"I don't want to get stuck in the waiting line. Let's just pick something that not much people have interest in, then go for ferris wheels at the end." Jin Woo says to Jin Ah as they bicker on the way to the town festival.
"But do you think it'll interest you when other people don't take interest in it?" Jin Ah counters. She really wants to be among the first one to board the ferris wheels.
Jin Woo always amazes with Jin Ah determination. She may look unconcerned most of the time, but when she wants something, nothing can deter her. But this time... he also wants something.
If only he can find Ha Chae Yoon in the sea of people at this festival.
Jin Woo deliberately chose Saturday to visit the festivities to see if Jin Ah would propose another day because she had a tutoring session. But she agreed without hesitation. And it made Jin Woo happy.
Now that he had to share Jin Ah with his brother, even choosing things like this felt like a little victory. Not that they are competing or anything. It just took an adjustment to see Jin Ah having interaction with Tae Gu.
He had to tamp down his growing needs to roll his eyes every time Min Tae Gu nodded at them when they were crossing path in the school hallway. Or when he saw Jin Ah talked to Tae Gu while waiting for him after basketball practice. They talked like they were friends. Tae Gu even took Jin Ah classic eye rolls like it was the best thing that happened to him.
They'd quietly separate themselves when they saw him approach, every time. Tae Gu took his leave with a nod and Jin Ah talked to him like nothing happens.
For Jin Ah, Jin Woo would make an effort to be at least civilized with his brother. And he thought they made progress in Halmoni's food truck. His life was free of bully; that was already a win for him.
Despite their progress, the pair of best friend decided unanimously never to include Tae Gu into their everyday conversation. But Jin Ah knew he would want to know about Chae Yoon. So she paused their agreement yesterday.
"I know we are not supposed to talk about Min Tae Gu. But I thought you'd want to know that they broke up."
"Really?"
"You said you no longer have crush on Ha Chae Yoon." Jin Ah smirked. Jin Woo rolled his eyes.
"How do you know about things like that anyway?" She only shrugged. "I just know."
Jin Ah was always so happy in her corner, minding her own business. So for her to know about things like this, Jin Woo didn't want to know. His mind only focused on the fact of the day.
Min Tae Gu and Ha Chae Yoon broke up about a week ago.
And so, he hopes they will meet Chae Yoon tonight in the festival. "Let's take it before we go home. The sky is better at night too." Jin Woo tries to reason with Jin Ah again. Jin Ah pouts. "Let's just separate then. I'll meet you after my ride." She walks ahead of him.
"Ya, Yoon Jin Ah. Stop there. Alright, alright. Geez, you're something." Jin Woo jogs a little to catch up with Jin Ah. Jin Ah wide smile comes out as her best friend nudges her in the shoulder.
The festival is dope. Although this is annual appearances, the city does a great job in setting up the theme, the arcade games and of course, the live music. For this one thing, at least, The Mayor does a good job.
"Your father is killing it with this festival." Jin Ah smirks annoyingly at Jin Woo. Jin Woo glares at her; she knows he hates it when she teases him about his father. Jin Ah laughs raising her hands in a surrender manner.
"Sorry, sorry. I can't help it. I'd say Min Tae Gu's father then. Haha." She says in mocking. Jin Woo looks around checking in his brother whereabout.
"Where is he anyway? I would've thought he'll be here somewhere."
"He promises his friend for a basketball game today." Jin Ah can feel Jin Woo's hard stare but choose to ignore it. He won't be happy to know that Jin Ah and Tae Gu are messaging each other frequently now.
Jin Ah even waited for his texts to come at night whenever they didn't meet that day. A little good night message from Tae Gu made Jin Ah slept with a smile on her face. Like last night.
𝗜 𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗦𝗲𝗼 𝗝𝗼𝗼𝗻 𝗛𝗲𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴!
𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵! 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦 😪
𝗣𝗳𝗳𝗳𝘁𝘁𝘁. 𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄, 𝗜'𝗺 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘁𝘆 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲.
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘚𝘦𝘰 𝘑𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘏𝘦𝘦. 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦! 𝘌𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥.
𝗬𝗲𝘀, 𝗠𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿.
🙄
😂 𝗗𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗴𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹?
𝘕𝘰, 𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘺. 𝘑𝘪𝘯 𝘞𝘰𝘰 𝘌𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘧𝘦̀.
𝗢𝗵, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝗯𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻?
𝘐𝘯 2 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴. 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘚𝘰, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸?
