Changes and Chances

Chapter 34

The next couple of months went by so fast.

Yeji was able to appoint a trusted person to look after the business closely while she's away. She visited her favorite places and bought an enormous amount of gifts for the people she'll come home to in Korea. Aeri has been a lot more constant with her calls, too – enjoying Japan much more than she imagined, sending Yeji postcards, and making sure that she has saved the cat-eye's Korea address for when she's already moved.

It was a slow Thursday and she's been staring at her bicycle for an hour. She had it cleaned earlier in the day and brought it up to her unit.

"I don't know if it's smart to keep it, though."

"It might rust-off if you leave it there, though. You can just buy a new one but you like that one too much." Chaeryeong noted on the other line.

"Hmmm. I might ride it for the last time today and decide then."

Yeji planned out her last week in New York to visit all the old places that served as her safe spaces at some point while she was trying to make a life in the city –

The mid-size oak tree at the far end of central park where she used to spend her afternoons reading;

The balcony seat at the small vintage coffee shop in 16th avenue where she spent hours "people watching";

Her favorite vinyl shop;

and, of course, her spot on the small hill where she did most of the thinking whenever she's about to do something big.

Today, she's there for the same reason.

She closed her eyes and breathed in the earthy scent of the grass and the soil. It rained earlier that day, and miraculously stopped when she was about to go out.

This city has been her hometown for almost a decade. For some time, she dreaded staying here - itching to find corners where she can let her guard down because leaving hasn't been an option. Until, after a while, she learned how to coexist with it.

The city.

She found new things to love, places to leave pieces of herself in, routines to enjoy.

She opened her eyes and glanced towards the view of the buildings. It's getting dark so the lights have begun to appear one by one from a distance.

"Such a beautiful city. Too bad my heart's not in it."

She muttered to herself.

She hasn't heard from Ryujin since her departure from Seoul, and neither did she reach out to her, as well. At least not directly.

She would sometimes ask Chaeryeong how she's doing. And a couple of times, Ryujin asked to send her regards, too, through the redhead.

They didn't promise to talk. There was a slight agreement from both parties to try. Yeji liked to think that she did - recalling the many times she tried to type messages and deleted them before sending.

It felt wrong. Knowing that, despite it being very minimal and fading, Ryujin still has that effect on her. She was the only woman she has ever loved, after all. Romantically, at least. Added to the fact that she hasn't felt anything towards anyone since the brunette, it made it a little harder not to feel something when she saw her again – picking up someone that's not her. Holding that endearing sign that says I miss you.