Cozy Living [Mina x Sana]

Chapter 3: Cozy Patience

One of the simple joys in Sana's life was knowing that Mina would be waiting for her after a long day of school and work. On particularly tiring days, greeting Mina at home was like falling into the comforts of a freshly made bed, warm and calm and inviting.

Tonight was one of those tiring days where Sana was in desperate need of Mina's soothing presence. It was nearly midnight as Sana dragged herself up the last flight of stairs toward their apartment. Sana was tired enough to collapse right there in the hallway for a well-needed bout of sleep, but she held herself together for just a few more moments because she knew Mina was waiting up for her just on the other side of their apartment door.

Sana composed her expression before going inside, not wanting Mina to see the full extent of tonight's stress on her face. She then entered with a bright, "I'm home!", but she stopped mid-sentence when she noticed Mina fast asleep on the sofa.

The TV was on, a steaming mug of coffee sat on the coffee table, and a heavy textbook rested on Mina's chest. Sana smiled at the scene, a gentle warmth building in her heart because she knew that Mina had tried her best to wait up for Sana. The affectionate smile on Sana's face continued to grow as she made her way over to Mina and covered her with a blanket, textbook and all.

Mina looked adorable curled up on their tiny sofa, but Sana wished Mina's expression looked more peaceful as she slept. The younger girl's brow was furrowed in a slight grimace and Sana kissed her forehead gently, once and then twice, feeling a little better when Mina's expression relaxed a bit.

Peaceful sleep was rare for Mina over the past month. It was almost the end of the first semester of senior year, and Mina had fallen behind in her classes despite studying non-stop since the start of the year. Sana remembered coming home one night after class a few weeks ago and finding Mina lying under the covers in bed, a classic sign of Mina feeling overwhelmed with stress. Sana had witnessed this under-the-covers phenomenon since before they were teenagers, wherein Mina literally tried to hide herself from the world when the world became too stressful to bear.

As Sana approached their bed, she could hear Mina crying under the blanket and her heart ached with sympathy, but she knew there was no point in asking Mina what was bothering her right now.

Patience was the key.

So as patiently as the first time Sana waited to kiss Mina on the playground as kids, as patiently as waiting until they were teenagers to kiss more deeply and waiting until they were adults to sleep together for the first time, Sana quietly climbed into her side of their bed, wrapped an arm gently around Mina's waist, and murmured a reassuring, "It's OK Mittang, I'm here for you."

It took about ten minutes for Mina's crying to turn into light sniffles and hiccuppy silence as Sana held her gently. It was only at that point that Sana started trying to coax Mina out of her hiding place, delaying Mina's explanation for just a while longer until Mina was ready to talk about what was wrong.

"Do you want something to drink, Mittang? How about a cup of chamomile tea or some hot chocolate?"

There was a mumble from under the blanket that Sana couldn't quite understand. The older girl strained her ears to catch Mina's words. "What did you say?"

Mina mumbled another response, something that sounded vaguely like "marshmallow".

"Hot chocolate with marshmallows?" Sana guessed. She pushed herself off the bed. "Coming right up!"

As she turned to leave for the kitchen, Sana felt a gentle tug on the hem of her shirt. She turned back to find that Mina had emerged from under the blanket, her eyes red and puffy and stained with tears, yet somehow more beautiful than ever. Mina looked up at Sana with eyes full of sadness and repeated her answer more clearly. "...marshmallow kiss."