It ended in victory, for team RyeJi.
It was hard fought, with many hurdles, such as Ryujin's realization that Keith would often mouth the answer to Lana, and then Yeji's attempt to hold her back from attacking him.
All in all, it was average, as far as family feuds went.
Ryujin and Yeji had been greeted with applause from all of their fallen comrades, save for Chaeryeong and Jisu, who'd managed to slink out the back door, thinking they were unnoticed.
Ryujin had hooted and grinned about their victory, rubbing it in Lana's face for nearly an hour afterwards, until she began to yawn uncontrollably, with a glance at the clock revealing that it was well past midnight.
"You're sleepy." Yeji commented quietly to Ryujin.
"I am but, I'm not done gloating." Ryujin pouted, and Yeji felt her knees weaken almost as quickly as her resolve.
"You can gloat tomorrow."
"No." Ryujin smirked. "Tomorrow we rest, because we're hitting up the bar, the club, and Ri-ki's very own beer."
Yeji gulped audibly.
"Not a big drinker?"
"You know I'm not."
"Well, this'll be fun. I'll hold your hair back when you puke." Ryujin teased.
"I am more than capable of holding my alcohol, Ryujin, I'm not a child." Yeji retorted.
"Can you repeat that again? I want to film it so I can show it to you the morning after your immense hangover." Ryujin grinned.
"Shut up." Yeji rolled her eyes as Ryujin led her around to bid their farewells for the evening.
"Shall we go to bed?" Ryujin asked playfully, and Yeji got chills from the innuendo itself.
She knew she wasn't ready to have "the talk" with Ryujin yet, but god, she needed it.
Yeji nodded slowly, allowing Ryujin to lace their hands together as Ryujin pulled her into the elevator.
"So, my champion best friend." Ryujin teased, turning to Yeji as the metal doors slid into a solid barrier before them. "I'm surprised this family hasn't had you running for the hills just yet."
"Ryujin, I love your family." Yeji replied with a wistful sigh. They were everything she had always wanted, but never had. How cruel fate was.
"Oh? Is that all you love?" Ryujin batted her eyelashes, hitting the button for their floor.
"Something's keeping me anchored." Yeji responded quietly, her gaze finding Ryujin's in the dim lighting of the elevator.
The silence that followed was thick, laced with un-whispered promises and Ryujin's gaze lit up, and some of the prior sleepiness was gone, replaced with the brightest of smiles.
Yeji looked frightened, for a moment, as if she'd said too much, and Ryujin quickly replied, "We will."
We will talk.
We will have that conversation.
We will get there.
We will.
It was a silent promise, one that told Yeji she didn't have to explain herself. One that told Yeji that they would talk, eventually, whenever she was ready.
The door opened, revealing another smiling couple, dressed to the nines, hand in hand as they passed Ryujin and Yeji on their way into the elevator.
"See?" Ryujin smirked. "We give off couple vibes. They can feel it."
Yeji's gummy grin was undeniably cute. "Really? You don't think it's the fact that you're holding my hand and practically falling asleep on my shoulder?"
Ryujin reddened like a tomato, shaking her head, ignoring Yeji's smirk. Ryujin had been passing the room beside theirs when she stopped, a curious look on her face.
"I know that face." Yeji commented amusedly. "What's going on in that head of yours, Shin?"
"Did you-have you seen Chaeryeong and Jisu?" Ryujin inquired, her voice dropping.
Yeji made a face, her eyebrows shooting upwards. "No. They were rather quiet with their exit, weren't they? That's uncharacteristic, for Chaeryeong, at least."
Ryujin snorted. "You think? She can't go five seconds without saying something inappropriate."
Yeji blinked. "You don't think they're...."
"Nah." Ryujin shook her head, dismissing the thought immediately. "That's so weird. They're, like, our kids."
Yeji snorted at that, opening the door to their hotel room.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It had happened so quickly that Jisu couldn't place when Chaeryeong had made the active decision that she liked her.
In fact, Jisu couldn't remember when they'd started kissing.
It had all been sparked by what was, perhaps, a little too much alcohol. That, and the fact that they couldn't take their attraction, and affections, for one another any longer.
The wine was just the catalyst.
Chaeryeong had been murmuring quiet things into Jisu's ear all night. While they'd initially been involved with cheering Ryujin and Yeji on, begrudging as they were, they'd eventually found themselves closer and closer in proximity.
The whispering, the uncharacteristic giggles, and then Chaeryeong practically pulling Jisu out of the Shin's suite, and into the elevator, shoving her against the panel, likely smashing six or seven floors as well as their own.
