Chapter 33

"Forgive and forget"

Hakyeon stared at Ha Na who was sitting across from him at the dining table, quietly eating her breakfast with a dejected expression in her eyes. Jung Hwa didn't say anything, but just stayed next to Ha Na, even though she had finished eating a long time ago. Bo Ra and Joo Won both left early for work so it was only the three of them in the small house.

"Do you want me to follow you to work?" asked Jung Hwa in sign language, when Ha Na finally looked up from her bowl of cereal.

"Your University is the opposite direction," replied Ha Na with almost no emotion in her eyes, "I wouldn't want you to do that."

"But I don't want you to be alone," signed Jung Hwa and Ha Na was about to give another excuse when Hakyeon suddenly cut in.

"I will follow you," signed he while looking at Ha Na, "my company is in the same direction so it wouldn't be a big detour for me." Jung Hwa and Ha Na both looked at Hakyeon, surprised by his sudden suggestion, but they didn't turn it down either.

"Are you sure?" asked Ha Na, a little nervous to be alone with Hakyeon for the first time after their fight.

"Yes, let us clean up here and then get going."

Hakyeon and Ha Na walked in silence as they neared the bus stop. Hakyeon's company was closer than the photo shop so normally he would have walked there, but since he promised to follow Ha Na all the way, he decided it was better to take the bus, since the temperature had also reached a point that made people grab for their hats and scarfs.

Both Ha Na and Hakyeon were also buried in a large, thick scarf that protected them from the wind. They didn't wear gloves since it would make it almost impossible to speak in sign language, so they just kept their hands warm by sticking them in their pockets.

Almost every second, Hakyeon looked at Ha Na who had her eyes on the ground, looking at her feet as they kept moving forward, and he was saddened by what he saw. She used to look up at the sky, even on grey days like this, she always stayed positive.

"I will kill that boy," whispered Hakyeon to himself without Ha Na noticing his lips moving. After returning home the other night, he just went straight to bed and didn't tell Ha Na or Jung Hwa where he went.

When the bus finally arrived it was already filled to its max, since more people took the bus on cold days like this one, and both Ha Na and Hakyeon had to stand in the midst of the many people.

The bus ride was through bumpy and uneven roads, so Ha Na found herself in the need of something to hold on to and with her short height, the only thing that seemed possible to hold on to was Hakyeon's arm. At first Hakyeon was startled when he felt Ha Na's small fingers wrap around his sleeve, but when he noticed how nervous she looked and realized how awkward she must have felt, he decided to let it go by unbothered, not commenting on it or even talking to her at all before they both got off the bus.

"It is just around the corner," signed Ha Na when they both stood at the bus stop and the bus had disappeared, "you can just leave now."

"Wait!" yelled Hakyeon and even though he forgot to use sign language, Ha Na saw it, "can we stop this now?"

"Stop what?" asked Ha Ha.

"Stop this awkwardness between us, I want to friends like we used to." Ha Na looked up and took in a deep breath, not feeling any energy have to a conversation like this right now.

"I don't know how to act around you anymore," signed Ha Na, looking awfully tired as she did it, "you said yourself that I am selfish and never think about others because I am too concerned about myself. And maybe that is true, because right now I don't have the energy to deal with this on top of everything that is happening with Jimin."

"Alright alright, I am sorry!" signed Hakyeon, "I am sorry about all the things I said that night, I wasn't being fair to you. I let my anger and jealousy out on you and I said some things I didn't mean. You are not selfish, how could you be considerate to me when you never knew about my feelings? It is my own fault for not telling you. But I don't want our friendship to be ruined for good, I miss you." Ha Na looked at Hakyeon as she followed along in everything he signed.

"I miss you too... I am just really confused."

"Then don't think about all this right now, just forget about me and about Jimin and go to work. I am sure it will be nice to take your mind of your worries for a while."

