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SONG   OF   THE   DAY :
two of us  - the beatles

. . . . . .

"hey! just got out of ballet, huh?"

chia's bad night gradually got better once her lovely boyfriend called.

why a bad night? those thirteen year olds began talking again. she cared less now, but man did they get on her nerves. pretending not to hear anything just to not be called a 'grown woman who picks fights with children' was hard.

on top of that, all the buses were also too full despite it already nearing midnight (tourist season perhaps), or so she heard from gossiping people near her. there were no other alternatives too; the train was too far to walk to alone deep in the night, and taxi fares rose ridiculously high.

she regret selling her old cranky car just to afford seven packs of cigarettes. it already seemed like heaven to her from before. didn't think of long-term effects, like not having to stand hours waiting for a bus after a tiring session.

anyway, back to the boyfriend.

"yeah, and it's so hard to fucking find transpo i can't believe this," chia vented.

"do you see the black car?"

that lit up a small candle of hope.

"where?"

"there."

that clue did not help. she moved her eyes around the sea of vehicles on standby, 90% of them black.

"there are a ton of black cars here. specify."

"toyota."

finally, she got to tell apart his car from the many around. extremely joyed with butterflies all over her, she walked towards it.

the sedan's interior was even neater than she thought. the scent of coffee, both from his air freshener scent and the iced americano on his cup holder circulated. the dashboard was clear. his rear view mirror remained the opposite though. hung there were his school ID, a lanyard full of keys, a rosary (she never knew he was religious. damn), and a polaroid of them from the night of their date, glued to a string.

how cute.

"this is weird. really your car?" was the first thing she said upon plopping down the passenger seat. it worried youngho.

"of course it's my car. does it look bad? the chair leather making you uncomfy? or should i change the air freshener? i have a stash here. do you want me to adjust your headrest?"

"no no no. it's perfect. ideal. you just, you know, came off to me like the guy to invest on sports cars and boycott 'brands for normal people'. and you have a toyota? false judgement's true after all."

"i'd rather invest on you."

red was the color of her cheeks. how could she be so down for such corniness? she was changing and it internally worried her but at the same time, he was worth the feeling so she didn't need to be so conscious.

"are you tired yet?"

"no, not at all."

"extra clothes, you have?"

the mini interrogation made her gulp halfway through, head floating to places. it always does when he's talking. there was always something about his phrasings. "w-what are we gonna do?"

"let's go to the gym!" chia stopped holding her breath after his harmless offer. "i haven't worked out in a while. i know a place that's 24/7."

after muttering a yes, she shifted her gaze to the back, embarrassed by her thoughts even if they weren't voiced out. another thing seen from behind took her mind out of the embarrassment though. all at once, it turned to fear.

there was a man she didn't see while entering.

she tapped the driver on the shoulder multiple times to alert him, panicking too much she fumbled with the seatbelt button.

"holy fuck. youngho. youngho!"

it woke the man up. as he was confused, he mirrored her horrified expression. was there an emergency? a chucky doll behind him?

watching it all happen from the side, youngho only laughed at how horror-struck they were, slapping his knee.

"chill, that's doyoung. i forgot to tell you. he said he wanted to hit the gym too after class."

oh.

they awkwardly waved at each other afterwards. first encounter surely wasn't pleasant.

"hi . . . chia."

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seatbelts already on, youngho remembered one major thing.

"do you want to play your music by the way? you can bluetooth connect to the car."

"i don't think you'd enjoy driving with sadboy music." chia chuckled.

he knew where they were going, firing back. "would you enjoy being a passenger with old dad music?"

"i can manage."

"i can too."

"no, come on."

"you first."

"you're the driver."

"and i always play the music. it's no fun if i do it again."

doyoung noticed the tension. if he let this continue, it'd probably go around for thirty minutes until they come to the conclusion that they should just go on a musicless drive and just stare at each other.

". . . should i play the music instead?" he piped up, grogginess heard in his voice.

"please."

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