And then Chaeryeong was littering sweet kisses against Jisu's flushed skin, inching up her neck until she hovered over Jisu's lips.
But of course, partially why she and Yeji had become so close, Jisu was a woman of morals, of standards, of principles.
"Chaeryeong." Jisu groaned in desperation, pushing the girl away as she took in a breath.
Chaeryeong had the decency to look crestfallen. "What?" She breathed, her chest rising and falling rapidly, heart fluttering in her chest. "You don't want this-"
"No, fuck, I do, believe me." Jisu responded quickly, arm reaching out to caress Chaeryeong's. "But-this-Jin..." She panted, shaking her head. "This isn't right."
Chaeryeong sucked in a breath. "It's not what you think."
Jisu paused, eyes widening slightly. "You're not cheating on your boyfriend?"
"We," Chaeryeong bit her lip. "i didn't want to tell you like this."
"Oh, god, fuck you're getting married?" Jisu guessed before sensibility could tame her words.
"What?" Chaeryeong froze. "No, Jisu, we're separating. We broke up. Kind of."
It dawned on Jisu a few seconds later, her expression shifting to one of utter disbelief. "Kind of? I thought you were going to get engaged, I..."
"This isn't easy." Chaeryeong began gently.
"Lee Chaeryeong, what the hell is going on?" Jisu asked, trying not sound as desperate as she felt.
"Come on." Chaeryeong muttered as she yanked Jisu towards their room, not wanting to spill her life story to the girl in the elevator.
The quiet that settled between them was deafening, and Jisu felt like she needed air. As they stepped into their shared room, she crossed over the clothes strewn on the floor, a result of both of their particularly unkempt lifestyles, throwing the sliding door open.
The cool breeze that greeted her was soothing, until Chaeryeong ruined it with a shock of her own.
"He cheated on me." Her voice was uncharacteristically small, quiet. This was not the same Lee Chaeryeong that Jisu had courted previously, before the reign of Ryujin and Yeji's friendship, before Jisu had ever moved out of her neighboring apartment, beside Ryujin's.
"He what?" Jisu echoed in disbelief, shaking her head.
She'd never met Seokjin, but she felt the betrayal doubly hard because of her feelings for Chaeryeong.
"He was growing distant." Chaeryeong shook her head. "And after you I-I don't know. This is stupid."
Jisu whipped around, eyes finding Chaeryeong, pinning her to her statement. "No, it's not." She breathed. "Finish."
"I just-we fell apart, Lia. And you know, I knew this would happen. But he left first. Maybe it was my fault, I-"
"Don't you say that, Chaeryeong." Jisu practically growled, her voice low, the vein on her forehead evident in her apparent strain to calm her rage. "Fuck him."
Chaeryeong blinked, surprised by Jisu's outburst. "Jisu, I-"
"Fuck him." Jisu repeated lowly. "If he couldn't respect you enough to treat you well, at least like a human being, and communicate-Fuck him."
Chaeryeong sighed, blinking away the most prominent of the sea of emotions, like a tempest in her heart.
Jisu took a step forward, pulling the other girl into a hug, surprising Chaeryeong as she parted her mouth in a soft little "Oh."
"I'm going to murder him." Jisu spoke through gritted teeth.
Chaeryeong smirked at that, feeling her personality return to its usual cocky self. "That's how you want to spend our time? Telling me about all things you're going to do to him?"
"What else am I going to do?" Jisu grunted, shaking her head.
"Why don't you start with all the things you're going to do to me, Lovelia." Chaeryeong whispered huskily into her ear, stepping back to catch Jisu's gaze.
Her eyes were blown with lust and surprise, her lips parting slightly.
"Is that, a permission?" Jisu murmured, her voice dropping.
"It's a command, Jisu."
Jisu had Chaeryeong pressed against the bedroom wall in seconds, their lips meeting in a hot tangle of emotions and need, whimpers and panting.
Chaeryeong felt like an idiot. They could have been doing this every night instead of bickering like god damn children if she'd opened her mouth sooner.
The lesson she was currently learning however, was entirely too sweet.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ryujin and Yeji had just stepped into their room, entirely too exhausted to care about anything other than getting ready for bed.
"You know, I'll miss being roommates like this." Ryujin muttered to herself mostly, as Yeji held the door for her.
"Yes, and I'll miss having your clothes strewn all over my floor." Yeji commented wryly as she stepped over one of Ryujin's discarded tees.
"That sounds so sexual." Ryujin smirked as Yeji rescinded her comment and blushed, chiding her best friend.
"Well, I mean," Ryujin pressed on gently. "If rent is tight, we could always move in together- Wait. Do you... hear that?"
