"So your brother had already enrolled to a college, right?" I asked Ryujin while eating the breakfast that her mother had prepared for us.
"Yes, he had just enrolled at a law school just a few weeks ago. I missed his presence here though." Ryujin grinned at me.
"The only thing the both of you will do was arguing and fighting with each other and now you are missing him, huh?" Her mother intervened the conversation and sat across me at the dining table.
"Of course! I can't fight with Yuna. She is a cry baby. I wouldn't want to babysit that giant baby every time we fought."
"I am always here, you know?" Yuna who sat beside me rolled her eyes upon hearing Ryujin's words.
"Oh, hello there! I didn't notice that you are here, little girl." Ryujin winked at her sister who I assumed was on the verge of sulking with her.
"You know what? I hate you, Ryujin." Yuna kicked Ryujin's leg hard from under the table.
"Oh, but you know that I love you."
"I am sorry, but I don't."
"It is okay, Ryujin, mommy loves you." Their mother hugged Ryujin from her side, earning sigh from Yuna.
"No worries. I have Yeji, right?" Yuna planted a kiss on my cheek before leaning her head on my shoulder.
"No, you don't, buddy. Yeji is mine." Ryujin pointed at Yuna by using a fork that she was holding.
"Who said like that? And yes, Yuna I got you." I said before resting my head over hers and as soon as I did it, Ryujin sighed and put her cutleries down.
"I swear, Yeji, if you don't stop now, I will kill you."
"No, you cant kill me. You love me." I mocked her and wriggled my eyebrows.
"Okay that's it." Ryujin stood up and walked furiously at me.
She quickly tickled me when suddenly Yuna joined her. Oh my God. I am not a ticklish person but she made me laughed non stop that morning before her mother asked us to stop because we were going to be late for school. Both of the Shin sisters then stopped torturing me with their tickles and continued eating their breakfast.
"Thank you for the really delicious food, mommy." I smiled cheekily at Mrs Shin before I rode Ryujin's motorbike.
I spent the night at hers since it rained really hard last night, and her mother wouldn't want anything to happen to us. It was cloudy that day when I went to school with Ryujin by my side. At that time, the weather was very cold, and the sky was a little cloudy so the sunlight didn't shine quite as brightly as usual when the sky was clear.
"Where do you want to go once we finished our school?" I asked Ryujin, since there were about a few months left before we will finish our school, and I want to know about her future plans.
"Wherever you want me to."
"Me too, I want to go to college together with you." I hugged her really tightly.
"See you later, Yeddeong." Ryujin kissed me once I got off her motorbike.
"Good bye, Ryuddaeng. Be careful and text me once you arrived your school."
"Will do, maam!" she cupped my face and kissed me for the second time. What a really good deed to start your day.
After Ryujin left, I walked into the school to go straight to my class. In class, I saw Chaeryeong was chatting with Soyeon, Minnie, Jisung, and Hyunjin with serious expressions could be seen on their faces. Chaeryeong stood up and greeted me when I approached them. She wore a really troubled and sad face.
"Yeji, Changbin died," she said before being a crying mess.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" I tried to make sure that Chaeryeong was kidding.
There is no way Changbin died. It was just two days ago that we had spent our times together with Chaeryeong, Jisu, Minnie, Soyeon and Jongin. That can't be true.
'This is just a prank, Yeji.' I tried to convince myself. There was no way that one of my best friends will leave us behind. Chaeryeong must be kidding me. No. This is just a test.
"Changbin?" I asked with a half heart of disbelief.
"Yes," replied Chaeryeong. She was now in my hug, being a crying mess. Her shoulders moved up and down furiously.
"Changbin died? Seriously?" I asked while sitting on the chair on the bench next to Soyeon.
"Yes, Yej. We were told by his sister just now. She called me to inform us about it." Jisu, who just entered our classroom replied to my question. She quickly joined me in patting Chaeryeong's back to calm her down.
"Why?" I asked with a rapidly beating heart.
It just gushed me that they were not pulling a prank on me. This was real. Changbin, my brother from another mother had died. Tears had started pooling in my eyes.
"He was beaten by a group of unknown people," Hyunjin supplied when no one was answering my question.
They were sobbing slowly. Jongin had got out of the classroom. He surely was having a really hard time. He was the closest to Changbin among us. Changbin had helped him a lot. No. Changbin had helped all of us a lot.
"Because of what?" I asked in a slightly hysterical tone.
"Nobody knows about it yet." Jisu said while smiling weakly towards me before reaching up to clean my tears that were already flowing freely.
I wasn't aware that I was already crying. This news hurt me the most. The feeling of someone you dearly loved leaving you. It feels the same when I was told that my grandparents had died. It was the same hurt feeling. It was the same sadness. The feeling of being defeated. I felt like somebody had stabbed my heart numerous times and I was dying.
"I need to check up on Jongin." Jisu suddenly said and walked out of the classroom.
"We will follow you." Chaeryeong followed her and tagged me along.
After a few minutes of searching, we saw Jongin crying and bawled his heart out by the school's pond. It was located in a secluded area. We quickened our pace and sat beside him.
