Chapter 21

Mina had tried reaching Alex for the 6th time already, but she wasn’t answering. The weekend had already passed by, yet not a single call nor message from Alex came to her. She thought of going to Alex’s apartment but her parents are home for the weekend, and will be gone for the weekday due to an important business trip. Mina didn’t want her parents to suspect her, now that they thought that she’s back to her ‘old self’.

It was only 6:40 am, yet Mina had already went off to school, wanting to see and talk to her girlfriend already.

Alex arrived 10 minutes after, her hair wasn’t combed, her bag hung on her right shoulder, it was obvious that she didn’t prepare much that morning, not that she cared. Before she could even enter the room, her eyes landed on Mina, who was startled by the harsh swinging of the door. Alex couldn’t hide her surprise as she wasn’t expecting anyone to come to school that early. 

“Lex.” The chair creaked as Mina stood up from her seat, walking over to Alex, who seemed tensed, holding something on her back. 

“Oh. Haha. You’re early.” Alex laughed awkwardly, which Mina finds weird but pushed the thought away. 

“Why didn’t you answer my calls?” 

A puzzled expression crossed Alex face. “Your calls? Oh! My phone died Saturday night and I couldn’t find my charger.” She tried looking for her charger but stopped as she remembered that she still has a lot of things to do and there’s only little time.

“Mmm… Do you want to use mine?” Mina offered.

“No need, I’ll just look for it later.” Alex walked slowly backwards to her table, looking very suspicious in Mina’s eyes. Mina became curious of what her girlfriend is hiding from her, but she didn’t ask directly and instead, observed her even more.

Exactly as the bell rang, Alex hurriedly dragged Jennie out of the classroom, trying hard not to be seen by anyone. After organising her things, Mina looked behind her, where Alex was supposed to be seated, but her girlfriend wasn’t there. She looked around the classroom but didn’t see Alex.

Mina tapped Jisoo’s shoulders, “Did you see Alex?” She asked, hoping Jisoo did.

“I think they’re heading to the 4th floor. I’m not sure though.” 

“Thanks,” Mina said, before taking the stairs to the fourth floor. She wondered what Alex might be doing there.

Her steps were quiet, as she didn’t want her shoes to echo in the deserted floor. She saw a figure by the end of the hallway and assumed it was Jennie. Mina brisk walked, wanting to ask about the whereabouts of her girlfriend. 

Jennie pointed to the door of a classroom once she saw Mina. Her face was void of expression. 

Mina was going to ask her but Jennie walked away, not a single word uttered.

Her hand reached the doorknob, twisting it cautiously and taking a peek inside before she opened it widely. 

“Happy Valentines!” Alex stood at the centre of the room, holding a bouquet of pink roses, and a heart shaped box. The room was decorated with fairy lights and petals scattered on the floor. 

Mina couldn’t contain her smile as she went to Alex, giving her a tight hug, expressing her happiness. 

Alex handed the flowers to Mina, inhaling its scent. “Thank you.”

“It’s nothing.” A contented smile spread on her face as she saw how happy her girlfriend. All she wanted is for Mina to be happy.

“Here.” Alex gave mina the heart shaped box that she was holding earlier, her eyes filled with anticipation as Mina opened the box. But her smile immediately turned upside down as she saw that the chocolate had melted. 

MIna’s laugh filled the room, while Alex could only pout. “Why did I forget that chocolates melt?” 

“It’s fine.” Mina tried to brighten up Alex’s face with a grin, but unfortunately didn’t work. 

Alex had made the chocolate from scratch last Saturday, which is why she wasn’t able to answer Mina’s phone calls. She had worked hard to perfect the right amount of sweetness of the chocolate, but in the end, her effort was put into waste.

“Stop frowning.” Mina dipped her finger on the chocolate, smearing it on Alex’s face. 

“What the—— YAH!!!!” And the chocolate fight had begun.

The classroom was messy. Their Statistics teacher had an urgent meeting, which leaves the class alone without anything to do. 

“Yah!” Alex crumpled a paper and threw it as hard as she can to Jennie, who slyly avoided the paper. Alex then stood up, chasing Jennie around the classroom.

Mina looked at the two, who were playing around, making fun of each other. The two were hard to predict since one minute they’d be pushing each other and annoying the hell out of the other, while the next minute they’ll be hugging like there’s no tomorrow.

A voice interrupted Mina’s observations. “Mina. Doesn’t it bother you how close Alex and Jennie are?” Jihyo sat beside Mina, her eyes directed to Alex, who was fixing Jennie’s hair.

“Why?” 

Jihyo looked at Mina, not sure whether the latter is pretending that there’s nothing wrong or she really doesn’t know. “I don’t know. They look more like a couple, people might misunderstand. And I don’t know if it’s just me but, I feel like Jennie has something for Alex.” 

Mina hid her emotions, trying to let Jihyo know that she isn’t bothered. “What do you mean?”

“Like, I think that she likes Alex more than a friend or a sister should.”