It was the afternoon—2 p.m. sharp—when the final school bell rang. The air was a bit sticky and dark from the city pollution as Chan Yang skipped out of class with her friend, Yu Eiko, heading off school grounds. The road was packed with people, but spotting Yu Eiko wasn’t hard. She was tall for a girl, and her bubblegum-pink hair stood out like a sore thumb everywhere they went.

"Hey, guīmì, what d’you wanna do after school?" Chan Yang asks, pinching her arm. Yu Eiko scratched the back of her head, thinking. "I dunno! I’ve never really hung out with anyone before... How about you pick?" "Well," The blonde tutts, pulling out a cigarette and lighter, "How ‘bout we chill at my place first, then hit the mall for something? That cool with you?" She raised an eyebrow.

Yu Eiko puckered her lips in thought, "That’s fine, as long as we’re back before my curfew." Chan Yang grinned, spinning on her heel, hands behind her head, playing off her excitement. "Knew you'd be down for some classic girl-time. I’ll make sure we look fetch when we roll in." She says with a sharp smirk on her face.

Yu Eiko’s face lit up. She’d read about ‘girl-time’ in her fanfics, but never actually experienced it. Being a socially awkward, danmei-obsessed, overly emotional girl didn’t help—but she puffed her chest and tried to match Chan Yang’s cool. "Yeah—Yeah! What about your parents though?" She inquiress,

Chan Yang shrugged and blew out a stream of smoke. "Don’t live with ‘em. Got an apartment with my little sis—uncle pays the bills." She stopped at the crosswalk. Yu Eiko blinked as her brain took a few seconds to process that. "Wait, wait, wait! You live on your own?" Her green eyes went wide. Chan Yang laughed. "Nope—we live on our own. It’s sweet not having house rules, but dealing with my sis is a pain. Makes me wonder how my uncle handled me."

Yu Eiko looks at her with awe as Chan Yang takes a drag of a cigarette, she coughs a little from the smoke that wafted to her as she looks away, "That’s… kinda cool, I guess. I’m almost jelly of how free your life is," Yu Eiko said, rubbing her cheeks. Chan Yang exhaled. "Girl, you’re jealous of every girl you meet. But freedom comes with chores—all of them. When we get to my place you'll see,"

"Now that you say it… Where are we even going?" Yu Eiko asked, glancing around. Chan Yang crushed her cigarette underfoot and raised a brow. "Have you just been blindly following me?" Yu Eiko flushed with embarrassment as she looked around—she had no idea where she was. "Hey! I just moved to this province a month ago!" Chan Yang laughed at her flustered face.

"Guīmì, I know exactly where we’re headed. Gotta pick up my motorcycle from the parlor." Chan Yang says, taking some keys from her pocket as she twirls them around her fingers. Yu Eiko blinks once again as she takes in what Chan Yang just told her, "You what in the what?" She sputters, confusedly, "Oh, you'll love it when you see it, girl." Chan Yang smirks.

...

With the rev of the engine, the two girls busted out of the parlor through the fence and now where on the road. The air around them boomed as the motocycle quickly sped up to an absurd speed, likely because of all the sketchy upgrades to its engine.

"Kyaaa!!" Yu Eiko screams, "Calm down! That’s just the wind!" Chan Yang shouted, grinning as Yu Eiko clung to her in terror. "Yeah, but why are we going so fast?!" Yu Eiko screamed into her shoulder as they tore down the streets. "Trust me, I’ve got this!" Chan Yang assures as she looks back to see Yu Eiko's face flushed in fear,

"Look at the road! What if we crash?!" Yu Eiko’s eyes were wide in panic and a bit of frustration at how nonchalant her friend was with their lives, "Then we die on impact, no biggie," Chan Yang said with a smirk. "Do you even have a driver's license!?" Yu Eiko demands, letting a sharp yip as they barely dodge a car,

"I mean... My uncle taught me when I was 13 in case I got into any trouble, but who needs a license these days?" Chan Yang casually answers, before popping a wheelie. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU CHAN YANG!!!"