you're annoying | ryeji

TWENTY-SIX

"Ow!" Ryujin's head whipped to her right, her hand holding the spot that was hit. "What the hell, Jeongie?"

"You're doing it again," Minjeong moved her head from side to side, sliding her hands into her hoodie pockets. Ryujin's eyebrows furrowed, and the former quickly took notice, deciding to clear up the girl's confusion. "That overthinking thing. Has anyone ever told you that your emotions are written all over your face?"

Ryujin grew self-conscious after thinking about it, was it true? "No.."

Minjeong sighed, snuggling her chin into the neck of her hoodie before mumbling, "You and Yeji are the same."

"Please don't say her name."

The older casted her an unreadable glance but looked away when they pushed open the exit doors, walking out into the late afternoon. After a minute of silence while they made their way towards Minjeong's car, she finally spoke up. "What's wrong, Jin? You look worse than I've ever seen."

"Thanks," Ryujin emotionlessly rolled her eyes, waiting for the car to unlock, then got into the backseat. Minjeong sighed and entered the driver's seat.

"You look like you just went through a breakup," Jimin, the passenger that had been awaiting the two's arrival, remarked. Even with her teasing tone, Ryujin could make out the little pieces of visible concern on her face. She was really starting to get tired of them.

"Babe, can you turn on the music?" Minjeong intercepted, shooting a specific message with the glance she sent to her girlfriend. Jimin immediately obeyed and shifted in her seat. As the car began to move, the silence filled the air once again, only this time there were background music playing at the back of Ryujin's mind. Minjeong grabbed occasional looks at the girl in the backseat, clearly worried about her friend but she chose to not show it, knowing that Ryujin probably didn't need the pity and the concerns. "Ryujin."

"Yeah?" The said girl replied, now looking out the window with her cheek on her fist. To say that she didn't expect the older Kim to question her was a complete lie.

"Tell me what happened."

Ryujin's eyes flew to her, glancing between Minjeong and Jimin. With the simple knowledge that Jimin and Yeji were close was enough to keep her quiet. "No thanks."

"Am I what's stopping you?" Jimin butted in, slightly surprising the youngest among them by her question. "Ryujin, you don't have to worry. I'm not the type of person to pass around someone's sincere feelings. But if you're still doubtful, I can put on noise cancelling headphones."

Although she was thankful for her offer, Ryujin remained persistent. "Thank you, but I don't think I could talk about it anyway."

"Why?" Minjeong asked, making a full turn to the left.

"It's immature. I don't even know why I'm upset about it," Ryujin muttered the last part, feeling almost too shameful about her own thoughts that were currently racing through her mind.

Minjeong pursed her lips and briefly glanced at her through the rearview mirror. "The worst thing you can do in this situation is to invalidate your feelings."

"What's stopping me?"

"Ryujin." Minjeong's voice was stern, reprimanding, almost.

"Sorry."

"There's no need to apologize, Ryu," Minjeong sighed, the car pulling to a stop before the engine turned off. All of them remained seated. "I just want to know what happened, because as much as I'd love to go home and spend time with my girlfriend, you're still my friend and I hate to see you upset like this."