"Oh God, oh God." Yeji put her back against the door as she chanted again and again. "Shin Ryujin is outside my house. Ryujin is outside my house. Ryujin is outside my-"
A knock was heard. "Hwang Yeji?" Ryujin's unsure voice came muffled through the door.
"God, she knows my name!" Yeji whisper shouted and looked around to find a pillow to scream into. She went to the living room quickly and buried her face in a cushion. She squealed loudly, not believing what the hell was happening.
"Shit I should let her inside." Yeji lifted her face up and fixed her glasses before opening the front door again to still see Ryujin and her little sister glued to her legs.
"Yuna, come over here." Yeji crouched down and pried the girl from Ryujin's legs.
The girl laughed and winked at Yeji before running into the house.
"So, you're Hwang Yeji?" Ryujin asked when Yeji straightened herself up and finally looked her in the eyes. Yeji nodded her head shyly.
"Uhm, w-what are you doing here?" Yeji asked, her voice barely above a whisper. It took some time for Ryujin to answer to question, since she was busy staring at how pretty Yeji looked.
"Oh, sorry. Actually I'm here because you're going to be my tutor. The principal arranged all this because I'm kind of failing and you know-"
Yeji zoned out at that. "I'm gonna be Ryujin's tutor?!" She screamed in her head.
"So, we cool?" Yeji looked up at Ryujin to see her smiling brightly. Yeji had to hold on to the door so she wouldn't physically swoon at that. "Y-Yes of course. Please come in."
The basketball player chuckled and stepped into the house. "You know, I'm happy that it was you who turned out to be my tutor. I couldn't stop thinking about you since yesterday." She casually mentioned as she walked in front of Yeji, looking around the house.
The brunette almost peed in her pants but managed to hold it together since her mom poked her head out of the kitchen to see Ryujin.
"Oh, who's this? I didn't know you were having company over Yeji?" She questioned, wiping her hands on her apron and extending it for a handshake.
Ryujin bowed and shook her hand. "I'm Ryujin and I go to the same school as Yeji. I actually came over without telling her. She's going to be my tutor starting from now, if that's okay with you, Mrs. Hwang?" The basketball player.
"Hey, I think I've seen you before." Yeji's mom said. "Oh you're Shin Ryujin? The captain of the B-ball team!" She exclaimed. Yeji groaned quietly. "No one says B-ball mom." She said quietly. Ryujin laughed loudly at that.
"And don't call me Mrs. Hwang, makes me sound too old. Call me Chaerin. CL for short." "No, no one's going to call you CL, mom." Yeji interrupted again.
"Thank you Mrs- I mean Chaerin. So, will it be alright if Yeji tutors me for a short while?" Ryujin asked once again.
"Of course it's alright. It'll be nice for Yeji to have some more friends over-"
"Let's just head upstairs." Yeji takes hold of Ryujin's hand and hops up the stairs, dragging Ryujin behind her. Trying to ignore the butterflies flying around in her stomach and the soft feeling of the younger's hand.
She brought them both to their room and shut the door behind her, hoping that her mom doesn't follow them.
Ryujin yawns loudly, stretching out her arms. "Sorry, just running on low sleep today." She said, looking at Yeji. The basketball player looks around the room before gingerly sitting on the edge of the girl's bed.
"So, how come I never saw you around school before?" Ryujin asked. Still wondering how she hadn't seen such a pretty face. Yeji shrugged and pushed her glasses back so they weren't sliding off of her nose.
"I'm not really a popular person, per say." Yeji said shyly. Seeing that Ryujin was about to open her mouth to say something, the brunette turned around and took a deep breath. "Let's start studying then, shall we?"
She bent down to get her backpack and she pulled a few textbooks out. "I love your snowflake pajamas." She heard the comment from behind her and her face turned red.
She turned around with a glare to spot Ryujin now in the middle of her bed, leaning against the headboard, her legs spread out on the mattress. Yeji quickly removed her gaze from those legs and stood up, throwing the textbooks onto the bed. The brunette stood at the foot of the bed. "What do you want to cover first? Math or English?"
Ryujin winced hearing that. "Actually," She scooted up the bed so she would be directly in front of Yeji. "I thought today would just be an intro sort of thing. I didn't bring any books. Sorry." The basketball player said.
Yeji nodded her head. "Yeah, I can tell by your jersey." She turned around, but whipped her head back with her eyes narrowed.
"Wait, how did you find my address? Did the school give it out?" Yeji asked quickly, panicking about the fact that her house address might have been leaked. Ryujin laughed seeing Yeji's worried state. "No no. Choi Jisu gave me a ride here."
Yeji looked down and fixed her glasses, silently going back and sitting down at her desk chair. "Right." She said quietly and sighed.
"What's with the long face, pretty stranger?" Ryujin asked, seeing Yeji's mood go down in a split second.
"Nothing-Pretty stranger?" She questioned with rosy cheeks. "Yeah. I didn't know your name so I kept thinking of you as the pretty stranger." Ryujin scratched the back of her nape with an embarrassed look. "You are really beautiful, though." She continued on.
Yeji spun her chair around to face the desk and she fiddled with her thumbs. "T-Thanks."
"No problem." Ryujin said with a smile. Her phone buzzed and she took it out of her pocket to read what it said. "Ah shoot. Is it alright if we left off here today? I gotta go."
Yeji stood up immediately. "Of course. See you tomorrow." She opened the door of her bedroom.
"Wait I should get your number first, so I can call you." Ryujin stopped in front of Yeji with a smirk. She extended her hand out, and Yeji shyly gave her phone to her.
