Chapter 54: Mina's Sweet Home
Welcome to Touchstone
That night, their goal of waiting up for Yiseul to return disappears one by one as sleep visits each of them. A part of them thinks Mina will still monopolize Yiseul in the end. The other part of them is ashamed of that same thought. For all they knew, Mina could really be in trouble.
“Hey, I found something,” Donghyuk says as he arrives in the common area bright and early the next morning.
Everyone looks up.
“Dorm head says that she’ll be with Mina for a while,” he reveals while holding up a small post-it note.
“There’s only six days left before we leave on break,” Jennie says. “Do you think that’s enough time for her to convince Yiseul to leave?”
“All of her things are still here,” Seunghoon remarks.
“That doesn’t mean anything,” Jisoo responds. “She’ll have the whole break to prepare and gather her belongings then.”
Unable to stay silent any longer, Hanbin announces, “It’s my fault.”
“How is it your fault?” Bobby asks.
“I confronted Mina right before she passed out.”
“What? Why would you do that?” Jennie asks.
“I saw how bummed out Yiseul was after Mina found her at the carnival.”
They really couldn’t complain or blame Hanbin. They would have expected that same reaction from any one of the residents.
If he had to be totally honest, he did want Yiseul to handle it on her own. He knew she had her own ways with dealing with problems and she does it at her own pace. He also wanted her to make her own decisions so that there wouldn’t be room for doubt– but, it’s hard to stand on the sidelines and watch her get hurt.
“If you keep stepping in, how is the dorm head going to learn how to stand up for herself?”
The random question brings everyone turning in Chanhyuk’s direction.
“Huh?”
“She doesn’t need you to stand up for her,” Chanhyuk continues.
“How do you know?” Seunghoon asks.
“Because she said something similar to me,” he answers.
"Well, I'm telling you now," Mino speaks up, "If I see that Mina girl again, I don't know if I'll be able to stay quiet."
***
Yiseul sighs every time she returns to Touchstone at odd hours.
She couldn’t deny the fact that she’s avoiding them and she definitely wouldn’t be able to admit it if she were to run into them. So, she silently prays her that none of her residents would notice her return. She knew they would have questions that she wouldn’t have any answers for.
In total silence as her residents sleep, Yiseul packs quickly for the upcoming break before returning back to Mina’s dorm so the two of them can head off. Taking one last look of the West wing of the Touchstone dormitory with a heavy heart, Yiseul promises that she’ll have everything figured out before break ends. She can only ask for their understanding in the meantime.
***
Grabbing hold of all the luggage she can handle, Yiseul follows as Mina takes off into the large home. They had travelled by train all morning and this is the first time that Yiseul notices the ge
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