Chapter 5

" . . .Ride On .  .  . "

 

After their meal, the girls said their good byes and were escorted to the limo that awaited out front. Rain continued to pour down, harder now in icy droplets. Hae Jung and Mi Sun were thankful for their driver who was waiting outside as well, holding Hae Jung's forgotten umbrella open near the entrance.

 

"Thank you," they beamed in unison as they sought shelter under the umbrella and hustling into the car. They were thankfully only slightly dampened.

 

" Can you believe it, Mi Sun?" Hae Jung exclaimed, stretching out on the seat. Her elbow connected with her sister's neck.

 

" Ow!" Mi Sun cried, shoving Hae Jung away from her. " And believe what?"   Hae Jung rolled her eyes.

 

" You're so dense, sometimes. What did we spend the last 2 hours doing? Who did we just meet? Who is the hottest boy band in the, I dunno, world?" She exasperated, situating her hands on her hips.

 

" Oh. That," Mi Sun replied, biting her lip. She attempted to look bored but her excitement began to boil over.

 

" Oh come on. Cut the act. I know you're full of crap. So just admit it; You're just as excited as I am that we're going on vacation. And not just a regular vacation. One with Dong Bang Shin Ki."

 

" Okay. Maybe I'm a little excited," Mi Sun allowed, a large grin spreading on her features. Hae Jung rolled her eyes again at her younger sister, smiling a bit herself.

 

" Dongsaeng?" She started with a smirk, shaking her head.

 

" What?"

 

" I don't know what I'm gonna do with you," she said, bursting out into laughter. Mi Sun soon followed her and the car ride back to their apartment complex. As soon as their driver opened the door, Hae Jung nearly wrenched his arm off by taking the umbrella from him and the two girls sprinted from the limo and to the entrance of the building,

 

They quickly bounded up the stairs up to their apartment, Hae Jung fishing the keys out of her shorts pockets and unlocking the door. Mi Sun slipped passed her and closed the door behind them. Hae Jung set the umbrella on the coat rack, not bothering to set it so that it wouldn't drip all over the floor.


She'd mop it up later. If she remembered.

 

Her flipflops were soaked and water squished out of them onto the floor. Frowning to herself, she stepped out of them and walked into her bedroom. She was digging through her top dresser drawer in search of a pair of footies when she saw Mi Sun standing in her doorway. She paused for a moment.

 

"What's up?" Hae Jung asked, arching a brow. "You were all excited in the car." Mi Sun slid her socked feet along the floor and sat down on the edge of Hae Jung's bed.

 

"Nothing's wrong. I'm still excited." She said quietly.

 

" Oh sister dear, how you think that I cannot see through that silly litte shell you put on. I can tell you're lying through your teeth. So spill. Or there is a toaster related accident in your future." Hae Jung said. She picked up a pair of white socks and padded over to her bed.

She sat down facing Mi Sun, resting the upper portion of one of her legs on the bed.

 

" Nothing's really wrong, I guess. I just, I don't really know how to explain it." Mi Sun sighed and fell back onto the bed. Hae Jung frowned.

 

" Is it about the trip? I'm sure it's gonna be really fun."  Hae Jung wasn't sure what to make of her sister's sudden change in mood. She placed the back of her hand onto Mi Sun's forehead.

 

" Well you're not running a fever. I don't think you're sick. But you would definitely have to be sick to not be happy for this trip. To get out of the city. To actually see water that isn't coming from the sink or packaged and shipped in a bottle. This is once in a life time stuff which is something I haven't been able to say in a long time."

 

" I know. It's just that I've been thinking." Mi Sun trailed off, eyes looking up at the ceiling.

 

" Well, thinking is good." Hae Jung teased, patting Mi Sun's forehead. "Finally using your brain." Mi Sun rolled her eyes.

 

" As I was saying, I've been thinking. Do you really think this trip is gonna be all that different from all the others? Where we're spending time with people who we'll probably never get to have quality time with again? Or with people that are only putting up with us for the sake of putting up with us?"

