Hae-kyung paced up and down the room she had shared with Hye-soo on Friday night. It was Sunday morning and she was supposed to return to Seoul with Hwan-gun but she couldn’t figure out how to face him after she had so shamelessly embraced him the night before. She felt even more ashamed now when she thought of the fact that Ah-reum was her friend.

“Well, it’s not like we did anything wrong. We only danced, not like we kissed or anything.” And an image of him reaching for her popped into her head. “No! No!” She yelled as she shook her head to get rid of the image. She finally sat on the bed and sighed, she shouldn’t have asked him to come with her.

In his room, Hwan-gun dialed Ah-reum’s number for the second time but she still wasn’t answering. He wondered what she was doing because he needed to talk to her urgently. When he tried a third time and she didn’t answer, he gave up and laid down on the bed. He closed his eyes and thought of dancing with Hae-kyung the night before, a slow smile spread across his face as he remembered how she snuggled into his chest as they moved together on the dance floor. Suddenly his eyes snapped open as Ah-reum popped into his head again. “Dammit, why isn’t she answering?” He said.

Ki-joon adjusted his shirt and checked himself out in the mirror, he hadn’t been to the amusement park in a while and he was really nervous. “No Ki-joon, don’t lie to yourself. You’re not nervous because you’re going to the amusement park, you’re nervous because you’re meet Hong Ah-reum.” He pushed his hand through his hair, trying to decide how to wear it. He should have asked to pick her up instead, he might have been able to work out some of his nervousness before they saw each other. He wondered where she was when his phone rang.

“Yeobseyo.” He said.

“Ki-joonssi, are you ready? I’m pulling into your neighbourhood right now.” Ah-reum said over the phone.

Ki-joon raced to the window and looked out, and surely enough he saw Ah-reum’s car pulling up around the corner of his apartment building. He felt his palms begin to sweat and he wiped them on his pants. “Yes, I’m ready. Do you want to come up for a while?” He asked, trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice.

“No. I want to leave immediately so we can have fun for as long as possible. Come on down quickly.” She said.

“Alright, I’ll be down in a few minutes. No need to park the car, just turn it around.”

A few minutes later, Ah-reum saw Ki-joon walk out of his apartment building and up to her car. She smiled in appreciation as he came closer, he was indeed very handsome. She wondered if he had an idea of how much she had looked forward to seeing him today. She had gone home the night before and hadn’t been able to sleep from thinking of all the scenarios that would push him to notice that she kinda had a thing for him. She glanced at her phone and saw the three missed calls from Hwan-gun. A feeling of guilt seized her for a second, she had forgotten all about him. She sent him a quick text saying she would see him when he got back from his vacation just as Ki-joon entered the car. She put her phone away and greeted him with a smile.

“Good morning, did you sleep well?” She asked as she kicked the car into drive.

“Yes. It’s okay for you to speak comfortably with me, we’re friends after all.”

“You look pretty good today too.” She glanced at him from the corner of her eyes.

“Oh, thank you. I suppose.” He replied.

“You suppose?” She asked.

“I mean, thank you.” He said again.

“Are you uncomfortable for some reason, Ki-joonssi?” She asked. She hoped he wouldn’t be.

“No. It’s just that I haven’t been to the amusement park in a very long time and I’m kind of nervous.”

She smiled a half-smile. “Are you scared of the rollercoasters?” She asked.

“It’s not that I’m scared, I just haven’t ridden one in a while.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll hold your hand so you don’t get scared.” She laughed.

“That’s kind of what I’m worried about.” He said to himself as he looked at her side profile. She was even more beautiful today than she was yesterday and he couldn’t understand how that was possible.

Ah-reum turned her head and noticed Ki-joon staring at her. She gripped the steering wheel tightly as she felt her heart rate increase. “Should we listen to some music?” She asked, trying to diffuse the atmosphere. “What kind of songs do you like?”

“It doesn’t really matter; any song is good.” He replied.

Ah-reum the radio to diffuse the silence. “Do you like any kind of sports?” She asked.

“I play basketball pretty well. At least I used to, I haven’t played in a while because I’ve been too busy running the café and I have no free time left.”

“Oh, I like basketball though I don’t play it. I’m more of a swimmer.” She said.

“Oh really? That’s cool, I never learned how to swim.”

“I could teach you. I was on the swim team in senior high.”

“Oh, I like that idea.” He smiled.

“Here we are. I’m so excited, I haven’t been to the amusement park since forever.” She laughed as they got out of the car. She felt as if bubbles flowed in her veins rather than blood and it felt like she might float away. She clasped her hands together to keep from grabbing his in the excitement. “What should we do first?” She turned to him and asked.

