A big smile was on the girl’s lips as she let the sheet of paper slide out of her hand and on to her desk surface. She opened the laptop that stood in front of her and turned it on. With a gleeful smile on her face she typed in a few words in the search bar when she had gotten on to the internet. Seeing all the options that popped up made the smile on her lips widen and she began scrolling through everything, taking her sweet time to read everything that was there.

Time ticked away and she had begun to write down a few things she had found on the internet on another sheet of paper. She had made circles around some of the things, added a few stars after other things, made arrows and other doddles that no one but her would probably understand.

When she was done she leaned back in her desk chair. She picked up the sheet of paper she had dropped earlier and checked the things that was on that list. She read the sixth thing, glancing at the paper she had been writing on for the past hour, and nodded her head satisfied. A grin was on her lips and she gathered the papers and turned off her laptop. When her desk was tidy she turned off the desk lamp and made her way to her bed.

She took a seat on the bed, grabbed her phone and put on an alarm. She nodded her head approvingly of her action and finally turned around and lifted on the covers to crawl down under them. With a big smile on her lips she turned off her bed lamp and closed her eyes to go to sleep.


---


“Noona.” She didn’t wake up by the first call. “Noona,” The voice got louder and she furrowed her eyebrows. She waited for a while to see if the person would stop but when she felt a hand on her shoulder that began shaking her she finally opened her eyes. “Noona,”

In the dim light of her room Taeyeon could make out the figure of her younger brother. The boy was in his boxers and a t-shirt, his appearance made Taeyeon turn towards her bedside table to see what time it was. Seeing it was a little over five in the morning made her let out a groan and she closed her eyes.

“What?” Taeyeon asked tiredly.

“Jessica-noona is here.” Her younger brother answered in his groggy voice. His answer made Taeyeon open her eyes and she looked at him. Her eyebrows furrowed upon the knowledge that the girl was in their house, at this hour. Nonetheless she got out of her bed.

“Where is she?” Taeyeon asked the younger boy.

“Downstairs.” The boy asked. The answer made Taeyeon walk out of her room and downstairs in search of her friend. All kinds of things went through Taeyeon’s mind as she tried to find Jessica. Had something happened to her? Had something happened to one of her family members? Why was she at her house at five in the morning?

Taeyeon finally found the girl in the kitchen. With a concerned expression Taeyeon approached Jessica that was sitting on one of the kitchen stools by the kitchen counter.

“Hey, is something up?” Taeyeon asked concerned and took a seat by the girl. Jessica turned to Taeyeon that had joined her. No light in the kitchen was on; the only light came from the sun that was on its way up. The small light they got made it a bit difficult for them to make out each other’s expressions.

“No, not really.” Jessica answered.

The answer made Taeyeon furrow her eyebrows. She continued to observe the girl for a few seconds, and eventually Jessica looked away. The action made Taeyeon worried and she placed a hand on Jessica’s back, rubbing it in a soothing manner.

“Why are you here then?” Taeyeon asked concerned.

“Because,” Jessica turned to Taeyeon, meeting the other girls’ gaze. “I want to go on a vacation with you.” Jessica said and a smile formed on her lips.

It took a while for Taeyeon’s brain to react to what Jessica had said. When she finally did, a frown appeared on her lips, and the hand on Jessica’s back slid down. Taeyeon exhaled through her nose before she pushed Jessica’s shoulder so the girl almost fell out of her seat.

“Stupid. I thought something had happened to you when you were here this early.” Taeyeon muttered and jumped down from her seat.

“I’m sorry,” Jessica said and slid down from the kitchen stool to follow Taeyeon. “Where are you going?” She asked when Taeyeon didn’t stop.

“Back to bed.” Taeyeon muttered but got stopped before she could climb the stairs. With an annoyed expression she turned back to Jessica that was holding her arm. The girl flashed her a smile and gave her arm a tug which made her stumble towards the other girl.

“Don’t. We have to go now if we’re going on a vacation.” Jessica said and placed her hands on Taeyeon’s shoulders.

“And who said I’m going on a vacation?” Taeyeon asked and swatted Jessica’s hand off of her shoulders.

