[finally im done >:((]

[i'll make it up with this kinda long os! we love michaeng, don't we?]

[comforting a penguin]

Knock, knock.

Chaeyoung paused and took out one earbud, head cocked to the side. Was that the door, or just her imagination?

Knock... knock.

More timid this time, the knocking. She slid off the bed and walked over to the door, wincing at the stiffness in her knees. She guessed that was what she'd get after lying in bed all day and barely moving at all.

The knock didn't sound again, which was kind of a surprise, because she had gotten used to late night visits from a certain tofu, who would probably pound her door down if Chaeyoung ignored her.

If this was Dahyun knocking on her door now, losing her mind over a movie Jeongyeon had given her that Chaeyoung forewarned her about for the third time this week, she swore she was actually going to throw the older out the window.

Seriously, whenever Yoo Jeongyeon gave them a movie she recommended they'd watch, this cute little adorable dork of a tofu would still cluelessly watch it-- only to find, as expected, that Jeongyeon tricked her into watching something horrific and unholy once again. Then she'd come running to the cub and complain.

She pulled the door open, her throat ready to quietly scream profanities in the said girl's face.

"Mina unnie?"

Of all the people that Son Chaeyoung expected to have knocking on her door at-- she glanced at her phone-- 3:16 in the effin' morning, Myoui Mina probably would be near the bottom of the list. And yet...

"Chaeyoung-ah! I-I'm sorry if I woke you up," Mina stammered, fidgeting with the cuff of her silky nightgown, "honestly, I probably should just go, I really am sorry for disturbin-"

"I was awake anyway," Chaeyoung said a little too quickly and stood aside, "and you're here. Please, come in."

Mina hesitated for a second, then stepped forward. Chaeyoung wasn't sure exactly how she managed to be hesitant and graceful at the same time, let alone at quarter past three, but somehow she pulled it off, and she was then abruptly reminded of how gay she was when Mina passed close enough to her that she caught a whiff of a floral scent from her hair.

Pushing that thought away, she closed the door and turned around to see Mina still seemingly hesitant and unsure, biting her lip and standing in the middle of the floor.

"Uh, yeah, sorry, there's not a whole lot of room in here," Chaeyoung said, because it's true, her room is literally littered with canvases , some empty and some done and only left on the carpetted floor of her bedroom, also as were her paint brushes, paint buckets, crumpled paper and speakers and whatnot. "You can sit on the bed if you want, I don't mind."

"Right..." Mina said, fidgeting with her sleeve again before taking a deep breath and sat on the edge of the younger girl's bed, far too politely despite the years they have been in TWICE. 

Chaeyoung stared her for a long moment. If she had to guess, she'd say something was bothering the penguin and she was hiding it behind her proper mannerisms.

Well, Chaeyoung was more than a little touched that Mina came to her. Her, Son Chaeyoung for. . . comfort?

The silence between them was slowly starting to get uncomfortable for their liking, and so Chaeyoung turned to the record player on her desk and turned on some music. Something calm, something mellow.

Like Melting. 

She then stepped over to sit on the bed too, scooting back until she could lean on the pillow she propped up on against the wall.

"So," she began, after another moment, when Mina still didn't say anything, "what's up?"

Mina tucked her silky hair behind her ears, glancing over at Chaeyoung with uncertainty. "I..." She swallowed, looked away, then scooted a bit backwards to curl up, with her knees tucked to her chest. "I'm sorry for disturbing you."

"It's no biggie," Chaeyoung replied as silence fell between them once again. With the soft and slow instruments playing in the background, everything didn't feel as awkward like it had been minutes ago. She hummed for a moment and eyes looked over at the silent and usually calm Myoui Mina.

"Hey, Mina unnie" she started, but the other girl shook her head.

"Why so formal all of a sudden?" Mina asked, then hesitated, "I mean- if you want, you can call me by the nickname you always call me by, but only if-"

"Sure, but you get to call me by mine as well, then," Chaeyoung said simply, "..Minari."

Mina's hair was down, spilling over her shoulders and down her back. It was silky-looking, and Chaeyoung wondered if it was as soft as it looked before she told herself to stop being such a useless lesbian and help her poor unnie out with what's bothering her. 

