Home; I Found With You // Ryeji FF

pitfalls.

The last of Seulgi's ashes had been collected from the concrete, gathered with a reverence none of them had put into words for. Two flower pots rested on the curb– one for Joohyun, and one for Seulgi. Memorials of lives that once stood beside them, now reduced to fragments and dust. It had been two days since they had finally set her free— two days of silence, of trying to figure out how to move forward.

Yuna held the vial between her thumb and forefinger, raising it to the sunlight. The liquid inside caught the rays like a sliver of glass.

"So this is what's floating around inside Ryu?" she said, brow lifting in curiosity.

Chaeryeong and Yeji leaned closer, intrigued by the way the clear fluid shimmered with the tilts.

"Don't say it like that," Ryujin squirmed a little. A phantom sensation crawled up her spine, irrational, but impossible to ignore.

Lia let out a tiny, amused breath, patting Ryujin's shoulder. The faint smile on her lips was the first in those dreadful days. There was still a shadow lurking behind her eyes, a heaviness that wouldn't seem to vanish overnight. However, she could sense the shift. It was subtle. Small steps. She was standing again. Healing would come. For all of them, it had to.

"So what's the plan now?" Chaeryeong asked, keeping one arm comfortably looped around Yuna's waist as her gaze flicked between the rest of the girls.

The truth was, there were too many steps, too many risks, too many unknowns. There was no start line that they could have just drawn out.

"Uh–" Ryujin blurted, unsure where to even begin.

The cat-eyed woman threw her arm over her lover's shoulder, "We need to secure our freedom first."

Ryujin turned to her, struck by the way Yeji always seemed to articulate the thoughts she couldn't untangle. She listened, captivated— because they were aligned, always, even when nothing was certain.

The group crowded around, listening carefully to what Yeji had to say.

"We need to send a message to the Doctor who's after Ryu—"

"Why?" Yuna cut in harshly, "Why are we even interacting with them?"

Her arm tightened around Chaeryeong, her eyes sharp, protective, scared, and angry. "They're the ones who left blood trails everywhere they went. They slaughtered Ryu's old group. They killed Seulgi. And we're talking about making a deal?"

Lia flinched at the name. Chaeryeong rubbed small circles on Yuna's back, trying to soothe her, but Yuna wouldn't soften. Not on this.

Yeji met her gaze without blinking. Calm. Measured. She didn't raise her voice.

"Because they want something," she said simply. "And what people want is leverage."

Yuna scoffed. "Yeah. They want Ryujin. They want to carve her open."

"And they won't stop," Yeji replied. "That's why we need control. Right now, they think they have the upper hand. But we have something they don't."

She gently tapped the vial, which was still held between Yuna's fingers.

"That liquid? It's the same strain living inside Ryujin. The same one they're desperate to understand. The same one they think only they can harness."

Yeji continued, steady as a heartbeat, "If we approach them first, with this, we define the terms. We force their hand. We negotiate for safety and space. We make a deal that keeps them away from us."

Yuna shook her head. "Or they take it. And take Ryu. And kill the rest of us."

"That's the risk," Yeji admitted, voice low but unwavering. "But running forever isn't an option anymore. Seulgi didn't die for us to keep hiding like cowards."