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"This is so beautiful!" Riley broke the silence, as she stared into the top of the hot air balloon she and Christopher currently rode in.
"Uh... yeah, it's really nice!" Christopher replied, a light quake in his voice that he tried to conceal.
Riley studied the man, who was an uncomfortable three feet away from her. She had never been scared of heights, flying in an airplane, or anything like that. In fact, she'd always kind of wanted to ride in a hot air balloon. Or at least something thrilling.
And yet, here she was, feeling nervous standing next to the one man she hadn't been able to get over, ever since she was seven years old. Her, usually chatty in every social situation, reduced to making awkward small talk.
Was Christopher feeling the same way? Was that why he'd been stumbling over his words, and constantly rubbing his shaking hands together?
She doubted it. From what she could tell, he didn't really give a shit about what had happened back then. Even at the courting ball, when he wanted to talk, he had only asked her if she was mad at him.
She could never be mad at Christopher Bahng.
Christopher glanced over at her, catching her eye for the first time that day. He gritted out an uneasy smile, before turning back to stare out at the scenery.
Riley opened her mouth to say something again, but instead-
"A beautiful day, isn't it?" The hot air balloon attendant said casually, interrupting her thoughts. "No rain, and hardly any clouds!"
Riley barely concealed a frown at the man for cutting off her weak attempt at diffusing the tension. There was also a camera man a few feeet away from her, somehow shoved in the small basket with all of them. Weren't hot air balloon rides supposed to be romantic? Intimate, even? How could they be, with all these people breathing down her damn neck?
