Author’s POV
The morning was noisy even before the sun fully rose.
Hyrine’s neighborhood was usually quiet—birds chirping, wind blowing, distant car engines—but today?
Today it sounded like a mini disaster site.
Because the girls were loading their bags into a rented van.
Lots of bags.
WAY too many bags.
Packing Drama at 7 AM
“WHY DO YOU HAVE THREE SUITCASES?!” Mae yelled at Kat, trying to zip a giant bag.
Kat lifted her chin. “Because beauty requires OPTIONS.”
“Kat,” Wenalin said calmly while loading her one medium-sized luggage, “we’re going for a few days. Not migrating.”
“I need clothes for morning, afternoon, evening, late evening, early morning—”
Bing groaned. “Just say you don’t know how to pack.”
Janna didn’t help at all. She sat on the curb recording everyone. “Guys, shoutout ‘Subscribe—’”
“No!” the rest shouted in unison.
Menggay was quietly helping Wenalin lift a cooler box into the van. She didn’t struggle—she was strong—but Menggay still placed her hand under the box just in case.
“careful” menggay said softly.
“thanks,” she replied, with a smile
Hyrine clapped her hands loudly. “OKAY GUYS ! GET IN! We’re leaving in five minutes!”
“We were supposed to leave thirty minutes ago,” Mae muttered.
“Time isn’t real,” Hyrine argued.
“This relationship isn’t real,” Mae shot back.
“EXCUSE ME?!”
KAT shook her head. “Here we go again.”
Hyrine grabbed Mae by the hand and guided her toward the van.
“my wife , please. Inside. Before I lose my remaining brain cells.”
Mae rolled her eyes but stepped in—still holding Hyrine’s hand.
Bing jumped inside next, almost tripping on her own feet.
“I CALL WINDOW SEAT!”
“No you don’t!” Janna yelled, pushing past her while still recording.
Kat followed
Finally, the last two outside were Menggay and Wenalin.
Wenalin placed her foot on the van step, but Menggay instinctively reached out and held her arm gently.
“Careful,” she whispered again.
Wenalin looked at her—really looked—and her lips curved into a soft, meaningful smile.
“Thank you.”
And with that simple moment, Wenalin stepped into the van… with Menggay quietly following right behind her.
Inside the Van
The van smelled like snacks, perfume, and pure chaos.
The seating arrangement was decided in the most dramatic way possible—drawing lots written on sticky notes because “democratic chaos is better than dictatorship chaos,” according to Kat.
Wenalin sat in the middle row by the window.
Menggay sat next to her.
Bing sat beside Menggay.
Menggay tried not to combust internally.
In the back row sat Hyrine, Mae, kat, and janna was in the in front .
As soon as the driver started the engine, Hyrine shouted:
“TURN ON THE MUSIC!!!”
Before anyone reacted, Janna already connected her phone to the Bluetooth.
And then—
TIKTOK REMIX INSTANTLY PLAYING.
Mae grabbed the phone. “JANNA, NO! It’s 7 AM!”
“But this is vibes!”
“This is NOISE!”
“It’s VIBRANT noise!”
Kat started singing along. Loudly. Off-key.
Bing covered her ears. “Turn it off!”
Wenalin quietly stared out the window, probably questioning her life choices.
Menggay leaned back
...----------------...
They had been on the road for exactly ten minutes.
Not twelve.
Not fifteen.
Ten.
And already—
“I’m hungry,” Bing announced dramatically.
Mae turned around. “You JUST ate chips.”
“That was a warm-up snack,” Bing replied, hand on her chest like she was defending her honor.
Kat, meanwhile, opened a giant container of kimchi like she was summoning a demon.
“Anyone?” she asked innocently.
The smell EXPLODED across the van.
Hyrine screamed instantly. “OH MY GOD, KAT, CLOSE THAT! It smells like my parents arguing!”
Janna zoomed her camera on Hyrine's horrified face.
“Guys look—Hyrine hates kimchi!”
“STOP RECORDING ME!”
“I’m an influencer,” Janna said proudly. “Content never sleeps.”
Kat lifted the container closer to Janna’s face. “Smell it.”
“NOOO—”
Too late. Janna gagged dramatically.
Wenalin quietly pulled out her food—simple but neat sandwiches wrapped perfectly.
Menggay blinked at them like she was staring at treasure.
Wenalin noticed.
“You want?” she asked softly.
Menggay froze like a glitching robot. “Y–Yes. If… if it’s okay.”
Wenalin handed her one gently. “Here.”
Menggay held it with both hands like it was a sacred artifact blessed by the heavens themselves.
From the back, Kat whispered to Bing,
“Menggay is DOWN BAD.”
