I Used To Be Alright

Chapter 18

Yeji

On the fourth day of Ryujin's absence from their usual time at the library, Yeji began to wonder. Not that she didn't take notice on the previous days, but since Jeju, they had never skipped more than two days of not seeing each other – intentionally and unintentionally.

They still exchanged usual reminders, though.

Drive safe.

Make sure to eat lunch on time.

Surprise quiz, what a bummer.

About to head home.

But even these started to come less and less often.

And this started just after she had another talk with Jiwoo on what she should do with the undeniably tension between her and Ryujin – she has been coming in and out of the coffee shop trying to make sense of what's happening with her. The barista must've been tired of seeing her in her attempts not to give in to her feelings.

"I could only ever comprehend something without prompt when it's about Engineering. Everything else, and especially if it's about relationships, Jiwoo-ah, consider me hopeless."

She remembered confessing during the said exchange.

"Well you already know that you like her. And based on your stories, she seemed to like you, too. You even went on that date just recently."

"How can I be sure that it's not friendly? I mean, she's so... carefree when it comes to these things. She knows a lot of women and does a lot of things with them. I doubt that she'll ever go for someone like me. How do I figure out if that wasn't just a simple gesture to thank me for always having her back?"

She muttered.

"Woah, slow down. Well... I don't know her as much as you do, Yeji-ah. So you need to ask yourself... is this something that's worth trying for? At least for you. And you have to keep in mind that she might not meet you halfway."

Yeji stared contemplating at the coffee cup that's sitting between them.

She took a breath and sighed for the nth time that afternoon.

The following day, she already knew what she wanted to do. The only thing was that Ryujin stopped showing up in the library.

She always has some family-related things to do, hangouts with her friends and some class deadlines to take care of. Yeji almost felt guilty waiting for her updates. And whenever she gets them, she would feel a certain eeriness to them. Like it's from a different person and not Ryujin.

She stayed helpless for several days until Friday came and she felt herself going a tiny bit crazy. She couldn't remember the last time she felt this uneasy – or maybe she actually hasn't. Until now.

She was ready to throw everything out the window when she bumped into the brunette during lunch. The girl's eyes were glued to her phone so she didn't notice that it was Yeji whom she bumped into.

"Oh, Sor-"

She paused as she helped the feline eye up.

"Yeji-ah."