INEVITABLE

Chapter 13

"Are you close friends with that colleague of yours?" Jisu hears Ryujin ask as they drive away from the building.

"We're close... yeah. Why?"

"Well... can I..." Ryujin scrunches up her face. "Can I say I don't like her?"

Jisu finds it amusing but tries not to laugh. "Of course you can. May I know why?"

"I don't know. She seems protective of you. And she's looking at me like I’m a bad person who's taking you away from her."

At this, Jisu finally laughs.

"I’m trying to be honest here, and you're just laughing at me? I can't believe you." Ryujin shakes her head.

"Yeji's just curious of whom I am meeting up with."

"Why would she be curious about that?"

"Because she knows I’m meeting up with my soulmate, and she wants to see you."

"What?" Ryujin whips her head to Jisu. "How did she know?"

"Well. The thing is... she's my ex."

"What!"

"She's the one I was with when we met in that resort."

"What!"

"She broke up with me because she thought I was cheating on her when she heard me say your name one time while I was sleeping."

"What! But how? We didn't exchange names."

"Remember we had breakfast in Gilda’s Coffee House before? I saw your name printed on the receipt as the card payer after you left."

"Whaaat." Ryujin bites her fingers. "What if I am saying your name too in my sleep and Yuri hears it?"

"It may have only happened because we ignored each other before," Jisu says. "And you don't need to worry because you never got my name, remember? You only had an alias. If there's a name you'll be saying in your sleep, it's Julia and not Jisu. You're lucky that's a character in your comics."

Ryujin nods, looking relieved.

"Also, I think that mentioning your name in my sleep only occurred a year after we met. Yeji and I were steady for another year before it happened. It may be connected to me longing to see you again."

"Awe. Aren't you sweet?" Ryujin smirks, to which Jisu responds with an eye-roll. "If you had my name from before, then why didn't you look for me?"

"How am I supposed to know you're using MonkeyRyu on your accounts and not your real name?"

"Ah. Right." Ryujin scratches her head. "I’m sorry for ruining your relationship."

"It's okay. It's not your fault. If there's anyone to blame, it's the spirits."

"Don't your ex despise me?"

"She did at first because she thought I was cheating on her with you," Jisu says. "It left me with no choice but to explain everything to her. It was an amicable breakup after she understood."

"Now I know why I felt something weird when I saw her." Ryujin beats her fist lightly into the steering wheel. "I can't explain it, but it's like I can sense she's a threat for whatever reason."

Jisu laughs. "A threat? Are you serious?"

"Yeah. It feels like something within me has been activated--like a built-in soulmate radar, you know. I felt there was something with that Yeji. It didn't make sense until you mentioned she's your ex." Ryujin glances at Jisu. "Haven't you felt that way towards Yuri before?"