Dancing in the dark

Chapter 27

Nayeon woke up to find Ari's legs over her middle while her face was laid on Mina's stomach.

She gently pushed the child's leg away and carefully placed it in the space between her and Mina.

They had to get going soon but Mina looked so peaceful sleeping that she didn't have the heart to wake her. She found herself watching her instead.

"Stop staring at my sister like a coward." Ari exclaimed, rubbing her sleepy eyes. "Just kiss her or something." She finished, completely enjoying the color draining from Nayeon's face.

Nayeon rubbed an arm behind her neck tiredly as she drove to the next destination.

"Why don't we stop for a while?" Mina inquired, her voice tinted with concern. "You've been driving for a long time now."

"Just another hour Minayah, don't worry. I'll be fine." She gave her a reassuring smile.

Nayeon stopped in the PawTuckAway State Park, in front of a secluded cabin in the woods that was right next to the lake.

"Can we go swimming?" Ari asked, with a mysterious smile on her face.

"Sure kid." Nayeon agreed innocently, putting their bags away in the cabin.

She regretted her decision when Mina came back to the shore after a swim, the water clinging and dripping down her delicious body covered in a bikini.

Ari grinned and told herself that she was too wise for her age.

"Can we-?" When Ari began after lunch, Nayeon cut her off immediately.

"No."

Nayeon pulled down the mountain bikes from the camper and adjusted the helmet straps on Ari's head. "Stay close kid. I can be really fast, ask me to slow down if I get really ahead okay."

"Right." Ari remarked.

Mina bit back a laughter for Nayeon's benefit when she turned out to be the last one trailing, panting for breath and yelling for them to slow down.

"I hate Myoui women." She told them when she finally reached their side.

"No, you don't." They answered together confidently.

They made their way back to the cabin and Mina started working on the dinner, Nayeon helped her cut the vegetables and meat while Ari helped with the dishes.

They had their dinner by the lake, and decided to call it a night when Ari loudly yawned behind her hands.

Nayeon frowned when she took a proper look around the cabin.

They had a problem. She'd asked her assistant to book a cabin with two rooms. There was only one room with a double bed here.

"Oh well, I'll take the couch." She shrugged offhandedly.

Ari began to quickly formulate a plan in her head, "Nayeon-tan, my friend told me an interesting story about this girl sleeping on the couch in a cabin in the woods."

Nayeon's interest piqued and she turned to look at the kid with a curious smile on her lips, "What happened in the story?"

Ari shrugged, "Sometime during the night, the lights went off. A window opened and a bloody hand came through it to the living room to reach the girl on the couch and-"

"Minayah," Nayeon yelled, the smile on her lips completely wiped off, "Can I share the bed with you both?"

Mina replied absently as she dragged her bags into the room, "Sure, Nayeon-chan."

Nayeon was sure she was sleeping next to Ari and Mina was on other side of the kid, but somehow she woke up with Mina in her arms and Ari was sleeping on the edge of the bed.

Ari must have rolled over in her sleep, she assumed.

She tucked a strand of blonde hair behind Mina's ears as the girl who was using Nayeon's arm as a pillow sighed softly in her sleep.

Nayeon's fingers itched to trace and count the moles dotting her beautiful face, but she resisted the urge afraid she'd wake her up.

Ari who was pretending to be asleep rolled her eyes. She was sure Nayeon-tan was going to spend the rest of her life staring longingly at Mina like a loser.

Operation Minayeon, stage 2 failed

Ari texted Jihyo when she finally found signal when they went hiking to the top of a mountain later in the morning.

She got a reply immediately.

Time to initiate stage 3.

They spent another night at the cabin but Ari said she wanted to sleep on the couch because she was not a child anymore and didn't want to share her bed with anyone.

She hoped that maybe if they were left alone, Nayeon would finally realize her true feelings and come to her senses.

"Are you mocking me for getting scared yesterday?" Nayeon huffed.

Ari who had defended Nayeon every time her bandmates called her an idiot finally agreed with them because Nayeon was sleeping in the RV alone to prove she wasn't a coward.