All I Needed x Michaeng

Part Seven

"You should bring her home," her mother says and Mina smiles at the thought but also doesn't know how to explain why it would probably never happen. "We have more than enough room."

She hums noncommittally instead of answering. "We'll see," she mumbles. "I'll talk to her about it."

"I'm sure she has family stuff..." her mother tries but she's cut off quickly.

"She doesn't," Mina says and the silence her mom leaves over the line shows that this is probably explanation enough. Mina sighs. "I don't want to push her, Mom. This is all kind of new."

Her mom makes a knowing sound. "Is it?"

Mina doesn't really have a response for that. She feels like she's had these feelings forever. She feels like she'll have them forever. Right now, the thought of not waking up to Chaeyoung every morning feels terrifying. Chaeyoung's been stuck in the library during the longest lockdown drill in the history of their school and Mina is about ready to go postal on campus security. She only called her mother to stop herself from going out and camping outside the library until it was over. It's also probably why she decided to spend most of their conversation talking about her.

"I'm just saying that she's more than welcome to come home with you anytime, Mina," her mother says before going off on a long tangent about a patient. Mina makes noises where she's supposed to make noises but mostly she thinks about taking Chaeyoung back to Busan and letting her seep into every last bit of her life.

Her mother's still talking when the door to their room opens. Chaeyoung smiles when she sees her, but there's something different about her that Mina notices straight away. She moves around their room, her body and movements anxious as she hangs up her coat and kicks off her boots. She sets them at the end of her bed like normal and Mina reaches silently for her hand when Chaeyoung sits down on the edge of the mattress.

She barely has to tug before Chaeyoung falls to lie beside her.

"Mina, are you even listening?" her mother asks but Mina's too busy tugging Chaeyoung's limbs until they're wrapped around her body. She's too busy trying to find the thing that's going to set Chaeyoung at ease. Her mother sighs. "Chaeyoung's back, isn't she?"

The sound of her name catches Mina's attention. "Um, Mom, I love you but I've got to go."

"Of course, you do," her mother laughs knowingly. "Love you, honey. I'll send you some cash."

"'Kay," Mina whispers, before she hangs up and tosses her phone on the nightstand. Chaeyoung looks at her weirdly and Mina wraps an arm around her waist to protectively bring her closer. "You're back," she whispers. Chaeyoung nods. "I thought I was going to have to send out a search party."

Chaeyoung smiles and reaches between them to rest her hand on Mina's chest, against her heartbeat. It's racing and Mina knows that she should feel slightly embarrassed that Chaeyoung can probably feel it but she doesn't. She wants her to know. She wants Chaeyoung to feel what she does to her.

"If the goddamn lockdown carried on any longer I was planning some Mission Impossible-worthy shit to get to you," she mumbles but she's mostly preoccupied with the way that Chaeyoung looks at her differently.

It's not strange or weird or unwelcome but Mina still doesn't know what to think about it. Her fingers lazily trace the horizontal blue and white stripes of Chaeyoung's shirt to try and settle her. She looks ridiculously beautiful in it but that didn't stop Mina from teasing her this morning that it makes her look like a French mime. Chaeyoung had rolled her eyes and looked at her so fondly that Mina had suddenly become so preoccupied kissing her that they were almost late for class.