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Mina returned to her hotel room, placing her bag onto the table before sitting down onto the bed with a tired sigh.

She was doing an outdoor shoot for a fashion magazine and had to drive an hour up to another city where their headquarter was located. Having been awake since dawn, she felt the fatigue finally catch up to her when she let out yet another yawn.

She went towards the small minibar and grabbed a bottle of wine, not bothering to look for a glass. She walked onto the balcony and took in a breath of the night air, letting herself rewind after a long day.

Her eyes wandered over the lights and cars she saw pass by. It was at times like this where her mind travelled without much thought.

And on a night like this, she started to think about him.

Memories of them sitting out on the balcony together, drinking and talking the night away made her feel sick. She rested on the railing, letting her head hang down.

It was tiring having to shoulder something like this for so long. It was even more tiring knowing that in order to get a resolve, it would require much more emotional effort. It required them confronting one another.

She really saw herself settling down with him. She may have still been too young to truly understand what that meant but she knew she loved him. It killed her to think that he didn’t feel the same after all these years.

Shin Hoseok, or now known as Shin Wonho after he changed his name, was someone who ran through her mind more often than she would have liked.

Sometimes she’d see a couple on the street and immediately remember their memories together. It was all the little things that reminded her of him.

Seeing the empty spot on the wall where his toothbrush holder used to be, or the extra space in the cupboard where he placed the cup that she had painted for him.

It was lonely.

She had Changkyun, her friends, her family, and even Minhyuk- but nothing could compare to the comfort she felt when she was with him. As much as Minhyuk was a sweet guy, Mina didn’t think that her chest ever beat fast enough for him.

Now that she thought about it, perhaps her nervousness around him was simply because she wasn’t used to interacting with a guy where she was aware of his feelings. It had been a long time since that happened.

It made her feel like she was going insane. She wanted to move on but she didn’t know how. Unknowingly, she would compare every guy she came across to him and then she would feel bad afterwards for doing so. It was baggage that she should carry herself- not project onto others.

She wasn’t able to explain the fully story to her parents but they were aware she went through heartbreak. They were welcoming but during that time, she wanted to be alone.

Even now, it was hard for her to leave the house and meet new people.

Before she even realized it, her breathing became shallow and her chest tightened to the point that she used her hand to clutch at it, stumbling back against the wall. She quickly took slowed down her breathing, not wanting to go into another panic attack.

When she heard her phone ring, her mind grew blank. She reached into her pocket to pull it out and after seeing that it was a business partner, she took in one last deep breath before answering.

“Hello?”

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After being out of the city for two days, Mina returned to her apartment with a relieved sigh. She was now comfortably sitting at her desk while on her laptop. She was reading through her emails and responding to the ones that were most urgent.

The amount of bookings and jobs that were forwarded to her by her agent made her sigh. She spent the next hour sitting there, replying to emails and sending the appropriate files off to her clients.

When she got to the email from her agent about another shoot with the local zoo, she opened it to read the content.

She read through the lines of text and was surprised when the details stated that they didn’t want pictures of just the animals but rather the workers. They wanted to have more images of the workers working with the animals to showcase.

Mina typed away at her keyboard, letting her manager know that she would be willing to do the shoot for them.

She leaned back in her chair after replying to all the emails. She tilted her head and stared at her phone. She wondered if Minhyuk would have already heard about this but figuring that it was the public relations department that worked with contacting her, she didn’t think he’d know.

She checked her phone and when she saw the message she got from him, she knew that he had no idea she would be coming in again.
 

She typed in a reply before setting her phone back onto her desk and walking towards the kitchen to start preparing dinner.

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Mina rang the doorbell to the apartment and waited. A few seconds later, the door opened and Changkyun stood there with a towel over his head. He stepped aside for her to come inside.

After taking off her shoes, she threw her bag onto the couch before sitting down. She brought her legs up onto the couch and lay there until Changkyun came over and smacked her on the head.

“I called you over to help me record, not to sleep,” he said, walking off towards his studio room. She lifted her head up and glared at his retreating back figure for a few seconds before he held up a middle finger, as if he knew she was digging daggers into him with her eyes.

She came into his studio and she raised an eyebrow when she saw the new soundproof padding on his walls.

“How much money have you spent into decorating this room?” she asked, pulling over a stool to sit on. Her eyes looked over the different musical instruments and computer setup he had on the desk.

“More than you’d ever understand,” he said, sitting down to type something into his computer. He swiveled around in his chair to hand her the piece of paper he had just printed,

“Are these the lines I need to sing?” she asked, silently humming along to the musical notes and lyrics written on the page.

“Yeah, I just need you to sample that for me. I don’t have time to find someone else to do it for me in time.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Am I your backup?”

“More like my last resort,” he winked. He turned back around. “Just let me know when you’re ready to record.”

They finished recording the sections he needed her voice for and Mina put the paper back onto his desk before telling him she was going to go lie on the couch for a break.

She came into his kitchen and opened up his refrigerator. Her expression fell and she even ducked down to see if there was any food on the bottom shelves but there was nothing besides a few cans of pop.

She slammed the door shut before peaking her head back into his studio.

“Do you not eat? Like, ever?”

He didn’t even bother taking his eyes off the screen as he replied. “What do you mean? I eat all the time.”

“Why is there no food in your fridge?” she asked.

“I forgot to restock, okay? Give me a break. I’ve been busy.”

He finally turned around to look at her as she walked out of the room.

“Where are you going?” he called out, hearing her keys jingle from the living room.

“To feed you!”

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Mina went over to the rice cooker when she heard it click and picked up the bowl sitting beside it on the counter to scoop out some rice. She placed the bowl onto the table along with the meat dish and the dish of greens before calling Changkyun out.

He came out and his eyes widened when he saw the food on the table. “You cooked for me too?”

She nodded, taking a seat and taking out her phone. “I had some free time today. You’re welcome.”

He laughed, picking up the bowl. “Thanks.” He stopped for a second when he realized she wasn’t eating and he tilted his head.

“Are you not eating?”

She shook her head. “I bought a pastry on the way back.” Upon hearing her words, he frowned. “Is that all you’re eating for dinner?”

She looked up at him. “I’m not hungry enough for a full meal right now.”

“At least eat some vegetables or meat. Here,” he said, pushing the plate towards her. She sighed, getting up to grab a pair of chopsticks for herself before shoving a piece of meat into .

She chewed on the food. “Did you ever get time off to hang out with them the other day? Or did you have to play until closing?”

Changkyun looked up and for a second, he was confused as to what she was talking about. Then his eyes rounded and he nodded.

“No, I did get to talk to them for a bit but I had to help with closing. I also had to bring your drunk home, remember?”

Mina furrowed her brows. “I actually don’t remember much besides Hyunwoo helping me sit down. Thanks for lending me your jacket though, I wasn’t sober enough to get up and turn off the air conditioning.”

He froze.

“My jacket?”

She nodded, reaching over to grab another piece of meat to put into . “Yeah, didn’t you come in and give me your jacket? I remember seeing you.”

He raised an eyebrow and stared at her, trying to remember if he had done so and just forgot. It took him a second but his mouth fell open in realization.

“I,” he paused, not knowing how to continue. After thinking better of it, he decided to just play along.

“Oh yeah, I came in to give it to you during my short break. Hyunwoo told me you were in his office.”

She smiled at him and hummed. “Thanks,”

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