A/N: Hiya everyone! I started on my first job this week and it's fun but kinda tiring. Studying was different. I think I like studying more. The good news is my sched gives me plenty of time to write.So... dropping off this week's update! Thanks for the new upvotes and the new subscribers! Please leave comments so I'll know what to improve and what you guys think of the story so far!

Word count: 2679 words

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Tuesday.

The morning was a hazy blur for Sejeong. She remembers waking up to an empty bed and Nayoung popping out of somewhere to give her breakfast and coffee and telling her to shower because they have to catch the train in thirty minutes. She remembers all of that. But barely.

Right now, as she sits by the aisle of a train car heading to Moppo, she wonders if she’s really here or if she’s actually floating through time and space like a-

“Are you hungover?” Nayoung asks, inclines her head to side as she looks at her.

Sejeong slowly turns to her. “No. I wasn’t even drunk last night. Tipsy probably. But not drunk.”

“So what’s with this?” Nayoung waves her hand about her face. Sejeong lazily grabs a hold of it and tosses it away.

“I hardly slept.” Nayoung swallows.

“Is it because you shared the bed with me? Have you never shared a bed with anyone before?”

Sejeong nearly bursts out laughing because that is a good question which she won’t answer. “No, that’s not it.” She yawns behind her hand. “I guess I had too much adrenaline left over from all the running.”

 “Then you should probably try to get some sleep now.”

Sejeong nods her head at Nayoung’s suggestion but not even ten minutes passed when that thought goes out the window, more like thrown out the window, as a group of teenage girls walk into their train car and settle on the seats opposite them from across the aisle.

“I’m telling you it’s a foolproof plan to get booze!”

“Uh, that may be the case with you ‘cause you’re like 180 cm tall but one look at Yoodaeng and they’re gonna find out that we’re all minors!”

“Why are we even talking about buying that stuff? Doyeon-ah, do you really want anything to do with this?”

“Oh no! She’s trying to sway her!”

Sejeong heaves a sigh, smiles weakly at Nayoung. It’s going to be a long ride.

--

Only an hour had passed since their train left the station. Only an hour. And yet Nayoung feels like it’s been an eternity. She sighs loudly, turns her head slightly to look at Sejeong who has her eyes screwed shut tightly, probably still attempting to sleep but terribly failing. Anyone would, given the ruckus those high schoolers are making.

Nayoung considers (reconsiders) doing something to get them to lower their voices a bit because all of the occupants of their train car pretty much know who they are and what they’re up to by this time (and honestly, they can’t even be blamed for eavesdropping when those kids are pretty much announcing everything). Also, Sejeong really has to sleep ‘cause she’s so sleepy she looks like she hasn’t slept for a week (which is kind of cute but she needs to sleep!).  

So Nayoung makes up her mind, swallows hard (high schoolers are really scary these days) as she leans over Sejeong (who’s sitting close to the aisle) to bring herself closer to them.

“Uh, excuse me.”

Four pairs of eyes land on Nayoung and she has to swallow again. “I, uh, don’t mean to be rude but could you lower your voices a little? My friend is just really tired right now and she could use some rest.”

“Oh! Are we being a bother?” The girl closest to the aisle exclaims, eyes wide. “We’re sorry.” Nayoung blinks back at them, noticing for the first time how the girl is really cute.

“It’s just that we’re really excited ‘cause it’s our first out of town trip. We’ll lower our voices. Sorry.” The one next to her says, offers an apologetic smile to Nayoung.

“Uh…”

“No, it’s fine. You guys can talk as loud as you want.” Nayoung looks at Sejeong who was apparently watching the entire time she was talking to the high schoolers.  She raises an eyebrow at her because she’s starting to notice something about Sejeong - she has a weakness for cute thi- uh - people.

“It’s fine, Nayoung. Let’s not spoil their fun.” Sejeong says which further confirms her suspicions.

“But you-”

“Oh, unnies! Are you two a couple?” One of the high schoolers interrupt.

“Huh?” Nayoung blinks at them.

“You look good together.” The tallest of the four says.

Before she could groan at being suspected to be Sejeong’s girlfriend or something again, another one of the high schoolers speak up.

“You’re not saying that because you think their height difference is cute, right? Because yours with Yoojung isn’t.”

“Let her live, Mina. It’s their 100^th day or something. And I bet you’re just bitter because Sohye pretty much rejected your invitation.”

“Hey! She didn’t reject it! She just had other plans first. If anything, it’s you who got rejected, Yoo Yeonjung.”

“I did not! Dayoung wanted to come! But her parents wouldn’t let her.”

From the chaos taking place, Sejeong starts chuckling. Nayoung looks at her curiously.

“Why are you laughing?”

Sejeong shakes her head, answers with one word. “Youth.”

