April 21, 1998
Haerin's POV
It's been about three weeks since Minji has been back. In fact I think she hasn't gone to the future since she's been back—at least she hasn't told me that she has. I'm scared. I'm scared she'll go back and this time she won't come back. She's probably annoyed with how much time I'm spending with her—but I'm scared that if I leave her she'll disappear.
"What's wrong with you?" Jungwon raised an eyebrow passing me one singular m&m. It wasn't even a good one, it was orange.
"Nothing." I gave him a small smile, grabbed the m&m and popped it in my mouth.
"I know you're lying." Twin telepathy is a real thing and it never misses. I can never get anything by the boy.
"Do you think Minji is annoyed with me spending so much time with her?" He looked so surprised as if my question was the most shocking thing in the world.
"That girl worships the ground you walk on. In fact Hyein and I have a bet going on for when she proposes." Proposes? We've been dating for a month. We are in highschool.
"What are the bets?" Might as well ask now that my interest has peaked.
"I said the minute we're done with school, but Hyein thinks she'll do it as soon as she can afford to get a ring." Jungwon laughs, pouring the rest of the m&m's in his mouth, chomping down on them. As my brother continues loudly chewing the rest of his food I see Dani out of the corner of my eye.
Danielle Marsh. Dani seems to sense me looking over at her so she looks over and flashes me a bright smile as she continues walking into the school. I know she's working hard to be able to talk and be around me like we used to, but everytime I see her I can't help but feel guilty. Ten years together I ended in one conversation. How can a person do that? How could I do that to her? Dani has never done anything wrong, never gave me any reason to doubt her, and I shattered her heart. I still find myself looking in the direction of the half-Australian even though she was no longer there. I see Jungwon turn around in his chair trying to see what I was looking at, but there was nothing there anymore.
I don't know how to act anymore. I'm constantly worried about whether Minji is going to get jealous seeing us together. I can't take her being upset with me, last time she was I had a panic attack—I haven't had one of those in years. I even called the girl to make sure she wasn't mad at me. I hate using the phone. If I could I would demolish every single one. She hasn't expressed her being jealous since that one time at the park a couple weeks ago and now every move I make I think whether or not Minji would be upset with it. It's not her fault it's my own that I feel this way. She has been nothing but kind to me and reassuring. Dani has asked me to hang out several times since then and I just can't bring myself to do it unless everyone is going. I don't want Minji to think anything is happening between us because there isn't.
"After school Minji wants you to come over." Jungwon begins gathering his things to head to his first class as he hands me the new pair of earmuffs Minji bought me the other day since those girls broke my old one. It's really cute they have little cat ears on them.
"How do you know?" The taller boy snickered as he adjusted the earmuffs on my head.
"She called." I hum in response as we walk together to our first class. Minji has never invited me over to her house—well I guess it's not really her house. I wish she would tell me about her in the future, but I'm too scared to bring it up.
-
Heesoo's POV
Today is a good day. School is almost over and no one is fighting or upset—that I know of at least. During lunch today Jungwon brought me a little cake from a bakery near our school, however I didn't get to eat it because Hyein and Hanbi got to it before I could. Like they quite literally ran away with it and just came back with an empty box. They couldn't even leave me a bite?
"What are you doing after school?" I look over and see Dani leaning over and whispering so the teacher won't catch her.
"Nothing, why?" I whisper back to the wavy haired girl.
"Do you want to see if Hanbi and Hyein want to hang out?" I nod with a smile on my face.
"What about Haerin and Jungwon?" Danielle seemed to think for a moment then a frown formed on her face.
"I don't think Haerin would want to come." Huh why? I thought they were on good terms again.
"Why not?" Dani shrugs, leaning back over in her chair. That's really weird—Haerin always hangs out with us. Why wouldn't she want to now?
Class ended and I immediately stopped Danielle from leaning the classroom and waited until the room cleared and it was just us in there.
"Heesoo it's not a big deal really she's probably going to go hang out with Minji." Oh. So this is what this is about.
"We could invite Minji as well—she's also our friend. Right?" Dani sighs leaning against the teacher desk looking out the window at students scrambling to get off campus since school is over.
"I just feel like they don't want me around when they are together." Huh? Why would they think that? Haerin loves spending time with Dani and Minji is so kind she wouldn't care. It is probably uncomfortable for all parties to be fair. It's a tough situation they are in.
"They probably are just worried about you. Maybe you should talk to them about it?" As if what I said was the most outlandish thing on earth, the girl in front of me eyes widened as she shook her hand back and forth.
