Pretend (Ryeji)

Chapter 22: Happy Birthday

"Ryujin, wait!"

Ryujin hums at the sound of the familiar voice, and once she turns her head, her eyes land directly on the woman sprinting towards her with something in hand. She squints, tries to figure out what it is under the street's terrible lighting, then it suddenly clicks. 'Why would I invite you over so late in the day?' Yeji's words play on repeat in her head, and she's so sidetracked by these thoughts that she doesn't notice the redhead trip over a crack in the sidewalk.

"Shit— " Ryujin rushes after the girl, prays that she didn't do something like twist her ankle again. That wouldn't sit well. She'd feel guilty since Yeji ran out after her.

"Ouch~ " Due to the blonde's troubled look, the cat-eyed girl tries to make a joke out of the mishap, doesn't yet realize most of her hard work is splattered on the ground. "It looks like I fell for you, haha~ "

"Are you okay??" Ryujin accidentally ignores the statement and drops to her knees next to her co-star, who nods. She notices the latter is merely rubbing her knee, assumes the girl scraped it a bit, and relief washes over her in an instant. Her attention unintentionally shifts to the cake now smashed against the floor, and there's no need to ask. The cake couldn't be for any other reason than the one literally written on it—sort of. It's a mess, yes, but not too hard to put together the missing letters. Her anger vanishes immediately, slight confusion taking its place.

"It took a lot of time to make that... " Yeji pouts at the mess of her masterpiece, blames herself for not being careful enough. She hates how horribly wrong her plan is unfolding.

"You got me a cake?" Ryujin questions the obvious. She simply wants to hear it said, a small part of her convinced she's in some vivid dream feeding off her desires.

On the other hand, Yeji ignores the pain in her knee, aware it's bleeding some though, and recalls the clock she checked before sprinting down the sidewalk. She lowers her head a little, afraid to accidentally instigate another argument. The latter appears to be calm, but Ryujin typically reacts every time she gets hurt. "It's your birthday, isn't it?"

"It is." Assuming the time, Ryujin nods. She totally forgot beforehand. "I didn't think you knew, let alone remembered."

"I told you I pay attention." The tone came off as a mix of a tease and uncertainty, indicating she's worried, evident in her trembling voice.

"I see." Ryujin leans over to get a better look at the cake. Her nickname, the one she hasn't heard Yeji use in years, is—or rather, was written on there instead of her actual name. It's heartwarming considering it's unique to Yeji because she came up with it long ago, and, as of this moment, what she'd love to hear most is Yeji actually use the name towards her. "What flavor was it?"

"Red velvet. I don't know, it sounded fancy, I guess... "

"And you made it?"

"I- I did." Yeji stutters. She doesn't know what she expected honestly, can't fathom why she's panicking, but this sure is going a lot better than the worst scenarios her mind created, even if she sustained a really minor injury. "I- uh, had lit up the candles for you to make a wish, although it seems mother nature beat you to it."

"Are you inviting me in then?"

"But your cake is ruined."

"There's still some left in the container, though." The blonde points to the chunk that managed to stay intact and safe to eat. She doesn't care how little it is or how hard it'll be to get a candle to stand upright. Yeji put effort into this, and she wants to show how much she appreciates that. "Can we head inside?"