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“how about a cop? don’t you think I’d make a good cop?” mijin asks, settling down the stairs in front of the old archery training center.
“after stealing those?” hari looks pointedly at her confiscated archery equipment. mijin had somehow managed to sneak it out of wherever it was kept for her ‘little surprise’. she also took the time to drag a target board out and set up a little bonfire.
“i told you, i didn’t steal these. i traded for it, fair and square.” mijin clicks her tongue, pulls a cigarette out of her pocket.
“with what?”
“you don’t need to know.” mijin reaches for her pocket once more and then sighs. “oh right. fuck,” she mutters under her breath. she walks toward the bonfire and holds the end of her cigarette near to light it up.
hari lets her be and takes her bow. it’s been a while since she last held it. it was confiscated when they got to the camp. she was antsy for weeks after. it felt uneasy to not have it within her grasp but it couldn't be helped. its presence made the residents rather uncomfortable.
“it’s for a good cause anyway,” says mijin, seemingly pleased having taken a drag. “i’d say the real crime is holding back a future national team rep. those little bastards...they should’ve listened when i was asking nicely. how can they not let you train for months?”
frankly, the mention of a future used to make hari much more uncomfortable. it reminds her of her brother who is without one. it reminds her of how vague hers is.
“you sound more upset about it.”
now, there’s an odd sense of relief. mijin must be rubbing off on her. the future looks nothing but a blur to her but mijin is bursting with confidence that there’ll be a bright one for all of them. it’s made her a little more hopeful.
“that’s what friends do, no?” mijin clears her throat, knocks the ashes off her cigarette butt.
hari’s lips tug upward just a bit. that’s the most uncertain mijin has ever sounded. maybe not as uncertain as the way hari holds her bow. she fixes her stance and aligns her shoulders. it must be below zero degrees but she almost breaks into sweat, feeling mijin’s stare on her.
she breathes in and out, aims for centre.
yellow. yellow. yellow.
she hones her sight on it, pulls the bowstring back.
fuck.
she takes her aim off it and lowers her bow.
“what did you trade for this?” she asks, squeezing her eyes shut. an attempt to distract herself from the sudden overwhelming pressure. if she misses wide, would mijin regret it? would it be the final nail in the coffin for her?
“nothing important.” mijin turns away slightly. “i won’t look if you want,” she mumbles. her expression turns unreadable as smoke escapes her lips.
fuck it.
once again, hari gets into position. she takes a quick aim and releases the arrow.
mijin lets out a low whistle when it hits the board. “do you always have to look so fucking cool? life is just unfair, isn't it?” she says even though hari had been way off the mark. she hit a liner three circles away from centre. it would’ve made her coach hang his head in disappointment.
“how about a commentator? you think i can be one?” mijin takes one last drag and then clears her throat. “jang hari-seonsu opens up with five points. not a very strong start. do you think she can come back from this?” she asks, facing empty air to her right. crushing the cigarette with her heel, she shifts two steps to the right. “ah, we shouldn’t underestimate her. don’t you know she shot a whole horde of zombies? those are fucking moving targets, you know? this is nothing to her, just watch.”
hari breaks into a small smile as she takes out another arrow from the bag. “you know the point system now?”
“i might have been watching some archery here and there,” she lifts her shoulders in a proud shrug. with her hands free, she reaches for her pocket once more to take her pack out. she looks into it, seemingly counting, before shoving it back into her pocket.
"what's wrong? don't you have another pack?" hari isn't exactly fond of the smell of nicotine but she knows how much it means to mijin. it calms her the same way holding a bow does to hari.
"yeah, i'm saving it for later." mijin rubs her palms together. “so what do you think? not a good idea?”
a little more at ease now, hari repositions her bow. she takes her time to aim and fires the arrow.
mijin cheers as soon as she relaxes her fingers. “that does it. jang seonsu has once again claimed gold,” she screams, hands cupping her lips. she runs around yelling, “it’s another gold medal for korea.”
hari shakes her head. she only managed to hit the inner red ring. she didn’t make it past regionals and she doesn’t know if she’ll get another chance. she’s lost almost everything she has. should her heart feel as full as it does now as mijin pats her in the back?
“ah, wow, jang hari is just amazing, don’t you think so?” she continues her two-man act. “yeah, but park mijin is pretty good too, no? isn’t it the first time jang hari is smiling like that? I’d say she’s the real winner here.”
hari quickly presses her lips together, straightens her face. and then she gives up, smiles again as mijin chuckles, clearly pleased with herself. she leans back on her arms and yells at the dark starless skies, “but really, jang hari, gold medalist. that sounds good, doesn’t it? has a nice ring to it, no?”
“it doesn’t sound bad,” hari says, trying to sound nonchalant. park mijin is ridiculous. honestly, she might be a little bit insane. she might really just become anything she wants to be. hari follows her as she sits on the topmost stair. “you should give it a try.”
“which one? the cop thing or the announcer thing?”
“why not both?”
mijin cackles. “you’re just shitting me, aren’t you?” she takes the bow from hari and starts fiddling with it. “i wasn’t kidding though. i really think you can make it to the national team and take gold.” she reaches for her nape and lowers her gaze, almost seemingly embarrassed. something one wouldn’t expect from a person who walks around with a protest sign, yelling for college admission.
hari doesn’t quite believe she can come anywhere close. it’s unthinkable with the way she’s been performing the past few months before the outbreak. and yet woojin was willing to believe her. right now, mijin believes in her, leading her to believe that maybe she can give it another shot.
“let’s both give it a try then.”
“archery? no way, not for me.” mijin’s brows are knitted, almost in disgust. she grabs the arrow on hari’s lap and starts packing their things.
hari lets out a half-exasperated laugh. “not that.”
mijin continues to play dumb. "what should we both give a try then? what can we both do? dating?" she lightly elbows hari, mischief all over her smile.
the cold weather betrays hari. heat rises up her neck, then to her cheeks. she can only scoff as mijin laughs heartily. she's been in trouble since the day mijin fake-shot her with the bow, really.
"sure," she finds herself saying. she grabs her equipment from mijin and starts walking away.
"what? what did you say? can you repeat that?" mijin repeats a whole lot of variations of that on their way back to camp. hari attempts to drive her a little more crazy, only answering with a grin and sometimes a shrug.
and then, "i said, you can be my girlfriend."
it's a good start to mijin being anything she wants to be.