All I Needed x Michaeng

Part Two

Mina seems unsettled and Chaeyoung hates that it bothers her so much.

She's not been the same since Chaeyoung woke up to her talking to her mom on the phone at one in the morning. She leaves the room when Chaeyoung arrives from class or she shoves earphones in and disappears into a world of her own. Her face is always downturned unless she's with her friends and Chaeyoung wonders if she intruded too much by asking her if she was okay. She wonders if she overstepped assuming that something might be wrong.

It really doesn't help that Mina has come back to their room late and drunk almost every night for the past week and a half. Sometimes she lets Chaeyoung help her but other times she just shrugs her off and changes out of her jeans to fall into bed. The times when she does let her help are the times when she's too far gone to care.

It happens more frequently than not. Chaeyoung hates that Sana and Nayeon just dump her in her room and hope for the best. She hates that Mina only comes back on her own when she's had enough to drink that it's dangerous.

There's only one night that really scares her.

It's about two and a half weeks after the phone call and Chaeyoung watches her quietly as she takes herself to the bathroom. She hears the toilet flush and the faucet start to run. She waits for Mina to reemerge for a while but she doesn't. She expects for the shower to turn on, because Mina's done that before, but it doesn't. It isn't until she hears a crash and a thud that she panics. She rushes for the bathroom door and calls Mina's name over and over again. She decides she doesn't care what happens when Mina doesn't respond. She opens the door and finds Mina sprawled out on the bathroom floor.

"Mina," Chaeyoung says, approaching her carefully. There's a dumb smile on her face and Chaeyoung kneels down beside her before checking her over. "I heard a crash."

Mina chuckles. "I slipped."

Chaeyoung pushes her hair from her eyes because it's habit at this point. It's the only thing she feels comfortable enough to do. "You should be more careful."

Mina gives her a look. "We can't all be as sensible and put together as you."

Chaeyoung ignores the comment and reminds herself that drunk people say things they don't mean. "You're going to hurt yourself."

Mina starts chuckling and throws her arms out dramatically. Chaeyoung catches them as Mina almost hits her with a stray palm. "I drink to numb the pain!" she hollers and only laughs harder when Chaeyoung presses a hand to her mouth. "You're so serious!"

"You need to go to bed," Chaeyoung tells her, panicked and quiet. She's scared because tonight isn't like other nights where Mina grumps around until she falls asleep. Chaeyoung knows there's something wrong. "You need to sleep it off."

Mina's head rolls as she turns to her with a sudden look of anguish. "But I'll dream about him."

Chaeyoung frowns in confusion and starts to tidy all the things Mina's knocked over to avoid the discomfort she feels. "Who? Your boyfriend?"

Mina shakes her head and swallows dryly. Her jaw quivers when Chaeyoung watches her. "My dad," she whispers. "He died four years ago today."

Chaeyoung stops fussing and can't think of anything else to do than reach up and push the hair from Mina's eyes again. She hates how fucking deep they are when she's like this.

"I miss him, Chaeyoung," she whispers softly. She nods her head and her eyes are glassier from more than alcohol. "I miss my mom, too. She—she disappeared. Changed. Broke. I don't know. I don't know. She drinks a lot, too."

"Mina..." Chaeyoung whispers and she wants to say something. She wants to tell Mina that she understands what it's like to miss something, to miss someone who isn't here anymore. She wants to explain so many things but she knows that Mina probably doesn't want to listen.