Double Fantasy

Chapter 11 : Stay with me

The big day had come. It was Monday and finally time to present all the work they had done together in front of the other students. Mina was nervous, of course, but she trusted them and knew they would do good. 

Coffee in hand, she was waiting in front of the classroom, early, as usual. Chaeyoung and her had not seen each other since the movie night with the girls but she didn't feel nervous to be in her presence so much now. She even slightly smiled when she saw her appear at the other side of the hallway, making her way to the classroom. However, as she got closer, Mina noticed how different she looked. She couldn't tell if she was nervous, angry or just tired. She had dark rings under her eyes, her skin was crazily pale and an apparent cut was visible on her bottom lip.

"Hi" She negligently leaned against the wall.

"Hi ... are you okay ?

- Yes"

Mina was so worried and considered insisting but she was interrupted by the teacher opening the door. It was probably better to not annoy her right before the presentation anyway. They settled in front of the class. Mina had a quick last look at the other girl before she started to speak. There was definitely something going on and she felt so helpless. 

As she was talking, she could see her hands tremble, squeezing and crumpling her notes. When if was her turn to speak, her voice came off well at first but it was clear for someone who knew her a bit that it was weaker than usual. Her eyes remained fixed on her paper but she struggled to breath properly. Eventually, the girl raised her head a second and had a look at the audience. Her expression changed, almost like she was scared. It was now all of her body that shivered and when her hand let her paper fall at her feet, Mina rushed to her side and supported her when her legs failed her. If it weren't for her quick reaction, she would probably had fallen on the ground.

The teacher stood up, as shocked and worried as the rest of the class.

"Can we ..." Mina didn't need to finish her sentence as he nodded and walked to open the door. 

"Take some fresh air, we'll take care of this later, don't worry"

She thanked him for his understanding and proceeded to bring her outside. Fortunately, Chaeyoung was still able to walk quite properly and only needed some support. Mina found a quiet place, made her sit on a bench and crouched down to face her. Only now, she noticed tears falling down her cheeks and her red eyes. It made her stomach ache, she hated to see her like this more than she should.

"Chaeyoung what is ?" She was not used to console people but wanted to sound as comforting as possible.

"I'm so sorry" She was crying so hard, she weakly whispered more than she talked and her body was still crazily shaking. Mina grabbed her hand the way the other girl did a few days ago, hoping it could help her somehow. She felt her squeeze it so hard that it hurt a bit, but she didn't mind.

"Why are you sorry ? You don't have to be sorry

- I screwed up I'm ... I'm so sorry

- Don't be please"

The girl didn't say anything else and Mina respected the silence for a while. She didn't move and waited for her to calm down. It was so heartbreaking to witness. She kept telling comforting words a few times and slowly until the breathing soothed and the tears stopped running.