What the heart wants

Chapter 42

Mina watches from the window of her room as the rain falls down constantly like an endless bucket of water being poured down from the heavens. The sound of thunder rolls through the area as another lightning bolt splits the sky.

The sound might be terrifying to some, but it's soothing to her ears as it drowns our every other noise in her head.  She folds an arm across a chest that rises and falls more abruptly than it should.

"You don't even like rainy weather, so why do you always stare at the rain?"

Mina halts in the living room when she hears Sana's voice near the balcony.

"It reminds me of someone." Nayeon's troubled voice answers quietly.

A lump forms in her throat and tears that she has managed to control threaten to release.

She remembers her first day at Sixteen. She remembers the aroma of coffee in the building, she remembers Chaeyoung's cheerful face as she bumped into her and almost knocked her off. She remembers how the rain was swooshing down around them. She painfully remembers a lot of other things from that day she'd rather forget.

She quietly shuts the door to her room as the rain begins to fall even harder like the angels are crying.

The merciless rains falls without break all through the night and the roads bear a striking resemblance to shallow rivers by the early morning hours.

"Manager called. Said our outdoor shoot is cancelled and we can just chill today." Jihyo announces making the girls let out a squeal of delight.

It's not often they get a day off and it's even more rare that all of them are together on such occasions.

"I'm going back to sleep." Nayeon pulls her white Donald Duck hoodie over her head and yawns loudly.

"No." Momo jumps on her and tackles her to the floor. "We're spending the day together."

"Okay?!!"

"We can bake cookies."

"It's five in the morning."

"And cakes."

"Fine."

"When?"

"Once you get off on top of me."

Momo gets up reluctantly not before planting a loud wet kiss on her face. Nayeon laughs because the younger girl reminds her of an excited little puppy.

The rain continues to pour. It's dark and gloomy outside. But inside the dorm, there's a joyful and cheerful spirit that lingers and heals.

When it's the nine of them together, things are always lighter. And whatever baggage they carry on their own disappear at least for the moment.

Jeongyeon winks at Nayeon conspiratorially when Sana walks out of the kitchen with a tray of hot and piping chocolate chip cookies.

Nayeon throws a fake spider at her, making her drop the tray to the floor and run around the apartment screaming for help.

The pair of them double over in laughter until Jihyo steps in front of them with hands on her hips.

"She did it." They point at each other.

Chaeyoung muffles a laughter when she walks into the kitchen and sees Jeongyeon cleaning every inch of the surface with a pout on her face. A huge ass fake spider sits and stares from her head because Jihyo decided that's a fitting punishment for the prank they pulled.

Nayeon is on the kitchen stool, her head hanging low and feet tapping the floor incessantly.

You're not allowed to move from this spot for an hour Jihyo has warned her and Chaeyoung thinks that's the biggest punishment for someone who can't stay still for more than a second.

"Are you done?" Chaeyoung hugs Mina from the back who's preparing the fresh batch of cookies.

"Almost." Mina turns to her side and smiles at her.

Jeongyeon's pout disappears and her lips curve into the smallest of smiles when Chaeyoung takes the kitchen cloth from her hand and shoves a plate of cookies and a glass of milk in her hand. "I'll clean for a bit, have them while it's hot."

When Jeongyeon is done with the cookies and cleaning all of them settle down on the couch in the living room to watch The Spiderwick Chronicles.

Except Nayeon who still has twenty minutes to endure. A plate of cookies that Dahyun has dropped on the table lays untouched by her side.

"It's her favorite film." Dahyun tries weakly but is silenced by Jihyo's warning glare.

"She's not even eating her cookies. She must be hungry." Momo sniffs into Tzuyu's shoulder whose eyes roll skywards but holds her dramatic ass comfortingly nonetheless.

The rain falls harder making a loud drumming noise against the windows, it almost drowns out the sound of the film.

"It was raining non stop like this when I first met her." Jeongyeon recalls fondly as she gazes at the window.

Mina glances at the battering rainfall. Although the weather looks melancholic, she thinks there's something innately romantic about rain. It connects people and brings them together in a way nothing else could.

"Who?" Sana prods curiously.

Jeongyeon points a finger at Nayeon who has her face rested on her hand and drawing imaginary patterns on the wooden island.

"Make her eat her cookies, please?" Jihyo asks Mina with her pleading eyes.

It's almost eleven in the morning and she knows the girl can't bear hunger. And Mina is the only one nobody in the band would say no to.

Five minutes later Nayeon is taking a sip of her warm hot chocolate and shoving her face with cookies and when Jeongyeon catches her glance she points to Momo with her twinkling eyes and pats her pocket.

Jeongyeon hides a laughter behind her hand masking it as a cough when she sees the tail of a toy snake hanging from Nayeon's shorts.