Growing up together with Shin Ryujin was what Yeji will say when people ask, "How are you two so close?"
Proudly growing up sharing one burnt braincell along with Yeji's cousin, Hwang Hyunjin, is what Yeji would say when people ask her to elaborate.
She could remember the time her and Ryujin first saw a superhero movie, so amazed by it that Yeji jumped from their house's roof, thinking she could fly.
We all know how that played out.
They treated each other like sisters, until Yeji developed a tiny crush on Ryujin when she saw Ryujin pitch for the first time. Staring at her in awe, and mind you, Yeji was just ten at the time.
She already knew she was not straight.
Yeji was happy, to be Ryujin's one and only best friend and childhood friend. Keeping that spot as long as she could, she swore that.
But when they became high school students, Ryujin landed a bomb on Yeji and it not only caused Yeji to feel.. jealous, it also made her confused.
It also resulted in chaos.
You see, there's this boy in their school, Choi Beomgyu. Handsome, charming, talented, they could call him God if they wanted. On top of all that, he's nice. Every girl swooned at the sight of him, but some didn't, especially boys.
Also, being friends with four other handsome looking dudes can make people think, "wow, God took his time on making them"
"Why does it look like Beomgyu has a cult?" Ryujin once asked out of nowhere when the two of them were sitting on the bleachers, taking a break from playing baseball.
Yeji frowns. "Because that's what it looks like. I bet you, every girl in this school has a shrine of him at home." She jokes as Ryujin bursts out laughing.
Yeji liked seeing Ryujin laugh, it made her heart flutter. When she was young, she thought this feelings were just a mere crush and it'll go away.
But now that she was in high school, she still has these feelings towards Ryujin and maybe.. maybe it's not a crush anymore.
"How do you know? Do you have a shrine of him at home too?"
"What?? Gross! No!"
They spend time like this. Talking about useless things, laughing at stuff that aren't even funny. That was their routine.
Though it changed when one day, they were taking stuff from their lockers. Beomgyu walked along the halls, like he normally does, hands in his pockets.
Yeji had a poker face on as she stared at him, walking. Turning her head towards Ryujin, she frowns.
Seeing that her best friend had this look on her face. Flustered? Nervous? Anxious? Yeji doesn't know but it shows the expression of being awestruck.
Looking back at Beomgyu, now Yeji noticed the small girl that was walking beside him. Brown hair, cold aura, pretty face. How much can Yeji describe this girl?
A basic Korean girl.
"A transfer student?" Yeji mutters as Ryujin unconsciously nods, as her eyes followed the girl. "Beomgyu's girlfriend?" Ryujin instantly turned her head towards Yeji.
Frowning so hard at her, "Impossible! That wouldn't be it!" She said as if she's defending the girl. Yeji was a bit taken aback because of Ryujin's sudden change of mood.
She didn't know that what she said can easily affect Ryujin like this. "Woah, chill, don't shout. I was just genuinely curious." Yeji has her hands up in the air as Ryujin sighs.
"Sorry.." She mutters.
Yeji was so confused but didn't question her best friend's behavior. She just pats Ryujin's back as they finally walk along the halls, separating as Yeji was a year ahead of Ryujin.
-----
"Her name's Jisu." Ryujin spoke while they were eating, Yeji was in the middle of devouring her food when Ryujin suddenly broke the silence.
Yeji hums, not even looking up at Ryujin as she was too busy eating. "The girl who Beomgyu was walking with."
The taller girl drinks water before raising an eyebrow at Ryujin. She didn't know where this was coming from and was a bit surprised that she knew the new girl. "You know her?"
"My childhood friend."
Then Yeji frowns so hard that Ryujin chuckles at her expression. "I thought.. I was your childhood friend..?"
The smaller girl pats Yeji's shoulder, "You are! I have a ton of childhood friends, you're my best friend too. So, don't worry, you're not going to lose your 'best friend' spot, alright?"
Yeji blinks before slowly nodding, alright, so she's not the only one Ryujin grew up with. Apparently this Jisu girl grew up with Ryujin as well, but Yeji wonders.
How the hell did she not know about this girl though?
"So.. what about it?"
Ryujin raises both of her eyebrows at Yeji before she looks away, letting her eyes wander, probably looking for Jisu in the cafeteria. "She's Beomgyu's cousin. From Canada, I was friends with her before we even met, she suddenly disappeared one day and I didn't know she flew to Canada."
