Her heartbeat formed a lump in and the sound resonated as blood pounding within her ears. She could feel the light sheen of sweat cling to her thin shirt and therefore her skin – the breeze of the wind having mattered none.

Her legs moved double time, the muscles protesting her effort even still.

When the blood wasn’t sounding in her ears, she could hear the occasional squeak of a sneaker on the pavement. The scenery changed to one much smaller and she could still faintly make out the squeaks reverberating off of the walls as she ran through the halls.

She was in a rush – and it was a desperate one at that.

She wouldn’t have been struggling with the excessive movement of her own body had her meeting with KBS not run an hour and some minutes over the time that they allotted. She wouldn’t have lost her patience at the bumper to bumper traffic and ran the several number blocks that led her to her home.

She wouldn’t be barging into the dorms, almost knocking Sana and Chaeyoung over in her wake as she pushed pass them to move towards the rooms. She wouldn’t be running into a room where the owner was clearly not present like she was before she had set off.

She wouldn’t have missed Mina’s departure. Mina who was supposed to fly back home weeks ago but stayed around a bit longer, as close to Christmas as she could. Mina who she wouldn’t see for a couple of months at best.

Mina who was on the way back to Kobe. Mina who she promised she would be back in time to see off. Mina who she misses and missed.

She tried her best to get back to her within enough time. Ultimately, it didn’t matter how hard she had personally tried when the cards were stacked against her. She took in the room – and its lack of occupancy aside from herself – and she tried not to cry.

She couldn’t really help her overwhelming and admittedly dramatic response. She never took breaking a promise with any of them well, especially not one between her and Mina. She felt as though she failed her, at least a tiny bit.

Shaking her head to rid herself of the potential tears, she moved dejectedly out of Mina’s room and into her own located across the hall.

She carelessly kicked off her shoes once she entered, the soles of her feet sliding along the carpet as she sulked towards her unmade bed. She moves herself to sit at the foot of it, her shoulders sagging once she makes it there.

Beginning to entangle as so into her comforter, she’s distracted by the pads of her fingers brushing against something trapped in between her sheets. She startles momentarily with a barely contained yelp of surprise.

She pulls the small object from her side and settles it on her lap. It was a sloppily wrapped gift with a penguin sticker on it and a tag attached. Something that was clearly from Mina.

(And if it wasn’t for the penguin decal that gave her away, it was the fact that the younger woman was the only one of the nine of them who could never wrap a present well).

She pulled the gift from her lap and closer to her face so that she could read the note that was attached. Scanning it as is, she chuckled at the familiar writing in all its neat lines and elegant swoops of the pen.

Hey  Nayeon-Unnie,

         I’m actually not your Secret Santa but [xxx] wouldn’t swap with me

       when I asked her. Even still, here’s a gift that I hoped would make

        your day or at least gain me a smile. It’s a bit homemade.

Merry Christmas! I love you!

  Thank you for everything. I could never really express that gratitude enough.

- Mina Mi :]  

She smiles a bit longer at the note, letting the words take up residence in her heart, swallowing them fully. A few tears prickled along the bottom of her eyes for a moment before she began to eagerly rip into the gift.

The skin of a finger catches along the edges of the paper, but it bothered her none.

Pulling the paper away, a pretty lavender mug was revealed to her. She runs the pads of her fingers along the sides of it before she starts spinning it within her hands. The movement comes to a halt when an inscription earns her attention.

The inscription originally reads as “World’s No. 1 Mom.” However, the word “mom” is crossed out with black paint and it instead says, “World’s No. 1 Unnie.” The word is bigger and neater than the others and it means so much. Something so simple meant so much to her.

She laughs fondly at it, rereading it multiple times, before she cradles it protectively to herself with a watery smile fixed on her face.

She sits like that for a beat before she begins to shuffle around momentarily. Sniffling as she does so, she fishes her phone from out of the pocket of her pants. The mug is still cradled against her by her right hand as she uses the left one to make a call.

The person on the other end of the call answers after a couple of rings, even if she never really expected them to do so to begin with.

A breathy chuckle makes its way to her ears, the greeting that follows makes her toes curl against her floor. She lowers her eyes and watches them as they do.

“You do know that that was a Christmas gift to be opened on Christmas right,” the teasing lilt ever noticeable in the younger woman’s voice.

She can only sniffle in response, a laugh tinkling after it. She can hear Mina giggle in reply to her own before she thanks her for the gift.

“I love it and I love you,” and she means every word.  

Mina hums into the receiver of the phone, but she can hear the smile in the sound. She can hear a door opening and closing, but she’s not sure from which end of the call it comes from.

She wishes her to have a safe flight because she knows that it is only a matter of time before she has to go. She really wishes she never has to go to begin with.

Mina speaks again. This time in a voice louder than before, she hears it clear as day. “I don’t have a flight to catch, silly.”

Her heart catches on quicker than the rest of her senses, going haywire at the words said to her. It was like she was running again but the destination was closer than before. Much closer.

Her sense of smell catches it next as the muted smell of cinnamon made its way to her. Her sight follows behind when a pair of slipper covered feet is within her view a few centimeters from her own.

She hears a soft “hi” and her eyes snap up immediately to take in Mina standing in front of her, pulling her phone away from her ear.

She begins to say something else but it is lost against Nayeon’s skin as she pulls the younger woman into an all-encompassing hug. Her phone is abandoned on the bed that she was previously sat on but the mug remained firmly held in her hand, resting against the small of Mina’s back.

Nayeon sniffled again, the tears free falling easily this time. She doesn’t even try to keep them from doing so.

“You’re here.”