"No no that'll make things worse—I'm probably just imagining things anyway." This is so sad honestly. I wish I knew what I could do to make Dani feel better. I can't imagine going through what she has the past couple months. She's better than me because I would've spent the next year crying if the person I loved left me for someone they met after two days.
"I think you should at least talk to Haerin—I don't know but you guys are best friends above anything else. You shouldn't feel weird about hanging out with your best friend." Danielle smiles a little bit pulling me into her soft embrace holding me tight for a second before letting go.
"I'll talk to her. I just want her to know that I'm not upset with her or Minji. I'm not going to lie, it still hurts, but I'll get over it eventually." I pat the Australian girl's head before grabbing her hand leading her out of the school.
"You deserve only good things Dani. You're going to get out of this town and get your dream job and have a big family that I know you'll cherish." I say leaning against her side as she leans back against mine.
"You too Heesoo. I'm sure you'll get everything you want in life."
-
April 17, 2023
I've been here a little over a week in the future and dear god I think I'm stuck here. I've tried everything to escape. Praying, random rituals I looked up online, thinking really hard. I don't know what else to do and what makes it worse is that this tiny annoying girl is with me ALL the time. In fact she's here right now watching tv with volume on 100 and smacking her lips as she chews gum. I feel my left eye twitch at her annoying habits.
"Can you turn that down I can't fucking think?!?!" I yell from across the room where I'm sitting at future Minji's desk going through her mothers diary to see if there are any updates about her and there is in fact nothing of relevance or importance. Is she even trying to get back?
"No I can't hear it over your annoying mumbling to yourself." You've got to be kidding me. I turn around in the chair and face the girl who is spread out on my bed acting like she runs the place.
"Give me the remote!" I stand up from the desk looking down at the smaller girl with a scowl reaching out my hand.
"No." God she's so annoying!
"Give me the remote right now!" I raise my voice getting closer to the girl. Something about this girl and how she acts gets under my skin. She's like a mosquito that I just can't get rid of.
"If you want it so bad, come and get it." She puts the remote behind her back with a smirk on her face. I took a deep breath trying to calm down but then she started whistling nonchalantly while keeping the remote behind her back and that snapped something inside of me.
"You are such a brat!" I yell walking over towards Hanni trying to reach for the remote, but she slides off the other side of the bed running towards the other side of the room.
"Well you're an uptight bitch!" She smirked, sticking her tongue out of me. God I want to rip my hair out! I walked as calmly as I could towards the smaller girl, but she dodged me running to a corner of the room. Bingo. I quickly walked over there before she could move, trapping her between me and the wall.
"Well if that's so why do you always want to hang out with me?" I smirk tilting my head downwards towards Hanni. She seemed surprised by my words by the way her smile fell from her face. I leaned down to her ear. "Do you maybe like me?" That seemed to trigger something in the Vietnamese girl because before I could lean back she shoved me away from her with a scowl on her face.
"Why would I like you? You're always mean to me!" I shrug taking the opportunity to steal the remote from her hand since she was distracted and turned down the tv. I didn't answer her question and just went back to Heesoo's diary. I could feel the smaller girl glaring daggers into me from behind, but I won't give her the satisfaction of caring. I don't care what she thinks of me. "I'm going home." I heard her say from somewhere behind me.
"Why?" I spin around in the chair seeing her on the floor putting her shoes back on. Did I make her mad? She looked up at me with a confused look.
"You clearly don't want me here. I don't even know why I'm trying." I furrow my eyebrows watching her angrily continue putting her shoes on. I mean I don't hate her being around. She is really annoying and a brat and way too clingy, but she's not terrible.
"You don't have to go." What the fuck. Why did I say that? I looked away, spinning the chair back facing the desk so I didn't have to see her reaction.
"What did you say?" I could tell she was smiling by the way she asked the question. God damn it. I turned back around and I was right she had the biggest grin spread across her face. It took every fiber of my being not to crack a smile back.
"I said I hate you." The smile on the girl's face dropped as she groaned.
"No you didn't! You said you wanted me to stay!" She frustratedly threw her hands in the air making a tiny smirk form on my face.
"Actually I said you didn't have to go, not that I wanted you to stay." The smaller girl rolled her eyes at me. I think my favorite new hobby is annoying this girl. I love seeing her reactions.
"That's the same thing!"
"Whatever." I turn back around and after a while I hear shuffling and a freak meaning she was laying back on the bed. When I looked at her through my peripheral vision she had a small smile on her face as she watched tv. Maybe she isn't too bad.
-
"It's getting pretty late. I should actually go home now." I look at the clock on the wall and see it's almost midnight. Jesus Christ we spent the entire day together. For the past two hours we've been watching some movie that she was raving about. She probably shouldn't walk back home alone this late at night.
