Eternity [ryeji]

Chapter 69

Ryujin politely bows to the people she passes on the way and stops when she sees Lucy.

She sighs and approaches the woman, hugging her. "I'm sorry for your loss," she whispers.

"Thank you."

"How are you holding up?" she asks as she loosens her hold.

Lucy shrugs. Her eyes are red and swollen and she looks weak and fragile. "At least she's in a better place. Thanks for coming to see me. How's Aunt Yeji?"

"Devastated."

"Has she told you about the dream she had?"

Ryujin shakes her head. "But I heard that your mother left peacefully," she says.

"The doctor said that that too. There was no pain, thankfully."

"Where's your brother?"

"Not sure." Lucy looks around the room but can't find her brother. "Probably blaming himself again somewhere. I've told him over and over again that it wasn't his fault but..." She sighs. "I don't know how to get through to him."

"Wait until he's able to think more clearly and cope with his loss. He'll listen to you."

The woman nods and Ryujin takes her leave because she has to look after her mourning wife at the hotel.

Both Ryujin and Yeji have chosen to avoid the crowd for as much as they could and would only attend the funeral together with Yuna and Chaeryeong.

Mr. Hwang had to leave Seoul to switch places with Ryujin and take over her task of watching the twins as soon as he heard about the passing. He and Ryujin barely met. When he landed in Scotland, he took a taxi to the apartment since Ryujin was driving the kids to school. They had lunch where he updated Ryujin about what happened then the woman boarded a plane to Seoul a few hours later and headed straight to the hotel where Yeji's staying. Once she's taken a shower and changed her clothes, she went to Lucy's family home to convey her condolences.

Ryujin returns to the hotel room to find her wife sitting on the bed, browsing photographs on her tablet.

"Hey," she calls out to her softly as she sits next to her and kisses her head. "I'm back."

"..."

Mr. Hwang had told Ryujin about her wife's uncharacteristic lack of response since that fateful night. She understands that Yeji's grieving and still trying to cope with her second and probably worst loss in life so she doesn't complain, letting her go through the process at her own pace and in her own way.

She looks at the tablet, noticing how Yeji's finger moves steadily, swiping from picture to picture. They're all photos of her and Jisu when they were young.

"Lucy said something about a dream you had. Care to tell me about it?" says Ryujin.

Yeji's finger stops and her shoulders start to shake as tears flow down her face.

Ryujin swiftly wraps her arms around Yeji, hugging her as she cries on her shoulder.

Minutes later, after Yeji has calmed down, she grabs some tissue to clean her wife's face and gets up to fetch her a glass of water.

"I saw her," says Yeji in a small voice after she has taken a sip.

"Where?" asks Ryujin, relieved to hear her wife's voice again.

"In that dream." Yeji sighs shakily as she remembers the dream, feeling her eyes tearing up for the umpteenth time in the past three days.

Ryujin patiently waits until Yeji's able to continue her story about what she saw in that dream, right before her best friend left.