Passion and Power

Chapter 43

Hanni woke to Yunjin's blaring phone alarm. Despite having a late practice start they both were still dead asleep due to their very late night. They both scrambled out of bed and dressed as fast as they could before running to catch the team bus. The girls flopped into a seat together and Hanni pulled out some energy bars for both of them. Looking around Hanni noticed most of the team was looking pretty bleary-eyed as well.

"Anyone need breakfast?" Hanni asked. A couple of hands went up and she tossed some bars to each of them.

"Thanks mom!" Haewon smirked and Hanni laughed. Next she pulled out her phone to text Minji, only to remember that it was dead the night before and she was too tired to plug it in.

"My head is killing me." Yunjin said. "You were smart not to drink last night."

"Yeah, I...didn't really feel like it. Still tired though. You know Coach is going to make us pay today."

"For sure. Worth it though."

"Definitely." Hanni grinned remembering the dancing and singing with her mates and new friends.

At practice Kazuha only smirked at the groans about hangovers and made them run harder. Hanni didn't mind, it felt good to throw herself into the training. Their first Cup match was only 3 days away.

At the break she went to the locker room and then searched the weight room and clinic to find Danielle. She wanted to give Minji a call with Danielle's phone since she hadn't been able to reach her the night before. Having no luck she headed out to the cafe where the team was having lunch. She found Wonyoung in the hallway, blocking her path.

"Hey Hanni. Do you have a minute?"

"Sure, what's up?" She could tell Wonyoung was distressed.

"About last night, I'm really sorry! I left with one of the players from Norway. She showed me the article and I just. I wasn't thinking. I was feeling jealous about what you have with Minji and..."

"Wonyoung, please. Slow down. What article? What does Minji have to do with you going home with another player?"

"You mean Minji didn't talk to you about the article?"

"I haven't talked to Minji since yesterday afternoon. I was out late and my phone was dead. Did something come out in the news about KCorp? Or Minji?" Hanni was at a complete loss.

"No. No, it was just an online article. About the team partying last night..."

"I don't understand. What does that have to do with Minji?"

"Well, I sent her a link to the article."

"So?"

Wonyoung took out her phone and pulled up the images. She paged down to the ones of Hanni that looked like she was being intimate with another woman. She sheepishly held the phone for Hanni to see.

"Wonyoung - that's me with Yunjin!"

"I, well, I couldn't really tell who it was! I just thought it was you with someone else. And I just...wanted Minji to know. I'm sorry! I sent it before I really thought about it. I was drunk, Hanni! I didn't mean to..."

Hanni's face went white at the realization of what Minji saw and probably thought about her dancing with Yunjin. The fact that she hadn't been in touch made it that much worse. She was vaguely aware that Wonyoung was still rambling an explanation.

"Stop! Just, give me your phone. I need to call Minji."

Wonyoung handed the phone over. "I don't think she'll answer a call from my phone. She texted me to lose her number, forever."