Serendipity (Ryeji)

Apology

Lia set her phone down on the cushion beside her. She's been tuning in and out of everyone's conversations, finding some bits humorous but not enough to laugh. She glanced down at the brunette leaning against her shoulder. Yeji was smiling at Hyunjin and Ryujin wrestling on the carpet, Heejin cheering them on and Yuna declaring Ryujin was her sister from another mister. Now that nearly made her laugh.

Lia surveyed the room again minutes later, her mind racing. The messages she last read left her skin crawling. She looked over at her best friend, wondering if she should ask.

"Yeji, " she whispered, not needing anyone else's attention. She wanted to use this moment while the others were distracted.

"Hm?" Yeji didn't look over, amused eyes still trailing the chaos within the living room.

Lia nudged her softly. "Can we talk for a sec?"

"Yeah." Those words quickly snagged the cat-eyed girl's attention. Yeji sat up immediately, brows furrowed. "Is everything okay?" She asked, matching Lia's whisper.

"I, uh... " Lia wondered if this was the best time, especially while everyone was around. "Can we talk about it outside— "

"Oh my god, Lia!" Yuna unintentionally interrupted. "You won't believe what they did when they came to pick me up." She told Lia while pointing at Ryujin and Yeji, laughing as she recalled their dorky behavior.

"Uhm... " Lia's eyes left Yeji's and sighed. "What did they do?" She asked.

"They came to pick me up, right, and when I opened the door they just kept laughing."

"Why were they laughing?"

"I was wondering that myself, so I asked them. And then they told me they were ringing the doorbell but I told them I didn't hear the doorbell."

"And?"

"And they were all like ddaengdeong! Ddaengdeong!" Yuna pressed an imaginary button in midair as she shouted what the couple supposedly said.

"Why are you saying it like that?" Lia looked at her funny, curious about the accent. "It's dingdong."

"No, it's ddaengdeong."

"Dingdong."

"Ddaengdeong."

They both stared at one another, Lia seeking to correct Yuna's pronunciation and Yuna just trying to tell the story of the couple's newfound ship name.

"Ding. Dong. It's so easy, seriously."

"No, THEY," she moved her arms in a fast, circular motion around Yeji and then Ryujin. "Are ddaengdeong."

"I still don't understand what you're trying to say."

Yuna sighed. The story was supposed to funny. "Ryuddaeng and Yeddeong, take the end of each and— "

DINGDONG!

Suddenly the doorbell rang. Everyone, except Ryujin and Yuna, looked around at each other, unaware of the visitor. Lia, being the closest, decided to answer the door. "Wait! Let me get it!"