MINJI
The department was bustling with excitement, students were hurriedly pacing across the exhibit hall with art pieces in tow and it seemed like everyone was absorbed in preparations for the student exhibition. This was the year end tradition for the art department, where students would put on a show to display their best pieces to the public. It was the final push, a punctuation for all the cram sessions and all nighters that they endured. More importantly, it was the one time a year the department offered free wine.
To say the last few weeks were deserving of a nice glass of red (she'd settle for a mediocre one) was quite the understatement. Though her overactive imagination anticipated the worst, her sister was finally recuperating. A series of cognitive tests showed no long lasting concerns and doctors were confident in a full recovery. Minji was of course, the first person Iseul had asked for when she awoke, and she had never felt more vindicated than she did beside her at that moment. Tears of joy streamed down her cheeks as she burrowed into her sister's skinny arms and silently promised herself to never leave her side again. Iseul continued her stay at the hospital to begin physical therapy and receive further monitoring, but now that her condition was stable it was time for Minji to return to classes.
Minji had shown up early to ensure she could snag a good space for her pieces. Though she was a media major, she was rather pleased with the ceramic pieces she had completed in her elective wheel throwing class. She had been working diligently on perfecting her throwing– the walls of her pieces had gradually grown more delicate over the semester and she had even begun to master wrangling porcelain, a notoriously challenging substrate. In a way, she was thankful for the extra work, it provided a momentary distraction from the chaos of her life.
It was with mud covered hands that she busied herself, channeling her frustration into centering mounds of clay on a spinning wheel. As these shapeless blobs transformed into bowls, cups and other wares she sorted through her feelings towards Jaeheee. It was in the middle of glazing teacups that an unpleasant thought crossed her mind. Why hasn't he contacted me? Minji was slightly peeved, hurt even, that he hadn't really reached out since that night. He checked in on her sister once via text, but otherwise kept his distance. This was a jarring contrast to the Jaehee that persistently courted her, and some part of her missed the dependability of his presence.
It's not like she wanted to be with him, but she at least expected him to… try? Does this mean he never really liked me? The thought served her well as she kneaded clay to remove air bubbles, her body rocking against the unyielding mass, pushing her frustrations into the clay with each fold. Although it was what she wanted in theory, his silence wounded her pride and in a cruel twist of fate it was she who searched for him now. She wasn't sure if it was her lingering feelings, the shame of the lies she'd spouted at him, or her stubborn pride that caused her stomach to churn when he'd catch her eye, but just a glimpse of him across campus was enough to set her heart aflutter.
She was resolute on her plans to forget Jaehee (despite her grandmother's insistence on inviting him over for dinner) but she found that time without him dragged on. Without Jaehee, the world was… dull. Her senses were numbed, even her favorite foods felt bland, crumbling tastelessly in her mouth as she swallowed with disappointment. She grew increasingly frustrated at how even the smallest things reminded her of him— just being in her dorm room again sent her into melancholy, the tender moments too numerous to count.
The first night she spent back at school was the hardest. Her sheets still smelled like him. They lay arranged exactly as they had left them that night, like time had stopped only in her dorm and he would walk in at any moment, brush her hair from her face and kiss her as if nothing had changed. She curled up with her pillow every night, longing to hold him. As time passed it became easier to shut out her feelings. His scent eventually wore off her sheets, and in the same way the moments they spent together slowly blurred in the back of her mind, overshadowed by the monotony of everyday life.
In a way, her ceramics were a collection of her feelings, each cup and bowl imbued with the unresolved emotions she processed through nimble fingers. The pieces clinked noisily against each other in a cardboard box as she made her way to the showroom. Minji leaned against a metal door, the large box weighing down her small arms as she navigated to the exhibit hall. She blew her bangs out of her face, bracing her core and steadying her already weary arms to make the trek up the staircase.
