“As much as I wanted to stay, I tried not to.”

She sits on the benches lined up inside the boarding gate. Her eyes were still swelling up from all the crying she had done a while ago. She has managed to keep herself calm while being alone in public, but random thoughts of Jeongyeon seem to seep through her mind.

Staring beyond the horizon was Mina’s only choice of serenity. The boarding gate wasn’t crowded at all despite the thirty minutes remaining before boarding the aircraft. She felt relieved to be in an ‘empty’ flight as she didn’t want any kind of disturbance to her own bubble.

Mina had e-mailed the principal that she’d be out for quite a lengthy time. She hoped that the principal would understand her situation right now. And she will surely miss the kids. She thought of herself as selfish, leaving the kids, her work, and especially her wife, Jeongyeon.

She closed her eyes, with a deep sigh, she clears her mind and wonders what she will do when she reaches Kobe.

Jeongyeon didn’t know where Mina was heading to, and Mina had no intention of telling her. She wanted some time alone.

Finally, an announcement coming in from the PA system of the terminal. “Good afternoon passengers. “This is the pre-boarding announcement for flight JAL 101 to Osaka International Airport. We are now inviting those passengers with small children, and any passengers requiring special assistance, to begin boarding at this time. Please have your boarding pass and identification ready. Regular boarding will begin in approximately five minutes. Thank you.”

Children. How she wishes to at least have a child with her during her time off. She would be less lonely.

When it was her turn to board the aircraft, she scans her boarding pass and walks down the jet way, in all elegance. It didn’t seem like she was down since she wore a neutral face. It’s intimidating in some way.

She could see a huge portion of the airport through the glass walls of the jet way, but what caught her eyes is the cockpit. It was where Jeongyeon works. Not in this aircraft in particular, but it still reminded Mina of her wife, whom she left, for some reason. Well not just some reason.

She distracted herself by hugging a penguin plush which she managed to take out from her luggage before boarding the aircraft.

“At least someone’s keeping me company”, she talks to the plush and kisses the crown of its head. Mina really loves her penguins.

Mina walked through the aisles in search for her seat. It was at the front portion of the aircraft. You know, business class accommodation. She can easily afford it, so why not? She wanted privacy anyways.

As soon as the time for departure has arrived, the crew immediately shut the doors, welcomed everyone on board, and did the safety demonstration.

Mina was one who listens all too well with these demonstrations since she wanted to be well aware in case something happens.

The aircraft started to taxi towards the runway. Mina looks through the small elliptical window. The sun shines brightly on her beautiful brown eyes. However, she wasn’t bothered by the glare at all. Probably too heartless at the moment to even care.

She wasn’t at all heartless though. It was just a mask to protect herself. And for once, she had worn it out from a deep, hurtful situation. She needed to be selfish for once.

But staring at the window for too long, even when the aircraft had already took off paid its toll on Mina’s emotional well-being. Moisture started to build up around her eyes. And holding it back would only cause her much more pain. So she closed her eyes and let the tears fall, glistened by the sun’s rays. It wasn’t a stream of tears this time, but rather a cry of acceptance.

Her current situation could easily break someone emotionally and mentally. She was obviously broken, but she wanted to believe in second chances. Others might see her as ‘too dumb to see things’ but when you truly love someone, you’d be willing to go the extra mile.

She wipes her tears and puts her plush in front of her, “You love me right?”

She hugs the penguin, bringing forth her warmth towards the small toy. “Everything’s going to be okay right?”

There’s more to this than just a small penguin plush that Mina loved to bring around. It was her favorite.

“Mina!”, Jeongyeon shouts excitedly by the time she sees her girlfriend’s slender figure walking through the middle aisle of the empty auditorium. It was dark, and the only source of light was that of the stage’s warm lighting, giving some kind of backlight for Mina’s figure.

It was Mina’s ballet recital. Of course Jeongyeon had watched the whole performance while sitting at the back. She only arrived right before Mina’s appearance, right on time.

“Jeongie!”, Mina runs enthusiastically with open arms towards her lovely girlfriend waiting for her by the end of the aisle. Still in her costume and ballet shoes, she was gleaming.