"Maybe," signed Ha Na, "then I will see you later." Ha Na was just about to turn around when Hakyeon moved forward and gave her a quick but heartfelt hug. Not wanting to make her uncomfortable, Hakyeon pulled away quickly and waved goodbye before he disappeared before her.

As the day went by in the small photography shop, Ha Na tried her best to put all her effort into her work, but her mind kept pulling tricks on her, reminding her of the incident with Jimin and her worries about Hakyeon. Even when she pushed away her thoughts, they would only come back again later and every time, they left her more and more tired.

"What do you think is wrong with her?" asked Sung her dad, Sang Hoo, as they both eyed the depressed girl who was sitting at the counter with her head hanging low.

"I don't know," replied Sang Hoo, "she has been this way all day, sighing, looking tired and sad."

"You are not giving her too much work, right dad?" asked Sung and pointed at her dad which made him throw up both his hands in defeat.

"No, I swear I am not stressing her out. And every time I have asked her if she likes it here, she has been positive."

"Then it must be something private she is worried about. I will try to talk to her."

"Yes do that, I will go upstairs and get some work done."

"Sure," replied Sung and went to the hot drink's machine and got a cup of hot chocolate for Ha Na.

"Here you go," said Sung and put down the cup in front of Ha Na which made her eyes shoot up and look at Sung.

"Don't look so startled. I just thought you looked a little tired today so I wanted to get you something to drink, are you alright?" Ha Na replied with a simple nod and a questionable smile whereafter she blew on her hot chocolate and took a little sip.

"You know," started Sung as she dragged a chair to sit next to Ha Na, "you can talk to me if you want to." Ha Na sighed again, wondering if she felt like telling the whole story again, but she never reached the point where she made a decision as the door suddenly opened and she almost jumped out of her chair. But when her eyes fell on the person who walked in, she wished she could just shrink down and hide behind the counter.

"Good afternoon," said Jimin while he walked to the counter and Sung eyed him with great suspicion, also noticing the startled expression Ha Na had.

"Good afternoon and welcome, how may we help-"

"Is Ha Na Noona free to talk right now?" It became dead silent at the counter while Jimin looked at Ha Na, Ha Na at Jimin and Sung just shifted her eyes to look at both of them, not knowing how to respond.

"She gets off work in an hour," replied Sung when Ha Na didn't seem capable of even moving a muscle, "do you want to wait for her?"

"Yes that sounds good," said Jimin and walked to the waiting area where he brew himself a cup of coffee and sat down at the sofa.

The last hour felt like an eternity and it was slowly killing Ha Na inside, every time she shifted her eyes and looked at Jimin calmly sitting on the sofa. It helped that a few customers came by before it was time to close up and when they started cleaning up for the day, Sang Hoo told her to simply go home as he also noticed the boy patiently waiting.

After grabbing her things, Ha Na followed Jimin outside the shop and down one of the small streets until they reached a green area where Jimin came to a halt under a big tree with only a few leaves left, the others lying on the ground, creating a big beautiful canvas with all its colors and shades of brown and red.

While they both stood still, looking at each other without saying anything, the wind played with their hair and the harshness brought tears to their eyes, forcing them to half close their eyes. But then suddenly, Jimin bowed down in front of Ha Na and he stayed like that for about a minute until he regained his posture and then looked directly at Ha Na with tears in his eyes.

"I am sorry," said he in sign language and Ha Na now felt tears forming in her eyes too, "I am really sorry, please forgive me."

While both Ha Na and Jimin looked at each other, not diverting their eyes for even one second and not feeling the slightest bit embarrassed as they both had tears sliding down their cold, red cheeks, they didn't say anything. Feeling at a loss for words to explain how sorry he was, Jimin remained silent and as Ha Na was too emotional to form even a single sentence, she stayed silent as well. Until a moment had passed, Ha Na slowly nodded her head up and down, making a smile form on Jimin's lips and Ha Na ran into his strong arms that held her closer than ever before.

