Changes and Chances

Chapter 38

"How long will you be gone for?"

"Three weeks. Aeri will be back on the road to the northern UK by the end of the month so I'd like to catch her before she leaves again."

The four were hanging out at Yeji's house on a quiet Sunday when they discovered that the cat-eye was set to leave for New York the next day.

It's amusing to think that they could now talk openly about Yeji leaving - no feelings of doubt, no fear of her not coming back. And it almost felt like she never left.

Lia almost instantly warmed up to her a few hangouts after she came back to stay in Seoul for good. And Chaeryeong has always waited for her – so it took no time for them to reconnect.

As for Ryujin, it took a while. After hanging out as a group several times, they were finally able to talk and meet by themselves since they ran into each other in the library.

And the most recent one was Ryujin's visit a few weeks ago after the museum event – when they sat on the same couch and talked all night, they were sure that they almost caught daylight.

None of them talked about how they almost held hands when they were reminiscing about the good old days of Uni; how they initially sat a couple of meters away from each other and ended up almost touching as the night progressed; how they would pause and steal meaningful glances in between stories; and how they almost kissed as they were laughing too hard – only if their heads didn't bumped into each other and caused an even more chaotic amount of laughter.

Yeji wanted her to stay that night - but she didn't say. Ryujin ended up driving home at 2:30AM with the cat-eye on the other line of the phone the whole way home.

"So I'll come pick you up at 1PM tomorrow?" The question brought her out of her trance.

Chaeryeong was so used to driving Yeji around that she automatically took on the role of driving her to the airport.

"Yeah. Does that work for you?"

"Yup. I don't have that much work tomorrow, anyway. I just need to be back by 4PM 'cause Dad's coming over for an inspection – so I have lots of time."

Yeji just nodded and proceeded to continue listing the things that she needs to prepare and do while she's back in New York.

"I'll come, too."

While Ryujin was aware of the looks that Chaeryeong and Lia were giving her, the cat eye seemed to be at a loss for words. Sure, they've been talking a lot more now and are able to hang out with just the two of them recently.

But they're also well aware that Ryujin doesn't like to take days off without notice. So it was something to fuss about.

"Uh, okay. You'll take the day of-"

"Yeah. Not much stuff to do tomorrow, just like you." She supplied before the redhead could finish.

She then stood up awkwardly and walked towards the kitchen to get water.

Lia and Chaeryeong exchanged looks, and Yeji kept her eyes on the brunette – struggling to keep a smile.

The following day, the three proceeded to the airport with Yeji on shotgun.

It was a smooth ride and they were able to find a good parking spot, too. And because they came early, they decided to grab a quick bite.

Everything was going smoothly until ten minutes before the designated boarding time – the familiar intro was played and the speakers were filled with delayed flight information across several destinations in the USA.