LE SSERAFIM Oneshots

Will We Ever Collide?

Deets: Ssamkkura - WC 7372 - Written by user @purplehyacinth at https://archiveofourown.org/works/52478368 - [G]

The body remembers well.

Sakura's limbs know to protest when her alarm rings at two instead of her usual seven. A low groan escapes her, goes with the rhythmic bzzt bzzt under her pillow. In an attempt to escape it, she turns left and then right and then all over. But it's no use. The persistent buzzing permeates every corner of her bed, and eventually persuades her body to give in and let itself be peeled away from the warmth of her sheets.

Her feet know every inch of flooring by heart. They know exactly the number of steps from her door to the stairs and then into the kitchen. They don't let her stumble even in the dark with one eye still shut.

Her hands can tell sugar from salt with ease. They find the right buttons for hot water with a few tentative taps. The biggest button at the right side, just a finger away from the edge. The body remembers that well. It's only her tongue that momentarily forgets — how hot freshly-boiled water can be — or maybe it does remember. Maybe that's why it lets her make the mistake. It ends up helping her more than the coffee does.

When Sakura gets behind the steering wheel, she feels more like herself. More jittery than usual thanks to the caffeine, but not too far off from her regular jittery self when she drives again for the first time in a while. She had never been too fond of it. She only learned how to because her friend from high school, Hyewon, once drunkenly teased her of being 'too chicken to do it' and then their other friend, Yunjin — who was twice as drunk at the time — went 'oohh'. With her ego bruised, she signed up for driving lessons the next week. She wanted to show them she could do it. And so she did — unwittingly falling into the trap of being the group's designated driver.

Lucky for her, it doesn't end up being much of a hassle. With their busy conflicting schedules, Sakura's only had to drive them around a few times. Other than that, she's only ever had to drive her mom to the market. But that's happened a fewer number of times, usually only when it rains and not even every time it does. It feels like a waste, her mom says whenever she offers a ride. Sakura thinks so as well, only needing one hand to count the times she's driven by herself. Their town feels too small to be needing a car to go places to. But then the need arises every once in a while and she regrets not doing it more often.

It's been over two years since she got her driver's license but their family car is still only a little bit more than a stranger to her. Her heart still races when she gets in the driver's seat. She still mouths her steps to switching lanes. Mirror, side mirror, blind spot then blinker, twice, sometimes thrice for good measure. She does it even when traffic is sparse — as it is in the dead of the night. Her body hasn't learned to remember it well enough yet.

"Hey Siri, call Minju," she calls out later when her body has learned to ease up — which only took about forty minutes.

Minju picks up at the end of the second ring.

"Hey, unnie, mornin'," she greets, sounding very much half-asleep.

"Hey, Minju, sorry for calling so early."

"Oh no, no, don't be, unnie," Minju tries to sound more awake. But it's the hoarseness of her voice that shows. "I'm sorry for pushing this onto you on short notice," she says, tiny coughs punctuating every few of her words.

Another friend of theirs from high school is coming back for the holidays and she needed someone to pick her up from the airport. It was Minju and her brother who were supposed to do it but her brother came down with a cold a few days ago and she ended up catching it too. Hyewon doesn't drive and Yunjin hasn't gotten around to getting a license yet so there was only Sakura left.