INEVITABLE

Chapter 18

"There you go." Yuri puts down the box of teabags on her wife's table. "I scoured New York for that, you know."

Ryujin checks the box with a glint in her eyes. She stands up to hug Yuri. "Thank you, boo!"

"You're lucky you've got a wife scheduled for American flights weekly." Yuri closes her eyes as Ryujin kisses her all over the face.

"You're the best! Muah! Muah! Muah!"

It was when Ryujin pulled away when she noticed the bruise on her wife's cheek. "Boo, did you hit your face again with the door?"

And Ryujin's response is a huge grin and a scratch on her nape.

"Tsk. Always the clumsy one." Yuri caresses her wife's cheek. "By the way, I messaged Miss Jisu about the dinner date plan after I landed back here earlier. She says she's okay with it."

There was an odd surprise on Ryujin's face when she stepped back, but Yuri thinks it's because her wife isn't comfortable with Jisu and Yeji's company yet.

"She agreed?" came Ryujin's question, to which Yuri responded with a nod. "With her colleague?"

"I asked her to bring Miss Yeji along, and she said sure."

"Oh." Ryujin looks away, pressing her lips together. "So, when is this happening?"

"Tonight. Dinner." Yuri reaches out to cup her wife's cheeks. "And it's in a luxury restaurant, so no baggy shirts and pants, okay?"

Sighing, Ryujin rolls her eyes. "I hate suits."

Couldn't handle her wife's cuteness anymore, Yuri leans in to kiss Ryujin.

---

Yuri spots Jisu and Yeji immediately at their table waiting for them. She drags her wife by the arm, excited as to how this night would turn out.

If she finds her wife's behavior odd, she chalks it up to Ryujin not being a fan of meeting people or fancy dinners like this.

Or maybe, Ryujin's just getting her period soon.

Whichever it is, Yuri didn't pay attention to it.

They approached the table and exchanged pleasantries. Yuri praises how Jisu looks beautiful in her pleated shirt dress and how it matches with Yeji's button-up.

If she had only spared her wife a glance, she could have seen the annoyance in Ryujin's face.

But she was proudly telling the two financial advisors how she got Ryujin to go semiformal tonight; how she forced Ryujin to wear a suit jacket to compensate for her wife's preferred attire: stripe shirt, trousers, and loafers.

She was too busy talking, and she didn't notice how Jisu's eyes linger on her wife a little longer than they should.

It was a pleasant start, Yuri thinks, and she's right about Yeji having this certain kindness in her. They eventually hit it off well, talking, laughing, and joking at each other like they've been long-time friends.

She didn't mind if her wife's hands were kept under the table. And she certainly doesn't find it odd if Jisu keeps playing with her ring finger while listening to the discussion between her and Yeji.

---

"What? You two used to be together?" Yuri was in shock after hearing Yeji's confession over dinner. "For how long?"

"It was for almost two years," Yeji says. "But we broke up a long time ago and have been good friends since then."

"Ooh. Friends like friends or friends with..." Yuri trails off with a smirk, waving her fork in the air.