The Reason ~ Chaerji

4

Saturday came quickly. Both girls were really excited to hang out, much to Chaeryeong's surprise. She'd never been excited to hang out with anyone except her family or Lia, and Lia took months. She'd barely known Yeji for a month, maybe.

Chaeryeong didn't have college on Saturday, so she was in her room resting, talking on the phone.

"So, this, eh, 'Yeji' girl... she got a last name???"

"Jisu Unnie, chill, she's nice. And, yes, her last name's Hwang."

"Great~" There were typing noises.

"Unnie!!! Stop researching my FRIEND."

The typing paused. "Ah, 'just a friend' you say?"

"Yes!"

"You sure? I can set you two up on-"

"Unnie! I'm sure. And Yeji Unnie's nice, you don't need to worry, she would never hurt me, I promise."

Lia sighed. "Okay, fine. Have fun, Ryeongie!!"

"I will, bye!" She hung up.

________

Yeji POV

When I got to the restaurant we were meeting at Chaeryeong was already there. She waved to me to come sit next to her, so I did.

"Hi! How was your day so far?" I asked her, flashing her a smile.

"Good, Unnie, what about you?" She smiled back in that warm smile I love. It's like that smile of hers alone could make the world 100% peaceful.

"Great, now that I've seen you," I said and wiggled my eyebrows at her. She giggled.

We talked for a little about small things like dance and school, then it came time to order food. I looked through the menue and found something I liked, but when I looked up at her, she seemed hesitant.

"What do you like?" I asked her.

"Hm?" She said.

"What do you like, you know, to eat?"

"Uhh, chicken and rice, I guess," She said. It wasn't that convincing, but it was something.

"Okay, have some Ttaebokki," I told her after scanning through the menu. (Idk random name) "It's this chicken and rice thing with sauce and lettuce. It's really good."

She smiled and nodded. "Okay, Yeji Unnie, thanks!"

I nodded at her. Soon, our food came, and I dug straight into mine. She barely touched hers. It got me worried. How long had she not been eating? Poor girl, she's too precious for that.

"Chaeryeong-ah, eat, please," I told her, and she nodded and slowly brought her fork to her plate, taking some of the chicken and slowly chewing it. She did this again as soon as I looked back at her.

"Good, good," I told her. She was making a lot of progress, eating, at least. It's better than not.

She didn't seem like she would eat more and I had already finished so I gave up.

"Why don't we go shopping now?"

"Okay, I've never been over here before," she told me, and I grabbed her hand, and we got up to go shopping.

After a few stores, we hadn't bought anything yet. "Hey, I know a really good section, but it's all the way on the other side of the strip. Why don't I drive you there? My car's right over there."

"Okay," she said, and we got into the car.

I don't know what happened, if I wasn't looking or someone else wasn't, everything was all kind of a blur, but before I knew it we were swerved off the street to the sidewalk and my headlights were broken, the front of my car scratched up.

After a couple seconds of not moving, I realized what had happened. I felt fine, I was okay as far as I could tell.

"Omg, I'm so sorry. Did you get hurt?" I turned towards Chaeryeong, only to feel like crying. She had tears streaming down her face, her eyes wide and breathing unsteady and quick. I was so worried. Did she get hurt?

She wasn't moving, frozen, sitting in the same way she was before the crash. "Chaeryeong? Are you okay? Chaeryeong?!?!" She still said and did nothing. I was so scared.

I reached for her phone. Maybe there was some contact on there that could calm her down, atleast enough to tell me if she got hurt.

I unlocked it with her face and then scrolled through her contacts:
Lia Unnie 🦥
Yeji Unnie 😻
Chaeyeon Unnie 👭
Chaemin 🦄
Ms. Manoban 🐵
Dance GC 👯‍♀️

I looked over at her, possibly for assistance. All I saw was her heartbreaking face, so I tried to rack my brain for any memories.

"Me and my sisters, we're really close," I remember her telling me on Tuesday.

Sisters... sisters... that's it! Chaeyeon!

"Hello? Ryeong?"

"Hi, is this Chaeryeong's sister?"

"Y-yes, why??? What happened?" There was worry in her voice.

"Hi, I'm, um, Yeji, from her dance class, and I'm out with her right now at the strip mall downtown, and a car hit-" before I could finish, she spoke.

"Oh God, oh God, is she okay??"

"Yes, she's, um, I think?"

"W-what?"

"Well, the thing is she won't talk or move, and she's crying and shaking a lot. I think she's having a panic attack?"

"Okay, send me your location, I'll be there. Just stay with her, okay?"

"Okay," I said, and she hung up.