Nayeon

There were moans coming from behind the history section, all the way in the back of the library, and Nayeon hoped they weren’t coming from her favorite two girls.

Just an hour ago, Mina, Chaeyoung, and Nayeon had walked down to the local library after getting ready – and after a short session of retorts and teases. It wasn’t like the walk wasn’t peppered with those same insults, because it was. However, it was mainly between Chaeyoung and Nayeon. Both girls didn’t want to include Mina in the war. Though, to Nayeon, that would be unfair.

If the war was between MiChaeng and Im Nayeon, then it was between MiChaeng and Im Nayeon. Not Son Chaeyoung and Im Nayeon. Granted, Nayeon would take care to tone down the intensity of her teasing when it came to Mina; the younger girl was very sensitive, after all, but Nayeon would definitely include her in it. If Nayeon was to win this war, if she was going to go to great lengths to help herself heal from the shock and sadness, then she’d do it right.

Starting in the library.

The minute they had entered, Mina and Chaeyoung immediately bolted towards the history section, leaving Nayeon alone to roam in the adult fiction shelves. Nayeon, the rather gullible young woman she is, thought nothing of this. Lately, both Mina and Chaeyoung had been taking an interest in history. So what if the history section was located right at the back of the library, where it was dark and unpopulated? It was fine.

Or so Nayeon thought.

She decided to give them a few minutes to recover and plan their next move. So, while waiting, she grabbed a book and settled down in a chair, flipping through the novel. Only seconds afterwards, though, she heard quite a strange sound from the area Mina and Chaeyoung had retreated to.

isn’t part of the agenda, Nayeon thought, getting up and quickly putting the book back in its place. Time was up. Technically, it wasn’t, but hearing , of all things, had indeed frightened Nayeon. She crept over to the history section, peeked behind the shelves...

“This is a library, not your bedroom.”

Mina and Chaeyoung jumped away from each other, their eyes widened. Nayeon stepped out from her hiding place, her arms crossed and a smirk on her face. Of course. So the two were kissing. What better thing to do in a library? They must have so much between them, Nayeon mused, looking upon the two younger girls. “The definition of a library, if you will, is not ‘a place where you eat your girlfriend’s face,’” she continued, pretending to examine her fingernails. With a quick glance at Mina and Chaeyoung’s faces, she knew she had won this match – Mina’s face was bright red, whereas Chaeyoung was stammering and struggling for words. Nayeon one, MiChaeng zero.

“And what were you doing?” Chaeyoung retorted – or at least, tried to. “Listening to us?”

Nayeon almost choked. Chaeyoung’s retort had backfired on her. “What could I do? Your moans were so loud, I bet everyone in America could hear it.” She shook her head, dismissing the topic. “That aside. Have you found any books on kissing more quietly – I mean, history?”

Nayeon three, MiChaeng zero.

“I found some,” Mina said softly, bending over and rummaging in her bag. She pulled out three books on the Korean War and handed them to Nayeon, her fingers brushing Nayeon’s hand in the process. Nayeon would be lying if she said her breath hadn’t hitched at that small touch – she could only think of Mina and herself before – but the moment was over in an instant, and Mina’s slender, gentle fingers were entwined in Chaeyoung’s.

They weren’t even trying to hide it.

Two thoughts crossed Nayeon’s mind for a few seconds. She was losing. And she wanted Jeongyeon and Momo back.

(Mainly Jeongyeon.)

The thoughts disappeared as fast as they had came, and Nayeon was even more determined to win this fight. To win this war. Because god knew it would do everything for her.

At least she wouldn’t have to spend her days in her bed, crying.

And there were just a few hours until the others came.

Just a few hours for Nayeon to continue. Then, she’d be allowed to stop.

Besides. This was, admittedly, fun. Very fun.

“Well, well,” Nayeon murmured, examining the books. “Looks like you were finding books to read. Tell me something – did you even get around to reading them? Or were you just too ually frustrated?”

Nayeon four, MiChaeng – wait for it – zero.

When would this get any more interesting?

“Like you were with Mina?” Chaeyoung said, a challenge in her voice. “All you two did was either cling to each other or do who knows what locked in your room! And, if I recall correctly, I remember Jihyo saying she’d hear suggestive sounds coming from you two early in the morning.”

Silence.

Nayeon snuck a glance at Mina, whose face was terribly red. Bad, bad idea, she thought, wanting to scold Chaeyoung for taking a jab at her girlfriend as well. Nayeon would never –

Nayeon wasn’t going to think about that.

But, she had to admit, that was a good one coming from Chaeyoung. MiChaeng had finally won a point.

There was no way they’d be able to catch up, though.

“At least I didn’t try to initiate a full-blown kissing section in the library, of all places,” Nayeon snorted, rolling her eyes. “And the suggestive sounds probably weren’t as bad as the ones I just heard. I think I need to pour bleach or something into my ears.”

“Go ahead,” Chaeyoung muttered. “Through your eyes, too. Oh, and maybe drink some, your teeth might become normal for once. You won’t have those hideous bunny teeth.”

Well, that definitely struck a chord.

It seemed like Chaeyoung was out for blood.

Nayeon would be, too.

“I think you should try some, instead of me,” Nayeon said calmly. “At least you won’t have your completely ruined crooked teeth. You’re in high school, about to graduate, and you haven’t gotten braces. That’s pathetic, isn’t it? At least perhaps you won’t be as ugly.” She flashed a smile – her lips closed.

