What Happened to us?

"Minji unnie, come here. It's Hanni—"

She didn't hesitate to stand up and ended the call, leaving her ongoing meeting. Just by hearing the girl's name, she doesn't need to be told twice or know what happened to her; all she knew was that she needed to be there. She quickly told her secretary to handle things for her without looking back and runs outside the room, disregarding the confused looks from the executives and managers. 

---

Thump, thump, thump.

Hanni! Hanni! Wake up! Don't be like this please! Don't do this to me!!!

The sound of her feet falling harshly on the cold tiles surrounded her ears, trying to focus on the present and ignores her heart sticking on her ears.

Please love! Don't! Don't fucking leave me! Hanni please!

She runs faster, perfectly memorizing the hallway and floors, and successfully—always managed to prevent herself from bumping to anyone.

You're so unfair, love! You can't do this to me! Fucking help her immediately! She's bleeding a lot!!!!

And because of anxiety, she can't seem to wait and get inside the elevator, therefore there she is, running to the girl's VIP room.

"What happened!?" Panting, sweating, and breathing deeply, Minji doesn't even care how disheveled she looked, almost as if she had ran a marathon. Her face crumpled with worry, her hair tied in a messy bun, her suit stick to her body, evidence of how sweaty she was.

Hanni's father whipped his head to face her, and just as what she dreaded to know, he looked pained, "Dad? Did something happened? Is she okay?"

But he could only look down with a sigh.

Minji decided not to wait for a reply and walk immediately to the door. Her heart echoed through her ears, as if deafening her surroundings with her steps grew closer to the destination, and just as her hand was about to reach the handle, the door opened. It's Hanni's mother; she looked surprised for a second before she reaches on her arm and pulls her distantly from the room, like she were in a hurry. 

Minji stayed still; despite her curiosity and eagerness to see the girl, she waited for the mother's words. Seeing how she also seemed saddened for the news but with relieved eyes. Minji's head started to swirl, her nervousness doesn't help either. But one thing for sure, her heart beats in a worst way possible, she could feel it on her ears and her hands started to sweat. She doesn't feel good about this. Her agitation arose, but she waited, as it seems like her mother also needs to process everything.

"Hanni's awake." Minji's eyes widen in surprised, relieved, and a smile about to break her face when the next words hit her, "But she doesn't remember anything."

And right there, the world stops, as if everything crumbled right infront of her.

As if the world ended,

her world ended.

---

A sigh.

"Where is she?"

Asked by the girl sitting on the hospital bed, starting to get annoyed.

"Geez unnie, she'll be here. Just so you wait." The taller girl sitting on the chair beside the bed, replied without looking at her sister, continuing to peel the oranges.

Hanni rolled her eyes, "It's been 4 hours, what's taking her so long?"

"For someone reluctant with the idea of dating a girl because of homophobia, you surely couldn't keep your cool just to see her." Hyein could only shook her head, still focused on the fruit.

A gasp from Hanni echoed the room as her head whipped at her little sister. Her right eyebrow raising and an offended look on her face visible, "Yah!! I mean come on!? Her girlfriend just woke up from 3 months coma— shouldn't she be here like in 30 minutes or so!?" 

Hyein puts down her work and she sighed silently, but Hanni didn't miss that. She looks at her little sister, "Actually... She was indeed here like... 10 minutes after you wake up..." Still staring at her hands, her voice somehow sounded, hesitant.

A sudden pang in the chest hit her straight inside her rib cage.

Subconsciously, Hanni's shoulder slumped, and her body slowly pulled away, her brow crease, "What. Then why...?" 

This time, Hyein finally looked at her, voice ever so softly, "I guess it shocked her so much."

Hanni pressed her lips together, breathing on her nose sharply. She may have tried to hide it, but the growing sting on her heart didn't seem to vanish soon, she spoke, trembling,"So, she ran away?"

The younger one could only look down, sighing faintly, "Yeah, I guess so..."

That didn't make anything better.

Hanni's lips started to tremble and her hands clinched on her lap. She may have hidden her pain, like she had been doing since the realization after waking up, but her eyes betrayed her. Tears started to show, "H-how is that my fault? It's not like I chose this accident or what."

It seemed like Hanni had reached her breaking point after holding it together earlier.