𝗪𝗵𝘆? 𝗪𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗮 𝗴𝗼 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿? 😳
𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁? 𝗜'𝗺 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀. 𝗜 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗝𝗼𝗼𝗻 𝗛𝗲𝗲 𝗮 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗲...
𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘔𝘪𝘯 𝘛𝘢𝘦 𝘎𝘶!
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘀𝗼 𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗲?
𝘖𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘭𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳! 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘑𝘪𝘯 𝘞𝘰𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 😏
🤦🏻 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝗹𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗶'𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗻 𝗱𝗼𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘄𝗲'𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱.
😂 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮.
𝗜 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝗻? 𝗡𝗼, 𝗻𝗼, 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁...
𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵?
𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘀. 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲, 1 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲.
𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱.
𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲! 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿.
Jin Ah giggled and didn't respond to his message. Did he think he was the only one that could tease the other?
𝗢𝗸𝗮𝘆, 𝘀𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘀:
1. 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗹
2. 𝗕𝘂𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝘀
3. 𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗲𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝘁 (𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲??)
His guesses were so inaccurate Jin Ah laughed out loud. She hated that spinning thing the most. Every time, she always ended up vomiting right after. But that was Jin Woo's favorite.
𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽, 𝗬𝗼𝗼𝗻 𝗝𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗵?
Jin Ah typed her response already but deliberately waited to send it to him.
𝗬𝗼𝗼𝗻 𝗝𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗵?
Tae Gu was what everyone deemed a badass if you considered his demeanor at the school. Some would even say he was a bully. He was a spirited captain of their school varsity team - spitting curses all over the place.
But here, in the safe confined of their messages window, he was so cute Jin Ah couldn't help but grinning seeing her name coming from him.
𝗢𝗵 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹, 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄. 𝗧𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁. 𝗢𝗿 𝗜 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘂𝗽 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝘆𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳.
Jin Ah bursted out laughing. He might just do that if she didn't tell him. Or wouldn't he? Let's just refrained to find it out, Yoon Jin Ah. Or you'd ruin your festival experience.
𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦. 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘔𝘪𝘯 𝘛𝘢𝘦 𝘎𝘶. 𝘕𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸 😜
𝗜. 𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘄. 𝗶𝘁. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗲. 𝗧𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀.
𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘨𝘰. 𝘎𝘰 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝗮 𝗸𝗶𝗱? 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 11.
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦!
𝗛𝗮𝗵𝗮𝗵𝗮. 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗲. 𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗻. 𝗦𝘄𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀, 𝗝𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗵.
That last sentence was what Jin Ah waited at the end of the night, but surely she couldn't tell it to Jin Woo.
Jin Ah walks faster to avoid Jin Woo's stare. She is sure she's blushing the longer he stares at her.
"So he has a friend, right? Contrary to what you said." Jin Woo asks as he arrives on her side.
"We usually don't talk about your brother." Jin Ah raises her eyebrows at him. Jin Woo sighs at this.
"Yeah, I think you're right. We're talking about him too much."
As they arrive at the long line of queue for the ferris wheel, Jin Woo smirks at Jin Ah. "Didn't I told you? The queue line would be long."
Jin Ah tiptoes to see the situation ahead of her. She hates it when Jin Woo is right because she will have to acquiesce to his demand.
Jin Ah pouts and looks at her best friend. "Fine. You can go while I wait here. I'll text you when it's near our turn."
Jin Woo looks at her softly. "Why don't we just check other rides first? I won't leave you waiting here. And you're just wasting your time."
"I know. But this is what I come here for. Besides, the line will be longer if we leave. I'll stay here. Why don't you get me a drink? I want that chocolate drink from the stall we saw when we arrived here."
Jin Woo looks at his best friend. See? Nothing can deter her.
"Are you sure?" He asks her while slowly stepping back. Jin Ah rolls her eyes knowing Jin Woo's question is just lip service.
"While you're at that, you can ride whatever you want."
"You're the best, Yoon Jin Ah."
"Pffft. You're the worst, Yoo Jin Woo."
•••
Tae Gu doesn't plan to go to the festival. He really doesn't. He has plan with his boys this afternoon. Their weekly fun basketball game is still on schedule at 5 PM. But seeing Jin Ah's post in her SNS, and he is intrigued.
The girl scoffed and rolled her eyes at him when he requested to follow her SNS account. That only made him wanted to pinch her cheeks, she was so cute.
"There's nothing to see in my SNS." She pouted.
"At least I can get a hold of you beside through text. Who knows if you are not on the mood to reply my message like that time?" He tried to reason with her.
