Destiny

Chapter 8

Mina strides away from the older girl as she can't bring herself to see her hurt. It's just a little scrape of the knee she has got during the rehearsals, but it's enough to remind her of the impending gloom.

No matter how much she wants to be by her side, holding her hands and asking her-begging her to be careful, she knows she is not allowed to do that, she knows she is powerless in the face of destiny.

She stares at the cars rushing on the streets outside the studio. But her mind is somewhere else, on Nayeon, and all the things she could do different to cherish every moment she has left with her.

But above all, she wants to find the person who has broken her heart. She wants to yell at them, ask them why they took something so precious and left shattered pieces behind.

"Get it yourself, your knee is scraped, not your hands." Tzuyu looks Nayeon up and down as she drawls.

"It's all the way across the table." Nayeon drops the last three words into a childish grumble.

Mina picks up the pepper shaker and saunters over to where the older is slumped over on the chair around the dining table, staring at her plate like if she looked enough the pepper is going to magically appear on top of her food. "Here you are, Nayeon-chan."

Nayeon smiles brightly.

"Mina is too nice." Chaeyoung says, putting away her napkin on the side after wiping her mouth.

"That's why I asked her out." Momo remarks and there's a hint of smile in her voice.

Mina looks down at her own plate, feeling her cheeks heat up.

"Then you both broke up too." Sana's gaze flickers between Momo and Mina.

Momo puts her hands up defensively. "Some people are better off as friends." She puts the fork down on her tray. "At times she feels like a sister to me."

"Ewww." Tzuyu and Dahyun chorus.

Mina laughs because she sometimes feels that way too. She looks across at Nayeon who's suddenly grown quiet, fidgeting with the chopsticks in her hand.

The next two days passes by in a blur and Mina is not sure how she missed these obvious signs the first time around.

Nayeon is ignoring her and her past self had probably been oblivious to it, but this time she's all too well aware of it.

Mina draws in a breath and feels like she's been punched in the gut because even though Nayeon talks to her, and to normal eyes things are perfectly fine between them as they've never spoken much to each other anyway, she knows the older girl is going out of her way to avoid interaction with her.

"I'm sorry." The words fall out of her mouth before she can think them through. "Whatever I did, I'm sorry."

Nayeon shakes her head and side steps her.

Mina stays in her spot, head hung low, staring at the floor.

She thinks the older girl is gone because for sometime it's just her and the deafening silence around her that keeps her company.

Then, a low hesitant voice sounds from behind her. "It's not you, it's me."

Mina lets out a small laugh, tainted with sadness as she turns around and lets the dark eyes settle on her. "Why do you sound like you're breaking up with me?"

For a moment Nayeon doesn't say anything, and then she bites her bottom lips to hold back a grin that's growing on her face, and when the sound of her loud laughter hits Mina's ears, her heart soars within its confines.

"I'm a dick." Nayeon approaches her with an openness in her eyes, lips still holding the reminiscence of a smile.

Mina realizes they must look silly and strange standing in the middle of the dance studio while the other girls on a break, but she doesn't move back and neither does Nayeon and they are both gazing into each other eyes for a long moment, not a word spoken by either of them.

"You kind of are." Mina draws in a shaky breath, trying to dissolve the thickening silence around them.

Nayeon gasps in a breath, pretending to be shocked.

Mina stares at her fondly as the older girl doubles over in laughter, her face changing into a vision of joy and mirth, like all of the world's problems can be cured if you were around her for a couple of minutes.

And then she's laughing too.