Jisu had been with Ryujin just the day before, had finally met Yuna during the afternoon, but it was such a fine Sunday, she wanted to be with Ryujin again. Chaewon would be with Hyeju later, and they had also been together the previous day, and the one before, at their sleepover. It wasn't too much if Jisu asked Ryujin to have dinner, right?

A special dinner. An idea sparked in Jisu's mind, making her sit up in her bed. She nodded at herself, at her genius. But her idea deepened, evolved into something even better. Something she could do for Ryujin, surprise her in the best way. She grabbed her phone and called her.

"Ryujinieeee," Jisu called, bounding her legs in excitement.

Ryujin giggled. "Hi, Jisu. You seem happy."

"I have all the reasons to be."

"And what are those?"

"I'm talking to you and listening to your voice in this same moment."

"Just that?"

"Just?" Jisu clicked her tongue. "Oh, you just want me to say that it's because you're the coolest, most beautiful girl on this planet, and I have the pleasure to kiss those lips of yours and sleep beside you?"

There was silence over the line, and Jisu smirked.

"I... yeah."

Oh, flustered Ryujin.

"In fact, I called you because I want to ask you if you want to have dinner with me."

"Dinner? Let me check my schedule," Ryujin said, and Jisu could hear her teasing tone. "Yes, I think I am able to have dinner with you, miss Choi Jisu."

"Oh, how wonderful!" Jisu matched her tone. "I am delighted to know that."

"And where were you thinking of taking this busy woman to have dinner?"

"I am not sure just yet, miss Shin Ryujin. I will see a few options, and I'll let you know, is that alright?"

"It certainly is. What are you going to do today?"

"I have to study and finish an assignment I couldn't yesterday because I was too busy with other matters."

"Matters that you enjoyed a lot, I'm sure?"

Jisu smiled. "You are absolutely correct. What about you?"

"I'll edit the pics I took Friday night. You know, I had the pleasure to take pictures of the most gorgeous girl in this world, and now I have the honored job of enhancing those pictures."

"And that's one lucky girl."

Ryujin chuckled. "Do you wanna meet and work together? Like we normally do. You can come here, or I could go there, whatever you prefer."

Jisu bit her lip. "I wanted to, but I'm actually meeting a colleague today. She needs help with her assignment, so while I do mine, I'll help her with hers. But worry not, I'll be back in time for dinner."

"Oh." Ryujin's voice got lower. "You didn't mention that before."

"Sorry, I was too distracted with our little roleplay. I'm sorry Ryujinie. But I do wanna meet to work sometime during this week, if you want to."

"Of course. I will need your opinion on the pictures to choose from and all. I need to have it ready until Monday next week."

"So, a week from tomorrow? Wow, time flew. Yes, I want to help you with it! It's gonna be so hard, choosing among all the amazing pictures you took."

"That's why I need your help. I can't choose them alone."

"I hope I can help. If anything fails, just submit every pic."

"I know I said there's not a limit, but I can't just do that."

"I know, I was joking. I need to go now, I need to do everything in time for our dinner. I'll text you later when I decide on the place."

"Alright. See you later."

"Bye, Ryujinie."

Jisu hung up, her heart clenching. But if she wanted to make a super special dinner in her house, with homemade food cooked by her, she couldn't be with Ryujin during the afternoon. Pushing that aside, she indeed focused on her assignment, so she could finish it as soon as possible, before starting looking for easy but nice meals, because she was never a great cook.

After watching several videos, all of them named something around 'IMPRESS YOUR PARTNER WITH THIS 3 COURSE MEAL, SUPER FAST AND EASY', she finally decided on what she would do. And she still had to go out for grocery shopping, because of course she didn't have shrimps laying on her fridge for the creamy pasta, or dark chocolate and vanilla essence for those amazing looking brownies.

She had never done that, and she didn't know how she had that idea, because then again, she was never one to cook. But for Ryujin, to show her how much she meant to Jisu, she would work her hardest. While out shopping, she got some candles to light up while they had dinner, and special rose wine. Wait, did Ryujin even like wine? Better take another drink. A few cans of beer and a non-alcoholic drink, just in case.

Back to her small dorm, she frowned at her miniature sized kitchen. But she did have all that she needed to cook the pasta, the garlic bread for entrée, and the dessert. According to the video, all of that would take around an hour to prepare, so before starting, she texted Ryujin.

