The Loneliest Person (Someone Like Me) [Mina x Sana]

Chapter 5: Loneliest Person

It was nighttime when Mina woke up. She didn't even remember falling asleep, but clearly it must have happened while she waited for Sana and Momo to return. Checking her cellphone, Mina jumped up in surprise when she saw that it was just past 6pm. How had she managed to take such a long nap?

"Momo-ya? Sana-ya?" Mina called out, expecting to hear some kind of reply from the others who should have returned by now. She was met with an eerie silence.

Mina finally got out of bed and wandered into the hallway. The dorm was completely dark and quiet, making it unlikely that Momo and Sana were home yet. As Mina made her way to the living room, she noticed that there were takeout containers sitting on the sofa, completely uneaten and unopened. A discarded jacket sat nearby. Someone was home right now, but where?

As Mina started to wander away to check the rest of the dorm, she noticed that a single person was standing out on the balcony with her head turned up at the sky. Mina knew instantly that the motionless figure that stood with her hands clasped loosely behind her back was Sana. Without even seeing her face, Mina was certain that Sana's expression was soft and melancholic, like it always was when Sana gazed at the stars.

The young girl quietly approached the balcony door and paused to look at Sana's profile. The older girl was so beautiful in the pale moonlight that Mina felt like she could stand there and watch Sana forever. But the solemn expression on Sana's face made Mina's heart ache. What was Sana thinking about as she stood by herself under the cold night sky? Mina desperately wanted to know what was on the older girl's mind. She desperately wanted to reach out to Sana and make her sadness go away, to protect Sana as much as Sana had been protecting her.

Mina saw Sana shiver slightly in the darkness, and she realized that Sana wasn't wearing a jacket. Her warm breath was visible in the cold autumn air.

"She's crazy," Mina thought, instantly rushing to her room to fetch a coat and earmuffs for herself. She picked up Sana's coat, which lay on the living room sofa, and then headed out to the balcony.

"Mina-ya?" Sana asked, turning toward her the moment she heard the balcony door open. Her expression brightened as Mina stepped outside and offered her the jacket.

"What are you doing outside without a coat? You're gonna freeze out here," Mina scolded the older girl.

"Waaah, Mina's mad at me. How scary!" Sana joked, quickly putting on the jacket. "Thanks for bringing my coat. I forgot to grab it earlier."

"Why are you out here by yourself?" Mina asked again. She put her hands into her pockets to protect them from the cold and came across an unused heat pack. Mina snapped it to activate it and then pressed it into Sana's hand. The older girl's fingers were like ice, earning her a reproving frown from Mina. "How long have you been out here?"

The happy smile never left Sana's face. "About half an hour maybe? I was just watching the stars a bit. Just trying to clear my head."

"But you can see the stars from inside, too. You know, where it's not so cold?"

Sana's eyes crinkled with affection and Mina felt her chest tighten almost painfully as she tried to ignore how beautiful Sana looked in that moment. The older girl handed her back the heat pack, keeping their fingers clasped as she did so. "Here, hold on to this then. I feel warmer already now that you brought me my jacket."

A warm smile danced on Sana's lips. "Do you want to look at the stars with me?"

Without waiting for a response, Sana turned her face back up to the night sky. The dark expanse was dotted with the glow of a billion stars. It was indescribably beautiful, and Mina would have called it a perfect night if not for the fact that Sana's expression turned melancholic again the moment she looked up at the sky. Mina knew that Sana often used stargazing as a way to relieve stress, so she wanted to figure out what was troubling Sana now.