rating: G

genre: contemporary

word count: approx. 1,900+

*note: ANOTHER ROADTRIP AU!

Soojung sat in the front passenger’s seat of Jongin’s car. Feet propped up on the dashboard. Seat reclined slightly back. Fingers catching the soft breeze outside the open window. Eyes protected by a massive pair of tinted shades her sister had given to her as a gift several years ago. (Which, admittedly, made Soojung feel a bit more cooler than she really was.)

The car was parked in a nondescript rest stop, wedged between a dangerous-looking motorcycle and a mini-van that was in desperate need of a windshield wiping. Jongin had left several minutes ago to take care of business—and by ‘business,’ Soojung knew what he really meant. The formalities were obviously unnecessary, but Jongin was always so self-conscious about certain things. He always wanted to keep face. For instance, the boy had taken ballet classes ever since he was a kid, but never once has he permitted Soojung access to any of his rehearsals and recitals.

“It would compromise too much of my reputation,” he had said.

Soojung rolled her eyes. “I already know that you take ballet. There isn’t much of your reputation you can salvage after that. Unless…”

“Unless, what?”

“You and your partner have to wear matching tutus.”

Jongin scoffed. “Soojung. Please. I choose my own tutus.”

It sounded ridiculous then, but now, Soojung can only smile at the thought. Then she frowned, realizing that it’s been years since then and she still hasn’t seen Jongin do anything remotely related to ballet—not even as much as wearing a leotard.

“It can wait,” he’d always say to her.

That never made Soojung any less impatient, of course.

And she was still impatient now.

Glancing out the window, she saw Jongin emerge from the rest stop’s public facility, broad shoulders slightly hunched and hands stuffed deep into his jean pockets. Soojung swept her feet off the dashboard (Jongin had reprimanded her about it several times before.), but frowned when Jongin stopped walking. A small dog padded its way to Jongin’s feet, its owner flitting along beside it.

Soojung leaned over the lip of the window, pushing her sunglasses to the top of her head and squinting as another girl—a very pretty girl—stopped in front of Jongin, showing him a demure smile when he asked her if it was her dog and nodding in confirmation. Soojung couldn’t help but be annoyed by that. Not that she made a habit out of disliking strange girls, of course, but she could tell when a girl was being intentionally modest. Pretending to be cute and coy in the presence of an attractive boy who was no less a stranger to her than she was to him.

And Jongin was attractive. Soojung would have been a fool not to acknowledge that.

Admittedly, this has happened to Attractive Boy Jongin a lot in previous occasions. But the fact that it was happening in a rest area in the middle of a highway struck Soojung as absolutely ridiculous. It’s not like they anticipated on meeting each other again—why flirt now when it wouldn’t mean anything later?

It must be the dog, Soojung concludes. Jongin was always a er for a cute dog.

Having enough of the puppy-love fest, Soojung slammed herself back in her seat, pulling her shades over her eyes before crossing her arms as if she never intended on uncrossing them ever again. She pinched her brows at the dashboard, clenching her teeth at the sound of Jongin’s laugh—his stupidly deep laugh that she, for whatever explanation, was upset for not being the reason for. Then she heard the two exchange farewells (the dog barking its own), and within the next few moments, Jongin was buckling his seat-belt, already behind the steering wheel.

“What was that?” Soojung demanded.

Jongin frowned. “What was what?”

The girl looked at him without tilting her head. “That—whatever that was with the dog—what was it?”

“I dunno,” he said with a shrug. “Just a girl and her dog, I guess.”

“Did you think she was cute?”

“What?”

“Did—you—think—she—was—cute?” Soojung repeated, enunciating every syllable so she wouldn’t have to do it again.

“Yeah, she was.” Soojung took a sharp intake of breath. “Shining wet nose, super soft coat. She even had a really nice leather collar, too,” Jongin added, a hint of a smirk on his face.

His friend only hit him, evidently unamused. “Not funny,” Soojung said, despite her obvious wounds. Then she asked, “Couldn’t you tell that she was all over you?”

“Who—the girl or her dog?”

“Both. But mostly the girl.”

“I don’t think so. Her dog kissed me more times than I could count.”

“Jongin.”

“Soojung?”

“I’m being serious.”

“And I seriously don’t know why you’re being serious because it was nothing,” Jongin said, trying his best to assure her. As far as he was concerned, Soojung was just being her normal neurotic self. Outbursts like this happened occasionally, but they were never actually directed at him. He knew how to cope with it, nonetheless. “It’s not like I was trying to pick up a girl at a rest stop,” he reasoned. “Who does that?”

“Crazy people. And she was crazy. I could feel it,” Soojung insisted.

“All the way from here?”

“Yeah.”

Jongin snorted. “Would you care to elaborate?”

The girl looked cold, static, and unmoving. “I don’t have to. It’s woman’s intuition.”

“Woman’s intu—Soojung, you’re seventeen. That hardly makes you a woman any more than wearing aftershave makes me a man,” he said incredulously.

“Maybe,” she said. “But at least I know other women better than you do. She was flirting with you, and I could tell. I know what flirting looks like.”

Jongin shook his head. “She couldn’t have been flirting with me. I came out of that bathroom smelling like toilet water.”

“Well it’s not like she could have been flirting with anyone else. Her dog doesn’t provide nearly enough of an incentive.”

“You’ve seen me act that way with my dogs.”

“That’s way beyond the point,” Soojung huffed.