Jessica’s expression hardened and she looked at Taeyeon seriously. She leaned closer to the girl that raised her eyebrow upon Jessica’s action.

“Your fa–“

“Oh, don’t start with that again!” Taeyeon interrupted and shoved Jessica’s shoulders. A pout appeared on Jessica’s lips upon being rejected.

“But the situation asked for it.” Jessica said.

“No, the joke is old. Besides, it wasn’t funny to begin with.” Taeyeon said and crossed her arms. “And that’s out of the topic. So, if we’re going on a vacation, where are we going?” Taeyeon asked.

“A surprise!” Jessica said gleefully. Taeyeon was however not amused by it and uncrossed her arms and turned away from the other girl.

“I’m going back to sleep.” Taeyeon said and began walking up the stairs.

“No! Please Taeyeon. I really wanna do this with you.” Jessica said and grabbed Taeyeon’s wrist and held the girl in place. A sigh left Taeyeon’s lips and she turned to the girl that was stopping her from going.

“But–“

“Taeyeon!” Both Taeyeon and Jessica turned their attention to the woman that was standing at the top of the stairs. The woman had her arms crossed as she looked down on the two girls at the end of the stairs. “Go with Jessica. You’re only sitting inside anyways. Going out and doing something else will only do you good.” The woman said. A smile formed on Jessica’s lips and she turned to Taeyeon that now had a pout on her lips.

“But mom…” Taeyeon whined.

“No buts! Go with Jessica now and let the rest of the family sleep.” Taeyeon’s mother said before she headed back to her bedroom. Taeyeon was left frowning over the order her mother had given her while Jessica was excited and dragged Taeyeon up the stairs towards the girl’s room.

“Let’s get you ready for our small trip!” Jessica said as she entered Taeyeon’s room. The other girl just released a sigh and sat down on her desk chair and watched as Jessica grabbed some clothes from her closet and began preparing a small bag for her to have with her on their small trip.


---


A yawn escaped the brunette’s lips and she looked around the train station she was at. Her eyes landed on the girl that stood beside her, seeing how happy and excited she seemed to be a frown appeared on her lips. Jessica was the only one at the train station that had a big smile on her lips, but looking at the time it was no strange. No one would have the energy to smile at this hour.

“Why do you have so much energy?” Taeyeon asked and yawned once more.

“I don’t have energy. I’m tired.” Jessica said and turned to the other girl.

“Doesn’t look like it.”

“It’s because I’m excited.” Jessica said and grinned. Taeyeon just let out a tired sigh and looked around the train station again. Not many people were there, and the people that were there was either sitting down or walking towards the platform they would board the train from.

“Shouldn’t we head to the platform?” Taeyeon asked and turned to the girl beside her.

“I don’t know which way it is.” Jessica confessed.

“Just look at the train tickets and use the signs. Gosh, how old are you?”

“Oh…” Jessica took out the train tickets she had bought earlier and checked what platform they had to go to. When she had memorized it she looked up and tried to look for a sign that could direct them to that platform.

“I’ve never gone with these kinds of trains by myself. I’ve only gone on school trips and then I had a teacher taking care of me.” Jessica said and pouted.

“Haven’t you been overseas?” Taeyeon asked.

“Yeah, but with my mom and dad, and they always helped me find the gate.”

Taeyeon sighed and rubbed her forehead. “You’re so hopeless. I’m worried about how you’re going to survive in the world out there.”

“I’ll have to make sure I have someone that can take care of me all of the time.”

“And where will you find someone that can put up with all of your antics?”

“I guess I have to search.”

Taeyeon chuckled and shook her head. Jessica had a smile on her face upon hearing that reaction and looked at the girl. Taeyeon looked back at her and nodded towards the tickets Jessica had in her hand.

“So, what platform should we go to?” Taeyeon asked.

“Ah, it’s this way!” Jessica exclaimed and pointed what direction they should go. She began walking and Taeyeon followed her by her side.

After finding the right platform they stopped and waited for the train. While Taeyeon was way too tired to do anything Jessica on the other hand was going back and forth and walked around Taeyeon all the time. The latter watched with an annoyed expression forming on her face as her friend continued to move around.

