The Deal | MICHAENG

THE DEAL 47

Chaeyoung groggily open her eyes only to be knocked by a searing throb of her head. Hissing, she shut her eyes and turn her body to the other side. Slowly this time, she open her eyes, despite her eyelids still feeling heavy.

"Good, you're awake. Tzuyu brought you breakfast. You should eat." Jay, who was situated at the couch, said. He glance at her for a second before he went back to gazing at his phone.

"I'm not hungry." Chaeyoung replied.

She lazily got up and went to grab something from the closet before slumping down again at the bed. She put on Mina's oversized, gray hoodie over her head and lay down, curling herself up. It was raining hard and Mina's snuggly hoodie provided her warmth that counter the cold she's feeling.

"Chaeng, come on. You've barely ate yesterday. At least eat this strawberry pancakes. Tzuyu made it from scratch." Jay persuaded.

Chaeyoung glance at the tray-filled breakfast food on top of a small breakfast table. Admittedly, it looks mouth-watering to her. But really, she wasn't hungry. Maybe she'd give the pancakes a try, though. With a sigh, the short girl pushed herself to sit up.

"Here, let me take off that for you." Jay offered, his hand going to the hem of the hoodie Chaeyoung's wearing.

Instinctively, Chaeyoung grip Jay's wrist to prevent him from touching it. "What? No!"

"Chaeng, you'll probably stain it with syrup. And trust me, with you in this current state, there's a high chance. Besides, it's just a hoodie. You can wear it after you're done eating." Jay pushed.

"I'm not. Taking. This. Off." Chaeyoung emphasized, her grip on Jay's wrist tighten for a second before she release it with a pointed look.

"Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you." Jay replied, wringing his arms in the air defeatedly before he went back to busying himself on his phone.

Chaeyoung inch closer to the food and lifted a forkful of pancake into her mouth. As she munch bits of it, her gaze went to the window that overlooked the terrace.

I wonder what Mina is doing. Are their final wedding preparations ready? Is she currently having a bachelorette party? If so, is she enjoying it with her friends and close ones? Is that why Bambam and the others aren't here? Does she finally let herself be happy with Bambam? Maybe. Anything can happen in 3 and a half days, after all. And what about me? Does she think of me? Does she grieve in pain and hurt just like me these past 3 days? Has she really abandoned me? Maybe she's happy without me. Maybe she wants to forget all about me and the special memories we had... But maybe she already has.

Chaeyoung tried her best to steady her tiring shaking hand and kept her tears at bay at the thought of these things. She close her eyes momentarily and took a deep breath. No more. No more thoughts about her. Mina already made her choice. Its time to move on.

As she finish her meal, she was quite proud herself for proving Jay wrong. Her hoodie was stain-free from syrup. Besides, why would Jay have that absurd thought in the first place? This particular soft gray hoodie of Mina is Chaeyoung's favorite clothing of the rich girl. She could still remember the first time the rich girl offered it to her to warm her up on a cold Wednesday afternoon.

Flashback

Chaeyoung gave a small smile before rummaging through the closet for dry clothes. Getting out a simple white shirt and shorts, she turn to Mina.

"Uh, could you..."

"Oh, right." Mina turn her back to which Chaeyoung began changing.

"Okay, I'm decent." Chaeyoung says. When Mina turn to her, she frowned.