You hurt me (but that's okay) | Bbangsaz

Chapter Ten

Hanni slept restlessly in the guest bed in Haerin's home. Despite the fact that Haerin home was the place she felt safest as of late, she still found herself waking every half hour or so in a state of panic. She was painfully aware that she'd overdone it today, and also acutely aware that nothing was going to get any better if she kept the truth hidden from everyone.

Still, telling the truth terrified her to no end, since she couldn't see a way it could possibly end well for her. One one hand, Minji could become furious with her, as this baby was going to destroy everything Minji had with Hyun-Ji. If that was the case, Hanni figured either Minji could deny it completely, and go on with her life as if she had no connection to this child whatsoever, or Minji could tell the truth, which included confessing to Hyun-Ji that she'd cheated on him. The wedding would likely be called off at that point, and Hanni was sure that Minji would blame her for it completely.

Hanni dreaded the fallout from that. How would she and Minji co-parent this child if Minji hated her?

Hanni supposed there was a third option she hadn't considered yet: she could tell Minji, and Minji could be happy about it. Maybe she'd even leave Hyun-Ji and insist on starting a new life with Hanni and the baby. They'd be together, get married, and be a happy little family.

And Hanni quickly realized, that was the worst option of all.

She didn't want to be a consolation prize when things didn't work out with Hyun-Ji, and she certainly didn't want Minji choose her because of the baby. She wanted something real, and for a time she had thought she might be able to have that with Minji.

Now, she wasn't so convinced.

Hanni sighed and sat up in bed, fishing for her phone from the back pocket of her jeans. She'd heard it go off with a few texts while she tried in vain to go back to sleep, but she guessed that wasn't happening any time soon. She swiped the lock screen, expecting to find several missed messages from her mother, but to her surprise, the messages were from Rex and Minji.

Rex was asking to stay with her again tonight, to which she shot back a quick 'yeah, of course, Kid." She opened Minji's messages next, not really sure what to expect.

Hanni, are you alright? I called Haerin and she told me that you're sleeping. Please message me when you wake up.

Hanni, I don't think these are normal pregnancy symptoms, and I'm worried about you.

Maybe we should talk. Soon. Alright?

Hanni felt her heart pounding in her chest. She hadn't known what to expect, but this certainly wasn't it. Minji wanted to talk, this was new, and Hanni wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

She couldn't help her fingers shaking as she typed out her response.

I'm okay. Rex's gonna spend the night. And yeah, we should talk soon.

Hanni chewed on her bottom lip as she sent the text, put her phone back in her pocket and got up to find Haerin and Hyein. Unconsciously, she wrapped her fingers around the dimly glowing pendant around her neck, finding that the trace amounts of Minji's magic really did take the edge off. Emotionally charged situations seemed to have her draining quicker than normal, and since every situation seemed emotionally charged lately, Hanni really was grateful that Haerin had thought of this.

"Oh, hey there, Sleeping Beauty," Hyein commented, as Hanni entered the room.

Hanni glanced between Hyein and Haerin, who now had her eyebrow raised, looking at her daughter. "That's… not funny."

"Especially not when you look like you haven't slept in a week," Haerin agreed. "Come sit down, Hanni. You're swaying and it's making me nervous."

"I actually feel kind of okay," Hanni remarked, as she came to sit between Haerin and Hyein. "This pendant is helping, I think."