It's Been A While | Minji x Haerin x Hanni

2

Third POV

Minji was finishing up her homework on her desk in the corner of the room, but immediately stopped and turned around when she heard a knocking sound.

"Come in." She invited Haerin into her room and continued to complete her schoolwork.

After a few minutes, she was finally done and put her books away. Minji forgot that Haerin was present due to the quietness, but she saw the younger girl looking at a framed photo of the two of them when they were kids.

"Damn, I should've put that away." Minji thought. She still had stuff in her room that was filled with memories she had shared with Haerin, but she was too busy with schoolwork to actually bother getting rid of anything. Or maybe deep down she didn't want to.

"Should we start now?" Minji's voice tore Haerin's eyes away from the picture and now they were looking at each other.

"Sure." Haerin gave her a small smile, which was sadly not returned.

They both sat on the floor across from each other, taking out their notebooks.

"So... what do you want to do after graduation?" The cat-eyed girl asked.

"Attend SNU and go into pre-med while majoring in biology. After that, I want to intern at a hospital-"

"You want to become a doctor? I would've never guessed... it was always your dream to be a singer." Haerin cut her off with a confused expression on her face.

"Yeah well things change, Haerin. We're growing up and have to start thinking about how we can survive in this world."

"Sure, you'll make a good salary from being a doctor, but are you sure it's the career that's suitable for you? I remember when you said you'd never be a doctor like your parents and how passionate you were about singing, don't let them get in the way of your happiness."

Minji gritted her teeth, honestly mad at the other girl for talking to her like how they used to as if they were still friends.

"What do you know? What gives you the right to tell me what to do with my life. Are we friends, Haerin?" Minji spewed out.

The older girl's words made Haerin nervous inside, but her demeanor didn't show it.

"I want to be."

Well this caught Minji off guard.

"I want us to be friends again, Minji. I'm not expecting for us to pick up right where we left off, but maybe we can start over? I miss you and I hate not having the privilege to speak to you apart from this project... but I understand if you don't-"

"I'd be lying to myself if I said I didn't miss you too..." Minji sighed out. She was staring down at the floor, unable to see the cheeky grin that was forming on Haerin's face.

"I think we both said some things we didn't mean back then and I regret not apologizing sooner. You are the one person I cannot imagine not being in my life, Kang Haerin."

Minji looked up at the girl as she felt a slight push on her shoulder.

"Stop being so sappy, you seemed to be fine without me with Hyein clinging onto you." The two of them laughed a little when the hyper and affectionate tall girl was mentioned.

"Oh right. Before I can fully accept your invitation to being friends again, you do owe Hyein an apology as well." Minji said seriously and Haerin agreed. She was already planning to make amends with her tomorrow and is hoping it'll go smoothly since Minji had already forgiven her.

They both decided to work on the project in moderation instead of expediting it, in order to catch up on their long hiatus from each other.

"Are you going to Chaewon unnie's party on Friday?" Minji turned to face Haerin. They were laying down on the bed while watching a documentary about frogs, per the younger girl's request of course. Minji really didn't care, but every time Haerin would get fascinated or excited by any new facts about the amphibian, her heart felt warm.

"Mhm, are you?" Minji nodded and Haerin's eyes got a bit bigger.

"Wow, I never thought I'd see the day. You always refused to go with me to one."

"Hyein did make some good points about how I should have some more fun. I guess I shouldn't oppose since it's our last year."

"That giant says some weird shit occasionally, but she's actually making sense this time." Haerin said, making Minji chuckle.

"Do you want us to give you a lift there?"

Haerin shook her head, "No, it's okay. Danielle and I have to go meet with her friend, so we'll see you guys there."

It's been a while since Minji had heard that name, but it didn't bother her anymore. She was just happy to have her friend back and learned her lesson to not expect anything else out of it.

"How are you and Danielle?" Minji asked out of politeness, not that she was curious or anything.

Haerin's brows furrowed a little before a faint smile casted onto her lips.

"We're good."

"Good."

They continued to watch the documentary until Haerin had to go home for dinner. It didn't take her long to get there since she lived right next door to the older girl, only a driveway separating their houses. Minji would usually get up to leave for school at six in the morning and come home rather late, so it was easy for the two to not cross paths in the recent years.

The class president was too tired to even eat supper, so she went straight to bed for the night. Unlike Haerin, Minji's parents were hardly around in her life. They were overloaded with work at the hospital and basically lived there. When they were home, Minji wouldn't speak more than three words to them, she'd stay locked in her room. Aside from Haerin and Hyein, Minji was emotionally distant from other people and her classmates often found her to be cold, yet they still admired her visuals and intelligence.