The final heart shape was drawn onto the colored ice cream stick and Yerin capped the marker while lightly blowing on the stick to dry the ink.

“B?” She called out as she gathered the sticks.

“Yes?” the voice replied from the living room.

“C’mere for a sec, would you?” Yerin asked as she opened the last drawer beneath her table and pulled out a small, copper pen holder.

“What’s up?” Eunbi asked as she walked into the study with a cup of hot chocolate. Yerin glanced at her with a smile as she placed the sticks into the holder. “What’s that?”

“Your present. I figured that since we usually have such a hard time deciding on what to eat whenever we go out or want to grab takeaways, maybe we should have a draw.” Yerin started and handed the copper holder to Eunbi. “I’ve written down the names of our favorite restaurants, cafes, bars and a bunch of sticks labeled random. We can take turns to draw sticks and we’ll just go to whatever it says.”

“Oo that’s a nice idea! But what if one of us draws a café for dinner or a bar for lunch?” Eunbi asked as she pulled up random sticks.

“Then we get to draw again. But! There’s a maximum of 2 draws so if you pick the first one and don’t like it, you can pick another. If the second isn’t something nice either, then you can choose the better of the two. Sounds reasonable?”

“Very. I like it.” Eunbi grinned. “In exchange, here’s your present.” She said as she placed the copper holder beside the blooming terrarium. She pulled out a thin folder from the paper tray and handed it to Yerin.

“Hmm?” the girl hummed as she flipped through the papers.

“The e-tickets, hotel booking, car rental and all the other reservations are inside. Which reminds me, have you decided?” Eunbi asked as she sank down in her swivel chair, resting her legs on the desk.

“Decided? Ah, the trip? Yeah, I think I have a place in mind.” Yerin placed the file on her lap. “On the first day, we’re only going to two places, right?”

“Uh huh. You want to go somewhere?”

“Yep, but it’s my surprise for you.” Yerin winked.

“Well alright. Only one place you have in mind?”

“That’s at the top of my to-do list. Or should I say, must-do list. Let’s just go with the flow how ‘bout that? If we see something exciting or interesting along the way we can just make a little stopover.” The girl said. “After all, we are on our own schedule.”

Eunbi chuckled when she heard Yerin repeating what she had said a few days ago.

“Alright then. Shall we get changed?” the girl asked, swinging her legs off the desk. “We can make our way to the airport now and walk around a little.”

“Sure.” Yerin smiled and got up from her seat.

★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★

Eunbi handed Yerin the second carrier and the girl lifted it with ease, placing it gently down in the trunk of the taxi before shutting the trunk door. They got into the back seat of the taxi and buckled up.

“Incheon airport?” the uncle asked.

“Yes please.” Yerin replied warmly.

“Strong Yerin eh?” Eunbi asked as she patted Yerin’s bicep.

“I’ll do that while I still can.” The girl chuckled. “Before I get old and my joints fail me.”

“Ey you’re only 22! It’s a long way to go!” Eunbi laughed, slapping Yerin’s thigh. “But one thing you must do before you get too old to lift heavy things is to carry me up the 99 steps on Bled island.” She whispered into Yerin’s ear.

“Oh of course! Even if my back breaks I’ll get you up those stairs to prove my love.” Yerin whispered the last part.

“Are you two a couple?” The driver asked, glancing at the girls in the rear-view mirror.

“Nope, just close friends.” Eunbi replied without hesitation. It was a lie that she had rehearsed so many times that it sounded natural whenever it left her lips.

“It’s not nice to lie, miss.” The driver chuckled. “But I understand why you have to. If you don’t mind me saying, it’s pretty obvious to me that the both of you are in love.”

“Ah, are we?” Eunbi scratched her head.

“Yes. In fact, you two make a cute couple.” He smiled.

“Thank you.” The girl replied, squeezing Yerin’s hand. The latter gave a small smile after listening to their conversation. They arrived at the airport a little later than planned after being caught in a jam, but they were still in high spirits. Eunbi paid the driver while Yerin retrieved their baggage from the trunk.

“Is it too early to check-in?” Yerin asked, checking her watch.

“Nope. We can check-in 2 hours before the flight.” Eunbi replied as she led Yerin to the check-in counter. True to the younger girl’s words, the lady at the desk helped them with the procedure. Eunbi handed her their e-tickets and she tagged their carriers before giving them the boarding passes.

“Have a pleasant flight.” She said with a smile.

“Thank you.” Yerin bowed. They walked towards the boarding gate. “What shall we do now?”

“It’s… 5:30. We could stroll through the departure hall and relax at the gate if we’re early.” Eunbi said. “Nothing much to do now… Dinner is on board too.”

“Then let’s go~” Yerin sang as she dragged the younger girl towards the security point. They handed their passports to the guard who checked their boarding pass against the passports before letting them through. They then went through the standard procedure of walking through the metal detector and immigration counter.

“Duty-free shopping~ Hey, we can film an ad here.” Yerin joked as she spun around on the carpeted floor.

“Sure, you can.” The girl replied, playing along with her girlfriend. “I want to see the planes.” She said, pointing towards the lounge area. They walked over and leaned against the wooden rail, watching as a plane gets pushed back to taxi.

“I wonder how it’s like to be an aircrew sometimes. You get to travel to so many countries and see so many things.” Eunbi said aloud as she watched the ground grew work.

“It sounds great but hmm… It would be tough if you wanted to date. Unless you date a pilot or another crew member.” Yerin hummed.

“I guess we can’t always have a win-win situation, huh?”

“Maybe in some cases, yes. Ahem, us, ahem.” Yerin fake coughed and Eunbi laughed.

“Yes, yes. I guess we’re lucky.”

“We are.” Yerin turned to look at Eunbi with a smile. “We really are.”

★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★

They arrived at Jeju international airport slightly before 8:45 pm, having taken off in good weather and clear skies. They collected their baggage and proceeded to collect their rented car; a Nissan Qashqai.

“Let’s go get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a long day.” Eunbi said as she got into the driver’s seat. She started the car and drove out of the carpark. As she was about to turn out, she flipped the lever but was surprised when the high beam flashed instead. She quickly flicked it back up and pushed the right lever down instead.

“Force of habit eh?” Yerin sniggered.

“Shut up, you would have done it too if you were driving.” Eunbi hissed, checking her blind spot before turning out.

“I can tell a continental car from a Japanese car.” Yerin blew a raspberry and Eunbi knuckled the girl’s head. “Ay, no abusing your princess!”

“This is called teaching the misbehaving princess a lesson!”

“Geez! Keep your eyes on the road!” Yerin laughed, shoving Eunbi’s hand away. This was going to be a fun vacation.