Mine; Ryeji FF

Chapter 18: Starry Night.

Weeks past since Yuna's funeral, the weight and burden that laid on Ryujin became lighter. Though some days were harder than others, Yuna comes and goes in her dreams. Often through memories of their childhood and many scenarios of what their life could have been. Time heals old pains as it forms new pain. As Ryujin went through her lowest moments, Yeji did her best to support her, through listening to her talk about her sister or Yeji making a fool of herself when she accidentally almost burnt down the apartment while microwaving chocolate to make dessert for the two. Thanks to Yeji, her days which were black and white, shone with brightness and colour.

Today was a day off, Lia noticed the effort and hard work the fashion designer had put towards her project so Yeji was able to have a day off. Looking forward to spending the day with the younger girl, she dragged herself out of bed and got started with her morning routine. She planned out the day, hoping to go have lunch with Ryujin and then heading to an art exhibition from Van Gogh, it was an interactive exhibition that allowed visitors to be emerised into the artist's famous artworks. As she made her way to the guest bedroom, it was empty. Ryujin was missing.

Coming to the realisation that Ryujin was not in the room, she began to panic. She ran hysterically through the apartment, checking in every room in hopes to find the missing girl. Fearing the worst had occurred, she ran to the balcony, she faced her fear and looked down to the road. Her legs began to tremble, Yeji lost her balances and collapsed to the ground. Fortunately, Ryujin was not on the street so she got up and went to the couch, picking up her phone to call the girl. She kept calling but to no avail. The cat eyed girl let out a loud sigh, she looked at the table to see a handwritten note. 

I'll be back - RJ

It was night time now, the plans she made for the day was scrapped. Yeji felt annoyed and angry at the other girl for leaving the apartment without letting her know. She got up from her bedroom desk and walked into the kitchen to make herself dinner, her pocket vibrated, a small fire burned in her eyes as she read the name that popped up on the screen.

"Where are you?!", the fashion designer said with a hint of bitterness in her tone.

"Uh.. I'm a bit lost right now. Could you come pick me up?", she said softly, noticing the tone in her voice.

"Fine, send me the address."

Yeji picked up her keys and headed out of the apartment. Her car was parked in front of the building, as she unlocked the car, a black bag hindered her vision. She screamed out of horror, hoping someone would come and help her. Two pairs of hands grab her, throwing her into the back of a van. She kicked and punches her captors in an attempt to escape from them but they were too strong. One of the kidnappers wrapped ropes around the victims arms, leaving her defenceless. The van began to drive along the street.

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"We're here.", one of the voices said. Yeji felt familiarity in the voice but can't pinpoint where she heard the voice from.

The kidnappers dragged Yeji out of the van and into the building. The silence from the people was deafening to the fashion designer, she began shaking at the thought of what might happen to her. They seated her on a wooden chair, suddenly the bag is taken of her head, the bright light blinded her.

"SURPRISE!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY YEJI!!", the large crowd of people yell, giving the startled girl the fright of her life. She noticed the people around her were her co-workers and friends. But Ryujin stood in front of her holding a cake with a lit candle.

"Happy Birthday Yeji.", she said, holding a cake. Yeji mouth was still agape, starstruck by what happened to her. Once she came back to reality, she blew the candle.

The party guests erupted in a cheer, lights dim with coloured lights flashing in the room and the loud music started blasting through the speakers, playing all of Yeji's favourite songs. Ryujin bent down to the birthday girl's ear, "After you're done greeting everyone, find me". Yeji nodded in response.

After greeting all the guests at the party, Yeji made her way to Ryujin who was in the corner of the room sipping her drink. She observed the younger girl who was wearing a plain long sleeved shirt under a black trench coat with a scarf around her neck. Ryujin saw the birthday girl approaching her so she got up and walked to Yeji.

"Who planned all this?!", Yeji asked Ryujin, glaring at her.

"Before you ask anymore questions, come with me.", she took her hand and lead her into the next room. Stepping into the next room, darkness surrounded the pair until the room lights up. The light projected onto the wall with tones of blue swirling around, yellow glows in the blue. Yeji soon realised that she is in Van Gogh's most iconic artwork; Starry Night. Ryujin looked over the to the birthday girl, watching the colour light up the girl's beautiful cat eyes. The excitement that illuminated from her face made all her planning worth it, she planned the party for weeks, though her pain still lingered in her heart. She wanted to do it for Yeji, something that would remain a happy memory for her.

"Did you plan all this Ryu?", she eventually made eye contact with Ryujin.

"Yes, I actually sent a lot of time in my room planning all this. I found out your birthday was coming up when I was going through your study desk calendar so I wanted to throw a party for you. On the days you went to work, I walked over Chaeryeong's cafe to plan with her. She was really excited for it!", Ryujin said revealing her scheme.

"How did you guys afford all this?!"

"Well, when you took me to work, I pulled Lia aside to discuss your birthday. She thought I was asking her out but in the end, she was 100% willing to help financially!! I also mentioned that you really wanted to come to this exhibition so she pulled some strings to book this art gallery after hours for the party!"

"Wow, you are so sneaky Ryu.", she nudged the party planner with her elbow causing her to stumble over a bit.

"But who's idea was it to kidnap and traumatise me", Yeji said folding her arms and pouted.

"Uh.. all of us? Well, I was planning to get you to come pick me up here, Lia suggested that it was me that is taken hostage but Chaeryeong was the one that wanted to knock you out and kidnap you.", Ryujin rubbed her neck and smiled sheepishly.

Yeji giggled at the girl's nervousness and gave the other girl a rub on the shoulder. "Thank you Ryu, I appreciate you doing this for me."

The party planner reached into her pocket and handed the birthday girl a small box.

"What is this?", Yeji asks, feeling the velvet box.

"It's your gift, It's nothing much but I wanted to get you something little."

She opened the small box, inside, a silver necklace with a book pendant. Yeji ran her fingers around the pendent, remembering finding the book on the shelf.

"How did you afford this?", she looked at Ryujin with her signature smile.

"I sold my gun to a war collector, got decent money from it!", Ryujin replied with her whisker dimples.

Feeling warm inside, she took out the necklace from the box and handed it to Ryujin. The shorter girl grabbed the necklace and put it on the birthday girl and rubbed the book that now hung on the cat eyed girl's neck.

Yeji wrapped her arms around Ryujin, hugging her. "Thank you, Ryu".