Italic/Bold = Writing

[Momo's POV]

My heart soars at hearing the words I’ve been yearning to hear for so long. She whispers it again and again and again while our arms are wrapped tightly around one another.

“I love you,” she whispers once more before lifting her head from my shoulder and looking me in the eyes. Her gaze darts over my features, finally being able to take me in.

I want to tell her that I love her too. I want to let her know why I left and why I couldn’t come back to her. I want her to know everything, but nothing comes out. I can tell that she senses my inner conflict and she furrows her brow.

“Momo?” Mina asks with hesitation in her voice.

I look at her and shake my head slightly.

“Y-you really can’t talk… can you?”

Mina's wearing a hurt expression and I can’t look at her any longer. My head sags and I look at my feet. I let go of her and bend down gingerly to pick up my cane. I want to tell her that we need to go someplace else and she seems to read my mind.

“Let’s go to my place. You can tell... explain to me what happened to you there.”

Mina loops her arm with mine and we slowly make our way to her car. She opens the door for me and guides me in. She then takes my bag and puts it into the back before getting in herself.

We drive in silence for sometime, before her welcome voice breaks it. “I really did miss you.”

One of her hands leaves the steering wheel and she places it atop mine. I look down and smile at the contrast that I was so accustomed to seeing before I left. Her hand feels rougher though, not as smooth as they used to be. It’s probably from her making pottery. I turn my hand over and intertwine our fingers. I missed you too, I think to myself. I look at her and smile softly.

“You want to know something?”

I look at her curiously and nod.

“My mom was wrong. You’re beautiful.”

I let out a huff of air from my nose from hearing the compliment. I turn away to hide the blush that’s begun to spread over my cheeks. Mina's laughter fills the car due to my reaction.

“You never were good at taking compliments.”

I just itch the back of my neck and look out the window. I watch as the lush trees pass by in a blur of brilliant greens.

The car comes to a gentle stop at a red light and Mina clears . “Uh, Momo?” My gaze leaves the window and falls upon her. “Y-you know how I feel about you still. But…” Mina's nose scrunches up in the most adorable way and she looks away from me. “Wow this is harder to ask then I thought it would be,” she mumbles. She turns back to look at me again and opens to speak. She’s stopped though by an abrupt car horn coming from behind us. We both look forward and see that the light is green.

“Oops,” she says as she gets the car moving again.

I look at her waiting for her to finish what she had begun to say, but she doesn’t for a long while.

Just when I think she’s not going to bring it up, she does. “Momo. Do you still love me too?”

I give her hand a squeeze and nod my head. Of course I still love her. She glances at me and smiles before returning her attention to the road.

“That’s good to hear… I’m not sure what I’d do if you didn’t.”

We ride in comfortable silence until Mina brings the car to a stop in front of her store.

“There’s a little apartment upstairs that I live in,” she explains as she turns off the car.

I push open the door and ease my way out of the car. It’s awkward, but doable. My bag is slung over Mina's shoulder and I reach out to take it, but she jerks away from my hand.

“I got it.”

It’s weird having Mina take care of me, especially since I was the one looking out for her in the past. I want to tell her that I can take care of myself.

She unlocks the store and let’s me go in first. She follows closely, but then turns to lock the door again. “Go to the back and then to the left are the stairs. I need to make a call and then I’ll be up.” Her gaze flashes to my cane and then back up to my face. “Uh.” She shuffles her feet a bit. “Are you okay getting up the stairs?”

I nod quickly, assuring her that I’m capable.

“Okay good. I’ll be up in just a minute.” She turns away from me and goes to the counter with the register. Next to it is a phone that she picks up and starts to make a call. I leave her be and follow her directions to get to the stairs. It’s slow going, but it was the truth that I can get up stairs on my own.

I let out a deep sigh once I reach the top and open the door. I close my eyes and smile from the strong scent of jasmine and citrus that enters my nose. I haven’t even stepped in, but it already feels like home. This is where I belong. With Mina.

I limp my way through the entrance area and take in my surroundings. Just like the little store below, it’s nice and cozy. The apartment has such a welcoming and warm feel to it. The furniture are all dark woods and there are potted plants everywhere. The place is warmly lit and everything is tidy. I take in another deep breath before I take a seat on the little couch.

My eyes continue to flit around the apartment. In front of me is a small television that Mina probably watches all of her shows on. On the TV stand there are photos of her parents and some childhood photos as well. I smile as I recall laughing at some of them when I convinced her to show me an old photo album that she had.

Mounted on the walls are tons of shelves holding up books upon books. I knew Mina loved to read, but it still surprises me to see so many. She had a combination of books in braille and not.

“Sorry I took so long.”

I jerk my head into the direction of Mina's voice and shrug my shoulders. It seemed that she was only gone for a couple of minutes, but maybe it had been longer.

“I had to call Mark and ask him if he could just keep Maru for the night.”

I raise my eyebrow at the new name. Mina sits beside me, tucking one leg underneath herself. “Oh, Mark just a friend. He’s the one that sold you the night jasmine.”

I nod.

“I asked him to watch Maru when I went to the river… and I thought it’d be best if we could talk…” Mina let out a sigh and closed her eyes. She then ran a hand through her hair. “Sorry. Uh I thought we should go over some things tonight without Maru jumping all over you… because you know he'd do that.”

