It's the next day now where most of my family arrived. Mr. Shin is arriving today too and Mrs. Shin is pretending not to be excited but you can tell that she is.
The Shin family decided not to visit today though since a lot of people will come and see us. My sister's house is not small but it's also not that big to fit everyone. They have a decent size backyard but it's too cold for people to just hang out there.
Normally, when my family get together, the uncles are in the garage drinking, the aunts are in the kitchen cooking or eating and the cousins are scattered either in the bedrooms or outside or the living room.
Most of my mom's side of the family are here and are catching up with each other. They congratulate me for Ervin but I can tell some of them are judging me for having two kids and I'm not with their father or that I'm unmarried.
Eva and Ervin are either with me, my mom, my sister, John or Travis' parents because they're really the only ones I trust with my kids. Whenever I see someone else hug or pick up my kids, I always keep an eye on them to make sure that they don't do anything with my kids.
Ryujin are with my cousins in the living room because they said they wanted to get to know her. Travis is with them while Karina and I are in the kitchen helping out. I would keep an eye on Ryujin occasionally, not because I don't trust her but because I know some of my cousins are attracted to her.
It wouldn't really be the first time that a cousin steals someone I'm dating. I know deep down, Ryujin is not like those people in my past who would give in to temptation but the idea still scares me, especially having to experience it multiple times.
I love Ryujin and all but I've noticed since we've been together that she's oblivious to people flirting with her. She thinks they're just being nice to her. I don't blame her though, she tends to see the good in people and I admire that about her but it still sucks.
I excuse myself to go use the bathroom then when I finish, one of my cousins is outside the door.
"Hey Yeji" she smiles at me.
I fake a smile, "Hey Jade."
It's not that I don't like Jade. I hate her. Ever since we were kids, she would always harass me. She would always make sure I know that shes better than me.
"You know, I could never do what you do. Getting pregnant twice by the same man you're not even married to or currently dating" she flips her hair and I want to grab it to slam her head against the wall.
"Did you follow me here just to tell me that?" I roll my eyes at her.
"No, I also wanted to share my promotion at work but after knowing that you're working at a warehouse, makes me pity you" She does a fake sad face.
"I feel so bad for you. Kids with no husband, crappy job, you don't have your own place, and you look like a mess. Maybe thats why you can only get a girl to date you because you're not good enough for guys" she continues.
"That girl you're referring to is better than any guy you will probably ever date. Don't ever think about her as someone beneath anyone" I grit my teeth while forming a fist with my hands.
"Woah, defensive now are we? She can't be that great, she's dating you" She chuckles.
"She is that great. She deserves someone better than me and I know that but she loves me so much that she doesn't see it that way. She thinks that she's the lucky one. You wish you could have someone who will love you like how Ryujin loves me" I say with more anger in my voice.
She walks closer to me without breaking eye contact. "Oh my, our little Yeji can talk back now?" She slaps me and it stings.
I take a deep breath before turning my head back to face her. "Don't forget that you will never be better than me. Don't forget I can take anything I want from you any time. Remember those guys you like? They left you because they thought I was better than you and I can do the same with Ryujin" she slowly says, making sure I hear every word.
"Her fingers felt great in my mouth the by the way" she gives me a smirk.
I lose my cool and push her by her shoulders. She curses me out then she grabs my hair, trying to yank me down. I do the same and we both start screaming.
"You bitch!" She yells at me.
We hear footsteps approach us and I feel someone pull me away from my cousin. They wrap their arms around my waist as I try to break free to attack Jade again.
I see Travis holding her back and I catch a whiff of Ryujin's scent so I know she's the one holding me.
I pry her arms off me, "Don't touch me!" I yell at her. I'm too angry to want to talk to her. What the hell was Ryujin's finger doing in her mouth? Was she fucking flirting with my cousin? I'm too mad to think clearly so I walk away to go to my room. I slam my door and lock it right away. I can't believe Jade is still like this towards me. I don't even know what I ever did to her.
Someone knocks on my door and I know it's Ryujin. I know she probably has some sort of explanation about the finger incident but I'm not sure if I'm ready to hear it.
"Yeji, can I come in?" I hear Ryujin ask.
