mina sat up and looked up at Nina. “Nini, not every guy is as brave as Tae was in sixth grade.  Honestly, I think now even he wouldn’t be that bold.  And Jimin seems a bit shy.  Maybe…you should make the first move?”

Nina furrowed her brow and pouted. “But what if he rejects me?”

Mina shrugged. “At least you won’t wonder if he likes you back or not.”

Nina sighed. “All right…I’ll give it shot I guess.”

——————–

Nina practically avoided Jimin for days.  She wasn’t sure how to confess to him, and even just being around him made her nervous.  She made excuses to not join them at lunch, and she strategically avoided him after school too.

Eventually, Mina got onto her about it again.

“Nina, stop avoiding Jimin.”

“I’m not!  What do you mean?”

“Ever since I told you to confess to him!  You’ve skipped lunch with us, and you’ve been hiding after school.  I think Jimin thinks he did something wrong.”

Nina sighed. “But I don’t know if I can confess to him…”

“Well, if you confess and he rejects you, it will probably have about the same effect that avoiding him has had.  You’d still be avoiding him.  So…why don’t you try?  You have nothing to lose at this point.”

Nina chewed on her nail. “But…I’m nervous.”

Mina let out an exasperated sigh. “Yeah.  Get over it and go confess to him!”

Nina just stared at her.  She began to speak again, but Mina cut her off.

“I don’t want any more ‘buts’.  You just need to do it and get it over with.”

Nina sighed. “Fine…”

——————–

Another week had gone by and it was clear Nina wasn’t going to say anything.  So Mina took matters into her own hands.

“Tae, do you want to go the amusement park this weekend?  We can take Nina and Jimin with us,” Mina exclaimed loudly, gesturing to the two silent teenagers sitting across from them.

Tae’s eyes widened in excitement. “Ooo!  Sounds fun!  I’m in!”

He and Mina looked over at Nina and Jimin expectantly.

Nina nodded. “Sure, why not?”

They all looked over at Jimin now.

“I think I’m free.”

Mina grinned. “Great!”