Chapter Text
The loud rumbling of machinery registered in Hanni’s vague state of consciousness. Her mouth tasted of sandpaper, and her head was pounding incessantly. Definitely a hangover.
As she forcibly roused herself awake, she felt a weight on her chest. The sound outside, most likely caused by a passing truck, was slowly fading away, but the rumbling continued.
Hanni turned her head to the side to find a snoring figure with long jet black hair. The latter’s face was turned slightly away, broad shoulders and bare back smooth and slack.
The stranger felt warm, her legs tangled with Hanni’s. Wincing, she slowly removed the sleeping woman’s arm and got up from the bed in careful movements.
“Who snores like that?” Hanni murmured, irritated.
She tiptoed around the space, noticing how large the bedroom was in comparison to her room at the university’s dormitory. As she dressed quickly, the snoring behind her abruptly stopped, followed by the stretching of limbs and a long sleepy sigh.
“Oh, you’re awake,” the stranger behind her said, her voice husky and low from sleep.
Hanni winced again, rolling her eyes before facing the woman on the bed. Blanket having pooled at the waist, her broad shoulders, collarbones, and naked chest were on full display. Smaller breasts and a muscular figure. Hanni’s exact type.
“I need to go. Had a great time…I hope,” she stuttered, claiming her shoes by the foot of the bed before heading for the door.
“Wait! Come on, stay for a bit…”
Hanni hastened her steps as she heard the woman haphazardly shuffle from the bed, no doubt trying to find her own clothes. Just as she turned to the living room, she found herself surprised again.
The woman’s living room was huge. There was a flat-screen television, a black leather sofa set, and a sleek coffee table that, when compounded together, looked straight out of Architectural Digest. The kitchen was just as lavish, complete with marble countertops, a kitchen island, and a fancy-looking electric stove. She belatedly realized that her 4-month rental fee for the dorm would probably barely cover a month’s stay at this place.
As Hanni reached for the apartment door, a hand jammed it shut, making her flinch back in surprise.
“What are you doing?” she said cautiously, looking up at the woman, clad in the black shirt she was wearing last night and boxer shorts.
“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to freak you out.”
“Well, you are. Now, move,” she snapped.
“I just-can I get your number? I think you’re really pretty and I want to take you-”
“No. Can you move out of the way?” Hanni clenched her jaw, her patience hanging by a thread.
Her hand subtly slid into her purse to take her phone out. If this woman turned out to be a complete creep, she needed to send her location to her best friend, Danielle. The woman saw her panicked expression and quickly stepped back, her face apologetic.
“I’m sorry. Anyway, I’m Minji. I hope to see you around campus.”
“Okay, Minji.” Hanni went for the door again, barely noticing how the other woman deflated.
As the door closed behind her, she heard a soft thud on the door followed by a muffled ‘You’re so stupid.’
Minji removed her head from the door and plopped down on the couch. Sighing, she opened her phone to look through her contacts. Maybe the pretty girl who just left the apartment had given Minji her number during last night’s drunken stupor.
“Pretty girl, pretty girl, where are you?” she muttered to herself, scrolling through her contact list for an unfamiliar name.
Just then, her phone rang.
“Hey, Haerin, what’s-”
“Dude, what the fuck?” Her friend hissed.
“What do you mean?”
“I can’t believe you hooked up with Hanni. I told you Danielle’s friends are off limits.”
“Hanni? That’s her name?! Thanks, man-”
“Fuck you, dude. Anyway, I’m outside your door. Open up.”
Minji jolted at the sound of heavy pounding from the front door. Cussing, she walked to open the door, only for her friend to push past her and throw herself on her couch.
“Yeah, make yourself at home,” Minji said sarcastically.
She reached for one of the kitchen cabinets where the first aid kit was. By first aid, Minji basically had Advil, muscle relaxants, and bandages in a pitifully small plastic container. If she continued to get benched this season, maybe she wouldn’t have to expand her medical inventory.
She was starting to get a migraine due to the lack of sleep and excessive alcohol from the night before. After downing an Advil, she turned to her friend whose face was buried on the sofa cushion.
“Why did you do it?” the other woman was still frustrated, sitting up to shoot Minji a disappointed stare.
“I’m sorry, alright? I didn’t know.”
“I basically pointed to them last night and whispered, 'Off limits!’”
“Well, I didn’t see her, okay?”
“Yeah, I forgot you’re basically blind.”
