𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 | 𝐚 𝐭𝐱𝐭 × 𝐢𝐭𝐳𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

fourteen - a cautioned surprise

a cautioned surprise

lia thinks something is fishy between ryujin and hwang yeji because ryujin thinks yeji is fishy for suddenly approaching them. well, lia never really knew hwang yeji; inarguably the most coolest and prettiest girl in school. her impression of the girl was equivalent to those k-pop idols on TV, just excluding coolness in everything and anything she does.

on the other hand, ryujin did not seem to share her sentiment on hwang yeji as the short-haired girl would not hide the displeasure on her face.

"oh. what's this? who is this?" until yeonjun showed up and shamelessly joined their table.

yeji had chosen to sit next to ryujin, despite the murderous intent from the latter, and yeonjun had chosen to join her too, igniting an even more destructive intent from ryujin. lia couldn't understand if yeonjun was 'dense' or 'ignorant'. but it was probably the latter---she immediately corrected herself.

"hi, lia." yeonjun greeted her casually as one did to a friend. perhaps a bit too casual as yeji raised a brow at the boy. she said to lia, "if this guy is annoying you, just say the word. i'll help you get rid of him."

yeonjun snorted out loud, clutching his heat as he drawled, "after all of my dedication, this is what i get?"

lia pinched her eyebrows. an unassuming lad would center yeonjun's words as childish melancholy of one-sided love but not her. especially when yeji made things easier but getting startled and actually slapping the boy on his head.

"shut up," she said, eyes threatening the mischievous lad.

maybe lia was just overthinking. she hoped she was.

"soobs! over here!" yeonjun suddenly waved his arm, asking for his best friend to join them.

now lia cannot afford to be distracted by other people's business when her own was walking closer until he shadowed their table and said in his usually cool demeanor, "hey, guys."

lia hesitantly raised her pupils to find out that soobin was greeting all of them, including her. she looked away immediately, ashamed for suddenly feeling hot in the ears and cheeks when the boy was just an arm's reach from her. she would hate to be so obvious.

yeji gave her a brandished smile, all knowing and supportive. "oh, right. you guys went to the shaman yesterday, did you not? what did she say?" she suddenly changed the topic.

"erm. some things about friendship, jumping off a building and lingering emotions. sounds familiar, ryujin?" said yeonjun. the boy looked good in seriousness that ryujin wished he would just remain silly and loud.

"the shama talked about serim?"

lia gasped. she bit her lips, it wasn't intentional, the name seldom startled her.

yeji visibly tensed, albeit she swallowed her surprise. it seemed the name 'serim' rang a bell, a bell that wasn't happy at all.

speaking of bells; as soon as ryujin finished her question, the toll of time echoed alerting everyone from their business. however, not everyone was as alert as yeonjun and soobin who immediately sprang up from their seats.

"w-what's wrong?" yeji was taken aback. yeonjun's movement almost knocked her plate over.

it was lia who answered, "it's not date three yet so why..." eventually, she trailed up in confusion. she looked up and locked eyes with soobin, who seemed to be equally confused as her.

"beomgyu," said soobin, and yeonjun quickly tapped his phone.

"he's on his way to the tower. sorry girls, but something came up so us gentlemen must be on our way." yeonjun winked at yeji, specifically, and went away with soobin.

"my condolences," said ryujin to yeji, out of the blue. her empathy must have risen from seeing how yeonjun was infatuated with the latter, to which yeji replied with an acknowledging nod, like she needed the empathy.

they headed towards their classrooms after lunch, yeji was going on about an item she caught yeonjun purchased which she later found out was a dreamcatcher used to protect oneself from bad spirits. apparently, the boy had told her about it himself when confronted during one of their unplanned 'dates' as yeonjun liked to call it. yeji had never agreed to these dates, they were just yeonjun bombarding her after she was done with dance lessons.

the girls were talking, yeji raising her suspicions, ryujin backing her up and lia making short reactions when a boy accidentally bumped into ryujin.

"hey." the girl snapped.

the boy had worn large glasses, the sort with powerful lenses. his head resembled a bowl, since his hair was embarrassingly chopped into a bowl cut with thick choppy bangs. his face was dotted with acne, typically found in teenagers no less surprising. but what was concerning was how easily he flinched when he heard ryujin; toppling back in his own feet and came crashing down on his butt.

whilst the girl had a menacing reputation, his reaction was somewhat dramatic to be honest.

seeing him shake with fear and stutter incoherently, ryujin bit her tongue and said embarrassingly, "dude, you okay? we merely even touched."

"i-i'm fine. s-so-sorry." the poor boy stuttered.

ryujin lent him a hand but the poor boy scurried backwards like he was witnessing a ghost crawling towards him. hastily, he got up and sprinted past the girls in rushed footsteps.

"..."

"what the hell?" ryujin was sordidly offended. did she look that terrifying? for the first time in her seventeen years, ryujin began to seriously reflect on others' perception of her.

yeji burst into a fit of laughter. lia contained her smile as she gave the scowling ryujin a pat on the shoulder.

"he must've been quite startled. don't take it too seriously, ryujin."

"oh my god. that was so legendary." yeji wiped a strain of tears from her eye, face flushed red and one hand clutching her stomach. "i should ask the cctv footage from the security desk after school," she said, chuckling.

"tch." ryujin clicked her tongue disapprovingly.

"alright. i'm sorry. i won't do such a thing. don't be angry now." yeji hung on the latter's arm and mumbled an apology.

they looked close; surmised lia with a smile. one would think they had become friends, including lia.

clack!

the crispy sound of millet breaking garnered their attention. they looked down as lia lifted her feet to behold a scattered mess of rice grains camouflaged with the spotless white floor.