Lay It All On Me • Chanrosé

8

"You're sneaky, you know that?"

Chaeyoung smiles cheekily while she slid her credit card back into her wallet. When they arrived at the carnival and were getting their tickets, she had replaced his card with hers sitting on the ticket booth without him noticing. Chanyeol had paid fully for her tire repair and she sure as hell wasn't going to let him pay for admission tickets as well. Even if it was a date, sort of.

"Well, I had to thank you for my car somehow." She expressed, smiling up at him.

Chanyeol handed the tickets to the entrance coordinator as they got to the front of the line, "You made me dinner!"

"No," She drawled back, taking Minjee's hand who was too busy aweing at her surroundings. "I meant for paying for the repairs."

"Alright, alright." Chanyeol laughed. He bit his lips and suppressed his smile, rubbing the back of his neck before taking his hat off and flipping it backwards. He looked a little younger dressed in casual clothing like this, but Chaeyoung liked it. It gave him a boyish charm.

His hands clapped together, swinging Minjee into his arms and up onto his shoulders. Her little wide eyes lit up at the view of the sea of people, rides and colorful gaming booths. "You two beauties are the leaders. Where to first?"

Chaeyoung listened and watched as Chanyeol and her daughter debated on where to go. Minjee would point in a direction and then change her mind, causing Chanyeol to jokingly spin and turn on her order. Minjee's giggle made Chaeyoung laugh along, earning a little glance from him when he heard it. Like his ears has perked up.

She was impressed, well more than impressed by how easily he had flipped their ruined date around and made into something Minjee would enjoy as well. When her babysitter canceled, Chaeyoung almost had a panic attack. Her mind raced, wondering if it could be a sign and almost talked herself into just calling the entire thing off and telling Chanyeol that she wasn't ready for any of this. Though, when she opened the door and saw him standing there, smiling at Minjee like he wasn't even bothered, that anxiety flushed away. Even more so when he handled the situation so well. Chanyeol never seemed bothered, not one bit. In fact, he seemed genuinely excited over their slight change in plans.

It was attractive.

He could swing with the rolls and punches, all with that adorable grin on his handsome face. There was no looks or sighs of annoyance when Minjee asked him to play Really Really, again after the 3rd time it ended. He sang along with her every time. And when he reached for her hand and engulfed it with his while he drove, Chaeyoung couldn't stop the butterflies in her stomach. A first real move.

She started to notice the slightly details about him. Like the fact he actually could sing well, holding a tune even as he just hummed to the radio. Or that he predominantly drove with his left hand with his elbow propped on the window seal. Chaeyoung's eyes caught him looking at her a couple times as she dazed out the window, but it felt nice to be noticed like he noticed her.

Learning about him was such an odd feeling. It had always been her and Minjee, and now there was this possible third figure. A possible father figure for Minjee. Chanyeol seemed like a natural, that she couldn't ignore. His eyes would bounce to the rearview mirror to check on her daughter, and when the arrived at the carnival, he made sure to walk close to both of them and keeping them underneath his large arm width. The sense of protection he gave was something Chaeyoung hadn't felt before.

"The swings!" Minjee announced, breaking Chaeyoung's observance of Chanyeol. The view of her little girl high on his shoulder's pointing through way and Chanyeol looking at Minjee like she was his own new world made her heart skip a beat.