~ 이십 ~

The sun's already up, shining brightly, yet it could not warm the cold breeze surrounding the areas of Seoul. Winter was soon approaching so people could be seen clad in coats over a coat and a shirt to warm their bodies. Most of the trees were already bald, the autumn season almost done performing its job.
 

“Where are the two?” Jinhwan asked. He was at the Kim’s residence waiting for the latecomers so they could already go. Since they have two weeks of break, Hayi thought of going out of town to celebrate Christmas; the others, including him, agreed to join.
 

“Hayi told me they’re already on their way.” Jiwon said, carrying his duffel bag containing his clothes. He opened the car’s back door and threw the bag in; the other three did the same.
 

“Well, speaking of.” Donghyuk said after throwing his bag inside the car. Hayi and Suhyun got off from a cab and hastily went inside the garage.
 

“Omo, omo, sorry we’re--” Hayi said but Yunhyeong cut her off. “Save it Hayi. We’re already used, okay?” He said which earned him a slap on his arms from Hayi.
 

“Yah! Aish.” He winced in pain as the two girls handed their stuffs to Donghyuk who put those inside the car.
 

“Well then let’s go? It’s a long trip so we could arrive early.” Jiwon said and fished for the car’s key on his pocket. They got inside the car; Donghyuk and Yunhyeong going first on the backseat, leaving Suhyun and Jinhwan beside each other. Jinhwan smiled at the lady but the latter only returned a glare and a ‘tch’.
 

“Yaahh~ where am I going to seat?” Hayi whined as she was the last one to get in. The car’s backseat was already full, with only four people capacity.
Jiwon opened the door and turned into Hayi. “You could sit here,” he smiled, his eye smile melting Hayi’s insides.
 

“Oh, o-okay.” She accepted the offer and climbed up to the passenger’s seat, next to Jiwon, who will the driver for today’s trip. Jiwon got in as well and started the vehicle right away. He maneuvered outside the garage and clicked a remote to close the garage’s door. Soon, he began driving towards their destination.

“Gwenchana?” Hayi asked, concerned about his injured foot.
 

Jiwon smiled yet again; his eyes still fixed on the road. “Of course, I am okay. It’s already healed. My doctor said I could walk and run and even drive already.” He said to which Hayi only nodded.
 

“It’s a long drive; tell me if you’re tired. We could switch.” She suggested; eyes also darted on the window, looking at the not-so fantastic view of the road and plenty of cars driving like they were on a race.
 

“Sure.” Jiwon replied; he could not reject her offer since she would insist anyway.
 

The drive to Busan was expected to be a long six hour drive, that is, if there would be no traffic. Hayi decided to visit her grandmother’s house at Busan where she always used to stay during her vacation when she was still young. She hasn’t told her grandmother yet except for the housekeepers together with her to help them prepare for their stay. She reminded them to not tell any single word of her visit because she planned to surprise her loving granny.
 

“Yo Jiwon hyung, could you turn on the radio? My mp3’s dead.” Donghyuk said after realizing that he hasn’t charged the battery last night.
Jiwon grinned and the radio. A foreign song was being played when he turned it on, so Suhyun requested to change frequencies.
 

“Aish, why are you changing the song? It’s good!” Jinhwan commented and the three-- Yunhyeong, Jiwon, and him-- sang the song when it hit it’s chorus.
 

“Now watch me whip... Now watch me nae, nae... Now watch me whip, whip... watch me nae, nae...”
 

Donghyuk began to join the trio and repeated the chorus all over again even if it was on the next verse already. Although not participating on the singing, Hayi was silently giggling about the quad’s antics and facial expressions. Suhyun was taken aback and shouted which caused the rest to stop.
 

“YAH!!! It’s irritating! Shut up!”
 

Because of Suhyun’s uproar, Hayi immediately switched the radio frequency, causing a few ‘aww’ and ‘boo’.
 

The radio frequency was playing an old Korean song at the moment and Suhyun requested to change it again.
 

“Shiroyo~ I want this song.” Jinhwan teased and acted as if he was enjoying the song. The other’s stopped participating and enjoyed the view of the highway.
 

“Yah! Do you want to die?” Suhyun side-eyed him; perhaps it was not a good idea that they were sitting beside each other.
 

Jinhwan shook his head and smiled, plastering his famous aegyo. “Ani, arasso. Hayi-ah, please change it.”
 

Hayi was quietly chuckling at how the two were acting. She leaned forward to adjust the radio frequency and looked at Jiwon who was laughing too.
 

“Aigoo. What is that song? Change it!” This time, Jinhwan was the one to protest a change in the song; a feel good song that has a cute melody was being played.
 

“Shut up oppa! That’s Love Lane!” Suhyun defended, referring to Mamamoo’s song. “It’s okay Hayi, don’t dare change it.”
 

The youngest kept on glaring at the oldest, and since he was an understanding person, he accepted his lost. “Alright, alright, I’m not gonna protest again, my lady.” He said which earned a few teasing from their other friends.

