On the sand of time

Chapter 29: Persuasion

The stressful exam week was over. The girls went for karaoke after their last exam. They sang solos and some duets and danced together. Danielle was really excited the first few minutes and even sang a Disney song but within half an hour she fell asleep and slept through the noise  for the whole of the remaining damn hours. The thought of leaving Korea, and to be very specific, leaving Haerin behind needed mental preparation and her preparation wasn't going so well and it started to affect her daily life and her sleep routines.

She knows Haerin, she knows how determined she is and so she won't ask her to follow her in college, she knows she won't succeed. And she'll be fine with the distance, yes she'll be.. she will make sure of it. But will Haerin be fine with the distance? Where does their relationship go from here? If they part ways now will their path ever get crossed in the future? "No, leaving Korea shouldn't mean an end for us, right?" She kept on asking herself when she should be asking that to Haerin.

Despite the winter being the coldest in recent years, the girls hung out together almost every day until Eunchae left five days before Christmas. Hyein, Haerin and Hanni cried as if Eunchae left forever. But who knows when will they get to meet altogether again?
"Probably the convocation day. " Minji's that one fine mood breaker that's always in a group.

On Christmas Eve, Hanni briefly visited Hyein and Minji. Her family will be moving on the new year's eve and Hanni's mom's cafe has been shut down for some days now. Hyein complained about how it would be Haerin and her who would get haunted by their absence. They won't be able to pass Hanni's street without getting consumed by the nostalgia and won't be able to see Eunchae's dorm and not miss her.
"It's not fair." Hyein said for the nth time.

"Hyein, we will be reminded of each other by every fucking thing. Everything will make me miss you guys. But it's the course of time. We can't do anything against it. The best we can do is stay in touch, visit each other whenever we can and get reunions sometimes." Hanni made sense but they still hugged and cried together.

Hanni didn't make a big deal out of Minji's change of plan but she does nag Minji every now and then about the distance that was waiting between them. They spent a great amount of time with each other and considering how physically intimate their relationship was, Hanni's fear was understandable. Minji doesn't want the distance too, she was as afraid as Hanni but she has no other choice. "If we can't survive the distance, we don't deserve to be together." She said firmly which makes Hanni feel challenged yet relieved, angry but determined to survive the distance.

Later that night, sitting in front of the fire Hyein tried to persuade Minji to go to the States as planned earlier.
"You should really reconsider going to the States Minji. Hanni is counting on being close to you."

"I know... But the plan changed. I wish it didn't." Minji replied staring at the fire.

"You can always choose whatever you want.. no one's forcing you. It's not like you have always obliged to them." Hyein tried to reason.

"It's not always about them, Hyein. I chose to continue the company myself." Minji replied looking straight into her sister's eyes.

"What about Hanni? You know she's going there because of you. Don't you think you're hurting her by not going?" Hyein asked.

"The States provide better opportunities for her dream.. you worry about me hurting her but she might be the one getting caught up in her Hollywood world meeting all those attractive people." Minji expressed her insecurities.

"But you know she's committed to you! Moving apart can be tough on relationships." Hyein still defended her best friend.

"Hyeinah, distance isn't the only threat to a relationship... She might end up hurting me too. But that's fine, I'll readily get hurt for her." Minji looked so sad that Hyein gave her a hug.