Jejudo .

6

"Alright guys, We have to go pick up Bangchan and Jeongin, the rest will come in their cars. So make sure you have space in the back." Sejeong looked back at me and Haneul who were sharing airpods so we didn't hear half of it but just nodded. SZA was blasting in our ears as we just looked at each other.

She had texted me, she didn't feel like talking.

Three messages from'Hannieee'

The airpods in our ears had announced the notification. "Something is wrong with Nari. Look at what she sent me. And, from Hannieee, one attachment." We both laugh at the AI announcing her messages. I open my phone to see the screenshot and my smile drops. Gosh, why did Nobody Gets Me have to start playing now?

'Nari Lee'

'Haneul'
hey nari what up

'Nari Lee'
yk hana?
lord her minions are so annoying

'Haneul'
what happened

'Nari Lee'
their goin 2 jejudo n im not??
like tf i do
i should be goin 2 jejudo

'Haneul'
shes going cause her bro is going

'Nari Lee'
oh hwang?
he's fine asfkkkk wtf
literally if i went i'd try so hard to make him my bf
ong he majestic
but my brother is going too?
what bullshit

'Haneul'
oh!

I sigh and I just look out the window. What bullshit, for real. I mean seriously? I know she knows about Sejeong too. "That's bullshit.." Haneul nods and whispers in my ear. "She apparently has printouts of your brother in her room." My eyes widen as I look at the mirror in the front middle of the car. I see as Hyunjin's eyes look right at me. But then back on the road. We gossip the rest of the way until we reach their dorm area.

I watch the door open as I see bangchan. He looked so happy to see me after six years. "Girl, get out of the damn car!" He drags me out, hugging me tightly. "Holy shit, has it been six years? You've grown so much. Aigooya." I roll my eyes at his words but then smile. "It's so nice to see you. I don't even remember the last time I saw you!" I look back at Haneul and she loves to point out how my life is a drama. She's just stuck on that. 

I see Jeongin and I wave, giving him a hug from the side. I didn't know who he was, I just knew he was one of my brother's friends, and Bangchan's friend. I sit back next to Haneul, talking to her. I hate when I get the feeling that she's left out, so I put my head on her shoulder, scrolling through the Instagrams of our favorite idols. "Have you seen Yeonjun's latest post? Oh my, he's so cute."

I go on my phone and check my Instagram. I go through the posts of Yeonjun as well. "Wow, he's cute." Bangchan leans toward my phone without my notice, looking at Yeonjun with me too. I looked up and to my side, and I jumped a little. "Oh, you scared me." He smiled, his dimples coming out as he leaned back, proud he scared me for the first time. I never got scared easily.

"So how old are you now?" I look at him. I know he knows because of what Sejeong showed me last night. "I'm twenty-one." I smile as he fakes a shocked face. Sometimes I can't tell it apart from real because he can act, really well. "Oh seriously? You've grown. The last time we talked was when you were a chubby fifteen-year-old." He emphasizes the 'Chubby' and I laugh. Have I really lost weight? The K-Pop standards say otherwise... He acts like an Uncle sometimes.

"How old are you now?" He blinks a few times and cuts me off before I say anything else. "Next topic!" I could hear Jeongin laugh. "Ah okay, so you're old old." He smiles. But its not any ordinary smile. It's like a 'What-The-Fuck' smile. He looks around, poking his cheek with his tongue out of embarrassment as everyone else laughs. Even Haneul laughs and she doesn't even know Bangchan. "I'm not that old!" "Yes you are, you're turning 27 next year," Hyunjin says as he goes quiet. It was kind of funny to make fun of his age. "Hyunjin it's always you making fun of his age." They started to talk about things I and Haneul didn't know about, so we just continued talking.

"Did you bring the blankets and headrests?" She nods, grabbing them from the duffel bag. It was a light pink blanket, it was soft, still packaged, and folded. "Oh did you buy me a new blanket?" She smiles and hugs me. "Where's my thank you?" "Aww! Thank you, Hannie!" I smile as she pulls out a matching one in light yellow. Same colored headrests too. That was so sweet of her to do that.

We arrived at the airport, and Bangchan immediately did his revenge punch-in-the-butt to Hyunjin after talking about his age. We were in the seats next to the food areas and bathrooms, waiting for them to call the plane up. It was still 11:12 when we arrived, Hyunjin was driving fairly fast, I'll give him that much. I could see Felix in the distance with everyone else, and Nari. I give that look to Haneul, and she shrugs. What?

She waves at me and runs over to Haneul. She reeked terribly of cigarettes. Everyone here was aware her family didn't smoke and acted so royal and elegant. I wave at Felix and he smiles brightly at me. Hyunjin is giving me a dead stare. This was a circle of people who knew about the rumors, but everyone was just talking while it's the 'teens' over here. Nari tries to include me in her convos and gossip, but all I can think about is those rumors. It smells like pure smoke.

Nari left with her parents to go back home since it was departure time. We board the plane, hands-free. Of course, me and Haneul had matching bags that we put a ton of stuff in. Sitting next to each other on a two-seater was so fun, because we can do whatever we wanted. Not really, since it was a public space still. But we still did whatever we wanted. 

She said I could have the window seat but she also has social anxiety, so I let her have it, just in case she needed anything so I could order it when the plane attendants came around. And also because Sejeong and Hyunjin are sitting in the row next to us. Bangchan and Jeongin were sitting behind us, and behind Sejeong were Felix and Han. I don't know who Han is, but I saw the list. In front of us were strangers, since the three others went in the three seater. Changbin, Minho and Seungmin.

We're on our way to Jejudo! I'm so excited for this.