A/N 1: Before we start this chapter, I just want to say that I highly recommend you all to watch the music video in the previous chapter for Mina's dancing scene. It crucial to imagine that scene. I will recommend some songs throughout the story, but it won't be as important as this one. You can skip those if you don't want to hear.

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Chaeyoung isn't good at expressing herself through words. Being half cat, she spends most of her time relying on gestures to communicate, or not bothering at all. So now, tangled in her disorganized thoughts, she feels at a loss finding the right words. She knows her action last night was confusing to Mina, hell, it's confusing even to her; yet she hasn't thought of the reason she would give Mina for the weird behaviour. She has been thinking about this the whole day, at least until Junsu flicked her head and told her to focus since she couldn't dodge the blows a few times. But the thought about Mina resurrected every time she's distracted just a tiny bit.

Mina was kind enough to not say anything during lunch and dinner, but Chaeyoung knew when they arrive back to their room, she has to talk eventually. She tried to stall, telling Mina that she had something to discuss with Jaejoong and asked the older girl to go back first. But Mina offered to wait and Chaeyoung found herself dumbfounded. She even thought of turning into her cat form for the rest of the night, but Mina deserves better than that. Changmin's words from yesterday swirl in her mind, making her wonder if Mina feels the same.

"Hey, you alright? Why are you standing there?"

Mina's concerned voice pulls her out of her trace. It's not until now does Chaeyoung notice she has been standing at the doorstep. Tentatively, she steps inside, standing next to the coffee table while Mina flops herself on the sofa, looking out the window. The half-moon is not bright enough to outshine the room lights. But it’s getting rounder each day. When the brightest full moon of the year comes, Chaeyoung will be in her home country.

Her body stiffens when Mina lets out a long sigh. Is that because of her? Does Mina get sick of her and doesn’t want to talk to her anymore? Chaeyoung doesn't know what to do. She wants to get close to Mina, but she's also afraid to take a step forward. She stammers out of frighten.

"Mina... about yesterday. I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me and I..."

Acting on her impulse? Seriously, she should have thought it through before opening to speak.

"It's all too crazy… My senses… I couldn't control it. I don't know what has driven me to do that, but I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable at all. I'm sorry. I could sleep in my cat form if you want. I..."

Chaeyoung knows she's talking nonsense right now, but she can't help it. There are all kinds of mixed feelings storming inside her and she doesn't know what to do.

"Chaeyoung." Mina calls softly, yet effectively stops Chaeyoung's ramble. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Her voice is soft and gentle, calming Chaeyoung right away. Her chocolate eyes are not filled with anger or displeasure as Chaeyoung feared, but genuine and affectionate.

"Honestly I don't know." Chaeyoung breathes out a sigh.

"Come here." Mina pats her lap.

Chaeyoung is surprised, confused, and then she understands what Mina is talking about. And of course, Chaeyoung couldn’t decline the invitation, as usual. She soon finds herself laying down on the sofa, her head on Mina's lap. Gentle fingers start combing through her hair, and Chaeyoung’s body relaxes instantly. Her racing heart beats slower, and she doesn't feel dizzy from all worries anymore. It's almost too peaceful; she would purr on the spot if she's in her cat form.

Mina waits for the younger girl to calm down before she speaks.

"We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

Chaeyoung hums, feeling a huge weight lifted off her shoulders. Mina has always been so understanding and patient with her, from the beginning. Even when Chaeyoung suddenly showed up in her human form, saying that she's no other than the cat Chaengie, Mina was cool about it. Yes, there were some misunderstandings, but that's just minor. Mina had every right to kick her out and ban her from the house forever, yet she took human Chaeyoung in without much thought, treated her with care and love just as when she was the cat. It's Mina who saved her life and took her in when she's in the darkest time. It's Mina who didn't blame Chaeyoung for the deadly curse she received, even though she would never have it if it wasn't for her connection with the cat girl. This time, she must save Mina, whatever it takes.

Chaeyoung's heart swells with affection and pride, thinking about all the thing Mina has done for her. She would want nothing more than to spend the rest of her life, if she could come back from the quest, with Mina. She would shower the girl with love and kisses every day and she would protect Mina with all her might. Well, if love and kisses are what Mina wants, of course. However, this poses another question that needs to be answered.

"Did you feel uncomfortable when I... did that last night?" She turns her face upwards to meet Mina's eyes.

"No, I didn't feel uncomfortable at all, Chaeyoung-ah. I love what you did yesterday." Mina soft voice is almost a whisper, yet her tone is certain, assuring that she’s speaking the truth.

"Except when you ran away, I was so confused." Mina chuckles. Her voice remains soft and soothing, without any hint of displeasure. "I didn't expect you to be a kiss and run person."

"I..." Chaeyoung is about to protest but she stops herself just in time. Mina's eyes are twinkling with mischief and Chaeyoung realises the girl is teasing her. And to be honest, Mina wasn't wrong, she literally did exactly that yesterday.

"You know I love you, right?"

