Being a photographer is Nayeon’s dream and even though she’s done it for years now, her passion for the hobby never dimmed.
Nayeon was taking a vacation, the scenery of Seoul had bored her after she spent her whole life there and frankly, nothing sparked her flame anymore so that’s why she is here, in Hawaii, looking for a new muse.
She had nothing planned for this trip as it was a last minute decision to not let her break go to waste. Coming here was a good idea after all.
It was way past midnight; she couldn’t sleep nor did she feel tired. She blamed it all on the excitement of the trip and since she got a lot of sleep when she first arrived in the afternoon, she figured that contributed to it as well. Just as the clock struck 5, she dressed up and grabbed her camera, wanting to capture the early morning beauty.
Just as she was walking through the sandy beach of Hawaii, the scene of the sun coming up behind the shoreline and the orange sky captured her attention. It was beautiful with the low whistle from the ocean accompanying the sound of the bird flying around.
She lifted her camera up, planning to capture the beautiful moment in front of her, then clicked. When she checked the photo again, she noticed a figure of a woman to the side of the photo.
She had a long dress stopped right before it hit the ground, her entire back was exposed except for the intricate strings that roamed across it. Nayeon could barely make out her face but her side profile was really pretty.
Rather than ruining the photo, Nayeon thought she enchants it even more. She looked up, trying to spot the woman that was in her photo. She could see a figure looking at the sunset in the corner of her eyes and before she had time to think about her next move, her feet already led her to where the woman is.
The woman turned toward her, surely hearing her footsteps. Her eyes displayed confusion but there was a spark of interest behind the initial confusion. Nayeon wore her bunny smile and tried to appear as confident as possible despite her nervousness. Pretty girls always make her nervous.
Now that Nayeon was in front of her, she could finally see how breathtaking the stranger is, the gentle slope of her nose, her big eyes and her constellation of moles.
“Hello, my name is Nayeon.” Nayeon said before extending her hand out, asking for a handshake. She could see a smile tugging at the stranger’s lips and finally she grasped her hand again.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Mina.” Now Nayeon could put a name to the pretty face.
“A pretty name for a pretty girl.” Before she could even stop herself, it was already out of her mouth. She could feel the embarrassment creeping in because that’s such an old pick up line but she suppressed it down and tried to appear confident anyway. A smile spread on Mina’s lips and Nayeon thought about how strange it was, to have her heart do somersaults just from her smile alone.
“Why, thank you.” Nayeon barely picked up the sound of her giggle because it was so soft but she heard it anyway and she thought it was the most beautiful giggle ever.
Before she could think more about how pretty Mina’s smile and how beautiful her giggle sound, Mina brought her out of her trance by the sound of her voice alone.
“I assume you didn’t approach me just to ask for my name?” Nayeon smiled the biggest smile she ever had, even her eyes turned into little moons.
“I am a photographer and while I was taking a picture of the sunrise, I didn’t notice you so the picture I took has you in it. I hope you don’t mind?” Mina looked amused and Nayeon thought she might get away with the stranger’s photo.
“Show it to me.” Wordlessly, Nayeon showed Mina the photo that she took. She wasn’t sure why but if Mina granted her permission after this, she would be happy to show her again and again.
“Wow, you are a talented photographer. Anyway, I look good here. You can keep the photo,” before Nayeon could rejoice, Mina interrupted her again, “on one condition only.” Nayeon looked confused but she nodded anyway.
“Take me out on a date first.” Mina said with a smirk on her pretty face. Nayeon couldn’t even register what she said until a finger touched her cheek.
“Y-yes, sure.” Without a second thought, she agreed. After she agreed, she finally registered the whole situation. A pretty girl just asked her to take her out on a date. Nayeon smiled to herself, she really has a lot of charms, huh. As quickly as her confidence disappeared, it already came back and she wouldn’t back down from the flirting that this woman directed at her.
