Paganini's Puppet | Ryeji

Imposter

(Thanks for the nice comments last chapter 🙂)

"Oh my god, congrats!"

"Not a surprise."

"To be honest, I didn't think she'd rank first."

"Seriously? Did the judges not hear how badly she messed up?"

"Ohhhh wow."

"What the hell?!"

Yeji POV
"Haha. I kept my promise, didn't I?" Lia wiggled her brow at me.

"How did you do it?"

"Judge Casals is a good friend of my dad. A small talk was enough to convince him."

"Lia, thank you."

"Of course, I'm always here for you."

Ryujin POV
"Calm down, Ryujin."

My blood was boiling. How did I rank below Yeji?!

"This is such bullshit! What the fuck?! Are those judges deaf?! There's no reason why I should have ranked below her!"

"Ryujin, it's okay. You still ranked second! You can overtake her anytime," Chaeryeong tried assuring me.

"This is impossible. She had to have done something to rig the results."

Wait a minute. Did she...

Did she tune my cello off right before my performance?!

Flashback
"Ryujin, hurry up! You're performance is starting in 10 minutes!"

"Relax, Ryeong. I'll get changed quickly."

It makes sense.

She tuned my cello off while I was changing into my performance attire!

"Where are you going??" Chaeryeong asked with a concerned expression.

"I'm not letting Hwang Yeji off on this."

"What do you mean???? Don't tell me you're going to do something stupid like fight with her!"

"Relax! We're just going to have a talk."

"RYUJIN. You do not want to mess with Yeji."

"I'm not going to do anything stupid!"

I left to go find Yeji.

Yeji POV
"I know what you did."

I turned around to see Shin Ryujin standing behind me as I was taking my sheet music out of my locker.

"Excuse me?"

"Were you really that threatened by me?"

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I glared at her.

"Don't play dumb. Everyone knows I sounded better than you. That's why you sabotaged my performance and rigged the results."

"You reprobate! How dare you accuse me of such crudity?!"

"We both know your Sibelius was mediocre. You're no longer the school's ace. I am."

"You ranked second simply because you're not as good as me! You'll never be on the same level as me!"

"That's because I'm already above you! I know you tuned my cello off! You probably bribed the judges with the shit load of money your parents have!"

"Why you piece of vermin!"

"At least I'm not an imposter!"

*smack*

I felt a panging sensation over my left cheek and cupped my face.

My mind went blank in a state of shock for half a second before I turned my attention back to the imposter.

She pierced a flaring glare at me before walking away.

The bitter sound of clanking heels echoing her trail.

Yeji POV
This fucking bitch.

How dare she call me an imposter?! I've ranked first every year! Who does she think she is?!??

I walked out of the school and to my sleek black Mercedes-Benz before dialing Lia.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Come to my car, now."

"Huh? What's wrong, why aren't you in class?"

"Just come here!"

"Ok, ok. I'll be right out."

After about 2 minutes of waiting, the passenger seat opened.

"What is it?" Lia asked seriously.

"Find out everything you can about Shin Ryujin."

"Huh?? Why? What happened?"

"Ugh, she's really getting on my nerves."

"Care to explain?"

"Not really, can you just do this favor for me?"

She sighed.

"Fine, I'll tell my secretary to dig her information up."

"Thanks, Lia."

"Ahah, I don't understand why you can't just ask your own secretary to do it for you."

"He's not my secretary, he's my mom's. He doesn't do anything for me."

"Oh."

"Wanna go somewhere?"

"Sure."