☼ Conquering Desperado ☼

“Full house again! Hell yeah, I’m ready for Vegas!” 

“Watch it!” Seohyun and Min exclaimed in unison after Seungri accidently kicked the back of their seats during his outburst. 

“How hilarious would it be if this was your lucky hand and when we get there you get the worst cards?” Taeyang asked as he gathered the cards into a pile and started shuffling them for the next game.

“Hilarious? That’d be a tragedy” 

“A hilarious tragedy” TOP added from the driver’s seat. 

Seohyun turned watch Taeyang and Seungri's next game while Min rode in silence with her headphones on. During their breakfast at Denny's, Fei explained to them the plan. In the beginning, they weren’t that enthusiastic since seconds before Fei started talking they had barely gotten their much needed caffeine, but after a couple of short naps they started to feel energetic. Even Seohyun was making plans with Fei about shows they just had to go see since they only had a couple of nights to enjoy Vegas.

Min had convinced herself that the only reason she wasn’t as excited as the others was because she was tired. But she wondered just how long that excuse would last. They had about an hour left before they arrived to their hotel and choosing to stay back in the room was going to garner unwanted concern. She wanted them all to enjoy themselves and leave their worries behind, especially Fei and TOP. 

“Full house once again!” Seungri yelled in triumph, but Seohyun gave Taeyang a look. “Have you seriously been letting him believe that those cards equal a full house?” Taeyang smirked as Seungri dropped his arms. “Dude! Not cool!” “Hey, I told you to read the instructions.” Seungri huffed and fell back into his seat, “I think I’ll stick with the machines” “Good idea” Seohyun said, turning back forward and opening her book once again.

“Want to play 21 then?” “Yeah, sure” Seungri mumbled, then glanced up at Min, who had been quiet the entire ride. She had put on her headphones and turned her body to the window, giving an unconscious sign that she didn’t want to be disturbed and it’d be a lie to say her reserved attitude didn’t make him worry. 

Taeyang glanced up at Seungri when he didn’t pick up his cards, then followed his gaze to Min.

Oh. Right.

Taeyang really had no business in Seungri and Min’s relationship, or whatever they called it. He assumed they were dating since they were always together, but TOP had told him that they were just childhood friends. If Junho, Min’s ex-boyfriend, hadn’t told him that Seungri had always been in love with Min and that no one else had a chance with her but him, he would’ve believed the whole best friends story, but he honestly wasn’t sure what was going on. It’s not like he and Min talked like good friends anymore or he and Seungri are close buddies. He also had other things to worry about throughout the years and finally, he knew that it wasn’t his business.

Both he and Min decided to move on from their high school days. 

“Hit me” Taeyang broke out of his thoughts and looked at Seungri, shocked. “Why?” Seungri looked up from his cards and gave him an amused smile. “Card, Taeyang. Not for real” “Oh. Right. Sorry” Taeyang laughed it off and handed him a card.

Part of him thought Seungri had read into that bottled up anger Taeyang felt for him. Sure it wasn’t out of hatred; it was just a small, tiny jealous emotion that still lived on from his high school days. Everyone has those feelings right?

“Hm” Seungri studied his cards as Taeyang did the same for his.

Min jumped in her seat when her phone started to ring, making Seohyun do the same. “Sorry” She mumbled as she quickly removed her headphones and fished for her phone in her bag. 

“Hello?” 

“Hello Ms. Lee this is Josh from Chase. I’m calling to let you know that there was recently a withdrawal of $2,500 that went past your alert limit. Did you authorize that withdrawal?”

“Depends. Who cashed it in?”

“It says that the Red Cross Hospital in Santa Cruz made the withdrawal”

“Then yes, I approved that withdrawal. Thank you for letting me know”

“All right Ms. Lee. If you need anything else, please give us a call”

“Yeah, thanks. Bye”

Min sighed as she hanged up. She had left a 500 dollar check to pay for part of the hospital bill for her mother since she also had rent to pay that week, but of course her mother had found a way to change it. It wasn’t that she didn’t have money left or savings, but it pissed her off that her mother hadn’t changed one bit. She could’ve easily told them that she hadn’t authorized the money, but as much as she wanted to be a stone cold , she couldn’t. The "but she's your mom" statement always popped up next to her cynical thoughts. 

“Should we stop by?” Min heard Fei ask TOP from the front and then noticed that they were approaching Buffalo Bill Hotel and Casino. “Ask them” TOP responded. “Yes. Let’s stop by. I think it’s time I conquer that damn roller coaster” Min spoke up, swallowing her bad attitude and deciding that she wasn’t going to ruin this trip for her friends with her mother problems.

“Are you actually going to get on this time? Last time we came here you started crying while we were waiting in line” Fei teased, making Min scoff. “Excuse me, I was 7. And in case you forgot you didn’t even want to go on the log ride that five, not one, but five 3-year-olds went on. You can’t judge me”

“So I’m guessing you two have been here before?” TOP asked as he exited out of the freeway. “Vegas was too expensive, so it was either Buffalo Bill or Pyramid Lake. Has anyone else been here?”

Everyone other than Min answered no.

“Wait Pyramid Lake? Isn’t that where they found two bodies?”

“Yes, that’s the place”

Everyone gave Min a disturbed look, “And you swam in that?” Taeyang asked, looking from Fei to Min.

“That happened like 2 years ago! We stopped going way before that-”

“Okay, enough about dead bodies in lakes. We’re here” TOP interrupted, merging into the parking lot.

 “Why is it that every time we come here they’re racing dirt bikes?”

“Do you think it's a sign that we should buy some dirt bikes?”

“Min, you crashed your bike into a stand of oranges at the farmer’s market, how on earth can you handle a dirt bike?” Seohyun asked, making Min laugh.

Fei and Seungri smiled at each other when they realized that both of them had turned to look at Min when she laughed. Her laugh was a norm in their lives, but after getting back from visiting her mother, who they knew she didn’t exactly get along with, she just seemed tired and sad. It was nice to see her smile again.

“You’re right. Maybe it’s a sign that I shouldn’t get one”

“So what do we do now? Go in, play, then meet up here or….?”

“Depends on what you consider playing. There is a large area full of arcade games in the back and that is where I will be playing. Oh, I need to get tickets for the log ride too”

“And the rollercoaster?” Taeyang asked, looking up at the skinny railed roller coaster above their heads that could give adult nightm