“Hey! I have mild astigmatism. And anyway, fuck you. You’re one to talk, dude. You said you wouldn’t speak to your ex-girlfriend last night, but where did I find you after getting back from the bathroom? Oh right, you had her on your lap while sucking her face-”
“That’s not the point! I just don’t want things to get messy-”
“They already are. You guys need to talk it out. Whatever Hanni and I have won’t have anything to do-”
Haerin scoffed at that and shot her another disappointed glare. Minji sighed and sat down next to her on the couch. The former glared at the latter in return, challenging the woman’s gaze with an equally intense expression before breaking into laughter.
“Minji, I’m serious.”
“So am I. I like her. I think we had a nice time. We talked and flirted-”
“And Hanni isn’t interested in anything serious. I’m telling you, man. It’s not just about Danielle, okay? I’ve known both of them since junior high. Hanni has been through some shit. She’s not one to commit, never has been.”
“So when you said off-limits, it was really just Hanni?”
“Well, yeah. She’s your type. I know you.”
“Aw, Haerinie, you care that much about me?” The taller woman tackled the other into the couch, only for the latter to groan and push her away.
She met Haerin at basketball camp during senior year. They followed each other on social media, and even though they lived in different cities, they kept in touch. When Minji got drafted by Seoul National University, she was elated to learn her long-distance friend had become her teammate.
“Maybe I’m different for her. I can be charming, you know? You’ll see. She’ll fall for me.”
“Suit yourself. Can’t say I didn’t warn you,” Haerin sighed.
Minji was never really one for one-night stands. Even in high school, she preferred relationships over no-strings. Her previous relationship only ended because they wanted different things. They dated for two years before ending the relationship right after graduation.
Even then, Minji had pushed to continue the relationship, insisting that she wouldn't mind the long distance. Sullyoon had shut her down.
It’s college, Minji. You’ll meet some girl you’ll like, and where would that leave me?
Sullyoon had wanted to stay close to their hometown in Busan and chose a university that offered fairly competitive STEM programs. Minji, like her older siblings, was always pushed to take college offers in Seoul.
Her parents, both doctors, had already invested in two condominiums. The one Minji stayed in, and a two-bedroom unit in Gangnam where her sister and brother stayed while finishing their residencies at different but adjacent hospitals.
She had never expected to meet someone at her basketball team’s afterparty three days before school started. So, in hindsight, Sullyoon had been right. It had only been a day since she met Hanni, but she couldn’t keep her mind from circling back to when she first saw her.
The cheer squad had opened the basketball season with their signature choreography. Just as Minji exited the locker rooms, she saw Hanni being lifted into the air.
Her smile was bright, her nose scrunching in an adorable way that Minji had come to know at the party. It was uniquely hers: the wide smile, slightly scrunched nose, shapened cheeks.
When Minji would say something funny or ridiculous, Hanni would throw her head back like she was the funniest person in the world. She would touch Minji’s bicep or play with her fingers, listening intently as Minji talked.
“So you’re from Busan?”
“Yeah, born and raised. You?”
“I’m originally from Australia but moved here during high school.”
In retrospect, Hanni had been responsive, outgoing even. It was unlike Haerin’s descriptions, or more like, the Hanni from this morning had been exactly what her friend described instead. Closed off, and anxious to get away from her.
It completely contrasted the Hanni that slid a hand up her chest and wrapped her fingers softly around the back of Minji’s neck. She remembered the woman pulling her face down to meet her lips: that Hanni had clutched her waist with her other hand like she couldn’t get enough.
She needed to see that Hanni again. And if her usual lovesick and pathetic actions from earlier didn’t work, she’d have to change things up. Be whoever Hanni expected her to be, then charm her from there.
Monday morning came like a blessing. She had first period, Critical Thinking and Writing, with Haerin. Since it was a general subject, there was a mixture of faces she remembered from the party, mostly freshmen from other colleges. As she and Haerin picked seats at the back of the room, she saw Hanni and Danielle walk in, iced coffees in hand.
“Fuck, hide!” Haerin all but dove into her armchair, putting her hood up like some secret agent on the run.
“So, I take it you didn’t talk to her,” Minji chuckled, taking the seat to her right.
When she looked up, she caught Hanni’s eye for a split second before the other woman rolled her eyes and dragged Danielle to the very front of the room. The latter had seen Haerin’s little episode and scoffed, just as irritated as her friend.
Minji was off to a terrible start, but hey, it was only the first day.