That Place - A Newjeans Catnipz Fanfiction

Chapter 6: Nightlight

[Disclaimer: I do not own any of the pictures used as an illustration in this book. They belong to their rightful owners. Thank you.]

Narrator's Pov:

The night when Haerin went well, more like amazing. They shared a comfortable silence between small talks.

Minji have never felt so at ease around someone other than her mother, why has she only met her now when she's been longing for as long as she can remember.

The way Haerin moves and look at her made her wonder what would it be like to hear her voice?

Is she soft-spoken? Does she have a cute voice or a sultry calming voice?

Right, in their small talk they haven't opened up about Haerin. It's not like she's being self-centered or anything, she's just anxious about redirecting the attention of the conversation to her and... her condition.

What if Haerin gets offended? What if she offends her unintentionally? That would blow up the blossoming friendship they have now.

But what if?...

Haerin must've felt her gaze,
"Um, is it okay if I ask you some personal questions?"

Haerin cocks her head to the side, she hesitated but nods anyways.
"Have you always been..." Minji pauses, trying to find a subtle word to use, without offending or hurting the other girl in any way.

"having trouble with speaking and... hearing?"

She caught her eyes flash something Minji still don't know what to comprehend. Haerin then nods and reaches for her phone again, typing away.

But Minji, her heart drops and she sadly frowned. It must've been so hard for her..
she thought.

"Yes, inborn but.." Minji couldn't even mask the sad look on her face, she watches Haerin stood up from her seat and went to her side. Now they're sitting next to each other on the long couch and Minji felt her own cheeks flaming.

"But?" she asks the feline-eyed girl who turns to her and scoots closer, well? Minji isn't really used to this interactions, and the proximity?

Haerin types again then shows it to her, before illustrating the gap between then.
"I can hear you a little bit if you're this close to me."

Minji's heart is pounding and her eyes glitters under the night light and the flickering light on the fireplace.

Haerin offered her a gentle smile before moving back. Minji clears her throat and says,
"O-Oh.. I see."

Then another silence, Minji watches the auburn haired girl types on her phone again,
"Does it bother you?.. that I can't talk?"

Minji almost immediately shook her head and said,
"Ofcourse not! It doesn't bother me at all, please don't think of it that way.."

She catches the sad frown on Haerin's face so she adds,
"If you'd like I'd learn sign language so we can communicate better. But I'm not really confident with myself, I might be slower than the others since.." Minji pauses, her voice got smaller at the end.

"I didn't even get to highschool.. " a somber look spread on her face and now it was Haerin's turn to feel bad.

Minji catches this and she masks a smile and shook her hand dismissively.
"It's alright, you don't have to feel bad. It's not really a big deal here since.. most kids here didn't really finish studying."

Haerin listened on, more like read on with a sympathetic look on her face. She doesn't really know what to say back to that and Minji isn't really asking for a reaction or reply.