Midnight In Paris || Ryeji (ILD book 2)

14.

"Do I still annoy you?" Her question came in the form of a whisper, voice soft as she got closer to the older woman. Eyes daring to focus on her lips for a second before locking eyes.

"Very much so." Yeji whispered back.

Ryujin smiled, leaning closer to the woman. "I care for you too." she whispered, placing her lips against Yeji's cheek for a moment before stepping back and facing the city once again.

Yeji didn't say anything, only facing the city along with her. Yet she stepped closer, resting her head against Ryujin's shoulder and holding her arm. It was comfortable, much more than she cared to admit to herself. And Ryujin never wanted the other to let go. Smiling to herself, she observed the city in front of her and thought about how far they had come. How she had finally broken down the walls surrounding Yeji.

"I'm going to say something stupid right now. Something neither of us need to acknowledge until we are ready to do so." Ryujin whispered only hearing a light hum come from the older woman.

"I'm falling for you."

The confession hadn't come easy. It had come after many nights awake, thinking about the other and how she felt. Ryujin had her doubts i the past but the mere notion that Yeji might be permanently residing far from her awoke something inside of her. The possibility of not having Yeji around, of not seeing her, not hearing her laughter or speaking to her as often. The thought of her finding someone else in Paris, it drove her to finally piece it all together.

Sure, Ryujin didn't know all there was to know about the other woman. But did that matter? Does anyone ever truly know everything about someone else? She didn't even know everything about her own self. Wasn't what mattered the fact that she did like what she knew? Not only that but that she was willing to accept and care for whatever she came to find out about Yeji. And if Yeji was one day to change and evolve as a person, she wanted to accompany her in her journey. And wasn't that love?

Or maybe she's just clueless about love.

But then, she had Yeji's head resting against her shoulder. Her arms wrapped tightly around hers. And it felt like the right moment to blurt out what she felt.

Yeji didn't respond, not for the following seconds. Ryujin wouldn't have thought she scared her off, if it weren't for the way her grasp on her hadn't faltered in the slightest.

"I need to go by the studio tonight. Will you accompany me?" Yeji finally said, as if no other words had been said moments before.

And so there they were. Standing on a room inside the studio where Yeji was an intern. Apparently they had trusted her with a key, seen as she often spent nights locked inside working on her art. Sometimes sleeping on the couch inside the studio room, the one that looked big and comfortable.

Ryujin's fingers tracing a few of the drafts she could identify as Yeji's. She had become more and more familiar with it. Admiring the lines in the paper that came from Yeji's hard work.

Yeji getting closer to her, standing just behind and her hands reaching to touch her wandering fingers. "It's been a week. Do you think after a full month here you'll still feel the same way?"

Ryujin turned, facing Yeji who didn't dare to look her way. Her fingers placed against her chin so she would look up at her. Their eyes meeting and the younger of the two offering a small smile.

"No."

Yeji furrowed her brows, staring confused at her.

"What I feel for you keeps on growing the more I know you. By the end of the month, It will put to shame what I feel at this moment."

"I hate when you speak."

Ryujin chuckled, her fingers moving along the other's jawline. "So you've always said."

"It's hard to not feel things when you speak like that."

"Maybe you should allow yourself to feel then." She whispered, moving to place a kiss on Yeji's forehead.

"I'm trying." Yeji whispered back.

"I know." she whispered once again, her lips moving to meet the woman's nose. Earning a soft smile from Yeji. Ryujin's hand now resting on her cheek. The older of the two leaning into it, into the warmth of her hand.

"I didn't mean to do it." The other confessed, biting her lower lip. "I never meant to feel for you."

"As cheesy as it might sound, some things are out of our control." She replied with a smile, now moving her lips to kiss the cheek opposite to the one she was holding.

"Are you saying we are fated?"

"No. We make our own fate. But maybe, there's some things that are inevitable. Aren't there? Either one of us can walk away. We can never be something more than we are in this moment. We can choose not to see each other again. We have that choice, don't we?" Ryujin spoke softly, eyes focused on the other's thin yet beautiful lips. "We can choose to not be. But I don't think I had the choice to not fall for you." she finished.

"You're a smooth talker, aren't you? Is that how you get all those girls wrapped around your finger?" Yeji joked, but her words were barely any louder than a whisper. Chuckling lightly and allowing it to die down. Ryujin still staring at those lips that had grown into a beautiful smile.

Her thumb began to move against Yeji's cheek, softly. As if she was afraid to scare her off. "I'm only talking to you, Yeji." She smiled, placing a kiss right on the corner of Yeji's mouth. "Only you."

To her surprise, Yeji once again made the final move. Closing in the distance between them. Their lips touching softly against each other while neither of them dared to move them. It took Ryujin a moment to take in that it was actually happening. That this wasn't in her imagination. Yeji was kissing her. She was kissing Yeji.

Slowly their lips began moving against each other as she held the other closely.

After a few minutes, and some art supplies discarded on the floor, they were still kissing each other. Yeji sitting on the table with Ryujin standing between her legs. Kisses a lot less softer than their first one had been.