Nayoung stares at Sejeong, wondering what she meant with that and Sejeong only shrugs at her. They turn to the high schoolers again to find that Mina and Yeonjung have now stood up and are trying to choke each other. But then, their train comes to a stop with a jolt, turning heads all over the cabin. The speakers crackle overhead with an announcement that there has been a malfunction in one of the engines, hence, the unscheduled stop, and that it will take at most an hour to get it fixed.

There’s collective groaning from the passengers and Mina and Yeonjung let go of each other and calmly return to their seats.

“Well, this .” Doyeon mutters.

“Yeah, and we’re out of snacks too!” Mina pouts, gestures to the numerous snack wrappers littering their spot. “The snack lady hasn’t come yet.”

“What do we do now?” Nayoung sees the possibility of death by boredom hover above the teenagers threateningly like a cloud. The smallest of the group is the bravest to kill it with one suggestion.

“Shall we play some games then?” Yoojung speaks up. Her eyes wander across the aisle to her and Sejeong. “You wanna join us, unnies?”

--

How were they supposed to know that games meant a round of random, fast-paced, rhythm based plays with rules and mechanics too confusing for someone in their mid-twenties to comprehend much less follow? In the end, Sejeong and Nayoung both lost to the high schoolers. So now, they have to shoulder the expenses for all of their snacks.

“You won’t wriggle your way out of buying us food, right, unnies?” Mina asks with a frown on her face.

“We won’t! It’s just that the snack lady’s taking so long to come here.” Sejeong says, good-naturedly waving off the younger girl’s concern.

“Why don’t we just go and look for her then? I mean, the train’s not moving and we could probably use the exercise.” Yoojung suggests. Doyeon looks at her with pursed. “What? Why?”

“We don’t know which direction the snack lady will be coming from.” Doyeon frowns.

“We can split into groups. One team goes this way and the other that way.” Yoojung replies, points to the front and the back directions. But the look on Doyeon’s face doesn’t change.

“No, we are not separating. I’m not letting you out of my sight, Choi Yoojung.” Doyeon says firmly. Yoojung blinks for a moment then she bursts into a smile. Mina rolls her eyes.

“It’s only for a few minutes, Doyeon-ah.” She says.

“Not when the train isn’t moving like this. We don’t even know the reason why it stopped. What if… there are zombies here? You saw that movie with me. We can’t get separated. Because… who’s gonna fight off the zombies for you?” Sejeong wonders if Doyeon is kidding but one look at the younger girl’s face tells her that she isn’t.

“Aww. Nice try, Dodo. But this train isn’t even headed to Busan.” Mina interrupts.

“Shut up, Mina. Nobody asked for your opinion.” Doyeon spits at her.

“Okaayy,” Sejeong jumps in the fray before it could get any more heated. “Kids, we aren’t going to get any snacks if you fight. And, Yoojung has a point. We can go look for the snack lady.”

Doyeon turns to her, ready to argue but Sejeong stops her. “I think it’s highly unlikely that there are zombies in this train, Doyeon. Besides, looking for the snack lady won’t take that long. And Since Nayoung and I are buying, I suggest that one of you go with me to one end and another with Nayoung to go to the other to look for her.”

“I volunteer Yoojung and Doyeon!” Mina raises her hand. “Someone has to stay here to watch our bags.” She says in reply to the death glare Doyeon throws at her.

“I second the motion!” Yeonjung claps.

“But-”

“Doyeon, it’s okay. You can trust me. If ever there are zombies, I’ll protect Yoojung for you.” Nayoung says to her.

Doyeon ponders for a moment, looks at Nayoung as if she’s sizing her up. “No, I’ll go with you. Yoojung can go with Sejeong unnie.” Doyeon turns to Yoojung before Nayoung can reply. “Go with Sejeong unnie. Hurry and don’t lag, okay?”
 

Sejeong laughs and Nayoung just looks offended. But Doyeon quickly grabs Nayoung and pulls her to the south end of the train so she won’t have time to argue as Sejeong and Yoojung head to the north end.

Nayoung didn’t even have time to begin to express her offense to the younger girl’s lowly thoughts of her when Doyeon starts to question her.

“So how did you and Sejeong unnie meet?” Doyeon asks, looks at her as they step into the next train car.

“Us? Well, I hate to break it to you but we’re not a couple. We just met on the bus stop yesterday and since we happen to be heading to the same place, we decided to stick together.” Nayoung says.

Doyeon gives her a confused look. “I’m telling the truth.” Nayoung lifts up her right hand, scout’s honor. “But what about you and Yoojung then. How did you two meet?” She drops her hand to her side, shoves it in the pocket of her shorts after.

“Oh, us? Well… I’ve known her my whole life.” Doyeon starts. “We lived in the same block, went to the same school, share the same friends. On top of that, she’s my bestest friend in the whole word. You could say it was natural for us to fall in love with each other.” Doyeon’s grin is part proud, part shy.

