Eternity [ryeji]

Chapter 19

Ryujin parks her car and steps out, walking towards the coffee shop not far from the campus.

Yuna said that she was still meeting with someone there and told Ryujin to come and wait inside the coffee shop rather than in the car.

Ryujin pushes the glass door open and scans the crowded place, looking for Yuna. She finds her at a table, talking to a young woman with long hair who’s wearing a cap.

She frowns when she notices Yuna’s unusually awkward body language and rushes to her best friend’s side.

“Hey.”

Yuna looks up and smiles in relief. “Hi, Unnie.”

Ryujin finally gets a good look at the other woman, instantly thinking how pretty she is. “Sorry to interrupt.”

“That’s okay. I was just leaving,” replies the woman, standing up.

“Wait.” Yuna also stands up. “This is Ryujin unnie. The one I told you about just now.”

Ryujin raises her eyebrows, looking at Yuna in confusion. “Who-…”

“Unnie, this is Chaeryeong unnie,” Yuna introduces Ryujin who nearly gasps in shock.

“A-ah. I see.” Ryujin quickly recovers from her shock and politely extends her hand. “I’m Ryujin. Nice to meet you.”

Chaeryeong shifts her gaze to Ryujin’s hand and reluctantly shakes it.

Ryujin feels the familiar sensation but does her best not to show any awkward reaction to it.

“Let’s just skip the small talk,” says Chaeryeong. “I’m sure you know who I am and what I want. The reason I’m here is because it’s the only way Yuna is willing to fulfill my wish so there’s no need for fake kindness or sympathy.”

“Wha…” Ryujin blinks. “What fake kindness or sympathy? The only one I’m sympathizing with is Yuna for having to suddenly deal with your request. She has never done this before, you know.”

“Unnie,” Yuna places her hand on Ryujin’s arm, calming the latter down. “It’s okay.”

“I have a schedule to keep.” Chaeryeong fixes her cap and shoulders her bag. “Make sure you keep your word,” she tells Yuna before turning on her heels and rushing out of the coffee shop.

“What was that all about?” Ryujin asks Yuna. “You gave her your word? You’ll do it?”

“Not exactly. Come on. I’ll tell you about it in the car.” She ushers Ryujin out of the coffee shop, letting her show the way to the car.

Once they’ve driven away, Yuna begins telling Ryujin what she has done.

“I’ve been thinking of a way to make her change her mind and I’ve found a temporary solution that might be able to at least stall her,” says the tall woman. “When she called me yesterday, she sounded impatient so I went ahead and told her that I’d do it but only under one condition.”

“What condition?”

“That she gives me time to get to know her first.”

“What?” Ryujin glances at Yuna. “Why would you want to do that? Won’t it be harder for you?”

“Maybe but after the intensive research I asked our acquaintances to do, combined with my family’s notes about her family, I think I know why she wanted out.”

“Why?”

“I think she’s lonely. I looked up the notes we took of our old friends and fellow last descendants but there was no mention of her. I asked Yeji unnie’s father about her family and he told me that they were adventurers; travelers who barely had any friends back at the homeland. Her parents had the bad luck of returning to the homeland just before the clash happened. They became casualties of war but before they perished, they made her leave with a bunch of foreign travelers who were escaping the war. She didn’t even have a chance to make any friends before they shipped her out of there.”