Mina can sense the younger stiffens, yet she keeps her hand combing through the orange hair. It helps calm Chaeyoung, and her own heart as well.

"I..." Chaeyoung opens , but nothing else comes out. A lump swell at the back of when she's reminded of her coming quest and how hard it is to come back to Mina. She doesn't want to say something so important, only to push Mina further down the rabbit hole of pain and loss.

"Whatever happens, I will always love you and care for you. I said that when I signed the adoption paper, and I meant it, even now, especially now. It's us. Always care for each other. Well, now, even when love has turned into another form, with more kisses," she boops the girl's nose, "it's still us, caring and loving each other, right? Nothing changed."

Chaeyoung smiles. Mina is right. It's still them, together, always have been. Mina is still Mina, loving, caring, soft and gentle. Chaeyoung is still...herself, isn't this what she wanted when she decided to tell Mina the truth of her identity that day? They are friends, housemates, companions, and even if they want to be more than just that, it's still them, getting closer.

The warmth and coziness tingles in her heart, her head, where Mina's hand is still scratching softly, and then spreads throughout her body. If Chaeyoung wasn't sure before, she is now. The loving feeling mentioned in books, she can understand it. It's been there for a while, her love for Mina, she's just too caught up in other things to realize it. She sits up from Mina's lap and holds the girl's hand when Mina looks startled, to reassure her, Chaeyoung is not going anywhere.

"Can I kiss you?" She asks, holding her breath, despite knowing Mina’s answer. She watches Mina's face lighten up, a smile blooms across her face before the word comes out.

"Yes!"

It's pure happiness on Mina's face and Chaeyoung waits no time to surge forward, capturing Mina's lips in her. It's not the first time they kiss, but this one is different. It is not a simple peck on the lips like the first time, it is not rushed and hungry like yesterday. This time, they take it slow, soaking in the love for each other. Mina slips her arms around the girl’s neck, pulling her in. Chaeyoung grips Mina’s waist with one hand, the other rests on the sofa for support as they seem to melt into each other.

They part after a while, but their foreheads rest on each other, not wanting to be apart just yet. Time seems to stand still as they breathe in each other, until Chaeyoung whispers. It’s spoken so softly and in between heavy breaths, but Mina can hear it clearly. Maybe not with her ears, but with her heart.

“I love you.”

***

The next day Yoochun isn't there to accompany Mina, instead, Jaejoong greets her after breakfast, bringing the potion she's taking every day. He tells her not to worry about the healer.

"Someday he locks himself up in the room. But that's how he heals himself."

The kitsune politely asks whether Mina would mind accompanying him for a walk. And she says she wouldn't mind at all. They walk around the lake at the south side of the castle. The majority of the leaves have either turned brown or fallen down, creating a thick carpet of dry leaves on the ground. Mina always loves the crunchy sound when she steps on those dry leaves. Together with the cool breeze, it's perfect for a walk. They stop nearby a big pine tree with green pointy leaves still intact and take in the amazing scenery before them.

"I like the weather in autumn. It's just that my favourite tree is now bare from leaves, which doesn't look as pretty as usual." Jaejoong speaks up first, eyes still remain forward.

"Which one is your favourite tree?"

"Can you guess?" He turns to her with a hint of smile glinting in his eyes.

Mina looks around. She doesn't even know all the tree names here. Can she take a wild guess? She purses her lips, racking her mind to think of any clue in the Kitsune story she's heard before. It must be something related to him. A detail pops in her head.

"Is it the weeping willow tree? I remember it's your dating place in the story."

"Dating? You are amusing. And clever too. That's the one! So, you know the story about us."

"Yeah. Well, a version of it. You're a girl in that version." Mina says timidly, for fear it would upset him. But the man only bursts out laughing.

"Oh heaven. Really? That's not a small detail that people can easily misremember. Can you tell me the version you know?"

Mina does recount the story to him, awkwardly. It's hard not to, when you're telling the "alternate" version of the story to The main character. To Mina's luck, the Kitsune finds it quite amusing as well, and he gladly tells her the true story when she asks. This story is just the beginning of a very long conversation where Mina asks him little detail about the folk stories from her childhood and he tells her the true version, sometimes adding details about the events or characters she can never find in any book. Who knows the Momotaro was a demigod, and the creatures that followed him on his quest were his companions? Yes, some people have more than one companion. Before she knows it, they have ended up in library with Jaejoong, reading a book as big as an encyclopedia with detailed drawings of entities that are normally found in the woods. One of them looks distinctively similar to Totoro.

"Can I ask you something?" She hesitantly says, after they finished the stories about Yuki-onna.

"Please feel free to ask me anything." He closes the book and turns to face Mina.

"It's about the connection between me and Chaeyoung. We have... a companionship. And she said she could feel whenever I was sick or in danger. But I can never feel anything."

"Of course, with a person from non-magic world like you, it's definitely harder to emotionally connect with your companion than those from the magic world. You can do it with practice though. Don't worry." He shrugs nonchalantly and busies himself with the task of pulling the lever and putting the gigantic book back into its place. 

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