LOST [MiChaeng]

chapter 4

One year later.

Chaeyoung picked up a pencil.

She set it down, then picked up a pen.

She set that down, then settled on a paintbrush.

After thirty minutes of splashing different colors on the paper, she set the paintbrush down and grabbed her pen again, quickly sketching an outline of an apple and a pineapple.

As a senior, pressure was always on you about college applications. Chaeyoung, however, wasn’t stressed at all. She had made her decision on which college she wanted to go to – which was, obviously, an art university – and had already gotten the papers needed to apply to that university. Part of the application was to create a piece of art that was meaningful to you using different types of media. It sounded like what fifth graders would do in art class, but Chaeyoung knew the university would be looking for deep meanings behind the seemingly meaningless designs created. In reality, it was complicated, and tough.

She hummed along to music she was listening to on her phone. Part of the Inspirational Playlist, which she would listen to while working on a piece or trying to get herself motivated to do something. Fighter by Monsta X was playing, and she quietly sang to herself as she skimmed along the paper with her pen and sketched different objects in different places.

A faint sound, much like a doorbell, was heard.

Hmm. Didn’t know Fighter had doorbells in it.

Chaeyoung ignored it, and continued working.

Her phone buzzed next. She checked it, and immediately, a bitter taste filled her mouth.

From: Myoui Mina

Please open the door, Chaeyoung. Please. I need to talk to you about something.

From: Myoui Mina

I’m begging you, open the door!

Well. That seems urgent.

Chaeyoung got to her feet, hurrying to the door and throwing it open. Before her was Mina, sobbing, her hair in tangled clumps, strewn all over her face, which was red and pinched from crying.

...What?

“M-mina,” Chaeyoung stammered, immediately filled with worry and panic. Not a thought of Seokjin and Mina ran through her head as she steered Mina to the couch and brought her a glass of water. It wasn’t important. What was important was Mina. Chaeyoung sat down beside Mina, rubbing her back as Mina drank the water slowly. Finally, as Mina finished, setting the glass down on the table in front of them, Chaeyoung rested her hand on Mina’s shoulder. “What happened?”

“I’m sorry for not listening to your warnings,” Mina whispered, so quietly that Chaeyoung was straining to hear her. “I’m such a fool. So, so stupid. So stupid...” She started to rock back and forth, a habit Chaeyoung remembered from their childhood – whenever Mina was overly stressed about something, she’d rock back and forth, sucking her thumb. She was no different now, other than the thumb sucking.

“Tell me what happened,” Chaeyoung said gently, squeezing Mina’s shoulder for a brief moment. Mina inhaled a shaky breath, then met Chaeyoung’s eyes. “I should’ve told you about this before, but I was worried you wouldn’t believe me. That, and I believed I could handle it. It wasn’t as bad as it was today...” She took another shaky breath, and continued, pausing every few sentences. “I didn’t listen to you before. I disregarded all your warnings about Seokjin, and I was wrong to. I shouldn’t have gotten sucked into his charm, and his lies. Why didn’t I listen to you, I’ll never know. You’re my everything, Chaeyoung...I didn’t realize I’d lose you by doing this. And I was wrong, not to consider it.”