𝐌𝐞𝐭 𝐈𝐧 𝐋.𝐀. | 𝐖𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐟𝐭. 𝐒𝐚𝐣𝐮𝐧

#16 A Piece Of Yourself

Song: I Can't Runaway by Seventeen's Hip-hop unit

Wonwoo's POV:

"Aha! I know. Let's buy each other gifts!" Mina cheekily smiled.

After dropping by The Getty, we then travelled to the Griffith Observatory. The place was filled with bunch of exhibits and objects regarding with astronomy.

Mina can't contain her happiness, obviously, and I, witness all of it. Starting from the the items down to the planetarium and telescopes, her eyes never stopped from saprkling. Though, it never fazed me, it amused me otherwise. I never thought that her existence could fill the missing parts of me that I've been yearning for years. I look forward to know her deeper soon.

"In this small gift shop, you expect us to buy gifts to each other without knowing what's inside it when we will literally search all of the things inside this room? You crazy?" Jun objected with her idea.

"Fine then don't. I'm easy to talk with. I'll just stare at the items then!" She scoffed and rolled her eyes before dashing off to the other part of the room.

"Tsk, what a kid." Jun said.

"Finally, I'm free from the maggot. Good thing he watched another show at the theater." Mina said as we both plopped on the fine grass, watching how the sun is setting down.

"There's no good thing though. He literally repeated the show for almost three times this day. He's probably stuck there again. Nevertheless, still his choice." I chuckled. Positioning my arms at the grass, I leaned back as it supports my weight. Meanwhile, the latter faced me in a lotus position.

"But he still also have a choice to back out right? I mean, won't you suffer a lot when you'll set yourself in circumstances that you're not comfortable in the first place? Like, you're not a puppet on a string. Free yourself and perform what you love, gosh. Looking at the whole picture, you're the one fooling yourself." Is she still pertaining this to Jun or is it somewhat like, about me now? Because, something struck me inside as she prolonged the last line.

I shifted my gaze at her and we're now both staring at each other.

"What do you..."

"I may or may have not. I could've or could've not. I should've or I should've not... Query Jun concerning your history. Peace." Mina abruptly showed me a peace sign while smiling nervously.

I shook it off with a smile, giving her assurance that I'm fine with her knowing my life.

"Unlike Jun, I don't have a choice." I responded but she was fast enough to disagree with my approach.

"I never believe in that saying. We all have choices Wonwoo, we're just too pressured in that situation that leads us to easily say none. In some other cases, let's just say, we're also afraid." She gazed at the sunset, from afar.

"There are also some cases that, we just can't say no." She sighed while adding another line. Her eyes showed a hint of despair afterwards.

"Why, what's your story Mina?"

~

Mina was so alive even when the night falls. I don't have any idea if she got too excited because of buying a lot of designer brands here in Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, or is it because Jun left early and went home? Even so, I'm patiently waiting for her to answer my ghosted question.

After eating at 208 Rodeo— that was definitely relaxing with all the night lights, I return back to clicking photos near the staircase.

"Wonwoo," I paused, turned back, and raised my brow, anticipating for her answer.

"Can we, sit on the staircase first?" I desire to question her why but I soon found myself placing myself beside her.

The night was perfect even though the both of us were silent. It's better because the people are starting to get lesser and lesser, leaving the two of us alone in this staircase near the restaurant.

"Hi, I'm Myoui Mina. I'm Japanese but was born in Korea. After my mom passed away, my father married another woman. Starting there, I have three siblings, one male and two female. As I grow up, I realized that I want to become an actress so I worked my butt way up there. I also have a perfume shop named as my full name. What else do you want to know about me?" Her speech is literally so sudden that it caught me off guard. I didn't mind it  since then.

"Actually, I know everything you've mentioned except for that perfume part." Her eyes bulged. She was about to open her mouth when I cut her off.

"I may or may have not. I could've or could've not. I should've or I should've not searched you up online along with Jun concerning your history. Peace." I copied what she did earlier, showing her a peace sign. Because of it, she laughed hard until it toned down.

"Stalker." She uttered and pouted. She looked cute doing that. After a long silence, she continued.

"Bet you still don't know the non-basic info about me. And that makes you curious right?" She stared at me and I nodded.

"To inform you, my life sucks. Sucks more than yours." She placed her chin on her knees while cupping her legs.

"Why?"

"Because nobody loves me. My step-mom and my siblings did nothing but to ruin my reputation. Guess what, my father sided with them. Yay." Sarcastically, she said while rolling her eyes heavenwards.

"They're evil. That's all I can say." My heart stopped from beating when I noticed that she was dead-serious about what she's talking. For the first time in weeks, I witnessed small amount of liquid forming at the side of her eyes. She sniffed, trying to prevent it from flowing.

Looking at her in her vulnerable state, I unknowingly turned weak. I also got... Hurt.

"Hey." I called her softly and she immediately looked at me.

"W-what's that?" Her brows knotted as I held out a small box.

"You mentioned earlier that we should buy each other gifts right? Well, this is the thing that I picked out, that you would surely utilize everyday." I opened it carefully, revealing a beautiful moon necklace.

"Seriously Wonwoo? Why— I haven't bought you anything?!" She frustratingly pulled her hair.

"No, don't do anything in return please. Just keep this." I handed it to her but she was hesitant about something that I can't depict.

"Can you... Put it for me?" I chuckled because her reaction feels like she did something wrong. I didn't waste more time and clasped the necklace around her neck. She then hold it like it was the most precious thing.

"Moon represents the rhythm of time. It also symbolizes love. Believe me or not, you'll have the best moments soon. You'll get the love that you deserve, Mina."

Everything seems to feel warm around us. She then gave me a genuine smile as she placed her head on my shoulder.

"You're a great guy Wonwoo. I hope you know that." She replied.

I may not gathered every information from her life but at least,

I already have a piece of herself.

~

Author's note 📜:
I really found this chapter heart-warming huhu. Studying the places, I also wish to go there if possible lol. Thank you for reading!

-sebongssi