Eternity [ryeji]

Chapter 18

“No need, Unnie. I’ll be fine on my own.”

“I won’t take no for an answer. I’ll come pick you up. Got it?”

“Alright. Thank you.”

“No problem. Be careful and call me if there’s anything.”

“I will. I’m okay, really. No need to worry. I just needed to tell you about it.” And hear your voice, thinks Yuna, feeling better already.

Ryujin takes a deep breath and exhales silently, regretting her helplessness in the matter. “Are you sure you’re okay? Just cancel the class and come home.”

“I’m fine, Unnie. A little shaken by that surprise encounter but I’m fine, really. I should get going. I’ll see you later.”

“Call me anytime, okay?”

“Yes, Unnie. I will. Thanks. Bye.”

“Bye.”

Ryujin hangs up and pockets her phone. Her eyes meet Yeji’s worried ones and she gestures for her to get inside the restaurant as she places her hand on Yeji’s back, slightly nudging her to move along.

They choose a table upstairs, in a quiet corner, and Ryujin waits until they have placed their order before she leans forward and tells Yeji what happened.

“What? She came to see Yuna?” hisses Yeji in disbelief.

“Yeah. Now that girl is even more burdened.”

“I’m telling Dad. He needs to come here sooner.” Yeji takes her phone out of her bag and starts texting her father.

Ryujin sits back and starts to absentmindedly play with the chopsticks, furrowing her brows while thinking about her best friend’s current situation.

“Dad says he’ll try to be here within the week,” says Yeji, bringing Ryujin out of her musing. “You okay?” she asks the woman sitting across from her.

Ryujin nods. “We need to go pick up Yuna later.”

“Sure thing.” Yeji hesitates then lowers her voice. “Can I ask you something?”

“Hm? Go ahead.”

“Dad hasn’t told me about the… procedure,” she says hesitantly. “What does Yuna have to do, exactly?”

“I’ll tell you about it later. At home,” replies Ryujin, eyeing her surroundings.

“It’s that bad?”

Ryujin reaches out to pat Yeji’s hand. “Don’t worry about it. I just prefer we discuss this at home, in private.” She then straightens up and tries to lighten the mood. “So you don’t have much to do this week?”

Yeji shakes her head. “I have a fitting and a rehearsal to attend but other than that, I’m pretty much jobless this week.”

“Nice. We can be jobless together. Let’s go to the amusement park or go camping or something.”

“By camping you mean staying at one of those nice sturdy spacious tent-like structures, right? Not the flimsy foldable tents that you need to assemble yourself?”

“Depends. Which one do you prefer?”

“The sturdy one, obviously. I’ve seen one that even has a nice heater and foldable beds so you don’t have to sleep on the ground. They only look like a tent but they’re really more like a stand-alone room.”

“I get it. No sleeping on the ground outside in a flimsy tent for you,” Ryujin says with a grin.

“I’m not high maintenance,” states Yeji out of nowhere.