____

{15}

“You killed it out there today, Kim.” I looked up at the track coach and bowed despite the resistance of my core and the sear of my throat. Why haven’t you gotten used to this kind of pain yet?!

“Thank you, Coach,” I said and he huffed.

“That scholarship does come in handy,” he noted and I nodded as he handed me my record sheet of the meet we just had. I used to always think that there was room for improvement, but with pushing my limits and studying medicine, I realized the human body could only go so far. How am I supposed to get better next season? For three more seasons? The dilemma was shoved to the back of my mind, but it glistened. It was my ticket to no cost for all of my post-secondary education. Maybe I should consider getting a job soon…I shook my head. No, I have to maintain this scholarship. I opened up my duffle bag and slipped on a pair of sweatpants along with the sweater Tiffany once used and returned to me. My body heat swirled around within the thick cotton and I pressed my water bottle against my neck, sighing on contact. I walked lighter than the beginning of the season, but the sting was always there.

I took out my phone and sighed, my fingers grazed the picture of Tiffany. She’s in Vietnam right now, performing. She won’t answer. I checked the calendar and grinned. Tomorrow, tomorrow I see those stupid drummers again. I missed them, all of them. I was excited to spend time with them again, this time as adults. Jonghyun established contact with everyone and somehow it was my responsibility to pick all of them up from the airport before we could start driving to the paintball field. Jonghyun, Jiyong, Seunghyun, and Baekhyun arrived at 9 in the morning while Wooyoung would arrive a half hour later. I did want to impress them, honestly, because we haven’t seen each other in more than 10 years and they all had jobs or duties to fulfill while I was still a student. When I got back to the dorms I called Xiumin out to wash my car. “Why do I have to wash your car?” he whined as I stood back with a grin.

“Because I dominated my track meet and I don’t want to be ogled at if I wash my car,” I said and he sighed.

“That’s true,” he said and wiped suds over the hood. “You talked with the doctor right?”

“Yes, I’m using up three vacation days, he’s cool with it,” I let out a deep breath and continued staring at my phone. To call or not to call? “Should I call Tiffany?”

“Um, shouldn’t she be prepping for the Hanoi concert?” he replied and I sighed.

“Yeah…” I hummed and sat down in the parking lot.

“Just text her about what you’re doing lately, it’s been a while, you both get nervous,” he flung water at me and I rolled back, groaning and flicking my sweater until it felt dry again.

Sent at 7:14 p.m.                                                                                                                    

Tae: Fany-ah, I’m going on a little reunion with my percussionists tomorrow and I won’t get back to my dorm until Monday morning. I’m bringing my phone along, but I don’t know how often I’ll be able to text you since we’ll all be catching up. I dominated my track meet earlier today and things are still tough at the hospital, but it’s almost over for the year. I miss you like Hell and I hope you’re being careful throughout your tour. I love you, Hun, and I hope to talk to you soon <3

I placed my phone in my bag and stood up, seeing Xiumin wash off the soap from my car. I grinned. “It looks great, man, thanks for washing it,” I patted his back and he smiled back at me.

“No problem, Taeng, just make sure to get to the airport on time and say hi to them for me,” he said and I nodded. “Let’s get going, we have an earlier shift today.”

Before heading to the airport, I made sure I had enough clothes and that I packed everything necessary. Looks good, hope I didn’t forget anything. I tossed my bag into the trunk and jumped behind the wheel and checked the time. I won’t be late. With buzzing veins, I drove off toward the airport, smiling wildly and slightly bouncing in my seat. I couldn’t help it, it’s been too long. I my stereo and realized that my car was still connected to my phone and We Like to Party was still on loop. Eh, I like this song, let’s leave it! I stupidly bobbed my head in my seat, all the way to the strip of pick-up lane. I turned off the stereo, knowing none of them had a K-Pop taste, and hopped out of my car. I got my car after moving to Los Angeles so they wouldn’t recognize the Hummer even if I told them to look for one. I noticed it had been ten minutes since their plane landed and took out my phone.

Sent at 9:11 a.m.

Tae: You better not be in TSA but I’m out here by Alaska waiting for you guys.

Sent at 9:20 a.m.

Jong: I was in TSA goddammit

Jong: we’re coming out, look for the legendary pimps

I scoffed and looked up, craning my neck and expecting to see a pack of four idiots. I spotted Seunghyun immediately, towering over everyone with freshly gelled hair, despite us going to paintball. Why is he such a looks fanatic? I sighed and walked over to the door, opening it so I could poke my head in. “Seunghyun! You’re hair’s gonna get messed up!” I shouted and he looked around, obviously dazed, before spotting me and ran over, ditching the other three.

“Taeyeon!” he cheered and nearly ran into the door. Instead, he hit his back against it and I jerked away so my face wouldn’t get hit. “You look good!”

“You too, Seunghyun! Why’d you do your hair?” I asked, patting his head and he smoothed out his black locks, pretending to be suave.

“Because he’s a little ,” Jiyong scoffed and I hugged him briefly, clapping his back. “Good to see you, Taeyeon.”

“You too, Yong,” I sighed and backed up so all four of them could wait on the sidewalk with me. I then went on to greet Baekhyun and Jonghyun. Seunghyun became a high-ranking businessman at a national bank, his wallet practically overflowing with stocks and megabucks. His life was insanely enviable to anyone. Jiyong continued doing music and was the drummer of his own rock band; they were slowly becoming more and more famous. Baekhyun went into marine research, specifically with sharks, and was basically paid to travel and nearly piss his pants by playing with great whites.

