Minji's Voice - Bbangsaz

Chapter 31

Hanni's POV

The days passed slowly. My heart felt like it was raw, and it was heavy on my chest. Tears came quickly to my eyes. I missed Minji so much that most days it felt like I was underwater, and I looked at the world around me wondering why I couldn't connect with them, because everything was cloudy, distant, and inaccessible.

I was worried about what she was doing.

Where was she sleeping?

How was she going to communicate when she had to?

Was she afraid?

I tried to forget about that, as it was one of the reasons she had left. She thought she was less of a person because she needed me to relate to the outside world. She hadn't said it exactly like that, but it was true. She didn't want to feel like I was her mother, she wanted to feel like my equal. She wanted to be my protector, for me to depend on her at times.

I understood that. It still broke my heart when she thought that leaving me was her solution to that problem.

Would she ever return?

When? And, if she did, would she still love me?

I didn't know, but I would wait for her. In fact, I wouldn't mind always waiting for her if I had to. I had told her that I would never leave, and I wasn't going to. I would be here when she returned.

I worked, visited Anne who was recovering quickly, walked along the lake, kept Minji's house clean and dusted, and I missed her. My days became a long endless wheel in which each one joined the next.

The town was a hotbed of gossip for a while, and from what I learned later, it didn't surprise anyone that Minji was Soohyun's daughter. People were also speculating about whether Minji would come back and demand to be given what was rightfully hers, and even whether she would come back or not. But I didn't care about any of that; I only wanted her.

Surprisingly, after the day of the parade, nothing was heard from Kim Min A. I thought maybe that should worry me, she didn't seem like the type of woman to sit back and accept losing, but I was too hurt to do anything about it. Maybe she just believed that Minji wasn't a threat to her. And maybe she wasn't. My heart hurt.

Beomgyu tried to talk to me several times after the day of the parade, but I was curt with him and, luckily, he didn't insist. I didn't hate him, but he had missed many opportunities to be a better person when it came to Minji. Instead, he had chosen to belittle someone who was already struggling in many ways. He would never have any respect for her. He was Minji's brother only by blood.

Autumn turned into winter. The vibrantly colored leaves dried and fell from the trees, the temperature dropped drastically, and the lake froze.

One day in late November, three months after Minji left, Maggie walked up to me where I was restocking the counter and put her hand on my shoulder.

"Are you planning on going home for Thanksgiving, Hanni?"

I stood up and shook my head. "No, I'll stay here."

Maggie looked at me sadly. "Honey, if she comes back while you're gone, I'll call you."

I shook my head more vehemently. "No, I need to be here if she comes back."

"It's okay, honey, it's okay," she had said. "Well, then you're coming to our house for Thanksgiving. Our daughter and her family will be in town. And Anne and her sister are coming too. We'll have a great time."

I smiled at Maggie. "It's okay, Maggie. Thank you."

"Good," she had smiled, but somehow she still looked sad.