They were already on the entrance of the expressway, near the toll gate, but they were unexpectedly caught in a heavy traffic; there were also other people who were having their own vacations outside Seoul.
 

“Aish,” Jiwon said as his foot pressed the break. There were a lot of cars ahead of them, and the toll takes time to attend every car, since only two gates were working right now.
 

The others were unaware of it, the backseat people were busy talking and ranting about how their exams went. Suhyun talking about how pissed she was on her professor who hadn’t given any pointers to review on. “What are we, fortune teller?” She remarked; Jinhwan telling her to calm down and it’s already over.

“Do you still know halmoni’s place?” Hayi asked him; thankfully it was already their turn. Jiwon pressed the accelerator lightly and looked on his right and grinned, “Yup, I’m good at memorization you know.”

As they approached the toll, a man seated inside greeted them and asked for their payment. Jiwon looked for coins on the car’s pockets yet there was none.
 

“Uhm, Hayi could you...”
 

“Here,” she said, stretching her tiny arms to hand a hundred won to the operator. The man, in return, gave them their receipt.
 

“Thank you ma’am, sir. Have a nice trip!” He said and Jiwon sped away. The latter thanked Hayi and the girl only smiled; they didn’t know that the four were watching them.
 

“You know, I should have gotten some popcorn with me.”
 

“I thought I just watched a scene in a chic flick.”
 

“Ugh, could I vomit now?”
 

They kept on commenting, teasing the other two who were apple red right now in embarrassment. Suhyun and Jinhwan were leading the bullying while Donghyuk was their supporter; Yunhyeong, well he was busy fiddling his phone.
 

“Aigoo~ some people were just envious because they couldn’t do things like that. Aigoo~ who are they? Donghyuk-ah, do you know them?” Hayi retorted back at the two; Suhyun and Jinhwan were silenced by Hayi’s return and Donghyuk and Jiwon could only laugh at the situation.
 

“S-shut up Hayi! Aish...” Suhyun kept blabbering non-stop and was only halted when a phone call got on her way.
 

“Y-yoboseyo?” It was from Yunhyeong. All eyes darted on him, except for Jiwon who was focused on driving and Hayi who was only side looking at the rear mirror.
 

“Aniyo, this is not Song Jaerim. You must be mistaken. I’m Song Yunhyeong, nae.” He calmly said and ended the phone call; he looked up and saw those prying eyes, giving a ‘who was that’ expression on their faces.
 

Yunhyeong let out a sigh of defeat and explained: “it’s nothing. Someone was just asking if I was Song Jaerim.” The others nodded but weren’t completely convinced with his reasoning.
 

“Hmmm... of course the caller was a she.” Suhyun mumbled to herself.
 

“I’m 100% sure that the caller was an ex-fling.” Jinhwan also murmured.
 

“Apparently, the Song Jaerim was also Yunhyeong. It was only an alias.” Hayi stated as if it was a fact, which received a few chuckles from everyone.
 

The suspect raised his hands, “arasso I am defeated. How did you figure that? You guys are geniuses!”
 

“Ani, we just knew you.” Hayi said and high fived Suhyun at the back. Yunhyeong was left defeated, mocking Hayi’s last statement.

As they entered the expressway, the drive became easier. There wasn’t any traffic; the vehicles were like toy cars having a race towards the finish line. Jiwon though, barely sped up to keep up with the other cars; he wanted to drive safely.
 

When the first expressway ended, he found a restaurant to stopover; perhaps his company was already famished. However when he looked behind, he found the four quietly snoring; Yunhyeong was leaning on the window, Donghyuk has his book covered on his face, and Suhyun, she’s sleeping on Jinhwan’s shoulder who was also on deep slumber too.

His eyes his passenger seat; Hayi has already dozed off without his realization. She was sleeping very serenely; her long lashes that accentuates her large eyes, her full pink lips that flexes every time she says a word, and her pointed nose, that nose he loved the most. It was as if this Lee Hayi in front of him now wasn’t the same ice cold looking Hayi on usual days.
He loved this sleeping figure of Hayi; oh, how he missed this.
 

Jiwon leaned towards Hayi and adjusted her position; he reclined the seat so she could nap more comfortably. Afterwards, he knobbed the car key again to start the engine; the supposed stopover was no use; everyone was on their own dreams.

❀❀❀

“Hhmmm...” Hayi stretched out her arms and opened her eyes; there’s still on the road and it seemed like they have arrived at the province of Busan already. She sat up straight and noticed that her seat was a bit reclined, who did it? Her eyes scanned the whole car and saw the backseat guys were sleeping and Jiwon...
 

“Omo, how long have you been driving already?” She asked when she saw the driver all eyes on the road.
 

Jiwon heard her ask and he looked sideways, “Oh, you’re already awake.” He greeted her with a warm smile and focused again on driving. “I don’t know though, five, six? I lost count.”
 

Hayi scratched her head and frowned, “Y-yah! Why didn't you tell me? You agreed to switch places with me right? What if you are already tired? You might have overused your injured foot! Aish,” She threw tantrums like a newly woken baby which Jiwon found cute. Good thing though the others were really out in their own planets and Hayi hasn’t woken them up.
 

