“Soojung! Soojung! Soojung!”

Soojung opens one bleary eye, sneaking a glance at her phone. It was only seven a.m. and if she remembers correctly, it’s a Saturday. “What the…” Then she sees the offender. “The hell are you doing here?”

Taemin grins and pulls the covers off her. She hits him hard with her body pillow. “Get up! We’re going on a road trip. I’m waking you up first because it takes two to get Jongin moving.”

Soojung blinks. “What road trip… Taemin, what are you… I’m not awake enough for this, seriously, what road trip…” 

“We’re going to Boston! I thought of it last night. It’s a surprise road trip!”

“You don’t say.”

“Come on, be a little more excited!” Taemin grabs her arm and forces her on her feet. “Look, now that you and Jongin are okay again, we can go and do something fun together!”

Soojung sighs. “Don’t you think it’s kinda weird how you seem to be the happiest person about me and Jongin? And why Boston? I mean… the Bronx Zoo, sure, but Boston’s hours and hours away…”

“Exactly! Do you not get the concept of ‘road trip’? Hours of drive-thru junk food and our favorite playlist back-to-back and you probably needing to pee at every rest stop… Come on, oblige the graduating senior here. Bonding time. I’m kidnapping you two. Come on, pack. Bring all your cameras. And then we’ll go next door.”

Soojung sighs again but can’t help smile. “It’s kind of endearing how eager you are to get the three of us to bond like this.”

“You have to seize the moment, you know. I mean, I know it’s not like we’re never gonna meet again, but even the chance to spend a weekend together will probably be rare in the future. You’ve seen it happen with your sister and her friends. My brother and his friends. So we gotta take what we can.” He gives her a little nudge, and she smiles at him and pulls out her sports duffel bag.

Soojung gets permission from her sister easily, and they go on to barge into the house next door. They end up having to physically drag Jongin’s body off his bed and into the bathroom, and Taemin had to pull off some crazy acrobatics to keep Jongin from hurting himself when he trips and almost falls into the bathtub. Despite all their silly shenanigans, they manage to bundle out the door good and ready by eight-fifteen.

Jongin and Soojung fight over the front seat for a full five minutes before Taemin decides that Jongin can have it now if he drives on the way back. As Soojung expected, Jongin falls asleep the second he buckles in his seatbelt, but she doesn’t complain because she is comfortable in the backseat with Taemin’s iPod and Jongin’s blanket and her body pillow. 

The car is quiet, Taemin concentrating on driving and Soojung shuffling through the five thousand songs on his iPod. After about half an hour, she comes across an old track called “Back Stabbers” by the O’Jays and stops to listen — even though she has no idea who the band is since they’re from the 70’s.

    “Somebody’s out to get your lady

    A few of your buddies they sure look shady

    Blades are long, clenched tight in their fist

    Aimin’ straight at your back

    And I don’t think they’ll miss”

Soojung takes out one earbud. “Taemin,” she pipes up quietly.

“Hm?”

“Uh…” She fiddles with the earbud in her hand. “They smile in your face,” the track warbles in her ear. “All the time they want to take your place.”

“What’s up, Soojung-ah? Are you hungry? The next rest area’s in an hour or so…”

“I’m good… and Jongin’s mom packed a box of snacks for us, in case you forgot.”

“Oh, right.” Taemin hums. “So?”

“Taemin…” Her voice gets caught in , and Taemin turns to look at her briefly and give her a weird look before looking back at the road. “Soojung, seriously, is something wrong?”

“Jongin and I are not dating,” Soojung says and Taemin narrows his eyes at her through the rearview mirror. “I mean. You know that. But I… Taemin, I still feel so bad. I just… Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad things are okay between the three of us now, but I still feel like I was so wrong to you when you’ve been nothing but good to me. And somehow, it’s still hard for me to believe how good you’ve been about this whole thing. And now, the three of us like this… You do realize this is the first time we’ve been out as a three since the beginning of the school year.” Soojung pauses before continuing, “If you acted like you were fine with the whole thing because you really were fine, didn’t really care about us as a couple or whatever, then… I’m relieved, I guess? But if you acted that way because you didn’t want Jongin and I to feel bad… then. You don’t have to.”

Taemin looks contemplative for a moment, pursing his lips. And then he smiles at her through the mirror. “Okay. You wanna know the truth? I’ve known for a while that Jongin wasn’t okay with us being together, and I guessed the reason why, too. But he didn’t say anything, and you seemed clueless so I kept my mouth shut.