“Jessica, you do know you’re the only one here that has so much energy, right?” Taeyeon pointed out.

“Yup! But I’m excited! I can’t stand still!” Jessica said and faced Taeyeon with a smile on her lips. Taeyeon just heaved a sigh and tried to look for a sign that could tell her when the train would come. She had no idea where they were going, but she was already dreading the train tour. Seeing that Jessica was acting this energetic now, she could only imagine how the girl would act on the train. She was already expecting she wouldn’t be able to sleep at all on the train.

“Ah, the train!” Jessica’s voice made Taeyeon turn her attention to the train rail and noticed a train was beginning to slow down when it came closer to the platform. The place was filled with the screeching sound the train made as it was slowing down until it came to a halt.

When the train had stopped its door opened and Jessica was fast with getting on the train. Not too worried to lose the girl Taeyeon followed her and they soon found their seats. When they had sat down Jessica was bouncing up and down like an excited kid. Taeyeon continued to watch her with a tired look on her face.

“Hey, hey, kiddo, how about you calm down so you don’t disturb the other passengers on the train, yeah?” Taeyeon asked the other girl.

“But it’s boring to sit still!” Jessica protested. A sigh left the tired girl’s lips and she supported her head with her hand.

“Sleep. It’s still early in the morning.” Taeyeon said and closed her eyes.

“I can’t.”

Another sigh escaped Taeyeon’s lips and she slowly opened her eyes to look at the girl beside her.

“Well, keep yourself busy by looking out the window, and staying silent so the passengers that want to sleep can do it.” Taeyeon said and pointed at the window that Jessica had on her other side. Jessica turned towards the window and looked outside of it before she turned back to Taeyeon again.

“Will you sleep?”

“Will you let me sleep?”

A grin formed on Jessica’s lips and she shook her head in answer. “No, if you sleep I won’t have anyone to talk to.” Jessica explained.

“I thought so.” Taeyeon said and closed her eyes.

She heard the train announcer saying the train was taking off and she felt the train move, and if that wasn’t enough for her to know the train had started to move Jessica slapped her arm which made her open her eyes and look out the window Jessica was pointing outside off.

“It’s moving!” Jessica exclaimed and turned to face her.

“Yes, I can see that, Jessica-three-years-old.” Taeyeon said and smiled when she saw a frown appear on Jessica’s lips.

“I can at least get excited by small things!” Jessica said and turned towards the window. Taeyeon chuckled and leaned back in her seat. Her gaze went from the girl that was looking outside the window to the hand that was still placed on her arm. Her eyebrows raised and she looked up at the owner on the hand, seeing she didn’t seem to notice she still had her hand on Taeyeon’s arm the latter shrugged it off and closed her eyes to see if she could get any sleep during this trip.


---


After one and a half hour trip with occasional: ‘look at that!’ ‘It’s a horse!’ ‘Look at that man and his dog!’ ‘Taeyeon are you sleeping?’ ‘Do you think we’re there yet?’ ‘Why does your sandwich look tastier than mine?’ ‘Yah! Are you sleeping?’ “I’m sorry, I’ll be more quiet.’, they finally arrived at their stop.

When they had gotten off the train Jessica was quick with finding her way out, and of course she dragged Taeyeon with her to not lose the other girl as they walked around this new place. The two girls jogged through the crowd of people at the train station until they finally got outside and could see the streets and buildings of the city they had arrived at.

Both of them stood in silence as they looked at the street were cars drove buy and people walked on the sidewalks, and other people walked in and out of the train station.  After a few minutes of observing their surroundings they turned to each other with shocked looks on their faces.

A grin started to appear on Jessica’s lips and she grabbed Taeyeon’s arm and began dragging the other girl with her. Taeyeon furrowed her eyebrows by the action and tried to keep up with the other girl as she walked through the crowd of people on the street.

“Hey, Sica, wait. Hold on! Where are we going?!” Taeyeon asked and tried to make Jessica stop. Her action managed to make Jessica let go of her arm and the latter began walking in Taeyeon’s pace so both of them could walk side by side instead.

“You’ll see where we are going.” Jessica said with a smile on her lips. Taeyeon looked skeptically at the girl.