“Well, beautiful, how about you give me your number first so I could contact you for our date?” Nayeon took out her phone and held it out for Mina to take it and type in her phone number.
After it was done, Mina gave it back with a small smile. “Well, contact me whenever you have a date, I gotta go now, bye cutie.” And she walked away.
Nayeon was sure that the trip was already worth it.
After a day of dilemma, Nayeon finally texted Mina and arranged a meeting. Even though she is nervous about the whole thing, she was not going to pass up on a date with a cute girl.
After a quick “Okay.” from Mina, the date was arranged.
Nayeon might have come a bit early, too early in fact. The ‘date’ wasn’t anything fancy, just a dinner at one of the local restaurants here. They were supposed to meet at 5:00 but Nayeon went ahead and came at 4:00.
Just as the clock struck 4:30, Mina arrived. Nayeon took Mina’s appearance in and she almost swooned but she caught herself before she let that happen.
Mina’s outfit wasn’t anything fancy. It was just a white summer dress that went down to her knees. It gave off a different feel from the outfit Nayeon first met her in. Nayeon didn’t dare to put anything too fancy on as well, she didn’t want to be seen as trying too hard.
She waved her hand up the air and just as Mina spotted her, a smile spread across her beautiful face. Mina walked toward her and Nayeon noticed how whenever Mina walked, it looked as if she was waddling. It made Mina look like a little penguin.
When Mina arrived at the table and settled down, Nayeon couldn’t help but blurted out. “Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?”
A shy smile appeared on Mina’s face and a red hue appeared on her cheeks. Nayeon thought that the blush made Mina look cuter than she already does. Before Nayeon could even say anything else, Mina composed herself and replied back. “Well, you don’t look too bad yourself.”
Now this time, it was Nayeon’s turn to blush. The compliment wasn’t anything she didn’t hear before because she is definitely an attractive woman as well but when Mina said it, the heat came up to her cheeks. She blamed it on the fact that she is definitely attracted to this woman that she met yesterday.
“Well, you arrive early. Eager much?” Nayeon said to change the topic and there was a teasing tone to her question.
“I can say the same to you. You arrive even earlier than me.” A laugh erupted out of Nayeon and she shook her head playfully.
“Fair enough. How about we order now?” Mina nodded and they called the waiter over to take their order.
“By the way, you aren’t from here, right?” Nayeon asked after the waiter went away.
“Yeah, aside from the fact that my name isn’t common here. What gives it away?”
“You have a very recognizable accent whenever you speak english. Where are you from?”
“Well, I’m japanese, if that isn’t obvious enough. You are Korean, right?” Nayeon was surprised and she was sure that it was evident on her face because Mina laughed and Nayeon swore she isn’t swooning but she definitely is.
“Your name gave it away and your clothes are Korean brand.” Then it felt like a light bulb lit up in Nayeon’s brain.
“You are from Korea too?” Mina nodded and Nayeon felt like she really is the universe’s favorite. What are the chances that the woman she felt attracted to whom she met in Hawaii was from the same place as she was.
Before Nayeon could ask more, the food had already arrived. She decided to not ask anything more and savor the food first.
The dinner went pretty well. The food was delicious and Mina was a great company to be around. Nayeon would say that the date was a success.
After paying the bill—they fought the entire time on who would pay but Nayeon somehow managed to win after using the age card—they were standing in front of the restaurant. Nayeon wasn’t sure if it was appropriate to ask Mina if she can walk her home. It was only the second time they met after all.
After another minute of awkward silence in the deafening cold, Mina finally broke it. “So i guess this is where we say goodbye?” Nayeon smiled awkwardly and she decided to go for it.
“How about I walk you home? If you want to, of course.” Nayeon said that so softly that she was afraid that Mina wouldn’t hear it but thankfully she did. Mina gave her such a warm smile that Nayeon didn’t even feel the cold air of the night time.
