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If you don't want to cry, skip this chapter - the author

*All of this is pure fiction*

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"Bittersweet summer love"

 

Mina sighs as she arrives back home from the hospital and for some reason, she couldn't seem to remember the events that had happened earlier.

Her eyes were drenched in tears and felt dry but despite the state she was currently in, all she knows is that she doesn't want to go out of the house.

She doesn't really know why but just by the thought of taking a step away from her doorstep feels like she won't be able to make it back home.

Mina sighed once again before taking her shoes off and heading straight to the living room.

Her phone made noise meaning someone had texted her.

She grabbed it from her pocket and deleted a certain contact without even bothering to look at the message that's been sent to her.

She went straight towards the couch, grabbed the TV's remote control, and sat down.

For some unknown reason, she felt like something was missing--more like someone?

The latter thought of it deeply until suddenly, a specific person came to her mind.

"Dahyun, I should call Dahyun" She smiles.

"Oh! Mina-ssi!" Mina's smile grew bigger as she heard the enthusiastic voice of her dear temporary lover.

"Can you come over and stay the night here?" Mina pouts.

"Our deal hasn't even started and yet you're already inviting me over to your house" Dahyun chuckled.

"Well, now that you mentioned it, it is a great deal after all" Mina shrugged.

"It'll really help me get my chance with Chaeng" She stated.

Dahyun, on the other hand, became silent.

"Hello? Dahyunnie?"

On Dahyun's side, she blankly stared at the floor.

Of course, right, what was she thinking?

All of this is to simply help Mina have her chance with Son Chaeyoung.

Son Chaeyoung, a person Dahyun doesn't even know.

Well, that is until 2 days ago (Friday).

She first met Mina at a bar, all drunk and wasted.

And because Mina was drunk, she ended up (unknowingly and unwillingly) telling Dahyun about her oh-so-sad life where she likes this girl who doesn't even like her back.

To simply put it, an unrequited love that hurts so bad.

So! Dahyun took her to a hotel, booked 2 rooms, and talked to her the day after.

At first, Mina was suspicious of her.

Don't worry, nothing happened though.

Well, Mina did actually throw things at Dahyun but that's not really a big deal.

After quite a while, Mina had calmed down and Dahyun took that chance to explain everything that had happened.

Mina felt guilty after that, of course.

One thing led to another and both of them agreed to a deal.

A deal where both of them will date...temporarily.

The deal was supposed to end when summer is over (about a month and a half) but Mina needs to go back to Japan in 3 weeks.

So they agreed to date for 2 weeks and a half.

The remaining days of Mina's stay, they will spend it cutting the ties they had with each other.

But all of that doesn't matter to Dahyun as maybe this can help Mina remember, even just a little bit.

Anyways!

Today is the day before the deal starts but Mina just felt like she needed some company.

"Dahyun?" Mina got worried.

Dahyun snapped out of her thoughts and replied;

"​​​Alright alright"

Mina smiled widely.

"Okay, I'll wait" 

==============

Half an hour has passed and Dahyun's still missing.

So, Mina wondered.

"What's taking her so long?" She asked herself.

*Ding Dong*

She snapped out of her thoughts as soon as she heard the doorbell ring.

She smiled and ran towards the door.

She ran in so much hurry that her hair's all messed up.

"Mina? Did something happen?" 

She heard Dahyun's voice from the other side of the door.

"Nope! Nothing happened!" Mina replied while trying her best to fix her hair.

Suddenly, the rain started pouring.

"Omo- Unnie! It's raining, can you please let me in now???" 

"Ahhh shoot" Mina sighed and gave up on fixing her hair to let Dahyun in.

"hehe" Mina welcomed the younger with a giggle and oh boy did it make Dahyun's heart skip a beat.

Because of that, the latter held her heart dramatically while saying;

"Stop- I'm going to die because of your cuteness- Noooooo!!" 

Mina laughed.

"Noooooo stop iiiiiittttt! I'm too young to die you cute penguin!" Dahyun continued joking.

"Stop that you idiot" Mina playfully hit the latter on her shoulder.

