Always Been You ( A RYEJI AU)

Chapter One

Third Person POV

She's late. Again.

Yeji glanced at the door of the cafe she's currently at and then to her phone in hand to double check the time. 4:20pm. They had agreed to meet at exactly 4pm. Where is she? She pursed her lips, pouting.

Instead of watching the clock tick by, she decided to make use of the time instead and turned to her laptop. She reads the lessons for the next days in advance, highlighted the important details, and got lost in the world of ergonomics and production control.

As she stared at the words in front of her, she was suddenly distracted by the sound of laughing. Turning to her back, she noticed two familiar girls at the counter bar. One was facing her way, leaning her elbows at the bar, currently laughing at what Winter said.

Sensing that she was being stared, Ryujin suddenly looked her way. Yeji didn't meet her gaze and dropped her focus on her laptop instead.

"There you are! I'm sorry for being late."

Minju made her way across her, and it was like the world become brighter. Her girl is here. Yeji had first met Minju in the school library when she was browsing for books and Minju happens to be the school's assistant librarian. She thought she was pretty and after finally having the courage to ask her for coffee, which was five months ago, things had progressed.

"It's okay, I didn't mind waiting." She closed her laptop and smiled.

Minju leaned in and kissed her. "I missed your lips."

Yeji cleared her throat as she flushed at Minju's words.

"Tell me about your day."

"Oh, I met Chaewon on my way out of work! It's been weeks since I last saw her and we catched up for a little while- like for an hour. I can't believe she'll be starting as an intern at The JYP Guide too! I guess I'll be seeing more of her, which is so exciting! Oh, and Chaewon invited us for a party tomorrow night, so don't make plans."

Yeji furrowed her eyebrows. "But we have plans tomorrow to watch a movie together. They're running the sequel for my favorite movie, Spiderman. I've been looking forward for it for weeks."

Minju's expression fell. "Oh, I forgot about the movie. I'm sorry, baby. But I don't think I can back out on Chaewon now since I promised her that I will- we will be there. Maybe we can watch the movie next week?"

Yeji felt helpless. She was wrapped around Minju's fingers and she just can't say no to her. She sighed.

"Fine. But promise me that we will watch it together."

Minju cheered victoriously. "Saturday. I'll pick you up at 5. I'll even wear a Spiderman cosplay if you want me to, baby."

Yeji can't help but to smile. She just like this girl too much.

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"I can't believe you're not going to be there." Winter leaned at the cafe counter.

Ryujin and Winter had been roommates slash bro-mates for the past year since their start of college at JYP Uni. They've been inseparable even since. Some might even think they were twins. Where Ryujin goes, Winter also go.

"Who am I going with? You're the only one who can match my coolness, you know. You and me. Two peas in a pod. I might die of alone-ness."

"You won't die. And alone-ness isn't even a real word. Don't be dramatic."

Ryujin can't help but laugh at her friend's theatrics. Feeling like someone is watching her, she scanned the Etude Cafe and spotted a familiar girl at the left side of the room.

Hwang Yeji.

No, there's no way she was watching me. It might have been just my imagination.

Yeji hated her since highschool and she doesn't know why. Maybe because Ryujin accidentally ruined her art project during 10th grade? Or the time Yeji confessed to her in 9th grade but she was at a dark time of her life so she just left her at the rooftop? Ryujin don't really know.

"But why won't you come?" If Winter is a five years old right now, she would be seen stamping her feet right now while sulking, like a kid having tantrums. But at age seventeen, she still does it anyway.

"I'm... busy." Not a lie. Ryujin just wanted to spend the rest of the week at her dorm, with a laptop on her bed, binge-watching the Brooklyn Nine-Nine episodes that she missed. So yeah, she's very busy.

"Oh, come on, Ryu! The entire school would be at Kai's tomorrow. My Karina would be there, which means the Choi Lia would also be there."

Winter side-eyed Ryujin at the mention of the name, knowing the feelings she had for the girl. Ryujin stared at Winter looking for any signs that she was joking but didn't find any.

"So what?"

"So what? Ryu, I didn't raised you to be such a pussy." Ryujin snickered.

Her crush for Choi Lia started on her first day at JYP Uni when she bumped at the said girl and felt like the world had temporarily stopped. Cliché, but that's what she really felt the moment her eyes met Lia's. She mumbled a quick sorry to her, feeling a lot tongue-tied, and watched as she walked away from the hallway and into her mind. She spent the rest of the day thinking about her.

Seven months later, she still couldn't make a move.

"You always sell yourself short, Ryu. And that wasn't a short joke, even though you're pocket-sized. You, best friend of mine, with your handsome face, whisker dimple and shockingly deep voice, there's no way Choi Lia's going to say no. Just ask the girls and boys who got charmed by you on the daily."

Well, getting hit on is a different thing. Ryujin knows she was getting a lot of attention since starting college. She even encourage them sometimes. As a result, she'd obtained a reputation about being a flirt. Which she thinks is funny because she can easily flirt with the other girls, except for Choi Lia.

"You really think so?"

Winter rolled her eyes and wrapped her arm around Ryujin's neck, pulling her close.

"When was I ever wrong?"

"A lot of times. When the professor asked you the molecular capacity of -." She covered my mouth with her hand.

"Okay, I get your point. Tell me you're coming with me tomorrow."

"Okay. But you have to cook dinner and wash the dishes tonight."

Winter stood straight and made a salute. "Sir, yes, sir!"

"By the way, I'm not forgetting that you called me short earlier. You're shorter than me."

Winter gasped dramatically.

"I am not!"

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(A/N: First chapter done. What do you think of the story so far? A comment and vote would be very much appreciated! I will be posting the second chapter once this chapter reaches 50 votes. Thank you for reading!)