Earn it

Tongue Tied

Chapter 20

Ryujin

After the dance off, classes went back to normal and people started to get off Yeji's back.

Some people in class even tried to befriend her or ask her to hang out after seeing why she was accepted at a short notice - she is hella talented.

There are even fan cams of her in the freestyle round that circulated around and it gathered thousands of views on Youtube. She has gotten a bit popular around campus.

As for me, I'm just content being on her side throughout all of it. I've gotten a bit of attention myself but I just focused on my classes, the girls, and Yeji. Everyone pretty much got used to us being cozy and acting extra protective around each other so there weren't really any discussions that had to be done in the dorm.

Today, however, I went back at an unusual time because I forgot my camera in my room. To my surprise, Lia's in the living room - her classes finished early today.

I nodded and was about to walk to my room when she called me.

I stopped to look at her, waiting for whatever she had to say.

"Can we talk for a second?" I walked towards her, still silent.

For weeks, we have learned how to move around each other without making the others uncomfortable. But we haven't really had "the talk" yet. Yeji has been convincing me to do it but after the dance off and all the catching up with classes, the thought got buried until today.

"I know we have been civil. But I prefer if we could at least try to be friends again", she started.

"I'm sorry. I'm learning how to be... more understanding about a lot of things. I'm trying really hard." She's looking down but I can see the slight shake of her shoulders.

Suddenly, I realized how awful the past few weeks might have been for her. Not having someone to genuinely talk to, and how I made her feel like she was the one to blame while I sailed away and spent good days with Yeji.

I immediately hugged her and apologized.

"Hey", I tried to calm her down as she broke down upon my touch.

"Lia. I'm sorry. You're alright... You're alright", I repeated these words as she recalled all the things she did wrong and apologized for them.

"Shhh", I continued until she was able to catch her breath.

"We should've done this sooner. I really don't want this friendship to end just like that", I smiled, reassuring her once again.

She nodded and ushered me to sit down with her.

"Thank you, Ryu".

"Are you alright? Are you happy?" she asked.

"I am, Lia. Very happy", I beamed with my answer.

"So are you officially dating her? Like girlfriends?"

This made me look away and scratch my head.

"Wait. Don't tell me-" she moved closer so she could see my expression. "Ryuuu! You haven't officially asked her yet?"

"I... I don't know how to. I mean, I know how but I'm scared."

"What do you mean you're scared? You're basically girlfriends. You already sleep in each others' rooms for f sake", she is chuckling now.

"But we've only kissed once!" I blurted. "I mean, in case you and the others are wondering. We just like sleeping beside each other. And we like hanging out a lot. I like hearing her voice, and I like how she makes hums when she eats something good. I like looking at her and her pretty eyes..."