Eternity [ryeji]

Chapter 52

Yeji barely slept that night after the party. Both she and Ryujin had had quite a lot to drink so they stayed at the house, sharing Ryujin's bed.

When Ryujin wakes up the next morning, she finds herself being watched by Yeji yet again.

"You're up?" she asks in disbelief. Yeji has indeed changed a lot. She has always been the first to wake up these days.

Yeji nods.

Ryujin scoots closer and observes Yeji. "Your eyes are red. Did you even sleep?"

"..."

"You okay?" Ryujin asks as she places an arm around Yeji, pulling her into her arms.

Yeji snuggles close and grabs the front of Ryujin's pajamas, clutching it tightly.

"I'm not going anywhere," says Ryujin. She understands the meaning of the gesture and why Yeji hasn't been sleeping well. "You should sleep."

"Jisu will have another baby," Yeji mumbles. "How can I not worry? The last time this happened, I woke up only to find you gone. And back then we were dating. Now..."

"I said I wouldn't leave you again and I mean it. Now you should get some sleep. I promise that I would be the first thing you see when you wake up."

"And if you're not?" Yeji looks up and is instantly met with a kiss on her forehead.

"Then you can tell your father to come after me and do whatever he wants to me."

"You won't leave?"

Ryujin shakes her head.

"Okay but just to be sure, I'm going to tell Yuna to stand guard." Yeji rolls away, takes her phone and texts Yuna.

"Don't be so paranoid," remarks Ryujin.

"Paranoid? You've done it once, you can easily do it again," retorts Yeji as she sets her phone aside, frowning at the other woman.

Ryujin knows that she's at fault and that Yeji's tired and lacking sleep. Continuing this conversation would only turn it into an argument. "I will never do it again. Please trust me," she pleads in a calm tone. "Sleep." She pulls Yeji's arm and fixes the blanket. "I'll only move if I have to go to the toilet."

Yeji is still frowning when she slowly moves closer to Ryujin. "I swear, if I wake up and you're not here, I will never forgive you."

"I won't go anywhere. I swear." Ryujin pulls at her pajamas, takes Yeji's hand and puts the cloth in Yeji's clutch. "Here. You're free to hold on to me for as long as you want."

"I'll do that." Yeji shifts to get comfortable and closes her eyes. She doesn't fall asleep immediately but whenever she peeks, Ryujin's still there. Soon, she can't fight the exhaustion and falls asleep while clutching Ryujin's pajamas.

She wakes up with a jolt a few hours later and Ryujin's still there, staring at her. The woman looks freshly showered and is no longer wearing her pajamas.

"Good morning," greets Ryujin, smiling. "Or should I say good afternoon?"

Yeji stretches and huffs, rolling away from Ryujin. Her head feels strange so she closes her eyes again for a moment before getting up to go to the toilet.

She takes her time to wash her face and brush her teeth before going out of the bathroom to see Ryujin scrutinizing her LP collection.

"What are you doing?" asks Yeji as she lies down on the bed, pulling the warm blanket over herself.

"I've been missing my LPs," replies Ryujin as she takes out a vinyl record and places it carefully on the turntable. She turns the player on and the sounds of jazz immediately fill the room.