"And why would you want to get a hold of me?" Jin Ah asked. He opened his mouth to answer. Then closed. Then opened again. But nothing came out.
Fine, he couldn't answer her question. He didn't even know how to answer it if he asked the same question to himself.
Why was it important for him to know her whereabout?
Well, he wouldn't use the term important but...
Okay, the only thing he could say was he liked texting her. He waited for it everyday. That giddy feeling when he carefully thought about what to text her, he liked that.
It might seem like he just texted her whatever he wanted, but he wasn't. He thought about it and went as far as thinking about how would she respond to him.
And if she didn't answer him... he got worried.
But he couldn't tell her that, could he? There was no way she would believe it even if he told her.
"Fine. Don't accept it." He finally responded to her question without really answered it.
"Ugh. You might terrorize me if I leave your request hanging. I warn you, I post random things."
"Like what?"
"Like... flower, puppy, sky and everything I like on a good day."
"And on bad day?"
"You may find... sewer, fire, and things I don't like."
"Would I find you posting a picture of me?" He obviously teased her, but riling Jin Ah was one of the easiest thing to do.
"What the heck?" She shot up from her sitting position. And Tae Gu laughed and laughed and laughed. Jin Ah smacked his shoulder lightly before back to her seat in the hall.
"Didn't you say you didn't like me?" Tae Gu said in between laughter.
"Doesn't mean I'll post a picture of you!" She shrieked her objection. It made Tae Gu doubling over with laugh again. This girl cracked him up.
"Stop it. People are looking at us." Jin Ah hissed.
"Wanna bet?" He challenged her. She looked at him confusedly. "What bet?"
"You will post a picture of me on your SNS." Jin Ah snorted. "You wish."
"I'm going to annoy you so bad, you'll post my picture." He was teasing again, of course. Jin Ah sighed beside him. "You and your brand of crazy is really something."
He grinned. "You'll get used to it. So, no bet?"
Jin Ah was not so crazy to accept the bet but she gruffly accepted his follow request that day.
And ever since, Tae Gu always makes time to check on her account. Today, she posts a food stall selling a chocolate drink. He bets she is at the festival right now.
Another notification comes in from the SNS again. She posts another picture of a long queue at one of the ride with a caption: 'Waiting to reach the sky 🎡'
Ah, so that's what her first ride will be. She'll be there for a long time considering the queue. Tae Gu looks at his watch that shows it's 20 minutes to 5 PM. He sighs heavily. He has to go now if he doesn't want to be late to the game.
But the festival...
He types a comment in her post and gets his helmet to leave.
•••
Jin Ah types another message to Jin Woo while keeping her eyes on the line in front of her. 40 minutes later and there's only a bunch of people left before their turn is up.
And Jin Woo is nowhere to be found. And cannot be reached either.
"Yoo Jin Woo, you're so dead." Jin Ah grumbles as she furiously typing her message. Her fourth message to be exact.
When she still doesn't get any response, she tries her luck by calling him. For the hundredth time.
"The number you're calling cannot be reached, leave your message."
"Ya, Yoo Jin Woo! Where are you? Our turn is next. I'm gonna kill you if you don't show up, now."
She pants after shouting to the phone and to her annoyance, she hears a familiar chuckle from behind her.
"My brother ditches you?" Tae Gu asks. Jin Ah opens her mouth to answer but she is speechless to see him here.
"What are you doing here?" Jin Ah asks him finally. Tae Gu shrugs. "Have you checked your SNS?"
"My SNS? What about it?" Jin Ah opens her phone and the application. There is a notification she isn't aware of.
Jin Ah glances at Tae Gu who stays there with a smirk when she sees his comment on her post.
'I think I need to check this ride out 🎡'
Jin Ah emits her signature eye roll as she realizes he really comes here. "You say you have a basketball game with your friends."
"I reschedule. So where's my brother?" He nudges her back to the line and stands there with her. Jin Ah sighs. "I have no idea. I ask him to buy me a drink and he never comes back."
Tae Gu shows his hand from his back and holds out the very drink she craves since she gets here. "Do you mean this?"
She accepts the drink with perplexed expression, not at all expecting this. "How do you know?"
"I stalk your SNS." He says nonchalantly.
Jin Ah forehead creases. "And that doesn't sound creepy. At all." Tae Gu laughs. "Say thank you and leave it, Yoon Jin Ah."