After the heartfelt apology and forgiveness session, Ha Na and Jimin walked hand in hand down the street, not thinking about where to go or what to do, just feeling happy to be in each others presence.

"Let us go in here," said Jimin and pointed at small tea house which had something written in Japanese above the door. The scent of tea reached all the way outside and both Ha Na and Jimin were craving something hot after walking outside for such a long time, so when Ha Na replied with a quick nod, they both walked inside.

The lovely scent was even stronger when they walked inside the tea house and they looked around the somewhat small place that only had two round tables and a few chairs.

"Hello," said Jimin and in less than a second, an elderly lady appeared from behind a door.

"Welcome you two," said she and smiled so all her wrinkles would dance on her face. She looked nice and kind, but it was easy to spot she wasn't of Korean descent and judging from the writing outside the shop, Jimin was certain she was Japanese. 

"Please take a seat, what would you like to order?"

"Just two cups of tea, whatever you would recommend," said Jimin with a smile and showed Ha Na to a seat.

"Sure, it will be right up." The lady then disappeared through the door again and left Ha Na and Jimin alone in the small, cozy house.

"It is nice here, right?" asked Jimin while also speaking in sign language.

"Yes, I have seen this place once before when I was passing by, I thought I would like to go in one day," replied Ha Na and smiled a bit.

"Then it is a good thing we came here today."

"There you go," said the lady and placed two small tea cups in front of Ha Na and Jimin, alongside a plate of biscuits which made Jimin eye her in confusion.

"I am sorry ma'am-"

"It is on the house," said the lady, "for the young couple."

"ありがとうございます(thank you)," said Jimin and a big smile appeared on the lady's face when she heard him speak her mother's language. Ha Na looked confused when she, for the first time in a while, had no idea what the words being spoken was. She was unable to read his lips and just watched as the lady started speaking to Jimin in a language she didn't understand, Jimin replying the best he could while he continuously laughed at his own mistakes and the lady laughed alongside him.

"What is your girlfriends name?" said the lady when she noticed the big doe eyes staring at her, "she doesn't seem to understand Japanese very well."

"Her name is Kim Ha Na, and no she doesn't understand," said Jimin, "actually, she is deaf."

"Is that so?" said the lady, "how do I say "please enjoy the tea?" in sign language?"

"Eh... well..." said Jimin while thinking hard, "well this sign means 'tea', and this sign means 'enjoy', but how is the grammar in this sentence? Well..."

"Please enjoy the tea," said Ha Na in sign language and both the lady and Jimin looked at her.

"Yes that is how!" said Jimin and pointed at Ha Na.

"It seems she knows how to read lips, am I right?" Ha Na nodded.

"Wonderful! Then show me again and I will try to remember it." Ha Na nodded again and showed her the signs slowly so she could follow along.

"Please enjoy the tea," signed the lady and Ha Na smiled and clapped her hands since she was doing it completely right.

"Thank you ma'am," said Jimin.

"Please call me おばあちゃん (grandmother)," said the lady and Jimin nodded.

"Alright Obā-chan," said Jimin and she sent both of them a smile before she let them to drink their tea in peace. 

"Why couldn't I read your lips for a moment?" asked Ha Na after taking a sip of the tea and then realizing it was still too hot to drink.

"Oh, I was talking with the Obā-chan in Japanese," said Jimin with a smile.

"You know Japanese?" asked Ha Na and looked astounded

"Very little, I have watched a lot of anime when I was younger," said Jimin while shyly rubbing his neck which made Ha Na unable to contain her laughter. When she looked up again Jimin just watched her in complete awe and she felt her cheeks turn slightly pink.

"What?" asked Ha Na.

"I have just missed being with you, I am really sorry I have been so stupid," said Jimin.

"It is okay-"

"No, it is not okay, I shouldn't have neglected you like that or humiliated you. I don't deserve your forgiveness at all. All I deserve is another beating from Hakyeon Hyung."

