Jungeun throws her arms up in the air, stretching as her bones make some ugly cracking noises. She sends a quick apologetic smile towards the visitors who noticed the 'on break' sign a little too late.

"We'll be back in five." She announces before retreating towards the back of the booth.

It has been such a long day for her and there is nothing she wants more than to throw herself onto her awaiting fluffy and cozy bed, and stay pass out for at least next three days. She just needs to ditch this place and speeds her way home.

Sounds like a brilliant plan. She almost squeals to herself.

"Hello, Jungeun uwu." Jungeun turns her head to find her workmate standing there with lips jutting out.

"Jiwoo, how many times I told you that 'uwu' isn't a real word and not supposed to be verbalized." She quirks an eyebrow, hands busy with her backpack.

"What if it's meant to be so but no one have yet to discover it?" Jiwoo only proceeds to pout. "Imagine me being the founder of 'uwu' as a real word uwu."

"Seriously..." She stares at the girl in disbelief. "Whatever I'm out."

"Have a safe ride home." Jiwoo flashes an enthusiastic grin.

"We'll see about that." Jungeun shrugs before starting to march away. "Oh no no, wait." She spins on her heel and looks at Jiwoo again. "You remember the rules and procedures right?"

"Of course!" Jiwoo nods.

Jungeun grimaces as she recalls the event in the prior week. She is not sure what exactly happened but she remembers corn dogs being thrown all over the place and she has to collectively take the responsibility with Jiwoo. She just doesn't have the heart to let the newbie faces the consequence alone so she generously let her paycheck gets cut off by 10%. This cursed place will never give her a break.

"Repeat after me, no more causing a scene."

"No more causing a scene."

"No more agitating the customers."

"But—"

"What did I say?"

"No more agitating the customers."

"Don't forget to lock the place up after you're finished."

"Don't forget to lock the place up after you're finished." Jiwoo repeats obediently.

"Not me. You."

"Not you? Me?"

"I—" Jungeun drops her head in defeat. Jiwoo shall never be left alone for late night shift. If only she had no early test tomorrow morning, she would have stayed like she always does and made sure Jiwoo actually follows the order. "I'm leaving for real."

"Okay, see you tomorrow Jungeun!" The girl she dubs as a strawberry sun shoots her another grin before moving to prepare for the reopening.

"That is if you still had this job by midnight." Jungeun mumbles under her breath.

Jungeun retrieves the backpack onto her shoulder, her free hand reaching inside her jeans pocket for her mobile phone. She unlocks the device and finds a few notifications; 12 from the groupchat of her with Jinsoul and Yerim and five likes on her tweet that reads: lmao es be feeling like d*ing at work. im es.

Glad to know that five people can relate to that. She sighs lazily.

She scrolls through her timeline as she moves away from the booth towards the parking lot and out she will be from this carnival. A post is causing her to snicker at how ridiculous yet genius it sounds that Jungeun believes her sense of humor is already royally ruined. Not more than 10 steps away, Jungeun hears a group of people yelling behind her. She closes her eyes in silent prayer of her fear not turning into reality.

Jungeun slowly turns her body around and horror immediately claims her face. ", not again."

She jogs towards the cursed corn dogs booth and tries to assess the situation but her vision is blocked by dozens of body. Jungeun has half a thought of running away and pretends that she had no knowledge of this, on God she is so tempted to do just that.

Against her better judgment she pushes through the sea of humans to get to the front counter. "Excuse me. Coming through. Excuse me." She repeats the sentence like a mantra.

Jungeun huffs loudly when she reaches her destination, her ribs sore after taking a jab from someone within the crowd. She then lifts her gaze from the ground and the sight of Jiwoo holding onto a girl's wrist like her life depended on it is confusing her.

"Miss, please. You can't go before you pay for the corn dogs." Jiwoo pleads.

Jungeun can't really see the girl, her straight ebony hair is blocking her face from Jungeun's view. But nevertheless, the girl remains frozen on her spot and she basically leaves Jiwoo to talk to herself. Jungeun gives it a number of seconds before she decides that enough is enough.

"Jiwoo, what's going on?"

Jiwoo turns to look at her with terrified eyes. "This lady right here... she won't pay up..." She is at the verge of crying, Jungeun can see the glisten in her eyes even under the crappy lighting.

"Hey! What's taking you so long?!" A guy in the line shouts out of nowhere and it startles both Jungeun and Jiwoo.

"Miss, you're holding the line." Jungeun finally gets in contact with the girl in question. "You can pay and go."

"Hey! Tell her to move!" Another guy adds more into the already burning turmoil.

Jungeun turns towards the growing crowd, her gaze falls onto every corner since she can't tell who's the one shouting. "Sir, please be—"

"Wait! Miss! Don't go!" Now, it is Jiwoo's turn to scream on top of her lungs.

