Then finally, the tears escaped from Mina's eyes. She covered her face with a pillow and cried. Chaeng slid her arm that made Mina burry her face on her shoulder. She could feel Mina's tears dripping on her shirt. She brushed her hair trying to comfort her.

It breaks my heart seeing you like this. She consoled her until Mina fell asleep. She wiped the tears left on her cheeks.

"I will always show you my love. You don't need to love me back, all that's important is for all the pain to go away and for you to be happy." Chaeng whispered.

Dangerously In Love [Chapter 40]

Saturday, 6am..

Chaeng woke up early. She stared at Mina's face for a couple of minutes before going downstairs. Her parents will return today so she started cleaning the house. After, she cooked breakfast.

It's now 8am, Mina just woke up then came downstairs.

"Good morning Chaeyoung-a." She noticed the house is really clean. "Why didn't you wake me up? I could've helped you clean the house."

"It's okay. I didn't want to disturb you and there's nothing much to clean anyway." She went to the fridge and poured a glass of cold water and handed it to Mina. "Omo, your eyes are so swolen." She sighed as she gently touched it. "This won't do, my mom will think that I made you cry." She went back to the fridge and grabbed something from the freezer.

"I'll just tell her that you bullied me." Mina smiled.

Chaeng's happy to see her smile. She was crying so hard last night. I wonder if this is just a front and just pretending or if she's really happy. "Eh? When did I bully you? You're the one who bullied me, you even called me a tadpole! And since I'm a tadpole, I'll tell mom that you called her a frog."

"Eh? I didn't say that! Yah, don't badmouth me to your mom or she'll kick me out of here." They both laughed.

"Good to see that you're okay now." Chaeng said.

Mina just smiled in response and sat on the table. Chaeng went to her and handed her two frozen spoons. "Here, put it in your eyes to reduce the swelling. I prepared it earlier, I thought you might need it."

"Thank you." Mina held it and covered her eyes with it. "You're so resourceful, you know that right?"

Chaeng chuckled. "Yeah of course." She served the food on the table then sat beside Mina.

"Cmon let's eat." Then they started eating. After, Mina washed the dishes and they continued cleaning. They did a little gardening and watered the plants.

After, they took a bath then went to the airport to fetch Chaeng's parents. They used her dad's car so they can all fit in.

"Eomma!! Appa!" Chaeng shouted as soon as she saw them came out. She ran to them and hugged them tightly. "I missed you so much."

"We missed you too darling." Her dad replied.

Mina smiled as she looked at them.

"Mina-ssi! How are you?" Mrs. Son asked as she approached them.

"I'm fine Eomeonim. How's your trip?"

"It's quite tiring but we had fun. Gosh I'm starving, we'll talk more about it while we eat." They went to a famous Korean restaurant and ordered various foods.

"I miss Korean food so much." Mr. Son said, then he looked at Mina. "No offense, I like Japanese food as well but of course I prefer Korean." He smiled.

"Well there's no need to argue with that. I actually prefer Korean food now." Mina chuckled.

"Oh by the way, I bought strawberries and snacks for you. I bet you miss the products from your country." Mrs. Son handed her a paper bag.

"Oh wow, these are some quality strawberries, and very expensive." Mina's eyes widened as she opened it.

Chaeng's mom laugh. "Of course, I only buy special things for my daughters."

"Eomma, you didn't forget that I love strawberries right?" Chaeng inserted.

"Oh that. We actually bought 2 boxes of strawberries, one for each of you, but then I gave the other one to your dad's colleague on our way to the airport. Mianhe my strawberry princess. I'll just buy you later at the supermarket." Her mom replied.

"Hmp!" Chaeng pouted.

"You can have this Chaeyoung-a, I still have a lot of snacks here." Mina offered.

"Don't mind me, I'm just pretending that I'm sulking." She whispered in response.

Mina chuckled. What a cute baby. "Aigoo, let's just share this, there's a lot. I won't be able to finish this by myself anyway." Then she brought out the other snacks out of the paper bag. "Woah! My favorite! Thank you Eomonim!" Mina was delighted. " Chaeyoung-a, you seriously need to try this. This is very popular in Japan."

"Jinjja? What's that?"

"Tokyo banana and Strawberry Cake from Ginza."

She removed the wrapper and gave her a strawberry cake. "Here, try this."

