hello, i'm minji

♡

"Hello, I'm Minji!" The tiny girl stuck her hand out with much enthusiasm, literally bouncing on her feet.

Haerin eyed the cheery girl warily, looking up and behind her to get reassurance from her parents that this girl wasn't the "stranger danger" that they had always warned her about. Haerin's parents, however, were too engrossed in a conversation with the man and woman standing behind the tiny girl, whose name might be Minji.

Haerin didn't want to move to a new home. She begged her parents not to. She cried at their feet for hours (it was only two minutes before they gave her a slice of bread and she immediately cheered up, gobbling at the bread with puffed-up eyes and wet, rosy cheeks) to convince them to stay.

Haerin's parents said something about a per-man-ant job which she thought was odd. Why would humans and ants want to work together?

The tiny girl whose name was supposedly Minji (Haerin couldn't be too sure yet, what if she was lying?) had her arm still extended, waiting for a response. So-called Minji was still smiling cheerily, which Haerin thought was suspicious because what was there to be so happy about?

"What's taking you so long? My arm is getting tired," the tiny girl huffed.

And with that, Haerin turned around and ran through the gap between her parent's legs back into their new house, all the way to her couch, hiding underneath the cushions, hoping that she would never see that too-happy stranger ever again.

-

The next time she spotted the girl, Haerin and her mom were gardening together in front of their porch.

Haerin sprang up and hid behind her mom's legs who also got up, wiping her hands off on her pants, talking to another woman who seemed to be related to maybe-Minji.

Haerin peeked her head around her mom's legs from time to time, wishing each time that the next time she peeked out, the girl would not be there anymore and vanish into thin air.

Almost like a miracle, the girl did! Haerin relaxed a little before she felt a tap on her shoulder, the opposite side she was peeking out from.

She jumped and hugged her mom's leg so tightly she thought it might fall off, grabbing her mom's attention.

"Hi!" The tiny girl said. This time, her arms were hidden behind her back instead of extending for a handshake. "I got you something!"

Haerin looked up at her mom, this time her mom was smiling down at her, letting Haerin relax knowing the tiny girl wasn't dangerous.

"Go on, Haerin," her mom encouraged, adoring the interaction between the two children. "Go see what Minji got for you."

Haerin cautiously moved away from her mom's legs and closer to Minji. "What did you get?"

Minji excitedly brought her hands in front of her, holding a toy cat plushie in them. "Look! Do you like it?" She asked, smiling at Haerin.

Haerin gasped. How did she know she liked cats? Haerin reached forward and received the plushie, immediately hugging it tightly to her body the moment it was in her possession.

"Thank you, Minji," she said, softly smiling.

Minji gave her a half smirk before sticking her hand out once again as she did during their first 'meeting.'

"Can you shake my hand this time? I'm sorry if I scared you last time, I didn't mean to."

Haerin looked at the hand extended out toward her, and then looked at Minji's face, observing the small smirk-smile that she had on, the way her eyes sparkled in the light, the way her nose was so sharp and defined. She didn't know whether it was the gift, or whether it was Minji's charisma. She decided right there and then that Minji would be her bestest friend in the whole world.