Eternity [ryeji]

Chapter 27

"Squeeze it."

"No."

"Come on. Just grab it and squeeze. It won't hurt me."

"I said no."

"Why not? I promise you'll like it. Squeeze it!"

"For the hundredth time... No, Dad. I don't want to squeeze your nose."

"Oh come on!" He grabs his daughter's wrist and forcefully places her hand on his big red nose.

Yeji sighs and gives the red ball a squeeze.

There's a honking sound, surprising Yeji who yelps and laughs the next second when her father hugs her.

"I call it squeeze-n-hug," says the man, letting go of his daughter while grinning. "Or honk-for-hugs. Which one do you think sounds better?"

"Neither. But if I have to choose then the second one is definitely better. The first one makes you sound like a pervert," says Yeji. "How many people have you hugged tonight?"

He winks at her and wags his index finger. "Now now, I can't hug and tell." He laughs and walks away, getting himself another drink.

"Wow. I have never seen him like this," mumbles Yeji, watching her father happily greeting the remaining guests while pointing at his red nose. "Is he drunk?"

"Nah. He's just tipsy. I think he hasn't been to a party in quite a while so let him have his fun," remarks Jisu from the couch. She's sitting next to Yuna who has changed out of her fluffy unicorn costume.

"The party's ending though." Yeji looks around her messy apartment. There are only a handful of people left and she is secretly glad for it. The sooner the party ends, the sooner she can start cleaning up, pack and then go to sleep so that tomorrow would come faster - or at least it would feel as if it would come faster. She's so excited about spending a whole day with Ryujin, just the two of them.

Less than an hour later, the doorbell suddenly rings. The party has officially ended and every guest has gone home by now.

"Who could that be?" Yeji wonders out loud, glancing at her watch. It's almost midnight and it seems unlikely for a guest to drop by so late.

"Not sure," says Jisu. "It was RSVP and I think everyone who confirmed had showed up, right Ryujin?" she asks the person standing on the other side of the apartment who nods at her. "Maybe someone forgot something."

Yeji goes to the door and peeks through the peephole. She sighs and instead of opening the door, she turns around to get her father but the man's asleep on the couch, still in his clown suit.

"Dad?" she tries nudging him but he doesn't move, snoring away with a faint smile on his face.

"Is something wrong?" Ryujin asks, approaching Yeji with a large trash bag in her hands when the doorbell rings again. She and Yuna have started cleaning up the place. "Who's that?"

"Him again," says Yeji, referring to her annoyingly stubborn ex. "If he sees Dad, I know that he'll scamper away in an instant like a frightened puppy but..." She gestures at her unconscious father.

"I'll handle him." Ryujin places the trash bag near the table and goes to get the door.

"Careful, Jinnie. He looks a bit drunk," says Yeji catching up with Ryujin.

"I'll be fine," Ryujin says calmly.

Yuna quietly stops her cleaning up and stands a short distance behind Yeji, observing and standing by in case her friend needs help.