Fatum: tied by an invisible string - Michaeng

point of no return

"Oh- Uhm- You know, Chaeyoung and I have known each other for a few years now and we worked on projects for school before." His breathing caught for a few seconds, something Mina wouldn't have noticed if it weren't for the smoke that his lips suddenly released after.

"Right, I don't really see you two getting along."

"We were paired by the teachers, I don't see us working together by choice either." He laughed to ease the tension, which made Mina involuntarily press her nails into her palm. Was he making fun of Chaeyoung?

"She's been nice to me though. Everyone in her family is amazing and has done so much for me without me even asking them to."

"Of course, I apologize if I was out of place. I didn't mean it like that." BamBam licked his lips for the hundredth time, something Mina noticed he did a lot. "The coffee shop is just around the corner from here."

"Okay." What did he mean it like, then?

The fact that Mina only replied with that made BamBam realize that maybe he'd have to put in more effort. "Do you know what you're gonna order? I'm more of a coffee guy but since it's about to be lunchtime we could order that instead." His voice raised in the end, which irked Mina.

"I'm fine with just coffee. Like I told you before, I have a lot to do before leaving." It wasn't a lie, but maybe she was also exaggerating it a little to get out of the situation. Sure, her suitcase was empty, but being the organized person she was, all that was left to do was put the already folded clothes in and pick up some of the things she had around the bathroom.

"Okay then..." He stayed in silence, something Mina was very thankful for.

The first minutes inside the shop were spent beating around the bush, and even though she hated it, she was running out of time. The brunette stared at the transparent lid of her plastic cup, balancing it on different sides to see how the ice moved and sank into the liquid. Noticing her numbing hand, she was starting to regret ordering iced coffee under that weather.

"So, did you ask me to come here for anything in particular?" Mina asked while sipping from the straw, letting the liquid stay in her mouth for a few seconds before swallowing to make it warmer.

"Oh- Yeah. I've been wanting to go somewhere with you for a while. I'm really glad you agreed to go out with me." His eyes became smaller as a smile crept to his face.

"Hanging out. I- This isn't a date." It felt silly to have to clarify that when they hadn't even talked about it in the beginning. Still, it made her uncomfortable enough to lean back on her seat to put more distance between them.

"I thought it was obvious I was asking you out," His face tilted slightly sideways, resembling a dog confused by the situation.

"It wasn't. I'm sorry but I'm just not ready to date someone, at least not right now." It was impossible to not notice how hard BamBam swallowed before leaning forward. "We could be friends?"

"I'm not looking for a friend here, I think that's pretty evident." His arms moved further, his hands slightly touching the skin of Mina's forearm. It made her uncomfortable; his fingertips were rough and calloused - probably from practicing sports - and she didn't want to compare them, but Chaeyoung was the total opposite: pure softness and warmness. "Would you like to go out with me sometime? I promise I'll make you have a good time." There was a smug smile on his face as if he was sure Mina would agree because who wouldn't want to go out with him?

"I told you before, I don't want a boyfriend right now," She planned on leaving it there but reconsidered after seeing the confused and almost upset look on his face. "I'm sorry but I just have a lot going on and I don't think it would be fair to you."