Road Trip

Chapter 5

“Wow. This… This is just…“

“Beautiful…”

Hyewon grimaced as she bit her tongue, but it was too late.

The word had already left her mouth and there was no way to take it back anymore, but just like how she had been considering herself lucky these past few days, Jihan didn’t notice that it was actually for her.

“Yeah, that’s right,” she heard her say as the latter turned to her with a smile, “It’s beautiful.”

The sun had been down a couple of hours ago and they were now standing at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, resting for a bit after going around the city the whole morning and afternoon.

Three consecutive days they’ve spent almost attached at the hip, combing through the city in Hyewon's moped (a gift from her dad for easy travel, he said), decked in black and blue helmets.

They’ve visited shops, ate at all the restaurants especially the ones hidden away from the main traffic, and visited all the museums.

Hyewon felt like she was on vacation, and it was the first time she really had fun ever since she had arrived almost a week ago. Gone were her worries and uneasiness, and she thought, as she stared at Jihan's side profile that was being highlighted by the Eiffel Tower’s warm lights, that it was only obvious why she was feeling that happy, and that her dad was probably right.

And she hated it whenever her father was right.

Usually, she would debate with him, list all her argument points until she closed all loose ends and covered all loopholes, but with this one she was readily accepting defeat.

Hyewon, maybe—no, most definitely—had fallen in love with her dad’s best friend’s daughter.

It might not have been love at first sight, as her father had predicted, but it was definitely more than just admiration.

A growling sound reached Hyewon's ear, snapping her from her thoughts.

“Oops…”

She chuckled when Jihan grinned at her, flushed, embarrassed at her tummy.

“Come on, I know a place that serves the best food you’ll ever eat here in Paris. Cheap and has a good view of the tower too!”

Jihan suddenly snatched the keys from her hand, bolting off before stopping a good distance away from her.

“What are you waiting for, Jihan?!” She yelled, her loud voice echoing, “I’ll drive! Let’s go!”

Hyewon took off after her as the other girl ran off again, screaming after the laughing girl.

“Hey, do you even have a French license?!”

 

—–

 

If Jihan had driven her down South that day her truck broke down, then it must have felt something like this.

She didn’t know which one felt better, though, Jihan's arms wrapped around her waist as they cruised around the streets of Paris, or her own pair latched onto the other.

Hyewon had been shy at first, opting to just hold onto the grills at the back of her moped, but the other girl insisted, grabbing both of her hands and pulling on them before wrapping them around her own waist snugly, telling her to stick closer because she was feeling cold.

So she did.

She wrapped her arms around Jihan tightly as she pressed her body on her back, hoping that the warmth that suddenly filled her was felt by the other, too.