Maybe This Time | Saida

Chapter 10: Double Down

There's no way.

There's just no absolute way that Mina also happened to pop back at the most unexpected time.

Dahyun blinked rapidly to make sure that she wasn't just seeing things from her exhaustion. Her gaze shifted to Jihyo whose eyes were as big as an owl's, then back to an equally shocked Mina.

As soon as her brain got over the initial shock, she instantly took notice of the thick tension that coated the living room. She cleared her throat, which seemed to shake Mina off her own daze as she started helping a drowsy Jihyo to the opposite end of the L-shaped couch.

"H-Hey... Um, what are you doing here? I mean, how have you been?" Dahyun immediately cringed at how her words came out. She just hoped that her face showed the friendly smile that she attempted to muster and not the wince that her brain internally made.

"I've been fine. I'm just picking Jihyo up. What about you?" Mina replied, straightening her back and returning a tight-lipped smile to her.

"I'm fetching Chaeyoung and Tzuyu too." Dahyun replied quickly.

Mina chuckled quietly, causing Dahyun to tilt her head to the side. "How have you been, Dahyun-ah?"

"Oh," Dahyun awkwardly scratched the back of her neck. She really should've searched up 'how to act around your ex after not seeing them in so long' beforehand because her stupid body forgot how to function properly. "I'm doing alright as well."

"That's good to hear."

Then there's silence again while both women remained grounded on their places. Dahyun curiously scanned the woman in front of her; Mina's hair was now the same color as hers and noticeably longer than the last time she saw her. She's wearing a tight gray cropped shirt that emphasized her slimmer yet toner figure. Dahyun didn't miss the way Mina's abs contracted with every deep breath she took but she quickly tore her eyes away just in time to see Mina's eyes do the same.

Meanwhile, Sana quietly observed the scene in front of her and didn't miss how both of their eyes seemed to drink in the sight of each other with curiosity and a tad bit of something else... longingness? She's sure Mina's showed those but she couldn't exactly tell with Dahyun's because her face was slightly angled away from her place on the couch.

However, Sana noted how Dahyun's reaction on seeing Mina was very different from everyone else's. While Sana and the others jumped in joy, Dahyun was unmoving. Mina too, because while she was all smiles and giggles earlier especially when she met Sana again after so long, her smile didn't quite reach her eyes now.

The hollow feeling at the bottom of Sana's stomach only heightened as the silence dragged on. The undeniable tension was getting sharper and sharper every passing second and despite not knowing the mysterious reason behind it, Sana didn't like it. Not one bit.

Getting impatient and uncomfortable, Sana decided to break their weird bubble with a firm tone. "Dahyun, take a seat. You drove a long way here."

When Dahyun finally faced her again, Sana could see a little frown painted on her face which then softened when their eyes met. That and the small curling of her lips were enough to replace Sana's uneasiness with a dainty flutter.

"Unnie, where's the bathroom? And where can I get water for Jihyo?" Sana darted her eyes back to Mina who was still shyly standing in front of Jihyo.

"Bathroom's right next to Momo's room and there's a stack of water right next to the refrigerator," Sana pointed. "And I already told you to stop calling me unnie, Mina. We're the same age in Japan."

Mina only giggled bashfully at Sana and spared Dahyun one last glance before walking away.

Dahyun took a better look at Momo's living room. It wasn't that big, maybe just a tad bigger than her own apartment. A small coffee table was pushed up against the wall by the television with bottles of soju and empty paper plates with some leftover pizza crusts decorating it. There were also playing cards and crumbs of chips messily scattered on the floor.