“Do you even know where we are going?”

“Of course I do!”

“Uhu.”

“I looked it up on the internet!”

“Like you remember what you read on internet!”

“I wrote it down!” Jessica defended herself and showed Taeyeon a piece of paper she had inside her pocket. Jessica read the directions she had written down on the paper, and Taeyeon tried to take a peek of the paper to get a hint of where they were going, but Jessica kept the paper away from Taeyeon’s curious eyes.

“Just tell me where we are going!” Taeyeon complained when Jessica pocketed the piece of paper and began walking again.

“You’ll see!” Jessica said cheerfully.

“It’s probably a boring place.” Taeyeon mumbled and followed the brunette girl.

“It’s not. Stop saying that kind of things before you even know where we are going.”

“Just tell me already then!”

“Think of it as a surprise.”

“I hate surprises.”

“Then it’s time for you to learn to like them!”

Taeyeon stopped herself from arguing any further with the other girl. She knew from experience that Jessica was stubborn and wouldn’t back down. She also had a feeling that once they stopped this argument they probably would have reached the place they were going to.

They walked around the city in silence. Taeyeon kept looking around the new place she had never been to before. She was surprised that Jessica had found this place; she knew that during the time she had known the girl that Jessica had never been here either. But who knows? Maybe she went here without Taeyeon’s knowledge, but then, Jessica told her about most things, especially if it’s about trips.

“Ah, this way!” Jessica suddenly exclaimed and Taeyeon turned to where the other girl was and began walking the same way Jessica had went. She noticed they went through the woods, and the buildings in the city become more less and trees and bushes started to take their place instead.

They finally stopped. Taeyeon’s eyes widened upon the scenary in front of her. She turned to the girl beside her that still had her eyes glued to the piece of paper where the directions were written. Feeling someone’s eyes on her Jessica averted her eyes away from the paper in her hands and met Taeyeon’s surprised gaze.

“Do you like it?” Jessica asked with a grin.

“How did you even find this place?” Taeyeon asked and turned towards the small lake they stood in front.

“I was searching for a place to go to on the internet and I found this.” Jessica said and pocketed the piece of paper. She looked around the place until her eyes landed on a small cottage.

“We’re heading over there.” Jessica said and pointed at the cottage. She began walking and made sure Taeyeon was following her.

“What are we going to do there?” Taeyeon asked with her eyebrows furrowed.

“Rent a boat.” Jessica said with a smile on her lips.

“Rent a what?” Taeyeon asked and looked at the other girl.

“Rent a boat. How else are we going to enjoy the lake? By walking on it? We’re not blessed with divine superpowers, Taeyeon.”

Taeyeon slumped her shoulders when she felt she was defeated by Jessica’s comment. A sigh escaped her lips and she followed the other girl towards the boat-renting-place. And soon enough Jessica had managed to get a boat both for them and was soon sitting in it on the lake.

“Wow…” Taeyeon said as she looked around the scenery. Jessica that was handling the oars just smiled at the girl that looked around her with an expression that showed how amazed she was.

“It’s beautiful here.” Taeyeon said and let her eyes fall on Jessica.

“I know. But I didn’t think it would be that beautiful. Considering they had used photoshop on the pictures I saw on the internet.” Jessica said and stopped rowing when they had reached the middle of the lake. She looked around her and had a pleased smile on her lips.

“Well, I’m happy I came here.” Jessica said and grinned. A smile formed on Taeyeon’s lips and she looked down at the water where she could see her reflection was staring back at her.

“I’m glad that you brought me here.” Taeyeon said and looked at the other girl. Jessica’s grin widened and Taeyeon could only shake her head by the sight.

“So, what else are we gonna do here? Just row the boat back and forth in this lake?” Taeyeon asked.

“I’m glad you asked!” Jessica exclaimed and bent down to the backpack she had brought with her. Taeyeon watched with curious eyes what the girl was up to now.

“We’re gonna have a picnic on the lake!” Jessica said and held up two plastic cups. Taeyeon stared at the girl for a few seconds before she started to laugh.

“You brought me all the way here to have a picnic?” Taeyeon asked to confirm this wasn’t some of Jessica’s weird jokes.