[Jisu]
Do you like Italian food? If yes, I've chosen the place!

[Ryujin]
I do

[Jisu]
Great! Be here in an hour, then!
I mean, you're driving, right?

[Ryujin]
lmao, yes, of course I am.
I'll be there!

Taking in a deeper breath, Jisu went through all the steps again in her mind. Because she also had to shower, put on her pretty clothes, prepare the table, light up the candles... Wasting no more time, she got to work.

The food was cooking, and the shower was taken. She dressed up, put on a quick, light makeup, and prepared the table. When there were just ten minutes left for Ryujin to be there, she prepared the entrée, and while the bread was in the oven, she lighted up the candles, spreading them throughout her room. Enough to light the room, and create a romantic atmosphere. Jisu beamed at how pretty it looked. It was perfect.

She reached for her phone, only to see she had a notification from Ryujin saying she was there already. She tapped her foot on the floor as she typed the answer.

[Jisu]
Something came up. Can you come here?

The reply came instantly.

[Ryujin]
I need to park
Are you okay? Did something happen?

[Jisu]
No, but please come.

Ryujin didn't answer back. A few minutes after, her bell rang, followed by three knocks on the door. Jisu looked down at her clothes, fixed them and her hair, and skipped to the door. Opening it, Ryujin reached forward, grabbing her shoulders, her expression somber.

"What happened?" Ryujin asked, running out of breath.

Jisu pecked her lips and smiled. She grabbed her wrist, pulled her properly inside, and closed the door. Taking a step aside, she extended her hand to her room.

"Dinner's served."

It was not like Jisu expected Ryujin to start screaming, jumping, or crying in happiness, but she also didn't expect her to not react at all. The same expression remained on her face, her lips a thin, expressionless line, and her hands balled at her sides.

"I was worried," Ryujin said, her voice showing the same nonexistent feeling.

"I'm sorry, it wasn't really my intention. I just needed you to come here, because dinner's actually here. I cooked for us."

Jisu reached for her clenches fist, but Ryujin retracted her hand. Jisu frowned.

"Did you lie to me?" Ryujin asked, but didn't look at her. Her eyes kept staring ahead.

Her words felt like knives to Jisu's heart. "I... what?"

"Did you even meet this colleague of yours?" Ryujin faced her now.

Jisu took a step back, her legs feeling weak with the anger in Ryujin's eyes. Her locked jaw, the vein popping in her temple, her sharp exhales through her nose.

"No, I didn't," Jisu said. "It was something that I said at the moment. If I wanted to make a surprise dinner for you here, I couldn't be with you in the afternoon."

"I hate surprises," Ryujin spat. "You lied to me. You said you were gonna meet someone, turned me down when I wanted to be with you, for what? A dinner? And then getting all mysterious, telling me something happened so I would come here, do you know how worried I got? I had to park two blocks away and came running because I thought something had happened! Couldn't we just have dinner out somewhere, as we talked? No, when you lied to me!" Ryujin's voice got louder in the end.

Jisu never thought of the day when she would see Ryujin angry. She felt small, scared like a little kid.

"R-Ryujinie, I'm sorry, I... I didn't think you would react like this, I did it with the best intentions! I wanted to prepare something special for you, to show you how I care and-"

"This is not it." Ryujin took a step back. "I appreciate it, but lying to me, hiding things from me isn't the way to go."

She turned and reached for the doorknob. Before she could twist it, Jisu reached for her arm, gripping it with her hands.

"Please! I'm sorry, I really am!" Tears blossomed in the corner of Jisu's eyes. "I didn't take that into consideration, I was too focused on making this a surprise, I didn't think-"

Ryujin let go of her grasp with such force Jisu stumbled forward. She looked back at her, opened , but no sound came out. Ryujin opened the door and left.

Jisu had turned to stone, the tears running the only thing that moved.

How did it get there? How could she mess up so, so badly?

Ryujin had told her everything about trust issues, and what does she do? Triggered all of them, in all possible ways. And for what? A silly dinner. She had all the right to be angry, but it still didn't make it any less hard seeing that side of her.

It didn't matter how good her intentions were. Hurting Ryujin like that should be unforgivable. So she now had to cope with her own doings.

You reap what you sow.

If it wasn't for the smell of burning garlic bread in the oven, Jisu would have stayed curled up against the wall, thinking of how there was no turning back from what she had done.

---

A/N: yeah so... yeah, that's that.

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