Jungeun sees the girl slipping through the mass and disappears. "." She cusses loudly. "Hey! Come back!"

"What we gonna do?" If Jungeun waited for another 10 seconds, she believes that Jiwoo would put out a soap opera show.

"It isn't that much right? How much is it?" She reaches inside her pocket for a couple of messily folded bills. "Here."

Jiwoo takes the cash but her eyes are still full of worries. "She takes more than this."

"What? How many?"

"10."

"The ?" Jungeun's eyeballs are about to leave their sockets. "I'll be back. Just carry on."

Jungeun sneaks her way through the mini gathering and immediately spots the culprit not far ahead of her. Getting her legs to work, she sprints and in no time has her fingers wrapped lightly on the stranger's elbow. That action halts the other in her steps.

"Where do you think you going?" Jungeun stands before the girl to block her path and almost made a fool out of herself.

Jungeun is stunned when the girl looks up to meet her eyes. A beautiful criminal. She scoffs to expel that impression away, she will not let herself get deceived by outer appearance like that.

"You haven't pay for that." She points at the paper bag on the stranger's left hand. Her other hand is holding onto a half eaten corn dog. "Until you pay 'em all, I won't let you go." Jungeun diverts her gaze to gesture at the girl's elbow still in her hold.

"Uh..." The other finally makes a sound although it is better described as a sigh.

"What?" Jungeun narrows her eyes before shaking her head because she just can't understand the implications. She is given the same silent treatment. "Okay, that's it. Where are your friends?"

She meets Jungeun stare again. "No friends... I'm by myself." Her voice almost got drowned by the noise around them.

"You lying."

"... no." The girl shakes her head while wriggling her arm to break free.

"The 10 corn dogs. For whom then?"

"Me." She frowns.

Jungeun blinks. "Who even eat 10 jumbo sized corn dogs all by themselves?" No reply for Jungeun this time. "I..." She brings her free hand up to cup on her face. "Look, let's just make this easy okay? My friend right there will lose her job if you don't pay."

"I was gonna pay later..." The other says quietly.

That answer further confusing Jungeun. "Later?"

"Yeah, later. I promise." She is still struggling to get Jungeun off her.

"Yeah right. And I'm supposed to trust you? Might as well believed that global warming wasn't real." Jungeun snickers. "I mean, I'm literally drenched right now." She points at bead of sweats travelling down her temple.

"You can trust me." The girl suddenly turns into a different person. Her eyes are bigger now, almost forming two perfect moons, and they shine brightly under the moonlight. Jungeun has a real life Puss in Boots right before her. "I'll pay up."

"I—"

"But on one condition." The stranger cuts her off.

"Ehhh." Jungeun's face is not lacking in absurdity one bit.

"I wanna go on rides." The girl with the same height as Jungeun declares.

"And...?" Jungeun is trying not to laugh at the ridiculous situation.

"Come with me." It is a firm respond, no questioning it.

"Say whattt." Jungeun finally lets her go and backs away. This girl, a total stranger to her, is really asking her to tag along and go on rides. Even if she had the luxury to do that now, there is no way she is going to hand over herself to someone she doesn't know at all. "Are you drunk?"

"Am not, completely sober." She spins around to prove her answer.

Jungeun has never quite meet someone like this before and it scares her. "I don't even know your name, much less know you at all. Make no sense for me to follow you around."

The stranger shoves the corn dog back into its place with the other nine of its kind. She wipes her hand on the back of her jeans before offering it to Jungeun. "Heejin."

"Huh?" Jungeun cowers away.

"My name is Heejin."

Jungeun internally cries at the situation. Jiwoo, what have you gotten me into? She gulps down her saliva and slowly joins their hands before shaking it. Heejin is looking at her with an unspeakable question behind her eyes. "What?"

"Aren't you gonna give me your name?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because I'm not coming with you." Maybe Jungeun just accidentally uses a harsh tone on her as Heejin's face falls in matter of seconds.

"Oh." Heejin retreats her hand and set her gaze to the ground again.

Jungeun clears . "... yeah."

Heejin's irises are restless. "Well then..." She moves again, this time retrieving something from her back pocket. "Take this." She avoids from meeting Jungeun's eyes.

Jungeun stares at the offering hand, the dim lighting is being very little to no help but somehow Jungeun can tell what Heejin is holding onto. She accepts it awkwardly before crushing the cash in her palm.

"Tell your friend I'm sorry." Heejin says quietly. "For being a bother... to both of you." And with that, she starts to walk away.

