Today is the day where Minjeong officially starts her vacation. She, along with Ning Yizhou, will go home.

Personally, she prefers going home on the train. Yeah, it's much longer, but at least, she has more time to rest and appreciate the scenery. But she was going home with the Ning Yizhou. Of course, her rich best friend prefers the fast and expensive option, the airplane.

Minjeong couldn’t complain, especially when her parents totally agreed with Ning Yizhou's option.

"Yizhou, what are we still doing here? Can't we go inside the waiting area and rest?" The blonde girl whined.

"Jimin Unnie hasn't arrived yet. We need to wait for her, remember?"

"She already texted me that we can go ahead."

The younger girl raised an eyebrow at her friend, "You have Unnie's number?"

"Yeah."

"Since when?"

Minjeong nonchalantly answers, "Since the day we agreed to the fake dating thing."

"Huh? That's interesting."

It was Minjeong's turn to raise an eyebrow, "what?"

"I just didn’t expect you guys would be on good terms...fast." Yizhou just shrugged, "From the vague explanation you gave me about what happened years ago, you said it was so serious that your friendship with her crumbled to oblivion."

"It was." Minjeong sighed, "Technically, we haven't talked about it yet. We just...brushed over it, I guess, and agreed to start over."

"Huh." The younger girl stared at Minjeong for a while which made the latter uncomfortable, "what is it again, Yizhou?"

"You do know this could blow up in your faces if you guys won't talk about it."

"I know."

"Then why-"

Minjeong put her hands on Yizhou's shoulder for her to stop, "I will talk to her about it, I promise. Just...not now. Not yet."

Before the younger girl could retort, Minjeong’s phone suddenly rang. It was Jimin. "Hey."

"Hi, where are you guys?"

The blonde girl looked around, "we're here in front of the Duty-Free store, right-wing side."

"Oh, okay." Minjeong could hear someone from the background talking to Jimin. 

"Is everything okay there?"

Rustling and whispers could be heard before Jimin could reply, "yeah yeah. I'm on my way." The raven-haired girl immediately cut the call which made Minjeong even more confused.

Yizhou went beside her and asked, "Is she coming?"

"Yeah. But that was weird."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know what exactly, but it seemed to me that Jimin was with someone. I can't really tell." Minjeong was confused and was lowkey worried.

"You must've heard things, Unnie."

"I hope so."

They waited for a bit until they finally saw Jimin coming to them. To their surprise, the raven-haired girl wasn't alone. 

"Yo, what's up!"

"Aeri? What are you doing here?" Minjeong was confused as to why their friend was here. Her friend was a city girl and doesn't have any other reason to go with them to their hometown.

"I'm coming with you guys," Aeri brightly answered.

"Why?" The blonde girl continues to ask.

Aeri nudged her friend, "It's simple, Minjeong. I want to see how this fake dating thing is gonna work out." She smirked at the blonde girl, "It's a sight to see, and I can't miss it for the world." 

Of course, Aeri would do this. Minjeong could only roll her eyes. She glanced at Jimin, who defeatedly replied, "I tried to stop her."

Minjeong had been friends with Aeri enough to know she would pull this kind of stunt. She might look sweet and friendly on the outside, but this Japanese-Korean girl was mischievous in nature and loves to have fun. Of course, Aeri wouldn't miss seeing her friend and roommate pull off the fake dating thing. This is like peak entertainment for her.

After Aeri knew what was going on, Aeri couldn't stop laughing at her dumb friend. She also knew that both Jimin and Minjeong had a past, but she didn't expect they would be wrapped in this kind of predicament. She'll definitely have fun watching them crash and burn as she spectates.

Aeri smiled widely at Minjeong in which the latter could only grumble. 

Suddenly, Yizhou put her arm around the blonde girl's shoulders to comfort her, "C'mon, Unnie. Cheer up. It's going to be fun! At least now, I am not alone in witnessing all of this." Aeri and Ningning then high five each other's hands in triumph.

Minjeong could only sigh. And here I thought things wouldn't get any worse.

------

As they board the plane, it was inevitable that the group would be separated by two, as the younger girls booked their flights earlier. However, Aeri and Yizhou conspired with one another and declared how they badly wanted to sit next to each other, which resulted in Minjeong and Jimin being paired together.

"Sorry about this," Minjeong apologizes to Jimin, once again, "those two rascals are really testing my patience." Jimin could only chuckle at the antics of their friends, "It's okay. If I were in their shoes, I might do the same."

Minjeong could only shake her head.

She loves her friends dearly, but sometimes, they do get on her nerves, especially when it comes to their pranks and antics, especially to her. She's a prankster herself, but she is not a fan of it when she's the target. The blonde girl could only pray that she would have a peaceful summer to enjoy.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome onboard Flight 7G9...

