soy sauce [ryuna] ✩

eleven

Yuna only came back to throw some snacks down for Ryujin, along with a bottle of soy sauce and water. Hours must've passed before Yeji woke up, lying beside Chaeryeong on the bed. Ryujin had been eating a bag of Doritos that were lightly drizzled in soy sauce when she saw Yeji sit up and rub the back of her head drowsily.

"Yeji!" Ryujin gasped, dropping her snack and rushing over to the older girl.

"Not again," Yeji mumbled before she turned her head and took in her surroundings. "Ryujin?"

Ryujin couldn't help it. She practically tackled the taller and hugged her tightly, relieved that at least two people she cared about were safe and sound—

Wait, no they weren't.

Oh well. At least they're unharmed—

No, Yuna clearly attacked them with a bat.

Well, at least they weren't dead.

"What are you guys doing here?" Ryujin asked as she reluctantly pulled away from the hug.

"Long story short, Yuna kidnapped us as well. While we were trying to find you."

They were trying to find her? Ryujin felt her heart overflow with love and appreciation for the both of them. Then she felt a little angry because where were the police? How come Yeji and Chaeryeong were able to get to her more easily and (maybe?) quicker than the authorities?

"Have you told my mom you found me?" Ryujin questioned. She felt herself begin to shake with...she wasn't sure what. Anxiety?

"Kind of hard to when you've been knock unconscious twice in the same day."

Oh, right. Ryujin mumbled out an apology and began to rub Yeji's head in a soothing way. She kept looking at Chaeryeong, who looked as if she wasn't going to come to anytime soon. The longer she looked at Chaeryeong's sleeping form, the more a particular question popped into her mind.

"How do you two know each other?"

Yeji stiffened under Ryujin's touch, and she knew she asked the right question. Or maybe it was the wrong one. Ryujin couldn't tell.

A moment of silence fell between the two—three. Had Yeji said they were friends as well, Ryujin might would've believed it for the time being. Then she would have pondered on why they never said anything about each other before and would be suspicious again.

Yeji's sigh disrupted the silence. "I guess I have to tell the truth now, huh?"

The truth? Ryujin moved her hand from Yeji's head. She didn't say anything, wanting Yeji to continue on her own.

"She might kill me for this," she chuckled. "But Chaeryeong and I are working together."

Working together? Like at the store? Why didn't Chaeryeong tell Ryujin about it? It didn't seem like something she would hide, but then again she hid her friendship with Yeji. For some reason.

"And not, like, at the convenience store," Yeji continued. "Yuna's dad hired both of us. To keep tabs on—"

"Me," Ryujin finished, a sinking feeling settling in her body.

Yeji nodded with a shrug. "Kind of. More specifically, he wanted us to watch Yuna."

"Yuna?" It made more sense for a father to want his own daughter protected, but it wasn't like Ryujin was going to kidnap her. Why would she?

Yeji shook her head. "You know nothing about your father, do you?"

"No? Why would I? He left my mom and I, that's all."

Yeji moved around on the bed until she was properly facing Ryujin, wincing slightly. "I probably shouldn't be telling you this. It's more of a conversation for your mom—"

"You can't just say that and not tell me anything!"

Ryujin didn't want to get frustrated at her friend, but she couldn't ignore the feeling rising up in her. She just wanted answers and Yeji wasn't giving all of them.

"I don't want you to have a bad impression of him—"

"Does it really matter? He left my mom and I with no support."

Yeji hesitated, uncertainty clear on her face. But Ryujin wasn't having it. Her coward father was apparently the one who dragged her into whatever mess she was in, so it was only fair she knew any dirty secret Yeji was hiding about him.

"Yeji," she sternly said. "Please."

Yeji whined and stomped her foot a little on the concrete flooring before she complied. "Okay, fine. I wish Chaeryeong was awake, but since you're so impatient...Your dad killed Yuna's dad..."

yee yee we have a cliffhanger, boissss
i'm sorry for not updating. i've been sick and had to stop slacking on my schoolwork, plus my inspiration to write suddenly disappears once i open this app yeehaw.
this story is turning out to be less ryuna than expected because i deviated from my original plan a little. and by "a little", i mean a lot.