Letters and Latte | Ryeji

06 - Warmth

The far-flung flaunt of haughtiness of some members were sweeping left and right, back and forth inside their own locker room as they sparked the first half of the game with a bang. Scoring a three to zero, favored by their team, of course. Almost all of the players were already rejoicing as if they got the final huge win in the league. Everyone was having a fantastic time.

Ryujin aced the first goal with a standard shot, next was Hyunjin who maneuvered an ubiquitous chip kick when the opponent's goalkeeper was far away from the goal line. And lastly, one from their ingenious senior.

Now, they enjoyed the remaining ten minutes of their halftime break, everybody appeared to be extra cool with their repose, and their coach continued to bark reiterative strategy to them, only receiving nothing but ample noise of laughters and chatters.

Ryujin, on the other hand, wasn't celebrating with her members. She was standing in front of her locker place, since she didn't bother to halt in her stacked up apparels. Ryujin was faced by a small piece of paper, of course, a letter from unknown, and it has a caramel energy bar. Surprisingly, her favorite sports headband was also there. She grabbed the food first before looking around if anybody was eyeing her and then took the chance to get the letter as well as the headband. And she left.

Unfolding the paper into its original form, she was showered again with sweet words and a concerned message. She didn't have any idea but she was slowly forming a smile, a kind of gleam that radiated sunshine. It was only a short letter, but it had also its own way to make her feel somehow better. Quite frankly, Ryujin hadn't shaken up her senses yet. And this simple letter, it had been odd. It created a weird sensation all over her skin. Though, not all weird stuff were bad things.

Again, the urge to search up for Lucy ignited from the grave. Ryujin felt like she knew the person but also a stranger to her and this might sound insane, but, Ryujin was starting to get fond with the letters where in fact she did really keep this cute notes and letters from Lucy since day one.

A hand touched her over her shoulders and she was instantly got distracted by the action. "Hey, you weren't inside the locker room."

It seemed like a soft and sweet lullaby coo, Ryujin stared up only to perceive Lia wearing a dark blue shirt with a logo print of their school's soccer team. She flashed a shy smile, hiding the crumpled letter in her fist and got up from the bench. "Yeah, they're actually loud." They really were but mainly because she wanted to find peace reading.

"How did you get here? The game will start again in a couple of minutes." In less than few minutes, the whistle would blow up to huddle them up on the greeny grass field.

And, not that Ryujin asked her to leave the place. She knew students were restricted to get pass through the locker area whenever they had matches since it could cause few disturbance and whatsoever their coach might dislike to witness. Ryujin just prevented to keep Lia off from any trouble.

"It doesn't matter, okay. I want you to know you'll get something from me when you win this match. And, to let you know I've been yelling your name from the bleachers." Lia stretched the corner of her lips, earning also a gleam from Ryujin as she nodded politely.

"That's very nice of you but don't give any something for me. Maybe just for the entire team, I'll talk to coach about that. Thank you, Lia. And, also for the yesterday's treat too." Which was sort of eventful for the two, after they had a delectable lunch meal outside, Lia insisted to take Ryujin at their home to have some home-baked classic cookies she made by herself and Ryujin wouldn't deny, they were really delicious.

"No problem. Did you like the cookies?" Lia sweetly told off, slowly reaching the arm of Ryujin to hold her for at least a short time.

Ryujin nodded happily, "I think they were the best chocolate chip cookies ever, I can still taste it on my tongue." admitting how they were all appealing to her liking.