For Just a Minute [MiChaeng]

Chapter 7: I See You (Finale pt. 2)

Sana stared at me incredulously. "Chaeyoung, you can't remember? Mina went in for a procedure that JYP-nim said might help her eyesight. She's in the hospital currently."

Suddenly, it hit me like a brick. That's right. I remember now. But what was that dream about? Was it some sort of premonition? If so, that was terrifying.

Sana leaned back. "It's a long operation, and a delicate one. Worst comes to worst, Mina will remain sightless, but if it is successful, she will regain her sight. It's amazing what technology can do these days," she added.

"Yeah," I agreed, sitting up. "She's a fighter, though. I know she will be fine."

Grinning, Sana pushed a finger into my cheek, effectively squishing it. Curse my baby fat. "Haha, I can see how attached you are to that girl. Dramatically yelling 'Mina!' in your sleep, saying nice things about her...it's like a television series!"

I swatted her intruding forefinger away, and blushed. "Shut up."

"Awwwwwww," cooed the crazy Japanese girl. "She's embarrassed. What a tsundere!"

"Don't go pushing your silly Japanese lables on me," I huffed. "I'm not a tsundere! I'm not anything! I'm Chaeyoung!"

Sana smiled, but her expression turned wistful. "You know, I've been here training for awhile now. Trainee work is hard. I don't get how Mina does it. She gets yelled at for making mistakes in dancing; she gets grilled for not singing high enough notes; everything. And she's blind, for that matter. How does she do it?"

I shrugged. "That's a matter that I doubt either you or I'd understand. Mina is an amazing, if you ask me. She always tries her best, even when the instructors get mad. She brushes it off and tries harder than before. I admire her for that."

"I'm an only child," she explained. "I don't have any siblings. So when I came here, I was eager to make friends. I met Momo, and she soom became my best friend, but when I met Mina, I felt differently about her. I wanted her as my little sister. She looks so fragile and innocent, but she's tougher than I am. Speaking Japanese with her makes me feel at home."

"Don't you guys have different dialects?"

"Yeah, but it doesn't really matter. After awhile, I noticed Mina's Kansai accent got strong. Momo said It's my fault," Sana guffawed heartily. "That made me happy."

"So?" I probed. "Do you feel like you've gotten closer to her?"

"Yes," she replied adamantly. "She's my lil' sis."

"Are you..." I was hesitant to ask my question. "Do you...like my relationship with Mina?"

Sana paused and comtemplated. "I have no problems with it at all. She's yours, I'm Tzuyu's, Momo is Jeongyeon's; we're all made for someone and someone is made for us. You found your someone. She's perfect for you, in my opinion."

There was a brisk knock outside the dorm room. Jeongyeon poked her head in. "Just to let you guys know, one of the managers said that Mina is done, but she's going to stay overnight as they found a minor defect in one of her eyes. I think he said that they want to make sure the procedure didn't cause this defect to get worst." She shrugged. "Guess you'll be seeing your baby penguin tomorrow." Lately, as boyish and outgoing as Jeongyeon was, she'd always call Mina 'baby penguin' as some sort of endearing nickname of sorts.  It seemed like everyone loved Mina just as much as I did.

"Well," Sana declared, winking at Jeongyeon and standing. "There's no use dwaddling here all day. Chaeng, you wanna get some blood flowing and practice our dance routines? JYP knew you weren't feeling well, so he let you off the hook. But seems like you're better, and I don't think the instructors like us being idle for so long."