Is this what you call love?

33-Y/R

Ryujin's mom and I are back to cooking. Well, she's cooking and I hand her things she needs.

"Is that why Ryujin was homeschooled because she's very particular with things?" I ask.

She sighs, "Schooling was a mess. She attended school when she was in kindergarten then part of first grade but the school couldn't protect my daughter so we decided to just do homeschooling."

"What do you mean the school couldn't protect her?" I'm really enjoying talking about Ryujin.

"Ryujin usually does what she likes but she's better now at being considerate of others but when she was a kid it was hard to explain that to her so she didn't really get along with other kids very well. Kindergarten was tough but we got through it."

"But when she was in first grade, the kids just wouldn't stop picking on her. I don't know if she even remembers it but there were a lot of days where I would pick her up from school and she would have a lot of scratches. I talked to the school about it but they just said they're just being kids."

"Sad thing is, Ryujin didn't even know that there was anything wrong with how the other kids were treating her. She thought that was normal. Even the teachers didn't do much to help because I don't think they liked her. Ryujin can be stubborn and she doesn't always listen so she made their jobs harder" she recollects her memories and it's hard for her.

I really misjudged Ryujin when I first met her. I can't believe she's already been through a lot even as a kid.

"I can understand why you're so protective of her" I give her a small smile.

"I hope that you're treating her well. I don't sense anything bad with you and Ryujin seems to really like you. She talks about you and she's excited with just the thought of seeing you. She's sad when she can't. I've never seen this side of her. Her family and those two goons are the only people that's willing to try to understand her so I appreciate you accepting her as your friend."

"Ryujin is an amazing friend. I can see all her efforts to make sure that she's good to me. She listens to Chan's advice about friendship a lot because she would always refer to him when she thinks of something a friend should do. I'm saying this so you don't worry a lot. There's always gonna be people that's gonna look after her and that includes me."

She finishes with whatever she's doing and she sits back down so I do the same. It's weird that I don't really feel awkward around her. It makes me miss my mom though.

"I think it's amazing how much you love Ryujin. Not a lot of parents would change so much of their lives just so their child can be comfortable. Some would make the child adjust so the parents can continue living the way they've always had. Despite the struggles you may have faced, Ryujin turned out to be really wonderful" I add.

"Thank you" She says with warms eyes.

"Yeji, are you dating anyone at the moment?" She ask, surprising me.

"Not really. Why?" I slowly say.

"Have you thought about Ryujin? Like you said, she's a wonderful person and she might not be the easiest to probably date but it's worth a shot, right?" She's anticipating for my answer.

"To tell you the truth, I do actually like Ryujin. I do have feelings for her. It's more her that's putting me in the friendzone" I lightly chuckle.

I thought about denying it for a second but then why should I? I've been open with everyone else about my feelings for Ryujin so why not add another person to that list of people who knows.

"Oh my god" she covers her mouth while staring at me.

"You like my Ryujin?" She ask with her mouth still covered and I just nod my head.