Summer Of August || RYEJI

Chapter 11

August 16, 2015

There's this one moment, when everything stopped.

The song I'm listening thru my earphones stops coming in my ears but I can still hear the beat. The vehicles stop in my sight. Everything have a blurry figure except of her...

Yeji's standing at a bus stop while holding her handbag. She's wearing a long sleeves polo shirt, covering half of her denim shorts. She's well fixed that her white shoes seems untouched, her black socks covered her ankles just right. She looks so pretty with her hair down though I could only see half of her face...

"H-Hi..." I approaches, Yeji immediately looks up to me. I'm a little bit taller than her that's why.

"Oh hi, Ryu. What are you doing here?" she asked.

"What are you doing here?" Yeji's eyebrows arches because of the same question I've asked.

"I'm waiting for a bus. I thought Gahyeon would come and pick me but she said that she can't come so I'm gonna take the bus." she stated.

I bet she'd go in a trip with Sohee unnie too. Sohee and Sol left early in the morning and I didn't know that Yeji was left behind.

"You should've come with Sohee and Sol instead." I says but she shrug.

"I told them to go first since I'm gonna wait for Gahyeon but...yeah...Gahyeon called and told me that she's sick." Yeji's face clearly tells how devastated she is.

"Let's go, I'll bring you to them." I said and noticed how I lend my hand for her to hold. It was too late for me to take it back when Yeji's palm collided with mine.

"You know how to drive?" Yeji asked who misunderstood me.

I slaps my face to cover it when I let out a laugh, "No...let's take the bus together. I'm good at transportation so don't worry."

"Then why are we holding hands? There's no bus yet." Yeji said.

It took me a second before coldness hits my body. Before it consumes me, I snatched my hand from her hold and tilted my body on the side to avoid her stares.

Gosh...

"Speaking of a bus—here it comes." Yeji said but I couldn't bring myself to face her yet. Without any other words, Yeji suddenly held my hand, pulling me with her as I heard the bus's door opens.

"Are you sure you're gonna take me to that beach resort?" she asked.

"Yes..." I responded.

There's a set of panicking butterflies in my stomach. But what if it's just bunch of worms? Tape worms, pin worms, and a whole bunch of their squad dancing in my tummy?

The bus only have few passengers and Yeji chose the backseat. Maybe she doesn't want the ray of sunlight next to the window.

"Hey..." she utters as she taps my arms, "Thank you."

I smiled in response before averting my eyes in front. I never got the chance to be close to her but I guess she's too nice...to grab a cold person's hand without any hesitation.

"No worries. I love traveling..." I said tho it might be too late for her to hear. I had a hard time thinking about a response.

"I know right." Yeji chuckles and clings to my arms even more after putting her handbag on her lap. This is normal. Bestfriends do this. But we're not bestfriends nor friends but maybe we're a little bit like that...since we talk sometimes from the window of our rooms.

I tap my fingers one by one on my lap when Yeji leaned to my shoulder. I don't know why I'm nervous...

"Yeji...can I ask a question?" I nervously uttered.

"Sure..." by her voice, I just know that her eyes were close.

"I just found out that you have two moms. What does it feel like?" I asked, not thinking if that's an offensive question or not.

"It feels wonderful but as the same time it hurts...not all people can understand the situation. They do the judgment and throw words that pains me sometimes." Yeji casually stated, "I'm not a kid anymore...I'm 16."

"You have an amazing family, you don't have to listen to other people's opinion." I said, stoned where I'm seated because of our sitting situation.

"When did the winter get so warm, Ryu..."

"If you put an ice cube on your palm, you'll feel the coldness but if you put it out, you'll feel the warmth that the ice cube left." I said, "I guess, you don't like winter at all." I mumbled.

"You're right. I don't like the winter..." Yeji's clinging arms separated from mine. Then, she held her handbag with both of her hands, hugging it tight.

"Summer is my favorite season." she said that left me confused. If she love summer then she should've taken the seat next to the window and not here in the backseat.

"Summer season sometimes irritates my skin and I'm not fond of sunlights but...my favorite person comes in summer...that's why no other seasons can replace the happiness that summer gives to me." Yeji uttered, "Summer in the month of August, the day of 16, and the year of 2015—is the best summer that ever came to my life."

I don't know if I ever heard those words right...

Buddy...today is August 16, 2015, and she told me she's happy eventhough we haven't reach our destination yet. She said those...while I was beside her.

—🌷