Scarlet Clue | Ryeji

Three

A nearby field of green grass hissed and rustled at the mercy of the blowing Spring zephyr. It passed by a familiar sight of the ocean that still sparkled under the blaze of the sun's glare. Rays of sunlight slipped through the succeeding canopy of leaves and into the bare windows of the moving vehicle that followed steady beats of clickety-clack. Yeji awoke at the rumbling sound accompanied by the light that rudely pierced itself through her eyelids without so much as a knock.

With the use of her right hand, she appeased the lingering stiffness and pain coursing through the right side of her neck. How long was she out for? Shaking off the sleep, she moved to open her travelling bag seated beside her in hopes of finding a pack of pain relief patches that she prepared prior to leaving her home country. The limit in her movement, however, dawned the realisation that something heavy was perched upon her left shoulder.

Letting her gaze trail downwards, Yeji caught sight of black hair tried into a messy bun unceremoniously nested on her shoulder along with the light snores of its owner. Right. She wasn't alone. Travelling with a companion was something still entirely new to her yet she won't deny her silent acknowledgement of it not being the worst thing to ever happen. Even the casual exchange of sarcastic remarks and occasional riposte between them proved to be a nice change of pace and wasn't entirely unwelcome. Not that she'd admit that out loud. Especially not to the specific individual it was referred to.

She peered outside of the train's window, albeit slow and careful enough not to wake her slumbering company. Lush green and crystallised sea waters gradually morphed back into riverbanks and bridges that interlined the provincial and city life. The main city could already be seen from a distance. They were still at least thirty minutes away so Yeji opted to let Ryujin sleep. Due to the minor height difference, the cat-eyed woman slumped down a bit to match her sleeping companion for her comfort's sake. Then came the sporadic shake of the stirring vehicle that caused said companion's head to wobble back and forth. In fear that Ryujin might fall, Yeji spread her right palm at a well enough distance to allocate a feather-like touch on the former's forehead to stop any repercussions when worse comes to worst.

In the last thirty minutes of their journey, Yeji made it her job to secure and halt any motion that could possibly wake the other girl up. But in between, she painstakingly took mental notes at the subtle twitch Ryujin's eyelids would make every now and then, and how her lips were slightly parted that let the soft snores out. She engraved the outlines of Ryujin's face and nose into her brain in hopes of remembrance and in fear that it might ever be the last chance she ever gets to do so. But again, Yeji will never ever admit it out loud.

"You're staring at me again." Ryujin's deep morning voice joined the chugging sound of the train. Her eyes were still closed and she made no movement to get off of Yeji's shoulder.

"I know you can't keep your eyes off of me, but most people would find that creepy, Yeji." The woman addressed couldn't help the roll of her eyes at the comment.

"Ever so full of yourself. If you're wide awake already, why don't you sit properly and set my shoulder free from the weight of your gigantic head?" She did a slight shake of her shoulder as a poor attempt at trying to get Ryujin off.

"My head isn't even that big. Also, I'm still tired. Let me be." Ryujin merely nestled closer to the point that some fringes of her hair tickled the side of Yeji's neck.

"You've been asleep since we left."

"Whose idea was it to leave at four in the morning?"

"It's a four hour commute by train. I didn't want to arrive in the afternoon."

"Exactly. Still your fault. Now, shut and let me sleep some more."

"We're already here."

And just on time, the train made another rumbling noise followed by the hissing of its brakes and a loud screech before it came to a complete halt. The intercom of the train announced in local language that they had reached their destination. It was by then that Ryujin jolted awake on her seat. Yeji was already standing, the handles of her midnight blue holdall that was made of cloth already in between her fingers.