A/N: Hey, everyone! To the new subscribers, welcome! :) So, I recently got a job which means I might not be able to update as early as I want to. But I would still try my best to update every week. Thanks for reading thus far! Enjoy this update and leave comments if you can! See y'all around! :)

Word count: 1,939 words

-----------------------

Monday. Night.

Fueled by adrenaline and something Nayoung can’t quite put her finger on just yet, she runs after, dare she call them that, her friends. They run past trees and shrubbery, through food stalls and tents and parked cars without even looking over their shoulders in fear of seeing their chasers. Sejeong has stopped asking questions after almost tripping on a tree root so that’s good. She’s probably saving her breath too like Nayoung is.

By the time Nayoung feels like her lungs have been reduced to airless balloons, Heehyun and Chaeyeon have stopped running to dive behind an overgrown hedge. Nayoung and Sejeong follow suit.

“What. The. Hell. Guys.” Sejeong manages to let out in between pants.

“Why’d you… follow us?” Heehyun isn’t off any better.

“You look like you could use our help.” Nayoung says, seeing Chaeyeon practically shaking as she tries to catch her breath. Heehyun moves closer to her, tries to calm her down.

“Well, I’m really desperate right now so I’ll take it.” She says, wraps an arm around Chaeyeon as she tells her it’s going to be okay.

“What do you need?”

“A diversion.” Heehyun says.

Nayoung’s eyes go from Sejeong to Chaeyeon to Heehyun and then back to Sejeong again.

“Take your clothes off.” Sejeong’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

“I’m sorry, what?” Sejeong says to her, jaw dropped in shock.

“Take your clothes off! Hurry!” Nayoung hisses. She turns to Heehyun. “Give me your cap. And your clothes too!”

Heehyun and Sejeong exchange confused looks but still do what they’re told.

“Chaeyeon’s too noticeable because she’s wearing a dress.” Nayoung mutters to herself. “Do you think you can fit in Sejeong’s shorts?” She says this to Chaeyeon who nods. Upon hearing this, Heehyun understands what Nayoung is trying to do so she picks up the pace.

“Chaeyeon ripped her poncho while running. It’ll be a dead giveaway.” Heehyun takes the poncho from her girlfriend and hands it to Sejeong who is pulling on Chaeyeon’s summer dress over her head.

So with Chaeyeon in Sejeong’s clothes and with Heehyun in Nayoung’s clothes, the two get ready for their escape while Sejeong (in Chaeyeon’s clothes) and Nayoung (in Heehyun’s clothes) position themselves to create that diversion.

“When I say go, we jump out.” Nayoung says, hand holding on to Sejeong’s tightly. “So you two better be ready to run as fast as you can.” She looks over at Heehyun once but stops.

“I don’t know how to thank you both enough.” She says, eyes looking rather watery. “We probably won’t see each other again-”

“Are you really going to start crying now?” Sejeong cuts her off. It’s enough to snap Heehyun back to attention.

“Right.” She clears . “I’ll find a way to repay you both somehow.”

Nayoung just nods and Sejeong just smirks.

“So, now that that’s out of the way… Go!” The two of them jump out of their hiding place just in time to see the uniformed guards rounding up the corner.

--

The door opens with a squeak and two pairs of feet heavily pad across the carpeted floor. One figure collapses face down, on top of the bed and the other by the floor, just next to it.

“Wow.” Nayoung mutters.

“Yeah. Wow.” Sejeong says, looks up at Nayoung from her spot on the floor. “I’ve never run so much since I was in high school.”

“I’ve never run so much since ever.” Nayoung says. They stare at each other and then laugh it off, laugh their exhaustions off. “We’re lucky they let us off the hook when they caught us.”

“Yeah.” Sejeong takes a deep breath. “I do hope that Heehyun and Chaeyeon got away safely.” She adds.

“Yeah, me too.” Nayoung trails off, her mind trying to replay what has happened tonight. “You didn’t get to do a lot of covering, did you?” She suddenly remembers about Sejeong’s work.

The other girl only shrugs. “It’s fine. It’s a three-day event.”

“You’re going back there tomorrow?” Sejeong doesn’t miss the edge on Nayoung’s voice.

“Huh? No. I meant my other two colleagues can cover the rest for me.” She says, voice gentle. “We’re still off to Moppo together, you know?”

“Yeah. I just thought… never mind.” Nayoung lies on her back this time and stares at the ceiling. Sejeong curiously watches her, wondering what was going on in her mind.

She figures she can probe a little. “How did you know though?”

“Hmm?” Nayoung turns her head to look at her.

“About Heehyun and Chaeyeon’s, uh, predicament.” Sejeong answers.

“Heehyun told me. Well, she didn’t exactly tell me. She gave me hints. While you and Chaeyeon had gone to the toilet.” Nayoung explains.

“I never saw it coming to be honest. I thought she was acting like that because she’s an . Turns out she was carrying something that heavy on her shoulders the entire time.” Sejeong looks up at the ceiling, copying Nayoung.

