Polaroid love {BBANGSAZ}

Chapter 2

Minji let herself plop onto the cold wooden floor of the gym as her badminton racquet clattered to the ground. She snatched her water bottle and downed it like a blood thirsty vampire. Only now did the exhaustion seem to engulf her in unforgiving waves, her eyes trailed tiredly around the gym, where most of her team mates were relishing in the little break they were given. 

"I'm nervous for the match tomorrow," a voice suddenly barged into Minji's ears as she jumped a little, startled by the presence of it. She turned to her side, only to be met with a pair of familiar cat like eyes. Haerin was her best friend, and the girl had the most silent foot steps.

"You don't have to be, you're one of the best here," Minji replied, giving Haerin a small smile as she stretched her aching muscles. As she was doing so, her eyes caught sight of a familiar figure laying outside on the lush green grass. It was none other than Hanni

Minji felt a smile creep onto her face at the sight of Hanni. They haven't really talked since they met in the library some weeks ago, they occasionally greeted each other in the hallways, and those brief interactions were enough to brighten Minji's day. The strange thing is, Minji became more and more curious about the other girl with each passing day, she never usually gave much thought to random acquaintances, so this was definitely new. 

She got up, dusting off her pants, determined to go and talk to Hanni, maybe get to know her better too. Haerin furrowed her eyebrows as she watched her best friend skip happily like a little kid getting ice cream towards the double doors of the university's gym. Minji was never the type to express her emotions, so it was rare to see her so outwardly giddy like this, Haerin couldn't help but wonder what the cause of this change in her monotonous friend was. She turned towards the direction Minji's eyes were glued to earlier and as she caught sight of the girl lying on the grass, a smirk plastered itself across her face.

"What are you smirking about? Have you finally lost your marbles?" the unmistakable annoying ass voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Shut up Jungwon, I already deal with you enough at home," Haerin groaned, getting up and walking away from her older brother. 

.............................................................

Hanni's eyes were closed as she laid on the soft green grass, the breeze brushing her skin. She liked spending time in nature, it was one of the places where you could experience the rare tranquility of not having to do or think about anything. Today was a good day as the afternoon sun shone softly down, wrapping the inhabitants of the earth in its warm embrace. 

"Hey Hanni," someone exclaimed happily.

The one being called sat up immediately, her eyes narrowing in annoyance and confusion. But it was immediately replaced with happiness and a weird warm fuzzy feeling when she caught sight of Minji walking towards her, a warm smile painted on her face. The badminton player sat down facing her.

A comfortable silence blanketed them, as they basked in the comfort of each other's presence. In a world where it was always fast paced and constant work was required just to get by, when they were together, doing nothing didn't feel so illegal. Even the simple task of talking didn't feel mandatory at all. It was strange, but it was a feeling neither of them could resist snuggling up to.

"So, how have you been?" Minji broke the silence, fiddling with her thumbs.

"I've been ok...just overwhelmed with things, what about you?" Hanni replied, her voice soft and tinted with a hint of exhaustion.

"Do you want to talk about it? Sometimes just letting things out can help a lot more than you think," the other girl offered.

Hanni's eyes widened in surprise. She felt a warm feeling rising up in her chest as her heart fluttered like a butterfly leaving its cacoon. It was a surprising yet heart warming gesture, considering the two had only met a few weeks before and never really talked much. 

Before she knew it, she felt something fall down her cheek.

Was it raining?

Looking up at the sky, it didn't seem like it was. The clouds were a bright white, gliding in the blue canvas of the sky in a nearly unseen motion.

"Hanni, are you ok? Why are you crying?" Minji asked, concern dominating her tone as she tried to keep her panic under control. The one in question hadn't even realised there was a waterfall of tears evacuating her eyes until the badminton player mentioned it.

She wiped at her face with her sleeves, with each swipe, she grew increasingly frustrated at the seemingly never ending flow of tears running a marathon down her face and it wasn't long before a sob escaped her.

Without hesitation, Minji engulfed Hanni in her embrace, pulling her close and rubbing her back gently. For some reason, this hurt. It hurt Minji to see this. She felt like her heart was being squeezed so hard it shattered into a million pieces when she saw the tears falling from Hanni's eyes. This was not how you were meant to feel about someone you only really just met. With that in mind, it begs the question.

What is this feeling?

"M..Minji," Hanni cried, snapping Minji out of her reverie.

"Yeah?" she asked softly, pulling away slightly so they could look at each other.

"I...I'm sorry...I...I don't know what's wrong with me," Hanni whispered, averting her gaze towards a nearby tree.

"There's nothing wrong with you, it's perfectly ok to cry, I'll always be here if you need a shoulder to lean on," Minji immediately denied the need for an apology as she smiled reassuringly at the girl in her arms. 

She hugged Hanni again as the latter buried her face on her shoulder. Their friendship grew stronger in that moment, the start of something new.

"Hey Hanni," Minji suddenly said.

"Y...Yeah?"

"Come to my badminton match tomorrow?"