once more to see you - a mina x lia twoshot

chapter one; reconciliation

Mina had always sought after Lia's approval.

Even back in the early days when she was just a trainee – running off nothing but Red Bull and a seemingly unachievable dream, when Lia still went by her real name Hyerang. She never really believed in fate, or anything like that to do with the universe, but when she had first met Hyerang she had felt something just click into place. To her, Kim Hyerang's praise was worth the wins of a thousand competitions. Their friendship had bloomed steadily, practices ran later than the evenings because they just couldn't stop gravitating around each other, couldn't stop being in each other's company. When things got hard, which they usually did when starting up a relatively unknown dance company in Korea's biggest and busiest city, Hyerang knew a smile from the headstrong girl dancing beside her would give her the rush she needed to push further and carry on.

Those early days were a series of sequences in both of the girls' lives. The highs and lows, the periods of not knowing whether they'd have enough to make rent. But it seemed like God had wanted to finally take it easy on Kim Hyerang, soon more people joined 1Million & they were beginning to feel comfortable. Their names started to spread and every day when either of them taught a class, they were greeted with a face that they had never seen before.

But with the company's success growing like a well-watered plant, Mina realised the more recognition they got; the more Hyerang was pulled away from her. Although she had always been praised by those around her for acting more mature than her rather youthful age, Mina felt the childish urge to pull Hyerang away – to keep her all for herself. She had never understood why, until the night of their first-ever argument. By 'argument' she didn't mean a little disagreement; it was an argument. A full-blown screaming match, them both sleep-deprived, cranky, and honestly just desperate for something they couldn't name. When Hyerang had stormed out of the practice room, holding back tears, the wires in Mina's brain just connected. 'Oh.' She never wanted to see this person walk away from her.

She never wanted to see Hyerang cry. It had been almost anti-climactic, the revelation that she was in love with her best friend. In the dramas she had watched the (always) male lead would be standing in attendance at his one true love's wedding – watching her get married to a man who wasn't him. For Mina Myoung, it happened whilst she was crying on a dance studio floor, crumpled up like a used napkin in a fit of sweaty misery.

A lot of things in the dark-haired woman's life had never met expectations, that was certainly the most surprising revelation, but ultimately not the last.

The next came rather suddenly, the day after in fact, when the two of them had awkwardly reconciled. Hyerang was sitting next to her on the younger girl's worn black leather couch, a little out of breath from the apology speech she had just made. Mina had thought it sincere, but like Hyerang had practiced it a lot. She imagined her nervous best friend standing in front of her bedroom mirror, fumbling over her words – it made her smile. Mina not only in the last forty-eight hours realised she was in love with her best friend, but that she would never love anyone else. She began blossoming over Hyerang, alone in her room every night, turning ever little interaction they had ever had over and over again her mind.

No one would ever compare. They wouldn't get a chance to try, Mina didn't even want to want anyone else. If she did, she would have worked out a way to make it work by now. Loving someone you couldn't have proved to be utterly exhausting.

The day Hyerang had seemingly walked out of her life for good; Mina surprisingly had not felt anything. It was a numb, disconnected bitterness. She had been angry and frustrated and so, so hurt. Not only with the other but herself too, it had spiralled into the two saying things they could not take back, using words like daggers to dig into the soft flesh of their love for each other.