As the pre-flight announcement was airing, Minjeong noticed how quiet her seatmate was. She looked over to Jimin's side and noticed her eyes were closed and was gripping the chair armrest a bit too tightly. "Hey," she carefully tapped the shoulder of the raven-haired girl, "are you okay?"

"Huh?" Jimin blinked and glanced over to the blonde girl and stuttered, "A-ah ye-ah. I-I'm good. Definitely." Minjeong wasn't convinced. It was clear to her that Jimin was restless and uncomfortable. It made her remember that the raven-haired girl was afraid of heights. Ah, of course. The airplane.

"You should have told me that you're uncomfortable with this, we could have taken the train instead."

"I don't want to be a burden to you guys. After all, you already bought the tickets." Jimin smiled a bit at the blonde girl, to assure her that it was okay, "don't worry about me, it's only for 2 hours anyway. I can handle this." Again, Minjeong wasn't convinced. She could only shake her head in disbelief before she went through her bag and took one of her headphones and put it over Jimin's ear, "what are you doing?"

"Trust me," Minjeong smiled at her, "this will help." It was noise-canceling wireless headphones the blonde girl recently bought. As much as she wanted to use it for herself, she knows that Jimin needs it more than she does. She took out her phone and played one of her playlists that she usually listens to when she wants to feel peace and calm.

She then took Jimin's right hand and intertwined it with. To help the other girl feel grounded. Jimin whispered thank you to Minjeong, where the latter smiled.

Jimin's grip was as rough as the turbulence of the plane. Minjeong knows that the other girl works out, but she didn't expect the raven-haired girl to be that strong. She mentally notes herself to massage her hands later and check on it if it's still functional.

As the turbulence subsided, with eyes closed, Jimin was still gripping Minjeong's hand, hard. She slowly lowered the volume of the music she played for the other girl and lightly tapped her shoulder. "Jimin, hey," the raven-haired girl slowly opened her eyes and glanced over Minjeong, "it's okay now."

"Oh, thanks." Jimin removed the headphones from her ears and looked down at their intertwined hands. She realized how strong her grip was and immediately let go. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, Minjeong."

"It's okay."

"No, I know how harsh I tend to grip-"

Minjeog laughs it off, "you did have a strong grip there. I thought for a second that my hand would be crushed or something." The raven-haired girl pouts, "I won't hold your hand anymore."

"But hands are meant to be held with." The blonde girl retorts, "feel free to use and torture my hand again up to any extent." Jimin slapped Minjeong's arm playfully as she shakes her head. 

After they settled down comfortably, the raven-haired girl looked down at her hands. She was still holding onto the wireless headphones of her seatmate. She remembers the music that was playing over a while ago. Weirdly, she was familiar with them. 

"Minjeong-ah," she called out.

"Hhmm?"

"The playlist, did you create it?"

"Yeah. It's my music playlist when I want to feel peace and calm."

Jimin hummed in agreement. It was indeed a calming music playlist. However, she noticed something about it. Every song was piano pieces she used to play before.

"Minjeong-ah."

"Yeah?"

"If you don't mind me asking,"

"What is it?"

"Uhhmm," Jimin was contemplating. She doesn’t want to assume anything, but it was a bit too much of a coincidence. "Was it just my imagination? Or...the majority of the songs on your playlist just happens to be the piano pieces I used to play before."

"Ah," Minjeong nonchalantly answers, "yeah. Most of them are songs that you are familiar with."

"What? H-how?"

Minjeong honestly answers, "To put it simply, I like the songs. When you played those pieces years ago, I guess it left an impression on me." She looked at the raven-haired girl, "They made me weirdly calm and at peace when I listened to them. So, I compiled them and made the playlist." The blonde girl smiled at her before shifting her attention to the view out of the window.

On the other hand, Jimin was just staring at her. 

Shocked.

Dumbfounded. 

She didn't expect herself to be right. She also didn't expect the blonde girl to remember the majority of those piano pieces she used to play. After all, it has been years since she played the piano.

It made her reminisce about the old times when both of them would play musical instruments together, just having a good time. She can't help but blush and feels something inside her reigniting again.

She immediately looked away and tried to compose herself. She reminded herself of her position, the limits, and the line she vowed not to cross again.

She can’t afford it. Not again.

-----

Two hours had passed by, and they had arrived at the airport. Yizhou already arranged a chauffeur to fetch them from the airport to their homes.

The four of them are inside the Stretch SUV limousine, which Ning's family owns. Even though most of them are familiar with how rich the Nings were, it still amazes them.

"So," Yizhou starts off, "how was the flight?" She was smirking at them. It was now clear to Minjeong that her best friend planned this from the start, "You little-"

The younger girl could only laugh at the reaction of Minjeong while Jimin could only shake her head. "What? It was a good plan. You guys have more time to spend with each other, get that chemistry sparking." 

For the second time, both Aeri and Yizhou high-five each other.

Speaking of Aeri, she didn't exactly plan her trip, so the young rich girl offered for her to stay at her place. 

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