♢ poisonous dart

260607 min.nicha instagram update

It remembers everyone—each distinct cadence of footsteps, each rushed greetings, each bad decisions made after midnight, each younger versions of themselves.

And apparently, it also remembers Minnie getting lost.

❝ Hi. ❞

Quiet. Simple. Almost too late, because the greeting came from her first. Corners of the mouth moving before the will could stop it from becoming obvious.

❝ It has been a while. ❞

Vision shifting toward the hall she trailed from earlier, then toward its opposite side, mind calculating all possible routes where johnny could have sent her through. The wrong elevator. The old conference room. The floor with identical doors that even any staff members still occasionally entered with false confidence and hope.

❝ I saw him earlier. He said he was going to pick something from the studio... ten minutes ago. ❞

Gaze dropping briefly to her phone, then back to her face. Slow. Tired maybe. A little amused. Still Minnie. Not the exact same, no. Nobody was, himself included. Motherhood had placed something new in her, or maybe brought something forward that had always been there—Johnny's wife. James' mother.

But still Minnie.

❝ Congratulations, by the way. Late, I know... but properly meant. Marriage. The baby. Surviving Johnny's directions long enough to reproduce with him. All of it. ❞

Amusement flickering, yet caught immediately before it becomes something generous enough to be filed under trespassing.

❝ Come on, I'll walk you before you end up in accounting. Or worse, A&R. And if he tells you he gave clear directions... ❞

Expression stays solemn and serious with a faint tilt of the head.

"accounting?" she echoed. "wow. so you really do think i'm hopeless."

her hand pressed dramatically against her chest, though the smile lingering on her face ruined any attempt at sounding offended. if anything, she looked relieved. relieved to have found someone she knew. relieved to finally have a direction. relieved to not spend another ten minutes wandering the building pretending she knew where she was going.

"and here i thought becoming a mother would've magically improved my sense of direction." certainly didn't improve her corny jokes.

phone slipping into her bag, minnie fell into step beside him without much thought, her posture relaxing as they started down the corridor. the building felt oddly nostalgic today. maybe because she'd spent so much time away from it lately. maybe because every hallway seemed to carry some memory attached to it.

his congratulations caught her off guard. for a moment, she just looked at him, then her expression softened.

"thank you." the words came quieter than before, genuine and unhurried. "better before james starts college."

a small laugh followed as she shook her head.

"though surviving johnny's directions might actually be the most impressive achievement out of everything you listed." her eyes rolled fondly toward the ceiling.

"seriously. he texted me three separate directions, and somehow each one contradicted the last." she paused. "i'm starting to think he enjoys watching me get lost."

whether that was true or not remained up for debate. for a few moments, the only sound was their footsteps moving through the hallway.

"how have you been?" she admitted after a beat, glancing around. "word around the street was you released an album. congratulations, by the way. late, i know, but properly meant." another small smile tugged at her lips as she looked over at him at the innocent teasing as she returned the words back to him. .

Johnny: Do you need me and Jimbo to pick anything up while we’re out?

she moved toward the counter, reaching for a couple glasses, but paused when he spoke. his insistence made her laugh softly again, something tender threading through the sound. "you’re sweet. okay, fine, just water then." she poured him a glass and leaned back against the counter beside him, cradling hers between her hands. "hard work is one way to put it," she admitted. "i don’t think i’ve slept through the night since the hospital. but then i look at him and it’s like everything else quiets down for a bit. like my brain forgets how exhausted i am."

she smiled faintly, sipping her water before glancing at him again. "so you’ve been busy," she mused, her expression brightening. "movie, mini drama, solo mv - look at you, mr. superstar." she nudged his arm lightly with her elbow, teasing slipping naturally into her tone. "i saw the clip from your mv on my feed, by the way. very good!" there was a flicker of pride in her eyes, though. "you’ve always worked so hard, yunho."

“you actually made it,” she said, a light laugh slipping out as she stepped aside to let him in. “i was starting to think your schedule swallowed you whole again.” her tone was teasing, but the affection beneath it was clear, the kind that comes from missing someone who’s been gone too long. inside, the apartment carried the quiet hum of a home that hadn’t truly rested in weeks. sunlight filtered through soft curtains, brushing over a baby blanket draped across the couch. minnie adjusted james slightly, brushing her thumb across his back before glancing at mingyu again.

