My close friend

After The Ride

"OH MY GOD! That was simply sensational!! Oh my God, Chan...! That was the ride of my life!" I excitedly let out, although my whole body was shivering due to that sudden excess of adrenaline.

Yes, I had managed to come out of that terrifying ride, well and alive! Once it started, I could only feel the tremendous wind pressure on my face and hair, but it was fairly easy to get used to. No need to mention that I- all of us rather, had instinctively felt the urge to shout and cry, but as the ride went on, I got the feeling that I was flying at high speed in the clouds! It was actually really fun, despite the fact that my whole body was shaking due to the fright of heights and the incredible speed. Oh and the unavoidable loop, or the so-called 'Loop of Death', was really mind-blowing! When arriving at the peak, we all could definitely feel the train slowing down, which increased the element of surprise, and mostly the fright of being prone to fall off the train at any instant! Even if we were aware that gravity, centripetal force and Inertia would actually be keeping us from falling, the horror of having looked down, seeing everything upside down, feeling blood rushing in the brain and having that imminent feeling that something would be falling off your pocket or bag, had all been entangled in our heart. But as soon as we passed the peak, the descent had been so swift that we had barely had time to think about what we had just been through. I was certainly ready to do it again, but it would seem that Chanyeol was not so much in agreement with this...

"Chan...? Are you okay ? Is something wrong ?", I worriedly asked as I saw drops of sweat rolling down his forehead. I knew that, among the three of us, he definitely had the most fragile heart, and truthfully speaking, I was kind of expecting this kind of reaction from him.

"You know what, let's go take a seat and calm ourselves down. You have your bottle of water with you right ?", I asked while he was panting and could only nod in yes. I looked at Eric who seemed as calm as stagnant water. It was as if this ride meant nothing to him; his face was simply dull, with his plain smile plastered on it. He acknowledged my decision with a simple nod and followed us to a bench, clear from the crowd.

Once seated, Chan lied back and took deep breaths as I stood beside him and swept the sweat off his forehead with my kerchief. He grabbed my hand and placed on his chest, where I could feel his heart thumping as if wanting to tear through his chest and run away. He would always grab my hand and place it on his chest as so when he would feel a sudden palpitation. But this time, it was nowhere near to what I had ever felt before...! His little heart, 'punching' the palm of my hand, was surely hurting him and making him breathless. The best would be that he tried to not think about the ride anymore, and calm down. However, it was a rather impossible task to forget about it, firstly because it was such a terrific experience in itself, and secondly because the people's shouts could be heard miles and miles away from the roller coaster, so there was nowhere that we could go. On second thought, there might be a way in which he would calm down, and quickly too...!

"Chan, listen to me; take deep breaths in. Come on, breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out", I rhythmically said as I got out my earphones and my phone, and put on a slow song.
"Good! Very good! You are doing just fine, babe", I reassured him once again as I put the earphones in his ears.

He grabbed my waist and hugged me. As he placed his head on my belly, I stroked his back and patted his head. Just as I expected, he had calmed down quite quickly and was gradually starting to breathe normally again. I was surely relieved that my plan had worked, but maybe that should be it for today. As much as I wanted to give the other rides a try, Chanyeol might not be able to accompany me and I certainly was not going to ride alone; that would make me feel like a total loner, abandoned by everyone...!

"Babe, are you okay now ? Are you feeling alright ?", I inquired.
He took some deep breaths in before responding.

"Yeah... I'm okay now. Thanks...", he softly murmured as he pressed his head against my belly.

In turn, I hugged him tight and stroked his back again, before realising that I have not checked on Eric for all this time. I looked around to see if he was still beside us, but he was nowhere in sight! Great! Now, we had to go look for him in this huge crowd! I did not tell Chanyeol about that yet, as he had more important things to worry about: his physical and mental health.

"I'll be okay now", he said as he unwrapped his hands around my waist to remove the earphones of ears. He stood up, showing me that he had calmed down and indeed, his feet were no longer shaking. 

"Good...! Here, have some water now", I said in relief as I handed him the bottle of water. He took quick gulps of it and handed me back the bottle.

"You are not feeling dizzy, are you ?"

"No, I'm not, babe. I told you I'm fine. Stop worrying about me now; we have to find Eric", he said with a comforting smile. In the end, he had noticed Eric's absence too.

"Yeah, you are right. But just so you know, be prepared for what's coming later. I will not let that slide by...! HA! Who is he coward now, huh!? Ha ha!" I mocked. Of course, I could not wait till later to make fun of him but he deserved it, for having made fun of me earlier.

Just then, I saw someone approaching us, and to our delight, it was Eric, coming with a huge blob of rainbow-coloured cotton candy in his hand. He seemed to be relieved to see Chanyeol on his feet.

"Ah, Chanyeol, thank goodness you are alright. I wounder what we would have done if you had fallen unconscious. I ran as fast as I could to buy you something sweet. After this big emotional ride, it is perfectly normal for you to be spent, and some sugar is the best way to liven you up", he said as he handed us the cotton candy.

Chanyeol simply nodded, thanking Eric for his thoughtful gesture, before taking a piece of the cotton candy. I took a piece of it too and offered Eric some, which he refused. The sweet cloud melting as soon as I put it in my mouth was really comforting and energising. Chan and I kept taking pieces of the candy and we were certainly going to keep eating it till we felt too much sweetness in our mouth.

"Should we move then ? I suggest we find the others before you guys go on another ride. You must let your parents know of this little incident, Chanyeol", said Eric with a slight trace of worry in his tone.

Nevertheless, it was a good idea. Hence, we all headed to the closest restaurants to meet up with our family members. The cotton candy was really so addictive that we ate all of it even before we reached the restaurant. Well, we were both emotionally spent from this ride, thus, no wonder we finished it that quickly. However, Eric's calmness after the ride was still bothering me; how could remain be so unbothered after such a ride!? How could he not have the slightest trace of surprise, or happiness, or terror, after that!? And how had he managed to disappear without us even noticing it!? This was really incomprehensible...