Chapter Text
All Ryujin had to do was put one loosely-laced shoe in front of the other and round the corner to enter Jisu’s memorial.
It was a simple task, yet it felt as if her feet were tightly rooted to the ground. If she closed her eyes, she could convince herself that she was standing in a sink-hole and quick sand was pulling her under until the ground swallowed her up.
‘Get a grip, Shin Ryujin.’
She forced her eyes to snap open to ground her firmly in reality. She wasn’t standing upon an entrance to the abyss, but rather a clinical linoleum floor.
The young student slipped her phone from her pocket and checked the time.
Shit. School started in 30 minutes and she hadn’t even mustered up the courage to step into the room where Jisu’s body lay.
Right now was her last chance to be alone with her best friend, to talk to her, to laugh, to scream, to cry; her last chance to just let it all out.
Robotically, she began to charge forward.
‘This is your final chance.’ She told herself.
The small room opened up as she entered. Opulent wreaths of flowers crowded the sparse floor space. Jisu was clearly well-loved.
‘You get to be alone with her again’ Ryujin reasoned with herself as she made her way to the casket, her heart threatening to burst out of chest.
‘One last opportunity to say everything you wa-‘
Ryujin stopped suddenly in her tracks, the friction of her rubber soles eliciting a harsh squeak from the linoleum.
Her hopes of alone time instantly seemed futile as she discovered that she had company in her mourning.
A girl, who had previously been obscured to Ryujin’s vision by a large wreath knelt before Jisu’s casket. She donned an all too familiar yellow blazer and long locks of red hair draped around her shoulders.
The interruption caused the young student to whip around. She lifted her heavy gaze, scanning every inch of Ryujin’s body until they finally locked eyes.
She was strikingly beautiful, even in spite of her tear-streaked cheeks and bloodshot eyes. Ryujin thought that she must have been a model or a trainee (just like all the brats who went to that damn school). The girl’s heart-shaped lips quivered and she wore a deeply pained expression.
Was she really that close to Jisu? She couldn’t have known her for more than a week.
Before Ryujin even had a chance to read her name tag, the girl slowly resumed her previous position and bowed her head.
The steely-haired girl clenched and unclenched her fists, a concoction of confusion and irritation fluttering around her stomach.
‘Don’t be bitter. They could’ve been classmates. Jisu must’ve left an impression on her, even in the little time they knew each other.’ Ryujin had to rationalise with herself.
‘Besides, you’re here to say goodbye, not intrude on someone else’s grieving.’
She attempted to push all suspicions and bubbling theories out of her mind as she sunk to the floor, just a few feet away from the mystery girl.
Ryujin squeezed her eyes shut and attempted to fill her thoughts with memories of Jisu; her laugh, her eyes, the way her cheeks became soft and round when she smiled.
But for some reason, Ryujin’s brain was foggy and she couldn’t seem to summon any images of Jisu.
All she could focus on was the travelling sound of the girl beside her as she whimpered and sniffled.
Ryujin tried harder to picture her best friend, but the more energy she exerted, the cloudier her face became and her voice grew further and further away, until it was just a pathetic echo.
The red head’s stifled weeping evolved into heavy sobs, infiltrating Ryujin’s headspace.
No wonder she couldn’t focus.
The girl was heaving now, her shoulders shaking with every laboured breath. Ryujin couldn’t hear herself think.
Fuck it.
Her head snapped in the direction of the obnoxious crying, almost as if she was possessed.
“I’m sorry, were you close with Jisu?” Ryujin erupted, her tone harsher and more accusing than she had intended.
The girl’s breath hitched as Ryujin’s sudden outburst stunned her to silence. She responded with only a long, deep blink, her saturated eyelashes clinging to one another.
The absence of crying allowed a heavy stillness to fall upon the room.
Ryujin took this opportunity to read the name embroidered upon the red head’s blazer.
Lee Chaeryeong