your hand in mine - pt. iii ☽ michaeng

3.10

Well, this isn't awkward at all, Mina thinks to herself as she takes another sip of wine. That, of course, is meant to be as sarcastic as humanly possible.

Tzuyu clears her throat, and everyone looks at her, surprised. Mina's pretty sure not one single person here expects her to be the saving grace of the evening. She thinks even Tzuyu herself doesn't expect to be that. Yet, she's the one who attempts to get the conversation going. "I would like to thank you for arranging this, Chaeyoung," she says, looking at her. "I'm glad we're doing this."

"You've always been a great liar," Jeongyeon mutters into her glass. She's opted for water tonight, which Mina couldn't help but notice. She wonders what that means. Is it because she doesn't want to cause a scene, or is it because she doesn't want to lower her guard around her?

She should probably stop being so paranoid.

Chaeyoung stares at her sister, impassive. "Jeongyeon," she says, evenly, and Mina feels her stomach twist with apprehension. If there was ever the time to use the phrase 'impending doom,' now would be it.

By now, Jeongyeon imploding is expected. That's why, when she only sighs and speaks in a calm voice, Mina's taken aback. "You know this isn't working," she says. Mina's kind on inclined to agree with her. "You're uncomfortable, Tzuyu's uncomfortable, I'm deeply embarrassed, and Mina is terrified."

Mina blinks. "I'm not terrified," she protests. Jeongyeon only tilts her head to the side, studying her.

"Really," she says, slowly.

"Well now you're just purposefully trying to intimidate me. That's not fair."

To her surprise, she leans back in her chair, letting a small smile escape. "Ah. There's the Myoui Mina I know and…" she trails off, shrugging. "…know."

Chaeyoung's face darkens, and Mina immediately places her hand on hers before she has a chance to tear into her. She definitely doesn't want to witness yet another falling out between the two sisters. That, and Jeongyeon's words were completely in jest. There's a first time for everything, Mina supposes.

She just shoots her a look.

"If you come to me with a problem," Tzuyu says, "I expect to hear a solution, too. Or have you forgotten?"

"Oh, I have one," Jeongyeon says, looking around the table. "We need to hash it out instead of failing at small talk. I'm not here to sweep things under the rug. I'm here to own up to things I did."

"Perhaps you and I should've had a private discussion before… this," Mina suggests, unsure. She shakes her head.

"You would've never agreed to meet with me." Her expression must've betrayed her taking offence, because Jeongyeon hurries to explain. "I'm not saying that you'd be scared. I don't actually think that. I just know you wouldn't trust me enough."

Trust. That's pretty much the running theme of her whole life, it seems. She can't exactly argue with her on that.

"Look." Jeongyeon is focused. Determined. "I will be honest. I don't trust you, too. Not yet. I'm not sure I'll ever get there, and I think you understand that." Mina does. On top of her hurting the person she probably loves the most in this world, her relationship with Chaeyoung almost cost her her relationship with her sister. It's a lot to get over. But she's doing good so far, and Mina is glad. "But I trust my sister, and that's something I should have been doing this entire time. Who knows," she gives her a wry grin, "maybe, if I didn't nag her about you the first time, she wouldn't have been so adamant about blindly believing you."

"Jeongyeon–" Chaeyoung starts, but she puts his hands up, smiling.

"I'm kidding, mostly. What I'm trying to say is, you know what you're doing," she tells her. "And if, after everything she's done, you're still willing to believe her, there must be a damn good reason. Besides, you're the boss," she shrugs. "You're capable of making your own decisions. And mistakes."