"Alright alright- Oh! By the way, I got us pizza that's why I took to long to get here" Dahyun smiled apologetically.

"It's fine. Tell you what, why don't we eat the pizza you bought while we binge-watch Harry Potter?" Mina offered, trying to lighten up the mood a bit.

"Harry Potter? You mean watch all 8 movies? Together?" Dahyun asked.

"Yeah, is there something wrong?" The older asked, worried that the latter would rather do something else than watch her favorite movie series with her.

"No, not at all! I've been wanting to actually watch all the 8 movies again, it's just that I didn't hve enough time back then"

Mina sighed in relief and invited Dahyun over to the couch.

And just like that, they spent the whole night watching Harry Potter.

Fast forward to, let's say, many many many hours later (about 5 hours), Mina insisted that Dahyun stay.

"Why don't you stay here for the night? I mean- It's already 8pm and it's still raining outside. B-Besides! Don't couples u-usually wake up next to each other in the morning-?" Mina stopped ranting when she felt Dahyun's teeny-tiny hands hold her shoulders to calm her down.

"Alright, I'll stay" 

 

==============

 

"Hey, Mina unnie" Dahyun nudged Mina as they were watching the 3rd movie of the movie-series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

"Hmm?" The older hummed.

'Just one hint' Dahyun thought.

"Don't you think that it's a bit strange and sad that it's been raining too often lately?" She asked.

"Ohhh, that's right, it is strange considering the fact that it's only the first month of summer" Mina pondered.

"But nah, maybe it's climate change...tsk! People thses days really doesn't know how to save Earth. Throwing their trash properly's enough to save millions of people! Am I right? Dahyun?" The older looked at Dahyun.

"Right!" Dahyun agreed, still bothered by the fact that Mina can't remember anything.

"Haha...right" She frowned while looking at Mina who continued watching.

 

============

The 1st Week

============

 

"Dahyun-ah, wake up, hey" Mina shook her (now)lover's body.

"No~" Dahyun whined.

Mina sighed, hesitating a bit to say something.

"B-Babe, wake up" She blushed as she said the word she never thought she'll say.

Dahyun's eye shot open which startled Mina a bit.

"You scared me" She smacked the younger.

But Dahyun didn't care about it, what she cared about though is Mina saying the word "Babe".

"W-What did you just call me?"

Mina turned red even more.

"Will you please just stop it???" She annoyingly asked as she covered her face with her hands.

"Okay okay, I'm sorry" Dahyun apologized and after that, they talked about how they should spend the day together, no wait.

Nevermind, they actually started planning about how they should spend the week together.

"How about we spend time today by watching TV and ordering food and then, tomorrow we'll roam the city?" Dahyun suggested.

"Sure, I'd love that" 

After a little conversation, both Dahyun and Mina finished planning about what to do for the rest of the week.

1st day, which is today, they're going to stay home and rest to gather all the energy they need for the activities they're going to do tomorrow and the following days.

Tomorrow, they decided to roam the city whilst telling each other their personalities, personal interests etc. Bacically, tomorrow is for introduction in order to know each other better.

On Wednesday, Arcade.

Thurday, Arcade.

Friday, Arcade.

Saturday...still Arcade.

And finally, Sunday, theme park.

Yes, they spent 3 hours on planning what to do for the rest of the week and they ended up with 2 days reserved for "Who" "what," "where," or "when" questions, and then 4 days for arcade, and then lastly, 1 day for theme park.

Their schedule for next week's still yet to be decided.

"Harry Potter?" Mina asked Dahyun.

"Eh? Again???" Dahyun was baffled.

"Why? It's fun to watch after all" Mina shrugged.

Dahyun sighed.

"Nope! Not Harry Potter again" The younger shook her head in disagreement.

"What??? What are we going to watch then?" Mina asked, slowly foming into a pout.

"How about something funny? Kevin Hart's movies maybe?" Dahyun suggested.

"Kevin Hart? Who is he?" Dahyun couldn't react as she couldn't believe the words coming out from Mina's mouth.

"Seriously? You don't know Kevin Hart?" 

