~ 𝘼𝙇𝙇 𝘼𝙇𝙊𝙉𝙂 ~

<39>

the next morning came and ryujin awoke. she stretched her limbs slowly in her bed, enjoying the way her body relaxed and felt satisfied after she stretches. she got up and went into the washroom, doing her business.

ryujin got out of the washroom and changed into appropriate clothing. today was the day that she was going to ignore yeji's texts and calls completely.

"cupcake, breakfast is ready~" mrs. shin called out from downstairs, ryujin quickly grabbed her phone and turned off notifications from the orange-haired girl. she walked downstairs and got her breakfast, eating it quickly so she could set up her beautiful candle-lit path into the backyard.

"when are you guys going to be out?" ryujin asks her parents as she slowly brings the glass of milk to her mouth.

"why? that eager to get rid of us?" mr. shin teased.

"yeah." ryujin quipped.

"my heart is broken." his hand flew to his chest and fake cried, later on getting a slap on the arm by his wife.

"she's going to ask yeji out, so we need to be out for most of the day for her plan to succeed. now, hurry up and eat, ryujin's already finished." mrs. shin scolded.

"you two are cold!"

"that's what yeddeong called me yesterday." ryujin laughed.

"that's good because she is right!"

"yeah, yeah." ryujin waved him off, walking towards the sink to wash her plate and glass.

"we'll be off now, cupcake! enjoy your day and good luck!" mrs. shin waved to her daughter in the living room before they headed out.

"thanks mom! stay safe as well!" she answered before the door had closed.

now, it was just her in the house, and some candles that were in her hands, ready to be placed and lit.

ryujin started to set up the pathway that was made out of candles from the living room. it began from the front door, all the way to the end of the path, which was the backyard door. of course, there are even more outside, surrounding the decorated area.

"this is perfect, she's going to love it." ryujin smiled to herself, admiring her work in the backyard.

and now, it was time to relax.

she didn't bother to check her phone, but instead, she went down into the game room to distract herself from texting yeji.

after many hours of distracting herself, napping, eating, and playing. it was finally time to initiate the second step of the plan, getting yeji to come over. ryujin turned on her phone and there it was, her notification center being flooded with texts from yeji, as well as calls. there were also calls from her friends, like lia, yuna, chaeryeong, heejin, and of course, hyunjin. the only person she called back was hyunjin, just to tell her to move onto the second step of the plan.

"just telling you though, she's pissed, upset, confused, disappointed, and nervous all at the same time, this better be worth it." hyunjin sighed.

"rest assured, I'll cheer her up afterwards. I don't want to keep feeling bad."

"see you at the house then, I'll call her now."

"okay, thanks!" ryujin said before they hung up. she was nervous to say the least, she had been ignoring all of yeji's texts and calls the whole day, why else wouldn't she be? she was well aware that angry yeji was scary, just like interacting with a angry light fury.

"I hope this goes right." she mumbled to herself and walked through her plan once again.

YEJI

ryujin hasn't been responding to my texts nor calls all day! I feel like I am slowly rotting on the insides, there were so many 'what ifs' popping into my mind every second of the day and I cannot afford to give in to them. she told me that she wasn't cheating on me and I fully believed in that.

well, I do have a little doubt still. but, I don't think she's unloyal. at least, that's what I know.

"has she called back?" my mom asked, standing at my doorway.

"no." I frowned and sighed. yesterday night we were having so much fun on face time, we called until we eventually got sleepy where we couldn't even form sentences. now? she isn't responding at all, not just me but our friends as well.

"maybe she's really busy..." my mom sighed as well. "just wait a little more, I'm sure she'll respond."

I smiled lightly and nodded, but it slowly faded after she left. it's been an awfully quiet morning.

out of nowhere, my phone started to ring. I ran out of my bathroom and checked my phone. unfortunately, it wasn't the one I was expecting, but at least they have jin in their name.

"hyunjin? did she respond?" I asked with worry.

"go to her house."

"what?"

"go to ryujin's house."

"why? did something happen? what happened? is she okay?" I asked as I ran to my closet, grabbing my socks and jacket.

"you'll see." those were the words hyunjin had muttered before the call was disconnected.

now, I'm really worried. did she get sick again? was she hurt? an accident? no, because then she would be in the hospital.

I rushed down the stairs and ran out of my door after slipping on my shoes, I heard my mom asking me what happened during the process of it, but I didn't fully respond since I was already out the door.

I entered my mom's car since I didn't have my own, it was always ryujin or my dad dropping me off for school, or anywhere.

it was my first time driving a car by myself.

yes, I am 17 years old, and this was the first time that I've driven a car by myself completely.

I switched on the engine and buckled my seatbelt, I was too worried at this point. more 'what ifs' were entering my mind as I raced through the neighbourhood, my foot on the gas also seemed to empathize as it pressed on the gas very eagerly whenever the light turned green.

the radio turned on and one of ryujin's songs were playing, how amazing.

"cause I~ know what you like boy..." I mumbled as I drove down the road, I can hear her voice in the back of my mind, singing all of this.

I stopped by a red light and looked around, it wasn't too far until I reached ryujin's house, it was nerveracking, thinking of all the possibilities and the firmness in hyunjin's voice when she called. it was scary.

the light turned green and I slammed on the gas right away, unaware of the car that was driving my way.

as I turned my head and noticed another car speeding towards me, I panicked, I froze, I did everything someone shouldn't be doing when a car is zooming towards them.

the next thing you know...

I saw black.

"get out of the way, please! we need to send her to the emergency room." a faint and unfamiliar voice rang in my head, I heard many footsteps and yelling around me, it was so noisy.

"please... I'm sorry." there was one familiar voice that I heard among all of them though, but it was too chaotic for me to identify who it was.

and, my head hurts so badly. I could feel warm liquid dripping down my forehead.

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