Chapter 6

                                    

                                          
It took a while for Ryujin's mind to catch with her and she finally got off the swing and started to chase after Yeji who was heading for the wooded area behind the park.  
"Yeji!" she called, trying to squint through the darkness. The trees were blocking the moonlight so it was hard to see anything. "Yeji, please don't be mad, I didn't mean that." Ryujin heard Yeji stop.  
"I'm not mad," Yeji said, slightly peeved. "I'm annoyed."  
Ryujin bit her lip as she finally found Yeji in a clearing. "I'm sorry."  
"I just don't get you," Yeji said frustrated and ran a hand through her hair. "You say you like me, yet you act like a complete ass, and then you say that it's all a game?"  
"No, no. That's not what I meant," Ryujin said desperately. "I just meant that, I thought you liked me...trying that hard?" She had no idea how to say what she was feeling without annoying Yeji further.
Yeji raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth to speak and then closed it again. "What?"  
Ryujin let out a sigh. "Okay, I guess it's the arrogance in me but I honestly thought you liked me too and that you were just playing hard to get."  
Yeji didn't say anything and just stared at Ryujin with an unreadable expression.
  
"Sometimes," Ryujin continued. "When I talk to you and I'll start to flirt, I see this like, little smile on your face. And I guess I thought that meant that you liked me and thought I was-"  
"Funny?" Yeji finished.  
Ryujin smiled a little. "Yeah."  
"Well," Yeji looked at the ground and started moving around some leaves and dirt with her foot. "Some of the things you would say were sweet and ridiculous at the same time."
"Sweet? You thought I was sweet?" Ryujin said hopefully.  
"At times," Yeji clarified and the smile on Ryujin's face faltered. "But then you would say something so incredibly pretentious I'd forget why I was smiling in the first place."  
Ryujin looked down. "I just don't know how to act in front of you."  
"So acting like an arrogant toerag is your default?"  
Ryujin almost laughed at Yeji's choice of words but stopped when she saw that Yeji was not in the mood for joking. "I don't have to try so hard with anyone else," she admitted. "With you, I feel like I need to step up a little and try to get a reaction from you. With any other girl, all I have to do is compliment her outfit, and she'll go out with me."  
"Well, I'm not just any other girl," Yeji said a little offended she was being roped into Ryujin's groupies.
"I know," Ryujin said immediately and Yeji looked up surprised. "That's why I like you so much. You're different. You're smart, you're pretty, you're witty, you're not afraid of speaking your mind and standing up for yourself." She looked at the ground again feeling a little embarrassed.  
Yeji blushed a little at Ryujin's compliments and was thankful she was looking down. "You didn't have to try so hard," Yeji said softly but Ryujin heard every word.  
Ryujin just stared at her, not quite sure of what to say. Thankfully, Yuna and Chaeryeong chose that moment to show up.
 "There you guys are," Chaeryeong said when she spotted them. "We thought you left without us."  
"Everything alright?" Yuna asked, a little worried by the way that Yeji and Ryujin were staring at each other.  
"Everything's fine," Yeji said breaking their gaze. "Yuna, I have to go home." She walked past Ryujin without looking at her and started heading out of the area.