you're annoying | ryeji

ELEVEN

With a sigh and a drained face, Yeji allowed herself to be pulled through the crowd by Ryujin once again. The energy she usually had for protesting was already sucked out by the loud elephants, plus the obnoxious purple-haired.

Much to Yeji's surprise, Chaeryeong and Jisu had actually agreed to Ryujin's pleas, quickly getting permission from the teachers before they made their way out of the gates. It was bizarre how easily the two agreed, Yeji swore they wouldn't have if it wasn't for those famous whisker dimples Ryujin sported as she told them about the ice cream truck.

Although, if Yeji was Chaeryeong or Jisu, she probably would've fallen victim to it as well.

Not that she hadn't.

Settling down in the shade, they all had ice cream cones in hand, enjoying the scenery as they enjoyed the dessert. It was quite hot out today, so it took quite some time for them to finally get their ice creams.

"I wanna go home," Ryujin frowned as she licked her ice cream. "It's so hot out."

"Why'd you volunteer then?" Yeji raised a brow. "You are obviously not fit for this."

"Hey! I am fit!" Ryujin defended, starting to roll up her sleeves. Yeji quickly stopped her, pulling her sleeves back down.

"I meant," Yeji sighed, "you don't know how to take care of animals, especially wild animals, unlike your fluffy cats."

"How long is this gonna take?" Ryujin turned to Jisu beside her, her eyebrows furrowing due to the immense sunlight.

"Two more hours and we can go back to school," Jisu responded, leaning back on her supporting arms.

Kicking the pebbles beneath her, Ryujin exhaled and murmured to herself. "The things I'd do..."

——

During the bus ride back to school, Yeji felt immense deja vu as she heard the unflattering ear-deafening sneezes of the girl beside her. It was just her luck that the only tolerable seat she could take was with Ryujin, especially with the fact that she did not know anyone else on that bus except for her. Unfortunately, Chaeryeong and Jisu had got on a different bus this time around, so the brunette was left with the annoying Shin as a seat partner.

"I think I'm sick," Ryujin said, sniffling as she held the bridge of her nose.

Yeji snorted. "Really? I thought you were allergic to elephants."

Ryujin glared at Yeji, her eyes narrowed. "Very funny," she retorted sarcastically. "Maybe the elephants conspired against me and infected me with their elephant germs."

"Or maybe you just have a terribly weak immune system," Yeji replied, keeping her tone flat despite the amusement upon her face. "Either way, I don't think it's a good idea to get too close to you right now."

Ryujin playfully nudged Yeji with her elbow. "You know you love me even when I'm sneezing all over the place."

Yeji rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that."

As the bus rumbled along the road, the two girls settled into a comfortable silence. Yeji watched the passing scenery outside the window, lost in her thoughts. Despite the unexpected turn of events during the volunteer day, she couldn't deny that there were moments of fun and laughter amidst the chaos.

Specifically when Ryujin was nearly slapped with an elephant's trunk.

"Yeji." Ryujin broke her reverie, and Yeji almost missed the warning tone in the girl's voice. "Yeji, there's-" Horror came across Ryujin's face as she swallowed hard, and confusion filled the brunette's mind when the girl began backing away.