Like all amazing, life-changing, absolutely horrible ideas, the road trip idea is concocted by Momo.

“Let’s just go! “ She exclaims, throwing her arms wide and flopping onto Mina’s bed. The other girl stares down at her. Mina’s already seated on the bed. She has on that classic Mina look, the one where her eyebrows crease in and her nose wrinkles up, the one that tells Momo that Mina is completely doubting whatever has just been thinking.

“…I’m not sure, Momoring… Where would we even go? And just us?”

Momo considers this for a moment, pressing her hands to her forehead. Her brow furrows, mirroring Mina’s. “Well, no. Satang would have to come with us, of course!”

“…Why don’t we ask her, then?”

Sana opens the video call to see two amber eyes staring her down. Mina’s voice comes through the speaker, static-y and tinny.

“Sana! Momo’s had a crazy idea again. I need you to talk her out of it!” She pleads, moving the phone so that Sana can only see her stern face.

“Hey, it’s not crazy!” Momo protests, wrestling the phone back. “Satang, listen to me, not the scary demon over there— ow, no kicking! — I want to go on a road trip! Just the three of us, alone, on the road for months—”

“Months?!” Mina shrieks from across the room.

“Okay, not months, but still! Doesn’t that sound like fun?!”

“Satang, have some sense!”

Sana weights her options as Momo and Mina bicker.

“Actually, Moguri, Minari… That sounds like a lot of fun.”

Mina lets out a groan that can be heard all over Tokyo. The phone had been placed on something further away, so Sana can see both Momo’s beam and Mina’s faceplant into a pillow in one frame.

“One problem,” Sana raises a finger. “None of us can drive.”

Mina raises her head from the pillow. Her hair is flipped over her head, falling into her face. “…Actually,” She begins, reluctantly, her exasperation showing in her voice.

Momo and Sana exclaim in unison, “Really, Minari?!”

“I want it to be known that I hate this idea.” Mina sighs, “But I’ll do it.”

Sana’s cry echoes through the brisk morning air. “Shotgun!”

“Heyy, Kim Sana, that’s not fair! I never get to sit in the front.” Momo protests, chasing Sana as she sprints to the van. Mina follows behind sluggishly, exhaustion painted on her face.

“Did we really have to leave so early ?” She complains, buckling herself into the driver’s seat. Momo grumbles as she takes residence in the second row of the mini-van. Their manager let them borrow the van that TWICE took to stargazing.

“Yes!” Sana cries. Momo echoes her from the backseat. “Come on, let’s get our adventure started! Say it with me, Minari!”

“Adventure’s waiting for us…”

“Try it again!”

“A-adventure’s waiting for us!”

The trip itself is more underwhelming than Mina thought it would be. She drives while Momo and Sana chatter. Sometimes she joins in, but for the most part, she’s happy to just listen. The radio plays quietly in the background. As Mina drives, she finds herself singing along under her breath.

“jaebangsong TV-cheoreom…”

“Minari!”

Mina startles and jerks the wheel. Her reflexes are quick; Mina doesn’t let them spin off the road, but she’s boiling.

“Momoring?! Why did you just yell like that?”

“I… I just… You know this song?”

“What?”

“I was so excited because a CNBLUE song came on, but then I heard you singing along!” Momo says excitedly. Mina attempts to stutter out a denial, but Momo reaches up to grab both her hand and Sana’s. “Let’s not miss the chorus! C’mon!”

As exasperated as she is, Mina can’t deny the joy she feels when she lifts her voice to sing with her best friends, or the love when she turns to look into their eyes.

“I’m so tired!”

“You’re always tired, Momoring.”

“Minari, I’m tired too.”

“I can pull off to a rest stop, so we can all sleep a few hours, if you guys want to.”

Momo sighs loudly. “We have to sleep in the car?”

“We don’t have enough money to get a hotel room each night. It’s not like we brought that much money for this roadtrip.”

“Actually,” Sana interrupts, pulling a rectangle out of her pocket and flashing it at the other girls, “Your parents did give me this when I told them that we’re going on a roadtrip. They said they wanted us to have the best possible time.”

Momo begins to grin wickedly. She leans forward, pushing her body on top of the center console. “See, Minari~ We got your parents’ blessing, then. Mina wouldn’t mind if we go to a nice hotel, will she?”

Sana leans forward too, pressing her face next to Momo’s. “Please, Minari? Please, Minari? This is already an order from your parents.”