“Really now?” Nayoung exclaims, intrigued.

“Yeah, I know it sounds like the plot to some unoriginal teenage film but that’s how it is.” Doyeon shrugs.

“You’re a lucky one. Must be great.” Nayoung says before she can stop herself.

“Unnie, you know that you can be as happy as me if you let yourself, right? Why don’t you try it with Sejeong unnie? There’s something there, I know it.” Doyeon’s face take on a serious look.

And Nayoung’s really getting tired of this misconception. “Look, kid. I told you we only met on the bus stop yesterday.”

“Did you really? What’s with this chemistry you two have then? Oh, wait. Don’t tell me. There’s someone else. That’s it, isn’t it? Whose side? Yours? Sejeong unnie’s? Or both?” Doyeon leans closer to her, eyes boring into hers that she nearly trips over her own feet since she wasn’t looking where she was walking.

Nayoung steadies her, sighs. “You’re quite nosy, aren’t you?”

“Some people call it persistence. Yoojung likes it when I do this.” Doyeon scratches the back of her head, suddenly shy.

“Let’s say it is then. But let’s talk about you and Yoojung.” Nayoung replies.

“Why are you trying to change the topic?”

“I’m buying, alright? The least you can do is talk!” She frowns a little at the younger girl.

“Fine.” Doyeon’s shoulders fall to a slouch then she stands straight up again so she’s towering over Nayoung again.

“Tell me more about you and Yoojung.” Nayoung pushes.

“Well, it hasn’t been long since we started officially going out. Only one hundred days to be exact. Like I said, she and I have been best friends since we were kids. Girlfriends? It hasn’t been long.”

“Let me guess. You both had the ‘just friends or something more’ dilemma?”

“How did you know?” Doyeon looks at her, eyebrows raised.

“No offense but It’s a cliche. Falling for your best friend.” Nayoung watches as the expression on Doyeon’s face becomes mischievous again.

“Oh, unnie! Is this the case with you and Sejeong unnie too?”

“Stop trying to make this about me and Sejeong!” Doyeon laughs at the look of annoyance on Nayoung’s face.

“You’re fun to tease, unnie.” Doyeon purses her lips, clears , and becomes serious again. “Anyway, with Yoojung… I’ve loved her for all of my life.”

“For the most part, as friends, of course. And now, with a slight change of context. But it’s love just the same.” Doyeon shrugs.

Nayoung smiles at the way Doyeon uses such big words and she can’t help but to think that she’s quite mature for a first-year high school student. She wonders if she was this mature at this age. Well, she had her studies and her family to keep her busy then. So, no, she probably wasn’t. At least not when it comes to love.

Which brings Nayoung to ask “How did you know though?”

“That I love her?” Doyeon pauses then shrugs again. “I just do. I just know it in my bones.”

Nayoung doesn’t say anything. As they move into the next train car, she starts to ask herself the same question. How did she know? Five years ago, when she was running to the library on that rainy day in July. How did she know that it was love? What made her so sure that she confessed to the girl who bugged her all semester just so she would go out on one date with her? Now that she really thinks about it, she can’t say because there’s too much in the way of remembering.

But Nayoung needs to know how people know that they’re in love. Even if it’s a shameless act to ask a high schooler.

“But seriously, Doyeon…”

Doyeon takes a deep breath. “It’s a little hard to explain. I’m only seventeen for crying out loud! But I know. I know that I want to be with her, that I want to protect her, that I want to make her smile, that I want to be the first person she runs to whenever something, anything, happens to her. I want to be hers. And I want her to be mine.”

“How are you so sure? You said it yourself. You’re only seventeen.”

“Sure about what, unnie? My feelings? You’d be sure too if you knew Yoojung for as long as I have. There’s just no helping it. Falling for her.”

Knowing. Knowing and time. It can’t be just that. She knew Suhyun. She and Suhyun had five years together. Then again, that’s not as much as Doyeon and Yoojung’s lifetime together. Did she lose out because of time? No, there has to be more. She has to find out what it is, find out how other people do it.

“So you’re sure about that. But how are you sure that she feels the same and that she won’t hurt you? That you’ll be together until the end of time or something?”

Doyeon laughs out loud, mouth wide open and hands clapping together. “I’m not. But love isn’t really about that. If I love Yoojung more, does that mean she’ll hurt me in the end? Or if I love Yoojung less, would I end up hurting her? I don’t have to be sure if we feel the same for me to love her.” Doyeon smiles at her.

“And as for us being together until the end of time, that’s really up to us, is it not? I know I’ll fight for her. I’ll fight to stay in love with her. I’ll fight to make sure she also stays in love with me. I’ll fight so hard and she won’t be able to ignore the fact that we’re meant to be together.”

Nayoung has no words left to say so she just looks at the younger girl in admiration.

“Oh, unnie! The snack lady’s right there!”