Passion Meets Fear | JiMina

E I G H T

"Hey, unnie." Mina turned around and saw Sonji standing beside her. She was wearing a sleek, cool sportswear. Her short, black hair was knotted into a messy half-bun. 

Mina stood up, facing the younger girl who was nearly as tall she was despite the age gap of seven years. "Hello there, yes?" One of Mina's nature was being polite, and everyone could hear it. She was soft-spoken, her voice had always been soft and gentle, and it soothed everyone who was able to talk to her. Hence, in spite of her introversion and quietness, she could still be someone whom a person could talk to without making them uncomfortable. Not to mention, she had a really kind face and it added to the comforting atmosphere around her, making it easy for people to approach her. Smiling, she asked, "How may I help this wonderful girl who's growing rather taller than I am?"

Sonji giggled in a shy manner, not too used to be given compliments about her height. "I'm not that tall, unnie," she said, waving her hands at the same time as if to say no.

"I am seeing the opposite," Mina contradicted playfully. Anyone who was seeing the scene could definitely tell that Mina was good with kids, even her simplest gestures exuded too much kindness and humility. She seemed like she really was destined to be an educator, someone who could balance the strictness of a teacher who wanted to discipline her students, and the benignity and tenderness of an older sister.

The younger girl burst into fits of giggles once more, before relaxing to finally say what she had to say. "Anyway unnie, I just want to compliment you for being a really elegant dancer. You've been here for only less than a week, but you're really good." The sincerity in Sonji's voice was clumped up, sounding like she'd been holding it for a long time. 

Mina was taken aback. She didn't know she was that good, and she never would've expected a compliment from a girl who was probably twice as good as she was. Sonji was a good dancer, since she'd been taking classes ever since she was so young. With feminine moves yet still holding the points of power in them, she could effortlessly slay any choreography.

"O-oh wow, thank you. I'm not as good as you, though." Without Mina's notice, she actually kind of sounded pathetic. There was an obvious lack of confidence in her tone. Luckily Sonji, being quite oblivious like almost any other kid out there—well, stereotypes—didn't notice the underlying uncertainty in Mina. 

"Unnie no," Sonji said, shaking her head in disagreement. "You're nineteen, so that means you have more experience."

Deciding to not further oppose, Mina then changed the topic. "Hey have you packed your things already? Your mom might be here at any minute."

Sonji pouted, then said, "To fetch me? That's the. . . problem here, I guess." The girl's cuteness melted Mina's soft heart, directly touching her sentiments.

"Why?"

"Mom hasn't replied to my texts yet, I don't know why." Her voice was coated with concern that it came out sounding like something unfortunate happened. It could be possible because, as everyone might know, the world was full of unknowns, but Mina didn't want to jump right into that conclusion and join the kid's negativity. She rather wanted to put her into ease.

"What's your mom's occupation?" Mina asked.

"She works in an office," Sonji answered. "She's. . . uh, what's it called, journalist?"

Mina initially hummed in response, not really knowing what to say next. Journalists could be put into high-risk or danger. Their job might be stereotyped as a whole day shift in the office and just writing articles, but they had so much more than that. They had to explore, uncover, and really dig deeper about the news they had to write. And that, that'd be perilous. However, Mina had a feeling that Sonji's mom was merely late or had an appointment, nothing else. At least she hoped so.