"There, call me." Ryujin exited with a wink and rushed down the stairs. "Thanks for having me, Chaerin! Bye Yuna!" Ryujin called out before slipping on her sneakers and leaving.
Yeji looked over from the railing with a wide, gummy smile. "Oh someone, please pinch me." "Ow!" She exclaimed as she rubbed her arm. "I didn't mean literally." She pouted at Yuna, who was laughing loudly.
"Wait, my bike!" Ryujin said after looking around the house for her transportation. "Should I ask Jisu?" Ryujin asked herself and walked over the lawn to the head cheerleader's house.
The basketball player walked up the steps and knocked on the door, hoping that Jisu was the one to answer. And she did.
Choi Jisu showed up in a tank top and short shorts, with a perfect ponytail on her head. "Ryujin?" "Sorry about this, but my bike is in your trunk, so..."
"Wait for a minute." Jisu said and shut the door, going to fetch her keys. Ryujin pursed her lips and stood around awkwardly, before Jisu returned and unlocked the car.
Ryujin jogged down and pulled up the trunk, taking her bike out. "Thanks Jisu." The head cheerleader did a small nod. "Are you sure you'll be okay riding back? It's getting dark out." She said.
Ryujin waved her off. "I'll be fine. See you tomorrow."
≈
"Yeji?"
The brunette stopped her thoughts and looked over at her best friend. "Hmm?"
"You mind telling me what happened now?" Minju whispered impatiently. Her friend had been dazing off at nowhere since morning and she was getting more than agitated.
Minju snatched Yeji's pencil from her hand to get her attention. "Yeji." She said in a warning tone. The brunette sighed. "Nothing happened, alright." She said taking her pencil out of her friend's grip and answering another question on the sheet.
"Please woman, we've been best friends since you've come out of the womb, I know when you're lying." Minju said, tired of Yeji using that sentence.
"Fine, yesterday after school," Yeji's voice lowered dramatically, "Ryujin came over because I'm supposed to tutor her." She whispered. Minju's eyes widened dramatically and she placed her hands over where her heart is supposed to be.
"No way. No motherfucking way." Minju whispered in shock more to herself than Yeji. "Ryujin? You mean Ryujin? Like basketball captain Ryujin?" She kept repeating, getting louder with every word. Yeji clasped her hand over her mouth and glared. "Yes. Now shut up." Yeji took her hand off and pushed her glasses up and went back to looking at her sheet.
"Bathroom. 5 minutes." Minju said nothing more as she raised her hand and waved it back and forth to get her teacher's attention. "Sir! Sir!" She said urgently. The man slowly lifted his head from behind his computer and hummed. "Can I please use the bathroom? It's an emergency."
"I don't know, can you?!" A mocking voice was heard from the other side of the classroom. Minju glared at the boy who said that. "Shut up Hoseok! No one even likes you." The class collectively let out an 'ooh'. "Shut up!" The red haired boy fired back. The teacher raised his hand and everyone settled down.
"Yes, you may go use the restroom." He said and went back to doing whatever he was before.
Yeji groaned and took off her glasses to rub her face. Why does her friend have to be so extra all the damn time? She questioned herself and waited until five minutes were up. She then walked up to the front and quietly asked to go get a drink of water. The teacher nodded his head without looking away from the screen.
Yeji hopped into the bathroom and was immediately dragged in by her friend. "Tell me everything. Now." Minju demanded.
Yeji rolled her eyes, but fixed her glasses and proceeded to tell her everything that happened yesterday. Down to every last detail. She did leave out the fact that she had actually met Ryujin at her house the day before, but other than that, everything.
"She called me beautiful, and said she loved my snowflake pajamas." Yeji murmured with a blush. "Oh. My. God!" Minju shrieked loudly and pulled Yeji into a hug. She bounced up and down in joy. "Shin Ryujin called you beautiful! This is insane, do you know how many girls have been trying to get with her? I heard that Kim Yeri had been trying for at least three weeks."
Yeji broke away and pursed her lips. "She probably calls everyone beautiful, or was doing that so I can be her tutor." "Must you always be so negative." Minju groaned. "I'm not being negative." Yeji protested and fixed up her hair. She had worn it in a messy bun again.
"I'm being realistic. At least one of us should be." She said before smiling and turning to exit the washroom.
"Hey wait! I have to go first, or else everyone might think I was taking a shit in here." Minju exited first and left Yeji inside.
The brunette sighed and puffed up her cheeks, mentally counting down from thirty so she could go back to class. Abruptly, the door swung open and Yeji heard the clicking of heels enter the washroom.
Looking through the mirror, she saw Kim Yeri walk up and fix her blonde locks. Yeji mentally awed looking at her outfit and hair. She was wearing a mini skirt and crop top, with her blonde hair straightened. She sort of looked like a bootleg Choi Jisu, Yeji thought to herself but didn't say anything.
The brunette reached five and decided to leave early. As she walked to the exit and opened the door, Yeri spoke up. "What's your name?" Yeji hesitantly turned around and pointed to herself. "Me?"
"Yes you. Is there anyone else here? God." Yeri said and put her hand on her hip, waiting for an answer. "Y-Yeji." One of Yeri's eyebrows shot up.
The cheerleader walked a few steps closer and Yeji subconsciously walked back. "Yeji what?" "Uhm, Hwang Yeji." Yeji answered, frightened by the look on Yeri's face. The blonde sighed and placed a small smile on her face. It didn't take Yeji long to figure out that it was fake.
"Oh, you're Ryujin's new tutor?" Yeji dumbly nodded her head. "S-Sorry, I've gotta get to class." Yeji stuttered and turned to open the door. She speed walked back to class with record time.