Yeji follows Ryujin's line of sight, landing in a table not far away from them. Seeing Beomgyu sitting with the girl Ryujin was talking about.
Being all smiley and stuff. She already has many friends and yet this was her first day here in the campus.
Looking back at Ryujin, Yeji sees that Ryujin has this look again. She looked so mesmerized by this girl that Yeji silently and internally wished over and over that Ryujin would look at her the same way.
Frowning, she lets out a sigh, knowing there was at least five percent chance that Ryujin would. She just lets her eyes wander around the cafeteria as Ryujin was so lost in the girl.
"What's her full name?"
Ryujin quickly snapped her head towards Yeji, "Choi Jisu's her full name. Julia's her english name, so you might hear some people call her Lia."
"You know a lot about this girl, you sound like a stalker." Yeji jokes as Ryujin glares at her, elbowing her side. "Oh, shut up. Do we have baseball practice later?"
The taller girl lets her head fall to the table, groaning at the word 'practice' because even though she's the baseball team's captain, she gets lazy too.
"Unfortunately.. yes."
Ryujin fist bumps the air, letting out a silent "Yes!" looking like she won in a lottery and Yeji doesn't know why Ryujin's suddenly all happy and hyped for baseball practices.
She remembers clearly that they both didn't like practicing even though they both love baseball.
"Don't know what you just ate to act all happy about baseball practice, but I want it. I need to be energized." Yeji mutters as Ryujin playfully scoffs at her. "I don't think that's how a captain should act."
Ryujin didn't get a response as Yeji just rolled her eyes. Having no energy to say anything back at her best friend.
Yeji sees Ryujin turn her head towards Jisu again. What was so eye catching about this girl? Ryujin never willingly talks about someone often, so hearing Ryujin talk about this girl was a bit weird for Yeji wasn't used to Ryujin acting like this.
What does Choi Jisu have that pulls Ryujin to her. Yeah, sure, she's Ryujin's childhood friend and she might've just missed Jisu but Yeji knew that wasn't the case.
Four months quickly passes by and now Yeji understands why Ryujin was so excited about baseball practices.
With what Hyunjin has told Yeji, it wouldn't be so impossible. Considering the fact that Ryujin wasn't as lazy as before, always looking so inspired whenever she and Ryujin meet up in school.
Unlike when she and Yeji were still planning on how to skip a good amount of classes, Ryujin always goes to school, is never late and in other words— she changed into a good student in just a snap of a finger.
"You know, Ryujin's been moving slow, tell your best friend to shoot her shot already." Yeji remembers Hyunjin saying when they were at the bleachers while Ryujin runs around the field with their other teammates.
Not knowing what Hyunjin was talking about, Yeji frowns. "What?"
"What do you mean what? Ryujin's being stupidly in love yet she's not doing anything about it, acting like the whole school doesn't notice her trying to get closer to Jisu and failing to ask her out."
Yeji, still not having any idea on what the fuck Hyunjin was talking about, blinks non-stop, trying to process what the hell Hyunjin just said.
Is he implying that Ryujin likes Jisu? In a not so friendly way?
Hyunjin, noticing the way his cousin's face looks like a moron trying to understand the difference between the words 'this' and 'these' lets out a sigh.
"Are you serious?" He asks which successfully caught Yeji's attention, both her eyebrows raised. "The fuck are you saying??"
"The fuck are you doing???" Hyunjin asks back as Yeji just shook her head, "I don't know what the hell you're talking about Hyun."
"Ah. Are you kidding?? You don't even know what the hell is going on with your braincell mate?" Yeji rolls her eyes at her cousin, getting a bit irritated because she wants to know the context behind the shit he was talking about.
"No, because I'm too busy practicing day and night. This captain shit is too much for me."
Hyunjin face palms, even though Yeji was busy, she would've known a good amount of information for Ryujin was the talk of the school, along with Choi Jisu.
"You seriously don't know what the rumor is right now?"
"There's a new rumor?? what rumor?" Hyunjin really couldn't believe that Yeji doesn't know.
Sighing, he just decided to tell Yeji right now. To just wake her up and bring her back to reality where she should be living in.
"You don't know about Choi Lia being the rumoured crush of Ryujin?"
"Oh, no, that's a new one.... Is it confirmed???"
"Are you dumb?? It's called a rumor for a reason, Yeji. Slowly losing your braincells?"