God, i fall too fast
Mina gave her a nod and she waited for Mina to walk before following behind her, since she didn’t know where Mina’s place was after afterall.
“You are staying at a hotel, right?” Nayeon blurted out randomly during the walk. Since Mina did tell her that she was just having a vacation here, it would make sense for her to stay at a hotel after all.
“Yep, I'm staying at a hotel; although, I frequent this place enough to buy a house here but I don't want to.” Nayeon quietly hummed to herself. She was enjoying the comfort that they both are encased in.
After 20 minutes of walking, they arrived at Mina's hotel. Which, coincidentally enough, is the same hotel Nayeon is staying in. No wonder they ran into each other at the beach.
“What floor are you staying on again?” Nayeon asked while they were walking through the lobby. It wasn’t that late yet but the lobby was deprived of anyone but the staff.
“5th floor.” Just then, the elevator arrived and Nayeon pressed the floor Mina stayed on.
“There are just two floor differences between your floor and mine but I want to see you go back to your room first anyway. A pretty lady shouldn’t walk by herself at night.” Nayeon had a cheeky smile on her face and being this caring toward someone she just met was never in her nature and she might have wanted to keep seeing Mina just a little longer.
“Just say you want to be with me, no need for excuses, you know.” Just as Mina finished, she could see a blush forming on Nayeon's face. Bingo, she hit the bullseye.
“Aww, you are getting shy. The red hue suit you.'' Instead of getting back at Mina, Nayeon decided to just keep quiet to save herself from further embarrassment. Mina did say the truth after all, she didn’t know how to counter that.
Just then, the elevator dinged, meaning they arrived at their designated floor. Mina stepped off and Nayeon followed. She didn’t know why she was still following her. Mina has already arrived at her floor but they haven’t said their goodbye yet.
“This is my room,” Mina said, unlocking the door with her keycard then she turned to Nayeon. “thank you for bringing me all the way up to my room.”
The door opened and before Nayeon said anything back, a soft warm pair of lips were on her cheeks. “Goodbye, tonight was fun.” Mina said but before she closed the door fully, Nayeon could see a glimpse of the blush dusting Mina’s cheeks. She thought her own face might be red like her too. A warm feeling enclosing her whole body as she walked back to the elevator.
Welp, I'm in too deep, aren’t i? And it is only the first date.
When they met again after that date, it wasn’t planned at all. The day after the date, Nayeon decided to go to the beach to have some fun and who knew she would meet Mina there. They didn’t talk through text at all except for saying goodnight.
Nayeon was walking through the sandy beach when she spotted Mina playing with water at the shore. And somehow like Mina knew someone was staring at her, Mina returned her gaze. They had a stare off for a bit before Nayeon decided to walk toward Mina.
“Hey there, fancy seeing you here.” Nayeon greeted him with a wave.
“Well, i didn’t expect to see you here but it is a nice surprise.”
“Since you already welcome my company, how about we go play in the water?” Without waiting for Mina’s confirmation, Nayeon grasped Mina’s hand and dragged her into the ocean. If Nayeon had looked back, she would see Mina with a smile on her face.
It didn’t take long before they were far away from the shore where they couldn’t touch the floor with their feet anymore. Mina didn’t seem fazed by the deep water and although Nayeon did drag them this deep, she was nervous. She wasn’t a good swimmer after all but she tried not to show it.
Somehow she didn’t notice that Mina swam toward her, once she did notice, Mina was already in her personal space. Mina was generally hard to read in general and the smirk on Mina’s face wasn’t helping Nayeon’s nervousness.
“Don’t tell me you drag us all the way here but you are scared of the ocean?” Mina teasingly said.
“I’m not scared of the ocean! Shut it. Where did you even get that from?!”
“Oh my god, you are, aren’t you?” Mina said, then burst out laughing. Nayeon couldn’t take the teasing and push Mina away from her. After the initial splash of water disappeared, Mina was nowhere to be seen.
