if only back then (oneshot) - michaeng

if only back then

The other girl just gave Chaeyoung a shrug that meant "It's whatever." But, the shrug was just a facade. Deep down, Mina was too content that she got to held Chaeyoung's hand, even if it's just a brief period. Mina grabbed the book once again quickly covered her face with the novel she was holding, to hide her flushed face and big smile from Chaeyoung.

-

One time, Mina was entrusted to carry stacks of books by the teacher and place it on the teacher's desk. Unfortunately, when she had almost reached the teacher's desk, her arms gave out to soreness and one by one they fell on the ground. Chaeyoung immediately aided Mina and picked up the books from the ground. After helping Mina take up all the books, Chaeyoung placed a hand on Mina's sore shoulder and flashed her a solicitous smile.

"Be careful next time, Minari." Chaeyoung had called Mina by her nickname. Then, Chaeyoung just walked out right after she finished her sentence. Once again, Mina looked at Chaeyoung walking away while her heart was palpitated from Chaeyoung's kindness, smile, and especially how Chaeyoung used her nickname.

-

Chaeyoung was chiefly exceptional in all types of sports. This time she was playing ping-pong, her favorite. So she gives it her all to win when she had the chance. On this particular day though, Chaeyoung played with excessive exertion, which somehow resulted in her inflicting pain upon her right hand. After she finished the ping-pong match, Chaeyoung promptly went to Mina with a pained expression on her face.

"Are you alright?" Mina inquired.

"Yeah." Chaeyoung nodded. Even though that was Chaeyoung's answer, Mina got up and sprinted to the nurse's office to obtain a bandage for Chaeyoung. When she was back, Mina took Chaeyoung's hand and pat the bandage gently onto the damaged area. Mina took this opportunity to peek up at Chaeyoung's face as well. Mina was tense yet exhilarated that their hands were making contact again, and their faces were so close in proximity.

After that they laid down on the ping-pong table together. Chaeyoung peacefully closed her eyes to rest. She was exhausted from applying a great amount of effort towards the ping-pong match. Meanwhile, Mina was timorous from laying so close to Chaeyoung. Her heart was racing again, just by being next to her crush. It seems her eyes have a mind of its own and they unceasingly glance at the shorter girl each time. Mercifully, all of her stares at Chaeyoung seemed invariably inconspicuous every time. They rested on the ping-pong table until the end of the period that day.

-

Mina was strolling down the hallway before school starts, fixing her shirt in the process, when another student bumped into her. To Mina's surprise, it was Jihyo. Mina looked around and saw everyone in the hallway was rushing and turning towards the left at the corner of the hallway.

"Let's go see what's going on." Jihyo beamed excitedly and signaled Mina to follow her. Mina's curiosity grew and she approved of Jihyo's request. She smiled back and trailed behind Jihyo to see what the commotion was all about.

As they made the turn to the left, students were surrounding around a particular area. Intrigued in what had captured everybody's attention, Mina assumed it was a fight. She could make out 2 figures standing in the area where everyone was neighboring. She could barely specified who they were due to how crowded it was. Mina stood on her tippy toes to see witness a heart-breaking sight.

Chaeyoung was getting asked out by a male student.

The male student stood before Chaeyoung with a heart-shaped chocolate box, bashfully extending it out to Chaeyoung. To make matters worse for Mina, behind Chaeyoung was a friend, and her friend pushed Chaeyoung closer to the male. Chaeyoung shyly scratched her hair and smiled.