Hyein quickly noticed the change of her tone, and the visible glassy eyes of her sister. Without hesitation, she pushed her chair closer to the bed and holds her hand in reassurance, "No one's saying it's your fault, unnie. She probably couldn't process it yet, that's why..." A pause and a gulp. "Yeah..."

But Hanni took her hands, looking away from her sister as she wiped the threatening fall of the tears, her voice broke. "I- I couldn't too! I couldn't process everything too!!! She's not just the one who's shocked!!??"

"Unnie—"

"I mean come on— Imagine waking up and everyone around you looks older than what you remember!?" She looks at Hyein again, this time, her tears freely falling down—too tired of hiding it, and too useless of wiping it. She was done hiding her pain, her confusions, feeling lost, and the feeling of outcast in everything. Because literally speaking, 

I'm suddenly left behind.

Hyein started to tear up, seeing her sister so broken is something she was not used to witnessing, despite how many times she saw her crying back then. But this one, this one is a different story; she had never looked this helpless, defeated, and lost. She knew her sister; she's known for being strong, too strong for her own good. And now, she's simply a girl who looks like the world had betrayed her. Maybe it really did.

Hanni shakily breathed in, the ache went up to her throat, as if preventing her from speaking further, "I-imagine my confusion when I saw my parents, after never seeing them again!? Imagine what I felt when I found out grandma is t-terminally ill!?!" She harshly wiped her tears, "And what I felt when you're the first one I saw but you- you— you look like an adult! You were just my baby back then— you—"

With trembling hands, Hyein took another chance to hold her sister's hand again. She cried, "U-unnie, I still am, of course I still am."

Hanni's head hung low, shaking it, "Hyein-a, I'm so— I'm so..."

This time, the girl immediately stands up to bury her sister's head on her shoulder, "Unnie, it's alright, it's okay. You can cry, I understand. We understand. She will too, I know she will. And you might not remember it, but you know too that she will."

"I don't know anymore... Why is this happening to me..." Hyein could only close her eyes, biting her lips down to prevent an escaping sob. Her sister sounded so small, and she had never witness this in her entire life. 

"Unnie ... I'm here, I'm always here. Unnie, I love you. We will help you, Minji-unnie will stay with you..." Hyein tried to compose her voice, softly caressing the back of her sister.

Without pulling away, Hanni asked brokenly, "Then- then why did she run away? Is she not gonna come back...?"

"Oh unnie... She will. She will come back, she always do." With a painful chuckle, she continues, "She loves me so much, so she's not going anywhere."

Hanni nevertheless, playfully scoffed with tears still streaming down, "She really loves you that much, huh?"

Hyein looks up with a broken smile, reminiscing the past; her heart beats painfully beautiful, remembering what life with them back then, "Yes, of course. You may not remember, but I'm practically the child of you both. While she's the one always siding with me and spoiling me, you're like a mother who keeps naging us for spending so much money." Ending her speech, she wipes the tears left.

Hanni sniffed, slowly pulling away, looking up at her sister with that oh-so-innocent broken eyes, her voice soft, "Really?"

Seeing her sister looks like a lost baby, her heart painfully warmed, still she smiled genuinely, "Yes. And you know, sometimes I even watched you chasing her around the house with a broom while I sat laughing, until you get annoyed by me so you'd also starts chasing me but Minji unnie would always tried to stop you, and that doubles your anger, and then she ends up the one being hit by your broom."

Hanni chuckled brokenly and a look of disbelief painted her face before slowly pulling away from the embrace, erasing the remaining tears. 

The younger girl slowly followed her, wiping her stained cheeks and sits on the bed beside her sister she held her hands. For a few minutes, they stayed like that, just staring at their hands as Hyein softly caressing the skin. 

Hyein whispered, "Believe me, she'll come back. I know you need her in this situation but—" 

Taken aback, Hanni jerked away her hands, "What!?" Hyein also flinched to her sister's sudden raise of offended voice. "No! I don't! It's just I'm curious about her! And I don't think I really would get with a girl, so I need her to confirm it!" 

Feeling the sudden shift in the atmosphere, Hyein could only chuckled in amusement and snorts, "You really won't believe me, unnie? Everyone's telling you that already. We even showed pictures of you both."

Hanni groaned, annoyance stared to bubble on her again.