Then, the Seven thing. Jongin told me, too, that he picked out your phone to prevent anyone else doing it. That was all he said, but he couldn’t look at me and I… I know you two kissed, Soojung-ah. None of you told me but I know. I didn’t ask any of you to elaborate because… I knew. And I didn’t want to hear it. A part of me was mad, but. Honestly, Soojung, by that point I was more concerned about Jongin and concerned about how the three of us were, like, not even really friends at that time. 

Then, the two of you talked and like I said, Jongin just spilled everything out. He came over, and we talked for a really long time. And, well…” Taemin sneaks a glance at Jongin to make sure he’s still sleeping. “When I asked you out, I really did think I liked you, Soojung-ah. But after a while I thought about it and wondered if I’d just wanted to spend more time with you, treat you nicer than I have in the past. But… that doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m… in love with you. I mean, I was happy when we dated. But I know we can do the stuff we did when we dated when we’re not dating, if you get what I mean… and, I think I know how Jongin feels about you now.” He glances at Jongin again, then to the backseat at Soojung, and smiles. “And, well, how I feel about you doesn’t even compare.”

Soojung’s cheeks flame scarlet. “Taemin!”

“What? I’m not telling you what he said, but — ”

“That’s okay, I don’t think I’m ready to know…” She pulls the blanket closer to her chest. “I just… One last… You’re, totally okay with me, now, right. Just making sure. I mean, I don’t have to avoid you or anything…”

Taemin is silent before slowly saying, “I just basically forced you to drive to Boston with me. I’m sure that means you don’t have to avoid me.”

“I’m just making sure.” She slides to the other side of the car and hugs Taemin from behind. “Thank you,” she mumbles into her shoulder. “For everything. I’ll miss you so much.”

“I’ll miss you too, Soojung-ah.”

Jongin stirs then and blinks at them. “Did I miss something?”

The two turn to grin at him. “Nope. Nothing at all.”

*

That weekend in Boston was probably the best weekend of Soojung’s life.

The first thing they did when they got there was to pig out on clam chowder, stuffed shrimp, lobster and crab cakes. Then they’d gone for a walk to get the food down and stumbled upon a fried chicken restaurant that Soojung had read about on Yelp.com, and of course Jongin had dragged them all inside and they ended up sharing a portion complete with mashed potatoes, gravy and even waffles. Then they’d come across a place that Taemin’s friend had recommended and shared a portion of mac and cheese with bacon on top. And after all that, Soojung still insists that they have to make room for dessert, so they go and get milkshakes and ice-cream sundaes.

They had walked all the way back to the area where Taemin originally parked his car, by the pier. Each of them carried one of Soojung’s cameras — Taemin her Polaroid, Jongin her DSLR and Soojung her Diana F+ because she was the only one who knew how to use that one. They all took plenty of photographs — of themselves, their surroundings, themselves in their surroundings — on the walk to Georgetown Cupcakes, which they were too full to actually eat.

They take the cupcakes to a park. Taemin goes on an errand to give his mom’s friend something from his mom, leaving Soojung and Jongin to roll around in the grass and play with the cameras. Somehow, Soojung ends up in his embrace, resting against his chest as he lazily combed one hand through her hair. Her eyes start to flicker shut, she’s so comfortable like this and is more than slightly pissed when Jongin suddenly nudges her with his knee. “Hey, Soojung?”

“Uhhhh… what?” She slaps his leg when he moves slightly. “Don’t you dare move.”

“Why? What’s it to you? This is my body and I have the right to… okay, I’m actually about to ask you a favor so I should probably do what you say.”

Soojung’s eyes fully open. “A favor? What is it?”

“Um.” Jongin fidgets and mumbles until Soojung sits up straight, turns to face him and hits his shoulder lightly. “What?” Then she catches a glimpse of what he’s watching on the DSLR.

“Yeah, uh.” He holds up the camera. “Taeminnie mentioned this… he said that you helped him with his dance portfolio. And I, I thought of asking you to help me a while back but we weren’t really talking, then I sort of forgot about it and now I’m watching these and. Yeah. These look really good, Soojung.”

“Thanks.” Soojung takes the camera from him and flips through the clips. “I still have to edit them but I’m just glad the shooting part’s over. It’s the hardest part, I think. Especially for dance…” Her voice trails off as she catches sight of his big, puppy-dog eyes. “Jongin, I’d do this for you too, okay. Calm down. You don’t have to make those eyes at me.”

Jongin breaks into a grin, slinging his arms around her once again and pulling her closer. “Thanks, you’re the best.” Soojung scoffs and tries to act indifferent but melts into his arms when he kisses the top of her head. 

“Soojungie,” Jongin says again after a couple of beats of silence. “Have you ever thought about going into film? Or photography? Y’know, for university?”