Yeji glared at her cousin, pushing him off of the seat as he laughed at Yeji's reaction. "But seriously, help your friend out."
Yeji blinks before tilting her head. What the fuck is Hyunjin saying again? That Yeji should help Ryujin get a girlfriend? Hell no, that's the last thing Yeji wants to do upon hearing this rumor.
She's even scared that this rumor might be true. Biting onto her lower lip as she frowns at Hyunjin. "Me?" She points at herself before scoffing. "No, absolutely not. I'm not helping her do that, she can do that on her own."
She leans back on her seat, crossing her arms as she looks at the field with a frown. Finding a way to look at anything but Ryujin.
Hyunjin stands up and sits back on his seat, letting out a hearty laugh. "Oh, what's this? The best friend is getting mad over this?" he playfully wiggles his eyebrows, implying something.
Yeji knows what he's implying, and she needs him to shut the fuck up. "Whatever you're thinking of, you better shut your mouth before I staple it."
She bops Hyunjin's shoulder as he flinches a bit, thinking Yeji was going to punch him but she didn't. "Ah.. I get it." he mutters as he shifts in his seat.
"What?"
"No, nothing. You told me to shut up so I'm shutting up." He made a gesture of zipping her mouth before leaning back on his seat. Just like Yeji.
Rolling her eyes, Yeji shifted her attention back in the field and while doing so she spots someone in the bleachers. Well, it's not like they're the only ones there.
It's normal to see other people in the bleachers at practice. It's the same with other teams. Like the soccer team and basketball team. People would always come at practices to watch the players.
And Yeji has never really cared if seeing people watching their practices, but this, however, sparked Yeji's interest.
Choi Jisu, Choi Beomgyu's cousin, and now one of the most loved students is sitting not far from where Yeji is. Tilting her head to the side, she watches as Jisu smiles and talks to the other students that're sitting beside her.
Beomgyu was there too along with her friends, Taehyun, Yeonjun, Kai and Soobin.
At this point those five all act like Jisu's bodyguard. Though, Yeji doesn't know about Soobin. He was always known to be courting Jisu.
And Yeji doesn't even want to know what his reaction is to the rumors spreading. So, hypothetically, what if Ryujin does like Jisu? Will Soobin get mad or something?
And what if Jisu likes Ryujin back? Yeji scratches her head, she can't believe she's thinking of this right now. She's literally making up a storyline in her head right now.
So, does that mean Ryujin and Soobin will compete? Like, fight over Jisu like some love triangle in a rom com? Yeji quietly hums to herself. She could be an author honestly.
She looks back at Jisu again and now she notices Soobin's arm is around her. They look more like a couple than a real damn couple.
But why would Jisu watch this baseball practice? That, Yeji doesn't want to assume the answer to. Because that isn't the right thing to do.
But from another person's view, Yeji's sure that they've already thought about the rumor being true. It can only be that Jisu's there because Soobin is there or she's there to watch Ryujin.
Thus making the rumor .. true.
Yeji frowns as she props her arm on her knee, resting her chin on her palm as she silently stares at Choi Jisu from a far.
She looked so.. normal? Yeji forgot the right term but to her Jisu isn't someone special. She's just a normal girl yet they're treating her like she's a Goddess.
What was that about? With her pretty face and smiles and all that. Yeji doesn't know why that was enough to make her different from the other girls.
She couldn't pin point what was so interesting about her that almost all of the students in school turn to look at her and just stare in awe.
Don't get Yeji wrong but that's just what's in her head. She doesn't see the things that people see in Jisu, thus making her seem like she doesn't really care about the girl.
It's only been a couple of months that had passed by but Jisu's already popular. Yeji claps to that but doesn't react further.
She stares with a frown, trying to process what made Jisu so special to others. Why couldn't she see the way they see her?
Letting out a sigh, she gives up, though she still stares at Jisu.
Maybe, someday she'll understand.
----
Their baseball practice continues and Yeji always finds herself looking up and seeing Jisu there, wether she be with someone or alone, she'll be there.
Watching them practice. Yeji's gotten used to this, but seeing Jisu makes her remember the rumor. Making her turn her head towards her best friend.
Was it true? She hasn't really asked Ryujin about it, it never even crossed her mind to just simply ask. Because what if it was just indeed a rumor, then Yeji would get embarrassed for thinking that the rumor was true.
But isn't that the point of asking? Though, Yeji decided she'll just ask when it gets brought up smoothly.
