무너짐
MINA INHALED DEEPLY as she sat in a small café, still catching her breath from when she landed in the nearby alley not even three minutes before, where she had transformed out of her suit. Underneath, she had been wearing a short, floral dress that hugged at her waist. She assumed it was the perfect attire for a date; if that's what she could call this.
Yunho had asked her out for some coffee, something she was baffled by due to the fact that one; high school boys apparently have a liking for coffee, and two; Yunho, one of the most handsome boys she'd ever seen had asked her out.
She assumed, naturally, that it was a date, considering how close they had been since they'd met, and the way Yunho would occasionally flirt with her in the hallways. It made her heart unexpectedly rush, and for the first time in a while, Jungkook wasn't lingering in her mind like a pesky mosquito, buzzing in and out of it.
The ring of the bells above the front door made her glance toward the entrance, seeing Yunho, a cute cardigan around his broad figure with his black hair neatly styled, as usual. Her heart raced when his eyes met hers, and the smile he sent her had her reeling as he made his way to their table.
"Minnie, you look beautiful, as always," he said casually with a chuckle. There was always something about Yunho that Mina found so endearing, his confidence in the way he spoke to her, ever so gracefully and naturally. There was never a dull moment with him.
"You look handsome, as always," Mina smiled back in an attempt to return the compliment, only resulting in her cheeks turning a bright pink at the way Yunho smiled at her.
They spent the next half hour talking about themselves over a few cups of coffee, the sun well set on that Sunday night. She was supposed to be in her room, sleeping soundly, and she was very glad that she was there, with Yunho instead.
That was until an eerie feeling sent shivers up Mina's spine, the dreading reminder of something dark lurking around her making her look out the ceiling-to-floor window beside her. The hairs on the back of her neck were raising as she scanned around the city street outside, watching as people walked by as usual. There didn't seem to be a villain.
Suddenly, Mina's sharp eyes spotted a moving, dark figure on the rooftop of the building across the street, swiftly running across it with a familiar figure following close behind. Firedrake.
There is a villain... Mina thought in her head.
"Minnie? Everything okay?" Yunho raised her eyebrows at her, concerned, as he noticed her blank expression. She looked up at him, her eyes wide as a million thoughts ran through her head.
I should help Firedrake, she debated. But I can't leave Yunho here.
Then came the plaguing decision Mina never wanted to make. Was she going to ditch him to fulfill her duty as a superhero? Or was she going to be selfish and stay with him? Either way, she was going to feel absolutely horrible.
"Yunho," she spoke up, her voice hesitant. "I just remembered, I—my father wants me to wake up early tomorrow for a... photoshoot before school. I'm sorry, I have to go."
Mina couldn't even bring herself to watch Yunho blink in confusion, before nodding slightly. She lied. She had lied, right to his face, with a fake excuse that was stupid.
"That's okay. I'll see you tomorrow at school, then?" Yunho smiled at her. Somehow, it was making her feel ten times worse. He deserved better than that, than her.
"Yeah. I'm sorry," is all she said before she left a bill on the table, grabbing her bag and heading toward the exit. She was swallowing the lump in her throat as she made her way to the dark alley, shaking her head. She had a job to do.
-
It was well past ten o'clock in the night when Mina found herself in front of Bitna's bedroom window, knocking on it as the tears slipped down her cheeks. She wasn't even sure if she was awake, but she just did not want to be alone.
Bitna's head rose from her bed from the sound, swiftly turning it toward the window, seeing a dark figure hovering in the air outside, an odd purple aura around her. The moon shined brightly in the sky, providing a bit of light onto one side of the figure's face, and as she squinted, she realized that it was her best friend.
Widening her eyes, she scrambled out of bed, stumbling toward her window before opening it, seeing Mina, her eyes puffy as they glowed a bright purple, her cheeks stained with tears.
"Minnie? W-What happened? What are you doing here?" Bitna asked with a whisper-shout, her eyes darting to the blood trickling down her temple from the villain she'd previously fought. "Shit, come inside," she told her as she opened the window further, helping Mina climb inside. Her parents could easily hear and burst into her room, ready to yell at whoever she snuck inside, but she didn't care at that moment. Her best friend needed help.
Mina's hands ceased to glow as she stood in front of the window, her eyes returning to their normal color, except more red than usual as a result of her crying while Bitna shut her window quietly.
Bitna was quick to engulf Mina into a hug, immediately feeling her reciprocate it tightly, crying silently into her shoulder. Her heart churned at the sound of Mina crying; her best friend never cried in front of her, and it made her realize that something terrible must have happened for her to cry like this, and especially show up at her house, which she had never done before either.
"Sit down," Bitna told her after a few seconds, leading her to the edge of her messy bed. Mina sat down, her lips in a pout as she tried to sniffle her tears away. She watched as Bitna disappeared into her bathroom, coming out a few seconds later with a small box that seemed to be a first aid kit. The bed dipped slightly as Bitna sat beside her, opening the box in her lap.
"What happened?" Bitna asked quietly as she pressed a small cotton pad onto the cut on Mina's temple. She barely winced at the sting, bigger worries flooding her mind as she tried to suppress her incoming tears.
"I-I was on a date with Yunho, and—and there was a villain, and I had to lie to him in order t-to leave," Mina hiccuped. "I made some stupid excuse, and I left him. Just like that."
"You did what you had to do, right? And he understood?" Bitna asked softly, continuing to clean the blood on her temple, still trickled with sweat.
