Work Text:
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- GIRL FRONT
LOCATION: The side street next to Nayoung’s apartment. Parking only with residential permit.
“You’re sure you know how to drive this car?” Nayoung asks dubiously, running her fingers over the locking buttons on the driver’s door. Nayoung can’t come because she’s busy. Something about a group project, she said, detailing her assigned tasks so meticulously and robotically that Minkyung is sure it’s a cover for something. Well, never mind that. Nayoung knows Minkyung well enough and has done enough favors for her that even the understanding that Minkyung could see through it and make no comment was a calculated assumption.
Minkyung is a pretty good driver, so Nayoung isn't really that worried. Minkyung is the one who's actually nervous about it.
“It’s just a day trip,” Eunwoo says flippantly. Nayoung bristles.
“It isn’t your car!”
“It will be one day” -- referring to Nayoung’s hand-typed agreement to transfer ownership to a certain Jung Eunwoo post-graduation -- “and isn’t that who it should matter to the most at the end of the day? If Minkyung crashes into a tree, we’ll go to insurance, it’ll get fixed up and you’ll never know, but I will, I’ll know, and the mileage will know, and I’ll have to live with the consequences-”
Minkyung pats Eunwoo sadly on the shoulder. “I think it’ll go to her insurance. She’ll know.”
“Just shut up already, Nunu.” Kyungwon rolls her eyes. Eunwoo’s talking has reached maximal utility, or whatever it was that meant something like that in Microeconomics. Kyungwon should know, because her final exam two months ago covered this. But she veritably does not.
“Stop calling me Nunu,” Eunwoo says, “it makes me sound like a kid.”
“That’s because you-”
“That was such a predictable comeback. You aren’t funny.”
Nayoung has to clap her hands to quiet everyone down like she’s the teacher of a kindergarten class. Last thing, she says. “Nunu, tell Jieqiong to call me.”
“Call her yourself, you doofus.”
Eunwoo rolls up the window and tells Minkyung to hit the gas before Nayoung can scream back, “IT’S FOR THE GROUP PROJECT!”
- WHAT IS LOVE?
LOCATION: 50 km from home, scenic route to the beach, adjacent to the mountains. (If you can call the university campus a “home” as opposed to just a residence... which not everyone can.)
It was Kyungwon’s idea. It’ll be fun, she said. “A trip to the city! Maybe we can detour to the beach.”
Minkyung had nothing to do that weekend besides study, and that wasn’t a convincing reason to decline. Eunwoo didn’t even bother clearing her calendar, but- “ you shouldn’t do that,” Nayoung advised to Minkyung. “Eunwoo, somehow, knows how to handle her own problems.” Eunwoo wiggled her eyebrows with more pride than she should have had.
And it was fun. Kyungwon wasn’t wrong, to be honest. But after the first hour, after Eunwoo’s laughter and Kyungwon’s wacky stories fizzled out, everything ran quiet. Eunwoo complained of a headache. Kyungwon stopped yelling to address some issue with the president of a club she was in over frantic group texts. Minkyung drove in what was mostly silence, with an undertone of “I wanna know know know know (what is love?)” in the background. Kyungwon had turned the volume down via dial and didn’t quite reach the zero mark.
When Kyungwon finally allows her cellphone to fall from her hands, all they can hear is a quiet snore from the backseat.
“I think she had an exam this morning,” Kyungwon says, leaning back to get a look at Eunwoo. “I doubt she slept very much last night. Look at those dark circles.”
“Relatable,” Minkyung answers lamely. She keeps a steady hand on the steering wheel, long red nails tapping against the rim. There are a lot of cars on the road, and the sky is getting darker - grayer, really. Did anyone check the weather before they left? Minkyung doesn’t have time to think about what she’s saying.
Kyungwon settles into her seat. “So, how’s your semester going?”
“Um, fine, I guess. Haha. How about you?”
This is the thing - Minkyung and Kyungwon are not really friends. Not yet, at least. But the thing is that no one ever really knows what their relationships will become. Minkyung could call Kyungwon a potential friend, but she could also call her a potential enemy, or even a potential stranger. Minkyung doesn’t like that word. Potential.
“So that's why I joined the drama club this week. Hey, are you even listening to me?”
Minkyung snaps out of it. “Oh. Yes. I mean no. What was that about drama?”
Kyungwon laughs, so Minkyung turns her head from the road. She doesn't look mad that Minkyung wasn't listening after all.
“Hey, turn on the lights,” Kyungwon says instead of explaining it over again. “That's the most important, it's so foggy out.”
Nayoung's car doesn't have the automatic headlights setting. The lights cycle from dim to bright, and then--
“DUCKS!” Eunwoo yells from the back seat.
Kyungwon screams. Minkyung panics.
In the middle of the road illuminated by the headlights is a mother goose and, maybe three or four goslings. It’s hard to tell when everything is a blur.
The car veers right towards the grass, hits a rock in the road, changes trajectory by an angle of a few degrees, and all the while - Minkyung scrambles for control, and brakes hard.
- SHINE
LOCATION: The scene of the crime, so to speak. 65 km from home. 10 km from the beach. But only 1 km from a pond (to which the geese have safely returned).
The engine won’t start, Minkyung says. Eunwoo frowns. Five minutes ago she was rubbing her eyelids in the midst of some awkward air in the car and now she has to deal with this.
“Are we trapped here forever?”
“Ah, don’t say that, Eunwoo!” She's nervous enough as-is.
Kyungwon opens the driver-side door and motions for Minkyung to get out. She slips in and tries for herself, and then she opens the hood and ties her hair back.
“I used to watch my dad fix our piece of junk,” she admits. “But I don't really know anything that isn't obvious.”
