GIRLS ON TRACK || Ryeji

Chapter 10: We're over

Ryujin's P.O.V

The ride home on my mom's car was filled with a deafening silence. The tires screeched when she turned the steering wheel to the side and slammed on the brake in front of our house.

Then, we didn't talk the whole evening, each of us in our own rooms. I bawled my eyes out on my bed, feeling extremely miserable and hopeless. My cheek still stings from her slap, but it doesn't hurt as much as my heart that is constricting with pain as if an invisible hand is squashing it ceaselessly. To be honest, the fact that I unintentionally brought up dad during our argument pains me more. I regret it a lot. I should've controlled myself! Now, mom's suffering as much as I am.

We sat in silence at dinner, neither of us touching our food nor uttering a single word. I kept stealing small glances at mom while she was staring blankly at her bowl of rice, her palms resting on the table. I honestly want to apologize mom for bringing up dad, but I can't utter a single word and it's as if something is choking my throat. Then, I heard mom sighed, the first sound that broke the intense silence in the dining room.

"I came back early to tell that we're moving to Seoul in a week. I've been reassigned there," she talked with a stoic expression, still staring at her bowl, too dejected to make an eye contact with me. "But, you can attend the graduation ceremony even after moving there. It'll only take less than 2 hours from Seoul to Jeonju." I nodded.

"Don't go to school tomorrow because we have a lot of packing to do," mom spoke again, finally shifting her gaze from the bowl to my head which was facing down. "I'm supposed to ground you and confiscate your devicess, but... I won't. For now." Afterward, she gradually stood up, pushing back her chair, and prepared to leave without eating a single grain of rice.

She turned back under the doorframe of the dining room. "Meet Yeji tomorrow after school and inform her about it." Just like that, she left me.

I was too numb to process anything she just said. I can't even feel sorrowful for the fact that we're leaving Jeonju in a week. I feel so lifeless like a zombie. The breakdown I had earlier has caused me to flush away every single emotion I had. But then, an immense feeling of distraught came back like a switch being turned on when I thought about a particular cat-eyed girl. I'm not only leaving the place I grew up in but also my childhood best friend, Hwang Yeji.

****

Yeji's P.O.V

I held the gold medal in my palm and gazed at the word 1st Place engraved on it. I finally managed to elicit a proud smile from dad's face for the first time when I came home wearing it around my neck. Nevertheless, I didn't feel glorious about it. I should be jumping around and punching the air in victory, but I did none of it because I resented myself tremendously for betraying Ryujin and getting her into a heated argument with her mom. Was it even worth it?

Furthermore, Ryujin didn't come to school today and I was worried sick. She didn't even reply to my texts or my phone calls. Is she okay? Did her mom give her a second scolding at home? Did she tell her about getting a text message from my mom's contact number? Is she... resenting my mom, thinking that she texted her? Is she resenting me as well? An insurmountable number of questions flooded my troubled mind while I kept pacing back and forth in my bedroom.

Just when I finally decided to pay Ryujin's house a visit, a ringing was heard from the device that I tossed on the bed because the girl who preoccupied my thoughts wouldn't answer my calls. The ringtone I set for a particular contact was Oath by Cher Lloyd ft. Becky G. Thus, I was beyond relieved when I heard that ringtone.