━ 𝘁𝘅𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀

roadtrip

"I'm not going on a road trip with him, I'd rather go alone. You know, I was kind of excited about this road trip until you mentioned him," Miyoung's voice rose with indignation as Mrs Kim sighed. Her daughter was making this arrangement harder than she'd initially thought. The situation at the Choi's next door wasn't any better as Yeonjun's eyes widened with horror at the mention of Miyoung.

"Kim Miyoung? The one living next door? I thought I was going alone. Mum, your son is going to suffer on the road trip," Yeonjun whined, making an effort to seem pitiful in hopes of getting his mother to talk to Mrs Kim about the arrangement again. However, the mothers on both sides were not going to budge no matter how much their children protested.

"It's about time the two of you learn how to communicate without pulling each other's hair out the moment the two of you meet," Mrs Choi said, shaking her head at the two teenagers who were eyeing each other warily at the pavement. "This road trip requires the two of you to communicate well with each other, don't disappoint us," Mrs Kim said, reminding Miyoung and Yeonjun about their "mission".

The two families ran small businesses of their own, Miyoung's family sold scented candles and soap bars while Yeonjun's family sold wood crafted items ranging from small items like photo frames to larger items like wooden stools. The "mission" of theirs was to bring their products to the annual craft fair in Jeju from their current location in Gyeonggi-do, Seoul. It was a fairly easy task, bringing their products, setting up their stalls, selling their products and driving back home. But all that could only be done without them bickering every few minutes, and to them, that was almost impossible.

"We're all set, time to get going kids," Mr Choi said, patting the back of the van. Miyoung and Yeonjun groaned, already dreading the whole idea of this road trip with only each other as company. How they were going to survive for the next 72 hours without being at each other's throats was a big question mark but they didn't have time to start a pity party for themselves. The craft fair was starting early the next day and they had to get the stalls up and ready with their products by then. If they set off now, they would reach around the evening, despite how they hated being in this situation, they had to deal with it on the way. The fair was their main goal, nothing else mattered, Miyoung repeated over and over in her head before walking over to the van.

With a dramatic sigh, Yeonjun hopped into the driver's seat, taking the role of the first driver. The two had gotten their driving licences the previous year and finally had the chance to put it to good use. Yeonjun was driving first and Miyoung would take the wheel when he needed a break.

Miyoung circled the van, finding her seat. All the products they were going to bring were already neatly packed into the van the night before, the boxes stacked on the back seats in straight rows, Miyoung noticed. It slowly dawned on her when she realised what that meant. Since the back seats were already packed with products, the only place she could sit was in the front passenger seat- which was beside the driver's seat, aka Yeonjun's seat. What a nice way to start the day, she thought, before she set a poker face and opened the door to her seat.

"What do you think you're doing," Yeonjun asked when Miyoung settled down on the seat next to him. Miyoung just rolled her eyes and pointed to the back seats. Yeonjun took one look at the boxes stacked on the back seats and sighed. Their parents probably did that intentionally to get them to talk about everything that happened, something they had avoided for a long time.

"Ready?" Yeonjun asked, throwing a glance at Miyoung.

"Why wouldn't I be?" She answered flatly and Yeonjun ignored her attitude and started the engine. Their parents were standing at the front lawn, waving goodbye to them, and Miyoung could see the warning looks her mum was giving her. Tch the way she's so afraid that I would be mean to Yeonjun, who's her child now? She thought, her lips curling into a scowl.