Chapter 17; Reconciliation

He wouldn't pick me a hundred times over you. With so much difficulty, he might pick me over you.

───── ❝ do haru ❞ ─────

Friday, 4th of February 2021:

Today would be the day of Haru's reconciliation with Haneul. The two of them were going to have dinner together with Yoongi. It was almost like a war coming to an end, like fire and water being able to exist at the same time, like cats and dogs living in peace. Everything was a big, nasty jumble of drama, nervousness, composure and hope.

As much as Haru resented ha for what she had done, resentment was a tiresome feeling. 

She sighed as she stood in front of the mirror, fixing the lapels of her black blazer before slipping her feet, protected by a pair of mid-calf socks, into her black Chelsea boots. Her hair fell over her shoulders like a waterfall as she covered her elegant outfit with a duffle coat.

'For Yoongles,' she whispered to herself before walking out of the house.

Haru called a cab and after waiting for a few minutes, she was already on her way to the restaurant that Yoongi had picked. It was about twenty minutes away, so Haru sat back and relaxed. She plugged in her earphones and shuffled her playlist. 

Her mind suddenly drifted to the fact that February had already begun, and spring wasn't too far away. And if spring was near that meant that the time she'd see her grandma was near too. She couldn't wait for Spring Break, which would happen sometime in March.

Haru was more than excited to see her grandma again even though she had seen her recently during the Christmas holidays. Heck, if Haru could, she'd visit her grandmother every moth, every week, every day.

However, when the car stopped in front of a dark alley, the young woman was soon pulled out of her dreams. She pulled her earphones out and clumsily rolled them up before throwing them into her bag.

'I can't go in because there the alley is too small, but the navigator says that the restaurant should be where that faint light is coming from.' the driver scratched his head, staring at his phone in conflict, making Haru chuckle as she pulled out her wallet.

'It's okay. Thank you, Sir.' she handed him the money, 'Have a good night,'

Closing the door behind herself, Haru gave her chest a small punch as if it would give her some strength. She then walked through the umbras of the sketchy alley, placing all her hope into the green streak of light coming right form the very end of the street. Honestly, it was an awful location for a restaurant.

To Haru's luck, after only walking a few metres, a huge sign with radiant letters right above a door came inside, and said: 金玫瑰 (Golden Rose). 

A tall waiter dressed in a black suit with a tag that said: "Manager Shang", opened the glass door for Haru. 'Any reservations, Miss?'

'Yes, under the name "Min Yoongi",' replied Haru. 

The waiter instantly nodded and led her to the upper floor. Yoongi had mentioned that he had ordered a table on the rooftop. As Haru further entered the restaurant, the cosy yet elegant-looking interior came into her sight. It was a bit different from what you'd usually see at Chinese restaurants. 

There, the tables were made out of wood and rectangle-shaped, covered by dark red cloths. Paper lamps descended from the ceiling, shining an almost reddish light. The lighting was also somewhat dim as the night sky was visible from a large window that led to the balcony.

Haru's eyes soon landed on a familiar pair sitting in the corner of the rooftop filled with chattering poeple. Her chest became heavy at the sight of Yoongi's girlfriend, whom, she had to admit, was stunning.

Haneul had very long, silky hair. They almost grew up to her butt. The fact that she had chosen to dye it in this peculiar auburn shade had always Haru slightly green-eyed of how much Haneul stood out thanks to it.

Since the couple hadn't caught sight of her, she spent a couple of seconds analysing Haneul's clothes. A scoff left her lips when she realised that Haneul's style hadn't changed one bit; it was still very foxlike, classy and often slinky. But what actually annoyed her was the fact that she too was completely dressed in black.

Haneul's lissom legs were barely shielded from the cruelty of the winter by black opaque tights as a short wrap skirt added maturity to her look. A tight boat neckline shirt exposed her collarbones, making Haru cringe as she wondered how the woman hadn't frozen on her way there.

Then Haru noticed the puffy, warm coat hanging on her chair. Haneul's over the knee boots really left an impression on the designer before she caught sight of the cherry on the top: the red lipstick.

Haru believed that she had never seen Haneul wearing a lipstick of another colour, so she expected it. Overall, once again, as anticipated, Haneul was just too alluring for anyone's taste. 

Suddenly, Haru snapped out of her thoughts realising that the Manager Guy was staring at her impatiently. The closer Haru got to them, the more things she took note of, like Haneul's golden hoop earrings or her elegant necklace.

In this the two of them differed: Haru preferred silver, meanwhile, Haneul was more of a gold person.

'Hey, guys,' Haryu greeted them, trying not to sound too defeated as she swung her coat off, hanging it on her chair before taking a seat beside her best friend.

Haneul and Haru were disgustingly similar, yet different. That was why Haneul's first instinct was to inspect Haru's outfit as well. She was wearing a black blazer that matched her flared dress pants, a white turtleneck visible underneath.

'Took you long enough to drag your ass here.' Yoongi rolled his eyes and didn't even look up, hiding the fact that he had already managed to take in his friend's casual yet classy look. He was never going to admit that his heart skipped a beat for two reasons: it wouldn't sound right and it wasn't right.

'Hi, Haru-ssi.' Haneul bowed slightly, trying to cover up the fact that she was trying to figure out where her 'rival' had found such beautiful long earrings. 'It's been... quite a while,' she pointed out awkwardly, finally meeting Haru's unfathomable eyes.

'That's right.' she nodded, averting her eyes from Haneul. 'It's, um, nice to see you again.' Haru scratched the back of her neck, giving the woman a weak but not fake smile.