Nayeon was about to shout when something like a hand pulled her down. Just as she was flailing her arms around, a pair of hands wrapped around her torso and pulled her upward. When she was out of the water, she smacked the hands that were keeping her afloat as hard as she could.
“Gosh! Why did you do that? I was getting worried, you idiot.” Nayeon said out loud and this might be the first time Mina heard Nayeon speak this loud. Even though Nayeon appeared mad, Mina couldn’t help but laugh at how cute Nayeon looked with her cheeks puffing out like a hamster.
“You are so cute and you are such a baby. Look, we are okay now. I’m sorry, okay?” Mina said after she calmed down from her laughter and she received nothing but a nod from Nayeon. She peeked her head forward and saw a red hue forming on Nayeon’s face but she decided to not comment on it.
“But you are cuter... Especially when you laugh.'' Nayeon couldn’t help but mumble the words under her breath. Mina heard it clearly even though she wasn’t meant to hear it and maybe, her heart skipped a beat.
Still, she didn’t manage to erase all the evidence as a gummy smile quickly appeared on her face after Nayeon’s words. Nayeon turned her head just in time to see it and she was sure that there was no smile that would be as beautiful as Mina's gummy smile.
Mina decided on changing the topic to avoid further embarrassment (for her and Nayeon). “You are such a scaredy cat.”
“It’s not my fault someone thinks it is a good idea to drag me into the ocean.” Nayeon retorted back and Mina thought she had some point but she didn't want to lose this argument.
After more minutes of bickering, Nayeon decided to let Mina win. She was too whipped for the woman already. Still she didn’t want to admit how Mina's arms that were around her torso the entire time make her feel protected and warm on the inside like nothing will harm her when Mina is with her.
After they got back to the shore, Nayeon convinced Mina to build a sandcastle with her. It was such a childish thing to do but Mina found it so endearing like with all of Nayeon’s little traits.
How she could light up the room with just her smile alone, how she could bring endless warmth to Mina with just a simple touch, how she always pouted and puffed her cheeks whenever things didn't go her way. All her quirks were so adorable and just so Nayeon. They only knew each other a few days ago but Mina felt like she knew Nayeon for a lifetime already.
They did try to build a sandcastle, keyword try. Their sandcastle wasn’t the best but they had fun and the sandcastle was the result of that until a particular big wave crashed into them and the castle got destroyed.
Mina could already see the pout gracing Nayeon's face and she wanted to do nothing more than to kiss it away but that would be too fast. Nayeon turned to Mina and she could already hear the whine heading her way.
“Mina, our hard work is gone now. That stupid ocean!” Mina couldn’t help but laugh at Nayeon. She was acting so cute. Although Nayeon’s whine was adorable, it was too loud for Mina so she grasped Nayeon’s hand and pulled her toward her body and wrapped Nayeon in a warm hug. She could hear a gasp escaping Nayeon’s lips and that was all that Mina needed to know that Nayeon loved affection.
Mina promised to help Nayeon build it again then she could feel Nayeon wrapping her arms around her torso. Mina didn’t know how a hug could feel so protective.
They stayed at the beach til sunset where they decided to head back to their hotel. While on the way there, no one talked much. They were enveloped in their own bubble, no one dared to break it.
Just like before, Nayeon walked Mina until they arrived in front of Mina's room. Nayeon wondered if she would get a kiss again this time. Contrary to what she expected, she didn’t get anything.
“You are such a flatterer.” Mina said with a cheeky smile before the door was finally closed. Nayeon wouldn’t admit it but the whole way to her room (and her entire night) she was thinking about what Mina meant by that.
Then when she woke up the next morning, it dawned on her. Mina must have heard her say Mina is cuter. She couldn’t believe how loud the scream she let out was.
It went on for about a month. They went on little dates here and there then Nayeon would walk Mina back home. They never passed the cheek kiss surprisingly enough. Mina never initiated and Nayeon was too much of a coward to make the first move but not this time.
