Serendipity (Ryeji)

Detention

Friday afternoon played on repeat in her mind. If she thought that after the last weekend she was scared to face Ryujin, she's even more afraid to confront the girl now that it's still fresh into the new week. As of this moment, there's no longer a choice. They have to finish their project, which means they'll have to discuss this, and Yeji doesn't know how she feels about what happened, or rather what almost happened. 

The brunette is supposed to go directly to her first block of the day, but instead, she heads straight to English, aware that her teacher utilized this time as a planning period. She believes she should use this knowledge as an advantage, considers it better than arriving early and lounging around in the cafeteria. 

"Hi, Mr. Kim."

"Hello, Miss Hwang." The teacher adjusts his frames, pushes them up the bridge of his nose as he acknowledges his student. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Actually, yes. I have something I'd like to ask."

"Does it pertain to the project?"

"Yes, sir."

He motions his hand downward and resumes scribbling in his notebook, whatever it may be. If she had to guess, she'd say they're lesson plans. "Ask away."

"Ry— " There was an unexpected bubble in her throat, one she quickly cleared. Yeji finds it sort of difficult to let the name roll off her tongue without getting emotional. She doesn't speak again until she knows she won't stumble. "Ryujin and I are doing a painting for our project. Is it possible we can go to the art room today?"

Silence lingers for what feels like a minute or two, but it really was roughly twenty seconds. All that's audible are the scrapes of the pencil against his sheet of paper. He appears to be thinking, but she assumes most of his thoughts are centered on the task in front of him and not what she asked.

"I don't see the problem with that. I'll be sure to mark you both present. Also, I'm certain the art teacher has a class next block. You two will have to use one of the back rooms."

"Yes, sir. Thank you." She bows at her teacher, then makes her way to the room she's supposed to be in before the bell rings in a few minutes.

Yeji checks the time while she's entering through the door to her first class, her 'genius' idea created in order to avoid making awkward eye contact with a particular student. She walks aimlessly, relies on muscle memory alongside the sound of her friend's voices to get her there.

"Oh! Hey, Yeji. We thought you weren't coming today. This one was about to start spamming your phone." Chaeryeong points to Lia, but the latter slaps her hand away, claims Chaeryeong's going to pop her personal bubble. Although, Yeji can't seem to smile genuinely. Her sadness consumed her exterior.

"Hey, cheer up. What's gotten into you now?" Lia lightly pats her friend's arm.

Yeji hasn't told her, and she doesn't plan to anytime soon. Maybe sometime in the far future since she knows she would never hear the end of it. Hell, she called Yeonjun cute once and it felt like Lia immediately tried to set her up with him! If she were to inform Lia about her nearly kissing Ryujin, then the girl might start planning a wedding.

"Good morning, students." 

Out of nowhere, the teacher demands the class's attention. She puts her phone away to evade any stern looks from him, almost glances off to her left once she hears a familiar voice. But she doesn't. The young Hwang absolutely refuses to give in to her desires. She mustn't look. It'd go against everything she's told herself not to do over the weekend. Even if their conversation didn't end with an attitude or harsh remark this time, she's genuinely surprised that Ryujin didn't reach out to her.