Jiwon couldn’t help it but his lips already etched an upward curve because of Hayi’s actions. “Hey, it’s fine. You see, I’m alright; and why would I wake a sleeping beauty? I could handle this.” He reassured the other but it seemed like she was unconvinced. Her eyes were on fire; determined, she hastily pulled the door’s lock which surprised Jiwon.
 

“Yah! What are you doing?” He stepped on the break in an instant, afraid that Hayi might have opened the door and she would be latching off the vehicle.
 

The latter, however, was deaf and has already begun to descend the black car, moving towards the driver’s place with Jiwon looking at her, widened eyes and mouth hung low.
 

“I’m gonna drive.” She said; it was more like a command rather than a request. Jiwon coyly smirked and scratched his nape; he was taken aback by this girl’s tactics and tantrums. Of course, she’s Lee Hayi. She’s unpredictable.
 

He got down from the car and raised his shoulders on his loss. “Arasso, you drive.” He went around the opposite side and sat on the passenger seat, while Hayi beamed a childlike triumphant smile and got on the driver’s seat and started driving. The route was only more or less thirty kilometers far away and even though it’s a bit near already, Hayi still insisted. She always does.

❀❀❀

“Halmoni!” Hayi screamed in joy when she got off the car after parking it hastily in front of the house. The old woman, who was already in her seventies, was busy sweeping the fallen acacia leaves when she heard someone, more like a rather familiar voice, shouted her name. She looked above and saw her favorite granddaughter, all smiles and jumping in joy.
 

“Omo! Hayi-ah, my granddaughter!” The winter haired lady threw the broom away and came running towards Hayi and the latter also did the same. They embraced each other and it was a very loving sight to Jiwon, who had just gotten off as well.
 

After a few seconds, they finally broke off the reunion hug and greeted each other. “Annyeong halmoni, would you mind if we stay here for Christmas?” The young girl plastered her pearly white grin which was the ahjumma’s weakness.
 

“Aigoo~ you should have told me earlier so I could have prepared.” Her grandmother said and yanked Hayi’s forehead which the latter whined about it being painful. The former noticed the black Montero and the man waiting patiently beside it.
 

“Jiwon-ah? Is that really you Jiwonnie? Omona!” Her grandmother couldn’t be any happier than seeing Kim Jiwon in front of her. “I haven’t heard from you in years! What happened to you?” The loving woman enclosed the young man in a tight hug, her dangling arms surrounding the built frame of Jiwon. The latter was surprised from her actions; he thought she would be in rage once she laid eyes on him. But he was rather glad she wasn't.
 

“Uhm, it’s nice to see you again Mrs. Ahn. Glad to see you still young,” he beamed his famous boyish smile after they dettached from the hug.
 

Hayi’s grandmother playfully slapped his arms and chuckled, “aigoo... you’re still playful as always, but your eyes are still good huh. Yah don’t call me Mrs. Ahn, you’re too formal. Didn’t I tell you to call me halmoni?” She said and her eyes wandered to his car. “Is that your car? Are you two gonna spend your vacation here?”
 

Then, Hayi remembered that they were still people inside. She went immediately to the car and opened the backseat’s door; there welcomed halmoni the other people who were still sleeping. Hayi woke them up and they groaned as they realized they were already at Busan.
 

“Yah get out ppali~” Hayi hit Yunhyeong and the latter got out in an instant; the others did the same.
 

“Ohh... you must be Hayi’s friends, omo Suhyun-ah!” She welcomed them giddily. Suhyun happily greeted the elder Ahn like she was the latter’s granddaughter too. “Annyeeooonngg halmoni!”
 

After a few greetings, grandmother Ahn warmly received those guests inside her humble house. The house was painted white and brown on the outside, while the interior was a modernized style of a traditional house; there are wooden furniture mixed with plastic ones, and the rooms were also made to have a relaxing vibe on it. It wasn’t like a mansion but it was large, and it really felt like home.
 

“Wow Hayi your family is rich.” Donghyuk whispered as they were being ushered to the guest rooms.
Hayi sneered and disagreed with what he said. “Ani, my family is not really rich. My mother’s family is,” she explained, referring to her mother’s family which was halmoni. Donghyuk nodded and walked along.
 

“I see you have talked this over with Seulmi. Tsk tsk, you’re really full of surprises!” Halmoni said as she found out that the guest rooms were already taken care of, all courtesy of Seulmi, the head housemaid. “Here’s your room dears, if you want anything go ask me or call for Seulmi instead.” She said and bid goodbye to her guests; she still has a party to attend to.
 

The rest of them began to unpack their bags and lie down the comfy sheets of the bed. Since they have arrived later than expected, they ate dinner and rushed to sleep. It was a tiring first night at Busan.

a/n: hi it's me again! hehe i hoped you liked this chapter~ it would be four (?) amazing chapters next. lol not amazing really, im no good at all hehe.

please please write down your thoughts, i want to read them and i hope i could still improve~ <3