Soon didn't come sooner enough.
After her last class at the end of the week, Ryujin was pretty sure she'd collapse to her bedroom once she arrived home. She has been running on coffee and a couple hours of sleep for the last two weeks.
And no single text from Yeji.
She didn't expect that the good news would come when she got home.
The funny thing was - she thought she was hallucinating when she smelled her girlfriend's perfume as she was opening her apartment door.
But she wasn't.
Sitting in the middle of the main couch was Yeji - a box of something on her lap. She looked like she hasn't gotten much rest recently, too, but Ryujin didn't care.
She ran towards her and lifted her up in a hug.
"Jagiya." she whispered as she felt her girlfriend tightened the hug.
"I miss you, Jagi. I'm sorry."
After a couple more minutes, they broke away from the hug.
Yeji softly smiled as she rested her forehead against Ryujin's.
"I love you, Ryuddaeng."
She leaned in and kissed her before the brunette could reply.
Ryujin didn't waste any time and lifted the cat eye to the bedroom.
"There's no way you're going home tonight", she teased and was answered by her girlfriend's soft giggles.
"God, I missed you."
Ryujin deepened the kiss and inhaled every part of Yeji that she had yearned for in the past week. She savored every part of her as if scared that she'd disappear again.
They fell asleep right after.
The next morning, Ryujin jolted awake and instantly checked whether she was dreaming last night or not.
She let out a breath of relief as she felt Yeji breathing softly beside her. She stirred quietly so she's facing the cat-eye.
"I miss you even when you're here", she whispered.
The cat-eye must've heard her and slowly opened her eyes.
She smiled instantly upon seeing Ryujin.
"Morning", she whispered in her raspy voice.
"Hi", the brunette answered back. "Do we have any plans today?"
Yeji scrunched her nose a little before scooting closer to cuddle. "Hmm. We can just stay here all day."
"Okay", Ryujin couldn't help her smile. She missed the cat eye too much.
"Okay."
When lunch time came, they were both pretty starved so they decided to order some food in.
"I thought you're planning on holing in your room the whole day."
They found the teasing Lia arranging the table and bringing out food containers.
"Just in time. Ryeong's almost here."
"Ryeongie?" Yeji asked as she walked closer to give Lia a quick embrace.
"She's coming in for lunch. Said she's bringing Yuna with her, too."
The couple looked at each other and shrugged.
"The more the merrier, I guess."
The five of them had a good time during lunch and even agreed to visit an amusement park afterwards.
Yeji felt at ease having other people besides Chaeryeong and Ryujin, and she doesn't mind keeping them for a long time.
If she only can.
"There's no way I'm riding that", Ryujin had a frightened expression on her face and she wasn't even trying to hide it.
"Oh, baby", Yeji chuckled. "It'll be fun! I'll be beside you the whole time."
"You will?"
"I promise."
And so the day went by with the group trying out all the rides and games they could before Ryujin could back out.
It turned out, Yeji's girlfriend and bestfriend shared the fear of heights and amusement park rides. It was funny and endearing to watch as she joined Yuna & Lia's teasing towards them.
The whole trip was filled with full hearts and stomachs as all of them were curious of the food offered inside the park and decided to try them all.
Ryujin has a sweet tooth. Yeji already knows that but she was still surprised by all the treats she ate. Lia and Yuna, on the other hand, were with Chaeryeong on preferring savory food over desserts.
By the time they reach the last stall, they were pretty much drunk with all the food and drinks they've had.
"I had a great time, you guys." Yuna, being the most outgoing, exclaimed. "Let's do this again!"
"Definitely!" Chaeryeong answered her giddily, as the others agreed.
After dropping everyone off - including Lia, who's planning on staying over at Yuna's place, Yeji started to drive slowly as she didn't want to let go of Ryujin yet.
"So..." the brunette started.
"Will we finally talk about it?"
Yeji took a detour and nodded. "Let's stop by our coffee shop for a bit."
The cat eye drove to the coffee shop near the university and got them a table. Ever Since they started dating, they regarded this shop as their coffee shop because their attraction seemed to have started when they started meeting at the place. Only they didn't know it yet back then.
"What happened, Jagi?"
Yeji was quiet and couldn't meet Ryujin's eyes. Her hands were glued around her coffee cup and the brunette gently held one of them to offer comfort.
"It's your Mom, isn't it?"
The cat eye looked up with a weak expression on her face and nodded.
"She knows."
The brunette waited patiently.
"She wasn't happy about it. And I had a huge argument with her in the apartment. Flew six thousand miles to the US to meet her again a couple of days after and almost ruined her business meeting with an investor."
Ryujin held her hand tightly. "I'm s-"
"No", Yeji was quick to cut her off.
"None of this is your fault, so please do not apologize. We shouldn't... apologize for loving."
The brunette looked at her girlfriend softly and nodded.
"My Dad was also there. The first time in a while that he said more than five words to me, and I ironically felt good that he did."
"He told me to listen to Mom, and all that. But I've already talked to some people before coming there."
The cat eye paused and smiled at her girlfriend.
"I was able to pull on some strings, and..." she paused, tears forming in her eyes.
"And we should be fine. From hereon. We won't be hearing from them for a while."
Before Ryujin could shoot her questions, her girlfriend held her hands tighter.
"Let's just... enjoy our days as we always do, Jagiya. I don't want to ever think of them again. They've always been uninvolved, anyway. Can you promise me that?"
Ryujin still had a lot of questions but she trusts Yeji a lot. And she also sensed that the cat eye wasn't in the right headspace for questions. Besides, if there's someone who can do something about the situation, it's her.
She walked on the other side of the table to hug her girlfriend. "I promise."
"Now, how about a quick trip tomorrow? I want to bring you somewhere."
She pulled back and saw Yeji grinning as she nodded and leaned in to kiss her.
"I'll pick you up tomorrow, then."
Yeji tucked herself to bed that night feeling a little guilty but also excited to hang out with her girlfriend again tomorrow.
I didn't lie, though. She thought to herself.
I don't want to spend the remaining months with us dreading my departure - even if it means that I have to be this selfish and withhold it from her.