"Go fucking date my cousin since you like putting your fingers inside her!" I shout.
"Love, please. Let me in" she softly speaks.
I hate when she calls me love when I'm upset because it makes me go all soft.
I stomp my way to the door to unlock it. As soon as I do, the door opens with Ryujin walking in.
I glare at her and I see her gulp.
"Why was your fingers in her mouth?" I question right away because even though I said I'm not ready to hear it, I actually wanna know why.
"I didn't do it. She did it. Travis and I were feeding each other and she just grabbed my hand then ate the food I was holding by sucking it up like some sort of vacuum" she explains.
"Why were you and Travis feeding each other?" I question. I'm not jealous because I know their relationship with each other is more of a sibling or best friend.
"We got bored feeding ourselves" she nervously laughs.
"Are you lying? Why does it seem like you're lying?" I cross my arms.
"No its not that. I didn't know how you would react at the fact that we got bored feeding ourselves so we decided to feed each other" she scratches her nape while looking down.
I turn to sit on my bed with my arms still crossed. I honestly don't know why I'm acting like this. I've never acted this before. I know I'm kind of acting like a brat and I've never confidently done this to any of my exes. They would have been yelling at me right now and tell me to stop acting like a bitch.
But I actually like it when Ryujin would console me and be extra sweet to me to try to make me feel better. For some reason, I feel so deprive from that kind of sweet interaction so I always take advantage of it when Ryujin is doing it. I just hope I don't push it too far to where she would snap and yell at me.
I feel the bed move and I look to my side, only to find her sitting next to me and looking at me.
"Are you okay? Why were you and Jade fighting?" She ask while looking over me to see if i have any bruises or anything.
I sigh then tell her about our history. From pointing out my flaws, stealing guys I like, always putting me down and such. I also tell her why we ended up getting physical because of the finger in mouth comment. The whole time I'm talking, Ryujin just nods and hums to show acknowledgment.
"Do you feel like you're all of what she said about you?" She ask.
"For the most part, yes" I look down.
"It sounds to me like she's unhappy with her life so she takes it out on you" She lifts up my head then have face her.
"Don't believe whatever she tells you. She may seem like she's got it all together but from what you've told me, she's someone who has a lot of insecurities and she validates herself by putting others down. Just try to understand why she's doing what she's doing" she tells me.
She notices how I contort my face and she chuckles. "I'm not saying forgive her or allow her to mistreat you. I'm saying don't let her words put doubts in your head about yourself. You're doing so well with how you view yourself and I don't want her to ruin that. We can't change people or how they behave but we have control over our own behavior. Don't let her make you feel bad for having two kids and the fact you're not with the father. It takes a strong person to be able to walk away and take care of two kids by themselves because the father is a toxic asshole."
"But you've always been there to help me" I sigh.
She places one hand on my cheek and I lean to her touch. "Don't disregard your achievements. With or without me, you would have done the same. I just kinda gave you the head start. Besides you should thank her about those guys instead. At least you knew they were pigs before you fell for them."
"How do you always make things sound so positive?"
"There's enough negativity in this world. There's been enough negativity in your life. I want to make sure to limit those when it comes to you from now on. I want you to always remember that you're a beautiful person inside and out" she smiles at me.
"I can't thank you enough for coming into my life, Ryujin" I say while looking deep into her eyes, hoping she can feel how much I love her.
She leans in closer while still holding my cheek, "And I can't thank you enough for giving me a chance to be with you" She closes the gap between our faces and she captures my lips.
She kisses me slowly and I can feel her love, passion and sincerity through every movement of her lips.
She stops kissing me then presses our foreheads together. "I am the luckiest woman in the world to be engaged to someone so amazing such as yourself" she says in a whisper like.
I blush and I can't stop smiling. How can she make my heart skip a beat like that?
She stands up and offers to help me up. "We
should go back out there. They might think we're having sex in here" She jokes.
"You wish" I sarcastically comment.
"My only wish is your happiness so come on" she chuckles.
I take her hand and she drags me out to where everyone is. Jade glares at me but I try not to let it get to me. It helps that Ryujin would constantly look at me or hold my hand when she senses that there's tension between Jade and I.
I love Ryujin with all of my heart and every day she keeps giving me a reason to love her even more.