The Sound Of Sirens (Ryeji)

2

The next week Yeji asked again whether Ryujin was free for coffee and before long it became routine. Every Friday they would meet for coffee and spend hours chatting about life, Yeji still managing the bulk of the word count.

Soon it became twice a week, three times a weeks until it was basically every day. But not always the coffee shop. Sometimes they would go for walks together, other times Yeji would suggest a picnic and quite soon they became inseparable. Ryujin still didn't speak loads, but was nowhere near as quiet as she had been to start with.

Ryujin talked a lot about what she was studying in photography, different artists she was researching, a new camera technique she had learnt or even complaining about how uninspiring the professor was. Yeji found she had never been so deeply interested in a hobby she had never done.

Yeji herself talked about all sorts of stuff. Her course, her friends, her family , what she was doing over the holidays, her sister's new boyfriend, a film she might have recently watched, what she did on her gap year, her dog's vet appointment. The list went on.

"You know it's weird." Yeji said one day while they were walking round the campus grounds. "I feel like I've told you my entire life story and yet I know nothing about you."

Ryujin chuckled, "Nothing? You mean you don't listen to my fascinating lectures on how 'fast shutter-speed' was invented?"

Yeji shook her head with a smile. "Well not nothing. But I mean nothing personal. I don't even know where you live." She paused. "And it's Harold Edgerton by the way, the person who invented 'fast shutter-speed'. I do listen to your lectures."

Ryujin smiled at the ground, and Yeji's heart swelled. She hoped Ryujin knew how beautiful she was.

They walked a bit further in silence and Yeji began to worry she had possibly crossed a line she wasn't supposed to. Ryujin was practically a recluse when she wasn't with Yeji and Yeji wondered if it was because she hated opening up.

"Hey, you don't have to tell me anything if you don't want. I just didn't want you to feel like I didn't care about anything beyond your interests." Yeji mumbled.

"Oh no, it's fine, I just don't exactly know where to start." Ryujin replied, twiddling her fingers. "I'm not very good at initiating conversation."

"Mm, I hadn't noticed." Yeji responded sarcastically. Ryujin elbowed her gently. "Ok well do you have any siblings, pets?" Yeji asked, curious.

"Yeah. I have two cats, Byulie and Dallie and an older brother."

"Oh nice."

"Yeah he is." Ryujin said with a glint of joy. "He's in his final year of law school at the moment. We actually get on really well, he loves art so we often visit galleries and museums and stuff when we see each other. He's always been really supportive of my photography and everything else."

"Wow. He seems so cool." Yeji smiled.

"Yeah he is." Ryujin muttered quietly, almost to herself.

"I wish I had a relationship like that with my sister." Yeji pondered. "Not that we don't get along, just that our brains work so differently we often find it hard to see eye to eye on matters." Next to her, Ryujin nodded in understanding before, Yeji continued her thinking out loud. "I'm much closer with my mum to be honest." And Yeji noticed how Ryujin's walking seemed to stiffen all of a sudden, but she didn't mention anything. "My dad often says I remind him of her."

"Oh." Ryujin replied quietly, "That's nice."

Yeji could feel curiosity biting her insides as she looked over at Ryujin. This wasn't the only time she had wondered about her relationship with her parents but every other time she had wanted to ask it had felt inappropriate. Perhaps now would be her best chance, she thought as they wondered further.

Suddenly the path they had been following took a sharp turn to the left and when Yeji looked it was like they had been transported to a different world. The path now wove delicately in and out of the autumn trees. Burnt orange leaves carpeting the ground and the afternoon sunlight casting lazy shadows as it bounced off the rustic browns of the wood. Painting the landscape before them in a hazy golden light. Yeji heard Ryujin gasp softly and hurriedly snatch her camera that was hanging by her side from her shoulders. By this point. Yeji knew the drill and stopped beside the shorter girl as she steadied the camera and adjusted the lens and aperture in order to best capture whatever she was trying to photograph. The camera snapped, the shutter opening and closing several times as Ryujin took three or four photos before she switched it off and it hung back by her side.

"So, what about you?" Yeji finally said, taking the chance. "Do you get on with your parents." However the sneer that left Ryujin's mouth made her wish she hadn't asked.

"Not particularly." Ryujin ground out.

"I'm sorry." Yeji quickly apologized when she saw Ryujin's shoulders slumping. "I didn't mean to bring up an uncomfortable topic."

"Don't apologize, it's ok, they're not monsters. They're just not exactly loving."

"Oh right." All of a sudden Yeji didn't know what to say exactly. Apologizing didn't seem to be the way forward. "Do you wanna talk about it?" She asked, anxious that that could make things worse. But Ryujin merely sighed.

"Well for one they hate me studying photography. They wanted me to go to law school like my brother and become a lawyer to work in the their firm but I didn't get good enough grades. Somehow, with my brother's help, I managed to convince them that photography wasn't a bad second option."

Yeji's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"I know, someone give me an Oscar for that one honestly." Ryujin said with an eye roll. "I came up with the excuse it could lead to a highly regarded, successful job in the future. So here I am, living up to my expectations as the disappointing child."

"Hey don't say that." Yeji said, concerned Ryujin though that about herself. "But also, why didn't you just tell them that you had a passion for photography. Cuz isn't it like super difficult to do photography professionally?"

"Yeah it's practically impossible to be a successful photographer but the thing is Yeji, if I told them it was something I enjoyed they'd be way more suspicious and think I'd purposely done badly in my exams." Ryujin took in a shaky breath. "They don't care about the things I like, they're not like my brother at all. They never listened to what I had to say so eventually I just gave up talking to them. I think I've talked about more with you in the last few weeks than I have with them in the last five years." Ryujin stopped in her tracks and Yeji saw her hurriedly wipe away a few tears that had escaped her eyes.

Yeji felt her heart crumple and she immediately wrapped her arms around the girl, burying Ryujin's head in her neck.

"It's ok, you're allowed to cry." And so for a few minutes they stood there, Ryujin's muffled sobs breaking the silence around them.

When they finally broke apart Yeji gave Ryujin the warmest smile she could.

"You know, I'm so glad you chose Photography." Ryujin stared up at her with a questioning look and sniffed. "Well otherwise I would never have met you!" Yeji beamed. The corner of Ryujin's mouth twitched as they both set off walking again.

"Hwang Yeji do you ever stop smiling?" She asked incredulously, her voice still slightly shaky.

"Nope." Yeji replied with a skip in her step. "I'm fairly sure it's biologically impossible." She grabbed Ryujin's hand and swung it between them as they continued down the path.

"Hey by the way." Yeji said, taking on a more serious tone. "In future, in you ever wanna talk about anything or need a shoulder to cry on, I'm here ok?"

"Thanks." Ryujin replied staring at the ground. "Same goes for you. I mean, if you want me... t-to talk to that is." The words all stumbling out like a runaway train.

Yeji squeezed her hand gently. "Thank you."