Dancing in the dark

Chapter 31

The muscles in Jeongyeon's jaw clenched as she gritted her teeth, she was at her wit's ends with Nayeon.

"I told you Mina said Samantha kissed her unexpectedly." She pursed her lips in annoyance, "You've been avoiding her for two weeks now and she's soon going to notice."

Nayeon drew her lower lip between her teeth, "She wouldn't. She is too smitten with Samantha to notice."

"Girls, your interview starts in ten minutes." Their manager oppa told them, peeking his head into their dressing room.

Nayeon sat before the host faking a smile, her thoughts drifting back to Mina and what she witnessed at the stairs.

"We have another surprise guest joining us this evening," The host said cheerfully, and the audience roared with applause when Mina stepped into the set, throwing a warm smile at all the girls she's come to be best friends with.

Nayeon stopped herself from staring at her with her mouth wide open, because in the two weeks since she'd last seen her, Mina seemed to have grown even more beautiful than she was already.

In a figure hugging silver dress and matching silver ear rings, she made the brightly lit set look dim in comparison.

"Minayah." Momo was the first one to pull her into a hug that almost knocked her over.

"So your friendship goes way back to Korea," The host inquired after the girls had settled down taking their turns to hug Mina, "How did you first meet?"

"We met her at a fansign." Jihyo was quick to reply, "Her sister Ari is a big fan of me."

Sana laughed shaking her head affectionately at Jihyo, "Show off!"

"Now she has her own fan following," The host remarked looking at Mina, "A staggering one at that!"

Jeongyeon nodded her head in agreement, "We're so proud of how far she's come." She said in a tone full of affection and admiration.

Mina threw a grateful smile at Jeongyeon for her warm words and then chanced a glance at Nayeon who was sitting at the far end, all too quiet and serious which was unusual for her.

"And you're housemates with Nayeon?" The host continued, throwing a friendly smile at Mina, "I hear from Jeongyeon she can be quite difficult to live with."

Mina shook her head, giving a soft glance at Nayeon who met her gaze, "I know how to handle her."

The audience chuckled.

"I don't know how she does that," Chaeyoung snorted, pointing a finger at Mina, "She has to have the patience of a Saint to deal with Nayeon."

"I swear to god it must be like living with two kids." Dahyun agreed with Chaeyoung throwing a fond smile at Mina.

"Whoa, so many fingers pointing at you Nayeon." The host guffawed, "What do you have to say about this?"

"They're exaggerating," Nayeon grumbled, giving a disappointed look at her bandmates, "I'm lovable."

Mina locked their gaze, her eyes warm and soft as she whispered in a low voice, "Very much so."

Nayeon felt herself holding the glance for a while with a goofy grin growing on her face until Momo nudged her side with an elbow.

Nayeon peeled her eyes away from Mina, clearing her throat as she diverted her attention back to the interview.

A week later when the girls gathered in Nayeon and Mina's penthouse for dinner, Jeongyeon grabbed Nayeon by the collar to the supply room where Mina had disappeared into to find more wine.

"You're telling her how you feel today." She gave the petrified girl a shove, "You can't chicken out again!"

"Okay." Nayeon took a deep breath, nodding at her friend and stepped into the room.

Mina glanced to her side when she heard footsteps, her eyes softening like they always do when she looked at Nayeon.

Nayeon swallowed thickly. She could hear Jeongyeon sigh from behind the closed door.

She took a hesitant step forward, painfully aware of every single pounding in her chest, her hands trembling by her side.

"Mina," She began, her breath coming out thick and cracked.

Mina gave her another warm smile as she turned around fully to face her properly. "Yeah?"

Nayeon felt sweat forming on the sides of her face, but she resisted the urge to wipe it away. "I-"

"You?" Mina's eyes grew bigger and softer than she knew eyes could do.

"I think I-" Nayeon tried again, but her heartbeat was too loud for her to hear her own voice.

Mina tilted her head in confusion as Nayeon stood there slightly shivering and trembling, "Are you coming down with something?"

"I think I'm-" Nayeon felt a little dizzy as her body began to shake even more, and her heart felt like it was about to explode.

Mina caught the older girl before she dropped to floor, her chest twisting painfully when she looked at the older girl who had fainted in her arms.

Jeongyeon felt a little bad for forcing Nayeon to confess her feelings, "I didn't know she felt this intensely." She defended herself to Jihyo who reprimanded her for putting the older girl on spot.

"Nayeon-chan," Mina sobbed as Nayeon slowly opened her eyes, "You scared me so much!"

When Mina fell into her arms, hugging her tightly and telling her that she couldn't bear anything happen to her, Nayeon thought even if she didn't get to have Mina's heart, she already had her love and affection and that was enough.