Save Me; Ryeji FF

Chapter 26.

"Shh..."

"But she's not here yet."

"I know, but we have to rehearse for it.", Chaeryeong placed her hands on her hips, her perfectionist side revealing herself to the other girls.

"Are you sure you're not dating, Ryu? You are putting so much effort into this.", Lia rolled her eyes as she crouched behind the couch with Yeji and Yuna.

"She hasn't had a proper birthday celebration in years, I want this to be perfect for her."

The redhead unlocked the door and headed out, "The second I open the door, I want a huge surprise. Screaming and everything, okay guys?"

"Yes, Ma'am.", the 3 girls raised their hands to the side of their head.

A few seconds passed and Chaeryeong opened the door.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYU!!", the girls leaped up from the couch, party poppers blasted out streamers all over the living room. Chaeryeong placed her hand dramatically across her chest, her eyes widened as she grinned ear to ear.

"Satisfactory, well done guys.", she laughed as she clapped her hands. "Clean up the streamers, Lia and I will go buy drinks."

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Ryujin sat at the cafe waiting for the woman she despise the most in the world. Every time the bell rang as the door opened for another customer, her heart stopped. She didn't want to be there, she'd rather stay at home with her love. But to maintain the guarantee for her safety, she had to bite the bullet.

Indulging herself into the Kindle, she didn't look up to see her taking a seat opposite her.

The monster in front of her wrapped her cold fingers around the hot coffee cup. Ryujin noticed that she grew out her hair, making her look more intimidating than usual.

"What you reading there, Joanne?", her voice sent shivers down her spine, she reluctantly switched off her device and placed it on her lap.

"Let's get to the point, Karina. When are you going to force me to do hits?", the dark haired woman said lowly.

"Force you? You got it all wrong. This is a.. Partnership.", the stakeholder chuckled while sipping on her coffee she ordered previously.

"I am not your partner, I'm only doing this to keep her safe."

"Come on, wouldn't you want to work with me again? We had fun back then, didn't we?", the stakeholder taunted, staring at her in the eyes.

Flashbacks of their previous endeavours clouded Ryujin's mind, times of taking any contracts they could get their hands on. Many targets were victims of rivalry and jealousy from other people willing to eliminate them with a high price tag. She hated it but she had to what had to be done for the debt, her sister, for her livelihood.

"I'm going to be honest with you, Jo. I've been busy creating a list of targets for you. It's not much at the moment but as soon as I finish it. I'll call you.", Karina gave a menacing upturned grin before standing up. "Unless, you want to get a headstart with the list. You can call me."

As the stakeholder strolled out of the cafe, Ryujin didn't notice how tense her muscles were. Her fingernails gripped into the armrests, leaving behind deep indentations in the leather.

The grim reality dawned on her, she was falling back to her dark ways. The ones she yearned to forget.

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The night grew near, the hitman sat at the swing set that she once visited with Yeji. Her tired fingers clenched the cold chains tightly as she planted her feet into the wood barks.