Chaeng took a bite, then her eyes widened. "Hmm!! This is really good!"

"I told you." Mina smiled.

Mrs. Son smiled as she watched them. "Mina-ssi, how's your stay at the house for the past week? Did Chaeyoung bother you a lot?"

"It was fun. Chaeyoung-a took care of me and prepared every meal. I gained a lot of weight because we ate a lot." Mina replied.

"Yeah, I noticed. You have quite chubby cheeks now." Mr. Son teased.

Mina immediately held her cheeks. "Really?"

Chaeng chuckled. "You're still cute, don't worry." She smiled as she pinched Mina's nose.

"Psssh. Gomawo." Mina replied shyly, blushing. "Anyways, Chaeyoung-a has been a very good girl but she's just quite stubborn sometimes." She added as she messed Chaeng's hair.

"Yah! Don't mess my hair." Chaeng tried to cover it, then they all laughed.

"I see that you grew closer now, that's good." Mrs. Son said as she smiled that made the two blush.

"By the way Mina-ssi, Chaeyoung told me about what happened the night you were harassed. Are you okay now?"

Mina nodded. "Yes Eomeonim. I'm so thankful that Chaeyoung came and saved me."

"Don't worry, I made sure that guy will rot in jail." Mr. Son said.

Mrs. Son nodded in agreement. "And because of what happened, me and my husband decided to let you stay with us. It's very dangerous for a young woman like you to live alone in a foreign country, and we don't want something like that to happen again. If you stay with us, at least we're assured that you're safe."

"And I'll be here to protect you." Chaeng inserted, she secretly held Mina's hand under the table.

Mina was dumbfounded. She looked at Chaeng's hand that's holding hers. Then she looked at Chaeng's face, then back to Mrs. Son. She's speechless, touched with their kindness.

"What do you think?" Mr. Son said.

"Uhh.." She was speechless for a couple of seconds, then she finally composed herself. "That is so kind of you. But I don't think that's necessary. I'll just be a nuisance, and I've actually lived by myself for almost 2 years now, I can manage." She refused politely.

"What nuisance are you talking about?" Mrs. Son chuckled. "We're a family now, and it'll be good to have you in the house, it'll be more lively."

Chaeng laughed so hard. "Lively? How?" She laughed again. "She studies 24 hrs a day. She has no time to make the house lively."

Mina elbowed her. "Yah, am I that boring?"

"Just a little bit." Chaeng replied, gesturing her hands like she's holding something small between her fingers that made everyone laugh. Mina pouted and crossed her arms.

"Hey, I'm just kidding. Cmon, it'll be fun! At least both of us won't be lonely anymore. And you can tutor me and help me with my homework and projects. You can help me clean the house too and do the grocery."

"Yah, do you want me to live with you so I can be your personal assistant?" Mina replied.

Mr. and Mrs. Son are just laughing watching the two argue.

"Consider it Mina-ssi, aside from your safety, it'll be more practical as well. At least you don't need to pay for rent anymore and you can eat properly. Chaeng mentioned before you mostly eat instant food."

"Uhhhm.." Mina is hesitating.

"Why are you hesitating?" Chaeng asked.

"I'll still need to talk to my parents about it, and also to my landlord."

"We can talk to you landlord, there's no problem with that. Hmm, we can try and talk to your parents as well. I can speak a little of Japanese."

"No need for that Eomonim. I think I can convince them." Mina replied.

"So that means you agreed right? Right? " Chaeng asked excitedly. Mina chuckled and nodded. "Yay!"

"Chaeyoung-a, don't be so loud. We're at a restaurant." Her dad jokingly scolded her.

"Mian." She covered . "Yaaay.." She celebrated quietly that made everyone laugh.

"I'm glad that you accepted our offer. You should move in as soon as possible Mina-ssi." Mrs. Son said.

"I'm grateful for your kindness. I'll talk to my parents first and move in maybe nextweek if that's okay."

"Yeah sure. Chaeyoung-a, you should help her pack okay?" Mrs. Son said.

"Ne!" She replied with enthusiasm.

*******

After lunch, they headed home. Chaeng's parents went to their room to rest while Mina and Chaeng stayed at the garden. They sat on a bench under a huge tree that provides them shade. They're eating strawberries.

"Your parents are too kind. But sometimes I'm quite wor