Mina

I’m in the training room, waiting -although impatiently- for news and more information regarding Suho’s so-called ‘helpful’ friend It’s been two days since the meeting.

Two days.

No word has been received from that trustworthy friend and I’m now beginning to doubt his willingness to help us. I don’t completely blame him though. What person would want to help us invade a highly secured place where they will show no hesitation in using force against intruders who are caught? Possibly someone without brains would agree to being our risk-taker.

I return my attention to the red worn-out punching bag in front of me and meekly punch it. It barely swings back and resumes its previous position. I give it another hit, this time with more force. It nudges farther than last time. My frustration gets the better of me and I slam my fist into it.

Boom.

The sound resonates off the stone walls, giving me a strange sense of satisfaction. As the punching bag comes back my way, I punch it with the same force again.

Boom.

And again.

Boom.

And again.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

I continuously release the negative feelings I have over Sehun’s disappearance towards the punching bag until my knuckles and wrists begin to ache. As my final punch connects with the swinging bag, I imagine it flying off its hinges and to the floor.

And that’s exactly what happens next. With a loud snap, the punching bag is let loose from its hinges and drops with an obnoxious thud.

.

I exasperatedly look up at the spot where the hinges are connected to the ceiling and let out a sigh. Of course they would be out of metal. Good going, Mina.

“Whoa, Mina,” someone comments behind, “what the .”

I twirl around to see Minseok standing at the room’s entrance, eyes wide in disbelief. He looks from me to the punching bag then back to me before speaking again.

“Stressed much?” The teasing grin he shows makes me relax. I release my hands from the clenched fists they were in and purse my lips together in a small smile.

“I’m sorry, I’ll fix it.” I tell him. I make a move to pick the punching bag up from the floor but stop when Minseok calls out to me.

“Don’t worry about it. We’ve been needing a new one, anyway.” His eyes crinkle as he smiles and I straighten up. “Chanyeol’s told me that you’ve been out of it these last few days. How are you holding up?”

“I’m fine.” I dismiss his question quickly. I have no choice other than to be fine. But of course, just like everyone else, Minseok is able to tell when I’m lying.

“It’s okay to not be fine, Mina.” His tone grows serious and I shrink back slightly from his sudden change of mood. “You miss your brother, you’re worried about him. What isn’t fine is trying to suppress these feelings from others.”

“I will be fine, then.” I clarify, crossing my arms defensively. The way Minseok looks at me shows that he has more to say but is debating whether or not to actually voice his thoughts. “I’ll be fine, Min, I promise. If not, you can feed me corn bread for the next week as punishment.”

He pretends to contemplate this for a second before saying, “Mhm, deal. I’ll also make you pay for the new punching bag.”

“Damn, I thought you forgot about that already.” He laughs at this.

“All jokes aside, though. I want you to come with me.”

␛␛␛

Minseok ends up taking me to Suho’s office where the meeting from two days ago was held. He knocks on the door briefly before swinging it open like it was his own room he was barging into.

“Yes, you can come in?” Suho says, raising his eyebrow. He takes a second to see who his intruder was and then falls back into his desk chair. “Oh, it’s just you, Min. And Mina, hello.”

In front of Suho is a raven-haired man who is seated in an armchair. Although I can’t see his face, I can tell I haven’t seen him around here yet. Did we get a new recruit? We’ve been lacking in finding more Holders lately.

“I just wanted to introduce Mina to him.” Minseok announces, gently nudging me forward so I was now standing fully in the room. “I’m sure we’ve kept her waiting long enough for this introduction.”

My hands grow clammy at his words. If this is who I think it is…

The man shifts in his seat, allowing me to see the side of his face. I gingerly step closer to him and he chuckles.

“You’re acting so cautious.” He mumbles. “Don’t worry, you have nothing to be afraid of. I’m here to help.”

The man gets up from the armchair to face me and I look up into kind, brown eyes. The smile he offers me matches his words and I can’t help but smile back at him.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Mina.” He says, taking my hand to shake it. He notices the redness of my knuckles and runs his thumb over them. In the next second, the redness is gone and the dull ache that was there vanishes.

I’m taken aback by the sudden relief and widened my eyes. He simply smiles again and lets go of my hands.

“I’m Yixing. Now let’s work together to get your brother, shall we?”