 Mina looked... almost vulnerable. 

With her hair unbound and her mint green nightgown and her straight, tense posture that was so different from the incredibly graceful, brilliant girl that Chaeyoung performed their songs with and the calm demeanor she radiated despite the few uncomfortable interviews a few weeks ago.

"Chaengie," Mina said softly. She shifted on the bed, turning to face the slightly dazed Chaeyoung, then smiled slightly.

Aight. 

If Myoui Mina didn't want a rampaging gay at three in the morning, they'd have to move on, otherwise Chaeyoung wouldn't know how to force back the urge to pounce on this girl before her.

"What's wrong?" Chaeyoung asked, shifting a little in her place. 

Mina's eyes widened, "I- who said anything's wrong- oh, gosh, Sharon, I really am that transparent!-"

"Minari," Chaeyoung interjected before she could start apologizing again, "no offense but yeah you kind of are that transparent, and please don't take this the wrong way but I'm starting to get worried. Like, you're not the type I'd usually expect to be up this late... I thought you were gonna be Dahyun unnie again, actually."

"Again?" Mina blinked.

Chaeyoung groaned, "Last night at like two thirty, she started banging on my door because she rewatched Charlie the Unicorn and she couldn't believe she forgot how funny it was and she wanted to share it with me. At two thirty."

Mina laughed. Like, she actually laughed, sounding like she surprised even herself when it bubbles out of her throat up into the air, just like the music floating out of the speakers, and holy shit Son Chaeyoung, you need to calm down with the metaphors.

Ohhh boy. 

She knew she was in too deep with this crush thing once she started to think about Myoui Mina like music...

Chaeyoung cleared her throat. "So," she said, "anyways, what's wrong?"

Mina hesitated for a long, long moment. Chaeyoung could see the gears turning behind her eyes.

Her big, beautiful, expressive, mesmerizing, eyes.

Oh dear god stop this immediately. 

Part of her wanted to fill the silence, to ramble on about something that could keep the air from getting too suffocating, but she stopped herself. She had to let Mina speak up in her own time.

"I... gosh, this is going to sound so stupid, but I had. . . a bad dream," Mina muttered, blushing and looking away, "about the 7 years curse in the KPOP Industry."

The words dropped like a stone. Despite Melting playing, everything felt too quiet. 

Chaeyoung felt her breath suddenly clog up in her throat, heard her own heartbeat quicken, and told herself to calm down.

"That's not stupid," she said softly, and against her better judgment, she reached over and gently pried loose one of Mina's hands from her knees. Since Mina hadn't pulled away, she intertwined their fingers and rubbed the back of the older's hand, "I have bad dreams about that, too, sometimes."

Mina's fingers latched onto hers, so tight that Chaeyoung looked up, surprised. "I- we weren't good enough for ONCE, in my dream," she said, her words quiet and halting, "Last concert. O-One in a Million. And our last title song. We had to leave and part ways. A-and Chaengie, y-you let my hand go. Then, I felt like life had lost its meaning. Like I've lost meaning. I just sat there still, waiting for someone to appear before me."

Her voice broke as Chaeyoung sucked in a breath.

"Mina," she gently called out, reaching out and taking her friend's other hand. "Mina, it's okay. ONCE would never think we're not good enough. We're still here, we're always going to be. I'm here."

"I know you are," Mina said. She sounded so close to tears that caused panic to spike up in her stomach, "which is why it's so stupid that I'm still freaking out like this. I'm pathetic-"

Chaeyoung gave up on all hope of holding back because fuck it, it's three in the morning and Myoui Mina came to her room looking for comfort and that was what she was going damn well get. 

Finally, she let go of Mina's hands to pull her into a tight hug.

Mina let out a little gasp. Her head pressing against Chaeyoung's neck, she wrapped her arms around her and held her just as tight. She laid there, curled up on Chaeyoung's side, the warmth of her body radiating through her nightgown against the younger's bare legs.

