BETWEEN LOVE || BBANGSAZ (21+)

..9..

She still counts the Fridays'. haerin and danielle have long since given up on convincing Hanni to stop being a masochist and find Minji. But besides her initial fear when she realised she was in love, besides her refusal to jump into a new relationship right after her previous one ended, Hanni decided not to find Minji because it didn't feel right. She felt like Minji deserved better. Better than someone who had left her hanging for a month.

Hell, months. Because even before everything went to shit, she was leading Minji on. She was pretending there was nothing but sex between them, even though some days she simply wanted Minji's company more than anything else.

Minji deserved someone who wasn't going to hide their feelings for her, and Hanni didn't feel like she could be that person. Even now that she had no reason to hide them anymore.

But she still counts the Fridays'. Still counts all the weeks she's been without Minji. It feels a little like penance.

________

The time Hanni spent frantically painting after the last time with Minji, and the time she spent after that - feeling more creative than ever - has resulted in Hanni's biggest exhibition to date.

Looking around her gallery she feels proud, more so than ever she has before. Each of the pieces displayed are gorgeous and almost none of them are in the same style or theme. There's something for everyone. It's a diversity she never really thought herself capable of.

The exhibition is a full house, with people even waiting outside to be let in. She sold four paintings within and hour of opening. Hanni feels giddy. But there's another part of her, a constant voice in her head that's beckoning her to constantly look around the room, always in search of a familiar face.

Instinctively she knows Minji won't come. And she honestly has no idea how she would respond if she did. She wants to see her, craves to hear her voice or feel her touch again, but she's also scared. And unsure of what she'd even say.

So every time she looks around and doesn't spot Minji, she is both disappointed and relieved. It's often a dull feeling, considering the night is going so well and she's mostly occupied with talking to guests who are eager to buy pieces. Nearing the end of the evening almost every painting has a little orange dot stickered on the frame, signifying it's status as sold.

As the crowd slims and the room becomes pleasantly quiet, the feeling of missing Minji becomes stronger. She can only imagine how excited she'd be for Hanni, how proud. Her chest aches with the knowledge, and the loss.

"Hey," There's a soft hand on her shoulder and Hanni turns to see haerin smile gently at her. She squeezes her hand, silently thanking for all the help that evening.

"Hey."

"The last guest just left, so danielle and I are going to head home too, okay?" Hanni nods. They had agreed to clean most of the stuff up during the last hour of the exhibition and leave the rest for the morning.

"Thanks for everything." Hanni smiles.

"Anytime." haerin nods, clearly wanting to say more but hesitating. Eventually, she sighs, her shoulders slumping. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Hanni knows what she means, knows haerin and danielle must've seen her looking around, searching. She's torn on what to say. On one hand she is, on the other she isn't. She hasn't really been okay for months, but she's slowly getting there. Painting and selling and actually being able to live off her hobby is definitely helping her mood. haerin and danielle are definitely helping her be okay. She isn't quite there yet, but she's confident that one day she will.