His eyes flicked toward James, his voice dipping lower, warmer. “Wow... he got bigger. Every time I see him, it’s like he levels up or something. I blink and he’s a new person.” He leaned closer, careful not to startle the baby, and grinned. “You’re gonna forget me at this rate, huh? Uncle Gyu who?”

The joke lingered in the air, but so did something quieter underneath it. He moved to the couch when she gestured, rubbing a hand at the back of his neck before sinking into the seat. “You don’t have to thank me, Min,” he said after a moment, his tone softening. “You know I’d never skip out on you. Even if the world’s trying to pull me ten different ways.”

she looked at him for a beat longer than usual, her eyes soft, a little glossy from the exhaustion she hadn’t quite shaken. "you’ve always been there, gyu. the person who shows up without asking why or how bad it is. i don’t think i ever told you how much that meant." her lips twitched into a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. "and now you’re leaving, too."

the words hung there, gentle, but heavier than she meant them to be. she exhaled, a shaky sound that was half sigh, half laugh. "god, i’m sorry. it’s just, everyone’s going, one by one. and i’m happy for you, i am. proud, even. it’s just... it feels like every goodbye takes a little more out of me lately." she blinked fast, brushing a thumb under her eye before the tears could win. "ugh. hormones. don’t mind me," she muttered, laughing weakly. "you don’t need me turning this into a scene."

When Minnie came back, cradling James, Lisa’s eyes widened, bright and full, her smile blooming before she could stop it. "Oh my god," she breathed, sitting up straighter, careful not to move too suddenly. Her voice was hushed but laced with excitement. "He’s so tiny, Minnie, he’s actually real. Like a real, tiny human."

She leaned forward, elbows on her knees, eyes flicking between Minnie and the baby with open wonder. "Look at you, all… mom-like," she teased softly, but her words carried more awe than humor. "I still remember when we couldn’t even keep our plants alive." She’d never been one for slowing down long enough to imagine this kind of future for herself, but seeing it reflected in Minnie made it feel real, even possible.

"I’m so happy for you," Lisa said quietly after a beat, her smile gentle now, sincere in a way that made her voice soften. "You really did it, Min. You found your happily ever after."

Her grin turned lopsided, the playful spark sneaking back in as she tilted her head toward the baby. "Though, I have to admit... this little guy might steal your spotlight for a while. Sorry to say"

she adjusted james in her arms, her thumb tracing gentle circles on his blanket as if grounding herself. "do you remember those nights? when i’d call you crying at, like, two in the morning?" she asked, a fond groan slipping out. "god, i was such a mess. i kept saying i’d be done with him, that i was moving on, but then the second his name popped up on my phone" she trailed off, shaking her head with a small laugh. "i don’t even know what i was holding onto back then. maybe hope, or stupidity, or both."

she smiled at the thought, not sad, just nostalgic, softer around the edges. "i really thought that was it, you know? that it was gonna end there, and i’d just, learn to live without him." a pause, her gaze drifting toward the framed photo of her and johnny on the side table, both of them laughing mid-shot. "but then it all changed."

she looked back at lisa, eyes bright with that quiet, knowing happiness that only best friends recognized. "and now, here we are. married, diapers, late-night feedings, the whole domestic dream i swore wasn’t for me." she huffed out a laugh, incredulous. "sometimes i still expect to wake up and realize i’m late for a flight to tokyo or something, not that i’ve been up since 3 a.m. because this tiny human wanted a snack."

For a moment, the words eluded her. Or pretending they did as they hang in the space between them. Soft and unassuming, landing somewhere that makes her chest ache in both the best and worst ways. A thumb idly tracing slow circles against the softness of the blanket, a rhythm meant to keep herself steady... or distracted. Yet, Minnie's voice weaves through anyway, threading into spaces she usually keeps locked up, the ones that echo late at night when the apartment feels too big and the bed too cold and too quiet.

And perhaps she is... to Hank. But Hank isn’t an actual child, not someone who’d inherit her laugh or her smile or... She immediately stops the thought before it can finish painting that phantom of a child.

...

Funny how something so gentle could sound like both a compliment and a promise she wasn't sure she could keep.

