It has been exactly five minutes, twenty seconds since Myoui Mina stepped into the hospital waiting room. It has been two minutes since Mina felt she could breath properly, and two minutes since the most beautiful girl she has ever seen walked through the door.

She possesses something, this girl. IN a black and white hospital room. devoid of all vibrancy, she os blinding color; almost painful to look for too long. In a sea of expressionless cardboard cut outs she has a spirit about her, a liveliness that fills her eyes with vivavious energy. Mina doesn't even know her name is, and she swears she's already enamored with her.

"What is your name?" The receptionist asks in a bored tone.

"Kim Dahyun."

Her voice is high pitched, but unwavering. It has a childlike, whimsical quality interlaced within it. It makes Mina think of carefree laughter and pristine innocence.

"Sorry, but we're up to a one hour wait for Dr. Lee. Would you like to reschedule or simply wait? We overbooked, we can try and fit you as soon as possible."

Dahyun brings her hand up to her elbow and scratches it slowly in consideration. "I really should just wait."

"Suit yourself," The recpetionnist says. "Take a seat, we'll call you in when we're ready" she added.

Mina holds her breath. The waiting room suddenly the size of a city. There is asurplus of places that Dahyun could sit where she'd be completely out of Mina's view. The prospect of having to wait the rest of the hour without Dahyun within eyeshot seems exceedingly lonely for Mina.

Dahyun hesitates as her eyes survey the room. It is the first time Mina notices the bandages placed hapzardly over Dahyun's arms, exposed from the hiked up sleeves of her sweater.

To Mina's pure delight, Dahyun's final choice of seat is only two chairs away from her. The other girl sits, pulls out a book larger than her head and begins reading. AS mouth ever slightly forms the words.

She has the longest lashes Mina has ever seen. They frame her eyes perfectly. Her eyes, which now Mina realizes, are the color of espresso, a accentuated by the long black hair line painted on her upper lid. Luckily she is absorbed in the cream pages of her novel that she doesn't even notice Mina's painfully obvious gaze.

Mina knows she ahs to get up the nerve to say something or anything to this girl. She knows she cannot live her entire life wondering if Dahyun was her one shot at a soulmate and she sat idly by while the universe laughed at her for not grasping the oppportunity, But she also cannot stand the thought of Dahyun is not everything she has built her up to be, that when she tries to talk to her Dahyun will roll her eyes and call her loyal boyfriend to tell him all about the crazy girl next to her in the waiting room.

What are you reading?? It is an easy question. She just has to say it, and if she gets a one word answer, she'll take the hint. What are you reading? Mina rehearses it in her head.

"That book is freaking huge,." Mina blurts instead. She doesn't know where it came from or why she said it. She only knows that she regrets it the moment it comes out of .

Dahyun raises her head. Mina is sure her cheeks are the same color as the blood in her veins.

"It's Les Miserables," Dahyun explains, She holds up the massive book in order for Mina to see the title spelled out in black text across the cover.

"Is it interesting.?" Mina attempts to salvage the conversation after her impulsive comments.

Dahyun lays the book back in her lap. "NO," she answers honestly. "But I hear it gets better."

Mina takes notice that Dahyun has started pulling her sleeves over her band aids. "And you're willing to sit through all of that to see if it gets better or not?"

"Yeah, I guess so. I don't like to give up on anything." Dahyun closes the book with a heavy thump. "Do you like to read?"

"Yeah, I do but only exciting books though. No offense to two thousands page doorstop or what ever you're reading." Dahyun smiles at the joke, the smallest laughs emitting from her lips. Everything she does makes Mina's heart flutter a little bit faster.

She wants to ask about the bandaids but she manages to refrain from letting her brain spit out another stupid comment. "I'm Mina, by the way."

"I'm Dahyun."

By the time the wait is over, Mina is sure she's already half on love with her.

MIna loves the way her eyes squeeze shut when she laughs a little too hard, or how she tugs her sleeves whenever she's thinking about something.

"Myoui Mina," someone calls, signaling her time for her appointment.

Her heart sinks into her stomach like a ship overtaken by the ocean's unruly waves. "I guess I'm up then."

Dahyun smiles. "Have fun."

"As I always I do," Mina jokes. She lingers a moment as she tries to work up the nerve to ask for Dahyun's phone number. Even as her heart urges her to do it. She simply cannot muster up the courage and walks into the doctor's office empty handed in every senses of the word.

When she exits, Dahyun is already gone. Mina feels a holre of regret burrowing deep into her stomach. You're such an idiot, she chastises herself. You are such an idiot Mina.