"It's kind of late. I can walk you home." I get up from my position leaning on the headboard next to the smaller girl to grab a jacket.
"My house is just at the end of the street. It's okay. " I look down at the girl still leaning against the headboard on the bed. I shake my head at her as I put on a pair of shoes.
"It's really late and dark. Someone should walk with you." Hanni looks at me weirdly after I finish my sentence. Then a huge smile emerges on her face.
"You care about my safety, that's so sweet!" What? No! Hanni got off the bed and stood in front of me with her arms crossed with a smirk on her face.
"I do not! It's just if something happens to you I'll be a suspect since I'm the last person you saw!" I roll my eyes as I finish putting my shoes on standing up, almost bumping into Hanni in the process.
"Fine if you don't care then let me walk home by myself." Whatever I don't care, she can do what she wants.
"Fine. Do it." Hanni shrugs, putting her shoes on as she remains in eye contact with me. I don't care what she does. If she wants to walk home by herself and possibly get kidnapped, that's her business. Hanni finished putting her shoes on and started heading for the window, opening it very slowly. What is she doing? God if something happens to her future Minji will be really angry I know she will. I already got her into hot water with her friends in my timeline. It would be really shitty if I did the same in this timeline. "Wait!"
"What?" Hanni immediately shut the window and turned around looking really proud of herself. This is terrible.
"Why don't you just spend the night here, it's the weekend anyway?" Why the fuck did I say that? Now I have to spend at least ten more hours with the girl. I whipped my head around taking my shoes off and tossing them to the side.
"You want me to spend the night with you?" Good god she's never going to let this go. I rummage through Minji's drawers grabbing a pair of shorts and a shirt for the annoying girl.
"Here put these on—and don't speak on this ever again." I threw the clothes at her as I went into the bathroom to get ready to go to sleep. This was possibly the worst outcome this night could have had. Why would I say that? I should have just let her go.
"Hey minji can I come in?" I heard Hanni ask as soon as I finished putting on my pajamas.
"Why would you need to come in?" Without any notice the door flung open revealing the tiny girl in the clothes I gave her. The shirt is so long it goes to her mid thigh—she looks cute.
"Scoot over, I need to brush my teeth." The smaller girl shoved me to the side a little bit, picking up a toothbrush that I assumed belonged to her with how comfortable she was using it.
"Is that yours?" She spit out the toothpaste in her mouth nodding her head.
"Yeah Minji and I keep toothbrushes and stuff like that at each other's house." I nod as I start brushing my teeth alongside her. It was silent for a while as we both brushed our teeth and until we both finished then the atmosphere suddenly got weird.
"Well I'll go sleep on the couch—you can sleep on the bed." I walk out of the bathroom Hanni following on my heels.
"No you can sleep in here." I turned around looking down at the small girl whose face was suddenly really serious.
"Are you sure?" She just nodded, grabbing my hand pulling me towards the bed as she got in and scooted over patting the spot next to her. I climbed in behind her turning on my side the same time she did so we ended up facing each other. "I don't hate you." I don't why but just laying next to the girl, I felt the overwhelming urge to let her know.
"I know. It must be hard being away from your family and friends." She had a small smile on her face as she cuddled more onto the pillow her head was laying on.
"I didn't have many friends—I mean I had one a while ago, but that was before I moved." Her smile dropped as a frown fell upon her face. I tried to look away from her, but I couldn't bring myself to. It was almost like I was in some weird trance.
"We're kinda friends." I laugh quietly, finally able to turn my head away from her as I stare at the ceiling where the moon was peeking in through the window.
"Yeah I guess we are." I turned back over and she had a huge grin on her face as she scooted even closer to me.
"You know this is the longest we've ever gone without fighting." She whispers, laughing a little bit.
"Shut up and go to sleep." I deadpan back to her turning over so I'm no longer facing her. This was the worst mistake I've ever made. Damn it Minji why didn't I just let her go home! It was silent for a few seconds before I felt her shifting in the bed to where her back was touching mine slightly. The warmth from her body was spreading to mine—it wasn't as uncomfortable as I thought it would be. It's actually kind of nice.
"Good night Minji." The Vietnamese girl yawned out making a small smile form on my face at the cute noise.
"Goodnight Hanni."
-
April 21, 1998
The day started off good, but soon took a turn. Dani confessed to me after school that she thinks Haerin and Minji are uncomfortable around her—which I mean that's fair. I told her to talk to Haerin and Minji but I don't know if she's actually going to do it. Dani deserves so much and she has been so strong through this. I just know the future is going to be bright and full of success for her. She's going to get everything she wants out of life. I can feel it.
Heesoo