GIRLS ON TRACK || Ryeji

Chapter 74: Hope Not

(Please listen to Blackpink's Hope Not as you read this chapter.)

Yeji's P.O.V

"WHAT KIND OF NONSENSE IS THIS?"
Ryujin quickly sprung up to her feet and gaped at her mom, her hands trembling at her sides in prominent terror. I gulped, gradually sitting up on her bed, and Aunt Chaeyoung diverted her attention from her daughter to me, apparently fuming with rage as she glared at me ferociously.

"You! Get out of my house this instant!" She spat venomously at me for the first time, thus frightening me to the core, and my whole body shook ceaselessly. At this, Ryujin snapped out of her trance and stood in front of me protectively, her neck veins bulging visibly.

"Don't you dare talk to her like-" A raucous slap reverberated Ryujin's bedroom, and she placed a palm on her cheek where her mom just slapped. I stifled a gasp, feeling a pang in my heart as guilt coursed through me for witnessing my favorite person being slapped by her mom for the second time because of me. Without needing to be told twice, I darted out of the room since I knew that I might fuel their conflict just by a mere presence of mine in that tensioned room.

Tears streamed down my face as the emotional threshold inside me was demolished by a mighty wave of self-resentment for getting my lover into trouble. I'm nothing but a hassle in her life. I'm always the source of the domestic conflict between Ryujin and her mom. I keep causing Ryujin to get slapped by her mom.

****

A few days have zoomed by in a whizz, whilst Ryujin ghosted me; not a single text message, a phone call, or even a word was relayed from her, thus exacerbating my perturbation as if adding fuel to fire. The burning anxiety inside my chest was getting too hot to handle and it's turning my whole existence to ashes. To make matters worse, several conclusions and worst case scenarios clouded my mind.

What if Ryujin breaks up and cuts ties with me because her mom forces her to? I'm freaking paranoid by that possibility since I know that Ryujin can't resist Aunt Chaeyoung's orders. I hope not. Please don't let that happen. I love Ryujin so much that I can't live without her.

My hands began to get fidgety as all the muscles inside my body tremored to the extent that I couldn't sit up straight on the bench of the school's cafeteria. My twitching eyes wandered around the hall, hopelessly anticipating to see Ryujin walking toward our table and taking a seat casually like she always does, but I heaved a shaky sigh when I figured it wouldn't come true.

"Yuna, is her phone still turned off?" Lia's voice brought me back to reality, and I tentatively took a glimpse of the device in Yuna's hands. Truth be told, all of us are in despair due to Ryujin's consecutive absences, and she hasn't only ghosted me but also everyone in this group.

"Yes," she grunted, clutching her phone grudgingly with fire burning in her orbs.

"I wonder if she's still in Seoul because we tried paying her a visit today, including yesterday and a day before yesterday, but the house kind of seemed empty," Somi pondered, concern lacing her voice.

"She still hasn't replied to your calls either?" Chaeryeong directed the question at me, so I shook my head dejectedly.

"Yeji." I heard Yeonjun oppa's voice from my back, making me turn around in an instant. "Can I speak to you for a moment?" His eyes told that he wants to talk with me alone. Shortly after, he led us to a corner of the cafeteria, where it is less crowded.

"I... saw you running out of Ryujin's house with tears that day," he told me candidly without beating around the bush. "And on the same day, Aunt Chaeyoung came to our house to keep an eye on Ryujin, so that she won't leave the house. Can you tell me what exactly happened?" My eyes widened as soon as he mentioned Aunt Chaeyoung's appearance at their house.