"How's your applications going?" My mom asks.
She says applications as in more than one but I know she only cares about one school and that's the school she graduated from.
"Mom, can we do this some other day?" I say since I'm not feeling well after my conversation with Yeji.
I'm having some sort of out-of-body experience. Everything all of a sudden looks and feels gloomy.
"Have you talked to your teachers for your letter of recommendation?" She ignores my request.
"You have to make sure you turn everything on time. I feel like you're not taking this seriously" she states.
"I am, mom" I say, emotionless
"Can I go back to my room now?" I try to leave this situation.
"Ryujin, if you keep acting like this then you might not get accepted."
"Maybe I don't want to go there" I look down while mumbling.
"What?" She asks.
"Nothing" I quickly shake my head.
"I'll work on it" I lie just so she'll let me go.
"Okay, let me know if you need help with anything."
I nod my head and walk out of her office.
As I close the door behind me, I take multiple deep breaths. I don't understand the pain that I'm feeling in my chest at the moment.
I want to understand why Yeji wants space but I can't. I'm trying because it's something she wants and I want to give her that.
While walking to my room, I contemplate whether or not to try to convince Yeji that we don't have to do this. Or at least maybe give me a reason why she wants this.
As I approach her room, I see my brother standing in front of her door. He looks like he's also contemplating talking to her. I wait for a few seconds to see what he's gonna do but in the end, he ends up just walking away.
I decide to not talk to Yeji and lock myself in my room for the rest of the night. Luckily, I can use the college applications as an excuse for everyone to leave me alone. I at least don't have to pretend that I'm doing okay.
---
It's been a few weeks since Yeji and I last talked. It's not like I haven't tried either but she started avoiding me. She doesn't even let me take her to work before school anymore.
"Hey, Ryu" I feel someone wrap their arm around me.
I turn to see who it is. Once I see it's Haechan, I quickly grab his arm and twist it.
"Who said that you could touch me?" I say in a serious tone.
"I'm sorry" he taps my hand for me to let him go.
"Chaeryeong, help!" He looks at my best friend with panic eyes.
She shrugs her shoulders, "You did that to yourself. You knew how she would react."
"Please, let me go" he whimpers so I release his hand.
"How are you so strong?" He pouts.
"What did you want?" I roll my eyes.
"Your attention" he winks at me.
"Do you need me to hurt you again?" I frown.
"Why are you extra mean today?" He scoffs then walks away. It's just now my best friend and I that's left in the room. It's lunch time but I've been staying in the classroom for the last week because I don't want to be around a lot of people right now.