Walking over to Ryujin, she pats the younger girl's back, "Good job out there. You're a better batter than me." She compliments as Ryujin smiles widely at her.
"Thanks Yeddeong, I've actually been practicing a lot. I even got hit on my arm, see?" Ryujin shows Yeji her arm and Yeji saw a little bruise on it.
The older girl sighs before patting Ryujin's arm. Exactly where the bruise is. "What? Want me to kiss it better?" She jokes.
Ryujin huffs and jokingly pushes Yeji away as the older girl snickers. "I'll hit you with a bat if you don't stop."
Yeji acts all threatened and playfully shields her head, "Have mercy, I barely have a braincell left."
"I know." Ryujin burst out laughing before running, leaving Yeji with the rest of the team.
Yeji guesses that Ryujin went to the lockers to change, practice is over anyways. Yeji looks back at where Jisu was and she was a bit surprised to see Jisu looking at her.
Eyes squinting as Yeji slightly tilts her head to the side.
She wasn't really expecting Jisu to look at her. Because they never really interacted, not yet anyways. Thinking it was just nothing, Yeji slightly nods at Jisu before looking away.
She wasn't even able to see how Jisu's expression twisted and turned into an annoyed expression. If Yeji has seen it, she'd be very confused as to why Jisu acted like that.
----
What Yeji wasn't expecting is this small yet intimidating girl named Choi Jisu would come up to her and basically trap her in a corner.
Hearing her say, "Stay away from Ryujin." isn't really what Yeji expected to hear from Jisu.
What could have Yeji done to make Jisu say this to her? Trap her in a corner while she kills Yeji with a death glare.
If Yeji wasn't taller than her, Yeji would be really scared and threatened, but because of how small Jisu was, she couldn't help but just feel confused.
Jisu pushes her away and that's when she felt like she was electrocuted. Even thinking that Jisu is supernatural but this is the real world, no one is a superhero.
And feeling like she was electrocuted by Jisu's touch is .. questionably normal for they call it 'spark'
But what the fuck is a spark when there's nothing romantic about getting threatened and pushed by a girl telling you to leave your best friend alone.
It doesn't make sense.
Yeji met up with Hyunjin by the gates and even caught a glance of Jisu walking with Ryujin.
"Your best friend's not walking home with you." Hyunjin broke the silence, sitting on his bike as he gestures at Ryujin and Jisu walking away.
"I know, I have eyes."
"She didn't tell you, didn't she?"
"That she'd be walking home with her? No. Not a single word."
Hyunjin shifts on his bike, "Oh, what? Are you jealous?"
He tried to tease Yeji but Yeji seemed dazed. Like something happened. Hyunjin's playful grin instantly fades when he notices the way Yeji is staring at the ground.
"Hey, what's up? Something happened?" He reaches out and gently rests his hand on her shoulder. Yeji snaps out of her little trance and looks up at her cousin.
"What does it mean when you... somehow, get electrocuted —"
"Yeji, what the hell??? How are you alive?? Where the fuck did you get electrocuted??"
Yeji swats his hand away and glares at him. "Shut the fuck up, let me finish!"
He instantly shuts his mouth, as Yeji lets out a sigh. "You know the cliché thing they call sparks or spark? I don't know, whatever the fuck they're called."
Hyunjin nods even though he knows Yeji is frustrated and irritated, "Yeah. What about it?"
"What do you do when you feel that but the situation wasn't .. really.. close to being called romantic?"
"What do you mean not close to being called romantic? Like what kind of situation."
"Alright, then, uhm, here's a scenario. This person tells you to basically fuck off and they push you, then you feel the spark."
Hyunjin looks at Yeji weirdly, because it was too oddly specific to be a made up scenario. Nevertheless, he doesn't question it.
"Then.. I guess it's gonna be a love-hate situation."
"Amazing, tell me more." Yeji scoffs and Hyunjin doesn't know it Yeji is glad to hear about it or if she's being sarcastic.
"Are you.. like interested in it or..?"
"I'm being sarcastic, obviously." Yeji adjusts her bag before running her fingers through her hair. Not saying another word as she walked ahead.
"Hey! You're not going home with me??" Hyunjin shouted at his cousin. Yeji waved, not even bothering to look back at him. "Does that mean you're walking??"
"What the fuck does it look like, Hyunjin???"
"Alright, no need to be mad"
----
Yeji would be called stupid if she told Hyunjin what she was doing. She always looked like she's in a daze. Staring at nothing and honestly, Hyunjin is quite concerned.
