The next morning, Yoona stood outside her house with her duffel bag by her side. She'd been packed for weeks and couldn't stand the wait for even one more moment. Jessica had planned to pick Tiffany up at her house. Then, they would head to Yoona's before motoring off to the east in Jessica's little green ford.

Yoona stood in her driveway, growing agitated for no reason at all. She had been outside for more than ten minutes before her friends were supposed to get there, and she couldn't blame them for the fact that she was still waiting. She reached into her bag to grab her cell phone to check the time, and realised it wasn't there.

Crap! She'd left it unplugged in overnight, and had forgotten to grab it from the kitchen counter before she'd locked up. She pulled out her keys and let herself back in. The phone was right where she'd left it the night before.

She had ten new text messages and a voicemail. Before she could look at her message, she heard Jessica's horn sigh in her driveway. Yoona quickly slipped her phone into her pocket and hurried out the door.

Tiffany waved to her from the front seat, and Jessica leaned her head out the open driver's side window. "I'm driving first shift so I can control the tunes!"

"You can drive every shift, babe. I will man the navigation." Yoona swung her bag into the trunk and moved around to the back door. She stopped short when she realised the backseat wasn't empty. "What are you doing here?"

Sprawled across the backseat, one foot lounging into Yoona's space, was Donghae. He was drinking a bottle of Frappuccino, and a little bit spilled as he shifted to make room for her next to him. Yoona leaned into the window to glare at Tiffany. "What is he doing here?" The panic was evident in her voice.

"Yah! Why didn't you call me back?" Tiffany swiveled in her seat. "I called you last night, and texted you, like eight billion times!"

"I didn't get the messages." Yoona was staring at Donghae suspiciously. His precious soccer ball sat in his lap, taunting her. Her skin crawled at the memory of what had happened the previous afternoon. "Does anyone want to tell me what's going on?"

Donghae put on a fake smile and—in a ridiculous Valley girl accent—said, "Like I'm coming with you!" He clapped. "Yes, that's right, Yoongie. You and I will enjoy the magic of each other's company for the next"—he looked at the clock on the dash of the car—"nineteen hours and three minutes—approximately."

Yoona shot a desperate look at Tiffany, who pouted at her, "I'm sorry Yoona! I had no choice! Daddy practically forced me to bring oppa along, or he will never pay for my University funds! I need to get at least a degree to be president!"

Jessica couldn't help but laugh at her best friend's dream to become president.

"Daddy and step-mommy can't leave Cali until a week. They didn't want oppa to miss his first week of summer in the lakehouse so they told me to take him with us. I'm so sorry Yoongie!" Tiffany had on her famous puppy dog face that Yoona couldn't resist.

"Ah, okay okay, I forgive you. Just– just stop doing that!" Yoona cried.

Jessica smiled. "Now that everything's settled, you–" She pointed at Yoona. "–get in the car."

Yoona scowled at her before reluctantly sliding into the open spot next to Donghae.

"I may have come across as genuine a few moments ago, when I jumped for joy about this road trip," Donghae adjusted his position so he was taking up as much of the backseat as was humanly possible. "But let me tell you that I'm looking forward to crashing your road trip just slightly less than you ladies are looking forward to having me here. But fate aligned and brought us all together, so I think we should make the most of it."

Yoona rolled her eyes, and signaled to turn onto the interstate. They were on their way. All four of them. As Yoona turned to look out the back window to watch their hometown shrink into the distance, Donghae said, "So, who wants to play a game?

***

When they stopped at a gas station in the middle of Arizona for toilets and treats four hours later, Yoona was convinced that she had died and gone to hell. Absolutely everything she had envisioned for their girls' roadtrip had soured into a giant disappointment. 
 

Jessica was snippy (she refused to wear her glasses, and straining to see highway signs had given a headache); Tiffany was distant and quiet; and Donghae was rude, sarcastic and condescending (translation: ). As far as Yoona was concerned, the start of their highly anticipated road trip had been four of the worst hours of her life. She'd spent most of them folded into her corner of the car, trying to put as much distance as possible between her body and Donghae's. 
 

"Only one toilet works, so we'll have to flip to see who gets to test the waters." Donghae was swinging a giant rubber fish with a key attached to it. He had been sent inside the gas station to find out where the loo was located. "I, personally am relieved that I stand to pee." 
 

"I'll go first." Yoona rolled her eyes at Donghae and grabbed the limp fish from his hand. "I brought seat covers." 
 

"Of course you did," Tiffany laughed. "I'm coming with you." 
 

"Me too." Jessica grabbed Yoona's hand. "See you, Hae. Girls pee with partners." 
 

When they were safely out of earshot, Jessica blurted ou