Destiny

Chapter 12

Mina untangles herself from Nayeon and makes her way to the kitchen. She makes some coffee and sits down on the couch in the living room.

She doesn't understand what possessed her last night to act out of character.

With morning, comes clearer thoughts.

She is sure she's not attracted to Nayeon. She's only ever seen her as a friend.

She tries to convinces herself that last night her head had been all over the place and the emotions got the better of her, leading to a momentary lapse of judgement.

She's almost successful at convincing until she hears a sleepy voice say good morning.

She turns to see Nayeon languidly stretching at the door. Her oversized t-shirt slightly rides up to reveal smooth skin on her flat stomach, her short wavy hair is mussed up a little and she looks so beautiful, even if she has just gotten out of bed.

"What are you drinking?" Nayeon doesn't wait for an answer, instead slumps down on the couch next to her, leans slightly into her side and grabs the mug from her hand. She sees her wince as the bitter taste of coffee hits her mouth.

"I hate coffee." She puts the mug down in front of them on the table, her face a little close to hers as she leans back to rest against the couch.

Mina's eyes flicker down to the plump heart shaped lips, wet and shiny, from the coffee she's sipped. The urge to press her own lips against them crashes upon her, this time a lot more intensely.

She moves back, too quickly and abruptly, knocking the mug on the table over accidentally.

"I'm going to get this mess cleaned up." She stands up swiftly on her feet, ready to bolt.

"I'll help you." Nayeon offers.

Mina shakes her head and blurts, "I'll manage."

Nayeon thrusts her lower lip out in a pout.

Mina's eyes flicker back to those damn lips and her stomach flip flops and twists before bottoming out.

She feels a little annoyed because Nayeon needs to stop drawing attention to her lips, if she doesn't Mina is sure she's going to do something she'll regret.

"Can you stop pouting like that?!" She grumbles loudly, shakes her head exasperatedly and leaves the room ignoring the confused expression on the older girl.

The day is long and busy and it keeps her occupied. Nayeon keeps her distance after her random outburst and things are a little awkward between them. Mina thinks maybe it's better this way as she can focus on the purpose of why she was sent back here to the past.

Nayeon gets a call later that night.

Mina watches as her face crumbles, the light in her eyes dulling, and when their eyes meet across the room for a moment, she wants to hold her close and tell her she has nothing to worry about.

Her heart twists with pain because she knows Nayeon's mother is going to outlive her.

She remembers the older girl's mother telling her after the funeral, in a voice full of despair and grief, "One thing a mother should never go through is have their child go before them."

She thinks back to how she held Nayeon's mother in her arms, and let her tears drip down the front of her shirt, her own tears falling to the top of the older woman's head.

"Mum is sick. I need to go see her." Nayeon mutters under her breath, breaking their gaze and looking at the other girls in the studio.

"What's wrong?" Jeongyeon asks.

Nayeon looks down at her feet and lifts her shoulder. "They found a lump in her breast."

Mina swallows a lump in her throat and feels a bought of tears coming. She knows what's coming next, Nayeon is going to spend the next two days with her mother.

And twelve days later, the inevitable is going to happen.

The clock is ticking too fast, she's running out of time quickly.

She spends the next couple of days in a daze, until the older girl comes back with a goofy grin and a Tupperware full of Mina's favorite food made by Nayeon's mother.

"Turns out it's non malignant." She hears her squeal.

Mina smiles despite herself when Nayeon picks up Tzuyu in her arms and spins her around happily, her laughter light, airy and free.