"Changbin is no longer with us." Jongin slowly muttered and faced us.
I quickly hugged his side, and he buried his face onto my shoulder. Jisu patted his back. Chaeryeong joined him to cry over Changbin's death. That was one of the most devastating moment in my life. I was sad, but I need to be a stronger one here. Ryujin was not here to be the strong one. Me and Jisu need to take over her role in our group.
I guess Ryujin also certainly doesn't know anything because earlier on the motorbike, we didn't talk about it. I was suddenly worried that Ryujin was involved in that brawl. It was possible, considering that Changbin was in the same group as Ryujin.
"Where were you last night?" Chaeryeong suddenly asked me.
"At Ryujin's home. I spent the night there."
"Suddenly I am worried for Ryujin. She was alone at that school." Jongin spoke and it doesn't help me to calm down.
I wanted to speak to Ryujin immediately, but there was no way to reach her. I can't call her phone because her phone was broken when she was fighting with Yuna last night.
My mind immediately went awry. My mind immediately became anxious. The bell rang as a sign that lessons were about to start. Jongin with his defeated voice asked us to make a move to our class. Luckily, we were all in the same classroom for that year.
The teacher came and we immediately arranged ourselves to sit on our stools. While we were studying (in which I believe that everyone in our circle of group couldn't pay attention to due to Changbin's sudden death), someone knocked on the door of the classroom, and that person was Ryujin. She entered the classroom and asked permission from the teacher to talk to me. After getting permission, I left the classroom with Ryujin.
"Changbin died," Ryujin said slowly and tears streamed across her face.
I quickly hugged her very tightly. Not long after, I could hear footsteps from behind and was greeted by sad faces of our friends, including Jongin.
"Ryujin. He is not with us anymore." Jongin said which made Ryujin to go to him and hugged him.
Jongin was beyond devastated. He cried harder than when he was with us before. Ryujin is definitely the strongest one among us. She is definitely a person that anybody could rely on. She was our backbone.
"Do you know anything about it?" I asked urgently.
"No." I was silent and believed in her.
She was with me all night long. Of course she wont know anything about it. I silently looked at her.
"I quickly came here once I got the news. I need to at least be with my friends. We need each other," Ryujin said while smiling weakly at us, observing us one by one. I was still staring at her silently.
Jisu then moved towards her and Jongin and joined the hug. Soon, it turned into our group hug. Ryujin was right. We need each other. Changbin's death had proven that nobody knows when someone will leave our sides. Nobody knows. And again, I was glad that I met them, as my friends.
"Do you know now on why I forbid you from joining a motorcycle gang?" I finally asked after we unlatched ourselves from the group hug. Ryujin kept her silent
"Do you understand now?! I don't want to lose you, Ryujin. None of us wants that to happen. Now it was Changbin's time. No one knows who will follow him after." Ryujin tried to avoid my sharp gaze.
"Yeji is telling the truth, Ryujin. Stop joining them. It is okay to befriend with them. But it is not okay to join them doing things." Jongin said.
"We don't want the same thing that had happened to Changbin to happen to you too. We love you, Ryujin." Jisu added.
"Says the one who was also involved with the gang." Chaeryeong snickered and glared at Jisu.
"Hey, I have stopped joining them, okay?" Jisu defended herself.
"I don't like you joining the motorcycle gang!" I said to Ryujin while looking directly into her eyes.
You can see why I treated Ryujin the way I did. You can understand why the news of Changbin's death made me so concerned. It's not unthinkable that if Ryujin was still active with her motorcycle gang, the same thing that happened to Changbin would happen to Ryujin, and you know how much I don't want that to happen.
Ryujin, don't get me wrong. You should know that my entire attitude toward you comes from someone who truly loves you, even whether I am furious, unhappy, or annoyed. My buddies and I then requested permission from the teacher to visit Changbin's home.
"Are you okay, baby?" Ryujin asked quietly, after we entered Changbin's house.
"Nope." I smiled wearily at her.
The memories of us together in Changbin's house were flashed in my eyes once I gazed around the living room. I could see familiar faces that had been spending the times together in this house, except for its owner.
Changbin's death was so sudden. It was just a few days ago we had visited the same house. But today, we were visiting with a different reason. We came to say goodbye to him, without him.
At the same time, the sound of ambulance sirens was heard entering Changbin's yard, greeted by sobs from his family who was waiting for him. Everyone stood up including me and Ryujin. I got goosebumps; the world immediately felt heart-breaking.
I kept fretting about what I was thinking on the way home. Changbin's death intensified my fear that everything Changbin was going through could happen to Ryujin if she remained as a member of the motorcycle gang. Furthermore, Jisu said that Ryujin had been in a coma for one day in the past as a result of being beaten by a gang of people and was stabbed in the stomach.
I'm really concerned about her. I don't want Ryujin to be hurt in any way. Even though she will always be in my heart, I don't want her to go from this world, because that would leave me lonely. That will make me sad and believe me when I say that it will make me cry nonstop.
But I'm afraid I've given up hope of persuading Ryujin to leave the motorcycle gang.
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A/n: Three chapters more and we will be done!!!