Last

 “Sweetie, don’t forget to pack sunscreen!” a melodic voice could be heard chirp above the chaos raging in the house. The woman, to whom the voice belonged, quickly climbed the narrow staircase heading to her daughter’s room in the far end of the hallway.

 The door creaked and revealed a small room painted in pale blue with light wooden floor. A crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling and the room was illuminated by the early sunrays. Each fragment of the exquisite lamp reflected the light in its own unequalled way. The room  was furnished with light beige furniture and the whole place gave off a calm and peaceful vibe. A thin and petite girl was sitting on a suitcase placed on the bed mattress, a frown plastered on her pretty face.

 “Mom, I’m not as forgetful as Dad is!” Her frown deepened as she struggled to close the zip of the bulky suitcase.

 “Seoeun, we are going only for the weekend! What are you going to do with all this stuff?” The woman crossed her arms before her chest, a scolding look on her face.

 Just as the girl was about to retort, a loud thud sounded through the house. The older woman’s eyes widened a bit and a moment after she was storming back down the stairs.

 Seoeun blew a loose strand of hair out of her face. She hated getting ready for a trip and she could swear that every time the family was going somewhere on a vacation, it was getting worse. The girl grudgingly stood up on her feet and opened once again her baggage. It was messier than ever. Her clothes were scattered and crumpled everywhere even some of her garments were hanging out of the suitcase. She let out a defeated sigh and set about carefully packing her luggage all over again.

 She wasn’t usually this chaotic and stressed about a trip. Actually, Seoeun was pretty organized when she was getting ready for anything. She would always do a list of her duties and essentials and wouldn’t leave the house without triple checking the list and her baggage. Today was not the case, however. The girl had overslept and woken up an hour later. Her parents didn’t make it easier – they were always like this. But Seoeun was anything but disorganized.

 The reason of the chaotic atmosphere in the early hour in the Byun’s house was not just a two-day trip with the family to the seaside. It was their last vacation as a whole before Seoeun would go on a world trip with her friend.

 Two hours of hectic packing later, the family was finally in the car setting out for Gangneung. It was far from the city of Seoul but they loved spending their vacations there. It was more peaceful than other famous resorts and the Byuns could enjoy the beach and the cool ocean waves without getting disturbed by other tourists.

 “Stop the car!” Seoeun shouted startling both her mother and father, suddenly remembering something. Luckily, they had driven not more than a few blocks away from their house. The girl jumped from her seat, rushing towards the house.

 Gasping for air, she finally reached her destination. Tearing open open the front door,  she shouted on the top of her lungs “Baekhyun!”. They had forgotten her older brother peacefully sleeping in his room.

 Without waiting for an answer she took the stairs two at a time and ten seconds later she was standing in front of her brother’s room. Just as Seoeun was about to open the door, she was met with a pair of raging eyes throwing daggers at her.

 “You did it again.” He grumbled with his husky morning voice and rolled his eyes walking pass his sister, not forgetting to bump shoulders with her. Seoeun stumbled a bit but didn’t make a move to stop him. She was guilty, anyway, but she didn’t waste a thought on it. Baekhyun wasn’t somebody who would be angry for a long time. He would get over it sooner than later. “What was that loud bang earlier?” his voice rang from the bathroom.

 “Dad knocked over the bookcase in the living room. I keep on telling him to put his books on the lower rack, considering his height but he won’t hear of it.” The girl shrugged. “Sorry that we left you home, Baek. I will definitely make this up to you, okay?” She secretly hoped that her brother’s anger had subsided, and it had because she could hear his soft hum of agreement.

 Another half an hour later, the whole family, along with Baekhyun, was ready to set of officially.

 Seoeun subconsciously smiled when she saw the familiar hills and mountains, surrounding the road. She had gone to the seaside so many times that she had memorized every place they went through. However, every time was unique and special in its own way; she could recognize every single one of them in her memory. Despite having gone through this road a countless times, Seoeun discovered something new, which she hadn’t noticed before whenever they took that motorway.

 This was one of the reasons why she was so in love with travelling. Even when she had been to a certain place a million times, she always managed to find something new. She still found the charm of a particular place even if she knew it as the palm of her hand. Seoeun never got bored of taking the same road, going to the same place just because she felt the all too familiar thrill run up and down her spine. It never faded, never bloomed less vibrant than the first time when she experienced it.

 “Let’s make this our best trip, shall we?” Her father took her out of her thoughts with his chirpy voice and she could almost hear the wide smile sitting behind his words.

 Baekhyun and their mother nodded in unison and started suggesting various ways of entertainment and any kind of variety to bring in their last vacation together.

 “We’ve been there already, Baekhyun.” Seoeun sighed as she repeated this line for the third time. She wasn’t that enthusiastic as her brother about Mr. Byun’s suggestion. She liked the vacations as they were. Weren’t they supposed to do as they have been doing all these years, so that they could keep the memory of the family trip fresh? Every time they had to lead astray, Seoeun would flinch and her toes would curl subconsciously at the thought of something not going the way as planned.

 “Hey, we have a free seat. Why don’t we take a hitchhiker? They are as common as blackberries on this road.” Mrs. Byun proposed with a glowing face.

 The car suddenly burst in cheers for the good idea. Seoeun didn’t remember the last time when her brother beamed that wide. She could only smile upon their excitement, affected by it. Maybe only one alteration of the plan wouldn’t hurt, right? The girl could still feel herself shift uncomfortably in her seat but she could live with the thought of changing something as insignificant in their trip.

 Soon the car slowed down and came to a stop, pulling over by the road. There was a boy sitting on the asphalt with a curvy suitcase beside him. His head hung low as if he had dozen off there, supporting his outstretched arm on his bent knee. Mr. Byun frowned a bit and pressed his hand on the horn button. A deafening honk, that was probably capable of waking a dead man, split the air. The hitchhiker jolted in his place frantically looking around with wide eyes. His flailing arms knocked over his purple backpack but his unbelieving eyes were glued to the car in front of him.

 “Boy, aren’t you coming?” the short man behind the steering wheel shouted through the opposite opened window.

 When the youngster realized the situation, he swiftly took his suitcase and swung the bag around one shoulder and stumbled towards his saviour. Baekhyun got off his seat and helped the boy with putting the curvy suitcase in the trunk.

 “Thank you very much, kind mister and lady.” The boy muttered quietly and bowed his head low as he sat between the two siblings. “My name is Zhang Yixing, nice to meet you.” He added.

 “Zhan Yixing? Are you Chinese?” Baekhyun cut in curiously.

 “Yes, but now I’m travelling hither and thither.” He smiled and lowered his gaze to his hands in his lap and shifted in his seat.

 “Interesting…” Mrs. Byun mumbled below her breath. She threw an unrecognizable look to her husband.

 Seoeun couldn’t see his face clearly but she could tell that he was a decently looking boy from his profile. His hair was a ruffled mess and his clothes were dusty. He must have been waiting there for a while, she thought.

 Without giving the backpacker a second thought, she darted her sight back to the window, letting her thoughts float with the fresh countryside air.

Author's Note

Hey! So this is the first chapter, I know it's not much but it's something at least.  Nothing much happens and it's still too early for some drama or romance or whatever so here is something lighter to get you in the mood. This serves as an introduction of the characters, so bear some facts in mind, they might appear later in the story. I love hiding some clues or little things in my stories that foreshadow the next happenings but most of the times I forget about them when I get to the point of writing them lol.

 This story is officially started and I can't wait to write the next chapters, I have so much in mind, I'm afraid that I'll forget someething xD.

 Until next time, and don't forget to subscribe and comment!