Their little getaway was about to come to an end. Nayeon was supposed to get to work again the next few days while Mina was the next week. Before their time ends, Nayeon was determined to ask Mina to be her girlfriend.
She didn’t have any idea on how she could ask Mina to be her girlfriend but she was determined to do it. She couldn’t think of a plan and decided to call and ask her friend Park Jihyo, on what to do. The tiny woman was already in a stable relationship with yoo jeongyeon for years already.
After a quick scolding from Jihyo on how she wore her heart on her sleeve, Jihyo told her to just be herself and ask Mina out but Nayeon couldn’t do just that. She wanted Mina to have a good memory of their time together in Hawaii even if Mina did reject her, which is highly unlikely since Mina seems to be into Nayeon just as much as the nation was into her.
Nayeon didn’t want to admit it but all her plans sucked so she decided to just wing it and hope for the best.
She went up to Mina's room and knocked on her door. Since Mina told her that she didn’t have any plans today, Nayeon thought it was a good idea to ask Mina in person to go to the beach instead of through text.
It didn't take long before the door opened, revealing Mina in an oversized shirt with shorts.
“Hey, wanna take a walk on the beach?”
“What’s the occasion?”
“Nothing, i just want to spend time with you, that’s all.” That must have taken Mina off guard since Nayeon wasn’t usually that straightforward but Mina’s signature gummy smile quickly appeared afterward.
Mina went back to her house after telling Nayeon to give her a minute. Nayeon was left alone outside and it gave her enough time to think about what to do next. She didn’t have anything grand planned, she would just go there with Mina, watch the sunset and while it was going down, Nayeon would pop the question.
She didn’t want to do anything too flashy anyway. In her short time with Mina, she came to learn that the girl preferred simplicity over flashy stuff.
When Mina emerged from her door, Nayeon couldn’t find it in her to stop herself from holding Mina’s hand. Mina seemed surprised but she went along with Nayeon anyway. Nayeon couldn’t help but feel more courageous after her little display of affection toward Mina was a success.
The walk toward the beach was full of comfortable silence like how most of their walk goes. When Nayeon glanced toward the ocean, the sun was already setting and she was sure that there wouldn’t be a better time to do it than now.
Nayeon stopped, then she gently used her grip on Mina’s hand to turn her around. Mina’s face expressed confusion but Nayeon ignored it and went through with her confession. She had both of her hands clasped Mina’s hands and she stepped closer to Mina.
“Mina, I know we haven’t known each other for long, but I really like being with you. All the little dates we went on gave me butterflies and I want to keep feeling that. Your presence alone could make my day better and whenever you decide to hug me or hold my hand, I feel an indescribable warmth. So Mina, will you be my girlfriend?” Nayeon finished in one breath and then there was a deafening silence.
She almost thought she would get rejected before Mina separated her own hands from Nayeon and held Nayeon’s face. “the answer is yes, Nayeon.” Nayeon couldn’t help but pull herself toward Mina and finally claim the lips that she always wanted to know the feel of since their first date.
Just as she expected, it is soft and warm but the thought of Mina finally being her girlfriend gives her more warmth than anything else could. The sunset gave a beautiful glow to the couple standing on the beach.
They stayed there in each other’s embrace before Nayeon pulled her face away. “let’s watch the sunset together.” She said with a smile that Mina returned warmly. They settled down on the sandy beach, where they first met, where it all started.
Mina smiled after she put her head on Nayeon’s shoulder. Everything felt so right. She didn’t want this to ever end. She looked up to Nayeon. The sun was shining off her and it gave Nayeon such a beautiful glow that Mina wanted to take a picture of it to keep it in her heart forever and so she did.
“Nayeon, stay still. Let me take a picture of you.” Nayeon smiled and turned back to the sunset while Mina took a picture of her.
Everything started with a sunrise and this chapter ended with a sunset.