you're annoying | ryeji

EIGHTEEN

chp. 18

"Hwang fucking Yeji! I did not bring you there just for you to chicken out the second you see her."

Yeji shrunk into the backseat of a taxi, her gaze now on her lap as she fiddled with her sweater. She attempted to lighten the situation and possibly gently kick the dark clouds surrounding Jimin's head away, because she knew for a fact that if Jimin caught up to her at her house, she was going to suffer her wrath.

Yu Jimin in a bad mood wasn't good news.

"...Does it really matter? She doesn't even know me and probably will not care," Yeji mumbled, her gaze diverting to the passing buildings outside.

"How would you know that?" Jimin nearly yelled into the phone. "Did you forget about everything I said earlier? Yeji—"

"Calm down, Jimin." Yeji heard in the background, knowing that it was Minjeong who came to her rescue, again.

Thank the Gods for Minjeong.

"Yeah, Jimin, calm down," Yeji challenged, fully aware of the amount of fuel she was adding to the fire. "Things will get better if I just don't become her friend again. It'll be easier for me and her. I can go back to the way I lived, and she'll restart her life with her friends and family, excluding me."

"Do you really think that'll do any good?" Jimin replied, her voice a lot softer compared to before, but Yeji could still hear the underlying aggression in her tone. "Because if that's what you want to do, then I better not hear any complaints in the following week."

Yeji scoffed in attempts to drown her aching feelings in her chest. "When have I ever complained?"

"Uh.. lots. Well, not to me anyways. Because someone only went to Ryujin whenever she had troubles. So um, I don't know? When have you ever complained, Yeji?"

The brunette rolled her eyes at the heavy sarcasm in her voice. "Are you bitter about it?"

"No, of course not! I was actually happy for you, since you could actually confide in someone without regrets. But y'know, that's gone now. This dumb friend of mine decided to throw all her and her crush's efforts away."

"Cut the sarcasm, Jimin. I know what I'm doing."

"Listen, I'm just trying to look out for you. Clearly, Ryujin was something to you. Minjeong told me all about—mmph!" Jimin cut off for a sec, inaudible mumbling was all she could hear for the next few seconds until she retreated. "Okay, fine. I know how affected you were when you heard about Ryujin. It's obvious that she's more than a friend to you."

"...And how do you even know that?"

Jimin sighed heavily, and Yeji could almost imagine the exact way she was rubbing her temples. She could qualify as her mother at this point. "Remember that one time I almost died on the bridge?"

"Yeah..?"

"Did you cry your heart out when you heard?"

"...No."

"Exactly."

"That's not what I—"

"Don't lie to me nor yourself anymore, Yej. What I'm saying is — you need to think about what you're going to do before you impulsively decide because of your selfish feelings."

Yeji exhaled into the thick air, ignoring the curious and concerned gaze from the taxi driver as she went over what else she should say. But throughout all those messy thoughts, she couldn't come up with anything. It was like there was something blocking her throat.