"Of course he understood, I just..." her voice began to break. "I-I realized that I can never have someone to care about as much as I care for him, or even for Jungkook, for crying out loud," she let out a bitter laugh at the name that suddenly popped into her head and slipped past her trembling lips. "I can never put myself first as long as I'm living this double life."
"I understand that," Bitna slightly nodded, sending a comforting smile to her best friend. "And they might not, and that's just because they don't know you as well as I do. But that doesn't mean that won't be there for you. You're a good person, Minnie. Everyone likes you, and we know you'll never purposefully let us down, and that's why Yunho was so understanding tonight."
"You're right," Mina sighed with a nod. "It just sucks right now."
Bitna closed up the kit after cleaning the cut on her temple, throwing the used cotton pads into the trash can before turning to Mina. "I guess that's the whole hero gig. But you know you don't have to go through it alone, right? You have me, and God knows I'm not going to ever leave you alone."
Mina laughed a bit at that, nodding in agreement before feeling Bitna lean her head onto her shoulder. She let out a content sigh, the aching in her heart slowly dissipating from the company of her best friend, indefinitely knowing that she will be there through thick and thin.
-
Jungkook slowly tugged his shirt over his head as he stood in his locker room after a quick soccer practice before first period. He rolled his head around as he winced, still a bit sore from the villain he had to fight the night before. He and Jimin had a practice session with their coach that they had to go to that morning, nearly at the crack of dawn, considering it was winter and the sun began to rise a bit later.
"Dude, I thought my foot was going to fall off every time I kicked," Jimin groaned as he leaned on his locker, shirtless and gleaming from sweat. At least Jungkook wasn't alone in his pain. "I don't think I can feel my right foot. Why does coach overwork us? It's a Monday too, for crying out loud."
As Jungkook ruffled a hand in his sweaty hair and chuckled at Jimin, his mind suddenly wandered to the previous Saturday, where he had talked to Mina as Firedrake.
On the soccer team... starts with J...
The only plausible person would be Jimin. Mina and Jimin were close among their group of friends, especially due to the fact that Jimin was head over heels for her, constantly conversing with her every second he could. Jungkook thought it made sense; sometimes Mina seem interested in him. Of course, he could mistaken that for her just being friendly, which she was with everyone.
"I hope I'm not sore by the time the Winter Ball comes around this Friday," Jimin complained as he slipped a sweatshirt on, rolling the sleeves up as he did so.
Jungkook got an idea.
"Why don't you ask Mina to that?" Jungkook pointed out, watching as Jimin's eyes darted to him in surprise, for a second until an incredulous scoff fell from the older boy's mouth.
"I could never. I couldn't even ask her to Homecoming, I was too shy," Jimin timidly shook his head with a smile as he began to shove his things into his duffel bag.
"What if she likes you?" Jungkook hesitantly spoke, cocking his eyebrow.
His words made Jimin completely freeze, his eyes wide at the notion. "What? You think she might like me back?"
"I'm pretty sure. I mean, you two are close, right?" Jungkook shrugged, licking his lips.
"She likes me!" Jimin began to smile, running a hand through his dirty blonde hair, his eyes shining with hope. "I mean, who wouldn't? I'm a catch," he brushed off with a grin, to which Jungkook laughed at.
-
It was after gym class, her lunch period coming up, when Mina was pulled to the side of the hallway. She had previously been walking with Bitna and Taehyung, blatantly third-wheeling until a tug on her arm took her away. When she looked up, she saw Jimin, his cheeks a light pink.
"Jimin? What's up?" Mina blinked, a bit confused as to why he took her away for a conversation, especially considering she was just in gym class with him.
"I... I wanted to ask you something," Jimin spoke up, his voice surprisingly small, compared to his usual bubbly voice he had when he was around her. Mina stood a bit concerned as Jimin gently let go of her arm. He seemed nervous, for the first time, and she began to realize that he was this nervous in gym class.
"Did something happen?" Mina raised her eyebrows, sending a sweet smile that only made Jimin's heart beat ten times harder.
"No, I just..." Jimin took a shaky, deep breath. "Will you be my date to the Winter Ball?"
Mina felt her eyebrows raise a bit, her voice caught in her throat, as she comprehended, digested his words. He wants her to be his date? Not platonically?
Mina knew that Jimin had a large crush on her, something she'd always be reminded of by Jimin himself, but she always seemed to think that he knew that she didn't reciprocate his feelings. Hell, she was in love with his best friend, very obviously in the eyes of everyone besides Jungkook, so this question surprised her.
Her heart churned, the reminder of her date the other night that went horribly because of her double life, the night where she went to Bitna's house and cried in her arms. She would never forget how she felt at that moment, how Yunho must have felt. She didn't want anyone to have to go through that, especially Jimin, one of her closest friends that she treasured deeply.
So, it pained her when she began to speak. "Jimin... I-I'm sorry. I can't go with you."
She watched as Jimin's nervous expression fell, only sadness replacing the spark of hope that was lit in his deep brown eyes.
"Oh, that's... that's okay," Jimin nodded, trying to mask a smile, which Mina could easily see through. She didn't even need to read his mind to see that he was deeply hurt by the rejection.
Mina just wished she could explain why. That is what hurt her the most.
"I'm sorry, Jimin," is all she could say again, her eyes hung low.
"No, don't worry about it," Jimin shook his head, taking a step away. "I'll see you in class," he said before walking away, each step he took making his heart break piece by piece.