Her Bully | BBANGSAZ

F O R T Y

M I N J I
—

"Hey Minji, caramel or white chocolate?"

I'm playing with the tip of my Starbucks drink as Haerin leans forward on her chair, holding up a chunk of the two sweet flavors; Hyunseo observing us from the side with her eyebrows knitted together.

Narrowing my eyes on the two bars of chocolate, I nudge my chin to the caramel-flavored one.

"Caramel," I mumble, sighing for probably the nth time that day, my friends easily noticing it.

Hyunseo leans forward and bops my nose, making me scrunch it up on reflex as she giggles at me.

"What's gotten into you, Minji? Are you okay?"

Haerin nods and offers me a sympathetic look.

"Yeah—" she drawls, licking her lips. "You've been like this since you called last week."

I sip my drink to distract myself from their questions and sigh.

Unfortunately, I didn't tell Haerin about what happened between me and Hanni; I tried to, but I ended up crying the entire time when I reached her house, and I was thankful enough she didn't push for it. I don't think I could have handled that.

"It's nothing, I'm just tired," I mumble out as a reply, scratching my messy hair as they look to each other then back at me, not believing a single word coming out of my mouth.

Haerin sucks in her lips and frowns.

"You can tell us anything, you know?" And when she says this, it makes me think that the 'us' she's saying actually means 'me,' and she so desperately wants to know what's going on.

Why wouldn't she be? She's my best friend.

I nod my head slowly and smile.

"Yes, I know, but there's really nothing going on with me right now," I lie, shrugging my shoulders up.

They drop the subject, and I'm sulking deeper into my seat as I watch them interact with one another.

It's good Hyunseo was here, because if she wasn't, Haerin would be drilling me with questions—so in silence, I am very thankful for her.

I'm just not ready to tell Haerin about Hanni or my dilemmas.

She's just going to do everything in her power to help, and sometimes, she overreacts in her own little ways.

Plus, she's having problems with Danielle, so it's best not to add more to her list.

"Glee club."

Blinking, I narrow my eyes on Hyunseo.

Haerin chuckles and shakes her head. "No thanks, Hyunseo—as good as you guys sound, I'd love to join but—" she sighs, taking a gulp of her drink while chewing on the chocolate bar.

"I'm already having problems with my captainship in the team. Joining the Glee club will only piss Coach off, and then I'm out. How will I protect you and Minji if that happens?" she reasons out, giving a pointed look to her as Hyunseo whines.

"You're just a really good dancer." She tells her, throwing her hands in the air.

"We need good dancers. Most of us in the club are just singers that don't dance—plus a wheelchair-bound guy, that's a disadvantage."

I scrunch my nose up and blow a whistle. "Doesn't that mean it's an advantage? There's a handicap rule, isn't there?"

Hyunseo laughs and smiles softly at me. "Unfortunately, if you're in a singing choir, it's not a handicap."