Once Upon Online

chapter 63

Today is the day of the hockey game. Remembering my nightmare, I feel really anxious. I'm afraid my nightmare might come true and I'll lose Ryujin. I also don't want my nightmare to affect me so I'm trying my hardest to be okay with this. I don't want to stop her from going just because I'm scared.

We're at the main house right now since they're going with Lisa and Yuna. While waiting for them to get ready, I just watch Eva and Gabe play together. I think it would be amazing for Eva to grow up in this kind of environment.

"Are you okay? You seem really out of it" Rosé sits next to me.

"I'm fine, just feeling anxious" I admit.

"Why?" She offers me snacks that she's eating. I accept because it would be rude not to. While sharing snacks together, I tell her about my nightmare and how awful it was with Ryujin dying.

"I'm sure that won't happen. I can't promise it won't since accidents are unpredictable but I'm pretty certain they'll be fine. Ryujin is most familiar with that area than any of us" she says. I know she's trying to make me feel better but I can't stop feeling anxious.

"Ryujin! Get back here!" I hear someone yell upstairs. I look towards the stairs to see Ryujin running down with Yuna chasing her.

"What's happening?" I ask.

"Welcome to Ryujin's childish side" Rosé chuckles.

They stop running when they see me watching them. "What happened?" I ask Yuna.

"Ryujin flicked my forehead then ran off" she says glaring at Ryujin.

"I'm sorry, it was asking me to flick it. It kept calling for 'Ryujin flick me' so I did" Ryujin laughs.

"Don't mind them. They're like this but they love each other" Rosé whispers to me.

"Are you two ready? Or do I have to kick both of your asses?" Lisa walks down the stairs followed by Travis and Karina.

"We're ready boss" Yuna and Ryujin both salute.

I laugh at their silly antics. Ryujin comes to me to give me a hug and a kiss. "I'll see you later okay? Are you gonna be alright? I can stay if you want" she offers.

"I'll be okay. Have fun and please be safe" I hug her tight.

"I will. Text me if anything comes up okay? I'll drive back as fast as I can even if it means leaving them there" she says seriously then someone smacks her on the back of her head.

We pull away from each other, I laugh and she rubs her head. "What was that for?" She ask Karina who smacked her.

"How can you say you might leave us when we can hear you?" She scoffs.

"Yeji is my main priority. I'm sorry Karina but you and I aren't for each other. I have to let Travis take care of you instead" Ryujin jokes.

"You little turd" Karina is ready to attack again while Travis holds her back. I look around and I see the others laughing.

"Why do you have to add little there? Turd would have been just fine" Ryujin says.

I'm over here trying to process how it's okay to call her turd but not little? But the Shin's just amazes me every day, they not only welcome me but they welcome my sister and Travis like they're part of the family too.

All of them leave but not before Ryujin said goodbye to Eva and Gabe. So now, it's just Rosé and the kids are here. Their parents are down the road, at the grandparents house.

We sit back down on the couch while watching the kids. "Is your grandpa that bad that Ryujin doesn't want us to meet him?" I ask Rosé.

"He can be bad. I think if Ryujin announces she's dating a girl, that's the thing that's gonna upset him the most. More than after finding out about me and Lisa" she says.

I tilt my head while staring at her, "Why Ryujin specifically?"

"They deny it but we all know Ryujin is his favorite. We're okay with it but I think he expects her to marry some country boy some day and have their own farm. For a while, our grandpa has been trying to set her up to date this one farmer boy" she says.

"Why do you all think that she's the favorite?" I become curious.

"Because Ryujin is really the one that helps him around the property. It's just not in my interest to get dirty like that, working on tractors or cars or building stuff. Yuna is the same as me so Ryujin helps out with cutting wood, mowing, brush fires and such" Rosé starts eating her snacks again.

"I guess you could say that she's like the grandson he never got. Our aunt from our dad side doesn't have kids so he literally has all granddaughters."

"But he has Gabe now?" I say kind of careful.

"He's actually not happy with how Gabe is turning out. He says he's too sensitive. He doesn't act like a boy" Rosé rolls her eyes.

"Ryujin says that you don't like how Gabe is like her" I say.

"I don't like it when Gabe becomes a joker like her. I like the other things because Gabe is growing up to be caring and understanding like she is" She smiles while looking at Gabe.

"Tell me more about Ryujin? How she was when she was younger? How she was in school?" I ask.

She laughs, "Oh boy, where do I even start?" She stands up and I look at her, "I'm gonna get us something to drink first." I nod my head and I sit there, waiting for her to come back.

She comes back and she gives me some sort of juice with a weird color. "It's vegetable fruit juice. It's good for the baby since we can't drink alcohol" she says.

"Ryujin was your typical annoying kid. Our mom struggled with raising her, she was friendly but caused a lot of headaches. Everyone loved her though, even as a kid. She always made sure people around her are happy and took care of the people she loves" Rosé pauses to drink some juice.

"So we were all surprised when we learned she has depression. Albeit, our dad still thinks it's like an anger issue. Honestly, she's probably the most selfless person I've ever met. Even thought she suffers from her mental health, she doesn't take it out on people. She makes sure people won't feel the same pain as she does" she continues. I look towards the kids thinking about Ryujin and how lucky I truly am and how stupid I was before for trying to let her go.

"As for her school life, your not so typical popular kid? She was popular because she was kind and smart. She was nice to everyone, stood up for people that are being bullied, even called out some teachers for showing favoritism. She graduated at the top of her class and she did all this without help for her depression so she amazes me. At our school, they separated students with special needs so in every school event, Ryujin would always go to them and help them enjoy the events. She's always one of the people in charge for the special Olympics in the area here. I can never do what she does" she says.

After learning more things about Ryujin, I suddenly feel emotional.

"What's wrong?" Rosé ask. Is this a Shin thing? Where they can just tell if something is wrong.

"I just feel bad. I didn't always treat Ryujin well in the beginning" I start off.

"She told us she lied to you about her gender so I can understand your anger" she says to me.

"It's not just that. I tried to push her away because I got scared. I kissed my ex from high school and she saw it. I said we would be exclusive but I stayed with Dana. She's too good for me" I say.

"You were going through a hard time. Ryujin wouldn't love you the way she does if she thinks you're a bad person or you're not worth it. Just promise you'll try your best not to hurt her" She ask of me.

"I promise. I honestly wouldn't know what to do without her now" I say.

Mrs. Shin comes home and feels the serious vibe in the room. She ask to borrow the kids and we let her. I've never met anyone who loves being a grandma like her.

Rosé and I continue to talk. She would ask me questions to get to know me better. I'll ask her questions to get to know her then when she remembers something about Ryujin she thinks I would like, she'll share it with me.

We continue to chat until Ryujin and them comes home. I feel so happy that they're safe and back home now. Thanks to Rosé I was pretty well distracted the whole time.