Jungeun stays in her spot, watching as the distance between her and Heejin grows bigger. Heejin has her head hanging low the whole time and it smears guilt all over Jungeun. She could have been more nice towards Heejin, rejecting her in such a way is a mean act.

Jungeun huffs firmly, closing her eyes and makes her mind. " this." She chases after Heejin, thankful that Heejin is walking at the speed of a turtle. Jungeun catches up to her in no time. "My name is Jungeun!" She tries her best to overpower the noise around them.

Heejin stops after sensing someone talking to her. Confusion is written everywhere on her face when she sees Jungeun standing close. That is not where she left the girl just now. "Pardon?"

"The name is Jungeun." Jungeun forces a smile. "I... I'll have to pass the money over to my friend first."

"Wha—"

"And then we can go." Jungeun feels beyond relieved when Heejin's small lips tug upwards, she looks sheepish and almost adorable.

"Um okay." Heejin nods, eyes still fixated on Jungeun.

 

#

 

"Shouldn't I at least be given the privilege to choose the ride?" Jungeun sighs.

"What's wrong with carousel?" Heejin tilts her head.

"Nothing actually wrong but it's... for kids." Jungeun sounds so soulless.

"Well, I'm a kid." Heejin says, almost sounding proud.

Jungeun snickers. "Yeah right..."

"At heart." She beams at Jungeun, her perfect rows of teeth are on full display.

Jungeun laughs. "You sure do look like one."

Heejin stays grinning. "Come on, we gotta get in line."

The girl then jogs slightly towards the awaiting line, most of it consisting of young children and the way Heejin sticks out from the rest is both funny and cute to Jungeun. Alas, she follows after the other and soon enough their turn eventually comes.

Jungeun just lagging behind Heejin who suddenly has a surge of energy tenfold than before. She climbs onto one of the horses, or is it unicorn Jungeun can't really tell, squealing as she safely seated on top if it. She already assigned her bag of corn dogs to Jungeun who keeps on insisiting to stay standing next to a pole despite Heejin constantly urging her to actually join the ride.

"Get on, Jungeun!" Heejin shouts, a big smile on her face.

"No, thanks! I'm good!" Jungeun shakes her head.

"It's dangerous to stand like that while this goes around!" The girl warns.

"It's going like 5 miles per hour, what dangerous could it possibly impose?!" Jungeun quirks her eyebrow.

Heejin squints her eyes at Jungeun but doesn't retort to that. Jungeun looks satisfied and gives Heejin a cocky smile while she is at it. Heejin sticks her tongue in response and suddenly it turns into a battle of wordless mocking at each other.

Jungeun is so into it that she mindlessly lets go of her hold on the pole. It is not long before she almost gets tipped off balance and sends herself crashing off the carousel.

"Careful!" Heejin looks like she is ready to jump off to rescue Jungeun.

Fortunately, Jungeun reaches onto another pole just in time to save her dear life. "Oh, jeez!" She struggles to catch her breath.

"Are you okay?!" Concern is evident in Heejin's voice.

"Y— yeah, I'm good!" Jungeun gulps, hiding her still surprised side.

Jungeun leaves the carousel as it comes to a complete stop in record time, wanting nothing more than to stay away from it. Heejin tags along before enveloping her fingers around Jungeun's arm and turns the other around to check on her.

"Are you really okay?" Heejin's forehead is creased from worrying.

Jungeun pulls out another cocky smile. "Of course! Can't believe I'm about to say this but... I survived that ride!" She chuckles.

Heejin stares at her incredulously. "Next time, make sure you are seated okay." She reprimands before walking away.

Jungeun blinks at that, a question regarding the 'next time' already at the tip of her tongue but she swallows it back and reasons out that Heejin probably meant nothing.

She looks ahead of her to find Heejin standing still while holding onto the side of her head, her body language fills by discomfort. Jungeun rushes to her side.

"What's wrong?" The worry has now shifts to Jungeun.

Heejin takes awhile to respond but when she lifts her head again, a smile is given to Jungeun instead. "Nothing. Come on, onto our next ride!"

Jungeun's eyes widen. "W— wait! Next ride?"

"Yeah." Heejin nods without doubt.

"I thought... the carousel would be the only one..." She trails off.

"I said rides." Heejin pouts.

Jungeun stares at the girl. "Uh huh..."

"You really need to go now?" The girl asks in a small voice. "I mean if you do... I'm not stopping you..."

Jungeun gives it a moment; pondering and thinking as Heejin draws random shapes using the tip of her sneaker. Jungeun is supposed to be home by now, revising for her test next morning. She is still baffled to find herself here at the carnival with a total stranger that she knows nothing about but her name. Heejin is weird but as far as thing goes, she only radiates harmless energy. Jungeun's mark is at stake but she just can't find it in her to leave Heejin all alone.

