[Hellion Brothers: Book #1] Hellion Brothers

34: Carnival Fun

 "Where exactly are we going?" I finally whined after about fifteen minutes of walking. It wasn't even barely noon, and yet my feet were already killing me. "Can't we just take a taxi or something? I can pay?"

"Don't worry, we're almost there." Tao didn't even glance, but I could tell he was trying to hold back a smile. Was he excited, or was he amused by my pain? Either way, he looked so happy that I didn't want to shatter it, so I bit my tongue and tried my best not to say anything spiteful. He suddenly grabbed my shoulders to stop me in my tracks, and I realized that I was too busy pitying my feet that I didn't notice that I was about to slam my head into a lamp post. Chuckling, he moved me away from it and made me face the very thing he wanted me to face.

A carnival.

I felt the warm atmosphere turn cold as he froze behind me, and only then did I realize that I actually said it aloud with such a lifeless tone. I sounded cold. Uninterested. Panicking, I quickly whipped around and immediately felt my heart stabbed by the look of hurt in his eyes.

"I-I didn't mean it like that! I mean... I have never been in a carnival. I see them in pictures and movies and such, but..." I trailed off as the embarrassment slowly sank in. Now that I think of it, I didn't really have a fulfilling childhood. I never got a scraped knee because I never rode a bike. Never been in a slumber party. Never had a birthday where my visitors were truly my friends. Never got to be in a costume to trick or treat in Halloween. I never went to other places other than school, dad's office, and home. I wasn't necessarily sad all about it, because I think it was quite peaceful in a way. Though, I couldn't deny that I missed out on all the fun parts of growing up.

"Maeji?" I felt warmth on my cheeks as Tao lifted my face. He now had a small smile on his lips. "Are you scared?"

"Um... unsure..." I answered, brows furrowing as I measured the strange feeling of the word in my mouth. His smile widened, and he returned his hand on my shoulder after ruffling my hair.

"Don't worry, it's fun. I haven't been here for a while, so we could just pretend this is both our first time." Sparkles formed in his eyes as he led me to the entrance. Surprisingly, despite the scarcity of people I usually see in the town, a lot of people were walking around here as if this was where they've been hiding all along.

"Maeji! Let's ride the spinning teacup!" A high pitched voice said behind me, and it was extremely unbelievable that it was Tao. He was like... fangirling...

Is this really Tao? Or did he actually have a hyperactive twin that he hired to come with me today? He totally seemed different from the Tao we all knew... Anyway, I let him drag me by the arm, since I was too shocked to protest.

"WAAAAH!!! We're spinning!" He cheered as he held onto the table with one hand, and my hand with the other. I could only stare blankly at the front, wide-eyed, trying to understand if I were actually just dreaming. Giant teacups spinning. Tao fangirling. Holding my hand like it was nothing. Was I actually Alice in Wonderland? Or Maeji in Carnival Land? Do the same rules apply? I think I saw a caterpillar earlier. Is there a grinning cat somewhere? Is this normal? Or do I have to act weird as well?

"That was crazy! And FUN!!" Tao cheered as we walked out of the roller coaster. Wait, what? Did I just space out? I don't even remember how we got here. I remember an octopus.... and a boat... what exactly is this world??

"Maeji?"

"Wha--?? AH YES YES it was FUN!" I forced a bright smile and pretended to be shaking in excitement.

His brows furrowed in concern. "Are you ok? Are you hurt somewhere?"

"No...," I mumbled as I watched him check if I had wounds. Honestly, it was the answer to both his questions. No, I'm not ok because he still kind of weirds me out but no, I'm not physically hurt except maybe for my hand that he was basically dragging everywhere. As he confirmed that I indeed, was ok, his smile returned.