"Well, I did ask who he was" 

"Kevin Hart's by far one of the best actors out there! He legit rules comedy!" 

"Okay, so we're watching Harry Potter?" Mina easily shrugged the topic off, completely shocking Dahyun.

The younger, then, feigned a fake hurt expression.

"No way. We're going to watch Kevin Hart! Each and every single one of his movies!" 

"What the-! How many movies does he have anyway?!" The latter asked.

"About...50?" 

"Wha- How the heck are we supposed to finish all of that???" Mina asked Dahyun who got her phone out to search something.

"Oh, don't worry about that, we can continue watching the rest tomorrow" 

"Huh? What about the schedule we planned???" 

"Oh! Right!" Dahyun exclaimed.

"See? There's no way we can finish it all-!" 

"Correction about the 50 movies, he actually has 63"

"Thank Go- Wait, what??? But-"

"Oh and don't worry about the schedule, we can do the rest of it next week or next next week!" 

Dahyun explained and left Mina on the couch to go fetch her laptop.

"63? How are we going to finish that? It's too impossible!" She whispered to herself.

Even though it may sound too impossible, just seeing Dahyun feeling all giddy, excited, and worked up like this makes her happy.

A few minutes later, Dahyun comes back with her laptop in her hands.

After that, they started watching Kevin Hart's movies which started with his first movie, Paper Soldiers.

Every now and then, both of them would laugh out loud, there were times where they just couldn't stop smiling until their jaws hurt.

Today sure was a happy day.

Tuesday came fast and just as promised, they continued their marathon.

Yesterday, they finished 5 movies.

Today, they aim to do the same.

After their 3rd movie today, Mina and Dahyun agreed to watch something else.

Of course Mina requested to watch a Harry Potter movie into which Dahyun had no other choice but to agree.

The rest of the week passed by just like this.

Just the 2 of them spending their time together, side by side.

 

============

The Half of 2nd Week

============

 

"Dubs" Mina shook Dahyun.

"Wake upppppppppp! We only have 20 more of his movies to watch left" Mina urged the latter.

"Just a minuteeeeeeeee, I'm still sleepyyyyyyyy" Dahyun pouted.

"Jagi-"

"No, that won't work on me anymoreeeeeee" Dahyun shook her head and closed her eyes.

"Nope, not anymore!" The younger stood up and did not look at Mina for even a second.

Suddenly, Mina held her wrist.

"Look, I really like watching Kevin Hart now and your in between fun facts about him but, don't you think that we might run out of time? It's the second week and yet we did nothing else but to stay here and watch movies" Mina frowned.

"Even a day's enough for me to make your time worth a while but...if you want to, then we can do something else. Say, how about we go to the arcade today?" Dahyun wondered without having a single idea about how her words affected Mina.

"Oh, unnie, why are you blushing?" Dahyun asked.

"N-Nothing. Th-The arecade's a great idea, I'll just take a bath" And just like that, Mina stormed off with cheeks as red as a tomato.

"Cute" Dahyun mumbled.

Not too long after, Mina finished taking a bath and was already dressed up. 

She wore a beige colored oversized tee and tucked it in her ripped jeans.

"Let's go!" She exclaimed happily.

"But I'm not ready yet..." Dahyun trailed off.

"Eh?"

"Yeah, I'm not ready yet since you used the bathroom..."

"Oh"

"Don't worry though, I'll be ready in a moment" Dahyun reassured her.

"Alright"

Not too long after (again) Dahyun came out this time, she finished taking a bath and was thinking about what she should wear.

"Maybe beige too? To match Mina's shirt?" She contemplated.

"Or maybe a shirt that can contrast what she's wearing...?"

"Lemme search" She mumbled.

But after she took out her phone, Dahyun realized.

"Right, in the end none of this will matter anyway" Dahyun sighed and looked down.

"But, the effort is what makes it ​​​​count, right?" The latter shook her head and continued searching.

"Black and warm white? But I don't have any warm white colored shirts and I don't really feel like wearing black today..."

"Dahyun-ah, why are you taking so long? Did something happen to you?" The worry in Mina's voice was too evident.