Mina sighs, pulls the car over, and begins to look up hotels on her phone. “Okay, okay. Only because my parents are paying for it. “

Sana heads into the hotel to check them in. Momo and Mina wait in the car. Mina stares straight ahead, looking into the dusk. Momo balances her chin on the center console, appearing to do the same.

“Hey, Minari?” She asks, voice just loud enough to hear. It startles Mina; only because of the seriousness in Momo’s tone. Mina moves her hand back so it rests on top of Momo’s head, it gently cards through her hair.

“Momoring?” The concern is obvious in her voice.

“Are you… Are you having a bad time with us?”

“What?”

“I mean, you didn’t want to come on this road trip in the first place, and I drug you along anyways. I wanted us all to be together, to all have fun, but I just feel like I’m annoying you. Like when that song came on the radio, I was way too loud, and when I spilled maple syrup on you at lunch, I felt so bad. We can go home if you want, you know? Sana is worried too. We just want you to be happy, Minari.”

Something pangs in Mina’s stomach. She’s unexpectedly choked up. Stupid Momo.

“I’m not upset, Momoring. I… I know that sometimes I seem unhappy, or I act strictly, and I’m sorry for that. It doesn’t mean I’m truly angry, though. I’m a very… closed-off person, you know that. Sometimes, it’s easier to be annoyed or upset than to be vulnerable,” Mina cracks a small smile, “Plus, sometimes I really am annoyed. Don’t think anything of it. I love being with you two, no matter what.”

The passenger’s side door swings open. In the bright interior lights of the car, Mina desperately tries to make it look like she wasn’t just on the verge of tears. “Hey, guys! I got the room al set up! Let’s go!” Momo slides open her own door and steps out, grabbing her pink duffle as she goes. As Mina prepares to exit, however, she finds someone waiting at her door.

“A hand, milady?” Sana offers her own, and Mina feels the blush rise to her cheeks.

Mina cleared . “W-what’s with you all of a sudden, Satang?” She replies, attempting to play it cool. Sana doesn’t answer, just waves her hand again. Mina places her hand in Sana’s and watches, in not-quite horror, as the other girl raises it to her cool lips. Mina’s blush spreads around her entire face. Sana simply smirks. Momo is watching from behind the car, trying to cover her wild laugh. Mina just simmers, all the way into the hotel and up the stairs. Her blush has just barely faded when Momo flings open the door to the hotel room.

“Hey, Satang, is this the right room?”

Mina and Sana follow behind. Both realize the problem as soon as they step in the room.

“…Sana, can you go back down and ask for another room?”

“Ah…” Sana scratches the back of her neck uneasily while laughing awkwardly. “This was the last room. Apparently there’s some festival going on in town, so there are lots more visitors than usual.”

Momo throws her arms in the air. “Hey, we should go check out that festival tomorrow! It sounds like fun, surely there’s a lot of foods!”

Mina smiles gently. “Momoring… maybe we should focus on the huge problem at hand first.”

Momo flops onto the bed, spreading her arms and legs wide, like a starfish. “I don’t see a huge problem!”

Sana laughs. “Moguri, you’re laying on it.”

“It’s not a problem!” Momo rolls to the other side of the bed. “We can all just share. It’ll be fine. We’ve had sleepovers before, it’s nothing different.”

Mina’s blush makes a surprise reappearance. “I’ll be sleeping in the bathtub.”

“Eh? Minari, you can’t do that.” Sana sits on the bed as she speaks, kicking her feet casually. Her hand falls into Momo’s. Looking at it, Mina feels a tiny ache. She wishes. She wishes it could be so easy.

“Mina, sleep with us! I won’t kick, I promise!” Momo sits up and beams at Mina. Sana rests her head on Momo’s shoulder and does the same. Mina can’t help but grin back.

Maybe it can be that easy. Falling into her own feelings of inadequacy can happen frequently around Momo and Sana— not of their design, of course, but watching their childhood camaraderie makes it hard to be the new person in the group. She tries to not let it affect her, and in times like this, maybe Mina can just… let it go.

Mina approaches the bed, coming right next to where Sana and Momo sit. “Budge over,” She says with a smile. It’s mirrored right back at her.

Later, when the room is dark, the three girls all lay in the bed. Mina sleeps in the middle. Sana has one arm curved under her, fingers just barely gracing the skin of her hip. Momo, on Mina’s other side, is curled into a knot on her side, forehead touching Mina’s shoulder. Sana and Momo have drifted off, Mina is getting there.

Just before she completely fell asleep, Mina looks at the two girls next to her, and can’t help but smile.

Maybe this is where she belongs.