Parallel Lives | BBANGSAZ

F O U R T E E N

M I N J I
—

I don't know why I'm here.

I should not be here.

I shouldn't have put on my favorite wide-leg jeans, my white sneakers, and my favorite black hoodie with a little Spider-Man mask above my heart. I shouldn't have put on makeup; I shouldn't have let Haerin do my hair. And I definitely should not have rung the doorbell.

Technically, I didn't. Haerin stands next to me with her arm linked with mine and a soft smile on her face. Why isn't she freaking out? I feel my entire body shaking as we stare at the white door.

I'm here, standing in front of the Pham family's beach house, because of the girl beside me. She had read my conversation with Hanni—she took my phone away from my hands when she read Hanni's text inviting me here, and before I could even take my phone back from her, she wrote something and hit send. I am here, and it's her fault, and she is not freaking out. She's about to meet the people she's been reading about on the internet and fantasizing about knowing, and she's not even shaking. She's just... there.

I can hear the laughter and loud voices from inside, which immediately stopped when Haerin rang the doorbell. My heart skipped too many beats at once—it's not like I haven't hung out with Hanni 24 hours ago. It was fun. We had fun—god, we even shared a moment when she almost had a panic attack from the storm.

She invited me here.

That makes us friends, right?

You don't belong in her world, a voice in my head says, and I blow out a long breath. I know I don't—that's why I shouldn't be here.

The world doesn't stop just because I want it to, because three minutes later a redhead opens the door—a very drunk, very tipsy, very pretty redhead. Rei Pham stares at me like we've been best friends forever, showing me her perfect white teeth when she smiles and her eyes flickering with something... amusement? I don't know. She hated me three days ago, Jesus Christ. Her eyes land on my best friend next to me, and she grins even wider.

"Hello! Hi!" she practically screams in our faces, and a smile curves on my lips. Huh. Rei Pham is fun when she doesn't hate me. "Minji, hi. Come in, come in." She opens the door and leans against the wall for support, letting us get inside.

A tall man—athletic build, strong muscles, a pretty face with a head full of dark curls and dark eyes appears in front of us, towering over the three of us. I notice Rei's face lighting up when she looks up at him, and I immediately recognize him. Park Sunghoon. The captain of the Vancouver Devils at UBC. Holy shit, he is handsome. The girls from campus were not fucking exaggerating.

"I'm sorry for her," he says, his voice low and raspy, but his eyes soften when he looks at the pretty redhead. "She's been drinking way too much. You must be Minji."

My eyes widen when I notice I haven't said anything yet, and Hanni is nowhere to be seen. I clear my throat. "I—uh, yes. I'm Minji, and this is Haerin. Nice to meet you."

He smiles, showing off two dimples on his cheeks. "I'm Sunghoon. This is Rei. I'm aware you're Hanni's... friend, right?" He tilts his head, and I can simply nod, feeling Haerin freeze next to me. "You probably know who we are, and... before we go in, I just want to ask both of you not to share the location of this house. It's the only place we can escape and be free for a few hours. Is that okay with you? Can we trust you?"

Something warms in my chest. Promise me I can trust you. That was the last message I got from Hanni, and it scared the shit out of me. Not sharing the location of her house because she is famous. Like her whole family and friends are fucking famous. I didn't understand, but I said yes. I told her she could trust me because something in my mind said so. I wanted her to trust me, and not just with the location of her secret house.