Pretend (Ryeji)

Chapter 33: But I Love You Too

"You didn't talk to her before leaving?"

"What the hell is wrong with you??" Lisa's jaw falls in utter disbelief, ultimately agreeing with Rosie. Imagine her surprise when her soon-to-be sister-in-law randomly appears by barging into her shared home with her fiance unannounced, on the verge of tears, rambling without taking a second to breathe. It was so hard to follow along, but the last part certainly did stick out to everyone in this room.

"Yeah! We raised you better than this, Ryujin!"

Ryujin openly accepts the harsh discipline from both Rosé and Lisa, but her attention inevitably falls upon her little cousin, and she can't help but narrow her eyes in disbelief. "YOU didn't even raise me!"

"Hmph! You're absolutely right because if I did, you would've known better than to leave your girlfriend without warning."

Ryujin takes the hit without countering directly after, and wow, it hurts badly. Brutally, even. She knows she messed up, and she knows she left impulsively. Maybe it was the wrong way to do it, but her emotions were relentlessly overwhelming, and her first instinct was flight. She needed to run, so she did, her mind neglecting to acknowledge the possible consequences her actions might encourage. "I didn't come here to get bashed, Yuna. I came to them for advice because these two are so disgustingly in love."

"Disgustingly?? Aren't you in a— "

"Then I AM qualified to give you advice!" Yuna cuts Rosé off in an instant, earning a huff from the oldest in the room, but she ignores it, seemingly like Ryujin does because this is what the cousins tend to do. They have their moments, bickering when either want to be the right one in a situation, same as they have their caring and protective moments. Believe it or not, this moment would be classified as protective according to Yuna. She's offended that Ryujin believes she's not capable of providing such guidance, and she would love to prove otherwise.

"You? Hah!" Ryujin scoffs, unaware that she hasn't been around Yuna as much as she used to, which explains her lack of knowledge towards the younger woman's love life. "Who could you possibly be in love with?"

Yuna blushes immediately at the thought of a particular Lee friend of theirs. Earlier, when this entire acting gig with her co-star started, Ryujin never caught onto Chaeryeong's hints, especially not that night she called her best friend while in Daejeon.

While her little cousin is busy trying to maintain her composure, earning numerous snickers from the two oldest women in the room, the blonde vividly remembers yesterday morning's events. She had temporarily pushed that recollection to the side, her own problems living rent-free at the forefront of her mind.

She repeatedly blinks before speaking. "When the hell did that happen? And why am I just finding out??"

"This isn't about me. This is about you!"

Lisa snorts at their interaction, doesn't bother to hide her amusement. Meanwhile, Rosie is still trying to grasp the real situation at hand revolving around her little sister's predicament. She wants to help find a solution, but she's not sure what to say. She thinks Ryujin should've at least left a message, a note, literally any indication of her departure and possible return because Yeji, from what she's heard, has been so kind and thoughtful aside from that first night the news broke out. At the very least, she thinks Ryujin owes it to her to return that honesty. If she needed time to think, she could've told her. To her face or not, how she told her wouldn't have mattered so long as she did so.

Ryujin turns to Lisa, momentarily distracted by this confirmation of Yuna's apparent relationship or almost relationship or whatever it is. "Did you know?"