My future looked black. That wasn't possible. Maybe her glass ball was broken. Maybe she's too old for fortune telling, that's why she retired. Maybe...maybe I was just making excuses.

Everything looked so positive and cheerful. I had a stable job, I got married to my high school sweetheart, and my daughter was only three days old. Why, out of nowhere, did she tell me I was going to die? I didn't understand. On top of that, she told me I was going to die in three years. Why couldn't she tell me something that would happen a year from then? 

I can't tell my family. I couldn't tell my family. What would they think if I believed in superstitions, in gypsies and the future? What would they say if I told them...I actually believed my fortune? First of all, Jia would cry. She would tell me how stupid I am for believing my death could be predicted and for even telling her. Then, she would tell Woohyun. He would try to slap some sense into me but you know what? Even through all those scenarios, my feelings wouldn't change. I still believed in it. Call me crazy

"Sunggyu?" Jia was at the doorframe, probably done putting Yuna to sleep. "Are you alright?" She walked over and sat beside me on the couch. "You haven't talked much since you came back.

She leaned against me and I naturally pulled her closer. "Just thinking," I replied. 

"About what?"

"About you. About Yuna and about Woohyun. How are you feeling?" I asked, changing the topic. 

She nodded. "I'm alright. Very tired though.  feeding is hard work." I smiled and kissed her temple. It was late so I scooped her up in my arms and this time, she didn't complain or try to get away like she usually does. She must be very tired, I thought. We headed to our bedroom, right across Yuna's and I placed her gently on the mattress. She got comfortable while I adjusted the blanket and joined her. I held her close and placed a kiss on her forehead. "I'm happy," she said and my heart dropped.

"Why's that?"

"Everything seems so perfect. I have you and I finally have Yuna. Surprisingly, Woohyun is still my best friend." She chuckled, "I sent a picture of her room to him. He said you're crazy to think you can brainwash her into liking Winnie the Pooh just because you bought her those shoes." 

"She will," I insisted and closed my eyes. "She will."

Days went by, weeks went by and months went by. I forgot everything about that day. It was like it never happened. I was so busy with work and once I got home, both Jia and Yuna would be asleep. If I ever do catch them, they were always watching TV and I would sneak up behind them and hold them close until they fell asleep. 

Before I knew it, a year went by. Yuna was getting bigger and was crawling everywhere. That house wasn't big enough for all of us anymore so we bought an apartment. Woohyun knew a real estate agent so he was able to get us a good apartment for the three of us at a lowered price. 
Everything was going great. Jia and I had our own apartment with Yuna, we lived close to Woohyun so whenever he had time he would come over to play with our little girl, business was doing good and Jia's work was doing fine, too. 

One day, all of us went to a park. The snow was melting early that year. It was only the end of Feburary. It's disappointing to know global warming is affecting our climate drastically. Woohyun suddenly wanted all of us to take a walk around the park and even though the snow was melting, that didn't mean the temperature wasn't below zero. That guy is really weird sometimes. I couldn't even say no because Jia agreed. It wasn't far so we couldn't take the car. I get really lazy during the winter time. I only wanted to hibernate during the winter season but life got in the way.

"Why is this crazy guy making us walk in this weather?" I complained while pushing the stroller. I made sure Yuna was bundled up with three layers that day. 

"Maybe he has a surprise?" Jia guessed.

My head shook. "He's just crazy."

We arrived at the park and saw Woohyun standing at the entrance. "Yah, are you crazy?" I asked. "I can't believe you told us to come out here."

"Hello to you, too," said Woohyun. His face immediately lit up when he saw Yuna. "Hi, Yuna!" He bent down and smothered her with kisses.

"Hey, hey. Don't gave your germs to my daughter!" He stood back up and scoffed before giving Jia a hug. "I have a reason. Look." He pointed at something across the street but I didn't know what he was pointing to. "You see that unit there? That's my colleague's daycare center." I looked pointedly at him. "You want me to put Yuna in a daycare?"

"Just for today!" he exclaimed. "There's this place that just opened and I didn't want diapers to get in the way."

