Nayeon

“So, you’re finally back, are you?”

Nayeon paused. Standing in front of the door to their dorm was a young woman with long dark brown hair, her bangs swept to the side. She was wearing a black hoodie and skinny jeans, her feet bare. Her arms were crossed.

Despite the obvious exhaustion of this woman – indicated by the slight dullness in her eyes that accompanied the usual sparkle and her clothing – there was no doubt.

This was Park Jihyo.

Which meant all the other members had returned as well. An hour before scheduled.

“You’re early,” Nayeon commented, not ignoring how Chaeyoung and Mina brushed past Jihyo and entered the dorm. Jihyo rolled her eyes. “Yes, well, we came four hours ago but didn’t want to ruin your...quality time. Speaking of which.” She lowered her voice to what she probably thought was a whisper, but was really just a normal speaking voice. “What’s going on?”

“Well, right now I have to go talk with Mina before she strangles me,” Nayeon said curtly. “So if you’ll excuse me.” She gave a tight-lipped smile to Jihyo before quickly walking into the dorm. Mina was nowhere to be found, so she was most likely in their room. The other members were gathered in the living room, mingling and making small talk. Chaeyoung was among them.

Whatever. It’s best if I go talk to Mina, right now.

Nayeon hurried to her room, shutting the door behind her. As expected, Mina was sitting on her bed, next to Nayeon’s. Her heart twinged as she remembered Mina smiling sweetly at her one night, telling her softly how she liked it when Nayeon rolled over from her own bed to Mina’s.

That was in the past. Chaeyoung was right, Nayeon was living in denial. She had to let go.

(She had a feeling Mina was going to talk about exactly this.)

Mina wasted no time. The minute Nayeon sat down, Mina opened and started talking, her words flowing at a fast pace but still understandable. “Nayeon, I’ll be honest with you. That shouldn’t have gone as far as it did. I understand why you started the whole...war in the first place, but really, I think it shouldn’t have gotten to the point where Chaeyoung got angry. Speaking of Chaeyoung.” She took a deep breath and barreled on. “I want to apologize on her behalf. I know for sure she didn’t mean any of the things she said. She really admires you, Nayeon. She probably just didn’t want to be outdone in the whole insult thing, and made up everything on the spot. And all of that nonsense she spouted about me and you, well, she has no idea what I went through and what I felt while being with you, so I can assure you that it was nothing but lies. I’ve never really told her anything about that, other than the obvious.”

Obvious being Mina stopped liking Nayeon.

That, of course, went without saying.

“Well,” Nayeon spoke up, after a few seconds of silence. “Did you at least enjoy being with me?”

Mina gave her a small smile. “Yes. I did.” She took another deep breath before continuing. “Anyways. Chaeyoung probably regrets everything now. And I do, too.”

Nayeon raised an eyebrow.

“I’m sorry for what I did,” Mina blurted out, her eyes downcast. “If I had told you everything, if I had properly, um, broke up with you, none of this would’ve happened in the first place. It’s completely my fault. Everything.”

Though Nayeon agreed with Mina’s first couple statements – she was still haunted by the pain and the anger – she disagreed with it being Mina’s fault.

And since Mina was being honest, then why shouldn’t Nayeon?

“So I was hurt when you did that,” Nayeon informed her. “Very hurt. But! You were guilty. I understand. And you really aren’t the type to deal with these sort of situations. Don’t deny it, because you and I both know it’s true. However. It’s not completely your fault, is it?”

“...No,” Mina said quietly. Nayeon grinned. “Right. It’s mine. It’s yours. And, as little as a part she had in it, it’s also Chaeyoung’s. We all share it.” Finishing up, she got ready to leave, but the look on Mina’s face told Nayeon there was something else unsaid.

She stayed and waited.

“The whole battle thing was for you to cope,” Mina sighed.

That caught Nayeon off guard.

How did she know?

“And yes, we all have our different ways of coping,”  Mina continued, not noticing the look on Nayeon’s face. “But seriously. Being the eldest, it’s your job to take care of everything. You should know which battles to fight and which battles to leave, and this was one you should’ve left. Or at least stopped halfway. Then again, it was just coping, so I’ll let it pass.”

“You know what, I resign from my spot as eldest,” Nayeon joked, still taken aback by Mina’s inquisitiveness.  “You can take over now. Geez, Mina, what’s gotten into you?”

“I learned it from the best.” Mina smiled again, more shyly this time, and in a sudden move, leaned towards Nayeon and kissed her forehead.

(Needless to say, Nayeon felt like collapsing. The shock was too great for her.)

Mina pulled away, her face only slightly tinged with red. Of course it would be, Nayeon silently scolded herself. Don’t overthink. “I still love you a lot, Nayeon,” she murmured, her smile widening into a gummier one. “I always will. And I’m sure I’m not the only one.”

If Nayeon was shocked before, then she was now, especially by those last few words.

Based on Mina’s tone, she didn’t mean that this other person loved Nayeon like Mina did now. She meant that this other person loved Nayeon romantically.

