Domino (Ryeji)

5

YEJI

Eventually she made her way upstairs to her room and slumped down at her desk in front of her computer. Currently she worked from home, which usually she enjoyed, however right now her heart hurt too much to do anything. So instead she took her laptop over to her bed, put on a movie and snuggled under the covers. Grabbing her teddy and hugging it tightly.

However despite putting the movie on to distract her, her mother's words kept on circulating through her mind. 'Sick, disgusting, unnatural.' She squeezed her teddy even tighter in an effort to shake them from her brain, silently repeating what Ryujin had told her almost like a mantra, deflecting the negative thoughts. 'She's wrong... you're beautiful... it doesn't matter if you like girl or not.' And for the time being, it worked.

After a few hours Yeji could feel her stomach rumbling, and she realized she'd not had anything to eat since Ryujin had made her a hot chocolate. She unfurled herself from under her duvet and made her way downstairs for some lunch which she ate by herself. Her mum busy doing stuff about the house.

Once she'd finished and cleared her plate away she was about to head back to her room when her mum called her.

"Yeji dear, could you come help me with the shopping?" Yeji groaned internally but knew it would only worsen the tension between them if she said no so begrudgingly she agreed and headed out to the car with her mum, sliding into the passenger seat.

The journey was completely silent, neither one of them even attempting to start a conversation, that is, until Yeji noticed after about fifteen minutes that they were heading in the wrong direction.

"Mum, you're going the wrong way. The shops are back there." Yeji said, confused.

"Ah, well... I actually decided it might be nice for you to have some time away with your grandparents. The countryside will be good for you."

"What?!" Yeji yelled in shock. The statement catching her utterly by surprise .

"Don't worry, it'll only be for a few weeks."

"Weeks!?" Yeji yelped, "But... but you said we were going shopping?!"

"I said what would get you in the car." Her mother replied in a low tone.

"You... you tricked me?" Yeji said, the feeling of betrayal settling in her bones.

"Oh don't be so dramatic. I'm sure you'll have a lovely time."

"But what about my work?!" Yeji said, panic rising in her throat.

"They have wifi, you can work there." Her mum answered.

"But my laptop-"

"Packed." She interrupted.

"What do you mean?"

"I've packed it along with all the clothes you'll need. It's in your suitcase in the boot."

"What? How?" Yeji could barely speak a sentence, everything had happened so suddenly.

"What do you think I was doing while you were eating lunch? Now hush. I'll hear no more on this, I need to concentrate."

And with that the car returned to silence. Yeji beyond stunned, wondering why on earth her mother was suddenly sending her to her grandparents out of the blue?
When it hit her.

Ryujin.

She was cutting her off entirely, just as she'd said. Yeji had deleted her number and now she couldn't even visit her in person. Her grandparents lived two hours drive away. There was no way of seeing her.

Yeji felt a sob making its way up her throat which she managed to suppress, a soundless tear leaking out of eye.

How could life be so unfair.

Four weeks had passed and Yeji was finally on her way back home after a month of heartache with her grandparents. Not that she didn't enjoy spending time with them, in fact it was quite the opposite. Most of the time they were the only thing that kept her from having a breakdown every other day, her grandma baking fresh cookies and flapjack for her practically every afternoon.

"Thank you for coming Yeji dear." Her grandma said next to her in the car once they were nearly home. "It was so lovely of you to come and spend time with us for so long."

"You're welcome grandma." Said Yeji quietly, swallowing down the real reason for her visit. "It was nice to have a break from the city and see you and Grandpa." Her grandparents didn't know that actually Yeji hadn't planned to visit them at all but she felt far too guilty to tell them and far too scared to open up about how she was feeling for fear of a similar reaction to her mother.

"Thanks for driving me home." Yeji then said as they came to a stop outside her house.

"Anytime dear. Send love to your mama from me."

Yeji gulped. "Will do." And with that she grabbed her bag, closed the car door and waved goodbye.

She was now standing alone outside her house, dreading going inside and facing her mother again. She stood there awkwardly for a couple of minutes before deciding she couldn't do it. She glanced around the mostly empty street nervously, probably looking like the most suspicious person ever, before hastily shoving her bag under a tarp next to the garage and sprinting to a nearby coffee shop, determined to drag out the time before getting home for a couple more hours.

Fortunately her favourite cafe wasn't too far and within twenty minutes Yeji was ambling through the local park sipping a hot chocolate that sat snuggly between her fingers. The park had always been a place of refuge for her whenever she was feeling the weight of the world a bit too heavily and now was no different. She didn't know what to do. She had messed up. Badly. Not only did her mum hate her at the moment but Ryujin probably hated her too. She sighed, her shoulders somehow drooping further.

Yeji then spotted a bench tucked away in a quiet shady spot by some bushes and felt her body gravitate towards it. Slumping down onto it with a grunt and staring up at the cloudy sky. The grey colour matching her mood.