He thinks it must be when Yeji jumped off of the roof, maybe the damage was just kicking in after years. Because to him Yeji looked like she's malfunctioning in a way that makes her not pay attention to things.
Like right now, she's resting her head on the table staring at nothing. Well, Hyunjin really isn't sure if she's really staring at nothing, but it seems like it.
But in reality, Yeji's just too busy staring at Choi Jisu, wondering what the fuck it is that keeps pulling people in.
For days, that's what she's been thinking of. Every baseball practice, every lecture, every lunch breaks.
She's sounding like a creep now.. or better yet, sounding like she's interested in the girl because 25/8 the girl is in her mind.
Hyunjin snaps his fingers in front of Yeji and finally, she blinks. Looking up at Hyunjin with a slight frown, like he just distracted her from doing the most important thing in the world.
"What??"
"What's up with you? You look like a fucking lizard, always looking at nothing, always frozen on the spot. The fuck happened to you?"
"I'm analyzing. Looking at the material, defying the word Goddess, because I am confused."
Hyunjin blinks, he seriously doesn't know what kind of shit Yeji was on or what food she ate that turned her into this.. person who's extra, extra weird.
"I honestly don't know what you're talking about, Yeji. Please speak in the human language."
Yeji pushes his shoulder, getting annoyed, "Zip that darn mouth of yours, damn it. Only intellectuals will understand me!"
Rolling his eyes at his cousin, he leans away, scoffing. A bit offended that Yeji just called him stupid just because she was being so cryptic.
He was about to say something back when Ryujin drops her bag on their table, startling both Hyunjin and Yeji. They really weren't expecting Ryujin to suddenly showed up because for the past few days she's been hanging out with Chaeryeong and Jisu.
The cousins expected her to sit with them instead, so her suddenly showing up and dropping her bag pack on their table was really surprising.
Ryujin slumped down in front of them, propping her elbow on the table as she rested her chin on her palm. Looking troubled.
Yeji was the first one to sense the way Ryujin acted differently, these past few days she's been all smiles. Laughing and always showing everyone her bright smile, but she has a frown right now.
"Hey.. I thought you'd be with Jisu." Hyunjin spoke which made Yeji glare at his direction, he only shrugged at Yeji because he knew the mention of Jisu will make Ryujin happy.
But this time it didn't. "Ryu, what's wrong?"
Yeji's eyes were filled with worry as Ryujin slowly looks up at the both of them.
Letting out a sigh. Her eyes looked so down. Longing for something and Yeji knew it wasn't her.
Yeji looks away from Ryujin and looks at Jisu who's coincidentally looking at Ryujin at the moment. Worry written all over her face.
Hyunjin watches them, seeing how Yeji is looking at Jisu, as Jisu looks at Ryujin and Ryujin looks at Yeji.
It instantly sets of a vibe. That there was something between the three of them. Hyunjin lets out a sigh, though they didn't notice it.
He just knows this won't end well.
"I'll tell you later."
----
That later never comes as a week passes by. Yeji never really was able to ask Ryujin about it, as it upsets the younger girl.
Now, they sit beside each other on the bleachers. Ryujin and Yeji.
Yeji's attention was at the soccer players. The younger ones were having the time of their lives, kicking the ball and even kicking each other. They don't care if they're not doing it right, they were just happy to be there.
Yeji smiles as she sees the girl with blonde hair, smiling widely as she kicks the ball at her teammates. If Yeji remembers correctly, her name's Shin Yuna.
Yeah. She definitely remembers it correctly. A surname like that will never be forgotten by her, especially because it's the same as Ryujin's.
Speaking of Ryujin. Yeji turns her head to her friend who is now looking away from the field.
Yeji frowns, she's looking at none other than Jisu of course. She looked like she's longing for her, the same way Yeji stares at Ryujin.
Could the rumor really be true? Because with the way Ryujin is acting and staring at Jisu, it screams that the rumors are true.
And that's exactly what Yeji us scared of. To know that Ryujin doesn't like her back. Silently sighing to herself, she follows Ryujin's gaze.
Landing on Jisu who's talking to Chaeryeong at the moment. Talking about something that seems funny enough for Jisu to burst into laughter.
As Jisu bursts into laughter, Yeji felt herself freeze in the spot. Feeling herself get carried, feeling like her body suddenly feels empty with the way she suddenly feels so light.
