Here's another (shorter) update
I had two ideas and I was gonna do a poll for this but I flipped a coin, best two out of three won, and that's how I ended up with this
*We're in the future this chapter*
👀👀
"Is that how you really think of me?"
"It is."
"I understand." Ryujin bit down on her lower lip and, with a slight nod, hung up her phone. She placed the device down in her lap, resisting to chuck it as far as she can, wishing to land it in the lake in front of her. Maybe that would mean she could stop talking to everyone.
She has contemplated doing that numerous times, considered just disappearing out of thin air, perhaps leaving town and never returning. The amount of regrets she has, piling up to the brim of her skull, it gave her a headache just thinking about them, something she was aware she deserved.
The air around her was cold. She should have prepared herself for the weather, but a part of her wanted to suffer against the winter's wind. It had a crisp intensity that her body hated, but she didn't care, not one bit. Regardless of the goosebumps that coated her skin, her body's tremblings due to the chill, and even the way it made it slightly difficult to breathe properly, she didn't mind.
The bench she was sitting on felt like ice, adding to the frozen feeling against her body, and it was cloudy, no breaks for the sun to shine through. She had been out here for probably an hour now, enduring its harshness to the fullest without complaining.
She wondered if maybe that phone call should be a warning, a sign that's telling her to leave and never come back. Then again, the only thing that stopped her was if she genuinely deserved that, to escape from all of her problems by running. Yet, it still begged the question of whether or not she deserved to see her around. Either way, she felt conflicted. No matter where she went, the guilt plagued her mind. It'd never leave her alone.
"I'm sorry, Yeddeong." The tear that slid down the left side of her face was so cold it made her nose twitch, and as her body continued to shiver, she lifted her legs to plant her feet on the bench and hug her knees. "I'm sorry for everything I didn't do right."
"Why?"
Her dull eyes shot open, almost afraid to look to her right where the voice came from, a voice that usually sounded sweet and was music to her ears. However, since the day they broke up, the day she ended things, that voice was torture. Whether it was because of fear now, or still a result of the chill, she exhaled the deep breath she had been holding in since the latter spoke, evident in the air in front of her. Her eyes then met the ones that belonged to her ex, a pair that made her want to burst into tears at the very second they met gazes. She almost thinks she's crazy, finding it hard to believe she's there right next to her just a couple feet away on the same bench.
This look was new from Yeji. Was it because she finally got a glimpse of Ryujin being vulnerable? How long had she been there? Did she hear her phone conversation? Did she wait for the call to finish? When did she spot her?
All those questions and no answer. She figured that must be how Yeji has felt, but right now, for some reason, Yeji didn't look like she still needed answers. Maybe she wanted them, but with that look in her eyes, they were no longer necessary.
"How... "
Ryujin did what she learned to do best in the past few months. She repaid the stare with a dead expression, one that looked uninterested in anything anyone had to say, refusing to let Yeji see her this way for a reason she had only explained to two others. It was for the best. "How?"
