Powerful (Michaeng)

The Surprise

... Chaeyoung reached the hallway and felt her heart skip a beat when she saw her bedroom door open. She walked slowly to the entrance and went pale, frozen in place, upon seeing Mina holding her drawings.

Mina looked at her with a very serious and indecipherable expression.

Chaeyoung felt the ground open up beneath her feet. She was in big trouble.

"Mina, I... I can explain..." Chaeyoung began, but she didn't know how to explain. She had lied and now she was exposed. She was an idiot; she should never have taken those things. "Please forgive me."

"Did you do this?" Mina asked, showing one of the drawings.

"Yes, I like to draw, but I don't have money to buy the things I need to do it," Chaeyoung replied, downcast. She had no money to buy anything. "Forgive me, Mina."

"It's okay." Mina placed the drawings on the bed. "You can keep them, but I'll take the brush and the paint with me."

"Of course, they are your things," Chaeyoung replied. "I promise this won't happen again. I've never taken anything in the past, and I won't do it again, I swear on the souls of my entire family."

"It's all right, Mariko, I believe your words," Mina said seriously but calmly. "Let's put this behind us."

As soon as Mina left the room, Chaeyoung burst into tears. She had tried her hardest not to shed a single tear in front of the other girl. She had already humiliated herself so many times in front of Haru and Kimi, and she didn't want to go through the same thing with Mina.

She closed the door and sat on her bed, still very shaken by the situation in which she could only blame herself. She had been foolish and selfish and now had to face the consequences of her actions.

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Mina went to her room and put the paint and brush back in their proper places, then headed to the living room where Kimi was reading a magazine.

"Mom, I found the things I was looking for," she said, smiling.

"That's good, my daughter. And where were they?"

"I had forgotten them in the backyard, can you believe it? I'm getting so distracted. This presentation is coming up, and I'm starting to get really nervous." Mina lied, doing her best to sound as convincing as possible.

"You were lucky it didn't rain last night," Kimi commented, making her daughter feel relieved. "And about the presentation, you need to learn to control yourself because there's nothing to worry about. You've trained for years for this moment. Mina, you're a talented ballerina; all your teachers have always emphasized that. Besides, it's in your blood. It's something you were born with, and nothing and no one can take that away from you." Kimi then approached her daughter. "And I'm not just saying this because I'm your mother. You know I've always been very demanding of you when it came to ballet."

"Yes, I know, Mom. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your words," Mina replied, feeling guilty for deceiving her mother, but it was a necessary evil.

"Osaka will be at your feet, just as it was at mine when I was young. I have no doubt about that," Kimi smiled at her daughter, who felt shy about the compliments.

"Thank you, Mom," Mina thanked her once more. On the outside, she smiled, but on the inside, her conscience weighed more and more.

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That night, Chaeyoung barely touched her food, which worried Somi and Inbok.

"Why are you like this today, Chaeyoung?" the young man asked her.