The Secret Sonata || Ryeji

Chapter 23: Humiliation and Skepticism

Winter widened her eyes instantly after another familiar name from her mother's story escaped from Yuna's mouth. Ryujin? Shin Ryujin?! Oh no. Don't tell me she's back in town when the spirit's on loose. Wait. If the Lia they're talking about was that possessed brunette, and the blue-haired girl that she followed after was Shin Ryujin... Crap! Now, it makes sense why the spirit inside that girl's body is too powerful because it's none other than Hwang-

"Annyeonghaseyo, unnie deul," Winter greeted Chaeryeong and Yuna politely after approaching them when they were about to leave the café. The two puzzled girlfriends glanced at the high schooler, curiosity etched onto their features. "My name's Winter."

"Annyeong..." Still confused as to why the girl introduced herself out of nowhere, the girlfriends drawled their greeting, heads tilted to the side.

"Actually, I need to tell you about something. Would you mind taking a seat again?" The high schooler motioned them to sit at their previous booth, seeing that they were standing on the walkway between the booths.

"What do you want to talk about, hakssaeng?" Chaeryeong asked in a soft tone as she sat with her girlfriend on one side, whereas Winter sat on the opposite seat.

"Sorry if this seems like invading your privacy, but is the brunette that just walked out Lia-nim?" The shaman's daughter questioned for confirmation, drumming her fingers nervously on the underside of the table.

"Yes," Yuna confirmed, quirking an eyebrow.

"I know why she seems like a different person." The two girls across Winter were taken aback by the response, whilst Giselle and Ning Ning, who were eavesdropping from another booth, snorted cynically.

"Were you... listening to our conversation?" Yuna scrunched her nose, annoyance slightly piqued by the fact that they had been overheard.

"I'm sorry about it, unnie. But there's something extremely important that you need to know about your friend, Lia-nim," Winter babbled, bringing both her palms on the table. (I made aespa younger than itzy here)

"It's okay. Tell us what's wrong with our friend," Chaeryeong demanded inquisitively.

"She's... possessed," Winter declared, making the girlfriends widen their eyes to the size of saucers; whereas her snooping schoolmates, except Karina, burst into spontaneous snickers as they slammed their table repetitively, which didn't go unnoticed by the girl. However, she ignored them. "By a maleficent spirit." Another round of sneers came from Giselle and Ning Ning's table.

"Sorry, I beg your pardon?" Yuna uttered, completely bemused. Subsequently, Karina returned from ordering the drinks, furrowing her eyebrows due to the commotion of her noisy bestfriends.

"Your friend Lia is possessed, unnie-deul," Winter enunciated grimly, and the girlfriends exchanged incredulous glances. "The spirit that's inside her body's-"

"Winter-yah, leave the ladies alone and go scam others," Giselle taunted from her seat, earning a high five from Ning Ning.

"I'm not scamming anyone!" Winter argued with infuriation, catching the attention of other customers and staffs in the café.

"Says the daughter of a con-artist claiming to be a very powerful shaman," Ning Ning countered, a mocking grin plastered across her face, thereby irritating both Karina and Winter.

"Yah! Ning Yi Zhuo, don't call-" A bang cut Karina's warning off, and all eyes were trained on the initiator. It turned out that Winter was the one who banged her fist on the table.

"It's okay if you guys disrespect me, but not my mother! She's not a con-artist or a scammer like you guys accused of!" Humiliated, Winter launched up from the booth and marched over to the café's door, but halted halfway to lock eyes with Chaeryeong and Yuna for the last time. "Unnie-deul. Please take my warning seriously because that maleficent spirit's ruthless and capable of harming anyone who gets in her way." Just like that, she stormed out of the café in tears since Giselle and Ning Ning had the audacity to defame both her mother and her in front of everyone, especially her crush.