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HANA
"Hana, are you okay?"
Remi asked the moment she and Hana got out of the classroom. "Did Heeseung and you get in a fight?" Her eyes darted to Remi's direction. She was confused as to how the girl immediately guessed it. "Jihoon told me about your encounter with Heeseung yesterday." Remi clears it up to stop Hana's confusion.
Hana sighed. She tried to call Heeseung yesterday but after many failed attempts, she stopped. And now there she was, dragging both her feet to her classes. She hated this feeling, she wanted to fix their misunderstanding so bad but if he doesn't want to talk to her, she's left with no choice but to accept it and wait for him.
"Yeah." She responded to Remi.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Remi smiled comfortingly.
Hana nods. "I don't think the hallways is the best place to talk about this."
"Classes are over, do you want to go to a cafe instead? We can talk there." She suggested and Hana gladly agrees. There was a cafe near their campus so she didn't need to take her car just to go.
When they arrive, Remi ordered coffee for herself while she ordered tea for Hana. Once their order was there, she told Remi everything. She told her all about their fight and everything they said to each other. Lucky for Hana, Remi was a good listener and she listened intently as Hana continued to go on and on about her fight with Heeseung.
"So what are you feeling right now?"
Hana didn't know what to answer, she felt so many emotions and yet she couldn't name one.
"Guilt." The word escaped her lips. "It was my fault. Do you think I should just end my friendship with Jihoon? I mean, Hee doesn't like it, isn't relationships supposed to be all about compromise?"
Remi sighed. "I know you already can tell Jihoon likes you."
"Yes but I don't want to embarrass myself if I confront him. I'll look like an egotistic person." She admits. "It's my fault, I should've just rejected every help Jihoon gave me. I should've never put myself in a situation where Hee would be jealous."
"In my opinion, you're right when you said not hanging out with him anymore won't fix anything. But Heeseung has a point, is there something about your friendship with Jihoon that you can't give up?" Remi expressed her honest opinions which Hana appreciated very much.
Hana didn't speak and she recalled vividly her visit to her father's company.
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flashback to the day before the argument
Hana fixed her appearance before entering the company. The staffs immediately recognized her so they greeted her upon making eye contact with her.
Pressing the highest floor, she stood there, not anticipating her visit at all.
The elevator door opened and she greeted first his father's secretary who grinned at her nervously. "Ms. Jung. Your father is waiting for you in his office."
She nods. "Yes thank you." She pushed the door open and she sees her father sitting in his chair while reading a piece of paper. His eyes immediately averted to his daughter who had just entered. She bowed and smiled politely to him. "You asked for me?"
"Yes, we have to talk about something." He puts the paper down and crossed his arm. "Take a seat."
Hana sat at the couch and wandered her eyes around for a second. She, of course, caught sight of the picture frame of Hana holding Haneul when he was a baby in his desk. Tearing her eyes away from the frame, she looked back at her father who had a stern expression plastered all over his face.
"I also have to talk to you about something." She said.
"Oh? How about you go first? I want to hear what you have to say." He leaned on his chair as he waited for her to speak.
She inhales. "What do you really intend when you asked me to be friends with Jihoon?"
"So you caught on." Hana wasn't dense, especially since she knew very well the man sitting in front of her. "You must be worried about being arranged to him. Is that it?"
"Yes." She admits. "I don't want to dad."
His chuckle caught her off guard. It wasn't a cheery laugh but rather a condescending one. "As of now, I have no plan to arrange you two, especially since our partnership is doing good. I just want you to be in good terms with their son now that I know his father's health is slowly deteriorating."
"Your friendship will serve you well once you inherit the company." He adds.
"What if..." Hana trails off. "What if I don't want to be friends with him?"
His expression changed after hearing what she had to say. "Oh?"
"Dad, I don't want to use people for my own benefit. I think as my father you should already know that about me." Hana voiced out her thoughts. "I can't be friends with Jihoon because you said so."
"This is for your own good Hana, you may not understand now but you will in the future." He sternly says. "So you have no choice. You have to be in good terms with him and his family otherwise..."
"... I'll take your freedom from you."
