not proofread so apologies in advance for any mistakes 

 

inspired by TXT's 0X1=LOVESONG music video

 

tw implied domestic abuse, homophobia, and transphobia 

 

————-

 

Jimin stares at her phone, a tacky wallpaper she ripped off of Pinterest staring back at her.

 

No older notifications.

 

She frowns. Shouldn’t there be at least one call by now? Or maybe even a text? 

 

2:42

 

Nope, if somebody wanted to care, they would’ve already done so. But this is what she wanted, wasn’t it? This is what she asked for when she stormed out of her apartment approximately 5 hours ago in the morning.

 

It is, Jimin convinces herself, tossing her cellphone back into her backpack. No one’s looking for her, and anyone that would’ve is with her, cramped in Yizhuo’s (Dad’s) barely functioning Toyota.

 

“Wouldn’t your Dad come looking for this?”

 

Aeri looks at Jimin through the rear view mirror, then her eyes dart to her girlfriend next to her.

 

“I don't know, and I don’t care. That abuser can buy a new car if he wants.”

 

Jimin flinches at the younger girl’s tone. She purses her lips and tucks her legs underneath her.

 

“Sorry.”

 

Yizhuo doesn’t respond. She digs her chin into her palm, turning her head towards the window. Aeri lifts her hand from the gear shift and places it on Yizhuo’s thigh. She mouths something which goes unidentified by either one of them in the back of the car, but the youngest girl smiles. Jimin doesn’t miss the effect that has on Yizhuo.

 

“Well,” Minjeong declares, breaking the ice, “Isn’t this cute? It’s like a little road trip kinda thing. Just four best friends.” 

 

“You are really annoying, you know that?” Yizhuo jokes.

 

Jimin’s deadpan morphs into a little smirk. 

 

“Someone’s hangry.” 

 

“Am not.” Yizhuo snaps back. Minjeong chuckles, mouthing a sure, Ning before grabbing a pack of chocolate from his backpack and feeding Jimin a piece.

 

“Ugh. Let’s stop somewhere, I could use some air.” Aeri steers the car towards the next exit. “And a little stretch. Driving for the past 5 hours is absolutely killing me.”

 

————-

 

They get off the highway, and the greenhouses and trees from earlier are now replaced with malls and small eateries of all sorts. 

 

Aeri pulls up at a gas station and Jimin is the first to leap out of the car. She twists her body and Yizhuo physically coils at the cracks. 

 

“Alright grandma,” Yizhuo jerks her head towards the rest stop, “let’s get in there.” 

 

Jimin rolls her eyes and ignores the insult. She’s about to make her way towards the rest stop when she sees Minjeong from her peripheral vision. He has one arm holding onto the other, wrapped above his chest. He awkwardly tugs at the hem of the sleeve, seemingly trying to stretch it out.

 

Jimin removes her jacket and waddles towards him, wrapping him in the thick denim. His eyes widen before he slowly smiles. He smiles with his whole face and Jimin loves that about him. 

 

————-

 

Inside the rest stop, Yizhuo insists on getting ice cream waffles. (They are a full meal! She claims)

 

Minjeong secures them a seat, while the other three order. Lo and behold, the girls come back with two trays of ice cream waffles.

 

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Minjeong gapes.

 

Aeri shakes her head as she distributes utensils to all of them, “If Yizhuo says this is a meal then who am I to disagree?”

 

The girl sticks out her tongue.

 

“Gross. You’re only saying that cause you’re in love with her or some .”

 

Jimin slices a mouthful of the waffle and combines it with a little mint chocolate ice cream, “I agree actually, we need a little mood booster after… all of that in the morning…”

 

The group falls silent, each one of them seemingly recalling the incidents that morning and how each one of them led to this very point.

 

Jimin wipes her sweaty palms against her jeans. She has got to stop killing the vibe, she reminds herself. She fishes out her phone from her pocket and looks again.

 

No older notifications.

