From Five to Six | Michaeng

Chapter 15: Butterflies

Healing.

Both physically and mentally. Mina decided to stop feeling sorry for herself after a few days of crying around, skipping meals, and not going to school.

She had been way too many times like this before. It sucks. She had been sure her reckless year was long gone. She had stopped drinking around at night at the shadiest places, she had stopped skipping classes, and she had stopped all that self-destructive behavior. She knew that.

Last time at Jaeha's party, it was a mistake. She knew better than that. This time, after that day in the diner, it was an epic mistake. No drop of alcohol should ever touch her mouth ever again, she knew that. Everyone at the house knew that. Well, maybe she was not doing as well as she thought to still be having these reactions.

There was only one thing different now. There was this little annoying ray of sunshine that kept promising her stuff. Mina knew she was not alone, the only problem was she had to believe it.

Nayeon had been there for her when she needed it the most, she promised stuff too, but then she left. Mina was not sure if she was willing to go through the same thing again. How could she trust Chaeyoung? Mina was not certain about anything and maybe the simplest choice was to forget about everything. Go on with her senior year, get into a good university, take over the company, and live happily ever after without further trouble. Alone.

But... she couldn't deny the girl had her in shambles, all while also keeping her as part of her rigid schedule. What a chaotic feeling, really. However, it brought her an odd sense of... calm.

Chaeyoung had not left. She kept thinking that. Chaeyoung felt how it was to be judged, the looks, the comments, and after all, she had not left. Instead, she had run to Mina. Hell, the girl even made her mom give her a ride to the big house.

That made Mina think. Was Chaeyoung's mom okay with them being friends for real? Mina couldn't believe that. Her relationship with adults was damaged and the one she had with the helpers at the house, didn't mean much, after all, they got paid to do that.

This whole situation scared Mina and it was becoming more and more unnecessary. For real, what was she even doing? Chaeyoung probably promised stuff that she was not even sure about. Mina couldn't let that get to her.

Oh, but what a difficult thing to ignore. Especially when the girl occupied her every thought. Or the fact that the girl decided to start texting her all the time. Every text put a smile on Mina's face and it was hard to keep ignoring it. Besides, Mina knew Chaeyoung hated texting.

There was only one thing Mina needed to do now: try and keep her head above water. Despite everything, she knew she just needed to keep sane and keep trying every day, letting the self-pity and damage consume her, only brought pain. She didn't want to suffer anymore, she acted as if nothing happened, right? Fake it until you make it.

Back at school, the whispering was not that bad. Either she had got used to it at this point or people were actually busy with tests and worrying about their own lives. Whatever the reason was, she was glad. Because she could quickly stop giving it much thought and started to worry about her own marks and tests. The most thought she could, at least.

Chaeyoung kept making it hard to focus. They even had coffee together at school... not that you could count that as a first date but the silly situation made Mina blush. A date. Chaeyoung had asked for a date but did she even know what that meant?

Mina could not accept, especially keeping in mind the feelings Chaeyoung had for her best friend. Until that call. Oh, what a wonderful call. Yes, Mina was afraid of everything but deep down she was still hopeful, waiting for Chaeyoung to realize... something.