Bing nodded seriously.
“Down horrifically. Down historically. Down academically.”
Menggay pretended not to hear them…
But her ears were glowing red like traffic lights.
Meanwhile
Up front, Hyrine tore a sandwich in half and fed Mae a bite.
“Open,” she said.
Mae rolled her eyes but still leaned in, biting the sandwich.
“Good?” Hyrine asked like a proud mom.
“It’s literally bread,” Mae replied, chewing.
“GOOD??” Hyrine repeated louder.
“YES, BABE, IT’S GOOD!”
The rest of the van turned to stare at them.
Kat held her forehead dramatically.
“Someone save me. I’m third-wheeling so hard I might combust.”
Bing raised her hand. “Same. I feel single in HD.”
Janna zoomed her camera on Kat. “Day 1: Kat realizes love is not for her.”
“STOP RECORDING ME TOO!”
Wenalin shook her head and whispered to Menggay,
“We’re surrounded by idiots.”
Menggay smiled softly. “Yeah… but they’re our idiots.”
And the van continued down the road—loud, chaotic, hungry, and absolutely full of love.
After an hour on the highway:
“Can we stop for a minute” Kat suddenly said
The driver almost swerved. “why ?!”
“ because I NEED TO PEE!”
“You peed before we left!” Mae yelled.
“That was emotional pee! This is physical pee.”
Hyrine facepalmed. “what is emotional pee…”
The moment the van stopped in front of the convenience store, everyone practically jumped out—
except Kat, who sprinted to the CR like she was running from the police.
“WAIT FOR ME!” she shouted before disappearing inside.
No one waited.
They all entered the convenience store as if it were Disneyland.
The automatic glass door opened with a soft ding, and instantly the cold air-conditioning hugged them… which was good, because the van smelled like kimchi and suffering.
Inside, the group split in the most predictable way.
Wenalin & Menggay
Wenalin walked toward the drinks section, quiet and composed as always, scanning the rows of bottles like she was evaluating the stock market.
Menggay followed two steps behind her—
Not too close,
Not too far,
Just enough to pretend she wasn’t following her at all.
“Do you want anything?” Wenalin asked, looking over her shoulder.
Menggay’s brain short-circuited for half a second.
“Uhm… water. And maybe… chocolate?” she managed to say.
Wenalin grabbed a cold water bottle and a chocolate bar. “This one?”
Menggay nodded, cheeks warming. “Yeah… thank you.”
Wenalin placed them carefully in the basket. “We’ll buy snacks for the road too.”
Menggay smiled quietly, watching Wenalin pick things like a responsible mother. Juice boxes, sandwiches, mints, tissues—everything the others would forget.
“You’re prepared,” Menggay said softly.
Wenalin shrugged. “They’ll forget everything except chaos.”
Menggay almost laughed.
Almost.
Menggay get the basket from wenalin
Menggay:"let me hold it"
wenalin was shock but she smile and nodded
Meanwhile, on the other side of the store…
Hyrine was dramatically smelling every drink she picked up.
“It NEEDS to smell refreshing,” she declared.
Mae swatted her hand. “Stop opening them! You’re not supposed to smell it!”
“How will I know if it’s good?!”
“Hyrine, it’s a DRINK not a perfume!”
They bickered endlessly, pushing their mini cart like a chaotic married couple.
At one point Hyrine grabbed a massive pack of chips.
Mae stared at her. “Who’s going to eat all that?”
“You.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Yes, because you stress-eat when you’re annoyed. And since you’re dating ME, you’re annoyed everyday.”
Mae paused. “Okay… fair point.”
Hyrine smirked victoriously and placed three more chip packs in the cart.
Janna walked around the store recording everything like she was filming a documentary.
“GUYS,” she said to her phone, “we’re in a konbini and look, aesthetic noodles!”
She zoomed aggressively into a shelf of cup noodles.
People stared.
She didn’t care.
A staff member walked by awkwardly. She followed him and whispered,
“Sir, do you want to be in my vlog?”
The staff shook his head so fast he nearly spun.
Janna didn’t mind. She kept recording.
“POV: You’re buying snacks but overwhelm”
She filmed Wenalin choosing drinks.
She filmed Hyrine and Mae fighting over chips.
She filmed Menggay helping Wenalin.
She filmed Bing… wherever she was.
Bing wandered alone with a basket on her arm, inspecting every weird Japanese snack like she was discovering ancient treasure.
She grabbed something shaped like a fish.
“Ooh… what are you? Mystery food? I love it.”
She tossed it into her basket.
Then she found a soft matcha bread.
Into the basket.
Then she found a random gummy shaped like a dinosaur.