"Woohyun!" Jia punched him in the arm. "You could have just told me. I could have had my parents babysit her."

"Don't worry. She told me that she'll take care of her for free since I helped her out. Plus, it will be a good chance for her to interact with kids her age, don't you think?"

"She doesn't even know how to walk or talk," I deadpanned. 

"Please?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Where is it that you want to go?" He smiled brightly.

"I can't believe we're here..." Woohyun had driven us to Lotte World from the park. I rejected the idea, of course. Why would three grown adults go to an amusement park without any kids? That was the most ridiculous idea I ever heard from him but Jia liked it. She said it was a good time to bond since we haven't out together in a while. Without her, I would have never gone to Lotte World.

Woohyun swung his arm on my shoulder. "Believe it, brother. It's all thanks to your lovely wife."

I hit him in the stomach and he grunted. "Don't say 'lovely wife' and 'your' in the same sentence." He nodded and led the way. 

To be honest, I've never been to an amusement park. The town I grew up in wasn't that close to it on the map so it was impossible to get there by bus unless I decided to stay out a night - which was another impossible feat. Woohyun and Jia never went with their parents either so it was our first time in Lotte World. Truthfully, I wasn't that excited. Since it was still winter, the sky was gloomy, making the attractions...not that attractive as the images shown online. It was also cold, so that didn't make anything better.

There's an indoor portion of the amusement park and it wasn't anything special. I guess I'm not the type to enjoy those kinds of things and I'll tell you now, the rides aren't my favorite part.

Woohyun and Jia were having the time if their lives though. Their arms were linked, which I didn't mind, and pointed out every single thing that interested them. I felt like the third wheel, which I hadn't felt like since high school!

That day I only went on two rides. The first one the two of them wanted to go in was the spinning teacups. I passed because just by looking at others ride it, I could already tell I wasn't gonna like it. Next, was the Viking. Woohyun even suggested we go to the farthest seat and that was the worst decision I agreed to that day. For the first time in my life, I screamed. I didn't know I could scream. That feeling in the stomach was the worst. The two of them seemed to enjoy the thrill. I swear, they could be twins; they're so alike in many ways.

The next ride I went on (or was dragged on) was a rollercoaster and that ride caused me to hate them with a passion. I didn't think anything could get worse than the Viking but I was so wrong. I heard there are taller rides with deeper drops out there. People who ride them I swear, have no fear of death.

After my second ride, I stayed off of them the entire day. I only watched my friends and waited for them so they could move on to the next attraction. The only thing I was good at were those games with the prizes. Put me at any station and I always won first place. The only thing is they're such a ripoff of your money!

"Having fun?" Woohyun asked when we sat down for our food break. I glared at him and he raised his hands up in surrender. "I guess you didn't."

"I think it was pretty fun," Jia said. "Me, too."

"Says the two people who have no fear of falling to their death."

"You've become so grumpy," Woohyun commented. "Jia, what did you do to him? Did you not give him the attention you needed?" I kicked his foot under the table and he winced. "I liked you when you were in high school."

Jia laughed, "We're hanging out just like we did in high school, huh? I mean, college was just a mess. We only met up to eat and that's about it. We never hung out to play like this. I think this is a great way for us to catch up on the good times we had with each other, although we're a bit old."

"Thank you!" he exclaimed. "That was my intention from the start! Mr. Grumpy doesn't agree though." Before I could kick him again he moved back and I rolled my eyes.

Jia was right though. Ever since we graduated high school, we never hung out with each other properly. First year of college was just a mess, just like she said. When Woohyun told us he didn't want to head to college right away, we were shocked to say the least. He was the one who had the most choice of career paths out of all of us. I think he was one of the top three students in the school. He could have easily applied for many scholarships and any college would love to have him. Instead, he decided to stay back a year because of his parents.

