a note from the author: aaa i’m so sorry it took so long to update again ;; it was a holiday weekend and my mum had sooo many days off. i was barely in my house as a result. though i was trying to write what i could during my free time. very sorry again for not updating sooner! i tried to update within a week, but i couldn’t even keep up with that :(

this chapter isn’t as good as i wanted it to be, but i hope it’s okay!

Do you ever wonder what goes through someone’s mind? When they see you, do they think of positive things?

For Sooji, the hardest person to read was Jinyoung. It wasn’t often he showed emotion in his words, let alone his expressions. In the rare occasion that he did smile, she felt an overwhelming feeling that she just couldn’t describe with words. Literally. When she would write about it in her journal, she would get stuck and settle with: “I don’t know. It was weird.” It didn’t just apply to smiling though. Like right now, as she was looking down at the top of his head that was resting on her shoulder, she wasn’t quite sure how to describe what she was feeling. Jinyoung’s fringe slightly brushed over his eyes as his head drooped forward. Though she couldn’t see much of his face, she could tell that his countenance wasn’t as stoic. His features had softened and were no longer as tense… probably because he wasn’t awake to keep it that way.

Jinyoung’s sleeping figure had been her view for the past few hours; however, as the car pulled to a stop and Jihoon yelled at the top of his lungs that they had arrived, Jinyoung began stirring in his sleep. Quickly, Sooji turned away from him and looked out the window as if it was what she had been watching the whole time. She felt Jinyoung’s head lift from her shoulder as he sat up and stretched his arms above his head. She had to fight back a smile threatening to appear on her lips when she saw that his electrified hair was reaching up towards the ceiling.

“Oh, we’re here,” Jinyoung said through a yawn while rubbing at his eyes, “I napped for the right amount then.”

When Jihoon’s dad came back from the main cabin to check in, Dongbin and Miyoung – being the closest seats to the door – hopped out of the car. Miyoung ran around the van to help Dongbin move a few suitcases out of the way so Jihoon could get out. Sooji and Jinyoung climbed out from the third row after him. The two girls went ahead to unlock the cabin while the boys stayed behind to unload the car. As soon as Miyoung opened the door, the smell of maple syrup and cinnamon welcomed them. They hurriedly ran into the living room, shutting the door behind them so that the warm air wouldn’t escape. The interior was designed much like any other log cabin featured in magazines. Pine wreaths hung from the doorways, real-wooden furniture, and a crackling fireplace illuminating the room with its deep orange glow. They had just finished putting their coats in the coat closet when the door swung open to a shivering Jihoon.

“It is I, the abominable snowman!” Jihoon whispered but in a yell-type of way; a little cloud of breath puffed from his mouth.

“Wait! Don’t get snow in here!” Miyoung ran over, sliding the suitcase off to the side behind her.

The others flooded inside to escape the cold, shaking the snow off themselves. Miyoung was nagging Jihoon for getting snow all over the floor as she dusted him off and helped him out of his jacket. As soon as they reclaimed their respective luggage, they hauled them off into the rooms they decided on earlier. Jihoon’s dad headed upstairs to his master suite while the kids stayed in the rooms downstairs. The boys split off and headed into the bigger room since there were three of them.

“You guys can take the beds,” Jihoon said when they got inside. There were only two queen sized beds in the room. “I don’t want to burden anyone by having to sleep with me so I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“Are you sure?” Dongbin asked, setting his luggage by the bed farthest away from the window, “We could always share. It’s not like we’d be weird about it or anything.”

Jihoon nodded, kneeling to open one of his many suitcases. When the top came off, a full-sized comforter was sitting inside along with a few pillows and an extra blanket. Jinyoung couldn’t help but laugh. He couldn’t believe Jihoon really packed his entire bedset. Jihoon beamed at his two friends who looked at him with disbelief, “Oh yeah, definitely. I came prepared.”

“It’s kind of exciting, don’t you think? It’s like those high school dramas where friends go somewhere to have fun and they get closer with each other. Sometimes, there’s even ro…”

Sooji looked up from her journal when a cloud of steam escaped the bathroom. Miyoung stepped out, dabbing a towel on her face as she made her way to her bed. Like the boys’ rooms, there were two large beds in their room so they each took one; Miyoung’s bed nearest to the bathroom. Sooji watched Miyoung as she walked around the room. Her wavy brown locks were wound atop her head in a messy bun, and her skin was makeup-free skin remained flawless regardless. Sooji stared down at her own grey sweatshirt and burgundy flannels; she regretted not packing something cute like Miyoung’s long pink nightgown. It wasn’t one of those fancy satin ones, rather, a thick cotton one that you’d probably see those grannies in storybooks wear. Still, Sooji thought Miyoung pulled it off anyway. When the older girl hopped onto her bed, she rolled onto her back and looked at Sooji from upside-down.

“Oh, is that like one of those diaries?” Miyoung asked Sooji what she was doing, stretching her arms above her head and flapping them around as if making a snow angel on her blankets. Sooji nodded as Miyoung stared up at the ceiling, “That’s so cool. I’ve always wanted to do that, but I never really knew how to write my feelings out.”

“To be honest, I didn’t know what to say either when I first started. Keeping one eventually got easier when I just wrote whatever came to mind. If I had any lingering questions or if I just wanted to talk about my day.” Sooji explained, thinking back to the first time she tried journaling. It was a gift from her teacher for having read the most books that year. The note attached had said that she should keep a reflection diary to write reviews on the books she read. She could remember sitting at her desk with a picture book beside her, racking her brain to see if she had anything to say about what she had just read. It wasn’t until a few months after that she decided to just ditch the book reflections. Sooji tapped her pen on the page as she spoke, “I don’t have a very open relationship with my parents nor do I have a sibling so this is my next best option, I suppose.”

Hearing this, Miyoung’s ears perked up. She rolled onto her stomach and rested her chin on her hand, tapping her bottom lip in thought. Sooji watched as Miyoung mulled over whatever she was thinking. Admittedly, she was a bit afraid when Miyoung’s face lit up with an idea. Miyoung always followed with a wild suggestion of sorts when that happened. Miyoung clapped her hands together, “You know, we should really have girl talks!”

“Girl… talk?” Sooji asked, “What exactly would you want t