Ryujin, Yuna and I: A high-school story

Chapter 10 (When we get together,)

Chapter 10

After that day I spent at Yuna's place, it was back to where we had started. Everything was back to normal. Yuna was not ignoring me anymore, and I didn't have to shy away from her in school.

As I arrived in school, Ryujin came running straight to me and engulfed me in a warm embrace. I was not so angry with her after that night so I just stood there awkwardly, letting her hug me while Yuna just stood beside me.

She looked up, "Did you know how worried I was? Are you hurt anywhere? I don't allow you to put yourself in such dangerous circumstances in the future anymore!"

"I'm fine, don't worry." I pulled away. Even though I wasn't angry at her anymore, I still wasn't a fan of PDA, especially in school with all my friends and schoolmates around.

Ryujin didn't seem bothered by this. She took Yuna's hand and my hand and said,

"Come on, you guys. We're going to be late for our class already!"

As fate would have it, while we were walking along the corridor, we saw Haechan and the rest of his gang. He glared at me and scowled but I guess even he didn't have the guts to pick a fight in school. As we entered the lecture theatre, the three of us quickly found seats and settled down, when Mark came over and asked,

"Mind if I sit here?"

He sat down alongside us. In my mind, I realised how blissful I was to have friends like this who were always there for me, even when I was at my worst. I looked around me and saw the happy faces of Ryujin, Yuna and Mark. Perhaps this was what true friendship looked like.

After the lesson, the students streamed out of the lecture theatre. Yuna wanted to treat all four of us to kimchi jjigae, to celebrate everything returning to normalcy. I was about to agree when Mark pulled my sleeve and quickly said,

"It's ok, Kyungsoo and I are good, I have some questions to go ask him. You girls go have fun yourselves."

They waved at us and left. I was puzzled.

"Why would you say no to a free meal and hanging out with Yuna?"

Mark tried to suppress his laughter, "Gosh, you're really oblivious, aren't you. Can't you see that both girls are trying to get your attention? They both like you, that's why they're treating you so nicely. You're, like, blind or something..."

"Nah, bro. You're joking right? Ryujin always bullied me since young and Yuna, we just got over Haechan. I don't think she's into me anyway."

Mark shrugged, "I don't know. A few days spent with them and I can already see their feelings to you. You've spent years with them. Just think it over."

As I went home, I went back up to the rooftop. No beer this time. I looked up at the sky, with all the shining and glittering light emitted from them. It's a bit like our life. The broad, black sky is our life, a canvas to be filled with colour and the stars are the people in our life, they're what makes life so special and memorable, they're the ones that make life worth living. Ryujin and Yuna couldn't possibly like me, right?

Just then, my phone beeped. It was a message from Ryujin.

Hey kiddo, I wanna tell you something. Come downstairs

I went down. I saw Ryujin waiting at the lobby of the dorm. Without even saying anything, she just took my hand.

"I want to bring you somewhere."

Our school wasn't very big, but there were always small pockets of space where you can just sit there and daydream and just have some personal, private space. Ryujin brought me to one such place, a small strip of lawn grass ahead of the lake in our school, it wasn't the hardest to find, but you certainly wouldn't pay attention to it.

We sat down beside each other. There was an awkward silence among us for a few seconds until Ryujin spoke,

"You remember what I said that night, about me liking you, that was from the bottom of my heart. I really like you, Kyungsoo. Since we were children, I really liked you and I told myself, 'When I grow up, I'm going to marry you' and I really want to be with you. Can you be my boyfriend?"

She looked at me with her deep, pleading eyes. I wasn't sure what to do, I was really surprised. That night, I thought she was joking but she was actually serious!

"Hey, I need some time to think. It's just very sudden, and I haven't really thought about it..." I said

Ryujin's face fell instantly. But she took in a deep breath and said,

"It's okay, I can understand. Just give me a reply when you're comfortable." With that, she stood up and left.