Short Story Title: See You On The Next Trip

Chapter Title: Moments

This chap is sooo long for me, I actually had to cut some parts. I swear. I got a suggestion from my classmate that I should cut it in two chaps but, I don’t feel like doing that. So I had to jump parts. Sorry.

I am seriously not good at this and I am obviously rushing this. I could feel that I am going to be busy since our second term started. But hang on, I think there still be a few chaps left for this “short story”

As always, please enjoy. Or at least try.

Wednesday.

Lisa stirs up from her slumber, she doesn’t know why she did and how she woke up so early, but she knows she had to. She looks around and sees a very unfamiliar room, when her eyes landed on a picture of her mom and dad, she finally remembered where she is. She then tiptoed her way to her room to check on Jennie, and when she saw the girl all snuggled up to her pillow, a smile crawled on her face.

“Good morning…” she whispers from the door then closes it gently.

Lisa rarely wakes up early in the morning, especially if her class starts later than 7AM. However, today is an exception, she had to wake up early to get themselves something to eat for breakfast. Moments like this makes Lisa wish she had the cooking skills of her father. She couldn’t even fry an egg without gearing up for it. She rolls her eyes to herself as she makes her run to the nearest café around the block. In times like this, Lisa expects a busy road with busses and cars honking at each other as if it was their way of yelling and cursing. But today, the road is surprisingly not bombarded with cars. There’s no traffic jam and every people that she crosses path with, has a smile on their face. Far from what she would usually see at 8AM. Even though her sleep isn’t enough, what greeted her outside their house was enough for her to look forward to whatever this day is about to bring.

She chuckles at the refreshing thought, opening the door to their house then placing the keys on the wall. She stares at the paper bag of the café on her way to the kitchen, wondering— wondering if she was only brave enough to face her fears of cooking, she could’ve made Jennie some breakfast. However, due to her non-existent cooking skills, she couldn’t. She would probably burn the house down if she tried, that is why her mom had packed microwavable meals for her whenever she goes on a trip.

She places the meal down the counter then grabs a plate for the pastries. The wide smile on her face was soon wiped away as the thought of their midnight conversation linger at the back of her mind. It was short but somehow, it made Lisa wonder why, until she fell asleep. The words were nailed to her memory. They were glued to her head as if they were announcements that should be taken seriously. She wondered why Jennie had told her that.

“Seoul and Auckland...” she whispers under her breath as her whole body freezes, in front of the fridge, at the thought of it. The distance. The time. “Why would she say that?”

Lisa’s trail of thoughts was put into a stop when a groggy voice followed by a long yawn greets her, “G-good morning...” Jennie says.

“Hey,” Lisa greets back, opening the fridge to get herself some milk. “I bought us some breakfast.”

Jennie grins at Lisa like a little kid then goes near the counter where the food was placed. She closes her eyes as she takes in the scent of a freshly baked cinnamon roll and bagel that greeted her already good of a morning.

Lisa chuckles silently, admiring how Jennie looked like when she was smelling the pastries. She closes the fridge, walking a little bit closer besides Jennie who was about to grab a piece of cinnamon roll. “Put it in a plate at least.” Lisa says, stopping Jennie from moving her hand another inch closer to the bread. The latter pouts, taking the plate swiftly away from Lisa’s hand, causing the taller girl to chuckle softly.

“I have a class later,” Lisa says, taking a huge bite from her cinnamon roll.

Jennie takes a quick glance at Lisa then goes back to her breakfast, her nose scrunches up lightly at the thought of Lisa going to school today. “What time?”

“It starts in an hour,” Lisa utters, slowly looking up to peek at Jennie. She smiles a bit, without even knowing why. There’s just something about Jennie that makes her smile and she’s sure enough everyone would probably do the same. Jennie is like that old cartoon that people used and loved to watch back in the days that when you see it, it gives you that kind of unexplainable vibe. Lisa feels lucky enough to experience it.

“We better hurry up then,” Jennie mumbles. “You know, you shouldn’t eat cinnamon rolls…”

Lisa gives Jennie a confused look with slight agape and the cinnamon roll placed just a few inches away from .

“It’s cannibalism because you’re a cinnamon roll…” Jennie laughs out loud, finding her own joke funny. As usual, Lisa just stared at Jennie with no expression at all. She rolls her eyes playfully and before she takes a bite of her bread, she gives it a glance, apologizing to it silently.

Lisa rummages inside her bag, looking for her ID, she waves it triumphantly at the guard then enters the university with all her might and pride. She sees a couple of her classmates just outside their college building, making her wonder why they were there. She glances on her watch and it made her wonder more, seeing that there’s only five minutes left before their class starts. Lisa isn’t really the kind of person who would start up a conversation, but for the sake of knowing what’s up, she casually walks towards her classmates.

“What are you still guys doing here?” She asks, trying her very best to sound lively and friendly.

“Mr. Kang is in a meeting,” the blond girl, who Lisa remembers as Momo, says with a bright smile that Lisa can’t help but smile as well.