"I'm fine! It's just that I...I don't really know what to wear...?" She heard Mina giggle.

"Just wear anything Dubs, you look pretty no matter what the outfit is after all" Mina stated.

Dahyun's heart fluttered.

Her heart beated faster and she blushed madly.

"O-Ok" She stuttered.

10 minutes later, Dahyun finally finished dressing up. 

She wore a mustard colored tee and white shorts.

"Seriously? Shorts?" Mina chuckled.

"Why? What's wrong with it?" Dahyun furrowed her eyebrows.

"Nothing, it's just that I'm afraid you're just too pretty in it" Mina said which made the latter sigh.

"You're unusually cheesy today Ms. Myoui. What did you eat to end up saying things like that?" Dahyun joked but when her eyes turned to Mina, the older seemed a bit serious.

"Well, today's our first date as a couple after all" Said Mina.

Dahyun was cut short on her breath after what Mina had said.

'Gosh, she's too sweet today, I cannot-' Dahyun thought.

"How about we just go? I cannot take your cheesy lines anymore" Dahyun sighed.

Mina ended up laughing.

As planned, or as decided, the couple went to the park first, you know? To know each other better since last week all they did was to laugh while watching movies.

"So! What's your favorite color?" Dahyun asked first even though she knew what it is already.

'Me? I like purple, or indigo...maybe both?' Dahyun thought, as if predicting what Mina would say.

"Me? I like purple, or indigo...maybe both?" Mina said, completely unsure.

Just like what Dahyun had assumed, Mina did say the same thing she thought.

All of this was more like a routine for her rather than a first time.

In fact all of this time that they spent together, was a lie.

She's met Mina a lot of times before.

She booked 2 hotel rooms a lot of times, she met her in a bar a lot of times before too.

She's heard Mina say good morning to her more than a thousand times.

She's heard Mina say babe over and over again.

And she's tried to give the latter a lot of hints 1 after another for days, months even.

No matter how hard she tries to make Mina remember, Mina always ends up forgetting about everything.

It's sad how a story starts with a good, and happy beginning and then ends with a sad, and torturing ending.

But just like what she has said earlier, "The effort is what makes it count" 

Anyway, the 2 decided to call it a day after asking each other questions.

The next day followed and went to the arcade.

They had fun and was happy so when the clock struck 6, they had dinner and went back home.

Wednesday came and instead of spending their time in the arcade again, they went shopping.

In the midst of it though, someone came up to them.

A woman who looked like she was about their age too.

The woman first looked at Mina who had her hands intertwined with Dahyun.

The stranger then moved her gaze to look at Mina's hands.

"Dahyun-ah, it's done" The woman spoke and looked up to meet Dahyun's eyes as if she has known her for years.

"Thanks" Dahyun mouthed.

Dahyun smiled before looking at Mina.

"Let's continue our shopping spree" She said and looked at Mina who looked back at her.

"Okay" Mina said and left the woman standing in the middle of the grocery store.

"Why can't you just let her go?" She mumbled as she looked at Mina who was looking beside her and talking alone.

============

"So who was she?" Mina asked Dahyun for the hundredth time.

They just got inside Mina's car and was getting ready to leave after putting all the boxes filled, with what they bought, inside the car's trunk.

Dahyun sighed and said, "Do you really want to know who she is?"

Mina nodded eagerly.

"She's my ex" Mina's shoulders dropped and her eyes lost their energy.

"Her name is Sana, we broke up last year. The decision was mutual though since we both agreed that it'd be better for the both of us" 

The rest of the ride was silent.

After getting back home, Mina went straight inside the room and Dahyun spent her time to put, all the things they bought, where it's supposed to be.

Mina, on the other hand, doesn't know why she feels like this.

She feels like she's mad or something.

Maybe jealousy?

Anyway, the rest of the day passed by with both of them ignoring each other.

Then, Thursday, a big day for the 2 of them.

Somehow in someway, they managed to act like nothing happened and put everything that happened yesterday behind them.

Dahyun managed to (with the help of Sana) reserve them a theme park. (This is the reason why approached them yesterday inside the grocery store)

It'll just be the 2 of them alone inside a big place.

