HERSHE || BBANGSAZ ||

15. Girlfriend

"Hey, honey. I've been looking everywhere for you."

Minji is undeniably shocked to see Hanni there. Even so, Hanni's presence gave her momentary solace. She was on the verge of falling from the cliff when Hanni came in to save her.

"Honey, are you okay?" asked Hanni, holding Minji's face.

Minji peeked at Haerin for a second just to see that the latter was surprised too with Hanni's sudden appearance.

"H-how did you know I'm here?" she asked Hanni.

"I was looking for you and noticed that your IM status was idle, so I asked Heeseung." Hanni pulled her hand away to intertwine their hands together.

And Minji loved the warmth of Hanni's hand on hers. She looked at Haerin. "Uh, Haerin, this is--"

"Hanni, right?" Haerin's eyes were on Hanni who nodded at her. She shifted back to Minji. "Have you forgotten your girlfriend and I have already met?"

The term girlfriend is too much for Minji to take. "Uh. Yeah. I forgot..." She scratched her head.

"Minji has always been forgetful lately because she's too busy." Hanni brushed a stray hair from Minji's eyes. "Right, honey?"

Minji felt Hanni squeezing her hand. She nodded. "Yeah. Yeah..."

Haerin studied Hanni for a moment. "Your hair was long when we met last time. Decided to finally cut your hair short?"

"It's her request." Minji pointed at her fake girlfriend who smiled.

"Ahh." Haerin nodded.

"Um. Could you excuse us for a while?" Minji asked Haerin. "Hanni and I need to talk outside for a moment."

"Sure. We'll just be right here."

Minji didn't waste any second and dragged Hanni along outside the room.

—

They let go of each other's hands once they are outside.

"Are you all right?" asked Hanni, looking worriedly at her.

Minji evaluated herself for a second. "I think... I think I'm okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I'm cool."

Hanni exhaled. "Okay. That's good to hear."

"How did you know I'm here again?" asked Minji, still confused.

"I was looking for you because I needed to hand over the materials from Sunoo. Heeseung told me you're here."

Minji hummed. "And were you aware that Haerin is here?"

Hanni nodded. "I saw Haerin's picture on the outline Heeseung showed me."

"Oh."

"I went here because I was worried. It might affect you. It might affect your work. You lost the ability to speak the last time Haerin showed up in your apartment."

"Oh." Minji scratched the back of her neck, feeling embarrassed. "Thanks, Hanni."

"Were you affected?" asked Hanni.

"I don't know." Minji shrugged. "I'm confused. I thought she won't affect me anymore. But hearing her speak the way she spoke to me before made me feel something."

"Something like?"

"It's hard to explain." Minji smiled. "But I felt nostalgic a while ago there. Suddenly it felt like everything was coming back to me."