room 722 (bbangsaz version)

Chapter 9: The Nakamura Kazuha Apology Tour

Author's Notes: You are all amazing!! That being said, there's a trigger warning for abuse mentions in this chapter, please read with caution.

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It had been a week. An entire week that Hanni had gone since she last spoke to Minji. Minji, who up until a week ago, she had spent every single day with. A week, nine hours, and forty seven minutes. Not that Hanni was counting. At the thought, Hanni drug her pencil down hard along the page and snapped off the tip again. Rather than dare to sharpen it, instead, she threw it down in a huff and hoisted herself onto her bed.

"Ooh, are you being a moody artist again?" Danielle asked from the other side of the room. Hanni glared back at her. "Yikes, okay, sorry," Danielle raised her hands in defense. "So, just wondering in a completely normal non-judgemental way, are you planning on studying for finals at all?" She asked. Hanni gave her a look. "I know you're upset and all, but come on, is it really worth ruining the semester over?" Logically, no, it wasn't. Hanni knew that, but she also knew that moping made her feel better. "Come on, Hanni," Danielle said, walking towards her. "I'm going down to Haerin's to study, you're welcome to come. We actually came up with this system where-"

"Dani, I'm fine, really," Hanni said. "I'm gonna study, I just-" she sighed. "I just need a break from all the school shit for a little."

"Fine, Danielle sighed. "But if you change your mind you know where to find me." She picked up a few textbooks and left, leaving Hanni alone with the silence in the room.

She tried to take a nap, but couldn't get her thoughts to slow down enough to let her sleep. She was used to feeling like this; tense, distant, but this time it was worse. Everything beyond her room felt too far or too much. She glanced guiltily toward her desk where her textbooks lay unopened. Before she could coax herself into studying, there was a knock at the door.

Hanni buried her head deeper into her pillow, ready to pretend she was asleep once Danielle came through the door. Normally, she would knock first, then look for her key, always complaining things get lost in her bag when Hanni would reprimand her. Strangely, the knocking didn't end after a minute like it usually did. Danielle must have forgotten her key. Hanni sat up, barely containing her annoyance as she crossed the room to open the door.

"Can you please stop leaving without your key?" Hanni huffed into the hallway. Immediately, she realized the person in front of her was not Danielle.

"Hey," Kazuha said. "Can we talk?" She asked after a beat, frowning into the the crack of the door.

"How did you get up here?" Hanni asked with barely contained contempt. She hadn't forgot about the mailroom. If fact, it's all she had been thinking about. She definitely hadn't forgot Kazuha's role in all of it.

"We do still have mutual friends, you know," Kazuha sighed softly, picking at the paint on the doorframe.

"I'm not really in the mood to talk," Hanni said quietly.

"I can do most of the talking," Kazuha shrugged. Reluctantly, Hanni opened the door, widening it just enough to let Kazuha pass. "So, you're the final stop on the Nakamura Kazuha apology tour," Kazuha joked, clapping her hands down awkwardly at her sides.

"Apology tour?" Hanni cocked an eyebrow at her. "I thought Nakamura Kazuha doesn't apologize to anyone ." She said, mocking. She pulled out her and Danielle's desk chairs and turned them to face each other, gesturing for Kazuha to take one.

"Yeah," Kazuha sighed as she sat. "Well, as painful it is for me to admit this, I fucked up." The corners of her mouth were turned up, but her eyes lacked any hint of a smile. Hanni didn't smile back.