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hospital, next right. he doesn’t know how many roads he’s passed with that sign, how many towns and cities. but this time it feels different. like he’s not supposed to be here. the only thing keeping himself going is the faint skyline of the next town in the distance, and he briefly considers stopping for the night, but he decides against the idea. he won’t stop now. he continues down the endless highway on autopilot, working as if the interface of his mind sits down, no destination, no plan, nothing for him for miles.
so when he pulls to the side of the road to pick up a hitchhiker, he wonders if he did that on autopilot too. but then again, fate had its way of doing crazy things in the name of a good storyline. the kid had to be at least seventeen, tears running down his face and a duffel bag hung over his shoulder. he seemed too cold and stoic for his age, at least that’s how jisoo interpreted it. he let him in, bag in the backseat, and it was a good five miles before the newcomer spoke up. he said thank you, it was quiet and frail, his voice almost cracked mid sentence, and he was still crying thirty minutes later.
“where are you going?” jisoo asked, autopilot again, his inner-self had a way of shining through when he didn’t care to think too much
“it’s an experiment,” the stranger said, “but what about you? where are you going?”
“i don’t know. i planned on just driving until I was forced to stop.”
“aren’t you tired by now? it’s almost dark, and if your dwindling gas tank has anything to say, you’ve been driving for awhile now.”
“keen eye. i’m surprised you noticed through your tears. is that part of the experiment?”
“no.” he sees a billboard for a motel twenty miles away and points to it. “you should stop there. you can drop me off and get some sleep yourself. if you don’t have enough money for a room, i can give you some.”
“you could stay with me. as far as i know, you don’t have anything else to go, and i would feel guilty for the rest of my life if you get killed or something and i end up seeing you in the news.”
“are you kidding? i could be a murderer or something.”
“if you were going to murder me, you would’ve done it miles ago.”
“i’m still a stranger.”
“you don’t have to be.” jisoo said. “what’s your name? you can make one up, you get to be whoever you want to be tonight.”
“my name is lee chan. i’m nineteen. what about you?”
“hong jisoo. i’m twenty two. if you don’t mind me asking, why were you really out there alone?”
“maybe later. i’m still trying to figure it out myself. why have you been driving for so long?”
“wanderlust i suppose, there’s really not a better word for it. there’s nothing left for me in my old town, so i want to find a new one. i think. i haven’t stopped once until I saw you.”
“why’d you decide to pick me up?”
“you looked just as lost as i am. if you were, say, a cat, i would’ve done the same thing.”
chan nods, and they spend the next few miles in silence.
“given the chance to have anyone in the world as a dinner guest, who would you have dinner with?” the question was off topic and fairly weird, but jisoo responded anyway.
“probably my sister. she left when I was ten and i just want to know why. what about you?”
“i would want to have dinner with myself, and ask me why i can’t just take my own advice.”
chan collapses on the worn mattress, the springs creaking loudly underneath him. jisoo sets chan’s bag in a chair and falls next to him. they stare at the ceiling for a bit, and jisoo points to what looks like dried blood. they stay there for the night anyway. jisoo lets his hand fall and it collides with chan’s a zap of static electricity causing both of them to jump. silence for a moment.
“i ran away from home.” chan said, “actually, no, i take that back. i got kicked out and refused to stay there longer than i had to. i already had a bag packed so i just left. i walked for around five miles before sticking my thumb out, and i had been standing in there for thirty minutes before you showed up.”
“why’d you get kicked out?”
“my mom found gay porn while she was doing laundry, i had left a magazine in a basket and forgot about it, but when she found it all hell broke loose. not even my dad could control her. she couldn’t stand me being a so-called-disgrace to the family name.”
jisoo nodded, and chan looked to him to gauge a reaction.
“is that why you were crying?”
“yeah.”
next motel. next day. when they woke up, they found jisoo’s car had been stolen, but all he could do was laugh and face palm.
“just my luck-“ he sighed, and chan patted him on the back in a way he hoped was comforting. “i mean, it wasn’t even an expensive cari basically got it for free but—“ chan silenced him with ger to jisoo’s lips and a quiet ‘hush,’ electricity cracking between them.
“lemme call a friend.”
jisoo handed chan his phone and he typed in the number. fourty minutes later a tow truck turned into the parking lot with a fancy car atttached to the back. chan introduced him to the driver, his name was samuel, jisoo made a mental note, and he and chan talked for a minute, before samuel left for other business.
“it’s my car, don’t worry. my mom’s pissed, but i don’t even care anymore. if you’re still looking for somewhere to go, you can get in.”
jisoo agreed, and they drove. and they drove.
chan spoke up while feeding jisoo another strawberry in the backseat of his car with the windows rolled down.
“maybe being lost isn’t so bad after all.”