She

Chapter 15

"Where's Yeji unnie?" Chaeryeong asked, surprised to see that only 2 silhouettes were making their way towards her.

"She says she's gonna stay back to practice more ..." Yuna said defeatedly, a hint of sadness and worry in her voice.

"Is she still upset over what happened this afternoon?"

"She's more than upset, Chaeryeong-ah ... she could hardly focus during practice. And this is the basketball-obsessed Yeji we're talking about," Ryujin answered.

It was true.

Aside from Jisu, Ryujin, Chaeryeong, and Yuna, basketball was the next thing Yeji loved most.

"Should we stay with her?" Chaeryeong was concerned, even more so than Ryujin and Yuna were.

Chaeryeong loved each and every one of her best friends equally, willing to do whatever it took to make them happy and to keep them safe, cause nothing could beat the joy in seeing them smile. 

They were Chaeryeong's source of happines.

But when it came to the oldest of the group, Chaeryeong had a certain soft spot for the silver haired girl. 

After all, she could never forget what Yeji had done for her back in middle school.

"I think she wants to be left alone ..." Yuna answered, doubt in her voice because she herself wanted to be by Yeji's side too.

And so, reluctantly, the three made their way once again to the school canteen, their stomachs empty and hungry but their hearts full of anxiousness and unease.

-----

Dinner with Soobin was just alright.

Food was good, as expected from a higher end restaurant, though Jisu thought she would never be willing to spend that much on such a small portion, thinking to herself how many bowls of kimchi fried rice she could get from the school cafeteria with that kind of money, but the small talk they shared was enjoyable enough.

But if Jisu was being honest, all her mind could think of was Yeji.

It was all too ... weird.

Weird how it seemed that there were no records, no articles, no reports regarding the death of Yeji's parents.

It all felt ... ominous. 

Like the calm before the storm, and Jisu couldn't help but begin to fear what she may uncover if she continued down this path.

Throughout her and Soobin's meal, she would constantly check her phone, to see if her mother had replied to her text.

"Are you expecting a call?" Soobin asked, after having witnessed Jisu pick up her phone the hundredth time in the last hour or two.

"Ah, I'm sorry, just ... my mom, I'm expecting a call from her ..." Jisu quickly put her phone in her bag, feeling a little guilty that perhaps she seemed distracted.

"Oh it's okay! I didn't mean to call you out or anything," Soobin gave an awkward chuckle, "Is your mom okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine ... I think, it's just ... there's something I wanted to ask her."

" ... which is?"

"It's a little odd, but I wanted to ask her why they moved to Canada."

"Didn't that happen 3 years ago?" Soobin asked, recalling that Jisu had mentioned it to him once before, though briefly.

"Yeah, a little late isn't it," Jisu let out a chuckle, trying to ease up the tension that had built inside of her.

Soobin laughed along too. He couldn't help it. Jisu's laugh was contagious enough that it made him want to laugh too.