Twisted Games(Ryeji ver)

YEJI[CHAPTER 44]

I'D LOST MY MIND, ASKING JIMIN FOR HELP. SHE MIGHT BE DATING Minjeong, and she might be less...sociopathic since they'd gotten back together last year, but I still trusted the woman as far as I could throw her.

Yet for all her faults, she truly loved Minjeong, and she owed me for kicking her ass into gear before I left for New York. If I hadn't, she'd still be moping over her and terrorizing everyone around her.

Our call four days ago had been short and succinct. I told her what I wanted, and she confirmed she could get it. I didn't doubt her ability to pull through, because this was Jimin we were talking about, but she hadn't given me a delivery date and I'd been on pins and needles since.

"Your Highness." Subghoon spoke at a lower volume than usual, and his body vibrated with nervous energy as we walked to my room. We'd just returned from an event at the National Opera House, and I'd been so distracted by thoughts of my plan I hadn't questioned why Sunghoon was accompanying me to my suite when he usually bid me goodbye at the palace entrance.

"Yes?" I arched an eyebrow at Booth's furtive glances around the empty hall. He was a good bodyguard, but he would make a terrible spy.

"Read it when you're alone." He slipped a piece of paper into my hands, his words almost inaudible. I frowned.

"What—" A maid turned the corner, and Sunghoon stepped back so fast he nearly crashed into the porcelain vase on a nearby side table. "Well," he said, his voice now so loud I flinched. "If that's all, Your Highness, I'll be going." He dropped to a whisper again. "Don't tell anyone else about it." He waved and speed-walked down the hall until he disappeared around the same corner the maid had rounded. My frown deepened.

What in the world? It wasn't like Booth to be so cryptic, but I did as he asked and waited until I shut the door behind me before I unfolded the paper. Booth wasn't a secret notes type of person. What had—Time stopped. My blood rushed to my face, and my stomach swooped at the familiar, messy scrawl before me.

9 p.m. tonight, princess. Two chairs.

No name, but I didn't need one.
Ryujin was still in Eldorra. A whoosh of relief darted through me, followed by anxiety and a twinge of panic. We hadn't talked since the hospital, and we hadn't exactly ended things on a good note. Why was she reaching out now, two-and-a-half weeks later? How had she convinced Sunghoon to sneak me a note? What—

"Yeji!" For a second, I thought the call of my name came from outside my room, but then I looked up and saw the petite brunette standing in my suite. Another, wholly different kind of disbelief flooded me.

"Minjeong? What are you doing here?" I hastily shoved Ryujin's note into my pocket, where it seared through the silk and into my skin. Her face broke into a wide smile.

"Surprise! I'm here to see you, of course. And I'm not alone." On cue, Wonyoung swanned into the sitting room dressed in a
familiar-looking blue coat.

"Good afternoon, Your Highness," she sang. I cocked my head.

"Is that my coat?"

"Yes," she said with zero shame. "I love it. It makes my hair pop." The sky blue color did, indeed, make her brown hair pop. "Your closet is everything. I need an in-depth tour later."

"You already had an in-depth tour, courtesy of yourself." Chaewon came up behind her, clad in a sleek white dress that made her bright skin glow. As the fashion blogger in our group, her closet rivaled mine, though her clothing choices were more casual. "You spent half an hour examining her shoe collection."

"It's called research," Jules said. "I'm going to be a lawyer. Power heels are essential for stomping all over the opposition." I let out a soft laugh as I hugged my friends, my shock gradually morphing into excitement. I hadn't seen them in person since I moved back to Eldorra, and I hadn't realized how much I'd missed our face-to-face chats until now.