I nod again. I want to tell her that it’s okay to say talk or whatever really. It’s more a figure of speech I guess, but I understand that she’s trying to be considerate.

I hold up one of my hands palm up and use my opposite hand to look like I’m writing. This clicks instantly with Mina and she shoots up and goes to grab a notebook and pen. She hands me the items and then sits down, tucking her leg underneath her again.

I missed you.

She smiles at me and I return to writing.

I love you.

“I love you too,” she leans forward and pecks me on the cheek.

I’m sorry :(

She looks at me and shakes her head. “Don’t be. Just explain to me what happened to you.”

A lot.

I let out a sigh and feel Mina's gentle hand on my cheek. She turns my head so that I’m facing her. “You don’t have to tell me everything right now. I’m just glad that you’re back.” Her thumb rubs my cheek and she closes the space between us. Her lips are just as warm and soft as they used to be. But I don’t return the kiss. I turn my head away and start to write again.

I’m glad you can see again.

She furrows her brow and looks at me. “Me too, but…” I glance at her and she’s worrying her lower lip. “Wooyoung gave me money, more money than I knew you would have had.”

I know where Mina's leading to. She’s always been smart and being able to piece things together was easy for her. It doesn’t surprise me that she’s come to her own conclusions about my disappearance.

“You leaving was related to that money. Wasn’t it?”

It was. We needed the money for your surgery and money for you after.

“No we didn’t. I told you that I just needed you Momo. I,” Mina voice cracked and I look up at her. Tears are streaming down her cheeks. I wipe away some of them with the back of my hand before writing more.

I don’t regret the decisions I’ve made. I wanted you to see just as badly as I know you wanted to see. Mina I need to… It was my fault. Everything was my fault.

“No. Things happen… it wasn’t your fault.”

I feel a knot build up in my stomach. For some odd reason I feel like she knows a lot more than I think she should.

It’s my fault you went blind. It’s my fault you don’t have your parents anymore.

“I know,” she says so quietly I almost don’t catch it.

I look at her with surprise. How did she know?

“I ended up meeting Irene… and Jaebum when you were gone. I um, we talked about everything.”

I can’t believe that she knows what I’ve done and still says she loves me. I caused everything and yet she’s still sitting beside me. She’s still willing to be around me and even help me.

“I’m certain my parents really did send you to me Momo. Even knowing this I still love you. You’re not the same person you were and you’ve done so much for me.”

I write one last thing in the notebook and then stand. I grab my cane and begin to make my way out of her apartment.

“Momo!” Mina's voice is harsh and desperate. I hear her crumble the paper up and it hit my back. “Don’t you dare ing do this!” I flinch at her words. “You really think I deserve better?”

I feel arms wrap around my waist tightly. “You really think that I deserve better?” she cries into my shoulder. I’m sobbing at this point and my legs give out. Mina guides me down to the ground and crawls to kneel in front of me. My fists are clenched and I won’t lift my head to look at her.

“You willingly sacrificed yourself just to get my eyesight back. You took care of me when no one else would. You loved me like no one else has ever loved me.”

She puts a hand under my chin and tries to lift my gaze. I just shake my head and refuse to look at her.

“Momo. Look at me.” This time she’s rougher and places both hands on the side of my face. She forces my head upwards and I bite down on my lower lip. I try to stop the tears, but they keep coming. “I’ll always love you and I know you love me too. I don’t know what you’ve gone through, but I know it’s been hard. And I’m here for you... as long as you’ll allow me to be.”

My gaze is clouded from all the tears, but I can tell that Mina's still crying too. I lean forward and rest my head on her shoulder as I continue to cry. She rubs my back gently and we sit there for what feels like hours.

I finally regain my composure and lift my head from her now soaked shoulder.

“Let’s get washed up and get some rest. It’s been a long day for both of us.”

////

“Momo,” Mina's voice is stern as I shake my head.

“You can’t be serious…”

She lets out a heavy sigh and crawls out from under the covers. She walks over to me and grabs my hand and holds it tightly. I try to pull my hand away from hers, but she’s got a death grip on me. She drags me to the bed and lifts the covers. She then motions for me to lie down, but I shake my head again.

“Get in the bed, Momo. I’m not having you sleep on that small couch.”

I grab the small notepad and pen from the nightstand and begin to write furiously.

It’s your bed. I’m fine on the couch.

“You may be fine, but I’m not. I want you to sleep here.” She tilts her head indicating for me to get in bed. “It’s as much my bed as yours, Momo.”

I just grunt at her stubbornness and slide into the bed. She’d always been stubborn, but it seemed that she was even more so now. I write down a note and pass it to her.

You’re really stubborn and you even swear now. I kinda like it. Anyway, good night >.<

She chuckled as she got into bed and scooted closer to me. “I only swore because you were being a pain. And I was always stubborn, but it’s hard to be that way if you’re always relying on someone to help you.”

I had never thought much of that before, but it makes sense.

“Momo?”

I grunt to indicate I’m listening.

“Would it be too much to ask you to hold me tonight?”

I can’t help but smile at this. I slip my arm around her and pull her close. A shiver runs down my back as I feel her warm breathe against my neck. She puts her arm over my stomach and nuzzles closer.

“I missed you so much,” Mina whispers.

A/N: Ah! First chapter done! what you guys think??