Six years ago: Twice Dorm
Mina (POV)
The dorm was quiet.
Too quiet.
I stood in the hallway, wearing a hoodie I stole from him last week, watching him move around the kitchen like he always did—like nothing had changed.
The soft clink of dishes.
The low hum of the stove.
The same rhythm we’d fallen into without ever talking about it.
“Less ketchup today,” he said without turning around. “You’re going to be moving more now.”
A small smile tugged at my lips.
“Mm… we’ll see.”
But my voice felt… off.
Like it didn’t quite belong in this room anymore.
He plated the food the same way he always did.
Set it down in front of me the same way.
Everything was the same.
So why did it feel different?
“Oppa, what’s the schedule look like today?”
He still had his back to me, I could see his shoulders drop a fraction. “You have vocal lessons at 10, then dance practice at 3. You will have another dance trainer today to walk you through some of the blocking for the Japan dates, just in case.”
He stopped, and turned to me with a hint of concern on his face.
“How are you feeling? The girls will come back next week. The company wants to ease you back into things, some small promo stuff, maybe joining the fan sign event. Once you're back, there’s no stopping.”
“I know… The girls have been blowing up the group chat, telling me about the stuff they got for me and all the fun we are going to have in Japan. I miss all of them.”
He gave me a warm smile but his eyes looked incredibly sad.
“Alright well why don’t you get ready to head out. I’ll start cleaning up here,” he said, starting to gather our dishes.
I shuffled back towards my room, the guest room door ajar.
I peeked in.
It felt… emptier.
A few things were missing.
…Oh.
I kept walking, my heart a little heavier.
Later that day: JYPE
Man, my voice is shot, that vocal session killed me. I stepped out into the hallway but couldn’t see where Oppa had gone off to. He was called earlier and stepped out. I guess something came up.
I looked at my phone. I should text him to let him know I’m done. It’s almost 3:00 I guess I should just head over to dance practice.
He came in a few minutes after I got there.
“Y/N, everything ok?” I asked.
“Oh good you made it. Yeah Mina-san, just got called into a meeting to help coordinate something else.” He looked around and found the new instructor. “Hello, I’m Y/N, nice to meet you.”
As he was talking to the new instructor, I noticed that he looked a little off, something felt dimmer.
“Alright, should we get started?” the instructor said.
“Yes.” I said, popping up from the couch quickly.
We started to walk through the steps, out of the corner of my eye I saw him slide out of the room.
Of course he can’t stay all day, he’s busy managing my schedule. It’s what he’s supposed to do.
I really don’t like this feeling.
Just then the door for the room opened again. He made eye contact with me and dropped a small bag and a bottle of water at the back table.
He mouthed “I know you haven’t had anything to eat.” before shutting the door and leaving again, sketchbook in hand.
Something warm settled in my chest.
A week later: JYPE practice room
The week zoomed by, before you know it I was standing in front of the practice room about to be one of Twice again.
The door felt heavier than it should have.
Not physically.
Just… enough to make me hesitate.
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