Parallel Lives | BBANGSAZ

E P I L O G U E

H A N N I
—

THREE YEARS LATER

"Is this stupid? This feels stupid," I say, rubbing my sweaty palms on my jeans and staring straight at the white door.

"This is not stupid. I think it's cute," my best friend says as she adjusts my hair for the fifteenth time. "She's going to love it."

"What if she doesn't, though?" I can't help but wonder, tapping my foot against the hardwood floor. "What if she's really tired and just wants to go to sleep and tells me to fuck off?"

Suyeon throws her head back with a laugh. "Are we talking about the girl who goes to sleep at one thirty in the morning and wakes up at five anyway to have breakfast with you before you go to class?"

I chuckle, knowing I'm just talking nonsense. She would never do that to me. "I'm just nervous."

"Everything will be fine; don't worry." Her eyes sparkle. "I'm very happy for you, Hanni, but I'm leaving right now. Rei says they're close." She wraps her arms around me. "Good luck. Love you."

"Thank you, Suyeon. I'll tell you everything tomorrow." I promise her because I know she wants to be the first to hear what happened, and she's very lucky I see her first thing in the morning.

Our apartment is decorated with white and gold balloons, and a chocolate cake is lying on top of the coffee table. Aunt Giselle even wrote down 'Congrats on your 1st album!' in perfect calligraphy. My moms helped me put up some confetti on the floor and hang picture frames of Minji and me on the wall. Rei helped me pick the small velvet box I have in my pocket, and now all I have to do is wait until my sister brings my girlfriend home.

A home that has been just ours for months now, after Suyeon and Rei moved out. My sister lives just two floors down, but my best friend chose something close to work, moving out just ten minutes away from us. The apartment is now my home with Minji, and I'm hoping it stays that way for a while, until we're ready to get a house.

My heart races in my chest thinking about the meaning of all this. Minji finished recording her debut album with her record label just an hour ago, and I wanted to do something nice for her. Her real party is on Saturday, but that's a surprise. This is just for us.

We have been together for three years now; after we won the showcase, my girlfriend received a lot of calls from record labels, even international calls, but she wanted to do things right. She didn't sign anything until last year. She got her degree, and with my mom's help, she started pursuing her dream. My girlfriend is a singer. My heart flutters at that—how happy she must feel in this moment. She worked so hard on this album; she gave it her all, and now it's all done. Ready to be heard by the entire world, just like she wanted to.

And she's not the only one making her dreams come true.

Just five months ago, I opened the doors to Royal Academy, my own ballet studio. All my classes are full, all my students are happy, and my life feels like a dream. I'm teaching classes to kids from three to ten, while my best friend teaches the older kids from eleven to eighteen. She wanted to work with me as soon as I told her about my plan, and honestly, I couldn't have done it without her. She's great at all of this, and she claims she's perfectly content with it and doesn't want to go back to professional dancing. Yeah, I don't miss it either.

I'm twenty-one years old and I'm living my dream with the girl of my dreams; what else could I ask for?

But I want everything with Minji. Everything that she has to offer me—I am so in love with that girl. I want with her what my moms have: more than twenty years together, and they're still as in love as when I joined the family. I need that with my girl. I want it, and she shows me she wants it as well.