18. the closure

"Mina, why did you just tell me now?" Nayeon sighed in frustration, pressing hard on the brakes as the yellow traffic light became red in a split second. Mina, sitting on her right, bit her lip in guilt.

"I'm sorry, okay? I found out just about the same time, but I was scared that you'll..." Mina was on the verge of crying, but she tried her best to keep it in since she already knew how much stress her girlfriend was going through right now. Unfortunately, Nayeon just felt worse at the sound of her girlfriend's quivering voice.

"Scared that what?!" Nayeon finally broke down and swerved to the left, scaring the living daylights of Mina. The latter froze, her eyes filled with tears that never actually escaped.

Nayeon sighed and leaned on the steering wheel, ignoring all the cars honking at her and passing by her like the wind.

Her eyes brimmed with tears. She was clearly a mess, her best friend was clearly in danger and she could not save her because she herself wasn't even safe from her own driving. Mina's eyes finally softened and as a result, her tears poured down like a river seeping through a dam.

Nayeon unfastened her seatbelt and stretched her upper body just to take Mina's head into her chest and wrap her arms around the weak girl's small frame.

Nayeon apologized over and over again, but Mina was still sobbing uncontrollably. She nodded in Nayeon's embrace, despite her infinite tears.

"I'm okay, just go... Chase her." Mina responded in monotone, not once, looking into her lover's eyes. She unlocked the door and left without another word nor glance. Nayeon's eyebrows met at the center. She could not believe what was happening right now. If she was a mess before, she was a complete wreck now that her own girlfriend was mad at her. She opened , but nothing came out. She immediately left the car and chased after her, "Mina, wait!" 

As she realized the younger girl wouldn't wait for her, she ran in a speed of light, wrapping her arms around her girlfriend's waist the moment she caught up.

"Hey, please don't do this... Come with me, please?" Nayeon pleaded. Mina slowly pushed her hands away and turned around to finally face her.

"Come back to me if it's still me."

Mina took off her couple ring with Nayeon and placed it in the flabbergasted girl's palm.

"You may not realize it now, but I can see right through your heart. I know you, Nayeon. Maybe it's because you still haven't gotten the closure you wanted with Dahyun, but - when you do, and it's still me... I'll be here waiting."

Nayeon avoided Mina's eyes. Somehow, she felt that Mina was onto her. She felt guilt and maybe Mina was right. Maybe she still hasn't completely moved on; maybe she still needs to set things right... and in order to do that, she has to fully accept the way things ended up. 

She has to forget her past and face Dahyun. She can't just let go of the past without even knowing the reason behind everything; she has to do this- for herself and for Mina.

Nayeon nodded and forced a sad smile, giving Mina one last hug before running back to her car. 

Even after the mini Kia-Soul disappeared from Mina's sight, the latter never looked away. She felt heaviness in heart, like a burden that she was letting go of a person who will never come back. 

~~~

"Please, please... don't go," Dahyun muttered under her breath as she parked hastily and ran out of her car, bringing just her cell phone. She swiftly escaped the guards, but suddenly a security guard took her by the wrist just as she was about to pass the entrance gate.

"P-Please, let me go! I need to catch up to her... She can't leave! Not when I've realized that I... I love her!" Dahyun cried, loud enough to let Momo hear wherever she was right now.

"What's her name?"

"Momo, Hirai Momo." Dahyun quickly responded as if her life depended on it. The guard sighed and gave her one last 'you-better-thank-me-for-this' look before taking his walkie-talkie.

"Please tell the intercom announcer to send Hirai Momo to the front gate."

Dahyun sat there, her eyes still overflowing with tears and fixated on the ground. Her heart skipped a beat as a pair of familiar shoes entered her line of vision. Her eyes slowly rose to meet the owner of the shoes.

Momo.

"Why are you here?"

Dahyun awkwardly shifted her eyes back down to the ground and fiddled with her fingers. She felt shy all of a sudden, but she had an intense urge to just wrap her arms around this clueless (or not-so-clueless) girl she almost lost forever.

"I... have something to say." Dahyun blurted out, still refusing to look Momo in the eyes. She felt restless, but nonetheless, she chose to just lean back into her seat and feign ignorance.

"Well, what is it? I didn't skip my flight to wait forever. How important is it that you couldn't wait to tell me through the phone?" Momo coldly retorted back, showing no sense of sympathy towards the girl's wrecked appearance. Her purse was hung upside down, her hair all over her face, and e