“Great…” Lisa says, letting out a disappointed sigh thinking about how Jennie and she, rushed their breakfast only for her to find out that their professor is in a meeting. Lisa fishes her phone out of her pocket, but before she could type in a message to Chaeyoung, the latter was already calling. “Please tell me you don’t have a class too.” she sighs.

“I was just about to tell you that! Meet us at the field?”

“Yeah sure.” Lisa puts her phone back to her pocket before making a run to the field.

She spots her two friends in the middle of the bleachers, sitting like two typical school royalties adored by many. Jisoo waves frantically at her, grinning like a little kid, successfully taking away the possibility that Jisoo could fit the royalty image. Chaeyoung, on the other hand, smiles at her like how a mother would whenever she sees her kid coming home from school. “Have you heard it?”

Lisa rolls her eyes, placing her bag on the lower row then takes a seat. “Obviously I haven’t.” She says, reigning with sarcasm.

“They announced it this morning, I didn’t really understand what they said because I was dozing off, I just caught the part wherein they said that there will be no classes on Friday and Saturday.” Jisoo says. Normal people would’ve cheered at the news, like how Chaeyoung just cheered when Jisoo finished recapping what she heard, but Lisa— Lisa stayed unamused. “That’s probably why almost all the teachers are in a meeting.”

“Well that’s pretty convenient…” Lisa says as her eyes wander around the field, watching each player kick around the ball.

“Anyway…” Chaeyoung says, clapping her hands to grab the other two’s attention, “I gathered you both here to ask you to help plan the trip out.”

“I thought you already have it planned out?” Lisa wonders, her eyes still fixated on the players.

“Do I look like I have all the time in the world?” Chaeyoung retorts.

“Uhm… yes you do?” Lisa says, obviously not agreeing with Chaeyoung. Chaeyoung is practically that college student who has all the time in the world, even if she has an exam tomorrow, you can still invite her to a party and she would agree without second thoughts.

“Who cares? Just help me out.” Chaeyoung aimlessly waves her hand all over Lisa’s face, as if it was the best thing to do to change topics. She knows she won’t be able to win over this argument. So, to save herself from humiliation, she quickly distracts Lisa, which failed but she carried onto her next topic anyway, “Where should we go next? I mean all we did was eat out, hang out with you in your death bed, and watch a movie. So where should we go next?”

Jisoo immediately shrugs, erasing her name on the list of contributors for ideas. She isn’t really the best person to ask where the best place is, she would just go and have fun, but she is a kill joy when it comes to asking where to go next. Meanwhile, Lisa sighs at the thought of stressing herself out about places. She’s not really good at it as well. She rarely goes out, so what good could she add to this plan?

She takes a deep breath while her mind drifts to what Jennie would want to see and where she would want to be.

Mountains. Rooftops. Heights. Sunsets.

“Anywhere with a great view…” she mumbles.

Chaeyoung furrows her eyebrows, trying to figure out what Lisa meant with what she said.

Seeing her friend’s confusion, Lisa adjusts herself then says, “She likes places where she could enjoy a beautiful scenery. She likes to be somewhere high. I’d say hiking.”

Chaeyoung stares at her friend, confused and at the same time, staggered. She has known Jennie for years and Lisa’s idea never came across her mind. Not that she hates herself for being that kind of friend, but she finds it surprising that Lisa has this confidence about what Jennie likes. As if she had known her all her life.

“You sure? You would go for hiking?” Chaeyoung asks, wanting a confirmation that Lisa would go for an activity that requires too much energy. As far as Lisa is concerned, outdoor activity isn’t really the best option. The copper-haired girl hated it. If there is one thing that Lisa hates, it is doing something that drains her energy so much. Activities that require too much physical movements irks her. She despises it. She would rather play video games all day than step outside their house.

“Are you judging me right now, Park Chaeyoung?” Lisa asks, crossing her arms.

Chaeyoung tilts her head a little bit then looks at Lisa with doubt in her eyes. “I’m just asking.”

“Well of course I could go hiking!” Lisa claims, defending herself.

Chaeyoung lets out a laugh that would definitely annoy Lisa to her bones. She knew she got into the latter’s nerves when she heard her grunt annoyingly. She takes out a pen and paper, ready to take down the list of things they needed for the trip. “Alright, time for us to list down the things that we are going to bring.”

A childish groan escapes Lisa’s mouth upon seeing Chaeyoung play on her pen, as if everyone is as excited as her in making a list. Chaeyoung places her index finger between Lisa’s lips, shushing the latter. Lisa pouts like a kid, crossing her arms once again, waiting for Chaeyoung to continue with her organized being.

“Shouldn’t we at least include Jennie in this conversation?” Jisoo says suddenly.

Chaeyoung nods at Lisa, prompting the latter to do the calling. Lisa didn’t hesitate for a second, she immediately dials Jennie’s number and patiently waits for the latter to answer.

“Miss me already?” She hears the familiar voice greet her, she smirks as she looks down on the bleacher that she was sitting on, then peels off the coat of paint. Acting like a shy teenage boy.