"excuse me," Mina taps the surface of the front desk impatiently. "The girl with the long dark hair.- Dahyun- is she still here?"

The receptionist raises her eyebrows in clear annoyance. "I don't pay much attention to who leaves when."

"We'll, if she is , could you tell her----"

"Write it down," the lady waves her hand. " and i'll igve it to her, if she's not already gone."

MIna can feel her the irritation building in but she doesn't allow it to erupt. Instead, she swallows her pride and forces a smile. "Thank You."

I write down my number in case you needed an awesome book recommendations or whatever you need it for.

- Myoui Mina

She shoves the note to the receptionist. "Make sure she gets it." Mina adds coldly scaring the poor girl.

Mina spends the next few days day dreaming about Dahyun.

She is so far gone. She has nver felt so much at one time that her bestfriends notice her odd behavior. Especially not with someone she knows a little about. Every few moments she checks her phone in heart racing anticipation of something or anything.

But there is no text and there is no sigh. Mina searches for Dahyun on social media and comes up with nothing. She asks her friends if they know any of Dahyun's, and they look at her as if she is insane. She even looks in the book, but there are endless lists of Kim's. The chances of ever getting to see Dahyun again burn out steadily and slowly like a flame that has nothing left to burn.

"Mina, if we don't get you out to a party or something you're going to go insane. Please, come with us. YOu've done nothing but wallow in your own self pity for a week now." Sana said.

Mina glances up at her bestfriend , Sana for a fleeting moment. She is content to sit and do nothing for the rest of her weekend but Sana is right and she knows it.

"Fine"

The party they attend is hardly even a party at all. It's nothing more than 9 people sitting on the fllor with a partly empty bottle between them that sprays warm beer ever spin. Mina is so deathly bored within the first five minutes that she request Sana to take her somewhere else where the energy of the party is not the same as middle school.

They search fervently for another party to spend their night on but they come up with nothing. "Come on, Let's gets some food and watch movies at our dorm." Mina suggested.

Sana is visibly disappointed but does not argue. "Yeah alright."

"What do you want?" Sana is leaning out the car of the window preparing to make a drive through order.

"A milkshake." 

They pull up to the first window, where they pay in loose change and bills, and then the person working gives them a glare. Sana responds to this girl glare with a middle finger as she drives to the seconds window, leaving the employee with a shocked expression behind.

"if that's only excitement I get tonight, this going to be a serious bust." Sana comments as she reaches over to grab the milkshakes from the employee at the second window.

"Have a nice night!" The worker chirps.

And Mina knows that voice well. Her heart paltipates and suddenly it is infinitely harder to breathe, and she can't focus as she looks over to the retreating arm. 

It is covered in bandaids.

"STOP!" Mina screams between wracking breaths.

"Sana stop the car!" When Sana took forever to stop the car Mina open the door and jump out of the moving car. 

"Mina what the ?" Sana is yelling as Mina feet are slapping the pavement moving further away from the car with each lunge forward. "Mina!"

"The girl.. the girl who works the drive through..band aids.."There is no collection of thoughts, no coherernt stream of conciousness. Mina has to reminf herself how to breath between broken phases. Inside her rib cage her heart is knocking against her bones. Thankfully, the restaurant is completely deserted wwith the exception of an elderly couple in the far corner.

"Dahyun?" The worker calls. "Someone out here is calling for you!" He breaks into a run. In muffled tones, Mina can hear him talking. "She looks like she just ran a marathon."

When Dahyun walks to the counter, her face suddenly stricken with shock.

"Mina?"

"I should have given you my number myself. I'm sorry, I left my number with that idiotic receptionist and I couldn't find you anywhere and I.."

"Slow down , Mina. You don't have to freak out." Dahyun said as she cut off the the older girl. Dahyun's voiceis exceptionally calm. It sets Mina a little more at ease.

"Just ..If I give you my number will you call me?" Mina asked.

There is silence, and Mina panics. Maybe she has made a terrible mistake and came off way too strong. Maybe Dahyun didn't even like her all that much anyway or maybe she isn't into girls and she's probably has a boyfriend and group of amazing friends. Who needs someone lke Mina when you look like Dahyun.

"Yes. Yes , I'll call you."

A day later, Dahyun calls.

She is not Mina's yet but the more they talk the more Mina comes to conclunsion that if Dahyun was an ocean, she is drowning helplessly in the sea of admiration and love. Sana says that she is never seen her so happy and Mina's feels like there is no way that she could ever be happy as this moment.