I Used To Be Alright

Chapter 24

Yeji

The next time that Yeji saw Ryujin was at Lia's party.

After multiple insistent demands and a phone conversation with Lia, she agreed to be there. She didn't know that she and the others kept in contact with her two best friends. Apparently, it was only her and a certain brunette that stopped talking after the incident.

She couldn't blame them, they weren't involved in it anyway. Chaeryeong and Yuna offered to decline had Yeji said that she's uncomfortable being anywhere near Ryujin and her friends – but she didn't want to stop them from enjoying a friend's celebration.

Besides, it has been more than three months. And, if she's being honest, she misses her. The notifications from the brunette containing yet another link of a "funny" video that Yeji would absolutely not get, but she kept on sending them anyways; some news about fossils and historical discoveries; the random pour out of questions from a minor subject that she finds hard to understand; and even the midnight calls when she won't say anything but a straight plead to pick her up, followed by the address of where she's at.

Over the course of her absence, Yeji has come to make peace with the fact that she would rather go back to when the brunette needed her, however one-sided it might seem to others, than be without her at all.

Gosh, have I really gone this crazy?

They decided to settle by the corner table after the light interaction with the birthday celebrant – her two best friends not letting Yeji out of their sight, as if she's gonna run any minute.

"I told you guys, I'm fine. Go ahead and socialize. I see some of your classmates here."

She assured them for the nth time. They eventually listened and went ahead to greet their friends from classes.

Yeji was getting bored by the minute. She was never one to enjoy at parties, and she always has prepared an alternative to times like this. An e-book, or a game that she could focus on for an hour or so. But for some weird reason, she forgot to prepare anything.

She was seconds into falling asleep when she caught a glimpse of her.

She looked more tired than usual. Nonetheless, she's still sporting that goofy grin as she approached Lia and hugged her. Everything seemed to have stayed the same – her energy, the way she's always comfortable interacting with people. Although her hair seemed to be a bit shorter than she last saw her.

Yeji continued to watch from afar – burying down the obvious quickening of her heart's pace.

Ryujin

Ryujin instantly saw Chaeryeong and Yuna the moment she arrived. She knew this because she asked to meet them a few days prior to the party – hoping that she could at least apologize and explain her side to the feline eye's best friends.

And although they weren't rude or hostile, they refused to hear anything from Ryujin aside from the fact that it wasn't part of some scheme to make Yeji like her and break her heart after. Instead, they insisted that she talk to the feline eye directly and clear everything up.

Hence, her growing anxiety as she entered the place of celebration.

She made her way towards Lia and gave her a lively greeting. She also bumped into people from the university, and some friends from the outside.