"It's not stupid. Stop telling yourself that. It's okay," Chaeyoung whispered softly, not daring to move in case the moment broke and Mina pulled away, "it's okay. We're okay. ONCEs love you, Minari."

And I love you.

"We're okay," Mina repeated softly, "I'm sorry," She said once more. It was absurd, because there was no need to apologize for this. 

Chaeyoung wanted to make everything alright, even just for the night, for Mina. "You didn't do anything wrong," She said instead. She knew better than to say these things in a moment like this. Feeling an odd sense of daring, she moved one hand up to lightly pat Mina's head, slowly trailing her hand down on her hair, which was actually softer than it looked, if that was possible.

Despite the warmth overwhelming her whole being, Mina said, "It's so late, and I'm bothering you-"  

But she fell silent when Chaeyoung shook her head, "Two nights ago, Dahyun unnie was literally in tears because of The Half Of It," She said dryly, "I, uh, much prefer your company."

Mina took a peep from her shoulder, "...The Half Of it?" She echoed, sounding confused.

"You've never heard of the movie The Half Of It?" 

Mina just shook her head as a firm no.

"Oh my god," Chaeyoung said, already reaching for her phone on her other pillow. It kind was kind of far away, which made this kind of difficult, and for a split second she thought Mina was about to pull away so without really thinking about it, she tightened her other arm around Mina's back. Her fingers connected with the phone and grabed hold of it, "We're totally gonna watch this now."

She passed one of her ear buds over to Mina, who settled her head back into the crook of Chaeyoung's neck with a content little sigh. 

Oh god, Chaeyoung said in her mind, glad that at least from there Mina couldn't possibly see her blushing. Oh god, I'm so fucked.

"So, uh, this movie- er, it needs to be watched with.. an open mind?" She instead said to get her mind off things like how soft Mina's hair was under her cheek, or how Mina just shifted so one of her legs were slightly on top of Chaeyoung's, or how easy it would be to hook her ankle around Mina's from here, or... "But it's, um... it's also kind of really funny in some parts, so it might cheer you up."

Mina hummed as a reply, scooting her back ever so slightly against Chaeyoung's front.

God, even that sounded so melodic. Chaeyoung held up her phone, and Mina shifted to see better, scooting up a little. She was so warm and Chaeyoung was sure her blushing was visible by this point but then again, Mina hadn't looked up at her in a few seconds, so maybe she hadn't noticed?

Mina hesitated for a second, seeming uncertain as to what to do with her arm. She decided to lay it across Chaeyoung's waist. The latter completely froze.

"..Is this okay?" Mina asked quietly, uncertain. She started to pull away, but then Chaeyoung hurriedly answered with a frantic shake of her head. 

You dickhole, she's upset because she just had a nightmare, stop being so gay and comfort her-

"No, no, it's fine!" Chaeyoung exclaimed, "Here, I'll, uh, I'll just hit play now?"

Halfway into the movie, Mina blinked once, twice, three times, her eyelashes brushing the other girl's neck. Meanwhile, Chaeyoung was simply enjoying the movie.

And their close proximity, of course.

Silence started to stretch out again, until Mina finally spoke up, "...I can't really see how this would appeal to Dahyun, excluding the exchange of letters between Paul-sunbaenim and Aster-sunbaenim. Dahyun loves anything poetic, perhaps." 

Chaeyoung let out a bark of laughter, "Yesterday," she began, setting her phone down and suddenly realizing her arm was still wrapped around Mina's back, "she just threw open my door at like, one in the morning, and yelled Paul Munsky-sunbaenim likes Ellie Chu-sunbaenim, therefore, heterosexuality!! She actually thought they'd end up togethee."

"Oh my. Well, they do share a close bond," Mina said with another little laugh in her voice that didn't quite make it out through her lips. 

Chaeyoung grinned, "I told her to watch till the end, and I'll ravish all her chocolate bars if she doesn't get out. Then Jihyo unnie yelled at her for being loud and waking her up. It was pretty funny, honestly." 

Mina sighed softly, shifting against Chaeyoung's side, "You're both pretty close, huh?"

