I suddenly remembered the conversation i had with Jeongyeon through text.

 

"Mina already has a girlfriend"

 

I wanted to ask her about it, but not in front of Momo or Tzuyu.

 

 

"Hey.. uh Mina... Can I talk to you once?" I asked her.

 

"Of course!" she replied.

 

"No... alone..." I replied.

 

"That's fine we'll leave," Tzuyu said in a monotonous yet teasing tone and left with Momo.

 

 

I gathered up all my courage and asked her, with a deep sigh, "Do you have a- uhhhhh- a girlfriend?"

 

Mina looked away and stammered, "Y-yes..."

 

I had never seen Mina getting this anxious. It felt unusual.

 

"Who is it? Jeongyeon?" I inquired.

 

"No uh- she lives in ummm... Japan... Yeah!" she replied.

 

"What's her name?" I asked, one more time, as I grew suspicious of her behaviour. 

 

"Chaeyoung, I think we should leave. The others must be waiting for us. As it is you woke up late. Let's go," she said and started walking away, briskly.

 

I scratched my head in confusion and walked behind her, although I knew something was wrong.

 

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At the airport, Mina was standing and chatting with Jeongyeon. 

 

Suddenly, she looked at me and gestured me with her hand to join them.

 

I walked up to them.

 

 

To be honest, I didn't really want to talk to jeongyeon because she had been quite rude to me. I stood a few feet away from her.

 

"Come closer, Chae," Mina said, in her honey soft voice.

 

I moved closer without realizing.

 

It was almost as if her voice had hypnotized me.

 

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I knew that Mina was going to leave for Japan and we would be leaving for Korea.

 

i felt disheartened because I might never be able to see her again. But I also felt relieved because finally I would be letting go of my complicated feelings and perhaps, Jeongyeon and I could have a proper friendship.

 

 

Tzuyu was standing with us. 

 

"Tzuyu, can you please leave us alone for some time?" Mina asked Tzuyu in a very calm and nice tone.

 

Tzuyu nodded and left. It was just me and Jeongyeon for now.

 

 

Mina moved closer and filled the gap between me and Jeongyeon by standing between us. 

 

She took my hand in her one hand, while the other held that of Jeongyeon's.

 

 

She looked down and said, "The two of you are really special to me. You two are really important to me; very special," her voice shook a bit, "and I am really going to miss you both. Even though I'll be gone and we may never meet again, promise me something; the two of you will mend your relationship and be good friends."

 

She breathed deeply and looked at both our faces.

 

"Do it as a memory of me," she smiled at us.

 

 

I felt my heart melt and my mouth freeze.

 

 

Jeongyeon and I looked at each other.

 

 

Jeongyeon extended her hand and hugged me, causing the three of us to form a group hug.

 

 

We stayed in the hug for some time.

 

After letting go of each other, I spoke up, "Mina we would always want you to be happy. We promise we'll mend our friendship... for you."

 

"We just hope you'll be happy with your family back in Japan," Jeongyeon said.

 

"And your special someone," she added, a few seconds later.

 

 

Mina smiled at us.

 

I knew that this was the last time I would see her smile, so I decided to capture it in my mobile camera, in a hurry.

 

 

She waved us goodbye and left with Sana and Momo and we all parted ways before hugging each other and taking a group photo for the last time.

 

 

As we stood in silence, I took out my phone and without any hesitation changed my wallpaper to the clumsy yet beautiful picture of Mina that I had taken.