Jungeun slammed her hand against the dashboard in frustration “I swear to god, Jiwoo better be grateful that we even showed up if this is all the trouble we have to go through,” she said, throwing her head back against the back of the car seat and sighing exasperatedly.

She opened one eye to see Jinsol muffling a laugh behind her hand, the sight made her heart skip a beat, in which she covered up by shoving her friend, feigning irritation.

“Shut up,” she groaned, avoiding the older’s gaze “The car really had to run out of gas on the last length! At one am! What kind of luck is that! This is all your fault.”

It was now, subsequently Jinsol’s turn to push her, “Why is everything my fault?” she whined, squinting at the younger girl in disbelief “Because it always is.” Jungeun responded blankly.

As soon as she saw Jinsol’s mouth begin to open in protest, she shut whatever she was going to say down.

“Whose fault was it when my Yerim’s Minecraft house burned down?”

“Well she made mostly of it out of wood-“

“Whose fault was it when the neighbour came running at us with a fork?”

“I didn’t know that they’d come-“

“Whose fault was it when the police came knocking at our door saying tha-“ Jinsol hastily slammed her hand against Junguen’s mouth, shaking her head furiously

“Okay! Okay, you win. Stop it.” she pouted, huffing at Jungeun “You’re supposed to be my friend! Stop mocking me!”

“I mean, you started it,” she said in response, her voice muffled against the Jinsol’s palm “besides, that’s what friends are for,” she added, forcefully pushing her off.

Jinsol gave her a solemn look, “You’re never going to let me hear the end of that, will you?” Jungeun gave her a smug smile, shaking her head “And it was for a ing-“

“We’ve been over this too many times! Now let’s stop bringing it up and focus on how it’s two o’clock in the morning and I’m tired and might cry.”

“I was the one driving.”

“Your point?”

Jungeun decided to let the childish banter go for now, and listened to Jinsol’s advice, using the last of their petrol to drive up to a service station nearby that they had located on the GPS.

While Jinsol was off paying the counter after filling up the car, Jungeun took the chance to familiarise their surroundings.

It was a small, quaint town, in the middle of nowhere. In fact, according to ever trusty Google, it had a measly population of a few thousand, which was minuscule compared to the bustling city the two lived in.

In her head, for the nth time that night, she cursed Jiwoo and her girlfriend for living so far away.

She rolled down the window, sticking her head out and quietly staring at the empty streets. The roads were impossibly wide, and the lack of street lights made the shadows stretch far and beyond, looking almost scary. There were no tall, skyscraper like buildings looming over them, nor that many trees either. The barrenness reminded Jungeun of a dystopia, in fact, she half expected a bale of hay to roll past in the gentle breeze.

“What’s got you so spacey?” a voice said, scaring the out of Jungeun. She whipped her head around to see Jinsol staring at her curiously.

Jungeun’s immediate reaction was to lightly punch the offender’s shoulder, crying out “You almost gave me a heart attack!”

“But I didn’t,” Jinsol said, grinning, closing the car door brashly. Her delight was infectious, though she didn’t know what caused the sudden good mood; especially since the two were dirty and exhausted.

That was answered quickly, with Jinsol throwing her a bottle of Mountain Dew, landing on her lap. “I got snacks,” she said brightly. With a deadpan expression, Jungeun turned to Jinsol and with no emotion, shook her hand in thanks “I love you.”

Ignoring the double meaning those words had, Jungeun reached for the Mountain Dew, until Jinsol unceremoniously snatched it from her grip with a smug smirk. “Not yet.”

“What?” She immediately whined, turning to stare at the road and missing Jinsol’s affectionate smile “You bought me a drink and took it away? Who does that?”

“Mountain Dew has caffeine. Which will keep us awake. And there’s no way in hell I’m going to do the last leg of the trip high on soda.” she said defiantly. “So why’d you buy it then?”

“To prove my point.”

“And where are we going to sleep? The car?” Jungeun scoffed, pissy about the loss of her drink. Yeah, she loved Jinsol, definitely, but there were times like these where she’d think ‘What if I just abandoned her and drove away?’

Jinsol scrunched her nose up “No, — there’s a motel down there,” she pointed, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Jungeun squinted in the distance, looking down the said road.

There seemed to be a row of rather sad looking shops, and opposite to them was a large, beige brick building with a blinking dull billboard that said in obnoxious capitals, ‘VENNIE’S MOTEL, 24/7’

Huh, looked like somewhere she’d get murdered.

“Jinsol. No.” She said, putting her foot down as if her friend were a dog. Like a dog, Jinsol let out a whimper, giving her the puppy eyes.

“But, Jungie,” she pleaded, and Jungeun sighed, because as soon as she did that, all of her resolve crumbled. It was nothing short of pitiful.

Shaking her head and pulling out the driveway, Jungeun muttered under her breath, making sure it was loud enough for Jinsol could hear her “You’re paying. I refuse to die here broke.”

Jimsol only laughed, nuzzling her head against Jungeun’s shoulder and mumbling into her jumper “Of course.”

Stiffening at the proximity, for a terrifying moment Jungeun swerved wildly on the road and , Jinsol should know not to distract the driver.

Then again, did Jinsol even know the effect she had on Jungeun? She supposed not.

The drive to the motel only took a few minutes, but none of them spoke throughout it, comfortable silence between them as Sunmi played quietly in the background.

There was ten minutes in which they pulled up and simply stood outside the motel, mainly because Jungeun refused to enter. (“What if there’s a serial killer?!” She protested, already making steps back towards the car. Hastily, Jinsol snatched a death grip on her arm and pulled her in “Don’t be so dramatic.”)

As soon as they stepped inside, Jungeun was blinded by harsh, yellow light and the overwhelming smell of dust and dirt; which wasn’t necessarily unpleasant, though it was troubling.

Jungeun grudgingly followed Jinsol to the counter, sympathising with the disgruntled young lady at the counter, whom they had to bang the bell several times to wake.

Once Jinsol and her had started conversing, Jungeun zoned out, idly staring at t