Twisted Games(Ryeji ver)

YEJI[CHAPTER 7]

TRIAL MONTH FOUR

By the time graduation rolled around a month later, I’d
corralled the butterflies into a cage, but an errant one
escaped twice. Once, when I saw Ryujin petting Sarang,
who’d worn her down with her utter cuteness. Another time
when I saw the way her arm muscles flexed as she carried
groceries into the house.

It didn’t take a lot to get my butterflies going. Hussies.
Still, despite the annoying critters living rent-free in my
stomach, I tried to act normal around Ryujin. I didn’t have
another option.

“Do I get a medal or a certificate of recognition for my
incredible restraint over the past four months?” It just so
happened the last day of my trial period coincided with my
graduation ceremony, and I couldn’t resist teasing Ryujin
while we waited for Minjeong to set up the shot on her tripod.
She was our unofficial photographer for group photos today.

“No. You get a tracker-free phone.” Ryujin scanned the
quad, her suspicious gaze drilling into suburban dads with
beer bellies and WASP-y moms dressed in head-to-toe Tory
Burch alike.

“It’s been tracker-free this entire time.”

“Now it stays tracker-free.”
Apparently, Ryujin had never heard of matching someone’s
energy. I was trying to be lighthearted, and she was more
serious than a heart attack.

Really, Yeji? This is the girl you want to flutter for?
Before I could come up with a witty response, Minjeong waved
us over for photos, and Ryujin lingered behind while I
squeezed into the shot with Wonyoung, Chaewon, Yujin, and Minjeong, who was controlling the camera through an app on her phone. I’d deal with my inappropriate flutters later. It was my
last time on campus with my friends as a student, sort of, and I wanted to enjoy it.

“You stepped on my foot,” Wonyoung snapped at Yujin.

“Your foot got in my way,” Yujin snapped back.

“Like I would intentionally put any part of my body in
your way—”

“I need to Lysol myself to get your—”

“Stop it!” Chaewon slashed her hand through the air,
startling everyone with her sharp tone. She was usually the
most Zen in our group. “Or I’ll post the candid and very
unflattering photos I have of the both of you online.”
Wonyoung and Yujin gasped.

“You wouldn’t,” they said at the
same time before glaring at each other.
I stifled a laugh while Minjeong, who usually played reluctant
mediator between her friend and sister, cracked a smile.

Eventually, we wrangled everyone into a respectable
group shot, then another, and another, until we took enough
pictures to fill a half dozen albums and it was time to say
goodbye. I hugged my friends and tried to swallow the messy ball
of emotion in my throat.

“I’ll miss you guys.”
Wonyoung and Chaewon were staying in D.C. to attend law school and work as an assistant at D.C. Style magazine, respectively,
but Minjeong was heading to London for a year-long photography fellowship, and I was moving to New York. I’d convinced the palace to let me stay in the U.S. as Eldorra’s royal ambassador. If an event required a royal Eldorran presence, I was the person for the job.

Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to stay in D.C., most of
the events took place in New York, so there I would go.
I hugged Minjeong the hardest and longest. Between her family
drama and breakup with Jimin, she’d gone through hell the
past few months, and she needed extra love.

“You’ll adore London,” I said. “It’ll be a fresh start, and
you have the little black book of must-visit spots I gave
you.” Minjeong flashed a small smile.