Today, they'll have all the time in the world to enjoy theirselves.

They first started with the rollercoaster despite the fact that both of them are scared of it.

From there, they wasted no time enjoying the other rides as well.

The day came into an end and before saying gooodbye, they decided to ride the Ferris Wheel where they will share everything that they loved and hated throughout the 1 week and half that they spent with each other.

They sat in front of each other.

"I'll start" Mina said.

"I gotta be honest right?" She asked and Dahyun nodded.

"Oh, ok then..."

"...let's see. I'll start with the things I loved first"

Mina started sharing the things she loved, starting with how she really really loved to pinch Dahyun's cheeks whenever she's sleeping up until to all those lovely times they spent today.

"And then, the things I hated"

Only one word, name rather, came to her mind.

"S-Sana" Her cheeks turned red as she tried to avoid Dahyun's teasing look.

"H-Hey! Stop looking at me like that!" She pushed Dahyun's shoulder lightly.

"Alright alright!" Dahyun laughed.

After the laughter had died down, Dahyun took the chance to say a short sentence, enough to explain what she liked and disliked.

"I loved you and hated nothing else about everything" 

*Badump* Mina's heart goes. *Badump* Is what her heart shows.

Right after Dahyun finished talking, the ride was over.

Both of them got off and walked towards the exit.

They stood right in front of each other.

Time check: 11:56 pm

'Just in time' Dahyun thought.

The remaining 4 minutes is the time that's left for them to say their goodbyes and maybe something else.

Inside that 240 seconds, only they can decide wether they'd like to spend the rest of eternity together, or not.

Just 3 words is what they need to forever feel each other's warmth.

But of course, "Thank you for everything Dahyun-ah, goodbye" 

Dahyun had no other choice but to watch Mina's back fade away from her line of sight.

A bittersweet goodbye it is.

They knew they needed each other.

To others, it may seem like both of them met the wrong person at the wrong time.

But to Mina and Dahyun, they were the right person in the right time.

So, there it goes.

Another story that meets a sorrowful ending.

============

The Other Half of 2nd Week

============

This is it.

After 3 days, Mina's going back to Japan.

It's Friday today.

After she woke up, she immediately went straight to the living room to watch.

Hopefully this will help her forget the latter.

But just as she opened the TV, a Kevin Heart movie showed up.

Memories suddenly showed and Mina ended up turning the TV off immediately.

She went back inside her room.

She was about to lay down again when she remembered Dahyun's sleeping figure on it.

Gosh, she sees Dahyun in every single corner of the house.

House...she used to call it home, a place where she's comfortable.

A place that used to keep her warm during the cold.

But why does it make her feel lonely now?

3 hours later, Mina decided to go to the mall.

She roamed the mall while trying her best to avoid the places she and Dahyun went to.

But after a while, she craved some coffee.

"Starbucks...where's starbucks again? Ah! There" She went inside Starbucks and ordered an Americano.

After that, she looked for a table to sit at only to meet someone unexpected.

"Oh! Mina-ssi" There stood in front of her Sana.

 

===========

"Soooooooooo, are you with Dahyun?" Sana asked.

"As you can see, no" Mina stated.

"Ahhh so today's the day..." 

Mina raised her eyebrows at what Sana said.

"You 2 broke up, right?" Sana frowned while asking.

"Yes..." Mina was a bit reluctant.

But Sana noticed her reluctance.

"Look, this is actually the 3rd or 4th time I've met you so I'll get straight to the point" Sana stated.

"Dahyun's dead" 

Mina laughed at Sana's straightforwardness, thinking that she was only joking.

"It's not a joke" 

"Sure, it's not a joke- Look, is Dahyun here?" Mina asked thinking that this was just another prank planned by the younger.

"As you can see, no" Sana repeated what Mina said earlier.

"Believe it or not, she is dead. She passed away 3 months ago" 

Mina laughed harder.

"Liar, she was just with me yesterday"

Sana sighed.

"If you want proof, go to the nearest cemetery here, maybe by then you'll remember everything" Just like that, Sana stood up and left.

