You Infire Me

Chapter Nine: DC or Bust

"I have found out there is no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them."
— Mark Twain

"We're going to DC," your best friend says the moment you open your eyes. "Today. Pack your bags."

You sit up, rubbing your eyes. "I don't remember going to bed sick."

Bianca shoots you a confused look as she drags her suitcase out from under her bed.

"This must be a fever dream," you clarify. "Why else would I be forced to take a spontaneous trip?"

"Perhaps because it's the last fall break of your life," Bianca answers, emptying almost an entire drawer of underwear into one carry-on.

You rub your eyes some more. "How long will you be in DC?"

"Correction: how long will we be in DC," she moves to your side of the room, digging around for your luggage. "You're coming, Y/N! You have no choice. It'll be so much fun!"

"Ughhh," you flop back onto your pillow, the softness of your sheets seductively whispering in your ear, asking you to stay. "I have too much to work on, B. Too many books to read, too many papers to write. I don't have time for a vacation."

"You can find a cute café downtown and do all your assignments there," Bianca proposes.

"That's . . . actually an excellent idea," you realize. "Reading and writing in cafés are my only hobbies, after all."

"Good. It's settled. Now get out of bed, and get packed. I've got to call Alex and Aaron to solidify the hotel arrangement. Would you text Yoongi and ask if he landed us those MAX concert tickets? Thanks." She whips out her phone and dashes out of the room.

"Wait. Wait wait wait wait," you shout after her. "Yoongi's coming?"

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By 11:00, the five of you are settled in Cam: you at the wheel, Bianca on her usual throne in the passenger's seat, and the three boys in the back. Through your rear view mirror, you glance at Yoongi sitting in the seat behind you. He doesn't know Alex and Aaron well at all, you worry, and they're not exactly . . . the quiet type. The brothers pass around snacks and chug energy drinks—very unnecessarily, considering that they seem to have been born on natural sugar highs—but they're nice enough to Yoongi, you suppose. They ask him questions about his rapping career and thank him profusely for the tickets to see MAX in DC.

"I was only able to snag three," he announces, "but I talked to Y/N, and we decided the three of you should go."

"Aww, you don't have to do that," Alex protests, quite boisterously. "You should take both of the girls. Aaron and I can do something else that night."

"Yeah," Aaron agrees, "There's this graffiti show I've heard abo–"

"NO!" Bianca yells, interrupting the boys in a dominant display of disagreement. "I mean . . . Yoongi's been kind enough to offer us the tickets. We should take them. He's already worked with MAX on a song, for crying out loud. Let's . . . let's just go, the three of us." Alex and Aaron relent, and Bianca turns her head to you, mouthing: "I really don't want to be a third wheel with you and Yoongi."

Your eyes whip back to the road ahead, but you let out a loose smirk.

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You arrive in DC and check into your hotel, the guys taking one room and you and Bianca the other. You almost offer to share a room with Yoongi—you're still worried about how the mostly idiotic brothers™ will treat him—but ultimately decide against it, realizing that the amount of awkwardness between you would multiply tenfold as a result. After hearing Bianca's full breakdown on her guy dilemma (should she choose Alex or Aaron? They both seem to be in love with her), you go to see about one of your own.