double update. Make sure to read ch. 7

I should’ve wished for the gumball.

“It’ll be great.” Minseok says, with more animation than usual. “You know how bad it was, loading our stuff into three separate cars. The parking in this city, for one thing. Impossible.”

“Excellent! Right! Exactly!”

It’s a van. Minseok bought a van. It’s big, and it’s white, and it’s a van. As in, it’s not a Car. As in, my boyfriend traded in his car to buy a van. He walks around it, admiring its . . . what? Wide expanse?

“You know we’ve wanted to tour the coast. Tao knows some guys in Busan, Sehun knows some guys in Jeju. This is what we needed. We can do it now.”

“Touring! Wow! Great!”

TOURING. Extended periods of time without Minseok. Sultry, slinky women in other cities flirting with my boyfriend, reminding him of my inexperience. TOURING. Minseok stops

 “Miso.

” “Hmm?”

“You’re doing the girl thing. Saying you’re happy, when you’re not.” He crosses his arms.

“I’m happy.”

“You’re pissed, because you think when I leave, I’ll meet someone. Someone older.”

“I’m not angry.” I’m worried. And how much do I hate that we’ve had this conversation before, so he knows exactly what I’m thinking?

“I’m . . . surprised. I just liked your old car, that’s all. But this is good, too.” He raises a single brow.

“You liked my car?”

“I loved your car.”

“You know.” Minseok backs me into its side. The metal is cool against my spine. “Vans are good for other things.”

“Other things?”

“Other things.”

Okay. Maybe this whole van situation isn’t a complete loss. My hands are in his yellow-white bleached hair, and our lips are smashed against each other, when there’s a loud, rude

“Got any change, man?” We break apart to find a guy in head-to-toe dirty patchwork corduroy glaring at us.

“Sorry,” I say.

“No need to be sorry.” He glowers at me underneath his white-boy dreadlocks.

“I’m only ing starving.”

“,” Minseok shouts as the guy slumps off. The homeless are passive-aggressive jerks. I don’t like coming here, but Minseok has friends who work in the overpriced clothing boutiques, head shops, bookstores, and burrito joints.

“Hey. Forget that guy,” Minseok says.

He sees that I need cheering, so he leads me to the falafel place where we had our first date. Afterward, we wander into a drag shop to try on wigs. He laughs as I pose in an absurd purple beehive. I love his laugh. It’s rare, so whenever I hear it, I know I’ve earned it. He even lets me put one on his head, a blond one.

“Wait till Sehun and Tao see you,” I say, referring to his bandmates.

“I’ll tell them I decided to grow it out.” Minseok laughs again. “We should go. I told Sehun I’d meet him at three-thirty.”

“Because you don’t see him enough at home.”

“Yo