Gaze dropping back down to the soft weight of little James, who had decided to gift the room with another of his cute tiny sigh. That little sound elicits a quiet laugh, utterly fond, her thumb shifting to graze his knuckles like the gesture would memorize them. ❝ A really good mum, huh? ❞ Finally echoing Minnie's sentiment, tone light and airy, obviously laced with something so fragile beneath. ❝ You might want to hold that thought until you see me panic over a diaper. ❞ Gosh, how could she forget the horror stories from Johnny? ❝ Also, should I remind you? I'm an absolute menace with snacks, Minnie. I'd be that mom who'd accidentally feeds the kid tiramisu at 7 p.m. and wonders why he's doing cartwheels on the ceiling⸻ ❞

Yet, even as the words poured out of her, there's an unmistakable softness between the lines. Unfading and lingering because what Minnie just said means too much. ❝ Still... thank you. For saying that... ❞

A pause, a breath that wasn't quite steady. ❝ And maybe you're right... That it's not about being built for it. You make it sound so easy, the whole 'learning as you go' thing. I think, that's what terrifies me the most... not being bad at it but not knowing how to be good at it right away... ❞ Another silence stretches, just enough to feel it settle in her chest. ❝ And that one day, someone's gonna sneak up on me the way Johnny oppa did with you. Wrong time, wrong place... right person... Because life is funny that way. ❞

"hmm," she started after a beat, "when johnny and i were in our- tango nights,” she smiled at her choice of words. "i told myself i could handle it, that it was fine as long as i didn’t ask for more." she bit the inside of her cheek, and after a short while she spoke. "there was another guy, you know? sweet, thoughtful, the kind of person who actually wanted to build something real. and i tried, i really did. but he wasn’t johnny." her eyes lowered to james, a thumb smoothing over the blanket near his hand. "and when johnny didn't want to take that next step, i thought maybe that was it. that i’d have to walk away before i completely lost myself. it hurt more than i thought it would."

there was a quiet in her tone now, but it wasn’t heavy, just honest. "but somehow, even through all that, i couldn’t imagine a future without him in it. and that terrified me, because he was a risk. but he was worth the heartbreak. even if it took a piece of me to get here." she looked up then, a small, knowing smile tugging at her lips. "turns out that piece didn’t really go missing, it just made space for him. for this."

she tilted her head toward rosie, her expression softening again, warm and a little teasing. "so perhaps that’s how it’ll happen for you, too. not the easy kind, not the neat, tied-up version, but the kind that finds you when you’re convinced it’s not your turn yet. maybe the timing’s all wrong until it’s suddenly not." her smile deepened, tender and light all at once. "and when that happens, i’ll be right here to say 'i told you so.'"

her eyes softened, the kind of fondness that came with recognition. "you’d surprise yourself, you know," she said, a touch of sincerity threading through the teasing lilt. "you’ve got this warmth about you that people feel even when you’re not trying. that’s kind of what it takes." then, a quiet laugh slipped out, her smile turning just a little more real. "ahh, my perfect manchild husband," she sighed, shaking her head. "he might still think of you as a kid even years from now. some habits die hard." her tone carried that soft amusement.

A muffled laugh slips through his lips before he can even control it, that boyish sound tempered with something gentler. ❝ Exactly the same? I'm practically bald, a bit tanned and got pruney hands now, Minnie-yah. But sure, I'll take that as a compliment. ❞ A quiet murmur, shifting closer with utmost careful ease. One broad hand supporting the back of the little prince's head, the other resting along the blanket's edge. For someone who's been under rigorous training on how to handle firearms, commanding a whole band of troops, it's such a stark sight—now holding something so fragile. Absurd. Yet somehow, it fits perfectly.

Warmth pulsing steady through ultra soft fabric and impossibly tiny fingers. For a moment, all the usual wit just fades, somewhat evaporating in the air. A rarity only for a selected few. Letting the silence stretch, filled only by the faint, delicate rhythm of the baby's breathing. ❝ Wow... ❞ The syllable hanging under his breath, caught between awe and amusement. ❝ Hey champ, don't worry, I don't always bring five-star chefs every time. Just this once... Just when your eomma had just survived the hardest mission only queens like her could... ❞ Laughter soft just escaping in a quiet curl from his breath, gaze flicking toward Minnie once more. Tender, genuine sincerity sneaking in between his teasing cadence.

her eyes softened as she watched him, noticing the careful ease in how he held james, the familiar quiet confidence tempered with a gentleness she hadn’t expected to see outside of fleeting messages and calls.

she let out another quiet laugh, brushing a stray strand of hair from her forehead, and then added, voice a little more playful but still tinged with relief, "but seriously, chocolate milk from bangkok? really, eunwoo? i might have to start expecting this every time you show up. you’re spoiling us both." her gaze lingered, a small warmth in her chest she hadn’t quite realized she was missing.