 

" Mi Sun, where is all of this coming from?" Hae Jung asked, concerned. " You as well as anyone saw the way the guys looked at you. Looked at us. They actually talked to us like we were on their level, or as close to it as we're going to get. And so what if they're just putting up with us to get what they want? We're getting what we want out if. I'm not expecting a diamond ring or a marriage proposal from a member of one of the biggest boybands in Korea. Hell, Mi Sun." Hae Jung threw up her arms in exasperation.

"I was star struck today. Do you realize that never happens? I'm so used to this lifestyle that an idol is someone who walks into Harabeoji's job. But these guys, they're different. I don't know it what way but you gotta stop worrying. Saying things out loud makes them true.  So if you think this is going to be awful, then it will be. If you think they won't like you, then odds are they won't. Be positive."  Hae Jung watched Mi Sun roll over onto her stomach and bury her face in the bed.

 

" You're gonna suffocate doing that. If you wanna do that, do it somewhere not on my bed." Hae Jung piped up and she leaned down to put her socks on. Mi Sun reluctantly rolled off the bed and grudgingly walked out of the room.

 

" Now don't you feel better?" Hae Jung asked, not really expecting one and got a door slam in response.

 

" Having younger siblings is just lovely." She sighed to herself and flopped back on her bed. She laid on her back for a few minutes, contemplating what to do next. She let out a deep breath and sat up again, reaching under the bed for a sturdy shoe. Her doorway at an angle from her bed and so was Mi Sun's across the hall. She chucked the shoe at the wall, satisfied with the loud 'THUD' it made when it connected with the wood of the door.

 

" I'm gonna take a nap!" She called. " Wake me up at 6. '"  Her response was silence at first but the door slowly opened. She saw a bit of MI Sun reach through the small gap between the door and it's doorway, pick up the shoe and hurl it back into her room, narrowly missed her as it connected with wall next to her bed.



" Your aim is off today!" Hae Jung called back, quickly jumping up and closing her door before her sister found something else to throw back. Childish squabbles like that weren't unusual between them but Hae Jung hadn't seen her sister get so down so quickly about something that would have made her day for the rest of the life. It was pretty weird.

 

Hae Jung walked back over to her bed and collapsed onto the soft mattress. It was only a few minutes before she'd fallen asleep, the occasional snore coming here and there.

 

- - -



Mi Sun settled back on her bed, staring up at her ceiling. She didn't want to admit it but maybe Hae Jung had been right. ' Maybe the guys are different. And maybe we will have a genuine good time.' She let a breath. It was all just 'maybe's'. She thought back to the look she'd gotten from Jaejoong and couldn't help but smile. He was her favorite member after all. He had seemed pretty nice. And sincere. She bit her lip again and closed her eyes. It was not long before she too succumbed to sleep.

- - -

 

Hae Jung was the first to rouse herself, feeling completely restored and was surprised by the darkness of her room. She checked the alarm clock by her bed on the nightstand and read the angry red numbers on it. 9:58pm. She'd slept for almost 7 hours! She grumbling, she rolled to the side of her bed and sat up on the edge.

 

Instead of getting mad at Mi Sun for not waking her up, seeing as she actually rarely remember to wake her up (it was basically wasting breath just to tell her),  Hae Jung got up out of bed and grabbed a suitcase from her closet. She might as  well be productive and pack her things.

 

She was always bad at packing and seemed to take alot of things but she thought that it was better to be overly prepared than not prepared enough. And she was going to be gone for an entire month. She looked down at the miniscule suitcase sitting on the bed. She was going to need more than that small thing. She went back into her closet and pulled out every piece of luggage she had and began filling them with clothes. When she was done, there were 4 overly stuffed traveling bags situated around her room and her dressers were remarkably bare. Her room looked as though she was moving not going on vacation. She'd remembered to leave out a few pairs of clothings and other garments for the next few days before they arrived. She learned from that mistake once before. She shook her head and set all the bags against the wall.

