"I've finally decided what I'm going to be," Freya announced as Ren absentmindedly hummed to herself, doodling the name "Adam" in as many different fonts as she could conjure up.

Freya wasn't phased by her lack of attention; she rambled on, hands flailing animatedly as her eyes were alight with what the future could hold for her.

"A lawyer!" She nearly screeched, and Ren jumped at the shrillness of it.

"Geez, Freya," she said, rubbing her hands over her ears. "You should be a doctor so you can fix the eardrums you just destroyed."

"Florence," Freya said, hand on her chest in mock offense. "You could very well end up committing a crime and when you need legal counsel, I could be your girl."

"Why the assumption that I'm going to end up the family disappointment?" Ren asked, attention falling back down to the scrap of notebook paper in front of her on the kitchen table. "Photographers can be very successful, I'll have you know."

"Your future husband is going to be a lawyer too, I'll have you know," she mocked, poking Ren in the cheek. "Maybe you should come to law school with me and then you can do your little puppy-dog-in-love thing all day long."

"We don't have to do everything together just because we're twins," Ren mumbled. "I want to be a photographer. You go be a lawyer and be cooped up in court all day while I get to explore and go on adventures."

Freya smiled. "When we become rich and successful, I'll hang your pictures in my mansion and you and Adam can come visit me with my devilishly handsome husband and five children running around in my lavish backyard."

"You daydream too much," Ren said, laughing as she started doodling hearts.

"Look who's talking," Freya retorted, and the two sisters fell into each other laughing, the similarity of their voices intertwining and making it sound almost like they're one person.

~

Ren sits up straight, chest heaving with emotion as the familiar ache in her back causes her to wince.

The pain is always worse in the mornings, especially after a night of tossing and turning in a lumpy, uncomfortable hotel bed.

She wipes the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, shaking her head and trying to clear the memories causing her head to pound.

As her breathing slows and the pain ebbs, Ren looks around, remembering there is a stranger here with her.

Except he's nowhere to be found.

She gets out of bed, stretching her sore back as she looks around the room, not seeing Hyunjin or the bag he brought into the room with him last night. The sun is shining brightly after yesterday's storms through the cheap, thin curtains, lighting up the otherwise dim room and illuminating the fact that she is alone in the room.

A lump forms in Ren's throat. He must have packed up and left earlier this morning; he did say he enjoyed the solitude of the life he's living, and I'm sure he wanted to get rid of the sad, lonely girl who came crashing into his peace.

Maybe it's better this way; no awkward goodbyes, no need to try to explain to the stranger what she plans to do since she has absolutely no idea.

She sits down on the edge of the bed she slept on last night, wishing she'd put more thought into this plan. She can't go back; not after everything she did. But she doesn't know if she can do this alone. After meeting Hyunjin, it felt for that one night that maybe she wasn't so alone and maybe she could find a friend out here in the world, but now, just like that, he's gone and she's all alone again.

She feels like she's stuck in a storm again, only this time there's no Hyunjin driving straight into it and finding her.

After wiping a stray tear sliding down her cheek, she takes a steadying breath and stands, willing herself to keep moving. Maybe she'll just walk again and see where it takes her. She should've bought a car, but again— this plan was not thought out, not something she realized she had to do until she was doing it.

A sound outside makes Ren's muscles stiffen up, and she takes an involuntary step away from the front door. Is this what her life is now? Getting scared at every stray noise, not knowing what the next day, hour or even minute will bring her?

Is it housekeeping? Is it the town's drunkard trying to find an unlocked hotel room to crash in after another night of drinking until his pockets are empty?

Ren nearly falls to the floor in relief when the door swings open and it's Hyunjin she sees, carrying a white paper bag and two cups of coffee.

His eyes widen, an eyebrow raising in confusion as Ren lets herself fall onto the bed behind her, arms splaying out to her sides. Her back objects to the sudden movement, but she wills herself to ignore the pain.

"You good?" he asks, and Ren watches as he sets all the items in his hands down onto the small table.

"I thought you left," she says in a quiet voice. "And I thought whoever was coming in here was here to rob me or kill me."

Hyunjin frowns. "I wouldn't do that. Also, what kind of life were you living that you genuinely expected to be robbed or killed? I'm not entirely convinced you're not some runaway secret agent. Drug dealer still hasn't left the list of possibilities either."

"What's all that?" She asks, not-so-subtly changing the subject.

"Oh," he says, remembering what he was doing. "I went into the town down the road and picked up some breakfast. I didn't know what you like, so I got a few different things."

"Oh," she repeats like a parrot.

"Are you hungry?" He asks, eyebrow raising again.

Ren nods silently, knowing full well she isn't actually hungry, but not eating will only cause more problems for her.

"I got some biscuits, bacon, and sausage," Hyunjin explains as he pulls the goodies from the bag and arranges them onto the table. "I didn't get eggs because they get cold so fast. I got you some coffee too. Black, but I grabbed some cream and sugar. Oh, and I got a couple of these killer looking muffins."

"Do you always ramble excitedly?" Ren asks, a ghost of a smile on her lips.

"Only when I am excited," he says, grinning. "I love diner food."

"So you just live on the road?" Ren asks, standing up to grab a piece of bacon before sitting back on the edge of her bed. "Eating at diners, sleeping in hotels, no place to call home?"

"Living the dream," he says through a mouthful of muffin. "I was gonna eat and then get some work done. What are your plans for the day? Got anything figured out?"

I clear my throat. "What do you do for work?"

If Hyunjin notices her changing the subject again, he doesn't point it out. He just grins, muffin crumbs on the corner of his mouth. "It'll be more fun to show you."

"If that was a cue that you're a serial killer and I'm your next victim, I'd rather just finish my breakfast and then run away screaming," Ren says, standing up to grab her coffee, forgoing the cream and sugar.

"She has jokes," Hyunjin says, grabbing his own coffee and adding the cream and sugar to it.

Ren sends him a small smile, focusing her attention on the coffee in her hands.

"You have to try one of these muffins," he says, pushing the other one towards her with another lazy grin. "Way more killer than I could ever be."

"He has jokes," Ren says, surprising herself with how easily he's distracting her from her thoughts, especially after dreaming about her, like she does almost every night.