She gulps as she leans forward. Copying the way Ryujin is sitting, like she wants to get a closer look at Jisu.
Yeji slowly tilts her head to the side, slightly frowning as she watches. As she stares silently, the same way Ryujin does.
Feeling like everything was in slow motion. Feeling like everything around her is bright, brighter than before. The type to make someone feel at ease.
That was it.
Yeji was at ease. Comfortable on her spot even though it was a bit hot that day with the sun in front of her.
Slowly blinking as she gets drunk at the sight of Jisu laughing. With her eyes turning into cute little crescents, making them look like they're smiling as well.
Holy shit.
How did Yeji not notice this? How did Yeji miss the way Jisu looked so ... different.
Different. That's what they keep on saying. That Jisu is different from the others.
She's so hard to describe, to Yeji she's hard to describe. She might have to use the most meaningful words in the dictionary.
Because Yeji thinks the most common words that are used as compliments aren't really fitting for someone like Jisu.
Mesmerized.
That was the word Yeji kept on repeating in her head. Because that's what she is right now. She's mesmerized.
She thinks she understands now.
Though, Choi Jisu is one person, she's hard to describe because no word in the english nor korean language was enough to perfectly describe such a person.
Yeah, she definitely understands now.
She's just there, staring at Jisu as Ryujin looks back at her. Seeing the way she looks at Jisu, looking all puzzled but mesmerized at the same time.
Ryujin could only smile faintly as she sees Yeji staring.
Maybe they weren't so different from one another all along.
----
Ryujin decides to tell Yeji what she was so upset about when they were in the pool area of their school.
Watching as the swimmers swim in the water, they were amazed as they look like they were becoming one with the water as they swim so elegantly.
"So.. what's up?" Yeji not so smoothly spoke, very curious as to what made Ryujin so upset a week ago.
Ryujin lets out a hearty laugh, knowing that her best friend is dying to know what's up.
"You know Soobin right?"
"Choi Soobin? Of course, who doesn't know him? He's that guy who's always around Jisu right?"
Ryujin tries her best not to wince at what Yeji said. It was fine. Yeji doesn't know.
"Yeah, the one courting Jisu."
"Yeah, so, what about him?"
"Uh.. well you see what happened was.." Ryujin clears her throat, looking up at Yeji with worried eyes but she knows Yeji needs to know what Soobin did.
Ryujin remembers seeing Soobin walking up to her when she was about to leave and got to the cafeteria. She was planning on eating with Jisu and Chaeryeong today.
Feeling all happy as she remembers the way Jisu smiles so brightly when they see each other.
Soobin stops in front of her, looking as calm as ever (He's not calm at all)
It made Ryujin feel uneasy and a bit uncomfortable with the way he's too damn close, invading Ryujin's personal space.
She squints as she's a lot smaller than this dude. He smiles as he looks down at Ryujin.
"Hey."
"Uh.. hi?" Ryujin hesitantly greets back, they never interacted before, so she's confused on why he was her all of a sudden. Talking to her and stuff.
"See, I'm here to talk to you about something and uh, let's just cut to the chase." His smile falters.
Turning serious all of a sudden, the sweet and welcoming smile now nowhere to be seen as he not so noticeably glare at Ryujin.
"What's this I'm hearing about you liking Jisu?"
His tone was stern and it was obvious that he meant to intimidate Ryujin with it but Ryujin was no softy. She can go up against him without hesitation.
"Oh, that? Why?"
"Oh, well, I'm asking because I need to know if it's true. Just confirming it, you see?"
He smiled at Ryujin again and Ryujin knows that his smile was fake. It was just too obvious.
He didn't really come off as nice right now.
"Why does it concern you?"
Soobin hums. Acting like he's thinking of a reason why it concerns him.
He chuckles, "Oh, sweet Shin Ryujin. It concerns me because she's my soon to be girlfriend, and I can't have you walking around, declaring your love for her like a fucking news reporter."
Ryujin slightly flinches at the way his words are turning darker and darker by the second. She didn't want to deal with any of this right now.
"And??? If I like her? What the fuck are you going to do with it??" Ryujin isn't scared of him. For all she knows she's more confident that this dude, getting threatened just because Ryujin is brave enough to show her love to someone in the open.
"What? Scared of me taking away your Jisu?? What are you? A 4 year old, so scared of losing her to me?" Ryujin taunts him pushing him away to get him out of her personal space.
