Withered - Chapter 33: Chapter 33

"What happened?" Sana looks over her little sister, sitting on the passenger seat. She averts her eyes to the main road and asks the same question again but Mina wouldn't even budge.
The latter sit there the whole ride staring out the window. It's weird how it can make her forget a lot of things. She barely thought of her long lost boyfriend---Where he is? What is he doing? Did he eat well? and most importantly how badly she misses the guy, his presence. She barely thought about the baby inside of her womb, is the baby healthy? How many months is her in pregnancy? She hasn't thought about the baby name yet, hasn't bought the baby clothes, hasn't ready to carry the weight of a mother. She barely thought of what just occurred a few hours ago. Every time something like that popped out into her head all she has to do is stare out the window, feeling the breeze past her.
The only thought that stuck is the one at home. Him.
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"Mina?"
Sana touches the younger's shoulder, taking a quick glance at her. The latter flinch and shove her sister away. Realizing what she has done, she hides her face with her long red hair while hanging her head low. "Sorry, I wasn't mean to," She says guiltily.
"It's okay. I'm the one who should say sorry. You must be startled" Sana smiles warmly before fixing her eyes back on the road.
Truthfully, she's surprised with Mina defensive act but she knows where it comes from. Mina basically telling her to back off. Maybe she needs more time, don't want her space invaded and Sana respects that. She just wants the best for her little sister and helps her in any possible way. Mina has been always an introverted kid. Though they grew up together, though she is her sister, though she already sees and meets all Mina personality, behaviour, liking even predict what Mina is thinking. Sana can't help but to thinks if Mina actually hides something from her, from their family, from everyone.
The bond between the three sisters is unbreakable, they knew everything about the other really well. But when it comes, to personal lives, Mina is a stranger. She never shares her story, never show her emotions, never tell them how she feels in particular things, never tell them if she faces a problem or if she's sick. Even when she suddenly introduced Jeongyeon as her boyfriend, her parents didn't know she actually in a relationship which caused confusion in the family back then. The sisters knew it only from Chaeyoung and not her. The girl prefers to keep things to herself. And Sana notices it, all these years but decides not to force the girl since that is who Mina is.
Although Sana tries to be an understanding sister, she couldn't stop to wonder...
That unknown story and secrets of her little sister.
*  *  *  *
"Anyway, how's your feeling? Jihyo introduced me to a psychiatrist. I've talked to her and she's willing to help" Sana starts after taking a sip of her drink. They are having lunch, sitting across each other. Mina raises her head and smiles weakly, not saying a word but just continues finishing her food.
Sana let out a sigh and recalls how Mina suddenly calls her in the morning, It seems to her that she could feel her heart breaks as Mina whispered the words to her.
"Unnie...something wrong with me...help me please..."
She froze in her tracks before she could understand the meaning behind it, telling the girl to wait and she'll fetch her up. And that's how the ends up together. She decides to set an appointment for Mina with psychiatrist since Mina finally agreed to work and let them figure out what is wrong.
Their lunch interrupted when Sana's phone rings. She looks at the caller then to Mina and back to the caller again. "Washroom, real quick" She mutters and tries to leave the scene with her phone but Mina stops her "Unnie, don't answer him" Her voice is firm as she eyed her sister. Sana sits back on the chair, breaking their eye contact. She wouldn't lie that Mina can scare her when she's acting differently, more so whenever the girl mad since it's rare to see her in that state.
"But, he's been calling for.." Sana looks up to her phone and continues "...24 times...wait, 24!?" Even herself surprised by the total missed calls from Chaeyoung. "Did you both fight? Did he do something inappropriate? Why are you ignoring him by the way? He's been texting me asking your whereabouts." She bombards the latter with questions but none of it receives an answer. She sighs in frustration when Mina just turns a deaf ear to her. Stubborn She thought.
They reach a private hospital and Sana helps the girl to walk since for some reason she looks unstable and unfocused, maybe because of her pregnancy or maybe something else. She shrugs the thought of confronting the girl about her condition knowing she'll get nothing. "The psychiatrist is a girl just so you don't feel uncomfortable and Jihyo said she just came back from America two days ago. An expert she is" Sana says as they head to the specific office.
"Here we are, wait here first. I'll go inside" Mina nods at her sister statement and wait outside. She's playing with her fingers, nervous and insecure to actually meet a new person and trust them enough to tell her story in the hopes of correcting herself. But she knows, she has to, if not then both Chaeyoung and her will suffer continuous pain and hurting.
Five minutes past and she stands when Sana appear and gesture her to go inside the room, she takes a deep breath but her feet won't move "U-unnie, I can't do this. Let's go back home" She suddenly pleads and turn her heels but Sana catches her wrist and walks to the girl, pulling her into a gentle hug. She pats the younger back, assuring her that everything will be fine "I'm here for you, waiting outside. Just try first and if you still can't then let stop. I won't force. Okay" Sana assures and gives Mina a bright smile. "Now hurry up, let's visit mom and dad after this"
Mina's face lightens when her sister mentions their parents. She misses them real bad. She takes at least a quarter hours to muster the courage before she gets in. The first things she sees is the only girl back facing her while humming a song. She awkwardly waits until she gets noticed, fidgeting all the way. The girl turns around and jolts a little when she sees Mina, she smiles apologetically and asks Mina to sit on the single couch inside the room.
"Im nayeon. Just call nayeon" The psychiatrist introduces herself as she sits across Mina. "Coffee?" She offers but the latter only shakes her head. "Mina right?" She asks again and earns a simple nod from the latter. "You're not a talkative one hahaha" The laugh fades away when Mina seems not responding and stay like a statue.
