Destiny

Chapter 13

"What did your mother say?" She hears Jeongyeon ask the older girl as they make conversation in the balcony.

"The first day was horrible. She was being so dramatic." Nayeon chuckles, "She even told me the list of things she should give to people if she were to pass away."

Jeongyeon gasps, "She must have been really worried!"

"Yeah," Nayeon continues in a soft voice, "So I told her that she should give Kookeu to the love of my life if something had to happen to me before her."

"Who would that be?" Mina trains her ears hard to hear the answer.

"That would be you my love." Nayeon cackles, as she tries to reach a disgusted Jeongyeon and plant a kiss on her cheeks.

Mina deflates. If Jeongyeon is the one, Nayeon's mother wouldn't have given Kookeu to her.

This only meant one thing, that Nayeon didn't have the courage to confess who she is in love with even to her own mother.

A sudden thought comes across her head and she balks. Is Nayeon in love with someone off limits, someone already in a relationship or worse, married?

Is that why she is ashamed to admit who they are even to her own mother?

Her questions are answered that night when she sees Nayeon walking Kookeu to the park. She sees her stop near the entrance and make conversation with Seo, their neighbor.

They look way too friendly and Seo often strokes Nayeon's arms up and down as they talk.

"Out of all people, her?" Mina wonders out loud.

Seo is a nice girl, that's not the problem, but how's Mina supposed to tell her that Nayeon is in love with her when the girl is married with two kids?

"Did you have to go and fall for a married woman?" Mina slaps a hand to her face and groans. She looks up skywards and wonders what kind of twisted game the gods are playing with her.

When Nayeon comes back from her walk, her mood is sour.

"Stop stealing from my plate." Dahyun shoves Nayeon's hand away as she tries to grab a bite of whatever she's eating.

Nayeon gives up and turns her attention to Mina's plate. Mina knows she's an easy target because she always offers her food whereas the other girls protect theirs from Nayeon.

Not today. "Stop stealing other people's things Nayeon-chan." Mina says harshly.

Everyone in the room stills, because Mina has never refused Nayeon food.

Nayeon smiles her toothy smile, unbothered by her rudeness. "It's tastier when it belongs to someone else."

Mina rolls her eyes and dumps the plate in front of her. "Here, have the whole thing."

Nayeon makes a show of slurping the food loudly and slowly, enjoying every bite.

"Nayeon give back her food." Jihyo demands.

"She asked me to have it." Nayeon grins playfully.

"It's like living with a married couple." Sana snorts, "You don't fight often but when you do it's actually cute."

Nayeon stops eating because she's choking on her food.

Mina blushes in embarrassment.

When she steps into the bedroom later that night she hears Nayeon talking to someone.

"Do you think I'm pretty?"

Is she talking to Seo? Mina squashes the thought because she remembers Nayeon never got around to telling her how she felt.

She hears an excited bark.

"Thank you, at least you think I'm pretty."

When Mina opens the door completely, she forgets that she's mad at the older girl, and gazes at her with a doting smile on her face because Nayeon is talking to Kookeu who's wagging his tail at her.

"When I asked him, he was just rude and quiet." Nayeon pouts and points at her teddy bear.

Mina's heart melts into a puddle.

She clears her throat to make the older girl aware of her presence.

There's a brief silence when their eyes meet and even though Mina can think of a million different things to say because she's on borrowed time with Nayeon, she remains quiet.

It's a little awkward, but conversations between them has always been either playful or awkward. There has never been an in between.

"Why are we fighting?" Nayeon grins.

"Because you never take anything seriously." Mina mutters.

"I might be playful Minaya." Nayeon stands up and walks towards where she is, stopping a little away from her. Her gaze is somewhere around her feet, as she intakes a deep breath and says, "But I do take you seriously."

She sounds so honest and vulnerable and Mina has never seen her show this side to anyone, let alone her, that she finds herself moving forward, wrapping her arms around Nayeon's neck.

She hears Nayeon lets out a soft gasp of surprise at first, then sighs softly and wraps her arms around her back returning the hug.

Mina knows in a few days her world is going to be toppled upside down, but in that moment, in Nayeon's arms, everything in the world seems to be right.