“No ing way, you didn’t buy this car!” Jonghyun’s jaw dropped and I smirked, opening up the trunk so they could toss their bags in.

“Grandparents bought it for me. Dream university equals dream car,” I smiled and they all whooped, piling into the back seats. Jonghyun managed to somehow steal shotgun from Jiyong and I turned around, watching them check out the interior, going ballistic over the littlest things from cup holders to the stereos.

“This is completely badass, Tae. Holy , can you remove the roof?!” Seunghyun screeched, pushing on the cloth and I rolled my eyes, turning on the engine to remove the roof. They all freaked out.

“Oh my God! Taeyeon you have the best car of all time!” Baekhyun shouted and the four of them bounced in their seats. Oh my God look at all the people staring at us! I smacked my forehead. It’s been too long since my friends made me look bad. My phone buzzed and I reached into my back pocket, pulling it out. Wooyoung.

“Guys! It’s Woo, be quiet, I’m putting him on speaker,” I called out and they shushed as I answered and placed him on speaker. “Wooyoungie!”

“Taeyeonie! Where are you? I just got out, my plane landed early,” he reported.

“Wooyoung! Taeyeon’s car is amazing!” Seunghyun shouted from behind.

“I know! It’s so epic! Oh, I’ll see you guys in a minute, I see your license plate!” he quickly said and I hung up, looking back.

“Dammit! He’s wearing his camo! He’s gonna kill us in the field!” Jiyong cried and Wooyoung skidded to a stop, grinning like made. He was, in fact, wearing his uniform.

“Make room! Let’s head to the valley already!” Wooyoung insisted, crawling over Jiyong to sit in the back seat with Seunghyun.

“No hi? No “hey it’s been ten years what are you up to”?!” Seunghyun scoffed and the soldier grinned, putting the wealthy man in a headlock.

“Hey it’s been ten years, you look like a rich prick per usual, that’s all I need to know!” he laughed and I shook my head, pulling out of the lane to start our way toward Searles Valley. “Are you all wearing thick clothes? You’re gonna get bruised up if you aren’t.”

“We’re all good, we’re up to kick ,” Jonghyun said, turning his head over his shoulder.

“Anyone forgetting I’m the only one with professional and consistent arms training?” Wooyoung offered, intimidating the crap out of me. I never fired a gun of any kind; I was probably going to be the bait in our little competition.

“How are we still competitive over this after so long?” Baekhyun scoffed and I smirked, turning onto the highway. The wind wasn’t harsh but it was definitely powerful, blowing the stray hairs around my face back and making my five passengers go crazy. When was the last time I drove with the roof down? I was soaked in elatedness.

“Taeyeon! This was a bad idea!” Seunghyun shouted, his voice drowned out by the road and the tires all around us.

“Yes it was!” I shouted back but kept the roof down. It was too much fun to pull back up.

Somewhere along the stretch of highway, the sun and wind made it difficult to drive. I was forced to pull the roof back up and glanced around at my wind stricken passengers, their hair blown into limp lines, all except for Seunghyun who got a great front spike. “This is why you gel!” I noticed the banker swept his hand over the front of his hair in my rear view mirror and shook my head.

“Man, that was awesome,” Jonghyun laughed and he combed his hair into its proper place.

“You guys good?” I asked and they all hummed in approval. “Seunghyun, you got us a house to crash right?”

“Yes! It’s amazing, in the pictures at least; 4 beds, 3 baths, 2000 square feet, a loft, a private roof deck, one block from the beach! It’ll be one Hell of a weekend, I promise,” he assured and I nodded. I wanted to go on vacation, so I asked if any of them could find a nice beachfront house for us to rent for the weekend. Seunghyun, of course, was ecstatic to find and pay for the right place. “Paintballs wash out, right?”

“Yes, your clothes won’t get ruined,” Jonghyun sighed and I chuckled, changing lanes.

“I kind of can’t believe all of you have jobs except me,” I noted.

“It’s true, you’re the one we all looked at to be the most responsible,” Jiyong held onto the back of Jonghyun’s head rest and I sighed. We were all peers, but with all of them getting paid and being successful, for the first time, I felt a little less capable than them. It wasn’t a feeling I was used to around them.

“When it all comes down to it, in the next five years, you’ll probably be making more than any of us when it comes to yearly income,” Baekhyun comforted and I smiled. “Especially since you don’t pay tuition or loans.”

“You don’t have to pay tuition?!” Jonghyun dropped his jaw and I shrugged.

“She got a full ride thanks to her track and field scholarship, so long as she places within the top twenty in each assigned event every season!” Wooyoung reported and I felt my confidence boosting. It was very much needed and I was happy to be with them all over again. 

“Damn, I never knew you were such an athlete,” Seunghyun clicked his tongue and I laughed. “Bet Tiffany likes that .”

“God, don’t bring her up when all of you can gang up on me!” By senior year, we all got closer and I was honest to the percussionists about my uality and tried not to hide it around them anymore. They knew about my affections for Tiffany, and through Wooyoung being stationed in L.A, they knew about our relationship.

“Did you guys bang yet?” I reached behind me and swatted Baekhyun in the face. “Ow!”

“Don’t! You guys are awful!” I groaned and sped up as I saw a tailgater behind me. Some people never change even after high school huh?

“Is that a no?” Jonghyun teased and I full on punched his shoulder. “Ow! It took you like five years to first hit me as a teenager, as adults it took you three hours!”

“Stress of being an adult, you’re lucky I haven’t hit any of you sooner,” I snapped, turning onto a smaller road. Almost there, holy , this is actually happening. We all waited too long for the trip to happen, it was almost too surreal. “Ten minutes, guys!”