INEVITABLE

Chapter 10

"Oh. That's... that's sad..."

"It's okay. I've never been the type to stick in any relationships. I'm a very complicated girlfriend."

"Maybe only to those people who aren't your soulmate?"

Jisu raises an eyebrow and smirks.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it to sound like..." Ryujin swallows a lump in her throat. "I was just saying you shouldn't blame yourself. maybe you just haven't found the right person, or people, who would be willing to stick around despite everything."

"Maybe." Jisu shrugs. "Like you and Yuri?"

Ryujin simply smiles.

"I'm curious, what made you decide to marry her?" Jisu rests her chin on her palm. "Don't get me wrong. I just think you were both still young to get married. I bet you're barely starting with your careers."

"Well, the wedding was far from our plans at that time. Yuri and I were just patching things up after a... a huge problem," Ryujin says. "but then, her grandma got hospitalized. Everyone thought she's going to... you know. And her final request was to see Yuri, her youngest grandchild, walk down the aisle before she departs."

Jisu raises her head from her palm.

"Oh..."

"I wasn't ready, to be honest. but I couldn't say no because her granny is her only family member who's genuinely nice to me. so, we rushed everything to fulfill the request. The funny thing is, her granny recovered after the marriage, and she's still rocking it up to this day."

"Wow. That's... great... I guess..." Jisu chuckles. "But aren't you on good terms with her family? You said her granny is the only person who's genuinely nice to you."

"They aren't mean to me." Ryujin scrunches up her face. "But I know they want someone better for their daughter. I can't blame them. I'm a small-time cartoonist slash illustrator who refuses to be employed under any company because I want to do my own thing."

"Well, isn't that a good thing?"

"Well, not for her parents. you see, Yuri came from a well-off family," Ryujin explains. "Her dad owns about, if my memory serves me right, fifteen percent of the shares of the airlines she's working for right now. Her dad's the influence behind her wanting to get into stock trading."

"Fifteen percent?" Jisu's eyes grow wide. "That's huge! Why is your wife still working then?"

"It's a hobby. Yuri always dreamt of being a flight stewardess since she was a kid. but to be honest, she doesn't need to work. Her dad's wealth can support even his grand-grand kids-to-be."

"Wow. Isn't Shin Ryujin lucky enough to be married to a chaebol heir?"

Ryujin laughs, waving a hand. "It's not really like that. You see, we had a prenuptial agreement before we got married."

"What?" Jisu's draw drops. "Are you serious?"

Ryujin shyly scratches her nape. "I guess they want to secure their wealth within their family ties only. Some of her relatives did the same thing. I don't have issues with it. I married my wife because I love her. Even though I don't make as much as her dad, I am happy with my career choice. I'm happy to make my readers happy with my work."

Jisu nods. "From a financial analyst's perspective, you are already doing the right thing. You may not be working in an office setting like eighty percent of our population, but you have several passive income streams. To us, it's much better than people who are working nine to five."

"Passive income? What does that mean?"

"Passive incomes are earnings you get from something you're not constantly or consistently involved with," Jisu explains. "Like those comi--err, manhwas you're publishing online. you only create them once. after that, it generates monthly income for you without you doing much about it."

"Aaah." Ryujin nods. "Wow. Thank you for saying that. I've never looked at my work as something great."

"Well, you should be proud of what you've done," Jisu says. "You're doing what you love, and you're making people happy. you're not stuck in a chair for nine hours a day in front of a computer, doing things for your boss while they get all the credit for it. plus it gives you more time to do other things."

"More time to do other things..." Ryujin smirks. "Like meeting up with my soulmate while my wife's away at work?"

Jisu chuckles, shaking her head. "I assume she doesn't know we're meeting today?"

"She'll freak out if she finds out I met up with my soulmate."

"Mmm. makes sense."

"But I... I hope we can be friends...?" Ryujin leans over the table. "I don't know what we are supposed to do."

"Me neither. but I'm sure we shouldn't ignore each other like before."

Ryujin hums, making patterns on the table with a hand. "I know this may sound funny... and weird... but I feel close to you. I... I've never felt this strong connection with someone in a very short time."

Jisu nods silently, thinking how it's the same for her.

"Aren't we supposed to feel like that towards each other?" she says after a few more seconds. "we're soulmates after all, aren't we?"

"You're right." Ryujin scratches her head, a gesture Jisu's getting used to knowing. "I don't know where this will lead us, but I hope we can be friends?"

Friends.

Jisu smiles. Because honestly, she doesn't know if this is healthy or not.

What she knows is it won't be easy for the two of them to ignore each other again, especially now that Ryujin's wife is her newest client.

But would being friends fix everything?

Maybe. Maybe not.

But just like she told Ryujin on the phone, she wants to find the answers.

So, maybe, being friends is a good start.

With the small circle, she has, having a friend with whom she can connect is great.

Who knows, maybe she and Ryujin can work things out being plain friends.

It gives her peace of mind, knowing they were finally able to establish a relationship between them.

So, she gives Ryujin an eager nod. "Sure. Friends."