Chapter 23

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“Yeji-ah…”

Yeji groans, turning away from the man who’s shaking her shoulder. “Leave me alone, Dad,” she mumbles from under her blanket.

“I can’t believe you’re still like this. And you claim that you’re all grown up,” he says, shaking his head at his daughter. “I’m going out. Ryujin’s here to see you.”

Yeji opens her eyes when she hears that name but before she could ask, her father has left her room.

She huffs, sits up and spaces out for a minute.

Sighing, she drags herself to the bathroom, ignoring the woman she passes on her way there.

Ryujin stands up when she hears Yeji’s room door opening and smiles brightly only to frown a moment later when the woman walks past her without so much as sparing her a glance.

She’s still sleepy. Yeah, that’s probably it, she thinks as she sits back down on the couch, clutching the lone stem of pink rose.

Twenty minutes later, Yeji reappears looking awake and fresh but she remains quiet as she – again – walks past Ryujin to go into her room to change.

By now, Ryujin has suspected that there’s more going on and that Yeji’s somehow angry with her although she doesn’t know why.

She waits as patiently as she can until Yeji’s ready to talk to her.

After another agonizing twenty minutes, Yeji walks out of her room, goes to the kitchen to get a drink and leisurely sits down on the chair near the couch, as if she has all the time in the world.

“Good morning,” greets Ryujin with as much cheerfulness as she can muster. “Slept well?”

“…”

“Your father let me in,” Ryujin continues despite the lack of response. She gestures the flower forward. “Happy one week anniversary.”

Yeji doesn’t blink let alone reply.

“Alright. What’s going on?” Ryujin sets the flower aside and scoots closer to the other woman. “You didn’t reply my messages, you didn’t answer my calls and now you’re ignoring me while I’m right here, happy to have spent one week with you as my girlfriend. Did I do something wrong?”

“I don’t know. You tell me,” Yeji finally replies albeit curtly.

“I don’t think I have.”

Yeji raises one eyebrow, glaring even more.

“Okay maybe I have but I don’t know what it is so please tell me.”

“How important is honesty to you in a relationship?”

“Very important.”

“Have you been honest with me then?”

“Absolutely!” states Ryujin with confidence.

“Really? Then how come you never told me that you were arrested? Twice, no less.”

“Wha-… Oh.” Ryujin immediately realizes her mistake. “But… how did you know?”

“It doesn’t matter. Why are you hiding it from me?”

“I have my reasons, okay? Tell me who told you,” demands Ryujin.

“Not until you answer my question,” says Yeji, just as firmly. “I thought this was serious. I thought you wanted this to last for a very long time.”

“I do!” Ryujin scoots even closer to Yeji, until she’s perched at the end of the couch.

“Then why are you already hiding things from me? If you’ve been arrested before, if you had broken the law, then I want to know!” Yeji's voice keeps rising.

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