Save Me; Ryeji FF

Chapter 12.

Hot chocolates on the balcony with the calming night sky overhead. It was a constant reminder that despite all the hardships and everything going on in their lives, the world was still a beautiful place, and the stars will always be there at the end of each day.

Ryujin leaned on the railing, taking in the cold air into her lungs. She took another breath only to inhale smoke. Surprised by the sudden smell, she turned over to the other woman who took a puff of cigarette.

"You smoke?", the dark haired woman asked.

Yeji turned over, "Oh, you don't? Sorry, I'll just put it ou-", Ryujin took the cigarette out of her fingers and placed it between her lips. "Nevermind, you do.", she smiled as she lit another.

"It's one of my vices, Chaeryeong doesn't like it so I try not do it when she's around.", she said as she exhaled the smoke.

"Yeah, I started during university. I used to smoke when I'm drunk at parties but now, I just get stressed easily.", Yeji replied with the cigarette between her lips.

"Fair enough.", she simply replied while sipping her hot chocolate.

"Ryujin, I don't know much about you. You are like an enigma to me.", Yeji looked over the balcony, observing the cars below.

"I'm not an open person am I?", she chuckled to herself.

"When I left the institution, no one wanted to be close to me after hearing about my diagnosis and I don't blame them. I used to scare people-- hurt them with my cruelty. Whatever goes through my head also scares me." Yeji turned herself to face the hitman.

"So I promised myself that if I isolate myself from people, no one gets hurt. Well now... I hurt people for money.", she lowered her head and laughed dryly to herself.

"So you're the type of person to shield themselves from everyone because you don't want to hurt people.", Yeji said as she processed the words. "It sounds like you have the capability to car-."

"I don't."

"But you do, for me at least.", Ryujin looked up at the CEO.

"As far as I know, that night in the park when I couldn't control myself, you sat beside me and held me. You didn't have to do that but you did. That time when I was working and you bought me dinner because you didn't want me to skip my meals. You also took me home that night.", The hitman avoided eye contact with the CEO, she didn't know how she was feeling.

"Even if you say you can't care for people, your actions shows that you can.", she smiled at Ryujin while she took another puff of smoke.

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Ryujin opted to sleep on the couch even though Yeji offered for her to sleep with her. She told her that she had a long night so it's better for her to sleep comfortably. Maybe she jinxed herself because the second she closed her eyes, her body became restless.

Psychologists constantly debated whether she would be able to display empathy by running countless exams on her. Through these exams, Ryujin had no longer showed signs of violence or malevolence but still lacked in showing compassion. In mock scenarios, she was tested in her responses towards people that got hurt or injured. Doctors consistently marked her down her behaviour as deviant in comparison to a normal person's response.

Nevertheless, she displayed improvement in her behaviour which allowed her to be discharged from the hospital. Stepping out into society after a long amount of time made Ryujin more weary about herself, the way she thought solely for herself rather than putting herself in perspectives of others. When someone expressed their problems to her, their worries became irrelevant to her as they had no part in her life. Why should she care about someone if they mean nothing to her.