Chapter Text
The company loved meetings. Minji wasn't sure anyone else did.
By now, she could almost predict how they went before she even walked through the door. Someone would pull up a presentation. Charts would cover the screen. Numbers would flash by. Everyone would nod, smile, applaud the group's achievements, then immediately start talking about the next goal.
That morning wasn't any different.
Or at least, it didn't seem different.
The five girls entered together, still carrying the sleepy energy of another early schedule. Danielle yawned without bothering to hide it, Haerin quietly laughed under her breath, and Hyein whispered something that made Hanni grin. Minji couldn't help smiling just from watching them. Moments like these reminded her why she never complained about comeback season. The work was exhausting, the rehearsals were endless, and the schedules barely left room to breathe, but somehow the five of them always ended up spending more time together than they normally did. Everyone became a little softer, a little louder, a little more themselves.
Well…
That had never really applied to Minji and Hanni.
Or maybe it had. They were simply like that all year round.
People expected the oldest member of NewJeans to be dependable, responsible, and calm. Minji was all of those things—until Hanni walked into the room.
Then, suddenly, she became ridiculous.
She'd steal Hanni's phone just to watch her chase after it, tease her accent whenever she had the chance, and laugh every time Hanni crossed her arms and insisted she wasn't pouting. Sometimes she'd reach over and fix Hanni's hair without realizing she'd done it. Other times she'd lace their fingers together while walking backstage, so naturally that neither of them thought twice about it.
Sometimes…
She forgot that not everyone looked at their best friend the way she looked at Hanni.
No one ever questioned it.
It was just Minji and Hanni.
The bread duo.
Always together. Always laughing. Always orbiting each other like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Maybe it was.
Maybe that was the problem.
The meeting started exactly as expected.
Until it didn't.
"Minji."
She looked up.
"We'd like you to write lyrics for the title track."
Her first instinct was to look toward Hanni.
Not because she wanted help.
But because Hanni had always been the first person she looked for.
Then came the doubt.
Why me?
Danielle speaks English better.
Hanni writes beautifully.
There are people in this room who have been writing songs longer than I've been an idol. She thought to herself
Still, she nodded.
"I'll try."
That answer seemed to satisfy everyone else.
It wasn't enough to convince herself.
The dorm was unusually quiet that night.
Minji sat alone at the dining table, a blank page waiting patiently on the tablet in front of her. She could feel her thick eyebrows furrowing slowly.
Love.
The company wanted a song about love.
She almost laughed.
What was she supposed to write?
She had never dated. Never confessed. Never held someone's hand because they were hers.
Then again…
That wasn't entirely true.
She'd held Hanni's hand countless times. Without thinking. Without asking. Without realizing she'd started finding excuses to.
The realization made her close one of her journals a little harder than she'd intended.
Every page was the same.
Practice.
School.
Schedules.
Then…
Hanni.
Not directly. Never by name.
Just little moments.
"Hanni laughed so hard today she almost fell off the couch."
"We stayed up talking until three."
"She looked tired, so I bought her favorite snack."
"I don't know why seeing her smile makes me feel better."
Minji stared at the words on the pages. Her handwriting getting neater everytime the Vietnamese is mentioned.
How had she never noticed?
Every journal had quietly become a story about Hanni without meaning to.
"Hey, Kim."
She looked up immediately.
"Already working?"
Hanni leaned against the kitchen counter before reaching for an apple. Her long hair falling gracelessly over her shoulder.
Minji smiled.
"Trying to."
"How's that going?"
She turned the tablet around. The page was completely blank.
"...Terribly."
Hanni laughed.
"I figured."
She wandered over and sat across from her. For a while neither of them spoke. Silence had never been uncomfortable between them.
Eventually, Hanni noticed the journals.
"Looking for inspiration?"
"Yeah."
"Find any?"
Minji hesitated.
"...No."
"Why?"
She looked down at her hands. Staring at her's and Hanni's friendship ring.
"...Because I've never been in love before."
The lie lasted less than a second.
"...Actually..."
She lowered her gaze again. The same ring now burning her as if to tell her that she must say the truth.
"I think I have."
The words slipped out before she could stop them.
Hanni blinked.
"...Really?"
The taller one gave a small nod.
"...Yeah."
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Hanni quietly took another bite of her apple before smiling.
"...Ditto."
Minji frowned.
"...What?"
"Ditto."
She said it again as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"...I don't know what that means."
Hanni blinked.
"You've never heard it before?"
Minji shook her head.
"I don't think so."
A small laugh escaped Hanni.
"It's English."
"I figured that much."
Hanni laughed a little harder.
"Okay, okay."
She rested her chin on her hand before explaining.
"It's kind of another way of saying..." She paused, searching for the right Korean equivalent before giving up. "...'Same.' Or 'me too.'"
Minji stayed quiet.
"So if someone says, 'I like ice cream,' you can jokingly answer, 'Ditto.'"
She smiled.
"Or if someone says they're in love..."
She gave a tiny shrug.
"...Ditto."
Minji felt her heartbeat stumble.
"So..."
She tried to keep her voice steady.
"...You're saying..."
Hanni nodded as though it were obvious.
"I'm saying I think I'm in love too."
She looked down at the apple in her hands, slowly turning it between her fingers.
"It's strange. I don't really know when it happened. I just started noticing everything. The little habits. The tiny expressions. The way ordinary days suddenly feel... different when they're around."
She laughed quietly, almost embarrassed by herself.
"I always want to tell them about my day."
"I wonder what they're doing when we're apart."
"I catch myself looking for them before anyone else."
Minji couldn't breathe.
Every sentence sounded painfully familiar.
Because she'd written those exact feelings before.
Just never out loud.
"...Really?" she asked softly.
Hanni nodded.
"Really."
Another silence settled between them.
Comfortable.
Warm.
The kind of silence only the two of them seemed capable of sharing.
Minji glanced back at the blank document waiting on her tablet.
Ditto.
Such a small word.
Two syllables.
Five letters.
Yet somehow it carried everything she couldn't bring herself to say.
Not a confession.
Not an answer.
Just hope.
Hope that one day, if she ever found the courage to tell Hanni how she truly felt…
The only reply she'd ever need would be one simple word.
Ditto.
She picked up her apple pencil and wrote one simple sentence. In the languages that is special to both of them
말해줘 say it back oh say it ditto
"I think I have an idea now, thank you Hanni."