Basket.
She had zero plan.
Zero control.
Zero thought.
Just ✨vibes✨.
Bing then spotted a tiny toy machine and gasped dramatically.
She twisted the knob…
A capsule fell.
She opened it.
It was a tiny plastic carrot.
She stared at it lovingly.
“You’re coming with me.”
After few minutes of chaotic shopping, they all ended up by the cashier.
Menggay placed thier neatly chosen items
Mae and Hyrine kept arguing whether they needed six packs of chips or seven.
“Six is enough!” Mae insisted.
“Seven is lucky! Lucky for our relationship!” Hyrine argued.
“You don’t even believe in luck!”
“I do now!”
Janna filmed them. “Guys say hi to the vlog—”
“NO!” everyone yelled.
Bing arrived, basket overflowing with things no one understood.
Wenalin blinked. “Bing… what is all that?”
“I don’t know,” Bing said proudly. “But I want all of it.”
Finally, the cashier started ringing everything.
But then—
Kat BURST through the bathroom door and sprinted toward them like she escaped prison.
“WAIT!!! DON’T PAY WITHOUT ME!!!” she screamed dramatically.
Everyone turned.
Menggay whispered, “ more Ten minutes …”
Mae muttered, “She probably took a shower.”
Kat arrived panting, and placed a single item on the counter:
A nuts .
Everyone stared at her.
“That’s all?” Bing asked.
Hyrine facepalmed.
Wenalin sighed but smiled.
Menggay laugh
Their bags were paid, their snacks secured, and Kat washed her hands… hopefully.
They walked out of the store as a group, bags full of random things they probably didn’t need.
Ready to continue the road trip.
Ready to cause more chaos.
And definitely ready for the mansion trip they’d never forget.
Back on the Road
Hyrine plugged in her playlist.
“EVERYONE SING!” she commanded.
“No,” Wenalin said instantly.
“Yes,” Menggay agreed softly beside her. “Sing.”
Wenalin looked at her. “You want me to?”
Menggay froze. “Uh—I mean—no—if you don’t—uh—”
Kat screamed from the back, “THAT WAS FLIRTING!!!”
Menggay nearly choked on her breath.
Wenalin looked away, hiding a smile. “Stop teasing her.”
Then Mae shouted, “SING OR I’LL BLAST BABY SHARK.”
Everyone panicked.
“NO!”
“TURN THAT OFF!”
“I’LL SING PLEASE!”
“SPARE US!”
And then… it happened.
For the first time.
Wenalin actually sang. Softly. Calmly. Not loud—but her voice was clean and soothing.
Menggay froze.
Bing slowly turned.
Hyrine gasped.
Mae stopped breathing.
Janna dropped her phone.
Kat whispered, “I think I saw Jesus.”
Wenalin looked at them. “Why are you all staring?”
Hyrine screamed, “YOU NEVER SING!”
Menggay’s heart was doing cartwheels. “You sound… really good,” she whispered.
Wenalin just gave her a soft smile.
Little by little, the chaos inside the van began to settle.
The city highway lights rolled past them like warm, sleepy fireflies.
One by one, the girls started dozing off.
Mae yawned loudly, stretched, then leaned her head onto Hyrine’s shoulder.
Hyrine froze for a moment—like someone pressed pause on her entire soul—then quietly adjusted her position so Mae could rest more comfortably.
Kat, who claimed she “never sleeps during road trips,” was already out cold with her mouth slightly open.
Bing, surrounded by her bizarre snacks, curled up on her seat and hugged her tiny carrot toy like it was a plushie.
Janna’s phone slipped from her hand as she slumped against the window, still recording the ceiling accidentally.
Slowly, even Wenalin’s eyes began to close.
She tried to stay awake—
but the soft music…
the chill air from the van…
the gentle motion of the road…
It all pulled her into sleep.
Her head tilted toward the window.
She bumped it lightly.
Menggay noticed instantly.
She turned, eyes softening in concern.
For a second, she just watched her—admiring the relaxed face, the calm breathing, the way Wenalin still looked effortlessly composed even while half-slumped on a window.
Then, quietly—carefully—Menggay reached out.
With the gentlest motion, she guided Wenalin’s head away from the cold glass…
and onto her shoulder.
Wenalin didn’t wake.
She just settled naturally, breathing softly against Menggay’s arm.
Menggay’s heart practically melted into a puddle.
She stared at Wenalin for a moment longer, smiling in the smallest, shyest way.
Then she leaned her own head lightly against Wenalin’s.
The van hummed softly.
Everyone was asleep.
Except Menggay—
She closed her eyes too.
And the van continued down the road,
full of sleeping idiots,
full of warmth,
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