Can I Kiss You?

Chapter 7

I had never been more nervous.

I had spent thirty minutes deciding what I was going to wear. Another thirty minutes deciding whether I should tie my hair up or not. Decided my top was too fancy and changed into a t-shirt. Then changed back to a sweater because my t-shirt was too casual. Then changed back to my top cuz it was too hot for a sweater. Hair curled into hasty waves, flowy white top with too many random laced strands, blue jeans, and white belt. Not bad.

It was a miracle I got there in time. Hyunjin was waiting by the front gates, scrolling through his phone with a pout of concentration. When he heard me run over to him, panting and out of breath, he broke into an excited grin. He was dressed in a white t-shirt that loosely hung off his shoulders, tucked into his belted blue jeans. His blonde hair was blown feathery over his eyes. With a shock, I realised we were more or less matching.

"You made it!" he grabbed me by the shoulders as I fought to catch my breath.

"I'm sorry I made you wait-"

"It's fine." He waved me off. "I just got here. Come on, let's get tickets."

Once we were inside, Hyunjin began bouncing with excitement. His eyes sparkled with childlike joy, his smile as bright as the sun.

"What do you want to ride first?" I asked.

"Oh oh, the Viking! Or the Gyro drop- no, headbands first!"

He grabbed my hand, locked our fingers, running towards the souvenir shop. I bit my lip to hide my smile.

Entering the shop, he dragged me towards the headbands, pausing to quickly take in the options. His head whipped back to me, and he squinted at my face. Awkwardly, I smiled.

He scanned the headbands again and picked one with an angel halo.

"C'mere."

Flustered, I shuffled closer, and he put the headband on me. He took a step back, and stared at me long and hard, enough to make me feel self-conscious.

He smiled, nodding in satisfaction. "Perfection."

I cleared my throat, embarrassed. "Now it's your turn."

We spent god knows how long trying on stuff in the shop. From cat ears to devil horns, sunflowers that went around your face, glasses with fake noses, and a number of weird things that made us burst into uncontrollable giggles. In the end, we bought a teddy-bear eared headband, which Hyunjin insisted were weasel ears. At this point, if he told me the earth was flat with that adorable frown and pouty lips, I'd believe him without a second thought.

Then the nightmares began.

Ride after ride. Heart attacks, stomach flips, fear for one's life, and terror of one's companion. The soul left my body at least a dozen times that day while Hwang Hyunjin shouted in pure joy till his throat gave out. He didn't care that my nails had dug into his hands so hard that little crescents of blood had appeared. He didn't realise I was stumbling along like a zombie, legs shaking.  He was a monster. A monster who knew no fear. In every line we waited in, I shook in horror and severe PTSD.

We took a lot of pictures. Him beaming like a child on Christmas, and I looked like I'd walked out of a horror movie.

Several hours and a milkshake later, I was questioning my own existence as Hyunjin referred to his digital map on his phone. It had gotten dark, and I was spent. Another ride would have killed me.

"Can we get on the Atlantis next-"

I turned to him, waiting for him to go on. He took me in for a moment and shook his head with a small smile.

"How about we ride the carousel and call it a day?"

I would have dropped to my knees in gratitude, but I just laughed. "That would be great."

So we found the carousel, got on the horses side by side, taking hundreds of pictures. The carousel started with a jerk, and with a slow up and down, as if floating in the air, they moved. I closed my eyes. Warm yellow lights, the smell of cotton candy, murmuring of excited children and young couples. I turned to look at Hyunjin, and my breath hitched. Haloed by the golden glow of the lights, lips parted in awe, eyes reflecting a thousand lights like stars.

He must have felt my eyes on him because he turned to look at me. I didn't look away, I was too entranced to. Lost in him as I've always been.

Then he leaned in.

His lips were cold, tasting like his chocolate milkshake. His hand found its way to the back of my head to keep me steady as his lips moved to the rhythm of the carousel. He kissed gently, carefully soft. When he pulled away, staring into each other's eyes in a silent question of 'is this okay?', we broke into a smile.

And when the carousel came to a stop, and he threaded his fingers through mine, the world became a thousand times better than the way it was moments ago.

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