Sinful Passion

seven

Chaeyoung awoke to the feeling of someone gently shaking her.

"Chaeng, wake up..."

Chaeyoung slowly opened her eyes, hazy and confused from sleep.  She squinted from the sunlight that was streaming in through the window.  But the moment she saw Mina, kneeling by the bed and with her hand on Chaeyoung's shoulder, everything started making sense.  Memories from the previous night flooded back into Chaeyoung's mind.

Chaeyoung's eyes snapped open and she abruptly sat up.  She looked around. Everything was normal. Well, as normal as it could be.  She was in her pyjamas, in Mina's bed. Mina was fully dressed and had just woken Chaeyoung up.  Mina looked concerned that Chaeyoung seemed startled.

"What time is it?"  Chaeyoung asked.

"Don't worry, you're not late for school," Mina assured.  She must've taken the liberty of acting as Chaeyoung's alarm clock since Chaeyoung hadn't slept in her own room.

"Did... did Dad come home?"  Chaeyoung asked hesitantly.

Mina shook her head.  "He stayed out all night.  Ended up staying in a hotel room because his conference ended late."

"Oh," Chaeyoung replied.

A short silence.

"Go," Mina shooed Chaeyoung out of the bed jokingly.  "I made you breakfast already."

Chaeyoung followed Mina's instructions and started getting ready for school.  She thought it'd be weird seeing Mina in the morning after last night, but Mina was acting completely normal, as if nothing had happened at all between them.  In hindsight, the fact that Mina was acting normal was making it even stranger for Chaeyoung. She couldn't just forget everything and go back to the way things were.  She didn't want to. But was that what Mina wanted? Chaeyoung didn't want to jump to conclusions. It was too early in the morning anyway.

Mina was cleaning up in the kitchen just as Chaeyoung was about to leave for school.

"Mina," Chaeyoung called out to her.

Mina turned around.

"I'm not coming home for dinner today," Chaeyoung said.  "I'm going out to eat with Nayeon unnie."

Mina remembered.  She tried not to show anything on her face.  "Okay."

"I meant what I said yesterday, that I like you," Chaeyoung suddenly confessed.

Mina froze, stopping whatever she was doing.  She obviously wasn't expecting Chaeyoung to bring it up so soon.  "Chae-"

"Not just for your body, I mean... I like you as a person.  I have feelings for you," Chaeyoung continued. The awkwardness was crushing her like a ton of bricks but she knew she had to be direct with Mina, to prevent future regrets.

Mina let the silence hover between them, and still, Chaeyoung stood, staring earnestly into Mina's eyes.  Finally, Mina sighed.

"Go to school, Chaeng."

Chaeyoung went.  But for the whole day, she was unable to concentrate much in class.  It wasn't new, but she was particularly distracted today because of thoughts about Mina.

Chaeyoung was convinced her love for Mina was real, realer than anything she'd ever felt before.  Mina was beautiful, both inside and out. Yet as Chaeyoung was engaged in her thoughts throughout the day, she began to understand Mina's hesitation, she thought.  If Mina truly felt something for her like she said she did, whatever that was, Mina was still the responsible adult between the two of them. Chaeyoung could only imagine the stress of Mina's dilemma.