you're annoying | ryeji

TWENTY-THREE

chp. 23

On normal occasions, when Ryujin was bored, she would go over to Yeji's and borrow one of the comic books from her collection. It served as entertainment and certainly a way to get closer to the brunette. However, today was (slightly) different.

It had been a week or two since the two best friends visited the convenience store, and ever since then, they had been bonding a lot more. Despite their shyness in initiating anything that would potentially expose their tiny, confusing, and complex feelings that weren't exactly confirmed yet, they would often hang out with each other, and if they couldn't, video calls were their go-to.

But, since Minju had came into the mix, things usually didn't go Ryujin's way. At certain times when she tried to video call the brunette, Minju would answer the call, saying that they were in the middle of a game or dinner. Whether or not that crushed Ryujin's mood was debatable, but most of the time, she felt a tinge of disappointment. It could be jealousy in a different form, though she had always denied the idea when it came to mind.

Steering back on track, how was today different?

"Why are you here again?"

"I wanted to visit you and your nice little cafe."

"Lies. Spill the truth already, Shin." Minjeong rolled her eyes, it was the fourth time Ryujin had visited her family cafe this week, and each time, her suspicion about the latter's intentions had risen.

Ryujin chewed on her bottom lip, staring at the small chalkboard menu standing against the counter's divider.

"Are you going to answer me?" the blonde said flatly, having already enough of the Shin's strange antics.

"I may or may not be avoiding someone," Ryujin finally replied, glancing at the other with pursed lips as she shrugged.

"Funny story," Minjeong snorted, and that caught her attention right away. "Jimin told me about a particular someone telling her that another particular someone seemed to be avoiding them. Who? I've got nooo idea."

A frown was formed on younger's lips, and as usual, she decided to ultimately avoid Minjeong's anticipating grin. "May I have an Iced Americano?"

With another roll of the eyes, Minjeong hummed. "Sure you can~"

After paying and avoiding the older girl's scrutinizing stares, Ryujin settled down in a secure corner, the spot that she now called her third home due to how many times she had sat there.

Recalling Minjeong's information earlier, it seemed as if Yeji had already caught on to what Ryujin was doing, and she wasn't sure if that was a good sign.

In her defense, Ryujin wasn't exactly avoiding her, despite her verbally admitting it earlier. What she was doing though, was postponing their hangouts and only interacting with the brunette when necessary.

Why was she doing that? Well, there were many reasons.

First of all, after that night when Ryujin experienced the immense headache, she had been confused with her feelings and identity. That flashback was a part of her memories, that was evident. But it wasn't just a flashback.

Along with the memory she regained after talking to Minju, she had also regained a sense of self... in some way. It messed with her feelings, specifically towards the brunette Hwang who she first viewed as someone that her other self had fond feelings for. But after each flashback, she was starting to feel what was called "butterflies in the stomach" when she was around Yeji.

Well, to be exact, Ryujin did already feel those butterflies when she first interacted with her, but it wasn't as intense as the ones that were awaiting in her stomach right now. The first few occurrences were what she called, "my past self hinting me that this person was special". However, as the days passed, it wasn't just her past self hinting her that Yeji was special.