Honestly, I understood when he told us the reason. His parents divorced without telling him so his relationship with them wasn't the best. I lived with him for almost 3 years so I would know. His parents were rarely home at the same time but when they are at home together, they only argue. Most of the time, their arguments get so heated Woohyun and I wake up in the middle of the night listening in until we fall back to sleep. Most of the arguments that cause up to wake up are topics about money. That was why he decided to have a gap year to earn money that would go to his parents. 

Jia couldn't understand at first. "He should go to school instead," she told me one day. "He can do what he wants," l argued. "If he wants a gap year, he can. If he wants to go straight to the military, he can."

"I'm not saying taking a gap year will be bad for him. l'm saying his reason is not logical. He will be earning money not for himself, but his parents. His parents-"

"But he's Woohyun," I cut in. "No matter who it is, or what that person did, he'll always be there to help them. Remember those agitated faces he makes when we come to him after we had our fights? We know how he hates to be our counselor but he doesn't say a thing. Remember that girl who he dated in his first year? He didn't get angry at her for using him. He didn't even confront her about it. lt's the same situation with his parents. He won't confront them about their divorce. Instead, he'll help them with their financial situation because they're still his mom and dad. Because he's Woohyun."

Woohyun, Jia and I graduated school with honours. She cried at the end of the ceremony because Jia and I were going to school without him. She cried more than we expected. Jia and I decided to go to the same college but that meant leaving town. As much as she didn't want to leave her parents behind, she didn't want to leave Woohyun behind either. It was tough for her, considering the fact that she spent 5 years of school with him. Maybe that was why she was so sour about his decision. 

We spent that summer together as much as possible. We saw each other almost every day. It was usually Jia who called us out to meet. On most nights we would sleep over at her place, not that her parents minded. During the day we would either laze around her place or go out. That summer we spent more time with the three of us than Jia and l alone, not that I minded a whole lot. If it made her content then I was all for it.

"Jia is really upset that you won't be attending college with us," I told Woohyun the day before Jia and I left town. 

"I know," he said, "and I feel sorry. I'm making her feel torn about my decision. One side is angry and disappointed that I won't be attending college. The other side is supporting my decision to stay back. I know what I want to do."

"I know."

"You'll be there for her in my stead, right?"

"I know you're smart and all, but you ask the stupidest questions." That night we spoke until the crack of dawn. I remember I only had less than an hour's sleep before I headed out to the city with Jia.

Jia and I resided in the same resident building but on different floors. The floors weren't too far away from each other either so that gave her parents some kind of relief. I had a roommate but in the middle of the first month, he withdrew from his program so I ended up living alone. Jia on the other hand, never really liked her roommate. Her roommate was really messy and liked having late night talks. She couldn't stand her so she asked if she could move in with me. I was a bit hesitant. After all, I am a man. 

In the end, I allowed her to stay with me. As in, I allowed her to sleep in the same room as me. She couldn't officially pack her bags and move in because that went against the same gender rule. Her roommate was cool with the idea so she promised to keep an eye out if the room monitors came to inspect everything was in order. We didn't even tell her parents. We didn't even tell Woohyun. 

To tell you the truth, there were some nights I couldn't resist myself. Just as women have their hormonal imbalances once a month, men had theirs. There were nights where we had minimal hours of sleep. Those nights were full of quiet laughter, sweet talks and kisses. I wouldn't get any further than kisses. I respected her enough to not cross the line. 

Everything was going well. Jia and I had small banters but nothing as big as the fights we had when Woohyun was around. College and tuition was a lot of stress but we still handled it well. We also spoke to Woohyun almost everyday. He would update on his work life at the cafe where he met some good friends. He teased me that one of them would take my place one day. I didn't believe him at the time. Now, I wouldn't doubt it. 

He stayed over with me at least once a month, if not more. The cafe he worked at was also in the city but more closer to town than us. Woohyun and I met whenever our schedules matched. Jia probably saw him more than me. Jia and I would visit home twice or thrice a month. It wasn't as many times as they would have liked us to, but it still sufficed. 

All in all, although that trip was horrible for me, it's memorable. We screamed, we laughed, we played; we did everything we just like we did in high school. It was a great throwback.

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Who missed this trio??