"Another beating?" signed Ha Na and looked perplexed which made Jimin feel slightly confused as well.

"Hakyeon Hyung came by last night, didn't you know?" asked Jimin and Ha Na shook her head while staring at Jimin with a confused look.

"Is that so," said Jimin hesitantly and worried that he might have gotten Hakyeon into trouble, "I guess he came because he couldn't stand watching you getting hurt. So he talked some sense into me."

"Is he the one who gave you this?" said Ha Na after pointing at the red spot on Jimin's cheek, one she hadn't found the courage to ask about until now and when Jimin turned his face slightly away she had already gotten her answer.

"I can't believe he would hit you!" signed Ha Na in a direct and angry manner, "I need to talk to him, right now!" Jimin watched as Ha Na took out her phone, already in the middle of typing an angry text message to Hakyeon, but Jimin snatched the phone out of her hand before she could finish it.

"Don't do that," said Jimin and deleted everything Ha Na had written, "I deserved that punch, I wasn't thinking straight and I said some awful things. Hakyeon was only trying to help, so if you can, try to forgive him too." Ha Na looked at Jimin while she went over everything in her head, carefully making her decision.

"Fine, I won't get mad at Hakyeon," signed Ha Na whereafter she extended her arm and Jimin gently put the phone in her hand.

"Good," said Jimin, "if you want to say something to Hakyeon, you can thank him for being a good friend. He really cares for you, maybe even more than you know." Ha Na gulped when she read the words off of Jimin's lips and she felt a lump in her throat thinking about Hakyeon and how it must have felt to help her and Jimin. She shouldn't be scolding him, she should be apologizing and making sure to never involve him in her and Jimin's problems again.

"Is something wrong?" asked Jimin after waving his hand in front of Ha Na who had been staring into thin air for about a minute.

"No, nothing is wrong," signed Ha Na and gave Jimin a gentle smile, "should we drink our tea?"

After quietly enjoying their tea and talking a bit more, Jimin and Ha Na said goodbye to the kind Obā-chan and left the small tea house. With their fingers intertwined, they walked towards the bus stop and then sat in silence while waiting for the bus.

"There it is," said Jimin when he spotted the bus nearing them in the distance, "I will go home now, I will message you later, alright?"

"When can we meet again? How is your schedule?" asked Ha Na while the bus kept nearing slowly.

"Whenever you want to, I will work around my schedule if I have too."

"Then, can we meet up the day after tomorrow?" asked Ha Na, ready to be turned down at any moment.

"Sure, that sounds doable, let us talk about the details later, now get on the bus."

"Okay, bye!" signed Ha Na and was about to get on the bus, but just before stepping inside, she turned around and gave Jimin a quick peck on his cheek and then ran back inside the bus, before Jimin could even contemplate what had happened.

Ha Na winked at him from inside the bus and Jimin chuckled as he waved goodbye and the bus disappeared before his eyes. With slow, tired steps Jimin walked away from the bus stop and towards the dance studio. All this drama had taken a toll on his body and he felt like he could lie down and fall a sleep anywhere at this point, but he still forced himself to move forward.

After changing into his grey sweatpants and a white tank top, Jimin went to the radio and put on a CD. Before pressing play so he could start dancing, he stood still for a minute, calculating how long he had have to practice.

"Leaving early to meet up with Noona, missing out on practice the day after tomorrow, that means... only two hours of sleep tonight," whispered Jimin to himself and then nodded along as he confirmed his calculation.

He wouldn't let Ha Na slip away from him now that he finally won her over, but he couldn't neglect his dance practice either. If this had to work out, he didn't have time to relax. Every second would count and sleep would have to be the least of his concerns.

After emptying an entire bottle of water in one go, Jimin looked at himself in the full size mirror.

I have to do better, thought Jimin while he looked at himself, I have to.

Hello everyone!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember to stay warm and eat healthy and take care of yourself. Stay safe.

Also, don't forget to leave a comment down below.

Love, Annalise~