SWAY

Chapter Five

Chapter Five: Regrets

As a few weeks passed since her encounter with Yeonjun, Yeji found herself consumed by a growing sense of anxiety. Doubt and worry gnawed at her, the guilt and uncertainty about the situation weighing heavily on her heart. Despite her attempts to distract herself with her usual routine, the memories of that night kept resurfacing in her mind, like ghosts dancing in the corners of her consciousness.

"Hey Yeji are you even listening?" Julia snapped. Startled out of her reverie, Yeji blinked, snapping back to reality. She hadn't been listening at all, lost in her own thoughts.

She looked up, meeting Julia's eyes, realizing she'd been caught zoning out. "What?" she managed to reply, trying to sound composed.

"Ugh... eonnie, I said Mom told me we have to attend a party on the weekend." Julia says. Yeji forced herself to focus, pushing her worries to the back of her mind for the moment.

"A party?" she repeated, her brows furrowing slightly. "Whose party?"

"Some like far relative or something." A mixture of curiosity and resignation flickered across Yeji's face.

"Do we have to go? Can't we just say we're busy or something?" she suggested, hoping to find a way out of attending.

"Are you really the Yeji I know?" Yeji couldn't help but roll her eyes at Julia's comment.

"Yes, I'm the same old Yeji," she replied with a hint of sarcasm. "But can you blame me for wanting to skip a random relative's party?"

"What you scared the neighbor's grandson-"
"Julia!" Yeji interrupted, her voice sharp with embarrassment. She knew exactly where Julia was going with that sentence. "Don't even finish that sentence," she warned, feeling her cheeks grow warm.

The next day as Yeji stirred from her sleep, she was hit with a wave of dizziness. The room seemed to spin around her, and she had to take a moment to steady herself before sitting up. She closed her eyes, taking deep breaths, trying to calm the nauseous feeling in her stomach.

Yeji stumbled hurriedly to the bathroom, her nausea growing more intense as she retched into the toilet. Through her blurry vision, she caught sight of Julia, Chaeryeong, and their mother giving her concerned glances.

Yeji continued to vomit until her stomach felt empty, a cold sweat breaking out on her forehead. She retched a few more times before weakly flushing the toilet and leaning back against the bathroom wall, feeling drained and lightheaded.

"Sweetheart, are you okay?" Yeji could hear the concern in her mom's voice, and she managed a weak nod. "I think so..." she mumbled, her voice hoarse from the exertion. "Just feeling really dizzy and nauseous."

Chaeryeong quietly handed Yeji a glass of water, her expression filled with concern. "Thanks," Yeji murmured, taking the water and sipping it slowly, hoping it would help settle her stomach.

As she sipped the water, Yeji could feel Julia's eyes on her. She looked up, meeting her older sister's gaze, bracing herself for the questions or comments that were likely to follow.

As Yeji sipped the water, she felt the weight of Julia's gaze upon her. She looked up, meeting her younger sister's eyes, bracing herself for whatever questions or comments were about to come her way.