Lucid

Chapter 18

POV: Fixer
We enter the massive hall, and the quiet shouting begins. Leeseo, Rei, and Yujin and awed, and immediately start pulling their respective partners in different directions.
"Hey! Stay together." The suddenly notice, and all gather up again to start rapidly debating what rides to ride. After a few moments, they all settle on the Log ride, and head off that way. I follow behind, but stay off.
"Are you not going to ride?" Asks Wonyoung, seeing me pull off to the side.
"I'm alright. Not much of a rides person. Go ahead." I shoo her off to ride, and she gives me a pitying look before heading in.

POV: Wonyoung
Once we get off the ride, I notice Fixer looks a little off. I did ask if he wanted to ride, he said no. He seems a bit sad, honestly. Or maybe nostalgic? I'm not sure, but he doesn't look very happy. As Yujin pulls me towards the spinning barrels, I keep an eye on Fixer. We met him only a week or two ago, but I feel like I've known him a long time. Maybe it's just something about him reminds me of someone. Or perhaps, is it something he does? Or perhaps, what he looks like. Any of the ways, I've felt I could trust him from that time he showed up in our house. As strange as that may sound. But still, he just seems reliable, and he hasn't done anything to disprove me yet. He's always supporting us, he's always kind, he's never angry towards us, and he's one of only a few people who isn't trying to exploit us for something. I wish we really could give him something in return, but I think anything we could give him is something he already has.

POV: Yujin
I can feel Wonyoung slowly drifting behind me, and I notice she's looking at Fixer. I wonder if she has a crush on him like Rei said. I wonder if he likes any of us like that. He's not really much older than any of us, I think he may even be younger than Gaeul. Gosh, now we're both starting at him. I should look away. Alright, that's better.
As we ride the spinning barrels, I see him fly past. He looks sad again, I'm not sure why. We should make sure to do something he likes sometime, in return for taking us to do this. I know I'm having a blast, although seeing him all sad is sort of dampening my mood. Was he hurt by what Gaeul said earlier? I don't know why she keeps getting all angry at him, it doesn't make sense to me. But I can't really stop her, she can be mad if she wants to. If I think she's causing a problem I'll have to step in, though. For now, I'll focus on having fun, and later, I'll make sure Fixer gets to do something fun as well

POV: Rei
I'm dizzy as we leave the spinning barrels. I almost stumble, but I grab onto Fixer by the exit and steady myself. Once I'm stable, Liz grabs ahold of my hand and begins pulling me off, but then Fixer takes my arm and gently pulls me upright.
"Are you alright?" He asks, looking me in the eyes.
"I'm ok now." He seems relieved, but he looks really calm. No, not just calm, more than that. The way he's looking at me now, j can see his eyes well, and I can almost read them. It seems like.... He's sad? But not quite. Remorseful, perhaps? It's deep down, buried under something. What it is, I can't tell, not from his eyes.
"You should stand." Ah, I stayed in his arms looking at him too long. I stand up, and grab Liz's hand again.
"Thank you." He nods and looks off, gazing across the crowds.
"Let's go on the carrousel!" Says Gaeul, excitedly. She's very energetic, I'm glad to see her having a nice time. She spends a lot of time taking care of us, she should have time to rewind and relax. But Fixer... something seems different about him today. I don't think he's sick. He doesn't seem angry or distracted. Maybe he's been here before, and it's boring? No, he'd talk more if he had experience here. Maybe he has bad memories associated with this place. I feel bad if that's it, I hate that kind of feeling. But if that is it, it's nice that he's willing to go here with us despite all that. Maybe I should check on him later, see if he's alright.

