“This – all of this is what happened to me when I approached Momo about you.” Mina muttered.

A gasp escaped Nayeon’s lips as she looked on, fingers tracing the scars that travelled along Mina's body. She winced as she tried to imagine what Mina must have gone through with each wound. Her stomach was worse than her back, a faded patch near her ribs that was similar to one on her shoulder.

“Is this–”

“They’re bullet wounds.” Mina confirmed, inhaling sharply as Nayeon continued to trace the scars with her finger. When Nayeon’s touch came too close to her worst scar on her lower abdomen, Mina held her hand against her chest, preventing her from coming into contact with it.

“What is this one?” Nayeon pointed to the scar that Mina refused to allow her to touch.

“That’s my worst one… She dug a knife through the area and twisted it countless times when it was inside. She couldn’t stop laughing as I was below her, writhing in pain.” Mina whimpered, lowering her head. Nayeon had tears in her eyes from the revelation, feeling sick with what Mina had just told her.

“How… how did this happen?” Nayeon managed to ask.

“I don’t want to go into details about it.” Mina replied, shaking her head. It wasn’t because she didn’t want to relive it and remember it but it was because she didn’t want to put Nayeon through the terror and mental torture of having vivid images in her head about Momo.

“Is it because you don’t want to talk about it? I understand.” Nayeon assumed, nodding.

“No, I don’t want you to imagine how everything turned out back then. I don’t want you to have the events inside your mind.” Mina explained, offering a small smile.

“But I want to know.” Nayeon muttered.

“Nayeon…” Mina sighed.

“Please? Just tell me.” Nayeon pleaded.

“But I’m not going to describe it a lot. I’ll give you a summary.” Mina informed.

“Do you remember how you sent me a message saying how hurt you were because of Momo? That you felt like it was affecting you mentally? Before that, our friends also approached me, telling me about the fact that they were told to stay away from you. I was surprised, of course. Momo always seemed like she was competing against you and she hurt you severely in the process of it so why was she driving everyone away from you instead? Your message triggered me a lot – and I was very worried about you so I decided to approach Momo one night.” Mina started, taking a breather.

“Momo was really surprised when I turned up at her door but she still invited me inside. I didn’t want to beat around the bush so I directly told her that she should stop hurting you. Something in her eyes changed when I asked her to do that. She pushed me against the wall and chuckled, asking who I was to tell her what to do. I tried to get her to loosen the hold around my throat but I was getting weaker with the lack of oxygen and Momo was getting stronger every second. She let go a few moments later and I thought it was all okay – that I’d be able to escape – but that wasn’t the case.” Mina chuckled bitterly.

“She kicked my stomach a few times first. I tried to plead with her to stop but she wouldn’t listen to me. I really didn’t think much that night – I didn’t carry any defensive material with me so I couldn’t do anything to fight back. She seemed like she wasn’t really herself anymore – her eyes seemed slightly dazed out but still fiery. That was just the start. She managed to crack a few ribs through her kicks so moving was too painful for me. It got worse and I don’t remember much because I was trying to block out the pain. The stab and the two gun shots were in the middle of it somewhere. I don’t know how I got out actually or who saved me but I was in hospital the next morning.” Mina ended quickly.

“I’m sorry.” Nayeon mumbled, sobbing softly now. Mina frowned, putting her shirt back on before hugging Nayeon.

“There’s nothing for you to apologise about.” Mina denied.

“Yes, there is! This is all my fault!” Nayeon cried out against Mina’s neck.

“None of this is your fault Nayeon. You didn’t know about any of this.” Mina reasoned, hugging Nayeon tightly. It was true; Nayeon had no clue of the existence of this side of Momo. The worst state she’d seen Momo as was in her drunk state.

“But you went to her because of me? Why would you do that?” Nayeon whispered, her heart feeling heavy as she said the words out loud. Mina had approached Momo because she hurt Nayeon, so how was it not her own fault?

“There are many reasons why I went through with it.” Mina answered. She wasn’t exactly going to say that she went because she loved Nayeon.

Nayeon contemplated her answer, thinking about the possibilities and reasons of why Mina would go through so much trouble for her. Of course, they were quite close but if the roles were reversed, what would Nayeon do? She’d probably do the same thing as Mina. But the fact that she had deep feelings for Mina would be her reason why. So, was she overthinking here, or did back then, Mina indeed have feelings for her?

“I still feel like it’s all on me.” Nayeon shook her head.

“It’s not your fault though. You didn’t make me do anything.” Mina argued, trying to get her point across to Nayeon.

“You almost died because of me, how is that not my fault? Just because I didn’t know about it, it doesn’t mean that there is no fault on my part.” Nayeon shook her head again, refusing to listen to Mina’s logic.

