I Used To Be Alright

Chapter 34

Ryujin

It has been approximately ten minutes since they entered Yeji's unit and the feline eye hasn't come out of the bathroom yet.

"Her tummy must've hurt from all the food we ate."

Ryujin tried to distract her thoughts and focus on the facts that she can actually comprehend. One side of her brain was thinking –

Just ask her straight. Will you be my girlfriend? How hard could it be?

And the other side was telling her to step back a little and plan everything out. Like a grand gesture of something.

But the clock is ticking, and it's almost 10PM, and Yeji's gonna come out soon.

She scratched her head like a crazy person and soon enough, she heard the bathroom's door open and close.

Shit.

She sat properly and looked over the direction to where the girl would be coming from.

She was able to muster up a "hello" when Yeji sat on the stool facing her.

"Are you okay? You look pale." The feline eye worriedly asked.

"Y-yeah. Are you okay?" Ryujin answered.

"Yes. Just a little loaded because of everything we ate today. I think I got a little too excited trying out everything in the booths."

Yeji blushed and it's one of the cutest things that Ryujin has taken note of recently. She blushes because of the tiniest things. And it's slowly becoming her favorite sight. Apart from when she laughs, of course. Or when she's feigning annoyance. Oh, and even when she's just focused and lost in her own space – she looks really cute there, too.

Everything, basically.

She's (not very) slowly falling into a very deep liking towards Yeji and she's hella scared that she would not be able to go back up. Nor does she really want to.

And it's a feeling that's a lot bigger than anything she has ever felt for someone else.

"Uhm. Earth to Ryujin?"

She was startled by the feline eye's voice.

Right, we're in her living room right now.

She glanced at the wall clock and saw that only 15 minutes had passed since she last looked.

Yeji followed her sight and saw that she's looking at the time.

"Uhm, do you need to go? I can help you call a cab i-"

"No!"

Ryujin answered uncontrollably.

"S-sorry."

She sighed.

"Look, Yeji-ah. I-I'm not very good at this. In fact, I probably am the worst person in history to ever try and have this kind of conversation."

Yeji looked at her intently.

"I don't know much about anything. And I feel confused and scared to let go of my guard for once. But the weird thing is–"

She paused.

"I look at you and I feel a little braver everytime."

She chuckled nervously.

Yeji stayed quiet but made sure to maintain eye contact. Her eyes became softer now as she continued to wait.

"I g-guess what I'm saying is that... I hope you still see me as someone worthy of trying this out. I know both you and I have very different experiences when it comes to almost everything. But I'm willing to put in the work. Heck, I think I am actually capable of a lot more than that, if it's you who would ask me to."

Another pause.

"So... Yeji-ah."

She reached out to hold the girl's hand.

"Will you be my girlfriend? I want this. I want this more than anything else in the world."

There was silence after Ryujin dropped the question and the whole minute seemed to stretch out as if the hands of the clock suddenly stopped working.

Finally, she heard Yeji sighed and a soft smile formed on her face.

She nodded, not saying anything. She scooted to where Ryujin was sitting and pulled her into an embrace.

Ryujin sighed in relief.

"I was almost convinced that you wouldn't ask. Ever."

Yeji's voice was shaking, and this made Ryujin instantly teary. She placed her hand at the back of her head and pulled her closer.

"I'm sorry for making you wait this long. But I wanted to present my best self to you before asking. Despite my best being only this." She whispered.

"Shhh." Yeji pulled away and stopped so that they're face to face.

"You're exactly what my life needed. And I'm glad that we were able to meet halfway this time."

Ryujin nodded – not minding the tears that escaped her eyes and focused instead on the high that she was feeling.

She threw all the doubts out the window and leaned in to kiss Yeji.

It was slow, and tender, and so full of love.

When they pulled away, another blush crept in Yeji's cheeks. She couldn't hide hers, either.

They laughed at how ridiculous they looked and exchanged a few more banters before calling it a night.

Ryujin stayed over and had the best sleep she's had in a while.

She's sure that Yeji did, too.