two: love is a game.

it takes two to play a game, just as it takes two to tango

~~~

The two girls walked side by side after Mina finally caught up to the impatient girl. To be honest, Mina found her quite intriguing at their first encounter. She could not help but stare at her features up close, as creepy as it seems. 

"So your name is, Kim...Nahyun, right?" Mina guessed out of the blue, trying to spark up a conversation. Nayeon halted in her steps and sighed in disappointment. It seems like Mina could not say anything that would redeem herself in front of Nayeon. 

"Im Nayeon," The latter corrected calmly. 

Mina subconsciously let out a nervous laugh and nodded, "Sorry. I'm a full-blood Japanese who moved here when I was 11, so I'm still a bit unfamiliar with the Korean language." She reasoned.

Nayeon rolled her eyes, "You seemed quite fluent earlier when you excused yourself for being late."

The younger girl could not seem to get a break today from Nayeon's sharp remarks, but nonetheless, she did not let her cold exterior intimidate her.

"So, Ms. Nayeon, may I see your schedule?" Mina changed the subject.

Nayeon gave her a suspicious look, holding tight onto the thick packet in her hands,"Why?"

"Um.." Mina slightly rubbed the back of her neck shyly, "...so I could see where your next class is? You know... I'm supposed to be giving you a tour right now." She spoke, not trying to seem bossy. Nayeon blushed for the first time and awkwardly nodded, "Right, I was waiting for you actually," She lied, her pride getting ahead of her. Mina chuckled. Sure, she thought sarcastically.

"So... we were just coming from cultural arts. I'm majoring in psychology. You?" Mina asked, without taking her eyes off of the schedule. Nayeon widened her eyes, "Oh, really? You?"

Mina chuckled, pretending to be hurt, "Do I not look smart to you?"

"Ah, sorry I didn't mean it that way. I just... didn't expect you to be a psych major. I'm majoring in arts."

"Arts? You?" Mina joked back. Both of them laughed for the first time, breaking the awkward tension between them. Mina nodded, "Well I guess we won't have that many classes together, then. Unless, we're taking the same elective." She added, unfolding the schedule once again to look. She frowned in disappointment, "You're taking chorus as an elective. So, you know how to sing?"

Nayeon rolled her eyes, "No. I'm in chorus because I don't know how to sing." She sarcastically responded. 

Mina chuckled, "Okay, sounds fair enough."

"Well, we're here," Mina announced, stopping in front of the marble stairs. She smiled and looked up at the tallest building of their school. "This is where the auditorium is. There are a few classrooms in this building too- mostly for music majors." 

Nayeon nodded in understanding. Mina walked in front of her and opened the heavy glass door, giving her a signal to walk in. Nayeon blankly followed the light from inside and slowly opened in awe. The stage was like the moon in the dark night sky. It was small if you stared at it from a distance, but it shone bright, outshining all the seats surrounding it. She could already imagine the performers being stars in the sky- that is, the whole space.

"So... all of our concerts are held here. You'll soon be performing on that exact stage."

The older girl was still standing there, awestruck by the beautiful stage. Without another word, she approached the wide semi-circle stage with Mina following her out of curiosity. In the short amount of time, Mina had already become accustomed to her presence, not wanting to let the transfer student leave her sight.

Nayeon went to the microphone standing at the center of the stage. She adjusted it and smiled like a fool, shaking her head. She was truly a singer at heart. Singing was her passion, not art. The only reason why she took art as her major was because her parents thought that music was not a major that would give her a good future. They knew how cruel and competitive the music industry was. However, to Nayeon, a good future would not be dependant on money and success. It would be doing what she loved.

"Your eyes didn't shine that bright when you were mentioned your art major," Mina bluntly spoke.

Nayeon bitterly chuckled, letting go of the mic. She sat at the edge of the stage and swung her feet like a child. Mina mirrored her actions and sat by her side, staring at the empty auditorium, "Why didn't you choose music as your major?"

The older girl shrugged, "It's not a 'realistic' choice if I wanted a good future."

"You said 'realistic' as if it weren't your own words... let me guess, you were pressured by your parents?"

Nayeon smiled, shaking her head in defeat, "You're truly a psychology major. You're quite good at reading people, huh?"

"That's why I chose it as my major. I'm good at it and it's my passion. Those are the only two things you need in determining your major," Mina responded bluntly. For the first time, Nayeon felt the seriousness come from Mina herself. She sounded quite serious with no room for jokes. That seriousness scared her; she knew seriousness could lead to many things such as... opening up. Nayeon was not quite ready to open up to a stranger like Mina.

"I disagree. The two things are assurance of success and being good at it."

"But, what is success exactly?" Mina retorted back, "Success is subjective. Success to me is being able to carry out your passion... because when you do that, it seems like you can truly show what you were made to do. You can show everyone the real you... something that can only be brought out by the one thing that makes you happy."

"Apparently, to my parents... success is how much money you can make."

After those words, Mina sat there in silence, trying to think of a wise response... but she could not think of one. She could not advise the older girl when she herself could not even follow her own advice. She was in the same boat.

Luckily, the bell rang just in time. She stood up and held out her hand, "Let's go?"

Nayeon cocked an eyebrow and started to walk off, completely rejecting Mina's hand. The girl stood there for a few seconds in disbelief unti