"Are you home yet? Let's grab lunch, I'm starving", Ryujin just boarded off the train in Seoul Station when she dialed Lia.
"Didn't you just arrive? We can just order in."
"Too starved to wait. C'mon Lia-aaah."
Curiosity was evident in Lia's response but she gave in anyway.
The truth was, Ryujin still had some energy left despite practically not sleeping the night before the trip. And she wanted to exhaust everything so she can go straight to bed before classes resume the next day.
She didn't want to leave room for any more thinking after Yeji had seen and deliberately ignored her apology text for pocket dialing her the other day. And because it was the holidays, anyway, she added a little thoughtful greeting at the end - to which she thought she'd at least get a reply to.
We did agree to stay away, so why am I even feeling so worked up about it? She kept on repeating to herself.
"Maybe she really is with Eunseo now - whatever their agreement is. She looked so comfortable sitting beside her that day."
"Who's with who?" She was startled to see professor park also lined up to enter the same restaurant.
She smiled at her sheepishly as Ryujin bowed her head a little as a greeting.
"My old TA's back so you won't be seeing me anymore."
"That's alright, professor. It was a good gig and I saved some money from it. I have a lot of heavy classes this semester anyway."
"Well, that means more time for you to focus on those."
"...and some other things, too. Now that you're not my TA anymore", she winked and walked towards her table.
It took a second for Ryujin to realize what she meant. And the flashback from that old conversation with the professor came to mind.
It would be nice to get another shot. She thought to herself as she settled on the table and waited for her best friend.
*
She didn't want to admit that the reason why she still hasn't replied to Eunseo's invitation was because of a single message from a certain girl she cannot stop thinking about. But it'd be too big of a lie.
Yeji arrived back in Seoul two days after the business dinner and she has been expecting Eunseo's invite since. But like the phone call, she received a message from Ryujin instead.
I'm sorry for pocket-dialing you the other day. Took me a while to gather the courage and message you.
Happy Holidays, Yeji-ah. I don't know much about your personal life. But I hope this year turns out alright for you.
Another message came after.
I'm not mad or anything. You know how much of a dry texter I am. So here
:)
"What a nerd", she mumbled as she found herself smiling with the last remark.
Eunseo's invite came soon after.
Because she was still hung up with the former's message, she paid no mind to the invite and made a mental note to get back to it later.
She didn't.
Instead, she went to class for the whole week without checking her messages again. She also refrained from doing activities outside classes - including clubbing, and visiting the dance studio.
She has been staying in with her best friend and Chaeryeong has been waiting for a down time before bringing up some updates to the cat-eyed girl.
"Certain people have been asking about you", she casually started as they're nearing the end of the movie that they're watching.
Yeji's eyes instantly closed and her brows furrowed a little before turning to look at her best friend.
"I know something like this will come up."
Chaeryeong gave her an intrigued expression before turning the TV off.
"Now save me the time and spill."
And so the detailed storytelling of what happened since the talk with Ryujin commenced. Yeji told her best friend everything from the coffee shop conversation, to the dance studio visits and the conversations with Eunseo; running into her again on the business dinner, the invite; the pocket dial and messages from Ryujin.
Chaeryeong had to pause to let everything sink in.
"I leave your side for a few weeks and all these happen? Wow. Your life really is a lot more exciting than mine", she joked.
"But let me get this straight. Two women are now in the conquest of winning you over - but have two different motives. You like one of them but you're not ready to commit so y-"
"Woah, woah, woah", Yeji almost stood up in her attempt to defend herself.
"In which part of the story did I say that I like one of them??? I didn't-"
Her best friend has to cut her off to prove a point.
"Look. Just because you couldn't admit it to yourself doesn't mean it's not true. This push and pull that you're doing... you're wasting all your energy and time when you could just give in and date her already. It's VERY obvious that you like her, and that you have never paid this much attention to anyone before. Ever."
"Me? Like Ryujin? Oh please. The meetings were an act of kindness and she was, let's be honest, hot and pretty. How could I say no to an opportunity to get physically intimate with her? Doesn't mean that it meant something. And I've resolved that because it's morally not right. And I was just surprised by that pocket dial because I thought there might be an emergency. She panics a lot and needs a good tough talk before making sense of what's happening. I've also been busy, and it's nothing big really. I just-"
Yeji continued to mumble as her best friend stared at her in awe. She stopped when she realized that she's being too worked up and kept the rest of her thoughts to herself.
Chaeryeong was still smirking as the other girl's face turned red in embarrassment.
"I didn't even mention a name. Could be either of the two, really. But you gave the answer yourself. So it might be worth thinking about it."
Yeji paused and calmed herself down.
Realizations slowly dawned on her.
She has been trying extra hard to brush off the thoughts about Ryujin, even though they haven't really been talking anymore. The way her heart almost beat out of her chest when she received the pocket dial, and when she saw her in the dance studio. The way she felt weird with how cold the brunette sounded when she was saying goodbye. She even used her most expensive bath bomb that night! And almost got sick because of how long she stayed in the tub.
The way all these thoughts have been interrupting the most mundane tasks that she's doing in the day. The way she remembers Ryujin in the little things that she mentioned in passing during their conversations.
Shit.
"I might actually like her."
"Uh-huh." Chaeryeong brought her out of her self realization.
"The question is, are you gonna do something about it, or not?"
Yeji was once again brought back to her internal dilemma of waiting until her body and mind react to this new realization.
She likes Shin Ryujin.
Taking a deep breath, she leaned back and buried her face with a pillow.
What am I supposed to do about this, then?
Chaeryeong packed up and returned to her unit soon after - leaving the struggling Yeji to figure everything out herself.
a/n
short chapters (14 & 15 bc I'm extremely busy with work huhu)