“Nayeon.” Mina called harshly, pulling back and holding Nayeon by her shoulders. “It was my own decision to go there that night. It was my own decision to put my life at risk. Even if you told me not to go, I wouldn’t have listened to you. I know you would have tried to stop me if I told you, which is why I didn’t say anything. I would worry you and you would try countless methods to get me to stay. But none of them would have worked. I would have still gone. It’s not your fault, please.” She pleaded.

Nayeon nodded, crying harder, making Mina chuckle lightly. She felt emotionally tired with the argument and this conversation now. So much had conspired between them; a lot of secrets were finally revealed and Mina thinks that Nayeon finally believes her. The scar showing wasn’t a plan of hers – she would never want Nayeon to see them and the reason why she’d gotten them but what else could she provide as evidence? The situation was dire and Mina couldn’t contact their friends from high school to discuss it.

Now, how was she meant to make her smile again? Her cries were now sniffles but every so often she’d hiccup and start crying all over again. She didn’t want to see Nayeon in this state.

“Mina.” Nayeon suddenly called out, bringing Mina out of her thoughts.

“Yes?” Mina answered.

“Can I ask you something?” Nayeon pondered.

“Mhmm.” Mina mumbled.

“Why… why did you reject me so many times? Back in high school? You never gave me a proper reason.” Nayeon asked hesitantly.

“You really want to know?” Mina queried, biting the inside of her cheeks to stop her from smiling.

“Yes.” Nayeon nodded enthusiastically.

“Are you sure?” Mina double checked.

“You’re really not going to tell me, are you?” Nayeon whined, wiping the remnants of her tears.

“You still cry uglily all these years later?” Mina teased, changing the topic.

“Ya!” Nayeon sulked, laughing a little bit through her tears. She hit Mina’s shoulder in annoyance, pushing her away. Mina shook her head, tugging on Nayeon’s hands and pulling her forward. Her tears stopped and Nayeon finally froze, eyes wide in surprise.

Mina shuffled closer to Nayeon as the latter shuffled backwards.

“W-what are you doing?” Nayeon stuttered.

“I thought you wanted to know why I rejected you?” Mina teased.

“Yes, but you can do it from far away.” Nayeon huffed, realising she was stuck as she found herself pushed against the wall.

“Is there a problem with me being too close?” Mina chuckled.

“Yes.” Nayeon muttered, knowing that her cheeks were probably beetroot by now. She couldn’t meet Mina’s gaze and she knew she was enjoying every minute of this teasing.

“If you really must know, it was because of my dad.” Mina said quietly.

“Huh?” Nayeon responded, whipping her head up.

“I had a lot of duties to perform by my dad’s side. I couldn’t say yes to you because that would mean I’d be neglecting you. I would have rather you found someone who treated you well than you suffer by not having enough love from me.” Mina admitted, looking away from Nayeon’s heavy gaze.

“Enough love?! And who were you to decide that back then, Myoui Mina? You can’t decide what’s right for me without me knowing! If I would have been disappointed, I would have told you; you know that. If you had given me a reason, I would always understand you. It’s always been that way!” Nayeon frowned.

“I’m sorry.” Mina apologised. She’d already gotten her punishment for it though. She saw Nayeon getting married, she saw her happy and she’d moved on, with a lovely daughter. It was the biggest regret of her life, when she hadn’t told Nayeon how she felt all those years back.

Nayeon sighed heavily, acting first and turning Mina back to face her. She might be shorter than Mina by a few centimetres but that, in her opinion, was the best advantage for her. She slipped her hands around Mina’s waist, holding on tightly as she snuggled against her neck.

“You’re an idiot.” Nayeon muttered as Mina returned the hug.

“I know.” Mina muttered.

“I can’t believe you.” Nayeon added.

“I know.” Mina sighed.

“I still love you.” Nayeon confessed.

“I know – wait what?!” Mina exclaimed.

“What?” Nayeon huffed.

“Say that again?” Mina asked.

“No.” Nayeon denied.

“Please?” Mina pouted.

“No, no. Don’t you dare pull your pouting on me!” Nayeon panicked, knowing she would fall for it.

“Then just say it again.” Mina sulked.

“You’ve never said it, so why should I?” Nayeon raised an eyebrow.

Mina scoffed, observing Nayeon as she crossed her arms and looked to the side. Well, she really wasn’t going to say it again if Mina won’t say it. She figured out how to convey her feelings the smarter and quicker way. Mina cupped Nayeon’s cheeks, turning her to face Mina before leaning forward to press her lips against Nayeon’s.

A kiss should be good enough, right?

A/N: ahahaha I love how all my stories are either going from fluff to serious or serious to fluff ;-;

Like always, if you have any questions, drop them below c:

I hope you enjoyed the update~
See you all next week :D