This girl surely has an intense change of mood, I wonder how Minji unnie kept up with her.

"Argh, Hyein-a!!! Come on bro! If she's really my girlfriend why isn't she here then!?"

And that shuts Hyein up. Her smile slowly faded and she looked away. Biting her lips in doubts, "She's just... Surprised..." Even her voice sounded unsure.

Somehow, Hanni didn't seem to noticed the change of demeanor on her sister, too focused on her brewing annoyance, "Pfft, screw her surprised ass! How come I didn't break up with her!?" She annoyingly spouts while aggressively disturb her pillow to lay her head on it. 

Hyein shook her head and smiled secretly, looking at her sister who's laying on the bed with her arms crossed, brows meet. "Well unnie, you love that girl to the bone. So you just can't."

Hanni's face immediately crunched up in disgust, "Ew! Please I can't- argh Hyein!!! God I can't imagine!!!" She spit out while moving herself fevorusly and hid inside the blanket, as if throwing a tantrums.

"Unnie! She's your girlfriend!!! Stop being homophobic!" The sister replied with a scoffed of disbelief and amusement, while shaking the covered arms of the girl. 

"I don't remember! Okay!?" She shouts behind the white thick fabric, pushing away her sister's hands.

"Still—"

Knock knock.

Even when Hanni's inside the cave of the cover, both their head whipped at the sound of the door. She immediately sits up and composed herself, hurriedly fixing her hair and clothes, and not without wiping a possible stain of tears once more; as if preparing to disguise their emotional outburst earlier with a natural expression.

Not seconds long, the door finally opened, revealing a tall woman in suit, hair down, and a really, really, undeniable charm of an aura. According to Hanni's mind. 

No I didn't!?

(Yes she did, and don't mind her.)

Closing the door behind her, the said woman finally looks up, meeting the eyes of the woman who has been waiting for her. And for whatever reason, Hanni felt her world stops. As if the time itself doesn't know how to continue running; as if the world rebirth from an inevitable ending. Her hand clinches on the fabric, trying to ignore the racing of her heart. 

What the fuck...

A second has passed,

And another,

And another,

And ano—

"Alright! That's 8 seconds staring!" Hyein suddenly interrupted standing up, she smirked, "Hah! Unnie you're still so whipped!"

That woke Hanni up; her cheeks grow pinkish, immediately grabbing a pillow, "Argh! shut it Hyein!" She threw it at her which she missed when the girl reflexes works better than her strength, she ran away giddily to give them space. Leaving with a sound of giggles from her throat. Hanni huffed.

"Hey..." She didn't even noticed the charming woman already walks up infront of her. She grabbed the chair Hyein sat before and sit facing her. Hanni gulped.

Is her voice normally that deep?

Her mind swirls, mouth opened and closed; couldn't say a thing and ends up staring at her for another eight seconds. 

The woman blinked before deciding to break the staring contest with a chuckle, "I'm Kim Minji, your girlfriend for 7 years, the other one year was us getting to know each other— from hating to liking each other."

Hanni slowly shook her head, as if still caught in a daze. She whispered, "Nah. What the fuck— how the fuck—?"

Minji snorted, laughing lowly. "Yeah. Old Hanni would say that." her eyes turning crescent, to which Hanni noticed and find it quite beautiful.

I DO NOT!?

(Yes you do)

Whatever, but how can a woman's voice sound that deep tho?

"Bro. Seriously how? I mean, I get it your attractive and hot and all, but how did I end up with a girl? 'Cause I'm sure as hell I'm against of same sex relationship." She fidget, looking at Minji up and down.

The woman smirked slightly in reply, looking down, she teased. "I guess I should be thankful that after 8 years I'm still attractive and hot and all to you." Her gaze meet hers, and she witnessed the subtle surprised of Hanni and the slightly red cheeks.

And it's still easy to make you blush.

"T-The hell? That's seriously what you're going to say first? Do you have a selective hearing or what!?" She defended, stuttering.

Minji put both her hands on her pocket, chest rising to breath in, she smiled, "Even the way you talk is exactly the old Hanni."

The shorter went silent for a few seconds, looking away, she whispered, "Bro..." 