Yeji's breath had caught in her throat, her heart beating entirely too loud for her to notice whatever imaginary noise Ryujin had heard. She was proposing they move in together.
Yeji had thought the day couldn't have gotten any better.
And now, the prospect of actually living with Ryujin was giving her chills. She licked her lips when Ryujin elbowed her side. "Er, sorry, what?"
"You hear that, right?" Ryujin breathed softly, voice low.
Yeji tensed, going to step in front of Ryujin. Was there an intruder in their hotel room? Yeji had checked, the lock had clicked before leaving-
"It's like, someone's hitting the wall." Ryujin motioned to the wall they shared with Chaeryeong and Jisu.
Yeji blinked. Had they had too much to drink? Had things gotten violent between them?
Ryujin and Yeji rushed to the wall at the same time, pressing their ears against it, lips just centimeters from each other. They made eye contact, soft hazel meeting warm brown as they honed in on the source of the sound.
What they found, instead, was erratic thumping, unsteady and random, and gasps of pleasure, along with filthy, ungodly moans.
"Fuck, Jisu!" A voice, presumably belonging to Chaeryeong, cried out.
Ryujin's eyes widened, and Yeji's jaw dropped.
"Fuck, right there! Oh, god, yes!" The moan was undeniably pleasure-filled, and Ryujin threw herself from the wall first, her face beet red.
Yeji stiffly leaned back, blinking away mental images.
"Oh." Ryujin breathed, heading towards the mini fridge.
"That is..." Yeji tried, but found no words. "Unexpected."
"But," Ryujin mumbled, ducking her head into the cold confines of the mini fridge, reaching for the outrageously expensive, miniscule bottle of vodka. "Is it really? They'd been eye-fucking for centuries."
"Centuries?" Yeji quirked a brow.
"You know what I mean." Ryujin grumbled.
When Yeji shot her a look of concern, she shrugged. "You want brain bleach too, right? I have the next best thing."
Yeji couldn't help the fact that she was nodding profusely. Jisu was like a sibling to her.
"Plus, not like we're getting any sleep now." Ryujin added, tugging Yeji out to the cool solace of the balcony, safe from the sexual activities of their neighbors. "Admit it, that was kind of hot."
"God, Ryujin." Yeji made a face and tugged the bottle away from Ryujin, nursing her rampant need, crossing her legs subtly.
"I see someone agrees." Ryujin commented, chuckling as she glanced up at the stars, or what was visible through the veil of coastal fog that hung beneath the moon.
They sat there like that, just the two of them, a litany of unsaid words and promises hanging over them like the misty evening air, under the soft backlight of the crescent moon in the sky.
They stole glances at each other like schoolgirls with embarrassing crushes.
Ryujin would glance at Yeji's pouty, full lips, the way her eyes glimmered as she gazed at everything in sight, occasionally taking a sip from the bottle and tapping Ryujin gently, sliding it across the small end table.
Yeji would take in the way Ryujin's hair glowed rather angelically, the sharp angles of her jaw and nose coming in under harsh shadows, her doe eyes alight with thoughts that Yeji longed to hear.
Sometimes it was the most innocent of longings. It was the mutual longing to lay in bed with each other, to simply hold one another, to share dreams and goals, downfalls and tribulations. It was the sort of innocent longing that would've been found in children, untainted by delusions like love and attraction.
Of course, they had their fair share of those, as well.
It was, as usual, Ryujin who broke the silence first. Yeji could remain stoic like that for hours, thinking about the world and her indefinite place in it.
Ryujin would tell her that Yeji's place was in her arms.
But it wasn't time.
"What do we do when this is all over?" Ryujin asked, her voice calm and thick.
"I suppose I'll grow my business." Yeji offered lamely, instantly regretting her word choice.
Ryujin smiled at her encouragingly. "Kick some corporate ass for me, will you?"
Yeji chuckled, shaking her head. Ryujin was never anything but supportive of her dreams.
Ryujin did for Yeji what her foster families never could.
"What would you like to do, Ryujin?" Yeji asked, gazing at her best friend with a look of careful adoration, guarded and intense.
"You know, I never knew." Ryujin sighed. "Art was the one constant in my life, as sublime as it is. I just-never belonged to anything or anyone."
Yeji nodded, feeling the same hollow aching in her heart.
She knew this was taking a leap, but she had to give Ryujin something to go on, anything at all.
"We, belong to each other, right?" Yeji's voice was hesitant, shy, unafraid and terrified all at once.
Ryujin laced her hand with Yeji's from across the table, and Yeji instantly sank back in relief. She had her answer.
"We will."