She was almost halfway up the stairs when her foot slipped on the ledge, her body wobbling backwards as it struggled to correct the imbalance of the heavy box in front of her. Minji yelped, closing her eyes and expecting the worst when she suddenly felt an arm brace her from behind. The warmth of a strong chest pressed against her back, a mixture of cigarettes and clean soap surrounding her. She knew the contours of this body almost like her own, but it wasn't until he spoke that it truly sunk in.
"Woah, you really have a death wish around stairs don't you?" a low chuckle resounded behind her.
Minji's cheeks burned red, her legs somehow weaker than before as she gripped at the box in front of her. "Thank you, Jaehee"
He made sure she was steady before letting her go. "Do you need help carrying that to the showroom?"
She turned to face him, their eyes level as she stood a few steps above him, leaning the weight of the box between the handrail and her hip. His dark eyes met hers with a playful glint, a lazy smile dangling from his left cheek. Minji gulped, suddenly conscious of her appearance. As usual, his easygoing charm was both intoxicating and infuriating to her. A basic black t-shirt draped over his chiseled shoulders, the sleeves slightly rolled to reveal his strong arms. How was it possible for anyone to look that good in something so basic? She stared down wordless at his outstretched hands, her mind suddenly dredging up memories of the many times they had roamed her body and coaxed pleasured moans from her lips.
"Minji?"
She snapped out of her trance, pulling the box back into her arms. "N-no, I'm okay. Thank you again for catching me."
He tucked his hands into his jeans and shrugged, walking past her two stairs at a time with a grin "I figured"
Minji gripped at the cardboard, a momentary sense of regret settling in as she once again felt the considerable weight of the contents against her arms. She shook her head. Snap out of it Minji. Focus on what matters, you promised yourself.
The rest of the day went on as expected. She was happy with the spot she found for her ceramics, and she had even snagged a plinth to display a vase. Minji knew these would be in high demand and she was smugly congratulating herself at having arrived early. Haneul, of course, arrived closer to noon and borrowed several of Minji's tools to set up her exhibit. In exchange for their help Haneul had brought them drinks from the cafe; a strawberry matcha for Minji and iced Americano for Yohan. Yohan had been extremely helpful in hanging a small shelf for her ceramic cups, and they were both grateful Minji had secured monitors for their animation displays as they were in low supply as the day wore on. The trio polished off the evening with drinks and ddeokbokki at a nearby restaurant before Minji headed back to the exhibition hall to put the finishing touches on her displays.
She relished these late night moments at school, when the spaces felt hers alone and she could focus without distractions. Minji hummed a tune as she hung her coat on a rack and headed towards her display area. It was when a giggle rang out that she paused, her gaze turning down one of the temporary gallery walls in the exhibit hall. She wasn't expecting anyone else to be around— certainly not him—but there he was, his hair perfectly tousled, illuminated by the exhibition lights besides a girl she didn't recognize. Though Minji couldn't make out what he was saying, the mystery girl seemed to think everything he was saying was hilarious. It looked like he was helping her with her exhibit, his muscular arms reaching up and holding something against the wall, loose nails hanging from his lips as he hammered them in one by one.
Minji gnawed at her lower lip. She didn't mean to snoop, but she felt rooted to the floor, unable to look away despite the fact that the scene twisted her insides like the cold steel of a dagger. The girl was pretty, she looked like a second year. Her long shiny hair was curled in loose ringlets that cascaded down to her lower back, her flat midriff peeking out as she leaned up to hang paintings on the wall. A pang of jealousy coursed through her. Who even has time to curl their hair during finals? The girl turned to Jaehee now, a hand playfully touching at his bicep as she instructed on the next place to hang a painting.
Jealousy bubbled inside Minji, like a boiling pot with a lid on she felt it rise up with nowhere to escape, the pressure building until it was impossible to suppress. She clenched her fists, her eyes squeezing shut "Don't!–" Her voice echoed noisily across the hall. As soon as the word tumbled out of her mouth she immediately wished she could suck it back in. Minji instinctively clasped both hands over her mouth, green eyes wide with shock as the sentence dangled dangerously on the tip of her tongue. Don't touch him.