metal straw | ast. cha eunwoo

twenty six

"This place is huge!" Soyeon smiled widely as her eyes wandered around the colourful theme.

He watched in amusement as she continued to skip excitedly while waiting in line for the tickets. She also gave a little dance with her hands every once in a while despite being under the hot sun. Anyone could see that Soyeon had the spirit of a child or she might as well be one herself.

Eunwoo had surprised her with a date at one of the biggest marine parks for one entire day. He figured heading to movie theatres or having dinner seemed much for Soyeon, although he knew she would not mind the luxury of a date that would be.

While she was still distracted by the colourful attractions inside the park, Eunwoo waited for their entry tickets. He was greeted by a woman in a colourful uniform in a ticket booth with a friendly smile on her face.

"I made an online booking for two," Eunwoo replied before reaching into his pocket for his wallet, "Under Soyeon."

Almost immediately, the lady was typing away on the cashier screen to find their online reservation. Unfortunately, Soyeon was too excited watching families and friends entering through the gates of the park to notice the name their tickets were reserved under.

Eunwoo turned to look at her, "What do you want to do first?"

The question seemed to have caused her eyes to sparkle immediately, "Turtles, let's see them first!"

He sighed almost too quickly, feeling like he wasted a question only to get an obvious answer but he smiled nevertheless.

"We do have a special challenge for couples if you are interested."

In a split second, Soyeon's jumping excitement seemed to have left her body. Her attention was no longer on the bright attractions and music inside the park but it seemed to have drawn away towards Eunwoo and the ticket lady's conversation. Her eyes were still looking out at the gates of the park but her ears were listening to every bit of the conversation.

"I'm sorry?" Eunwoo breathed out, bringing his ear closer.

However, he did realise how people may mistake them as a couple. While he went with a simple thin grey hoodie with a pair of blue denim jeans and sneakers, Soyeon wore a grey-patterned sweater paired with loose jeans and her small shoulder bag charmed with small keychains. Although, outfits were very plain and were unexpected to match.

"There is a special challenge for you young couples coming to the park only for today," she explained, "This challenge involves you, as a couple, to do a series of adorable couple poses to be taken as pictures and if completed, just submit them into any employees in the park and you will be rewarded with two delicious meals at one of the best restaurants right here."

There was suddenly an awkward silence between them all. Eunwoo only blinked as an answer and so, the woman decided to continue.

"You only have to complete any of the three out of five chosen poses listed and each is required to be taken at different locations—"

"We'll take it!" Soyeon exclaimed confidently out of the blue, though she did wonder herself as to where her confidence suddenly came from. Eunwoo was shocked himself but he was surely not disappointed.

"Alright then," she smiled happily as she tapped the cashier screen.

As Eunwoo paid the lady the new amount, she too handed him their entry tickets as well as a heart-shaped brochure and a polaroid camera. Their tickets took the form of matching bracelets attached with a tiny whale charm.

"Have a lovely day!" she bid her farewells before passing her attention to the next family.

Eunwoo gently pulled Soyeon from the ticket booth and to stand right by the entrance. He lifted her hand and slipped the bracelet right through before doing the same to his. After he had their bracelets on, he slowly held her hand into his. Her hand was a lot softer than before but that only made him want to hold it tighter.

"We're a couple now, huh?"