touch of nature ＊ JIYOO

10. "Memories of The Past"

"27 hickeys in total.. Wow." Yoohyeon said in amazement, proud of herself. Minji counted the hickeys she left on Yoohyeon, smiling to herself. "30 hickeys. I win~" Minji teased, sticking her tongue out to annoy the latter. Yoohyeon scoffed with a laughter, putting her arms around the older's waist and pulling her to the bathroom so they could wash up.. and wash the sheets.

Once they were done, Yoohyeon gave Minji some of her clothes to wear underneath the Icebreaker uniform and they were getting prepared to leave. Yoohyeon unlocked the door, fixing her boots while walking, almost stumbling a few times. Minji walked beside the younger, being cautious of other soldiers. She didn't want them to get caught leaving a dorm room together as it would obviously start rumors amongst the Icebreakers, especially when they had so many hickeys all over their bodies. Minji did not want that to happen at all cost.

They soon reached the exit of the settlement, wondering where they would go. Yoohyeon remembered the map in her mind, but Minji still had to use it to at least know the location they'd go to. Yoohyeon placed her head on the older's shoulder, staring at her focused side profile. Minji didn't know where they should go to, so she just randomly picked a location with her eyes closed. And she landed on a loot cache.. her old house.

Minji slightly widened her eyes, not expecting to see her home in the map. Yoohyeon hummed, confused by the woman's reaction.

"Is something wrong with the location?" Yoohyeon asked, noticing Minji acting unusually nervous. "It's not exactly wrong.. It's just that this house was where I used to live.." Minji uttered with an awkward chuckle, turning to face a rather surprised Yoohyeon.

"You were rich!?" Yoohyeon exclaimed, earning a shush from the older. "Gosh, do you want to attract infected or anything? And yes, I'm from a wealthy family." Minji answered, putting the map back in her pocket and she started walking towards her old house.

Yoohyeon walked behind the older, noticing her movement was slower than usual. The girl sensed something was wrong with Minji because of how quiet she was. Yoohyeon believed it must have been because of the location and wanted to make the woman feel slightly better, but didn't really know how.

"Umm, Minji.. Do you maybe.. want to go somewhere else since you seem a bit puzzled..? Like a different location maybe?" Yoohyeon asked after wrapping her arm around the woman's waist, making Minji hum in thought. "Not really. I haven't been to my house ever since the start of the virus, so I feel like going there." Minji answered with a slight smile, continuing walking ahead. Yoohyeon just stood still and sighed, pacing a little to walk beside the woman and wrap her arm around her waist again.

"How do you even fight in these suits? It's so uncomfortable." Yoohyeon said while trying to sloppily fix her belt on her pants, earning a giggle from the latter. The Icebreaker fixed the belt instead, tapping on it. "You'll get used to it soon, don't worry." Minji answered while patting the girl's butt, chuckling. After that, Minji tapped on Yoohyeon's shoulder to get her attention.

"How long are you planning to stay here by the way?" Minji asked and Yoohyeon just scratched her nose in thought, shrugging afterwards. "Probably once I'm done with my mission. After that, I'm basically going to be a pilgrim." Yoohyeon answered, noticing Minji slightly pouting.

"You'll stay in the city though, right?" The woman asked, feeling bitter when Yoohyeon shook her head. "I can't stay. I have to find a new city to live in." The girl said with a weak smile. "Sorry Minji, I know you want me to stay, but some people will definitely still look after me." She added, looking apologetically at Minji.

Minji couldn't help but sigh, knowing that Yoohyeon would be in danger if she stayed here. The woman wanted to protest, but she knew that whatever Yoohyeon was saying was true, and it saddened her a lot. The girl was Minji's only 'special' person and she didn't want to let her go. Minji didn't want to feel like she was alone again, neither did she want to make Yoohyeon feel alone.