 

“You’ve been looking at your phone a lot more.” Aeri questions.

 

“It’s a phone,” Jimin defends, “of course I’m going to look at it, what else am I supposed to do with it?”

 

“You know what I mean.” 

 

And Jimin does know. She knows Aeri (or Yizhuo, or Minjeong) doesn’t want her to get hurt waiting for something she knows isn’t coming. Right. She’s not expecting anyone to contact her. 

 

Jimin places her utensils down and wipes with a napkin before crushing it, storming out of the shop and back to their vehicle, avoiding Minjeong’s gaze.

 

————-

 

Jimin plays with the seams on her jeans, resting her chin by the window. She filters out the sound of Yizhuo and Minjeong discussing something about the latest Spider-man film. 

 

Instead of getting back on the highway, they drive around the area. She wishes they could stop by a cafe, but Aeri is getting nervous every time she swipes her card. They don’t have the money for that, not right now. Something blue in the distance catches their eye.

 

She leans over the back of her seat, reaching her hand out to point at the distant Walmart sign ahead of them.

 

"Can we make a stop?"

 

————-

 

“You need to get something?”

 

“N-not really. Just wanted to look around.”

 

Aeri hums at Jimin’s response, she doesn’t push any further. Minjeong grabs a basket before wrapping his arms around Jimin’s waist. 

 

“Hooooly , this is kind of cool.” Yizhuo runs her hands through a pile of discounted DVDs. Aeri smiles, rubbing her girlfriend’s back. She holds back a tear at the sparkle in the younger’s eyes, as silly as it seems. Gosh, they were in the middle of a Walmart.

 

But Aeri knows Yizhuo has a reason for being so fascinated over this godforsaken mart. 

 

“Yeah, no, it is really cool.” Aeri chuckles.

 

“You don’t have to pretend… I’m sorry it’s just- you know,” Yizhuo picks up a DVD and pretends to look at it, “that man never let me leave the house, never brought me anywhere.” 

 

“It’s okay baby, I get it. It’s alright.” Aeri pulls her into a hug, the DVD falls from Yizhuo’s hands and onto the ground. But with her face tucked in her girlfriend’s shoulder and tears streaking her face (in public, no less), Yizhuo could care less about the $5 copy of The Notebook. She’ll pick it up later.

 

————-

 

“So what is it that you actually wanted to pick up?” Minjeong’s free hand now tucked into the jacket pocket as Jimin browses through the array of tees.

 

Jimin bites her lip, “I, uh, just thought maybe we should get you some more clothing. Stuff you’re more comfortable in.”

 

Minjeong opens his mouth to say something, but shuts it almost immediately. He shys away from the girl. He’s been socially transitioning for about a year now, but it hasn’t been easy. Pretty much the only people who actually respected him were the three girls.

 

“Look Jimin, that's really sweet but as far as necessities go, clothing’s pretty low on the list. I brought some stuff from home-”

 

“Minjeong, I know you’re uncomfortable in that shirt.” 

 

He winces at how easily Jimin read him. “And your health and happiness matters, okay? Screw the hand-me-downs you brought, let’s get you stuff you like.”

 

Minjeong nods, and in return, Jimin leaps, clearly more excited than he is. “I’ve always wanted to go shopping for my boyfriend like this.”

 

He feels something in his stomach, and he isn’t sure if it’s because of the ice cream earlier or hearing how easily the words boyfriend slip out of Jimin’s mouth. Either way, he doesn’t mind too much.

 

————-

 

Yizhuo and Minjeong help to bag all their items up at the register. It’s a fair share of clothing and underwear and just some snacks for them to nibble along the way. A pack of size S boxers drop, and Minjeong almost feels the tip of his ears burning as he hurriedly bends down to pick it up when he overheard Aeri’s dramatic gasp.

 

“W-what? What do you mean declined?”

 

The cashier turns the card reader to face Aeri and uses her head to point t