Don't Wait Too Long | Ryeji (reworked)

chapter eight

"Ryujinnie!".

Ryujin fluttered her eyes opened. When her senses came she noticed she was in her childhood bedroom. Weird.

"Ryujinnie!". She heard that familiar voice call her again.

"Mummy?!". Ryujin called out.

She got of her bed and walked towards the voice. She was in the apartment she grew up in. She walked down the hallway toward the kitchen. The sunlight looked like a haze through the window above the sink. You could see the dust particles float around. Everything felt real.

"There you are! I've been calling you monkey". Her mother bent down and pinched one of her cheeks. Ryujin looked down at her hands and they looked smaller. She looked back to her mother and jumped into her arms. She could feel her. She could smell her. She felt real.

Ryujin let go and her mother disappeared. Her heart ached it yearned to see her mothers face one more time. She looked down and saw blood all over her shirt and hands. She fell to her knees and sobbed her little heart out.

Ryujin gasped for air and shot up from her bed. She was covered in sweat and her heart wouldn't  stop racing. She looked down at her hands and around her room. It was a dream. It was all a dream. Sometimes she would get these night terrors of reliving the day she found her mother dead on the kitchen floor. As she grew up they became once in a while kind of thing.

She stood at her bathroom sink and wet her face with cold water. She stared at herself in the mirror. She couldn't even recognise herself. Whoever was staring back at her through the glass was someone who looked lifeless and held in so much animosity.

She walked to her punching bag placed in the corner of her bedroom and started pounding at it like a madwoman. She needed to release her pent up anger before leaving her apartment. If the first person she sees rubbed her the wrong way then she'd take it out on them. She continued working out, doing push ups and then pull ups on her door frame. She felt her body calm down.

Working out, bashing people or having sex was the only way Ryujin could calm down. Those are weird combinations but it worked for her. She took a shower and put on one of her best suits. There's a stupid rich people's event on later that day and she had to accompany her boss.

Ryujin pulled up to Takanashi's home on her motorcycle and met with Chris. He pulled her in for a tight brotherly hug.

"You hanging in there?". Chris asked concerned pulling away.

"Mm. Somehow". Ryujin shrugged with a half smile. Chris ruffled up the hair on top of Ryujin's head and she jabbed him in the ribs with her fingers.

Ryujin followed closely behind Chris who was driving Takanashi. They were on the way to some wealthy guys house for the event. Takanashi was only invited solely because of the reason that he did all their dirty work. He loaned them money for their failed businesses or would save their asses from any trouble with the connections he had with the law. That old man held so much power and Ryujin admired it.

A couple of hours went by and Ryujin watched Takanashi like a hawk. She scoped the room from the bar for any trouble and her eyes landed on Mr Hwang. Great. She noticed he was with a younger woman around her own age and it wasn't Yeji. Maybe his assistant or better yet, his mistress. If that's the case then poor Mrs Hwang. Ryujin started to panic at the thought that Yeji might be there. She composed herself and asked the bartender for a drink.

She shot her head back and finished her drink in one go. She pushed the glass back at the bartender and ordered another. She felt a pair of eyes on her, she expected to see Chris but to her surprise she saw a very attractive brunette.

Bingo.

You could say that Ryujin was a womanizer. She wouldn't be offended by that label because it was the truth. Ryujin had no shame in it. She'd strictly make it clear to her conquests that she isn't looking for anything serious. Some would try and win her over but her mind was elsewhere. No one ever compared to the only girl that stole her heart.

"What brings you here?". Ryujin murmured into the girls ear. The girl took a sip of her alcoholic beverage through straw. She somehow made that action seductive.

"My daddy dragged me along". The girl answered rolling her eyes. Ryujin cringed at the word daddy. Judging by the girl being covered in designer wear, she looked like a spoilt brat. But in saying that, Ryujin found her hot.

"Do you smoke?". Ryujin asked popping a cigarette in her mouth.

The girl followed Ryujin outside to the backyard balcony. She watched as servers walked around offering drinks and food to the guests.
Rich people having pointless conversations with each other, definitely bragging about their latest possessions or the last holiday they took.

Ryujin paid no attention to the girl that was attached to her hip. She'd occasionally batt her eyelashes and lift her chest up to taunt her cleavage while she kept going on about her "daddy". It came to a point where she couldn't tell if she was referring to her actual father or someone else. Don't get her wrong, Ryujin loved having fun but she was still there for work purposes. But in saying that, a little fun won't hurt.

"Are you listening?". The girl whined like a little kid catching onto the fact that Ryujin was not listening. She was searching the crowd for those feline like eyes. Ryujin then gave up.

"Yeah, I'm listening baby". Ryujin reassured the girl and lowered her hands down her waist. If Ryujin can take one thing out of this night, it would be taking this girl home later.

Yeji hated being forced to attend these events. She hated having her father's friends boast about their sons and how they're single. She debated the idea of inviting Sunwoo. If she did then it would mean that things were serious between them. She'd have to introduce him to her family and that was a headache as is. No one could ever impress her father. He'd scare Sunwoo right off.

Yeji grabbed a glass of champagne from a server and headed outside to get some fresh air. She couldn't handle another conversation with a middle aged woman shoving photos of her son into her face. Yeji always knew that when it came to marriage it would most likely be arranged.

That was because of her father though, he always put business first. She'd been lucky to have such a great mother otherwise she would be marrying some stranger by now. She stopped exploring her sexuality after Ryujin. Even if she liked the same sex it would have to be hidden. She believed it was only just a phase.

Yeji leaned her arms over the balcony and watched the air polluted night sky. Some may say that she should be grateful for her life. Being born with a silver spoon in her mouth and having her career path being mapped out for her. People just assume she never had to work for anything and that it gets given to her.

To some extent that's true. But Yeji wanted to work for every opportunity she had. And she did. She worked hard in school and begged her father not to interfere with her grades by paying off her principal's. She was intelligent. Yeji hated feeling like her life was just manufactured. She wanted to find her own purpose.

Yeji heard a familiar laugh and looked around to find the source of it. In that moment she wanted to jump off that balcony. She watched as some girl giggled at whatever came out of Ryujin's mouth. Ryujin was funny but she wasn't that funny.

Yeji questioned to herself as to why Ryujin was even there. She doesn't even need to go searching for her she'll just show up when you least expect it. It started to drive Yeji to the brink of insanity. If a God or any higher power existed then they are truly testing her.

Yeji scoffed to herself when she saw Ryujin's hand placement. Hiding under the girls dress, cupping her backside. Yeji felt a tinge of jealousy but washed it down with her glass of champagne.

And they locked eyes.

Ryujin whispered something to the girl and pushed her off of her. Yeji had to hold in her laugh seeing the girls disappointed reaction.
She straightened up her posture waiting for Ryujin to approach.