Settling boundaries

Chapter 3

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Ryujin's POV

"Have you guys finished the project you were working on?" my mom asked as she continued to eat.

"It's going fine. We have to continue it tomorrow," I answered.

She nodded. "Is it hard to work on?"

Yeji responded next, "Not really, but it takes a lot of time and effort to finish."

"You girls got this. Ryujin, can you drive Yeji home? It's late," Mom asked, and I simply nodded.

But knowing Yeji, she tried to decline and insisted on taking a cab instead. "It's fine, Mom. Ryu is already tired."

"No, it's fine, right honey?" Mom gave me a smile and a glare, making me sigh.

"Yes, no problem at all. It's fine, Yeji," I told her.

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"Visit again tomorrow, Yeji! You can eat lunch and dinner here," Mom said. Yeji nodded and smiled.

"Yeah, sure, Mom, I will!" Yeji assured her.

"By the way, I almost forgot. I packed some chicken for you. You can eat it with your father," Mom said, handing Yeji a lunch box.

"Thank you, Mom! You didn't have to, and my dad won't be home for two weeks, so it's just me," Yeji said, taking the lunch box.

Yeji's dad is a civil engineer. He's often out of town working to support Yeji on his own.

"Oh, you can still come to our house if you get lonely anytime you want, okay?" Mom told Yeji, comforting her.

I always feel bad when Yeji has to be alone at her house. When she officially became my girlfriend, she would even sleep over at my place.

Her father knows about our relationship and is very thankful to me and my mom for taking care of his daughter.

"Yes, thank you very much," she finally said, waving goodbye to my mom. We headed out to the car.

I sat in the driver's seat while she sat in the passenger seat. I turned on the engine and started driving; her house is just a 20-minute drive from mine.

The ride was silent until Yeji spoke. "Thanks for the ride, and about earlier—"

I cut her off. "Don't mention it; it's not a big deal."

"Yeah, sorry," she nodded and faced the window.

"I'm sorry if I sounded rude," I coughed, apologizing in case I had come across as rude. I did not intend to.

"It's fine, I understand. I caused you pain, and I understand if you're mad at me."

"I'm not. Let's drop the topic," I told her. Though I wasn't looking at her, I could see in the mirror that she looked sad.

After a few more minutes of driving, we finally reached her house. "Thanks for driving me home," Yeji said in a low voice and quickly exited the car.

I drove off, thinking about what she had said. When I glanced at the passenger seat, I noticed the lunch box my mom had given her.

I had no choice but to drive back to Yeji's house and give it to her.

I knocked on her door three times, but she didn't open it. There wasn't even a single light on in the house. I tried the doorknob, but it was locked.