Mina remained silent after that.

Suddenly, the feeling of urgency swallowed her whole.

Panicking a little, she did what Sana told her to do.

All of this was too sudden for her.

She left the mall and went inside her car and started driving.

Not too long after, she arrived at the said place.

Mina got off her car and did not even bother to turn off the engine.

She ran across the cemetery to find Dahyun's name while silently hoping that all of this is just a simple joke.

She spent 10 minutes running around until finally, she came across a tomb.

 

Kim Dahyun

 

Mina dropped on her knees, trying to process everything.

Suddenly, she strated seeing flashbacks, memories of which she wishes she never had.

 

 

Mina's phone begun ringing.

She answered the phone.

"Hello?" She said.

"Hello? Is this Miss Myoui Mina?" An unknown manly voice spoke from the other side.

"Yes, who is this?" She asked.

"Ah, I'm calling from the hospital. Say, are you a relative of Kim Dahyun?" When Dahyun's name was mentioned, Mina got worried.

"Not really but I'm a close friend" 

"That's good to know. I called to tell you a bad news"

Mina raised her eyebrows and then asked, "What is it?" 

===========

Mina ran across the hospital's hallways.

"29, 29, 29, 29, 29" She mumbled as she ran.

"Where is room 29???" She exhaustingly mumbled.

"Here!" She exclaimed and stopped in front of a room.

Mina was about to open the door but when she heard people shouting from the other side, she froze.

"Doc! Her pulse is dropping fast!" A nurse shouted.

Mina slowly opened the door and saw 5 people inside.

There were 4 hospital personnels and the fifth one was Dahyun.

Mina couldn't hear anything else after that but the noise the monitor was making.

She looked beside Dahyun's bed to see a long flat line being shown on the monitor.

The nurses and the doctor stopped and stood straight beside the bed with sorrow and pity being evident on their faces.

"Time of death: 7:29 pm. Cause of death, Cardiac Arrest" The doctor looked down.

Mina never knew that this day would be the worst one in her life.

 

-Flashback end-

 

Just like back then, Mina ended up driving to the hospital today.

She ran across the hallways again and stopped in front of Room 29.

Her eyes were wet from tears and her heart completely broken to a million pieces.

She was devastated once again.

Mina went home after going to the hospital.

She stood outside her house and calmed herself down.

She opened the door and sighed.

After all of that for some reason, she couldn't seem to remember the events that had happened earlier.

Her eyes were drenched in tears and felt dry but despite the state she's currently in, all she knows is that she doesn't want to go out of the house.

She doesn't really know why but just by the thought of taking a step away from her doorstep feels like she won't be able to make it back home.

Yes, this house feels like home...again.

Mina sighed once again before taking her shoes off and heading straight to the living room.

Her phone made noise meaning someone had texted her.

She grabbed it from her pocket and deleted a certain contact without even bothering to look at the message that's been sent to her.

She went straight towards the couch, grabbed the TV's remote control, and sat down.

For some unknown reason, she felt like something was missing--more like someone?

The latter thought of it deeply until suddenly, a specific person came to her mind.

"Dahyun, I should call Dahyun" She smiles.

"Oh! Mina-ssi!" Mina's smile grew bigger as she heard the enthusiastic voice of her dear temporary lover.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It sure is way past September and summer's over

The rainy season arrived to deliver its wrath to those who hates it.

But to Mina, summer will never end.

She doesn't care if it will hurt again and again, all she knows is that she wants to be in Dahyun's arms again.

A bittersweet summer for the couple indeed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

=================

Confused? I'll summarize the whole story here.

Dahyun and Mina agreed to be temporary lovers.

Mina only has 3 weeks to stay in Korea.

They'll spend a week and a half with each other and the remaining 3 days will be for them to move one from each other.

But after the day they said their goodbyes, Dahyun got into an accident in which she wasn't able to survive.

Because of this, Mina begins forcing herself to forget who Dahyun is and all the time they spent together. Just a reminder, Mina doesn't have Alzheimer's Decease.

After forcing herself to forget, Mina begins to live in loops where she meets Dahyun over and over again.