"Thank you, Min Tae Gu. Now, you can leave." She gestures with her hand. "Now, I'm the one that can't tell whether you're kidding or not." Tae Gu quirks his brow.
Jin Ah laughs feeling proud that she can tease him. "I'm always serious. You can go now. Or queue from the back." She shoos him playfully. Not at all serious. Her mood changes for the better the minute she sees him. And she wants to keep it that way.
She sips the drink through the straw and squeals when the cold drink grazes her throat. "Omo, this drink is so good."
Tae Gu grins at her. "Of course. So, you like the ferris wheels."
"I am. In fact, I'm coming here just for this. Your father does a good job, by the way. The festival is awesome."
To her surprise, Tae Gu rolls his eyes before answering gruffly. "Not you complimenting my father."
"What is wrong with both of you and your old man?" Jin Ah muses. "What do you mean?"
"Just before he left, I said the same thing to Jin Woo and he glared at me. And now you, with your eye rolls."
Tae Gu turns away from her stare. "I don't want to talk about my father."
Jin Ah senses the change of his mood and feels sorry she ruins it. "Sorry, I don't know if..."
Tae Gu looks back at her and smiles albeit a little sad. "Don't worry about it. Just tell Yoo Jin Woo, he didn't miss anything."
Jin Ah flinches. Ugh, she really touches a bad subject.
She glances at him towering beside her. His gaze stays straight and it startles her when she feels he pushes her forward softly with his hand behind the small of her back.
"Two more." He says lightly. He clearly doesn't want to talk about it so she'll follow along.
"Pfft. I don't say you can fetch a ride with me." She snorts. Tae Gu chuckles.
"And I say, to hell with that. I'm riding the wheels with you." He says smiling wide as the man manning the ride calls out to them.
Jin Ah is distracted with his blinding smile as Tae Gu runs first towards the ride. And she stays rooted to her place when the officer ushers Tae Gu to the empty wheel. That's when Jin Ah breaks out of her reverie.
"Wait, Sir. Wait a minute." She calls out hurriedly catches up to Tae Gu.
And for the next 20 minutes or so, they're confined to the wheels going round and round towards the sky.
Just the two of them.
•••
So, when Tae Gu decides to change his itinerary for today, he doesn't expect to literally riding the ferris wheels with Jin Ah. He only hopes he can catch her after the ride and gives her the drink.
He figures his brother will be with Jin Ah. Imagine his surprise when he sees Jin Ah shouts to her phone. His best bet is that phone call is to Jin Woo.
She looks pretty in a simple white t-shirt and a grey overall dress as an outer. Initially, he contemplates to stick with his plan, but she's so upset, he wants to do something to cheer her up.
Although, Tae Gu doubts he can do that for her.
Now, they share the ride. And the situation... is awkward as hell. It's like they realize that, here, it's literally just the two of them. The place setting is so different than their usual hanging out place that even he doesn't know what to do with it.
"So..." he tries to break the ice. Jin Ah stands across from him looking out the window.
Jin Ah turns to him, a little blush on her face. "So..."
"Everything matches your expectation?" He points to all around them as their wheel slowly move upward. That makes her smile genuinely.
"Well, usually I'll wait to measure it once I'm at the top."
"That's a good idea." Tae Gu follows her standing from his seat and looks out as well.
"What do you like about this?" Tae Gu asks softly.
"Oh, everything. It's so freeing being so high in the sky. I always hope I can fly like a bird."
Tae Gu is mesmerized by the sight in front of him. She seldom talks about herself and this is the most candid she's ever been with him.
"You're going to be a pretty bird." He mumbles, can't stop his words. Jin Ah turns to him and when their eyes lock on each other, they feel the magnetic pull towards each other.
Tae Gu slowly slides towards her as the wheel abruptly stops and they have nothing to hold on to except each other.
Tae Gu holds Jin Ah by the waist as Jin Ah grabs his arms to avoid a bad tumble. They are lucky that Tae Gu is one graceful athlete, as he successfully widen his stances to balance himself.
"Oof, a near miss." Tae Gu looks down at Jin Ah almost grinning when he realizes their faces just inches from each other.
The girl flushes prettily and slowly closes her eyes as the boy lowers his face down, his eyes locking in on her lips. Their lips are only apart by a breadth of hair when the wheels starts up again.
The girl breaks out of the haze that is their moment and pushes the boy out of reflex and Tae Gu finds himself flat on the wheels floor.