Unwritten Chords Of Love

Pieces of Us

The days after Minji's graduation were quieter than Hanni expected. The summer stretched out before her, empty and wide, a canvas of possibilities with no clear direction. Minji was gone—physically, at least. The band disbanded, the school year came to a close, and the routines that had filled her life for months were now absent, leaving Hanni to wonder what was next.

She kept herself busy, of course. She studied for her final exams and spent time with her friends, but there was an underlying emptiness that she couldn't shake. It wasn't that she didn't have a life outside of Minji; it was that, after everything they'd shared, it felt like a part of her was missing.

She found herself picking up her guitar more often, the familiar strings a comforting presence in her solitude. Music had always been a way for her to express herself, but now it became a way to sort through the jumble of emotions inside her. She wrote songs, not just about Minji, but about everything—the confusion, the heartache, the yearning for something that felt just out of reach.

Sometimes, she'd look at her phone, half-expecting to see a message from Minji. But there were none. They hadn't spoken much since graduation, and the messages they did exchange were brief and polite. It wasn't that Minji was avoiding her; it was that things between them had changed, and the distance between them felt like a chasm neither of them knew how to cross.

One afternoon, about a month after graduation, Hanni was sitting on the steps outside her school, strumming her guitar absentmindedly. The sun was warm, and the sounds of the world around her seemed almost too loud, as if everything was moving in fast-forward while she was stuck in slow motion.

As she played, her thoughts drifted back to Minji. She hadn't realized how much she missed her until now—missed the way they used to talk for hours about everything and nothing, missed the way Minji's laughter could brighten even the darkest of days, missed the way Minji's eyes would light up when she talked about her dreams.

Hanni hadn't even known she was falling for Minji until it was already too late. And now, as the summer began to unfold, she realized that whatever they had between them—whatever that connection was—hadn't been a mistake. It had been real. But maybe it had never been meant to last.

"Are you trying to be the next big thing, or just finding yourself?"

Hanni looked up, startled, to find Jiwoo standing at the bottom
of the steps, arms crossed, a playful grin on her face. Hanni hadn't even noticed her approaching.

"Just trying to figure it out," Hanni said, her voice a little more subdued than she intended. "You know, the usual."

Jiwoo chuckled, sitting down next to her. "You've been 'figuring it out' for weeks now, Hanni. Maybe it's time you stop thinking and start doing."

"I don't even know what I'm supposed to be doing," Hanni admitted, her fingers stilling on the guitar strings. "Everything feels so... empty. Like there's a hole I can't fill, no matter how much I try."

Jiwoo raised an eyebrow. "Is that hole Minji-shaped?"

Hanni flinched, the question hitting closer to home than she'd expected. She didn't answer immediately, instead looking down at her guitar.

"I don't know," Hanni said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I think I thought it was. But I don't know anymore. I guess I'm still trying to figure out what she was to me."

watched her for a long moment, the grin fading into something more thoughtful. "Maybe you're not supposed to figure it out right now. Maybe you just need to give yourself permission to feel whatever it is you're feeling. To miss her, to be confused, to be sad. Whatever it is, it's okay. It doesn't have to make sense."

"I don't know how to make it okay, though," Hanni said, her fingers now tugging absentmindedly at the strings of her guitar. "I don't want to hold on to something that's not there anymore, but I don't know how to let go of it either."

Jiwoo placed a hand gently on Hanni's shoulder. "You don't have to let go right away. Letting go doesn't mean forgetting—it just means accepting. You get to carry what was good about your time with Minji with you, but you also get to leave the things that don't serve you anymore. You don't have to have all the answers. Just take it one day at a time."

Hanni nodded, the weight in her chest lightening just a little. "One day at a time, huh?"

"Yeah," Jiwoo said with a small smile. "You don't have to have it all figured out by tomorrow. But you do need to be kind to yourself in the meantime."

The silence between them was comfortable for once. Hanni felt the truth of Jiwoo's words sink in. She had been so focused on what she *should* feel, on finding the perfect answer to her confusion, that she hadn't given herself the space to simply exist in the
middle of it all.

"Thanks, Jiwoo," Hanni said, the corner of her mouth lifting in gratitude. "I needed to hear that."

"No problem," Jiwoo replied, grinning again. "Now, are you gonna write that song or what?"

Hanni chuckled, the weight on her shoulders easing just a little more. "Yeah, I think it's time."

As they sat there together, the sun dipping lower in the sky, Hanni finally picked her guitar back up, letting the notes spill out like a quiet confession. She wasn't sure where her music would take her or what her future with Minji would look like, but for the first time in a long while, she didn't feel like she needed to know. Not right now, at least.

She just needed to play.

And maybe, just maybe, that was enough for today.

---

Later that evening, after Jiwoo had left to meet up with some friends, Hanni found herself walking down the familiar path to the park, her guitar case slung over her shoulder. The park had been a place of comfort for her—where she had spent countless hours practicing, playing, and sometimes just thinking about life. It was a place where time seemed to slow down, and she could breathe without the pressure of the world around her.

As she sat on the park bench, setting her guitar beside her, she let the cool evening air wash over her. She closed her eyes for a moment, listening to the sounds of the city—the distant hum of cars, the soft rustling of leaves in the trees. And then, in the quiet, she heard a voice.

"Hanni?"

Hanni opened her eyes to see Minji standing a few feet away, her eyes wide in surprise.

"Minji?" Hanni blinked, her heart skipping a beat. She hadn't expected to see her here.

Minji smiled softly, walking toward her. "I didn't expect to find you here. I... I've been thinking about
you."

Hanni's heart thudded in her chest, but she didn't know what to say. "You have?"

Minji nodded, sitting down beside her. "Yeah. I've been meaning to reach out, but I didn't know how. Everything's been so... busy. And weird. But I wanted to say... I'm glad we had the time we did. Even if things didn't turn out how I thought they would."

Hanni swallowed, the words catching in her throat. "I've been thinking about that too. About what we were, what we are, and what happens next."

Minji turned to her, her eyes soft. "I don't have all the answers. But I think it's okay for us to still be a part of each other's lives. Just in a different way."

Hanni's heart fluttered at her words, and for a moment, she just sat there, letting them settle between them.

"Yeah," Hanni whispered. "I think that's okay too."

And as the night stretched on, with the park lights flickering softly around them, Hanni realized that sometimes, the pieces of us that we're afraid to let go of aren't really gone at all. They're just waiting to be put back together in a new way.

One step at a time.