 

Walking out of the room, Hae Jung saw Mi Sun sprawled out on the couch, watching television.

 

" Because waking me up fails in comparison of watching some stupid sitcom, right?" She asked, coming up behind Mi Sun. Mi Sun visibly jumped, dropping the remote on the floor. She whipped her head around to face her older sister.

 

" You scared me," she whispered, holding her heart. She reached down and picked up the remote again.

 

" You didn't wake me up. So we're even." Hae Jung sniffed and plopped down on the couch. " Are you feeling better now?"

 

Mi Sun shrugged. Hae Jung rolled her eyes and wrenched the remote from her hands.



" Because that's a real answer. Use your grown-up words." She stuck out her tongue and turned the channel until she found one she liked.

 

" I guess I am. Yeah. This vacation's going to be fun afterall. I just know it now. Thanks," Mi Sun replied. She paused for a moment.

 

" Are you sure you're okay?" Hae Jung asked, at the silence.

 

" Yeah. I just did some thinking. That's all." The girls turned their attention back to the television and watched the program together in silence.

- - -

The next two days went by relatively quickly. It was filled busily with packing, cleaning out their fridge, and turning their utilities off.  Someone had dropped off their plane tickets like their Harabeoji said they would. They told their friends and family of their vacation plans but left out the small details involving who there were going with. There was no need to start a fan riot. Hae Jung looked at all of the luggage standing near their door. Seven bags of luggage. She groaned.  That was gonna be a big job. Hae Jung had picked a floral sundress to wear with sunglasses and a large sunhat over her hair and she regretted that decision because it was hard for her to keep her dress down and carry a bag at the sametime. Mi Sun imerged from her room with another bag.



"Ugh. What's in that one?" She cried, throwing her hands in the air.

 

" Things from the bathroom. Brushes, shampoo, flat iron, blah, blah, blah," Mi Sun listed and set the bag on the pile of the rest of them. Mi Sun had been dressed more causally in three-quarter sweat pants, running shoes and tshirt. Her hair was notted several times in a strange type of bun on the back of her head.

 

" Ready to go?" Mi Sun clapped her hands together, unsettling any of the dust that might have clung to her hands and looked over at her sister.

 

" How are we gonna carry of all that?" Hae Jung asked, more so to herself than Mi Sun. Her sister only shrugged.

 

" We can man two trips I guess. It feels like we're never coming back." Hae Jung groaned as she picked up one of her bags that had the shoulder strap. She could carry one of them and wheely bag but that still left six more bags, five not including the bag that Mi Sun had just set down. That one could be carried by hand. Mi Sun grabbed two of her gym bag type suitcases and a medium wheely one, while grabbing the smaller bag of toiletries. There were two rather large wheely ones left.

 

Hae Jung opened their front door and backed out of the door. She carefully decended the stairs with luggage and made it out of the entrance and to the waiting car. She set the bags next to the car and started back towards her apartment. She passed Mi Sun halfway up the stairs and she ran back up to their apartment.

 

She grabbed her purse off the kitchen counter, and grabbed the remaining two bags. She wheeled them out into the hallway and paused to lock the door. She looked back once at their door and thought about how they wouldn't be going through it for another 30 days. Mi Sun was waiting at the end of the hall and she handed the other wheeled suitcase. Their driver had already begun settling the luggage in the trunk of the limo and they set the remaining next to car. They climbed into the opened back seat, settling themselves in for the ride to the airport.

 

" I thought I was ready for this. But now I know I am. Things just got so . . ." Hae Jung trailed off.

 

" Real?" Mi Sun finished. Hae Jung nodded. This was the beginning of the ride to Jeju-do. Their road to vacation, relaxation and pop idol men. The next 30 days were going to be great. She could just feel it. And by the smile on Mi Sun's face that was strikingly similar to her own told her that her sister felt the same way.