“You wish…” Lisa retorts. If it wasn’t for Chaeyoung slapping her shoulder, she would’ve completely forgotten about telling Jennie why she called, “Oh by the way we were talking about the next trip, and by the next trip I mean tomorrow’s trip. I’ll put you on loud speaker.”

“Hi Jennie!” Chaeyoung greets and before Jennie could say a thing, Chaeyoung speaks again, “Don’t say anything, just listen to me, we decided to go on hiking tomorrow, we don’t have classes on Friday, so we could go for a long travel, sounds good?”

Chaeyoung need not to ask the brunette, but a confirmation would be nice. Although Jennie didn’t quite understood, the sound of hiking already got her hyped, she says, “That would be fun!”

Lisa smiles secretly, she could see the Jennie’s wide smile through the sound of her voice and somehow, she feels happy that Jennie is excited about them hiking.

“Great, so we’re listing down the things that we’re going to need, I already have something listed down…”

Lisa moves back a little bit in surprised. It wasn’t too long ago when Chaeyoung took out the pen and paper and she already have things listed down. Chaeyoung mouths a ‘what’ at Lisa then glares as she focuses back on her list.

“Our we going to have our own tents, or are we going to have a huge one for all of us?” Chaeyoung asks, as she continue to list down everything that they’re going to bring on their trip next week. Jisoo couldn’t care less, she knows Chaeyoung is going to help her out with her things anyway. Lisa, on the other hand, leans her head against Jisoo’s thigh, trying to think of what else to suggest since Chaeyoung practically listed everything down in a minute.

“I can’t sleep peacefully because Jisoo snores,” Lisa says, causing Jisoo to knock on her head. Lisa laughs as she rubs her head. “I mean, Chaeng, let’s be honest here, you’re the only one who can stand sleeping next to her. You two should share, unless…” Lisa stops half way then looks at her phone as if she could see Jennie from there, “…unless Jennie can stand Jisoo snoring.”

Jennie immediately whines on the other line. “I adore you Jisoo, but, no I’ll just have my own tent.”

Jisoo glares at the two then pouts at Chaeyoung, hoping that the latter would save her from Lisa and Jennie’s judgments. But Chaeyoung just smiled softly at her, giving her a pat on the head. “It’s okay, don’t pout now. I’ll sleep with you.”

The other two bursts out laughing at Jisoo, who didn’t receive the back up she was seeking from Chaeyoung. Jisoo crosses her arms then says, “Fine, why don’t you two share a tent since you’re having fun teasing me!”

Lisa immediately stops laughing, however, Jennie didn’t. The brunette continued laughing mockingly at Jisoo then says, “That’s fine, as long as we’re safe from your snoring! Right Lisa?”

“U-uh y-yeah. I guess.”

“You know… you two !” Jisoo yells, accepting her defeat from the most childish people she had met.

“Can you three stop being so childish? I’m trying to fix this trip for us. Where do we go? I mean, what mountain do we go to? Can you google some place Lisa?”

“Woops, sorry mom. Let me take care of that using your phone.” Lisa says, smiling like

While Chaeyoung checks on her list, Lisa made herself busy by searching for a place. “So far, I have Jirisan National Park here, lots of good reviews… has a lot of trails... camping grounds don’t need reservation but it has fees, so yeah, Jirisan seems a good place.” Lisa proudly hands Chaeyoung the phone, wanting her to check on the place.

“Looks good, gonna be a long drive though, would that be okay?”

“I guess that’s fine,” Lisa mumbles, taking Jisoo’s phone out of her pocket to check on the routes to Jirisan.

“Who’s going to drive?” Chaeyoung asks.

“You!” Jennie yells.

“Yeah, definitely you.” Lisa agrees.

“Can we at least take turns Lisa?” Chaeyoung asks and instantly cheers when Lisa gave her an indirect answer, “Let’s pack all the things that we need okay? Necessities and stuff. Then we’ll meet up at Jisoo’s house. We’ll have a sleepover there.”

“I didn’t agree to that,” Jisoo says, earning a glare from Chaeyoung. “Fine.” She crosses her arms then pouts a little bit at her defeat. She just couldn’t win against Chaeyoung most of the time.

“Great! Now, we’ll leave at 6AM okay? Sharp. That means…” Chaeyoung pauses, putting her eyes on Lisa, who immediately raises an eyebrow, then she says, “…no video games for you Lisa.”

“Okay mom,” Lisa retorts, rolling her eyes at Chaeyoung.

The hours went by with the three girls going in to their classes with huge smiles on their faces and excitement throughout their whole body.

Jennie is the most excited of them all. Just thinking about hiking makes her so pumped up. In fact, the whole trip makes her feel giddy. There is always something so wonderful to look forward to this kind of trip. The heights. The sunsets. The breeze. The view. Nature. Jennie has always been so in love with seeing almost everything. She loves how she could see how small houses and buildings looked like when she’s at the top. She knows it’s because of her parents exposing her to the beauty of nature ever since she was a kid and it just grew on her. That is, the love for such breathtaking views.

Meanwhile, Lisa had been thinking about their trip since an hour ago. Heights isn’t really her thing, what more if they have to climb up at the