Nayoung nods. She takes a deep breath and thinks about how she can’t help but to be amazed at Heehyun. That girl is a tough one. Who knew that she was living through something like that? Something as ed up as Romeo and Juliet. Nayoung has no idea how long have they been running away from Chaeyeon’s family. Or why they’re even running away from them. Yes, she has her guesses (images of Heehyun wearing a red headband and angrily shouting into a megaphone tells her they’ve met way before and that certainly doesn’t look like it’ll serve a good first impression to sheltered Princess Chaeyeon’s powerful father) but without Heehyun spelling it out for her, there’s no way to be sure. One thing she’s sure of, though, is that Heehyun’s tenacity is admirable. Nayoung can’t ever imagine herself in the girl’s shoes. Leaving the comfort of one’s home to run away in order to be with the love of their life? Not her cup of tea. She can’t even think about it. Even if it’s with Suhyun. She’d probably give up on day one. Heehyun and Chaeyeon must really love each other to fight for each other like that.

“Yeah. I never thought she’d be that cool. And I guess she was right, too. Everyone has a secret to keep.” Nayoung mumbles.

Sejeong turns to her, lies on her side and props her head with her elbow to get a better view of Nayoung on the bed.

“Really now? So what secrets are you keeping?” A smile forms on her lips, suddenly intrigued.

“Do you really want to know?” Nayoung says. Sejeong nods. “You gotta tell me some of yours too.”

“Fine. I’ll start off. I have a bit of neck hair.” She says with a straight face.

“Eww! Too much information!” Nayoung exclaims and Sejeong laughs.

“Your turn!” She sits up, excited.

“Uh, I once went about without washing my hair for a whole week.” Nayoung’s tone rises at the end, like she’s unsure of what she’s saying. Sejeong scrunches her nose.

“Ugh. Okay! Change of theme! I don’t want us to try and gross each other out.” She pauses, thinks of a game changer. “I was raised by my grandparents because my mom was out working all of the time.”

“Oh, so that’s why you talk like that?” Nayoung comments. Sejeong rolls her eyes. She knew that would be brought up sooner or later.

“I was in college when I had my first kiss.” Nayoung reveals.

“You were? I was in middle school when I had mine.” Nayoung glares at Sejeong who ignores the hostility and continues. “Okay, my turn. Uh, I’m not really on this trip just for work. Truthfully, I’m looking for something.” She leans toward the bed, eyes on the taller girl.

“You are? Well, I’m on this trip because I’m running away from something.” Nayoung takes Sejeong’s look head on.

“Like what?”

“Like the fact that my girlfriend of five years didn’t show up to our wedding today and that this is supposed to be our honeymoon.”

Sejeong immediately falls silent. How was she supposed to make a comeback from that?

--

The silence in the room causes a ringing in Sejeong’s ears. They were all chatty and laughing not too long ago too. She didn’t really make that up in her head, right? She thinks about this as she throws a worried look at Nayoung who is still on the bed, still in Heehyun’s clothes when she, Sejeong, has already moved from the floor to the couch and had also changed from Chaeyeon’s flowery summer dress to her own comfy pajamas.

So that’s what it is - what makes Nayoung look so lonely, lost, and confused, what weighed heavy on her shoulders, what had kept her standing under the rain when she could’ve moved less than half a meter back to get under the protection of the canopy of the bus stop.

Sejeong bites her lip, racks her brain for the right words. There must be something she can say to lessen the tension, to comfort Nayoung. She opens not really knowing what she was going to say and ends up promptly closing it again as Nayoung gets up from the bed and move to get clothes from her carrier.

Sejeong swallows hard, prepares for another attempt. However, this time, Nayoung goes to the bathroom and locks the door behind her.

Sejeong sighs. At least she’s given more time to think? Okay. So she really feels so guilty about all of this. Why? Because she knows she’s to blame. How on earth was she supposed to know that Nayoung was actually going on her supposed honeymoon with her fiancée who went 1999 Julia Roberts on her? Why did she even do that? But what’s done is done. She knows what she has to do now.

The bathroom door swings open and Nayoung comes out of the bathroom. Sejeong panics and spills what is on her mind.

“Listen, I’m sorry.” She blurts out. Nayoung stops in her tracks to get back to the bed, blinks at Sejeong.

“For what?” She asks, hand gripping the towel hanging over her neck.

“For making you get on the bus when you said you wouldn’t go.” Sejeong frowns at her hands.

“Oh.” Nayoung purses her lips, thinks. “It’s not your fault. I probably shouldn’t have insisted on coming in the first place and then try to back out at the last minute.”

“I’m still sorry though.” Sejeong pauses, looks up at her. “And I’m sorry for what happened.”

Nayoung’s eyes widen. “I didn’t mean to make things awkward by telling you-”

“No, it’s fine. I’m glad you told me.” Sejeong stops her.  If anyone has to be sorry, it’s her. And she really meant what she said. She’s grateful that Nayoung told her. Saved them both from so much trouble. (Or maybe just her.)

“You are?” Nayoung asks and she nods.

For a moment, they don’t say anything. Sejeong just watches Nayoung walk back to the bed. It’s not until she’s sitting there when she speaks again.

“Can you do me a favor though?” She looks at Sejeong, eyes wide and expectant.

“Yeah, sure. What is it?” Sejeong asks, wants nothing more than to make it up to Nayoung.

“Don’t pity me. I don’t particularly like the feeling.” Sejeong blinks. “And one more thing… if it’s not too much to ask, do you think you can share the bed with me? It’s just that sleeping alone feels like rubbing salt to open wounds.” Again, she could only blink.