Without letting the chance slip, Minji heard; her mouth twitched a smirk and tilted her head slightly, she teased, "Are you calling me bro romantically, or...?"

The Australian snapped her head at her and jerked in disgust. She grabbed another pillow and slaps it at her, "Fuck no! Stop!"

The Korean laughed as she took a hold of the girl's pillow, making it halt between them, their hands close to touching, as neither of them dared to let go of the pillow. 

And there goes that feeling again, as if the world stops. Hanni felt something in her stomach, something beautifully flying and rumbling.

Staring intently to each other, Minji slightly looks up because of Hanni's height advancement from the bed with a pillow separating them. She speaks in a low voice, but soft and genuine tone, "Hanni... I'm really the girlfriend you forgot. And yes, you were homophobic back then, it took me months to make you mine. Even after you started to grow feelings, you still pushed me away. Because you really won't like a girl. According to you."

And silence engulfed them, Hanni couldn't seem to think what to reply, caught up in the moment or in that deep voice infront of her, and the not-so-wide distance between them, and the annoying sound of her heart jumping crazily.

Minji smiled softly, "Hanni-ah, I'm not forcing you. We'll go to your own pace. Whatever makes you comfortable. I'll do it."

But instead of answering her, she asked something quite out of context, her voice low, breathless. "Why did you run away?"

Minji's smile faltered. She slowly lets go of the pillow, maintaining a distance and composing of self. Hanni ignored the slight disappointment when the girl backs away.

Minji sighed looking at her right, Hanni awaits for her answer, as visible to her peripheral vision. She briefly closed her eyes to breath in. "I didn't, I... I'm sorry. I'm just, I don't know how to take it all in..." She lay her gaze on her again, looking apologetic, "Are you mad at me?"

Somehow, that wasn't enough to satisfy the distress Hanni felt, but she lets it go, especially the girl looks sincere. She sighed, defeated. "No. Just a little disappointed..." Her voice soft, eyes looking down on her hands; playing the soft cover. She huffed, "You now have a bad first impression on me tho." Her arms now crossed, looking straight infront of her with a pout, not to the alluring woman whom she can't seem to put into words why somehow she's irresistible. 

Minji looked down chuckling lightly, as if a change in her facade hadn't happened just because of the obvious question, "Oh, that's good." 

Her head snapped to the latter, her eyebrow furrowed in disbelief, "Good!? You need to make up for your so called 'kind, perfect, green-flag, and whatever' image they told me about! Because really, you don't live up to my imaginations." Hanni scoffed, and her tone gained a pitch again.

"Bad is also your first impression on me back then." Minji replied, raising her chin to look at her with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"..." Hanni suddenly lost of words, she blinked rapidly; not knowing what to do, she looks away. Feeling bad again for forgetting everything. 

"I guess history indeed repeats." Minji continued in a light manner, shrugging her shoulders, to which Hanni huffed playfully.

Then silence.

Seconds later Hanni started to fidget on her hands, debating whether to say it or not; avoiding eye contacts, she sighed when she decided. She called her lowly. 

"Yeah?"

She slowly looks at her, but the tall woman was nowhere present; instead of meeting her eyes, it lays somewhere far, as if thinking deeply about something. And girl, she could not deny the perfect beauty of her side profile.

She breath deeply,

Just say it Hanni!

With a final gulped, she gripped the sheets, "I'm sorry."

There. Wasn't so hard isn't it?

And that took Minji's attention, she looks back at her, and God, did Hanni felt like her heart is being squashed, because for the love of Christ, the woman looked so broken.

"I-I'm sorry..."

"Hanni please. Just hold on."

"I- I—"

"Hanni!"

Her jaw flexes, feeling her heart stung, she breath shakily, "F-for... For forgetting you." She stuttered, her hands tightened more.

And that made Minji pulled back to the present; the words failed her, for seconds, she couldn't say anything and just stared at the girl. Eyes revealing so many emotions, most visibly, the screams of pain. Minji's hand on top of her pants, slowly clenched the cloth, and her teeth forcefully meets together. The sound of cracks from her heart, was all that surrounds the loud silence of the room. She opened her mouth to say something but—

Buzz buzz

The korean flinched on her place when her phone vibrated on her pocket, she held it out, "I-I'll have to take this."

Was the last thing she said before she left the room.

End of chapter 1.