POV: Fixer
I follow the girls around, for the next few hours. Lotte world has multiple floors, and an entire extra island of things to do, so they don't get bored. It does seem fun, I'll admit. But I'm not in the mood for fun. I keep an eye out, and occasionally have to step in the way of someone's picture and cast a few threatening glares before they get the hint. If they don't, I just grab their phone and delete the pictures, then tell them not to. Nobody ever disagrees.
We wander across the first floor, up to the second, then the third and fourth, riding rides as we go. Leaving the indoor mall, we go to the island park and wander around. By this point it's late afternoon, and I can see the girls starting to wear out. Rei and Leeseo lead the way now, with Yujin and Liz following behind. Wonyoung and Gaeul follow them, looking tired. I bring up the rear, keeping my eyes on everyone. It's calm, fairly peaceful for an amusement park.
"Oh, let's go on that one!" Leeseo says, grabbing Rei and pointing at a large drop tower. I can see Gaeul shudder, while Wonyoung just looks uninterested. Yujin seems excited, but I think Liz is getting tired fast.
"Hey, Rei, Leeseo." I call, gesturing for them to come together.
"Yeah?"
"Yes?" Everyone forms into a group.
"I think some people are tired. How about you and whoever wants to, go ride the tower while some of us go and sit down." Gaeul and Liz look at me, grateful. Gaeul suddenly realizes it's me and looks away, while Liz seems to be more appreciative, nodding along.
"I agree. How about, I'll go sit over at the tables there and watch you ride?" Liz offers, and Rei and Leeseo glance at each other and nod.
"Ok Unnie!"
"That works, Unnie! Rest well." Without hesitation, they head towards the tower, with Yujin trailing behind them. They seem excited, which is good. The tower will give them a good view of the south city area, although the Lotte office tower can see everything for miles. Defiantly a better view. I follow Liz, and Wonyoung and Gaeul walk with me. They both take seats, with Wonyoung pulling out her phone and Gaeul looking around at the nearby food stand.
"Hungry? It's almost dinner time." I ask, and she nods. "What do you want?" She looks at me, with a slight side turn.
"Why?"
"I'll get it for you. You guys want anything?" I turn, and they both start talking at once.
"Sorry, go ahead." Says Wonyoung, and Liz nods.
"Can I get a corn dog?"
"Sure. Wonyoung?"
"I'll also get one." Gaeul signs, then laughs a bit.
"I'd like a corn dog too You all stole my idea." She says, waving her hand at them. The both giggle, then Liz lays her arms on the table and rests her head on them. Wonyoung reaches over and starts stroking her hair gently, and Gaeul keeps looking up at the drop tower. I stand, and head over to grab the food. I buy six corn dogs, so that if any of the others want one they can have one. I watch them all as I wait in line, Wonyoung, Liz, and Gaeul from where I stand in line, and Rei, Yujin, and Leeseo from the CCTV cameras in the ride queue. As I'm finally getting the food, they reach the ride itself and get on. While I walk back, Gaeul points to the others how they're on, and they waive to us, although I doubt they can really tell where we are. The sun is fairly low now, and it's beginning to slant into my eyes. I put my sunglasses on and enjoy the sounds of frantic screaming, and the laughter of the three I'm now standing next to.
"Six corn dogs." I say, placing them on the table. "Three for you, three for them if they want one."
"Thank you!" They all say in unison, bowing their heads slightly in reflex. It's nice to have something to do, keeps my mind off what I keep wandering to.

POV: Rei
My legs feel like tofu, but that was fun. The view from up high was amazing, I could see so much. I could see central seoul, and I know I could see our dorm but couldn't pick it out. Once we get off, we walk over to where the others are wearing. Ah, they have corn dogs. Fixer raises three, and says,
"These are for you, in case you're hungry." That's great, I'm really hungry.
"Thanks." I respond, and take one.

Pov: Liz
He's.... Getting better. I don't trust him, but I don't think he's trying to do anything bad. He does seem nice, and I know a lot of the girls trust him. Gaeul obviously doesn't, and I don't know how Hyunseo feels about him. I think it's obvious Wonyoung, Rei, and Yujin all like him. That does mean a lot to me, it's the biggest reason I've begun to accept him. Maybe if he sticks around while we're on break, I'll talk to him and get to know him a bit better, then decide from there. He's already shown that he can be helpful, but I don't think I would trust him so fast.

POV: Leeseo
That was a good corn dog. As we finish, a voice announces that they'll be holding a special fireworks show today over the island, with music and other lights along with it. That sounds impressive, so I lean over to my Unnies and say,
"We should stay and watch that." They all nod or agree. Thankfully they're as interested as I am. It's hard sometimes to get them to do what I want
"We should move a bit. I know where to get a good view." Fixer says to me, and points towards the island bridge. "That bridge, best view."
"Let's go over there, then. Come on!" I start waking that way, and the others are smart enough to follow me. Fixer walks next to me, but he seems... down. Moving closer to him so we don't get eavesdropped, I ask, "Are you tired?" I know he isn't, but it's the best way to start off the conversation. He shrugs his shoulders and tilts his head back up, from looking at the ground.
"No." There we go, so now I'll ask.
"So what is it?"
"What is what?" He's being cagey.
"I can tell you aren't feeling well. Are you sick? Or is something making you sad?" He glances to the side, at me.
"Quite the detective, aren't you." He shrugs again, then nods. "Just, thinking about some old memories. Nothing you need to worry about."
"It's not the memories I'm worried about." I think that gets my meaning across well, and he agrees I think give the way he looks at me again, appraisingly.
"Thanks." This time, I shrug.
"It doesn't cost me anything to be caring."
"Fair enough." We walk in silence for a moment, before he speaks up again. "This park... something about it, the energy, the atmosphere, the music, the people... Something about it reminds me of my family." That's the first time he's ever mentioned something about his past, or anything earlier than the day we met him. I should press carefully.
"Do you... miss them?" I ask. He seems nostalgic, so it seems like he's not with his family often.
"I do." We reach the bridge, and he leans on the side. "It's been a long time since I saw them. We had drifted apart for a while, but we were just starting to get back together. Then, I left. And I never came back." Ah, so he misses them a lot. And he probably thinks it's his fault, given how he says that.
"Well, why don't you go and see them again?" May as well start off easy.
"It's.... Not that simple." He says, cryptically. After that, he places his hands in his head, and I get the sense he doesn't want to keep talking. I pat his shoulder, then turn and join the other girls as the fireworks begin to go off.

POV: Fixer

Explosions, bursting across the sky. Streams and streaks, smoke and flashes. All too familiar.

A/N- wow that was a long one. Anyways, kinda deep.