Changes and Chances

Chapter 18

The window was weirdly dark when Ryujin came into her apartment's driveway after her dance class. She's about to take a quick shower and meet Yeji for a birthday dinner in an hour, and she cannot wait to see her again.

She isn't one to celebrate birthdays that much but with Yeji's excitement on the phone earlier, she couldn't help but look forward to their dinner, too.

She jumped out of surprise when she opened the door and heard the cheers and the loud greetings from her friends who were all gathered inside.

In the middle of the room was Yeji - all smiley and holding a birthday cake as she started singing happy birthday, followed by the others.

The birthday celebrant was too stunned to do anything so she gave in to Yeji's subtle hug and blew the candles out.

"Wh- How did you guys even get here? We were just dancing an hour ago. Oh my god, Yeddedong."

The brunette's eyes were so wide and everyone else was laughing at her reaction.

When she was able to take a good look at the living room, her mouth hung open with the abundance of expensive-looking food served in the kitchen. There were balloons and party props on the living room table, and the bottles of wine looked like they could pay for Ryujin's tuition.

She didn't expect the cat-eyed girl to pull off this kind of surprise as she has always been so passive when it comes to these kinds of activities - at least it seemed that way before they started dating.

"You didn't tell me your girl was rich RICH", Lia appeared on Ryujin's side as the rest of the girls started to eat and drink.

Ryujin gave her a confused look and Lia lowered her voice before the approaching Yeji arrived. "She took care of everything. No one else dropped even a single penny."

The brunette has to change her expression in a split second as she can see Yeji approaching. She gave her best friend a knowing look that says 'we'll talk about this later' before proceeding to meet the cat-eyed girl halfway.

"Hey", she smiled softly as she could see the spark in the other girl's eyes.

"You're proud that you were able to pull this off, are you?" Yeji grinned at her and pulled Ryujin towards her bedroom.

"Wait, what are we-"

Yeji closed the door and turned Ryujin around to show her surprise before she could even say anything.

The brunette stood - mouth agape - as she saw a big white box in the middle of her room. She could feel Yeji moving closer and she caught her breath when the cat-eyed whispered.

"Happy Birthday, Jagiya."

She almost wished that she didn't have to move and live instead in the comfort that Yeji's warmth brings. It took everything in her not to lean back and pull Yeji even closer.

"Open it."

Ryujin did as she was told and her jaw dropped when she saw the contents of the box.

Several canvases, all kinds and sizes of brushes, acrylic paint, pastels, graphite - all the best kinds! It was a lot that Ryujin might not have to buy anything else for the rest of the year.

"Yeddeong."

"Hmm?" The other girl sat in front of her with a proud grin.

"Did you like it?"