Kyungwon pokes around, checking fluid levels and belts. Although she can't identify a problem (“Maybe the battery's dead...”) Eunwoo takes a walk around the car and points at the front right tire.
“This is going flat anyway,” she says. And none of them know how to change a tire, never mind inflate and patch one.
“Call for help,” Kyungwon advises. When Minkyung holds her phone in her hands, frozen, Kyungwon literally takes matters into her own hands.
Eunwoo pulls the insurance information from the glove compartment. Kyungwon makes some calls. When it's all over, she tells Minkyung to keep her head up. “Well, I guess we’ll never forget this trip, right? There’s the positive part of it,” Kyungwon says, grinning.
Minkyung pulls the hair out of her face. “You can see a bright side right now?”
“We’re making memories, Minkyung. What’s the point in going on a trip if no one remembers it?”
Kyungwon can be a jokester and definitely is one most of the time, but maybe that’s what makes her saddest expressions the most striking.
“Everything is okay now. And everyone is okay. Don’t feel so guilty, Minkyung. No one got hurt - not even the ducks.”
“Geese,” Minkyung says through tears. “I’m pretty sure they were geese.”
Kyungwon ignores her. “Nayoung said the same thing and will say it again. You did great.”
Eunwoo nods dramatically, tearing up too. “I have nothing to add to that.”
- LIMITLESS
LOCATION: The same place they were before. And yet at the same time, somewhere entirely different.
Kyungwon eventually falls asleep in the passenger seat. Minkyung told her to. The air inside the car is chilly, but Kyungwon is bundled up in gray blankets.
Minkyung had called Nayoung again, after dealing with the roadside assistance company. It’s late at night, they said, so it might be a few hours. We’re sorry, they said. There was nothing they could do about that. Minkyung accepted it.
She relayed the information over speakerphone and Nayoung said just to get a place in the city to stay for the night. Kyungwon made a reservation on her phone.
“There are blankets in the trunk,” Nayoung said, and in an instant Eunwoo had opened the car door and sprinted to the trunk, feet half-inserted into her shoes. Minkyung pressed the open trunk button before she could start yelling about how cold it was.
And there were three. Eunwoo laid them out on the back seats. How Nayoung was so well-prepared seemed like a mystery until it became apparent there were not enough.
“Sorry that they're small...” she said, like she knew the mood had gone down.
“No, it's fine,” Minkyung said quickly, but she was disappointed too. She did the optimization in her head. Eunwoo in leggings and no socks, and Kyungwon in short sleeves. Day weather fashion.
“Two for Kyungwon, and I'm fine,” she continued. Then she pointed to her jacket. It's not much help, really, but it might do better than Kyungwon's two blankets combined.
So... that's what happened. Eunwoo fell asleep, too, again. She's just happy that they're comfortable enough to do so.
Minkyung thinks they were kind of lucky.
Almost alone in the dark, Kim Minkyung remembers something. There was this promise she made.
Minkyung has always known Nayoung and Eunwoo best at school, and then there wasn't much else. Yewon and Siyeon were nice, but a little too young for their social circles to intersect.
Nayoung said, “Promise me this.”
“Promise what?”
“That you'll make the effort. Kyungwon is nice. Just go to the party. I'll meet you there.”
And it was a Friday night, so Minkyung really had no excuse. But the week was so draining that eventually it seemed more like self care to stay home and read a book. Nayoung came home to their shared room to see her fast asleep.
Nayoung wasn't mad then either. But when she woke up, she said, “I waited for you.”
So what Minkyung ended up promising instead was to trust Nayoung. That was two years ago.
And then what?
Minkyung closes her eyes. Even though she’s not going to sleep - the nerves are bad - and she needs to stay up for the tow truck, if it comes to that - this is her fault for planning to drive in the dark - the worst part is that Nayoung is not even angry - she just -
At once the texture of that gray blanket envelopes her shoulders, along with the feeling of body warmth, just transferred over. Draped delicately to cover her arms.
Minkyung is too tired to open her eyes, so all she can say is “thank you.”
- REMEMBER ME
LOCATION: The beach.
Minkyung, being who she is, ends up on the phone with Nayoung. Again. But now with more ease of heart.
“Kang Kyungwon is pretty reliable,” she says. And she half expects Nayoung to make a joke, something like, “that's hard to believe,” and then Minkyung would have to explain herself, well, in Kyungwon's defense.
But what Im Nayoung says in response is: “Yeah. She really is.” Not qualified by “sometimes” or “in a pinch,” or “for certain people”. That is what she is. Reliable.
As she holds the phone against her ear, Minkyung watches Kyungwon and Eunwoo down closer to the water. Both of them are fearless risk takers, playing with sparklers down at the edge of the shore. Minkyung isn't really sure how legal this is.
“Is everything is okay now?”
“Can't you hear the music blasting in the background?” Minkyung asks. “We're doing just fine.”
(The car was fixed on-site in under a half hour.
“Should we just go home?” Minkyung had asked, feeling defeated. It was the best outcome and she still...
“That’s absolutely not an option,” Eunwoo answered.
“Don't forget that someone has to drive,” Kyungwon said lightly.
So Kyungwon kicks Minkyung out of the driver's seat and drives. Minkyung has no control now, but she likes it better that way.
In the end, they stop at a general store in the town area close to the beach. They would call it a convenience store, but it was really so old fashioned that general store was a better fit.
Minkyung buys a drink and heads out to the picnic table to call Nayoung while the other two fool around in the section of random useless toys. There are a lot of streetlights for such a small town.
Eunwoo runs out the door with a plastic bag swinging from her hand and heads straight into the sand, shoes thrown aside.
Minkyung laughs into the phone. Before Kyungwon does the same thing, she places a single sparkler on the table.
“Care to join us?”)