“Yup.” Jessica said and grinned.

“You know we could just have gone on a picnic in our town? It wouldn’t have required us to wake up so early.” Taeyeon said.

“Yeah, but I didn’t bring us her because I solely want to have a picnic, I brought us here because I want to have a picnic here.” Jessica said.

“I’m not even sure I want to comment on that.” Taeyeon said and sighed.

“Then don’t! Here, take this instead.” Jessica said and held out one of the plastic cups towards Taeyeon. The latter grabbed the cup and held it towards Jessica as she filled it with a carbonated drink she had brought as well.

“You know, Taeyeon,” Jessica started as she had filled the cups. She looked at the other girl in the eyes and held her gaze for a while. A shy smile displayed on her lips which brought a confused expression to Taeyeon’s face.

“You have to row us back later on.” Jessica said and grinned.

Taeyeon bent her head down and sighed. “I knew you would make me do some hard labor!” She said and looked at the other girl that giggled.

“Hey, I got us all the way here. Do you know how tiring it is for the arms to row this boat? It’s only fair for you to get us back when I got us here.” Jessica said.

“I know it’s tiring and that’s exactly why I don’t want to row the boat.” Taeyeon argued.

“Oh, stop being such a baby. Just enjoy the picnic and you’ll have enough energy to get us back.” Jessica said and took a sip of her drink. She glanced at Taeyeon that had a frown on her lips.

“If you don’t want to row back this boat you can swim back.” Jessica stated.

“That’s cruel!”

“No, that’s a deal. Either you do your part or you have to get back with soaked clothes. And last time I checked your bag, which I actually packed by the way, you didn’t have any spare clothes with you.” Jessica stated nonchalantly and looked at her nails.

“I hate you.”

“You’ll love me when you’re on land again, with dry clothes.”

“But with sore arms.”

“We’ll share that pain.”

“I wish I didn’t leave my bed.”

“Don’t worry. I’d have gotten you out of it anyway.”

“Yeah, how?”

“Bribed you?”

“I’m not a kid, Jessica…”

“Something would have worked.”

A sigh left Taeyeon’s lips. She knew that Jessica was right. The girl always managed to drag her everywhere. No bribing was needed. She somehow ended up being dragged or followed along anyway.

“You’re right.” Taeyeon admitted defeated. A satisfied grin appeared on Jessica’s lips and she took another sip from her cup.

“I know.” She stated proudly.

Taeyeon only shook her head at her friend that had her overflowing confidence. She could almost see confidence pouring out of Jessica’s ears.

“You’re still rowing back the boat though.” Jessica stated.

“I knew I wouldn’t be able to escape that task so easily.” Taeyeon sighed.

Jessica smiled at her and nodded her head. “Well, if you get tired along the way you can stop and rest you know. I’m not gonna punish you for resting.” Jessica said.

Taeyeon began laughing and almost spilled her drink by her sudden outburst. “You? Not punish me? Wow that was new!” She exclaimed.

“Hey, I’m not that cruel!” Jessica said a bit offended.

Taeyeon continued to laugh, which made Jessica pout and cross her arms.

“I’m just kidding. I know you aren’t.” Taeyeon said when she noticed Jessica seemed hurt.

Jessica dropped her pout and began to smile to Taeyeon’s relief. Taeyeon also started to smile and they both sat and smiled while they enjoyed the picnic on the lake.


---


A tired sigh escaped the girl’s lips as she looked outside the train window at the passing scenery. She leaned back in her seat and slowly closed her eyes and hoped she would be able to rest even though she knew that right next to her, her friend that usually never could sit still or be quiet, was sitting.

After a few minutes of silence and no protest from the seat next to her Taeyeon felt something fall against her shoulder. She opened her eyes thinking Jessica had tried to wake her up, but when she saw the other girl’s head leaned against her shoulder a smile appeared on her lips. She noticed Jessica’s closed eyes and her regular breathing, and she understood that even Jessica’s energy must have been drained from the day’s adventure.

“That’s what you get for waking up early in the morning.” Taeyeon whispered and leaned her head against the sleeping girl’s.

Soon she as well fell asleep and the two exhausted friends slept through the train ride.