Ki-joon was busy staring at her. She looked like a little girl filled with excitement, her face shone bright and her smile was big. He felt his heart go thump. He pushed his hands into his pockets, a slow smile spread across his face, her happiness was infectious.

“I don’t know. What do you want to do?” He asked.

“We should ride the rollercoaster first.” She said, already moving in the direction of the monstrous thing.

“Right off the bat?” He asked.

“Yes, we should just get it out of the way. In any case, we can eat after we ride. We’d get sick otherwise.” She said as they arrived at the line for the rollercoaster.

“Even though, this is still a bit…” He said.

“Oh come on, you don’t need to be scared. Noona’ll hold your hand.” She laughed teasingly.

They joined the queue and soon, it was their turn. As they got into their seats and fastened their belts, Ah-reum noticed Ki-joon squeeze his eyes shut and she felt the strongest urge to hug him tight. Instead, she reached her hand towards his and grabbed it in hers while giving him a reassuring smile and before they both knew it, the ride started. The ride went on for five minutes but they felt like the longest five minutes of Ki-joon’s life as every scream of delight Ah-reum let out next to him matched the fast beating of his heart from fear. It must have been longer than he thought since he’d ridden a rollercoaster. When they finally got off, Ki-joon noticed Ah-reum was holding his hand.

“Ah-reumssi?” He started, but she was already pulling him toward the concession stand.

“What are you in the mood for?” She asked, still holding on to his hand.

He decided to not say anything about and focus on ordering food instead. “I guess I’ll have a hotdog.” He said.

“Are you sure? You can order whatever you want.” She said.

“Hey, I’m a man who makes sandwiches for a living, I’m not too fond of other people’s food. Ah, I’m sorry.” He said quickly to the man at the concession stand.

After ordering their food, they sat together on a bench.

“Are you having fun?” Ah-reum asked, as she chewed on her corndog.

“Yes. I haven’t been here in way too long.” He replied.

“That’s good to hear, I’m so glad you’re having fun.” She said. A wind suddenly blew Ki-joon’s hair and Ah-reum reached to push it out of his eyes before she realized what she was doing. She froze with her hand raised in front of his face as Ki-joon stared deeply into her eyes.

It was a quiet ride to the train station between Hae-kyung and Hwan-gun. They took a cab because they didn’t want to disturb the newlywed couple who were busy packing for their honeymoon. They didn’t say a word to each other all the way to the station and even when they bought their ticket. It was when the train finally started to move that Hhae-kyung decided she couldn’t take anymore and decided to break the silence.

“I’m sorry about last night. I wasn’t in my right mind.” She said.

Hwan-gun felt his heart fall. “Are you serious?”

“Yes. I shouldn’t have done that. I was just in a really bad place and I needed some comfort. Since you just happened to be there, I took advantage of you. I’m really sorry.” She knew her word were mean but she needed to nip this thing in the bud because of Ah-reum. She noticed he was about to speak, so she turned away from him and closed her eyes.

Hwan-gun realized that she was right, he would have to sort out the situation with Ah-reum before their relationship could proceed any further.

Later that evening, Ah-reum dropped Ki-joon off at his apartment after their date.

“I realize that I was a little forward earlier. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” She said when they pulled into the building parking lot. After she had reached for him, the atmosphere between them had tensed. They had not spoken much and when they had talked, it wasn’t as comfortable as it had been earlier.

“Thank you for today.” Ki-joon said and stepped out of the car and turned to go into his building.

Ah-reum pushed her hand into her hair and sighed. This was not turning out the way she wanted at all. Just then, her cellphone rang.

“Yeobseyo.” She said as she started her car.

“What are you doing? I’ve been trying to reach you all day.” Hwan-gun asked.

“I went to the amusement park. What’s up?” She replied.

“Can I meet you right now?” He asked.

“Sure. Where do you want to meet?” She asked.

“Come to my house.” He replied.

Hwan-gun paced up and down in his apartment, contemplating how to broach the topic to Ah-reum when his doorbell rang. He pulled opened the door and there she was.

“Come in.” He said.

“What’s this about? When did you get back from Ulsan?” She asked as she took a seat on the sofa.

“Ah-reum. I know I would seem like a bastard for this, but let’s break off our engagement.”

Author’s note: Hi everyone. Phew, how long as it been? Life is so strange these days. Eojjeodeon, I’m posting this chapter and best believe I’m hard at work writing the upcoming chapters. Enjoy and comment please! Your comments keep motivated to write because that means you guys are reading and enjoying it.