Mina looked down at the girl sitting on her bed with a faint smile. She was worried the red haired girl would be sick after staying under the rain like that, but she physically seemed fine. However, it looked like something else was hurting her and the violin player hadn’t gotten any words out of the younger girl’s mouth yet. 

She had offered her a hot chocolate and only got a please and thank you in return, nothing more. She wanted to do something to help the girl look less vulnerable and more enthusiastic like when they had met at the auditorium earlier that day, but she had no idea how. She let herself fall on her desk chair, a warm cup also in her hands. 

She eyed the window ; the rain drops were hitting it loudly, but she didn’t mind it. Staying inside while it rained with a nice hot cup and some company was really nice. She juts hoped the girl would tell her bit more about herself instead of closing herself like that. Mina could understand : she looked sad and they didn’t know each other. She probably didn’t feel like talking. 

Mina took a decision. She quickly emptied her cup and left it on her desk before reaching for her violin. She stood still in the middle of the room and smiled as she finally got the girl’s attention. She carefully set up the violin on her shoulder and took a small breath.

« Would some music help you feel better ? » as soon as the short girl nodded, she started playing one of her favorite pieces ; and as the stranger on her bed looked at her with big, now bright again eyes, she felt a pang of melancholia hit her and let herself fall into memories. 

She went back, way back to her childhood, playing in the backyard of her grandparents, running across the landscape freely. The first accident she got into, how learning about classical music saved her life. It had been difficult, her legs broken like that, to do anything remotely interesting for a child. Was it her fault, was it the driver’s ? We will never know, but the scars were still there. 

The first time she heard someone play the violin was when her nurse the little tv in her room. A live concert had just started and she had felt entranced the second she first notes had reached her ears. The musician had seemed passionate, truly invested into his music, one with the violin. She had felt a urge to get up and get closer to the screen, but her legs still refused to work well. she talked about it to her parents, and luckily, the nurse helped her convince them to let her take lessons to learn how to play, at least until her legs were fully recovered. 

Turned out she was a true prodigy at it. The first lesson were difficult but as soon as she understood how to play, it was impossible to stop her. She didn’t stop the lessons when her legs finished healing, and easily got the attention of some of the best musicians in Japan. The violin’s case barely ever left her back during her primary school years, even in middle school. It was a bit hard to make real friends with how much time she had to spend working on her music, and her parents were afraid she would get lazy for it if she began to stay too much with the children of her class. But she had great ones from her music school, so it didn’t really affect her. 

She loved to visit her grandparents. It usually was her only break form school and music, so she plays enjoyed it a lot. Fishing with her grandpa, cooking - more like eating - with her grandmother on some occasions, spending hours at the animal sheeter when she had the chance. She liked one dog a lot in particular. No one wanted it, so she had name it Ray and would visit him the longest. She discovered once that he liked listening to the sounds of her violin, and she decided to study her pieces next to hi when she could. It made it way funnier. 

she joined her first orchestra when she was supposed to enter high school, which she finally never attended. The orchestra was a quite famous one, and so she started traveling. She went to a lot of different countries, won prizes, made money for her and her family. Getting better and prettier each passing day, only getting a few days to rest. 

Sometimes her legs would hurt if she stood too long, and had to stop playing with the orchestra when it began unbereable - from there, she deicded to srudy again and joined this art university in Korea.

Her favorite concert would forever remain the one she did in Korea for the first time. The public had been the nicest, and she would forever remember the strong look of that one girl - her closed eyes suddenly opened and she slowed down the movement of her arm to focus on the girl on the bed. She was sure of it, now. She had doubts, but it was finally as clear as water. The girl on her bed was the one she had made eye contact with that one wonderful day. 

—

Chaeyoung was sure she had ben dreaming when Mina’s face had came into her sight while she was crying under the rain. Thankfully, she had kept shut and was sure nothing had shown how shocked she was. The violinist was holding an umbrella, protecting her from the rain, and she couldn’t refuse when the girl proposed to welcome her in her dorm room. 

They had silently made their way to the building, Chaeyoung looking down at her feet and Mina humming a tune she couldn’t recognize. She couldn’t’ believe she was so close to the one and only Myoui Mina - going to her dorm, most important of all ! But it wasn’t enough to lift up her mood, since she felt herself almost cry again when she thought about Jeongyeon. 

And now, she was admiring the incredible features of Mina as the violin player gave her a very private concert. The rain drops outside here adding a really nice touch to the music, and she felt every worry possible leave her clouded mind as she leaned back against the wall, holding her hot cup tightly and listening to the calming sounds of Mina’s violin. 

But then the musician stopped and looked straight into her eyes with the most satisfied look she had ever seen. Chaeyoung felt herself blush and brought her now empty cup to her chest before giving a smile to Mina. The Japanese girl laughed and went to the other side of the room to put the instrument back in its case. 

« So, you seem to feel better. Could you tell me your name now ? » Mina looked back expectantly at her. « It’s the third time we meet. You know mine, it’s only logical that I should know yours, don’t you think ? » 

« I’m Chaeyoung, Son Chaeyoung. » she answered in a shaky voice and couldn’t help but gulp when the musician’s soft hands grazed against hers when she took the cup from her hands. « I, I would like to say that I love the way you play a lot. I’ve never been into classical music until I saw you play. Thank you very much for helping me tonight. » she shut as soon as she finished her sentence, feeling like she wouldn’t stop talking if she didn’t. 

Mina thanked her too, explained that she was glad she had finally found the girl she had seen in Korea that day, the curious one with long black hair that had stared quite dumbly at her. Chaeyoung hid her face in embarrassment at that comment, but it didn’t stop a smile from reaching her lips when she heard the musician laugh again. 

when the rain finally stopped, she left the room to go back to her own after promising to mina that they would talk again, and that she would repay her, somehow. 

— 

At the other side of campus, Sana and also been waiting for the rain to stop under one of the porches when someone had passed by her, apologizing that she needed to reach the door. Sana had stepped to the side before she had noticed that the hooded figure had dropped something. 

On the floor, a soft blue envelope with golden stars was slowly getting wet. 

She quickly grabbed it and gasped as she read her name and old address on it. She let her fingers graze over the stickers, before she realized where she had seen them before. 

Chaeyoung.