Let me love you || RYEJI

9

Ryujin and Chaeryeong were in the short-haired woman’s office. They were working together on a piece for the magazine about cultural events in the city.

"How’s Yeji? I haven't heard you complain about her ignoring you for a while."

"I spent the night at her place last night." Ryujin began, but could not continue talking about it because her friend interrupted her.

"What?" Chaeryeong's tone was laced with disbelief.

"I drove her home after work and she invited me to have dinner with her," she shrugged, "and then her ex showed up out of the blue."

Chaeryeong raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "And let me guess, drama ensued?"

"Not really." Ryujin said, shaking her head. "I opened the door and invited her to leave."

"Then you stayed to comfort her?" Chaeryeong smiled mischievously, making a quotation signal with her hands. Ryujin understood what she really meant right away.

"Then I stayed over to keep her company." She stressed the last part. "Nothing happened. I think she's still hung up on her ex."

Chaeryeong leaned forward, concern etching her features. "Are you sure?"

"I don't know, maybe I should stop trying." Ryujin sighed. "But there's something about her that keeps drawing me in."

"I think you should keep doing whatever you’ve been doing."

It had been a while since Chaeryeong had noticed that there was something about Yeji that had changed her friend and, as she had said to Ryujin once, she didn’t want her to get hurt. But she had also witnessed the waitress’s attitude changing the more time she spent with Ryujin. So, she tried to encourage her friend to keep having a positive attitude.

When it was time to go home, Yeji was waiting for Ryujin in the building’s lobby. They were leaving together in the short-haired woman’s car because that morning, they had come together to work, leaving Yeji's bike at her apartment. During the car ride, Ryujin invited Yeji to have dinner at her place.

The evening breeze swept through Ryujin’s open windows as she and Yeji lingered at Ryujin’s table, the remnants of their dinner still in view.

"Thank you again for what you did yesterday." Yeji said softly, a grateful smile gracing her lips as she leaned in to kiss Ryujin’s cheek gently. The short-haired one blushed slightly and cleared her throat.

"For driving you home, telling your ex to go, or staying over?"

"All of it. But I really appreciate you staying with me last night."

"I only did it to sleep in the awesome pajamas you lent me." She joked, making Yeji laugh softly. Then, Ryujin’s expression turned a bit serious and full of honesty. "I'm just glad you feel comfortable enough with me."

"My life is a bit complicated right now and, to be honest, you probably noticed I wasn’t in the mood to meet new people." Yeji paused for a few seconds, Ryujin was paying close attention to what she had to say. The cat-eyed woman had noticed that it was always like that with Ryujin, she always felt heard when they had conversations together. "But you turned out to be a nice discovery."

The conversation kept flowing and they moved to the couch once they had cleaned up. Then, they decided to play some board games, which made them learn how competitive both of them were. They were so caught up playing that Ryujin invited Yeji to stay over, because it was late, and she accepted.

"You'll have to sleep in plaid pajamas. I don't have cool starry pajamas like you do." Yeji laughed, took the pajamas from Ryujin’s hand and walked past her to get into the bathroom and get changed. Ryujin stayed in place, without moving and smiling like a fool. The sensations she felt in her body when she was around Yeji were getting out of hand.