“Uhm…” Soojung pauses. “Honestly, I can’t say I never have. But it’s, I don’t know. It doesn’t seem practical enough.”

“Oh, gee, wow, not as practical as, say, being a dance major?”

Soojung smiles and lightly elbows him in the ribs. “That’s different. You and Taemin are different. You’re like, prodigies. It doesn’t make sense for you not to go into dance. Me, I just like tinkering with cameras.”

“Soojung, this might be news to you, but we’re not prodigies. Maybe in our little corner of the world, but the rest of the world is pretty big. There are gonna be lots of people who are better than us, but that’s okay. Just as long as I get to do something I love doing.”

“I don’t know if I love taking pictures. I just… like it.”

“Well, considering that you don’t particularly like anything else…? I’m just saying. I think you’re really good. I mean, I’ve seen your pictures throughout the years but… I’ve just been flicking through the ones in your DSLR, the recent ones, and I think you improved a lot.”

“Hmm, well.” Soojung rubs her cheek against the soft cotton of his T-shirt. “Thanks. I’ll think about it. Have been thinking about it, honestly. But it means a lot to hear your approval.”

Jongin buries his nose in her hair and they cuddle like that for a while. Then Soojung grabs her Diana, poised the camera at a certain angle and captures that perfect moment of tranquility and comfort.

Much later that night, Taemin checks them into a hotel room with two twin beds, and Soojung immediately flings her bag on one of the beds and claims it to herself. The boys let her have it under the condition that she uses the bathroom last, and she agrees, knowing they only take about five minutes to shower.

When her turn comes and she finally finishes washing up, the scene that greets her when she exits the bathroom makes her smile.

She has heard them arguing about who gets the couch and who gets the bed the whole time she was in the bathroom. When the sound started dying down she assumed they’d figured it out, and they did. They were both curled up together in one of the beds with their arms draped around each other, fast asleep.

Soojung smiles and grabs her camera. They’d probably wake up in the morning all cramped up and grouchy as hell, judging from the way Jongin’s leg is hanging off the bed and Taemin’s arm is squished between them. But for now, the moment was just too precious — and funny — to not capture.

They all wake up relatively early the next day, so they decide to eat breakfast by the pier, sitting on the wooden railings and just looking at the morning sky and shimmering waters. They were all quiet, for once — Jongin probably still sleepy and Taemin tired from being squished by Jongin, but Soojung felt that it was a nice, contemplative sort of quiet. They snapped a lot of photos, and when Jongin falls asleep on Soojung’s lap they decide it was probably time to go back to the hotel.

Of course, once they got back to the hotel Jongin is suddenly hyperactive again. So they pack up their stuff and immediately check out, going back to aimlessly roaming the streets of Boston. They decide to head back after lunch, and Soojung gets shotgun this time with Jongin driving and Taemin in the backseat. 

They arrive back at Jongin’s house at about six o’clock and since it was warm enough, they decide to have a sleepover on the rooftop. This was the first time the three had been on the rooftop in almost a year, and for once Soojung doesn’t feel sad about it and instead feels grateful for the fact that they’re together there now.

When they’re all snuggled up in their sleeping bags, Taemin speaks up. “Hey, kids, I’ve got something to say.”

“Shoot.”

“Look… I know you two feel bad about everything that’s happened between the three of us, and you both feel that it’s your fault, and you feel like I’m somehow victimized. Both of you keep trying to talk to me about it and making sure everything’s alright… making sure I’m alright.” Soojung wonders how Jongin is reacting but Taemin is lying in between them, so she doesn’t turn her head. “But somehow… I can’t think of it as the usual ‘he-stole-my-girlfriend’ sort of thing. I know that’s not the case. And really, I keep repeating this, but I value our friendship above everything else. I want you to know that I’m happy the way we are now, and I’m rooting for you two because I know you really like each other. Don’t worry about me, I’m not heartbroken over Soojung or anything, I just… try not to leave me out of too many things, if you two date, okay? That’s all I’m asking.”

“Aw, Taeminnie…” Jongin drapes an arm around his shoulders and Soojung shuffles closer to him. “I don’t know what to say.”

“You know how grateful we are, right?” Soojung mumbles. “We’re so grateful to have you.”

They stay like that until they fall asleep, silent and staring at the stars, cherishing each other’s company.

//

a/n. title from fall out boy's "favorite record".

i haven't updated in a while and though i wanted to add some more stuff to this chapter, i thought it was long enough as it is, so. here it is~ just a cute fluffy ot3.

i can't believe i'm actually almost done with an actual multi-chaptered fic. just a couple more chapters to go omg. i'm actually working on some kaistal stuff at the same time so i hope i can finish them all at the same-ish time.

thanks for reading!