“Then what is the point?” Jongin asked gently.

“Do you see yourself whenever you look at a mirror? Can’t you see why strange girls and their dogs would want to throw themselves at you?”

“I’ve never been thrown a girl before.”

“Jongin, for once, stop being so literal and listen to me,” Soojung whined. She didn’t like the sound of her whine. She didn’t like whining at all—it made her look weak—but here she was, whining to her best friend about how really, really good-looking he was and what a disservice it presented to society. (And by society, she secretly meant her.)

“I am listening,” Jongin said, exasperated. “I just don’t understand what’s the big deal.”

“I just …” Soojung sighed. “You know what? Just forget it and drive.”

“All right, then.”

The next few minutes were quiet—and uncomfortably so. Soojung curled herself up against the door, her hair flying around her face next to the open window. She doesn’t know why she exploded at him like that. Or maybe she did, she just wasn’t honest enough to admit it. The girl could have just as easily blamed it on summer sickness, but Soojung wasn’t that desperate for an excuse.

What she was desperate for now, however, was an end to this eerie silence. Jongin and Soojung have had their fair share of quiet periods, but none of them were as thick and bothersome as this. Soojung thinks she probably deserved it for being so irrational, but through the green eyes of jealousy, she felt that she was justified.

At that thought, Soojung felt dirty. Shameful. And a wee bit embarrassed for succumbing to something so stupid.

“Just so you know,” Jongin started suddenly, “she wasn’t that pretty.”

Soojung only stared at him. But she knew he couldn’t tell because of her too dark sunglasses.

“The girl,” he continued. “She was pretty, but not that pretty.”

“Then what exactly is 'that pretty?'” Soojung found herself asking. “And don’t say Han Ye Seul. She’s your answer for everything,” she mumbled.

Jongin laughed, more so amused than threatened. “There’s no concrete standard. It goes by personal preference.”

“It would be easier if everyone looked the same.”

“What would be easier?”

“Everything,” Soojung said, visibly frustrated with the world, with Jongin, and most certainly with herself. “I’m just—I’m just mad.”

“You don’t say?” There was teasing in Jongin’s voice, but Soojung chose to ignore it.

“I wish life wasn’t so complicated.”

“Oh, geez. For the love of all things good, please don’t turn in to an angst-ridden teen on me.”

“Sorry, but I'm seventeen,” she said cheekily. “It is my innate ability to be angst-ridden however, whenever, and whyever I want.”

“Point made,” Jongin said, sighing. He threw a sideways glance at her before looking back at the road. “I just wish you didn’t have to inflict all that angst on me.”

“I wasn’t mad at you if that’s what you’re implying,” Soojung said.

“It’s hard to assume otherwise. I leave for the bathroom for a few minutes and you decide to be crazy mad all of a sudden. Other people would have thought I farted in the car with all the windows closed or something.”

At that, Soojung couldn’t help but laugh out loud. And in response, Jongin broke out in a smile of his own. The toothy one that cut wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. The one smile that was reserved for Soojung and only Soojung—and she knew how lucky she was to have it.

“If you did that—” She laughed. “—I wouldn’t just be crazy mad. I would be furious.”

“I’ll do my best to keep from provoking the beast, then,” Jongin said, still smiling “If you weren’t mad at me, though, who were you mad at?”

The girl paused for moment. “Would you believe me if I told you it was the sun that made me angry?”

“Perhaps. The sun can screw up a lot of things. Crops, sensitive skin, the O-zone layer—”

“I don’t think the sun is responsible for that.”

“But it’s responsible for making you go kooky and inexplicably angry?”

“That’s the story I’m sticking with.”

Jongin sighed for what seemed like the thousandth time today. It wasn’t necessarily because he was tired, or because he was growing tired of Soojung’s increasingly weird antics. He sighed because he was glad that it was over. That he and Soojung could put this behind them and act as if it never really happened at all. He might not know why it happened, but he figured he didn’t need to know. Friends have fights with each other all the time, and he and Soojung were of no exception.

Soojung was glad, too, but only partially so. Ranting about a strange girl he’d met at a rest stop was probably the closest she’s ever been to actually telling him that she…

No, she thought. It can wait until a later time. Not just when she was ready, or when he was ready—but when they were both ready to finally confront what has been building up ever since this road-trip started. Jongin was in no rush to get to their destination, so neither was Soojung.

Instead, she was going to enjoy the ride.

author's note: Hey, guys! First update here in a loooong time, lol. I actually wrote this in the first quarter of the year, but I never posted it. Then, after some digging, I rediscovered it in my USB and thought "Hey, this isn't half bad!" And so I posted it, hehe. I'm not exactly sure when this drabble takes place in the road trip, but I figure it happens in the later half when Soojung is a little bit self-aware yet still anxious about her feelings. I am seriously considering making a separate collection for this, but I'm not exactly sure how to connect all the written pieces and create new ones to fill in the other gaps XD It's something I really want to do, though! All I need is an outline and self-discipline...

As you can see, I'm trying to set the bar low so I can go beyond expectations LOL. I hope you guys enjoyed it, and thank you so much for reading! I understand some of you might be back in school now, but I still have a couple weeks left to waste until I have to return. I honestly can't wait, but I also want it to last a really long time because I'm not ready for college yet orz I hope you all are doing well and I wish you guys luck in whatever academic endeavors you may have. The student life is a tough life, but it'll all be worth it in the end :D Thanks again for reading, and I'll see you at the next update. - Ella