Her eyes widened. "Y-You can't do that. I've done everything you asked me to."
He scoffs. "I'm being too soft on you. I allowed you to do everything you wanted even if you continue to disappoint me because of your academic performance." He massaged his temples.
She couldn't speak and instead she felt like she was about to throw up, but she held it back and sat there prim and proper. After that conversation, he instructed her to stay so she could learn more about the company.
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Hana couldn't disobey her father, not if disobeying him costs her freedom.
Truth be told, this freedom he spoke of did not feel like freedom at all. It's like putting one in a huge cage and then telling them they're free to do whatever they pleased but in reality, it was suffocating. To be entrapped in a cage with only so little to do and so little to see.
That is what she felt. He claims he allowed her to do everything she wanted but in truth, she was never allowed to do things she truly wanted. And the fact that she's studying business was the sole proof. She couldn't tell Remi the real reason because telling her would also mean admitting that the man many admires is actually a horrible father to his daughter.
"I'm sorry Remi, I can't say." Hana apologizes. "It's not that I don't trust you, it's just something I find hard talking about."
Remi smiled. "It's fine, friends shouldn't have to share everything about their lives. I understand. I just hope that you and your boyfriend would fix your misunderstanding, I'm not used to seeing you this lifeless."
She smiled back, thankful that someone like Remi was her friend. As much as she wanted to fix their misunderstanding, if Heeseung still doesn't want to reach out to her, then she'll understand him. Once they were done talking, she and Remi separated ways to go home. She texted her cousin so she could talk to Jake about what he told Heeseung, but a frown appeared on her lips when she finds out he already went home.
Groaning, she stomps to her car and angrily turns on the engine. "I'm going to kill Jake if I don't talk to him any sooner." Driving to her apartment, she spammed Jake with a bunch of useless stuff to annoy him like the childish person she was.
Once the elevator door opened, she shoved her phone back into her pocket and crossed her arms as she walked to her apartment. She massaged her temples and clenched her eyes when she felt a headache. Once she opened her eyes, she sees someone sitting in front of her apartment door, his face buried into his lap. It didn't even take her a second to recognize who that person was.
She kneeled to his eye level and tapped him in the arm. Heeseung raised his head and she noticed how his pupils dilated when he caught sight of her. She couldn't help but faintly smile because of that little detail.
"What are you doing here in the floor?" She stood up and extended her hand to help him stand up.
Grabbing her hand, he stood up and immediately pulls her to his arms. He hugged her tight as if he hasn't seen her in months.
"I'm sorry."
"Hee-"
"No, I'm sorry. I really am. I should've never said what I said yesterday, I should've just trusted you and your judgment." He apologized. "And I realized I have no rights to dictate who you want to be friends with and if you want to continue hanging out with him then it's fine."
She shook her head. "I'm sorry too, I should've never put myself in a situation like that and I promise, I'll talk to Jihoon tomorrow. I'll clear things up for the peace of our mind."
"I love you. If you want go ahead, I won't stop you." He said, kissing her in the lips.
"You know, if I wasn't looking at where I was going, I would've stepped on you." She chuckles to lighten up the mood.
He snickered. "That would've been funny." She opens her apartment so they could finally go in. "I'm sorry I haven't been answering your phone calls. I had to calm myself for a while, I knew if I heard your voice, I would come rushing to you."
She held his hand. "It's fine, I understand. I'm glad we fixed this today, I can't bear to celebrate today with us in bad terms."
He raised his eyebrow. "Why? What's with today?"
Her face dropped. "You don't know what today is?" She asked to make sure he wasn't joking but judging from his facial expression, he really was genuinely confused. "O-Oh I forgot I haven't told you, I got a high score in my paper." She made up a lie.
He grinned. "Congratulations! Do you want to go get ice cream to celebrate?"
She nods. "Sure! That sounds great."
The two of them got out of the apartment and Hana tried her best to cover up her frown with a smile. She thought he would remember their Monthsary but he never did, no matter how much she waited.
It's fine, I'm sure it just slipped out of his mind. It's only a Monthsary anyway.
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AUTHOR'S NOTE :
might change the update schedule since it's already holiday break hmm