Chaeyoung blinked. Her and Kim Dahyun? "I guess, kinda, yeah. But I..." I would love to be even closer with you because I think you're really amazing. "I mean, she's pretty funny sometimes. Don't tell her I said that."

A little chuckle, "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me," Mina said, a bit of wryness in her voice. And... maybe a bit of something else?

They sit though a short silence, which Chaeyoung really hoped wouldn't turn awkward because they were still all cuddled up together. To keep things from getting too still, she gave in to the urge to hook her ankle around Mina's. 

And so, their legs got slightly tangled together, and Mina actually shifted closer to her.

Yeah, okay, she could count that as a success. Score one for Chaeyoung's gay ass.

"We could watch another movie," She suggested out of the blue, wracking her brain for anything to do that wouldn't sound like she was suggesting things to tire her out and make her leave, because that was the last thing she wanted, "have you ever seen Pacific Rim?"

"No," Mina shook her head. "What's it about?"

"Giant robots beating up giant aliens to save the world," Chaeyoung answered promptly, then reconsidered, because wow, saying that out loud, she realized just how much it sounded like a weird anime plot, "Uhm, on second thought, that might not really be your style, though..."

Mina giggled softly, "I'm willing to give it a shot," She smiled, "I grew up in Texas, but I haven't got a chance to watch many Western movies, so..."

Chaeyoung smiled back at her, "Well, we can watch it in English, too. It can count as review for our English classes too, right?"

"Of course, I'm sure she'd love to know we're learning more from movies than her daily lessons," Mina sarcastically joked, then giggled. 

Chaeyoung snorted, "Silly penguin. Wait here, I'll get my laptop."

Damn, that was the problem with her solution to "what do we do now". She had to get up and that meant an end to... to this. 

Which sucks, because this is really nice.

Oh well. At least she can say she watched a movie with the one and only Myoui Mina at three in the morning. Nobody in TWICE had claimed to that, so... yeah.

Mina rolled onto her back, pulling away before Chaeyoung reluctantly pushed herself off the bed and walked her way around the mess of art supplies and music sheets piled around her room to her desk, where her computer stood.

"We can put it on the inside edge," Mina suggested, "I would hate if we accidentally knocked your computer off the bed..."

Chaeyoung eyed her wryly, "A little smaller than what you're used to, huh?" She teasesd. 

Mina blushed. Sure, she had a few more than the other members excluding their paycheck, but she wasn't one to brag about being more wealthier than them. Goodness, no! "I didn't mean it like that, i swear!" 

Chaeyoung laughed at a panicking Mina. Now this was beyond adorable. "Calm down, I was just joking! You're right, anyway, it's better to keep it away from the edge." 

She put the laptop in front of the pillow where she had been sitting, turned on her bedside lamp, and then crossed the room again to turn off the main light. Perhaps she should have turned it off on the first movie. But it was all too sudden, and she really wanted Mina to watch that movie with her, as well. It really does improve the aesthetic, the lights. And Son Chaeyoung was all in on that aeshetic glimmer.

"Hey, Chaengie?" Mina called out, sheepishly, "sorry, but do you mind if I, um, steal a bit of your blanket? I'm a little cold."

"Go for it."

Once Chaeyoung said that, Mina immediately got up, pulled back the comforter, and tucked herself under it all cozily. Chaeyoung hesitated for a moment before she slipped in behind her. 

Now, instead of sitting on top of the bed, they were lying in it, and once again her legs brushed Mina's, causing her cheeks to feel warm yet again. The realization that she had to reach over Mina to press the play button didn't exactly help with her condition.

"Ah, sorry, am I blocking your view of the screen?" Mina asked, turning to look over her shoulder. 

Chaeyoung shook her head quickly. "D-Don't worry about it. I've seen it a bunch of times already anyway. Er, you all settled and everything?" Mina hummed a reply, which meant it was time. Chaeyoung reached over as not-awkwardly as she could to quickly hit the button. 

To her surprise, though, Mina didn't shy away from her touch at all. In fact, she looked over her shoulder again. Dear Jihyo help me.

"You know, you don't have to stay so close to the edge of the bed," Mina said,