Chapter Text
mina,
when i first met you, i was terrified. i don’t know if you remember this, or even noticed, but my hands were shaking the whole time. i know, it sounds silly, but you were this talented, experienced new recruit, and i was a senior employee going nowhere.
do you still remember the first time i talked to you? i thought i was being so smooth. i thought i was acting like the competent senior i was supposed to be. and i was, of course, until i messed up and spilled hot coffee all down my shirt. and even though i ended up having sore, tender skin for a hot minute after that, it was kind of worth it, because you helped clean me up. you smelled like jasmine and lavender, and i’ve never again smelt anything so sweet.
mina’s hands grip the steering wheel, her knuckles nearly white from strain. breathing deep, she attempts to focus on the road ahead, but all she can think about is that stupid email that’s been sitting in her inbox for nearly a week, the subject a vague “the only absolute,” and the sender, her long gone ex-girlfriend, the ever insufferable park jihyo. even now, nearly five years later, she had found a way to weasel her way into mina’s life.
and no, mina was not in any way emotionally or mentally affected by this sudden attempt at communication after years and years of just complete radio silence. and no, the email and what it might say didn’t in any way stay a constant presence in her mind, a heavy weight pressing at the back of her head at every moment. the idea of what it could say, and the implications, were overwhelming to even mention in passing. so, the best course of action was to ignore it, and ignore the old feelings and hopes she had pushed down in hopes of moving on.
and it wasn’t fair, the way that park jihyo still had this effect on mina, so long after they had broken up. but apparently, saying that she had moved on wasn’t cutting it, because even just the thought of reconnecting awakened something she hadn’t felt in a long time.
but, realistically, she had no time for this. she had no time to be thinking about girlfriends of christmas past or present or future, whatever. which is why, as she had been doing for the past week since it first arrived in her inbox, mina forced her feelings way down, electing to ignore it for one more day, in favor of the project she was working on at work, a full restaurant remodel requested by some faceless client. she hadn’t seen the original layout yet, but chaeyoung had promised to get her hands on the blueprints by that afternoon.
dahyun had secured the client through whatever (questionable) connections she had, but mina wasn’t one to complain, with the majority of their small agency’s jobs having been found by dahyun and her “connections.” she often cited her “mom’s friend’s daughter’s sister’s cousin’s brother’s boss’s grandpa,” or the like, but this time, all she had said about this job was that it was “requested by an old acquaintance of ours,” which was suspicious in itself, but who was mina to question dahyun?
do you wanna know something crazy? i thought i was gonna marry you. honestly, i still do. i can’t imagine marrying anyone other than you. i can’t imagine loving anyone but you. you, this beautiful, intelligent woman, respectful and reserved, but i could see how brave you were.
you told me so many stories. of family, of friends, of love, of home. and i know you missed it, home, that is. i could see it in your eyes every time you talked about it. yet still, you were determined to accomplish what you had left home to do- to be the most successful female architect in asia. and i know you’ll get there. if anyone was to do it, it would be you.
mina turned right, pulling into the parking lot of their “office,” or, really, mina and sana’s apartment. carefully stepping over blueprints and bills spread over the floor, mina made her way into the living room, used to, but still annoyed at the mess. when the five of them had started out, mina had hoped to be in an office within a year of working contractually. yet, here they were, almost three years in, and no professional workspace.
unlike mina’s meticulously constructed plans and outlines, life had a funny way of messing with you, which meant that instead of the ten year plan 20 year old mina had drawn up, with hopes of having her own established firm by now, mina had a home office and a notebook full of clients found off of e-bay. or thanks to dahyun’s mom’s sister’s brother’s best friend. whatever.
not to say that their business wasn’t doing well, because they had had moderate success in the private sector, and were able to sustain a reasonable amount of employees. and they were gaining traction. or they were projected to within the next couple of years, so long as they kept up the trend of satisfied clients. which was why this project was so important.
more important than whatever dissatisfaction mina had with their ragtag team and make shift office, or with her (lack of a) love life. more important than that tingling feeling she had pulling at her heartstrings everytime she thought about that unread email sitting in her inbox.
that stupid, idiotic, dumb email. from her stupid, idiotic, dumb ex-girlfriend. stupid, idiotic, dumb. stupid, idiotic, dumb. stupid, idiotic, dumb.
“what are you doing here, mina?” dahyun stepped out of the bathroom, drying her hands on her pants. mina flinched, before looking blankly at dahyun. “chaeyoung said you two were supposed to meet the client today. at like 3 or something.” mina glanced down at the clock. 2:30. what the fuck?
“shit…” mina pulled her phone out of her back pocket, and the texts from chaeyoung popped up immediately, “sorry, yes, i’ll see you. bye!” running out to her car, mina plugged in the address chaeyoung had sent her nearly two hours ago, into her gps (which thankfully predicted the estimated time of arrival to be fifteen to 3).
you inspired me, mina. to be more. to be better. you inspired me to go back to culinary school. and you pushed me to pursue what i really wanted. i want you to know that even though you don’t want to be around me for the time being, the thought of you still pushes me forward. i’m going to be better. i’m going to be more. for you.
and i don’t care if it takes me a year, or two, or a decade. i’m going to open the restaurant we always wanted to have together. and when i do. and when i make it. i’m going to come back for you, and i’m going to marry you. if you’ll still have me, that is.
mina pulled into the parking lot of a somewhat familiar restaurant, rushing to fix her hair and pull her blazer back on before grabbing her notebook. chaeyoung had texted her on the drive there, saying that she had arrived a little early, so mina immediately entered the restaurant, her neck craning to try to find chaeyoung.
which wasn’t that difficult considering that the restaurant was almost completely empty, mina now taking note of the “closed” sign on the door, and chaeyoung was seated at a table nearby across from another woman.
taking calm, measured steps, mina made her way to the table, trying to figure out why the other woman seemed so familiar to her. her thoughts were scrambled, but her heart tugged in a way it only did when she was around-
jihyo.
the other woman turned around, a bright smile on her face, just as mina had remembered. her hair, cut short, as opposed to the long curls jihyo used to have when they were dating. and her eyes- they were just as kind, just as soft. and it scared mina how much it affected her to see jihyo again.
“mina!’ jihyo grinned, “it’s so great to see you again.” she extended her arms, pulling mina into a short hug, during which mina could smell the same old vanilla perfume jihyo had been using for ages. and during which mina could have sworn her heart had stopped. because this could not be happening.
or maybe this was all apart of jihyo’s plan. because after they had broken up, jihyo had always sworn that they would find each other again. that they would be together eventually. that true love always found a way-
“i’m so glad you accepted the job. i really want this to be done right, and i know you’re the best female- no, the best architect, period, in asia, huh, mina?” jihyo looked at her, and mina felt her knees go weak, “and honestly, this is something of a wedding gift, for my fiance.” and then the sky came crashing down. because right there, on park jihyo’s ring finger was a giant diamond.
you know i’m kidding. i could never make you do anything. but i swear, true love will always find a way. and mina, i know you’re the one for me. but because you want, i won’t call you anymore. i won’t email you. i won’t write letters. i won’t text. i’ll leave you alone for as long as you want.
i know that we haven’t talked in a while. i know we may never again. i know we may never meet again. and yet, if you asked me, in ten years, in a hundred years, if i still loved you, my answer would always be, “yes.”
-jihyo