mafia // ryeji (short story)

02

had the leader not told me to act normal around yeji, i probably would've strangled her, right about now.

it drove me crazy: the way she smiles and laughs with me, the way she's affectionate and cuddly, and the way she acts all innocent, as if she's not planning to kill me the second she gets the chance.

but two can play that game.

she can play the role of an angel? well, so can i.

i laughed as i intertwined my fingers with hers, "i love you, yeji." i tested, as i turned to her and observed her expression. how good would she be to tell me she loves me, too? would i be able to tell beneath her lies?

she stared back, "i love you, too." she replied with a serious face. one that was serious enough to make me feel dumbfounded. one that almost made me think she meant it, until i remembered she didn't. and never will.

my grip on her hand loosened.

this was going to be so much harder than it already is.

•••

"thank you for tuning in to our live!" lia concluded, as she waved her hands at the camera and pressed the end button, leaving us to finally loosen up a bit.

we sat in a comfortable silence, each one of us busy with our phones, until someone spoke out.

"you know what we should do? let's cook dinner!" yuna excitedly suggested, as she immediately got up and began lifting the other members with her.

everybody else groaned and declined only for the reason of being lazy, but i had a different one.

there was no way i would be near yeji in a kitchen. a kitchen that has all sorts of items that could you stab someone with. especially since the second someone turns their head away, she'd probably stab me and shove me out the window and blame whoever was unfortunate to be at floor level of our building.

"no, how about we just order something?" i interjected, as i nervously laughed since i didn't want to have to face yeji like that so soon.

to my luck, the other members agreed, but not after hearing yuna rant about how we never do activities together. usually i'd take her side, but this time, i was just trying to stall somebody's life.

we ordered the food, and as we waited, yeji tugged on my sleeve out of nowhere. "hey, i need to talk to you. come to my room?" she whispered before getting up and trailing to her room, silently requesting me to follow her.

i watched her leave as i felt my heartbeat quicken. if i join her, she'll kill me, but if don't join her, she'd ask me why i didn't and either way she'll end up suspicious, and kill me, anyways.

i took a deep breath before getting up. i dragged my legs, which felt so heavy all of a sudden, to her room, and took a deep breath before hesitantly knocking.

immediately, the door swung open, and instead of being greeted by the usual happy faced yeji, i was greeted with one of a cold expression, instead.

I took another deep breath to try and prepare myself for any outburst yeji and I might have. 

"hurry, come in." she said, before grabbing my arm and pulling me inside, removing any chances of me turning around and ignoring her forever.