Mina didn’t talk much. Yet among TWICE members, she was the most expressive. She always stayed loudly silent, so to speak.

Whilst making less than no sense, the oxymoron became quite clear once one got to know Mina a bit more privately. The resident penguin had, unbeknownst to herself, mastered the skills of non-verbal communication; other members could read her like a book without her saying anything, much to her dismay.

When she was sad, she would be pouty. “What’s wrong?” someone would ask, and they would give her a bucket of icecream.

When she was irritated, she would puff out her cheeks and cross her arms. Someone would be quick to apologize.

When she was happy, she would hum, and her body would sway lightly from side to side in her seat. Someone would be there just to behold the embodiment of cuteness known as Myoui Mina.

The best part was, she never knew what she did. Mina was always lost in her own mind, that she could barely care what she was showing to the world. Which was a lot, unfortunately.

“How can you guys possibly know what I think all the time?” She had asked in frustration. Jihyo only answered with laughter and a big hug.

Mina and Momo arguing was always a scene to watch, with the two of them jumping on top of one another, pinching and pulling on each other’s clothes, hair, or cheeks- anything they could grab, while bickering in a language that- according to Sana- was barely intelligible even for a Japanese. 

With that said, it did not take long for Jihyo to realize something was going on. Something was off with Mina since they woke up that morning, and she tried to hide it so pathetically that even a blind person could notice.

“Good morning Mina-yah. You’re up early today.” TWICE’s leader sleepily greeted her roommate. It was not common to see Mina up and about at 7 in the morning; left to her own devices, the girl never saw fit to get out of bed before the clock hit double digits. Yet today she was, neatly folding up her mess of pillows and blankets. They did not have any work schedules for today, so Jihyo had every right to wonder.

“Morning Jihyo! It’s a lovely day, yes? Perfect for going out right?” Chirped Mina in a voice that Jihyo perceived as overly cheerful, if not somehow suspicious.

“Yeah… you’re going out today Mina?” She inquired quizzically. Yet another abnormality- Mina was the last person she’d expect to look forward to going out. There had been instances where they all went out the whole day, coming back only to see the girl at the exact place they left her in, surrounded by snacks and engrossed in video games.

“Yes! I mean, no. I mean, probably. Depends.” That was the worst answer to a yes-no question, and naturally it did not serve to satisfy any of Jihyo’s demands.

“That was a terrible answer Minari.” She was not hesitant to deadpan her opinion either.

Mina pouted. She sulkily ran out of the room, only to crash into the door to Jihyo’s amusement.

This unusual clumsiness continued for the whole morning, before Jihyo could not take it anymore.

“Mina!”

“Uuuuu…” Came a pained reply. The resident penguin had yet another accident, and she was now nursing her sore foot with which she just kicked the table leg.

“You’ve been acting weird all morning.”

“I do?” Mina perked up, surprise clear in her voice. It seemed that she yet again wasn’t aware of how awfully bad she was at hiding her predicament.

“Yes. Tell me what’s on your mind, would you?”

The penguin fidgeted. She was waiting for the right moment, but at this point it seemed right to just spill the beans right away.

“Jihyoahwouldyougooutwithmetoday” Mina squeaked, then hit herself on the head. Way to ing go, Myoui Mina.

“… Come again?” As expected, Jihyo did not catch one word of that.

A few minutes and a lot of stuttering later, Jihyo finally got the idea.

“Ooooh so that’s what you mean. Of course Minari, why not? I wanna enjoy the outdoors today too. Let’s go!” Jihyo exclaimed, then instinctively braced herself.

Her situation in the Twice dorm was, for lack of better words, extremely volatile. If, God forbid, any other member managed to overhear her acceptance to Mina’s invitation, she would surely get in a lot of trouble from jealous supergirls. Being crushed beneath a sulky Tzuyu and spun around at Mach 7 by a frustrated Momo was never fun to say the least.

To her surprise, nothing happened.

“Eh? Where is everyone today?” Only now did she notice the unusual absence of the remainder of TWICE.

“I… may or may not have made them think they had some important business to take care of first thing in the morning.” Behind her, Mina timidly disclosed.

“Mina!”
_____

Standing at the front door, Jihyo could only stare in disbelief at the pouring rain.

“How can this be… The weather was so nice just now.”

“Now we can’t enjoy anything outdoors… and just going out is troublesome. Why even bother?” Mina murmured.

They looked at one another, mirroring the other’s disappointed look. It might not be the nicest thing to think, but Jihyo always thought Mina was the most beautiful when she was sad. The melancholy within those crystal irises was simply out of this world.

Lost in her thoughts, Jihyo never noticed the sound of rain coming to a halt. She only jerked out of it when Mina excitedly shook her shoulders.

“Look Jihyo! The rain stops!”

Dazedly tearing her gaze from Mina, Jihyo looked out to find out that the weather had indeed cleared up. The cloud had scattered, giving way for sunlight to shine brilliantly.

“Eh, really? Wow…”

“I guess we got really lucky. Let’s go?” Already standing outside, Mina extended a hand, which Jihyo gladly accepted.

“Say, Minari. Are we on a date?” Jihyo decided to ask as they were striding towards their destination.

“Depends how you think about it. If you want to, sure.” Came the mischievous reply.
_____

The so-called date was phenomenal. 

They went straight to Lotte World, where they had the time of their lives just having fun and enjoying each other’s company. Jihyo was glad to see Mina in her bright carefree mood, playing her heart out at the arcade and screaming at the top of her lungs on the rollercoaster. Of course, she did as well. The couple had such a blast together, they barely noticed time passing by; only when Jihyo noticed their dark shadows on the ground, draped by golden sunset glow, did she realize the day was coming to a close.

“It’s getting late Minari. We should head back soon.” J