Jeongyeon can’t help but admire the sight of Mina waddling towards her. She welcomed her girlfriend with open arms too. And they shared a warm and comforting embrace.

The smaller girl buried her face in Jeongyeon’s chest. Jeongyeon swayed along to make a comforting motion and she had run her long fingers along her girlfriend’s long black hair.

“Did you watch the entire performance?”, Mina asks her as she withdraws her head to look at her girlfriend’s face.

“Of course I did”, Jeongyeon replies with a smile painted all over her face. “You were amazing”, she added.

“Thanks, love”, Mina managed to attack Jeongyeon’s lips with a quick peck complimented by an exaggerated ‘mwahh’.

“Sneaky”, Jeongyeon teases as she squeezes Mina’s cheeks. “But cute.”

“Hmmmm”, Mina had melted herself in Jeongyeon’s presence, but the latter seemed to be pulling away.

“Wait a minute”, Jeongyeon creates space between them. Mina was obviously displeased, groaning and pouting all over. “I’ve got something for you.”

Jeongyeon turns towards the seat she had taken during the performance and picked up a few items, a bouquet and a large gift bag. She then turned her attention towards her girlfriend whose face showed that she needed more attention from Jeongyeon.

“For you”, Jeongyeon handed out the bouquet with a toothy smile.

Mina’s face was obviously delighted and surprised at the same time. She received the bouquet and smelled the scent of the flowers.

“That’s so sweet Jeongie”, Mina liked the thoughtfulness of Jeongyeon. She had always been sweet towards her all the time.  “Thank you baby”, Mina kissed her girlfriend’s cheek and managed to pinch it by the time she withdrew.

“Here’s another one”, Jeongyeon says as she hands the gift bag towards her girlfriend. She offered to hold the bouquet as Mina will be busy opening the bag.

Mina was curious to see what’s inside the bag. She opened it hastily. Then she picked up what was inside. “A penguin?”, Mina’s face melted in awe as the plush was so cute and lovable. “It’s so cute”, Mina hugged the plush. “Thank you Jeongieee…”

“A penguin for you since you walk like one”, Jeongyeon giggled as she girlfriend.

“Hmpf”, Mina glared towards her girlfriend’s direction.

Jeongyeon placed the bouquet on the chair beside her and approached her girlfriend locking her with her long arms.

“You’re harmless Mina”, Jeongyeon messed up Mina’s hair as she played with it.

“Do you like the gift?”

“Of course Jeong”, Mina immediately answered as she immediately fell in love with the plush. “But not as much as I like you”, she adds with a grin.

“Cheesy”, Jeongyeon acts as if she was disgusted. “But I like it.”

The two giggled at their acts. They can’t help but love the feeling of being with each other. It felt like home.

And there they were, suddenly initiating a kiss. Warm and heated, fueled by love and passion.

Jeongyeon always had the upper hand during these occurrences. She was much more confident than Mina. She was always the one who initiated kisses.

She slowly penetrated her partner’s mouth with her tongue and Mina granted her access. Jeongyeon explores her girlfriend’s mouth with her tongue and dueled with the resident muscle present in it.

Jeongyeon held Mina’s head to give herself leverage for a deeper kiss. She guided Mina along.

As Mina was getting a little more confident, she countered Jeongyeon’s attack with her own. Her tongue entered Jeongyeon’s and surprised the latter by a little. She usually wasn’t this bold in a public area. Well, they were the only ones inside the auditorium anyways as the spectators and participants had left the venue minutes ago.

They were making out for a few good minutes before they decided to end the session as they were out of breaths.

“You taste good baby”, Jeongyeon remarked as she her lips and wiped all the moisture that had built up around . She proceeds to wipe Mina’s too.

“I know”, Mina replied grinning as if she was confident that she would never fail.

Jeongyeon laughed at the bold act. “Let’s go, shall we?”, Jeongyeon asked.

“Let’s go”, Mina replies showing her signature gummy smile.

