Love You Goodbye (ryeji)

26

60 months.

It was Winter and Karina's wedding.

The venue was decorated with white flowers and soft, glowing lights, and Ryujin found herself surrounded by friends who had once felt like strangers because of the distance she had put between them.

Winter, despite everything, had forgiven her. She was still Winter's friend, after all.

It was a quiet forgiveness, one that didn't need to be spoken out loud.

It was simply there, present in the way Winter smiled at her, in the way she invited her to the wedding without hesitation.

But as the ceremony continued, as Winter walked down the aisle with Karina, Ryujin's mind wandered, as it always did.

And there she was, in the midst of the happiness, a painful truth that she could never escape from.

This should be us.

The thought hit Ryujin with the force of a crashing wave.

You should be the one walking down the aisle.

Her chest tightened.

We should be married.

But no.

She had ruined it.

She had ruined everything.

I fucked up. Really bad.

As the night party began, Ryujin felt a momentary peace in the midst of the crowd.

She had let go of some of the guilt, or at least she was trying to.

She watched as Winter and Karina danced, surrounded by their friends.

Ryujin wanted to feel happy for them.

And she did.

But there was something missing. Something that could never be replaced.

That's when her breath caught in her throat.

She froze.

Among the sea of people laughing and talking, there was a woman standing near the drink table.

A woman who looked so familiar, so painfully familiar, that it felt like time had stopped in that one fleeting moment.

It was Yeji.

Ryujin's heart pounded in her chest as she stood rooted to the spot.

Yeji looked different—healthier, lighter, like the weight she had carried for so long had finally been lifted.

But even in the softness of her expression, Ryujin could see the strength in her eyes. The kind of strength that came from healing, from moving on.

Ryujin swallowed hard, her mind spinning. It had been five years.

Five long years since the last time she had seen Yeji.

And here she was, standing before her, so much more than the woman she once knew. So much more than the woman she had betrayed.

"Yeji..." Ryujin's voice cracked as she stepped forward. Her legs felt weak, but she forced herself to walk towards her.

Yeji turned, her gaze meeting Ryujin's.

There was no anger, no bitterness, just a quiet calm.

A calm that had once been unfamiliar to Ryujin, but now it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.