'Likewise,' replied Haneul quickly before digging her nose back into the menu. Yoongi peered at the two's uncomfortable remedying, cringing before shaking his head.

'You guys figured what you'd like to eat? It's on me so pig yourselves out I guess.' Yoongi smiled gently as his girlfriend and his best friend laughed.

'You are broke, dude, and I'll—we'll make sure to break you even more,' chortled Haru. 

'We shall do just that!' Haneul piped.

'When we ate dinner together a few days ago, we went to a fancy-ass steak restaurant. He said the same exact thing, so thinking that restaurant couldn't possibly be that expensive, I ordered a huge-ass steak plus a dessert. When we reached the cashier, he had that "I-fucked-up-big-time" face, so he is indeed bullshitting us right now.'

Haru almost wheezed at the woman's words, throwing her head back as she noticed the slight crimson rushing to Yoongi's cheeks.

'Whatever the hell makes you two happy,' he muttered and rolled his eyes again.

...

The rest of the dinner had gone pretty well although there was still some tension tickling them from time to time. Once they had finished eating, Yoongi got up, saying that he wanted to have a smoke outside. The two girls threw him begging looks as he walked away, smirking and even sticking his tongue out before disappearing out of their sight.

They sighed.

'Um...' Haru mumbled, 'I actually really like your hair, always have honestly.' she grinned, feeling a bit awkward by starting their conversation with a cheesy-sounding complement, which in reality was very sincere.

'Thanks.' Haneul tugged a strand of her hair behind her ear. 'Your earrings have caught my attention.' she pursed her lips and fiddled with her fingers. 'Tell me where the hell did you get them!'

She moved her chair closer to Haru, bravely brushing her fingers against the earrings before expecting them. Haru's breath got stuck in her throat for a moment.

'Well, um, from Mango actually. I'm not a fan of the shop, but I went there for specific purposes, like finding this blazer and pants. I just happened to notice these earrings and the quality was pretty good.'

'They indeed look great, they really complement your face and look.'

'Thank you,' said Haru, 'you seem to relish the talk of fashion,' she noted, startled by the shy titter she received from Haneul in return.

'I actually do, but you are like a pro, so I am a bit embarrassed,' Haneul admitted, and at that moment, Haru realised she had forgiven this woman.

To others, it might have seen like a simply adorable interaction, but Haru knew it was so much more than that. They were both very stubborn and brazen people, so admitting, though indirectly, that they were intimidated by each other was a huge thing for them.

'Haneul-ssi...' Haru frowned, noticing the way that her smile dropped in fear of having done something wrong. But she was clearly surprised when, instead, Haru placed her hand on top of hers.

'To be honest, when I saw you from afar, I took some time to take a look at your outfit and you are just as stunning as I remembered you to be. I've always hated it, but your aesthetic is... ideal.'

'W-what?'

'You have a great sense of style. I used to feel jealous sometimes, and now that feeling is coming back.' Haru leant back in her chair, noticing Haneul's jaw dropping.

'Listen, it might not come to us right now, but I think that if we just "let it go", we can be good friends. We need to trust each other, I need to trust your love for Yoongi and you need to trust my friendship with him.'

'That's true.' Haneul looked down with a frown. 'I am sorry.'

'I still think about that day at the restaurant up until today and feel extremely guilty, even more so mortified. And I am aware that you two have been close for ages, but I just can't help it... I can't help the envy. You might comprehend my sentiments, but I know they may not be that reasonable.'

'They are. Probably, if I were you, I'd hate me too.' Haru sniffled bitterly. 'If we forget about the fact that you cheated, I would be the villain, and you'd have the utmost right to resent me.'

'The more I think about it, the more I realise that I always leech off of Yoongi as if he is my mom or something. But I also can't let go of him, I think you might comprehend my sentiments, but I know they may not be that reasonable.'

The two snickered. 

'I know, that man is one of a kind.' Haneul huffed, playing with her necklace. 'He's very gentle and understanding yet doesn't receive it back, he doesn't accept it when others try to do that for him. Unless it's you that is...'

'Well, I am not sure how he acts with you but I am sure he simply doesn't want to trouble you. Meanwhile, because we've been friends for ages, he can be a bit more open. He is less scared to open up to me, I think you could try to push him a bit. He has let you in Haneul.'

Haru placed her hand on her shoulder, 'Even I sometimes need to get him to open up to me... It's not easy.'

'Can you really accept me again?' mumbled Haneul. 'It really fucking sucks to admit this, but we are already on the topic, so fuck it.' she looked up, her eyes glistening almost like the ones of a puppy. 'I feel so inferior to you because I know that Yoongi would pick you over me a hundred times again.'

Haru cringed, knowing that Haneul was almost correct.

'He wouldn't pick me a hundred times over you. With so much difficulty, he might pick me over you. Haneul-ssi, you need to understand that Yoongi does love you, or else he wouldn't have cared to give us time right now.'

'Obviously, the cigarette thing is true, he definitely went for a smoke, but he mainly did it for us to talk. If he didn't care about you, he wouldn't have cared for this reconciliation of ours.'

'I know. You are right,' said Haneul.

'It's great to sit back at a table with you. Let's gather a bit more often, maybe when we both really need him.' Haru smiled before sticking out her hand.

'Let's gather a bit more often.' repeated Haneul, shaking her friend's hand. 

↳ TO BE CONTINUED... ❞

Published date: 1/05/2022.

Word count: 2,184.

—jiminandhisjams