She reminisces the beautiful moments that she had gone through with the toy in her hand. They were all sweet. This plush was her favorite because it was the first one that Jeongyeon had given her. This started her love for penguins. “Because I walk and act like one”, she thought to herself smiling at the same time.

All the words she had been saying to the penguin plush had always been directed towards Jeongyeon, no one could have known. It hurts Mina less to be able to talk to a ‘Jeongyeon’ without seeing her physically. It was quite childish to see a fully grown up woman to talk to a plush, but it’s a cute act nonetheless. Even more enhanced by Mina’s soft nature and her natural elegance.

She spends the rest of the remaining flight time thinking about the things she would be doing back in her hometown, Kobe. A smaller city than Tokyo, it would really be comforting to be in the place she had grown up in. Mina hopes that nothing bad had changed her hometown’s appearance as how she remembered it from the past.

A notification from her phone interrupted her concentration. She checked what it was all about. A reply from the principal. ‘I’ll process your leave. Please take care of yourself Mrs. Yoo-Myoui Mina.’

Mina felt relieved that her senior had understood her situation without much explaining. Probably because Mina had already proved to be trustworthy. Besides, she doesn’t take that much leave, it was probably time she used her paid leave.

It was only this time that she had felt the comfort of being in business class accommodation. It helps her relax even more. Although it was just a short flight, it was worth it. So she decided to doze off a little.

By the time she woke up, the aircraft was already taxiing towards the gate. They arrived in Osaka International Airport.

Mina waited for the plane to fully halt before vacating her comfortable accommodation, quite regretfully though. It was always nice to sit in business class.

She pulled her hand carry luggage from the overhead compartment and lifted its handles. She prepared to leave her seat and checked if she had left anything.

As she walked through the aisle, she can’t help but take a peek towards the cockpit. Why was she even doing this? She even wondered why.

Well of course her wife is a pilot. And Mina can’t help but admit that she hoped it was Jeongyeon who was inside the cockpit. But sadly, it wasn’t her, just a pair of well-groomed gorgeous men in their suits.

The walk through the jet way was pretty serene. Less people, the comforting ambiance of Japanese public areas, and the simple fact that Mina was ‘home’, after how many years.

After having managed to take her luggage from the conveyor belt, she took time to walk around the terminal, trying to get the feel of the unfamiliar environment that she wasn’t used to, like the past. She bought a few sweets for herself and nibbled on them. She even found a store that sells penguin merchandise. Mina was quite overjoyed at the sight and bought keychains and plushies.

She finally decided to exit the terminal and took a taxi towards a certain hotel. She haven’t managed to book a hotel since her departure was so sudden. Her decision was made when she saw countless advertisements of this ‘5-star- hotel’. She needed to relax anyways, so having the best would certainly help her.

The taxi stopped in front of a seemingly luxurious hotel, as what her first impression had told her. She paid the taxi driver and insisted to give the driver a tip, but the driver declined as the amount from the taxi meter was enough for him.

Two young boys attended to Mina. They opened the car doors for her and carried her luggage towards the lobby of the hotel.

Mina booked an executive suite room. She wasn’t quite sure when she planned to check out, so to play it safe, she chose to stay for three days.

The receptionist handed Mina the keycards to the room she had booked. She thanked the receptionist and headed towards the elevator.

It was quite a long ride up to her floor. And she was alone in the elevator. She can’t help but just stare at the mirrors surrounding the elevator. She could see that her face was puffy and obviously tired.

The doors slid open and she dragged herself out of the lift. She looked for her room number and found it without problem. She tapped the keycard, then the door unlocked and she went inside the room and inserted the other keycard to supply electrical power to her room.

The executive suite room lived up to its name after all. It was more than what Mina had expected and she was really satisfied with how the room turned out to be.

She noticed that both her carry-on and checked luggage were already inside her room. Such an impressive service.

Mina unlocked her luggage and organized her clothes inside the wardrobe. After doing so, she decided to take a quick shower.

After she had finished taking a shower, she wiped herself dry and slipped herself inside a wooly bathrobe. It felt warm and comfortable. Then she laid herself down on the large king siz