Based on the way Mina stared at her in concern, she knew Mina had took note of it.

Chaeyoung swallowed visibly, her fists clenching. She was definitely angry. But then again, who was she to get angry, when she had made fun of something she knew was a sensitive topic to Nayeon?

You reap what you sow.

“Anyways, I’ll leave you two up to your antics, now,” Nayeon said, still smiling. “We have two hours left. Make the most of it!” She leaned in, dropping her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Though I’d advise you, eating each other’s faces is not a good way to spend two hours. Don’t want your lips to be swollen, now, especially since the other girls will be at home when we go back. I don’t want to have to explain.” Whistling, she turned around and headed back to her original location, catching Chaeyoung’s grumble:

“Like you wouldn’t be in my position right now if Mina hadn’t broke up with you.”

Certainly, Nayeon couldn’t walk away from that!

“Right, you reminded me,” she said without turning around. “Mina hasn’t broken up with me yet, however, we may as well say she has, am I right? Considering she spends all her time with a midget who’s still going through puberty.”

“At least spending time with a midget who’s still going through puberty is better than spending time with a girl who has bunny teeth and can’t even maintain a stable voice while singing on stage,” Chaeyoung promptly replied.

It would be a lie to say Nayeon wasn’t angry.

“Speaking of that,” she said slowly, finally turning around to meet Chaeyoung’s eyes. She briefly looked over at Mina, who was pale with fright, and ignored her – Chaeyoung really had gone too far. “I’ve been thinking. Why would Mina date this girl, two years younger than her, a underrated, even hated adolescent, who doesn’t get any lines and even when she does, can’t sing them properly? Mina, in my opinion, deserves the best, and you by far are the worst.”

“If I’m the worst, then what does that make you?” Chaeyoung snarled. “A good-for-nothing main vocalist. An ugly main vocalist. You try too hard. At least I’m honest when I mess up, and I don’t try too hard to make jokes that aren’t even funny.”

“You’re called no jam for a reason,” Nayeon retorted. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Mina starting to flail about, but there was no way she’d be able to stop this. It was too late. “No one likes you or your jokes. I can make people laugh with my own bad jokes. Yours are terrible, and so is your delivery. You always have to spend five minutes wracking your brain for a good comeback, and once you have it, it’s too late. Everytime I see you talking with Mina, there’s always this awkward silence between you at one point. Why date her if you can’t even keep up a normal conversation?”

“Coming from the one who couldn’t even figure out what was wrong with her girlfriend’s behavior,” Chaeyoung said snidely. “Oh, I’m sorry – I mean, former girlfriend’s behavior.”

“Because you were too busy trying to show off with your pathetic excuses for skills,” Nayeon hissed. “She probably just felt pitiful for your sorry self.”

In just one stride, Chaeyoung was nose-to-nose with Nayeon. “You want to know why Mina broke up with you?” she seethed, contempt pulsing in every word.

“Tell me a reason I don’t know,” Nayeon breathed, glaring right into Chaeyoung’s eyes. “Is it because she felt sorry for you? I already know that reason.”

“No, that’s quite far from the truth,” Chaeyoung whispered, her voice reaching a dangerous low. “It’s because you’re so full of yourself. You latch onto someone who shows the slightest bit of affection for you and fill up their ears with your monologues about how great you are. And when they leave, you’re desperate for them to come back. You want to cling to them like a leech. You want to keep them around forever. You live in denial. You can’t face the truth that no one wants to be around you. Mina was getting tired of you, and you couldn’t see it. No, you saw it, but you ignored it. You want to know why Mina broke up with you? Because you’re a selfish, arrogant, ignorant piece of ugly –”

“Chaeyoung, shut up.”

Those three words rang all around them, like a bell in an empty chamber. Chaeyoung stepped back, her eyes wide.

And there stood Mina, her eyes blazing with anger.

“We’re going home, right now,” she ordered, her voice even more lower and malice filled than Chaeyoung’s was. “Both of you will stay quiet, and if I hear any of you even dare to speak up, I’ll have a word with Jihyo. You won’t be staying in the dorm anymore, much less Korea. Get going.”

Stunned into silence, Chaeyoung started ahead, Nayeon following. She was stupefied. She hadn’t expected this from Mina, who never snapped, not once. The pressure must’ve got to her, Nayeon figured. Her heated anger had frozen under Mina’s icy gaze – and her words, which practically had icicles dripping from them. She wanted to get away from the furious young woman as quickly as possible, but before she could leave the library and put a reasonable amount of distance between her, Chaeyoung, and Mina, she felt a hand on her shoulder and heard a whisper:

“I want to talk to you at the dorm.”

With that, Mina brushed past her, walking up ahead and making no effort to catch up with Chaeyoung.

Nayeon stared after her.

A heavy lump of dread had formed at the pit of her stomach.

Whatever Mina wanted to talk about...

...it wouldn’t be good.

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aaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaa

for those of you who are starting to hate michaeng now:

let me be honest lmao. at first when i saw the comments of "i dont like chaeyoung/mina" or "i think chaeyoung/mina are insensitive" i took offense. don't ask me why, i didn't really have a good reason as to why, but i took offense. now, not so much. it's good that you guys are starting to hate characters, which sounds weird but hey what's a story without characters the readers hate? i'm glad that michaeng and nayeon are getting some reaction out of all of you and i strongly encourage it. just no really tough hate messages, please. constructive criticism and honest opinions are appreciated, but straight-up hate is not and i won't be afraid to confront you.

okay bye