As if!

Nayeon quickly dismissed it as a joke and stood up, albeit quite abruptly. Fortunately, Mina didn’t take offense, and got up as well. “I should go check on Jeongyeon and Momo,” Nayeon said, her voice shaking from all the emotions swirling through her. “Who knows what those fools are up to?”

“And I’ll go give a talk to Chaeyoung,” Mina said. Nodding, Nayeon turned and left the room. None of the members (save for Jihyo and Sana, who were watching T.V. in utter rapture, most likely because they were able to watch their favorite dramas again) were present in the living room. Nayeon figured that they were in their respective rooms.

All of a sudden, tears welled up in her eyes.

The emotions of the past few days, the emotions of what had just happened, and how much she had missed Jeongyeon and Momo came rushing back. To Nayeon, it felt like getting hit with bricks, one after one after one. So she did the only thing that came to mind –

She hurried over to Jeongyeon and Momo’s room.

Both girls were lounging on their bed, struggling to stay awake. In Jeongyeon’s case, she was most likely suffering from jetlag, and in Momo’s case...Momo wanted to sleep half the time, so that wasn’t a surprise. They’d have to put off sleeping for now, though.

Jeongyeon spotted Nayeon first. She beamed and sat straight. “Hey, it’s our favorite idiot! Next to Momo, of course.”

“Oh, shut up,” Momo muttered, before smiling at Nayeon. “We’re back, Nayeon!”

Like a tap had been switched on, tears started to flow, and Nayeon threw herself into Jeongyeon’s arms.

The next few minutes were spent with Nayeon sobbing, Jeongyeon hugging her tightly, and Momo her hair. Both girls said nothing, allowing Nayeon to let out the emotions she had bottled up, just like before.

A strange thought entered Nayeon’s mind, like a small bubble of warmth within icy cold water.

She really wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Being there, crying in Jeongyeon’s arms, with Momo close by, was the closest thing to happiness Nayeon could get. No, no –

It was happiness.

With this in mind, Nayeon calmed down rather quickly, drying her tears on Jeongyeon’s shirt. (Jeongyeon would complain later, but for now, she wouldn’t say a word.)

Silence followed. Nayeon couldn’t help but smile; these two girls really knew everything about Nayeon, didn’t they? They knew when she was sad, when she was happy, and when she was going to say something.

Say something she did.

“All the teasing, that horrible way of coping,” she sniffled, rubbing her eyes. “It was stupid, wasn’t it? I mean, it led to all of...that. Which we really could’ve done without, I guess. I don’t...I didn’t mean for that to happen. You two have no idea, how badly I want to redo everything.” With a shaky, rattling intake of breath, she continued slowly. “It’s not that I’m not hurt over Mina. I told her I used to be, but I still am. I haven’t forgotten it, and I know I never will. I do support Chaeyoung and Mina together, I really do, and I shouldn’t have taken it that far. I was just influenced...by how hurt I was. You know, Mina was my everything before. Just getting betrayed like that...though it doesn’t affect me as much anymore, I still remembered it. I don’t know. It was bad. I hate myself.”

More silence.

Nayeon stifled a chuckle. She looked up into Jeongyeon’s eyes, then looked into Momo’s. “Yeah, yeah, and I missed you two. A lot.”

Jeongyeon and Momo smiled in satisfaction. Jeongyeon pushed Nayeon’s head back down, her hold on Nayeon getting just a little more tighter – or did Nayeon imagine it? “It’s alright now,” Jeongyeon murmured. “We’re here. I’m here. “

Those very words sent a surge of warmth through Nayeon. After all, they were the words she had wanted to hear for a while, though she wouldn’t admit to it.

Not just warmth was coursing through her.

Something else, too.

Though Nayeon wanted nothing more than to stay like that, protected by Jeongyeon, forever in her arms, Momo next to her, she knew she had something else to go tend to.

A certain Son Chaeyoung was waiting.

So, with a heavy sigh, Nayeon got up and smiled at Jeongyeon and Momo. They didn’t protest – they knew what she needed to do.

They knew her so very well, and for that, Nayeon was grateful.

She headed outside, straight for the maknaes’ room.

Oh, and that other emotion accompanying the warmth?

Courage.

She wasn’t living in denial anymore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DOUBLE UPDATE WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

right so i have the last chapter ready too lmao but i won't spring it up on y'all just yet ;)

i think you can see how it's going to end osidjfiojsd hahaha

i feel like this chapter and the next chapter are horribly sappy and i'm sorry for that but heyyyy we gotta get a happy ending am i right???

I KNOW I HINTED AT NAMO AND I'M SORRY FOR RUINING THAT BUT SERIOUSLY 2YEON FEELS GOT TO ME

i'm thinking of adding some extra stories after the next chapter yes thats the last chapter.

i won't get too emotional rn BC WE'RE NOT DONE YET ARE WE

anyways. pls stick around till the next chapter i'm beGGING YOU