Strawberries And Cigarettes

Chapter 54

After two years

Ryujin's POV

When the door opens, it slowly reveals the girl I loved the most. She's still that girl I love. Her red hair was now back as her favorite light brown color but red head Yeji will always be remembered. Red head Yeji showed me a lot of things I didn't know about this brown head one. That bad girl showed me a lot about the good girl that I loved.

I love them both.

"You think you can catch up for Lucy's 7th birthday?" I asks but Yeji shrugs in response.

Yeji survived her death and enable to make her life better, I suggested to turn herself in this rehabilitation center.

"Have you made up your mind?" Yeji asked me.

I clenches my fists and nods, "I love you and that will never change." I said with my tensing jaw.

"I want you to take care of Lucy and yourself while I'm gone. But please, while I'm gone...please think carefully if you'd really want to spend your life with someone like me."

Yeji chuckles, "I guess two years weren't enough for you to think huh?"

"Stop pushing me away. You're here to be better and I'm willing to wait for you, Yeddeong-ah." I tried to hold her hands but she stepped back.

"I'm not pushing you away. Ryujin—what if you're better now? What if you're stable enough already? It would be embarrassing...to be with a mentally ill person like me." Yeji said. I shakes my head in disagreement.

"I know it's hard to cope up things but you're slowly getting better. The process would be slow but I'll wait, I can't love any other person...I don't want to love another person. I would commit my heart for you over and over again, Yeji." I stated while looking in her eyes.

Yeji slowly takes a step towards me, locking me in her hug with her arms wrapped on the back of my head. "When I'm out of this walls already, please allow me to visit Lucy. Make sure you forms a happy family including her...but scratch my existence because I'm undeserving of your love. Do you want me to be ashamed my whole life?" she whispers. My tears falls from my eyes as I looks at the white walls in front of me.

"I'll stay here and push you away every single time until you give up...I'll patiently wait for you to give up..." Yeji tightens her hug with my chin perfectly placed on her shoulder.

"That won't happen..." I insisted.

"There's a lot of people in this world, Ryujin-ah. I'm not the only one—"

"Please respect my loyalty and don't invalidate my feelings for you. Never underestimate the feelings that I had for you back when we were young...nothing hurts more than waiting for someone who's waiting for you to give up...I still hopes you're there at the end of the rope, Yeddeong-ah..." I tightly cups her shoulders and pushes her aback enable for me to see her face, "I don't want to end up talking to the moon again...I don't want to end up scrolling on my gallery, never again. I don't want to end up getting emotional because of things that would remind me of you. Yeji, the only thing I want is to wake up with you by my side, cook your meals, feel your warmth every single day—all I want is to witness how my skin wrinkles and how my hair turns gray—with you. So...so I can die happy..." I started while looking in her eyes. The voids that hides the galaxy I've always adored.

"I'll wait till you push me away, all by yourself." she said as she took my hands off of her shoulders.

"Aren't we gonna watch Lucy growing together? Aren't we gonna—" Yeji cut me off when she shakes her head and steps back to her bed.