Nayeon clears her throat and smile showing her adorable front teeth to ease the tension and gives an approachable impression. "So...I heard some story from your sister. But I believe there's more to it. And it's always different when the real person who experienced it is the one who tells the story. The feeling is different" She winks before standing up and takes a book and pens with her then back to her seat. "For now, we're not going to begin the treatment yet but I'll listen to every side of your view" Nayeon assures.
"We'll start whenever you're ready" She smiles.
*  *  *  *
Sana worriedly glance at her sister, the girl hasn't said a word since she meets the psychiatrist and it's bugging her. They are walking to the parking lot when suddenly a yelling from the backstops them. Both sisters turn around and witness the psychiatrist jogs towards them. Nayeon catches her breath when she reaches the girls since she's not a really good runner herself. "Can I talk to Mina for a second?" She asks, averting her eyes to Sana. Sana smiles and leaves after tapping her little's sister arm, gesturing her that she'll wait in the car.
Mina watches her sisters disappear from their sight before she turns her head and faces the physiatrists, her brows connected as she wonders why the latter run for her.
"About the things you asked, It's true that I couldn't answer it but we can fix it. I'll help you to confront those things. Just, Don't force yourself and don't push him away. Step by step, little by little, build it, grow it. Believe me, it's worth trying."
Mina nods and smiles before she walks away leaving Nayeon. Ain't really sure if the girl will accept her advice, Nayeon sigh deeply, it's her first time to encounter such case and listen to a rare tale. She's been dealing with patients with mental health issues, suicidal, depression, panic attack, frightening hallucination even someone who mildly psychotic but not once she meets anyone like Mina. She heard about it before but never really have a patient that suffers from it.
"She's broken. This will be hard" She mumbles, shaking her head while putting her hands inside her white coat.
*  *  *  *
Mina laughs holding her stomach as she watches Momo and Sana bickering over the last piece of biscuit. The Myoui are having tea time while watching a Marvel movie but no one really pays attention as they are busy catching up with each other. Jokes are everywhere, even a meme they see on the internet become a hot topic in their conversation.
Sana and Momo know that there is more biscuit in the kitchen cabinets but keeps with their stupid act just so they can see or listen to their younger sister's laugh. Although they aren't sure if it's true happiness or not, at least Mina is laughing. She is laughing.
Mina sigh and shake her head, oblivious of her sisters pretending to fight for freaking biscuits. She makes her way towards them and snatches the biscuits before breaking it in half.
"One for Momo Unnie" She hands a piece to the big eater. "And one for Sana Unnie" Another one-piece she gives it to the squirrel. She holds her laughter when both her sisters pout and thrown a glare at each other.
Mr and Mrs Myoui are content to see all their daughter together and having fun. The sisters then go upstairs for unknown reasons, probably Sana and Momo will gossiping over something they see on Instagram, spoiling Mina. They're not asking about Chaeyoung since Sana clearly signalling them not to mention his name or else the atmosphere will definitely change to cold, tense and awkward. They want Mina to be her usual self and not worrying about anything but just be who she is, spending time with her sisters and for once, smiling and laughing genuinely.
Mina stays until night and eats dinner with her family. She thought that maybe she needs some time and maybe Chaeyoung and her need to be separated for a while; to let her breath, to let her think. Though she convinces herself that she needs space and she really does but, she feels restless for some reason. Leaving home, leaving him.
It's almost midnight when she can't sleep, she isn't sure why. To kill her boredom, she stops staring at the ceiling for God knows how long and sit up straight. Chuckling when she heard Sana and Momo little snore beside her. The two keep begging Mina to sleep together and have some sister talk but ends up falling asleep as soon as they hit the bed. Maybe that's why she can't sleep. The bed is packed She thought, smiling to herself.
She walks to her bedside table with the intention to read a book and use the table lamp. She stops in front of her window and just notices it's pouring down outside, how the rain bouncing off the window. Thank god, it doesn't bring thunders She thought.
She hates the idea of a thunderstorm but not the rain. The soft pitter-patter raindrops are music to her ear, listening to every beat of the raindrops hitting the ground---something that stopped her thoughts from buzzing, calming her. She stands there, staring at the beauty of the crying clouds.
She stays for almost an hour and decides to read some book as she pulls her hands to close the curtain. She stop when she caught a figure standing outside the house, head tilts up towards her room. If it's not because of the rain, their eyes might just meet. Her heart starts to thumping hard as she hurriedly closes the curtain and crouch, hiding. Fear crawls within her thinking why is the stranger staring at the house. She's about to wake her sisters when she suddenly realizes the stranger's clothing seems familiar.
She might be wrong but she needs to clear her suspicion since it's possible for him to come all the way here. And if he did, then she has to bring him inside since it's raining and it will only become heavier. Mina quickly heads downstairs, carefully not to wake anyone in the house. She wears her shoes and takes an umbrella with her.
Is it him? Her eyes wander, looking for the same stranger. Her fear replaced by concerned. Lips twitching from the cold breeze, rubbing her palm against the other arms to warm herself. She's standing outside the main door, contemplating to move far more than a meter. With a final decision, she takes a step forward and starts to run, searching but still keeps a safe distance from the house. There's no use for her using an umbrella when the water splash over her body.
She suddenly stops and catches her breath as she watches the same stranger walking in front of her, drenched in a shower of rain and limping in every step he takes.
"Changie?" She calls out, but the person keeps walking, not noticing her.
"Chaeyoungie!" She raises her voice when the person getting further, and abruptly freeze in his position. "Is that you?!" She shouts as she slowly approaches the person, making sure she's right. She blinks to see clearly since her vision is blurred by the rain. The stranger turns around with difficulty, revealing Chaeyoung. He gives her a small apologetic smile as he stands weakly staring at each other.
Mina looks at him in disbelief, and before she could take another step, he falls- stiff as board collapsed in a heap.
"Son Chaeyoung!!"