He grits his teeth as he glares at Ryujin, trying to warn her to not open her mouth again but Ryujin could care less.
"Oh, look at you. Getting so worked up because I'm a threat. Why? Oh! Could it be that Jisu doesn't really like you back and you can't accept that??" Ryujin pushes further and Soobin loses her cool.
Pushing Ryujin away as the girl falls to the floor. Soobin, forgetting that they were in the hallway was a bit taken aback by what he did, looking around and seeing a ton of people looking their way.
He gulps, knowing he fucked up as Ryujin smiles smugly on the floor. He huffs, "Stay the fuck away from Jisu or I'll bring your friends into this." He threatens before leaving the scene.
Ryujin gets up by the help of the students that just watched what had happened. Sighing, she thanked them and now she wasn't in the mood to eat with Jisu anymore.
Thus, resulting to her sitting with Yeji and Hyunjin. Because she'd be lying if she said she wasn't threatened at what Soobin said.
Him bringing in her friends into this mess and all that bullshit that she said. She's scared that he really might do it. That he might get innocent people pulled into this issue.
Just because Ryujin was telling the truth. He doesn't need to act all salty about it.
"That asshole." Yeji says through gritted teeth, balling her fists, not liking what he just did to Ryujin.
Ryujin notices this and holds onto Yeji's hand and it seems to be doing the trick as Yeji calms down, letting out a sigh.
"He is, isn't he?" Ryujin laughs as Yeji smiles. "Yeah he is."
Then there was a comfortable silence that enveloped them.
But Yeji instantly breaks it with the question that Yeji has been meaning to ask. "So... you really like Choi Jisu?"
Ryujin slightly smiles. "Yeah, I've had for a while now." She mumbles.
She follows her answer with a teasing question, "Don't tell me you like Jisu too??"
She wouldn't even be surprised if Yeji replied with a yes, because she's seen the way Yeji had looked at Jisu.
Like she's silently adoring her from a far and she wouldn't blame Yeji if she did like Jisu. She is truly an angel, that's why Ryujin fell in love with her in the first place.
But Yeji instantly declines it. Which brought relief to Ryujin.
Now, everything connects. Because Yeji never really told Ryujin what happened in the bathroom.
With her hearing Jisu cry in one of the stalls and also her comforting Jisu without really making any physical contact with the smaller girl.
It was.. It made Yeji a bit happy. Making Yeji realize that even though Jisu is what they call the embodiment of the word 'perfect' she's really not a perfect person.
Because no one is perfect.
Yeji now connects the dots, why Jisu was crying. She said she was called names, getting hate and stuff. It was probably because people saw what had happened between Ryujin and Soobin in the hallway.
Making people think that Ryujin and Soobin had a misunderstanding because of Choi Jisu.
Yeji is just glad that she was able to comfort Jisu through it. Happy even. Considering the fact that the girl ... probably hates her guts.
She smiles slightly. She hopes it was enough to make Jisu hate her less.
But now.. there's this thing inside Yeji. A feeling, bubbling inside her. A feeling that she used to feel whenever Ryujin is around.
Now she feels it when Jisu is mentioned or whenever she sees Jisu around. Even with the smaller girl shooting her a glare, the feeling that was bubbling inside of her, gets stronger every time.
Why is it like that? Yeji will never know until she finally admits things to herself.
Yeji turns her head to the entrance of the pool area and sees Jisu standing there with Beomgyu behind her.
The smaller girl was looking at her, like she was shocked to see Ryujin and Yeji together. Her shocked look instantly turns into a glare.
And it was directed at Yeji. And even though it meant that Jisu wanted to kill Yeji right then and there, Yeji couldn't help but smile to herself.
Somehow thinking that seeing these different sides of Jisu is quite fun. Knowing that she's the only one Jisu is showing these different sides to.
Feeling like she's special.
And heck, she's proud of it but Jisu will hate her more.
Thinking that seeing Jisu glare at her was fun, she smiles widely at Jisu and was confident enough to even wave teasingly at her.
Thus making Jisu even more irritated.
Yeah. She feels special with the way Jisu shows how fucking annoying she is.
And she's the only person Jisu thinks of in this way. And that's a big achievement to Hwang Yeji.
To her and to her only.
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A/N: Finally, y'all are about to find out what Yeji did in the past that made Jisu so upset that she left almost immediately.
Jisu to Yeji when she found out what happened when she left:
I'm not funny, I know ✌️😔