track 02 - Getaway

miyeon and soojin was at the most delicious street food selling but not so well-known pojangmacha in seoul, in their words, ajumma's place. stomach full of kimbap and tteokbokki, miyeon took the last sip of her soju as soojin studied her face for signs of rage. she opened to say something but couldn't speak as she didn't know what to say. miyeon noticed this and put the empty glass on the table.

"come on, let's walk."

the awkward silence was so noisy it worried soojin as they got out of the small tent and started walking down the alley under streetlights. miyeon was acting a bit unlike herself, and 'there must be something wrong'  thought soojin since she knew miyeon went to the company building this afternoon.

"do you remember when you said you had a nickname before? you were drunk a little bit." miyeon finally spoke, breaking the deadly silence.

soojin gulped with a nervous look on her face and stared at miyeon as they both walked slowly, but miyeon's eyes were down, "uh... i can't remember that day exactly. but yeah, mother used to call me ivy."

"and it was just a nickname, isn't it?"

"yes, but why are you asking all of a sudden?"

the gentle breeze softly played with the girls' hair, taking the edge off summer heat.

"just wondered"

5 hours ago

"okay, you asked me to be here, and i came."

"miyeon, i'm telling you again, you can't collaborate with that magazine. they had some issues with your future husband, hwiyoung."

"first, he is not my future husband. second, they called him out on being misogynist, and he responded by being an absolute misogynist. so he basically proved their point. and also, it's too late to cancel the collab."

"no, trust me, it was a misunderstanding."

"whatever"

"are you done with the interview?"

"not yet"

"tell them you're done. at least you can do this, right?"

"never mind that, now talk!"

"talk what?"

"about what you said on the phone."

"..."

"well, i knew you were lying to get me here quickly."

"miyeon-"

"but, you know, that's a very sick lie to say."

"listen, yes it's true i said it to get you here asap, but that was not a lie. i'm sorry i should've said this earlier."

"you can't be serious"

"i think he is serious, dear."

"mom? how long have you been standing there?"

"just came as your father was about to tell you his little secret."

"honey, please let me speak first."

"you heard who called me in the morning , didn't you? and now you want to be a father? don't act like you care, you're not sorry at all."

"can someone tell me what the hell is going on!"

"i'll tell you, my baby. after twenty-one years of not talking to me, my old friend called me to her mansion this morning as she was struggling between life and death in her bed, just to say that your father cheated on me with her and that her daughter was my husband's child, not her ex-husband's - who divorced her when the girl was a year old. and here i was wondering why she stopped talking to us for no logical reason after her divorce. i'm such an idiot."

"i really am sorry."

"oh, please, we all know you are not. actually, i'm used to sharing you with other women, but didn't expect this much. i'm dumbfounded, honestly. when did it happen? when we camped in the forest? it happened then, right?"

"please let's not talk about this right now."

"i have to go"

"miyeon wait!"

"let her go, she needs time to process all this. now tell me who the girl is. i can't remember her name."

"didn't she say anything about her?"

"you think i kept listening after what she said?"

"are you going to divorce me?"

"just... just tell me who and where the girl is."

"i don't know. all i know about her is her name, ivy. but, i'm assuming she probably changed her name since i couldn't find any input about her-"

"what did you say?"

"miyeon? i thought you were-"

"what'd you say her name was?"

"... ivy"

***

having parked the car, soyeon stared at yuqi's bag in the next seat as she leaned her head on the steering wheel.

"seriously," sighed, "am i doing this because i'm worried or just being selfish?"

she looked at the bag a little more and left the car without touching it, then entered the block and went straight to the elevator, holding the chinese takeaways she bought. soon she was at the doorstep and caused the bags in her hand to rustle as she made an effort to entered the password. finally the door opened, and she walked into her apartment only to see yuqi crying her eyes out. the takeaways dropped just like her smile.

"yuqi wh-"

as soon as she saw the pregnancy test in yuqi's hand, soyeon felt as if her soul was drawn from her body. but she didn't lose her cool and pulled herself together. next, she rushed over and buried yuqi's face in her chest.

"it's okay, yuqi. it's okay we got you, your friends are here, we got you. you're okay."

"so-... soyeon," she was sobbing so hard she couldn't talk properly, "i'm not"

"no, you are, baby. you're okay, i'm here." said soyeon and started to cry along.

hearing her warm words and feeling her soft embrace did yuqi a heap of good, but it wasn't enough to stop her from shedding tears.

"no i-..."

soyeon pulled back to hear her clearly, "what is it?"

yuqi was looking at the strip in her hand, "i am not... pregnant."

soyeon's expression changed and stopped crying, but her teardrops was still falling down on her cheeks.

"you are not, i mean, then why?"

"i bought this test," she sniffed as she was trying to stop crying, "and i was so scared... i could only do the test now... and, i don't know... i thought i was pregnant." and sobbed hard in the end.

soyeon breathed a sigh of relief, but if someone asked her to beat yuqi up at that moment, she'd do it as soon as hearing the 'b' of the 'beat', without even thinking. she controlled her emotions again, however, and put a tiny smile on her face, "you are crying with a pregnancy test in your hand 'cause you're not pregnant?"

"i know i'm a mess."

"no, you're not. come, let's fill our bellies first. you must be starving."

after they finished eating quietly,  soyeon coughed a little before speaking up as yuqi wiped with a napkin.

"you really scared me, honestly."

"i did overreact a bit, sorry."

"no, it's okay, don't be sorry."

when yuqi smiled at soyeon, she remembered what was missing, "i totally forgot. where's my bag?"

"oh, right... okay, i might have left it in my desk."

"oh boy, what a stressful day."

"it's all good, stay over tonight. minnie would gladly lend you her clothes for tomorrow."

"you wouldn't?

"i would love to, but you know"

"yeah, you're tiny, i got it."

yuqi tried not to laugh but failed as soyeon glared at her like she wanted to kill her. then soyeon got up and attempted to go to the bathroom but stopped as yuqi grabbed her wrist and pulled it towards herself, which cause a thrill in soyeon's heart.

"w-what?"

"i just want to say, thank you."

"for what? i didn't do anything."

"no, you did. you helped me a lot, and you didn't even ask anything about, you know, the test. i really appreciate it."

"we're friends, yuqi. whatever you do, i will always be there and have your back."

"what if i do bad things?"

"you will not-"

"what if i say things you don't want to hear?"

"there are no such things."

they looked at each other for a while without saying anything, and neither of them realized they were holding hands, and they were both so hypnotized that they didn't hear minnie coming.

since the apartment is small, the living room and the kitchen with bar are combined, while two bedrooms and a bathroom are separate. and when you enter in, you see the kitchen on the right facing the living room. so when minnie came, she directly saw them so close to each other, holding hands and looking in the eyes. she tried to turn back without making a sound in order not to spoil this nice atmosphere.

yuqi noticed her and withdrew her hand back immediately. soyeon startled with this move, and she noticed minnie too.

"minnie unnie, where are you going?" asked soyeon.

"to my room"

"your room is not there."

"okay," she headed towards her room, "don't mind me, i'll be in my room." and winked.