Hershe (Ryeji ver.)

42 - Offline

Yeji sat at her table after getting tea from the pantry. She opened their company IM to check if a certain person is already in.

'Shin Ryujin is offline.'

Her brows furrowed. Ryujin is never late for work.

It has become Yeji's habit to check on Ryujin daily thru their IM. And without her complete awareness, Yeji's not just doing it every morning, but every hour of the entire shift.

She checked her phone too to see if there were messages. Apparently, none.

The status didn't change the entire day, making Yeji feel weary. If it wasn't for the thought Taehyun would find it weird for her to ask about Ryujin she might have already asked him.

In fact, she was so close to doing that.

When the clock struck five, Yeji glanced at Mr. Hwangchu and petted it.

---

"Something bothering you?"

Yeji turned to Yeonjun with a confused face, barely heard what he said.

"Are you all right? You're spacing out again," he said.

Yeji propped her elbows against the car door and gazed out the window. "I'm just thinking of something."

"Penny for your thoughts?"

"Mmm. It's mostly about work."

"Work? That work has certainly been bothering you for days now, huh?"

Yeji looked at Yeonjun.

"You were not yourself over the weekend, you know." Yeonjun smiled as he focuses on the road while driving. "In fact, you were not in yourself since I picked you up from work last Friday. Something wrong?"

Yeji turned back to the window. That Friday conversation had surely disturbed her entire weekend. Everything was boring for her. Everything was lifeless.

As much as she wanted to stay and talk to Ryujin that night, she can't. Yeonjun needed to pick her up to have dinner with her mom somewhere in the city.

And as much as Yeji wanted to tell Ryujin the truth that night, she couldn't. She was not prepared for that kind of talk yet. Somehow it scared her.

All the troubles from the past few days sunk into her that night; her mom, Yeonjun, Ryujin--Yeji can't sort them out.

In the end, Yeji knows she said things she didn't mean. She avoided the questions. But she never thought running away that night would hurt her the way she's hurting now.

During Ryujin's interrogation, questions started popping out of Yeji's head: are her feelings for Ryujin enough reason to be in a relationship with her? And how serious is Ryujin about this too? Will it be worth it to risk everything now to be with her?

While Ryujin was cornering her with questions, Yeji felt the need to escape because she doesn't want to make impulsive decisions she'll regret in the end.

And now she's hella worried about Ryujin's whereabouts. After what happened last Friday all she wanted is to talk to her, at least explain to her the reasons for her confusion. Yeji still wants to let Ryujin know that no matter how confused she is it is Ryujin whom she wants to be by her side by the end of each day.

"I'm just probably stressed," said Yeji instead. It was followed by a sigh.

"I'm all ears, just in case you need someone to talk to," said Yeonjun.

Yeji nodded and turned back to the window.

---

"Home sweet home." Yeonjun pulled the car over in front of Yeji's house. He turned to his passenger who's struggling to unlock her seatbelt. "Let me help you with that."