"Not really, I still got time." Jungeun smiles a big smile. "Let's go." She urges with a tilt of her head.

Jungeun takes the lead this time, since the very beginning she only has one place in mind. Having part-timing here for at least a year and a half now sure has it own perks. She guides them around like she has the map drawn at the back of her mind. In under three minutes, she stands tall in front of her intended destination.

"You're that eager, huh?" Heejin asks breathlessly, referring to the way Jungeun speed walking all the way through here.

"Hmm, you can say so?" She shrugs. "This is one ride that I'm good at." Her grin shows how proud she is over that claim.

"Really... I don't buy it." Heejin teases.

"Wait until I bump and flip your car over." Jungeun narrows her eyes.

"Ooohhh, you're violent." Heejin shakes her head.

"On somedays..." She gives a look. "Just kidding. Do you drive?"

"Drive? As in real cars?"

"Yeah, real driving."

"No..."

"Alright, let's go."

"What's that question for?"

"Nothing important, I'm just curious." Jungeun winks and makes her way to obtain the two of them passes.

Jungeun gets into a vacant car and Heejin follows suit. As they wait for the round to start, they are once again engaged in another mocking contest. Jungeun makes various gestures ranging from rolling her eyes all the way to slicing to intimidate Heejin but the latter just laughs wholeheartedly, finding Jungeun's antics as cute instead.

"You're going down!" Jungeun announces as she puts force onto the pedal.

"We'll see about that!" Heejin replies equally eager.

Jungeun starts by rounding the bounded track, bumping onto different cars as she goes. She gets more and more excited at every turn and knock, genuinely laughing when she hits a little too hard that she surprises herself. A few moments later, her eyes land on her main target and Jungeun smirks instinctively. Jungeun has to put a lot of effort to clear her way before she finally reaches Heejin's car.

"I'm coming!" She shouts, loud enough to cause panic to arise in Heejin.

The latter is struggling to reverse and accelerate as more cars come to her side that Heejin is practically bouncing around like a ball in a football match. Her struggle amplifies as Jungeun announces her arrival by smashing onto the front of her car and Heejin jerks backwards. Shock and offense evident from the way her orbs grow bigger and gasp leaving .

"Jungeun!" Heejin floors the pedal and returns the favor but Jungeun's only reaction is to laugh.

"You got game huh?!" Jungeun asks teasingly. "Show me more!" With that, she steers away leaving Heejin to come after her.

The round continues for a few more minutes before it eventually being switched off by the worker in charge. Jungeun leaves first, holding onto her chest to catch her breath. Her fatigue has less to do with the ride but more due to her non-stop laughter. Not that she mind, she enjoys it too much to regret.

Jungeun rests against a pole as she waits for Heejin to show up. Her wait is cut short when Heejin appears not long after. Jungeun was about to continue with her teasing when she spots Heejin's pale face and she immediately forgets everything else.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Jungeun catches Heejin by her shoulders as the latter has a hand cupping her face.

Heejin doesn't answer and instead runs away from the scene. That catches Jungeun off guard but she doesn't let the bewilderment to tie her feet. She goes after Heejin and finds the other stopping on a rather vacant area at the end of the carnival site.

"Heejin?" Jungeun barely registers the fact that that is her first time saying Heejin's name out loud. She is more concern by the girl bowing down in a complete 90 degrees with her hands on her knees. "Are you—"

Heejin's loud gagging noise makes Jungeun realizes the weight of the situation. Recovering from her temporary stun, Jungeun comes over and silently offers to hold Heejin's hair for her. She holds onto it carefully to keep it out of the way while her other hand lands on Heejin's back to on it lightly. Jungeun hates throwing up so seeing others suffering from it is equally distressing.

Heejin's little ugly moment eventually comes to a stop as she heaves lapse deep breaths. That has drain the energy out of her that Heejin almost stumbled backwards later on.

"I got you." Jungeun shields Heejin from collapsing onto the ground harshly. She helps the girl to rest on a bench nearby and settles herself next to Heejin.

Jungeun eyes Heejin momentarily, trying her best to scan the situation. Heejin is covering her face with makeshift curtain that is her jet black hair and Jungeun reads her embarrassment well. Jungeun rummages through her backpack and pulls out a pack of  facial tissue before offering it to Heejin.

"Here." Jungeun pushes it into Heejin's hold softly, anticipating as the other slowly retrieves a ply to dab on . Jungeun goes back to her bag and lets out a sigh of relief when she spots the half empty water bottle and a couple of peppermint candies. "I got some water and refreshments too." She waits for Heejin to grab the combo from her.

Jungeun stays silent the entire time Heejin is cleaning and recomposing herself, realizes she can't offer nothing more but room and space for the girl. A lot of questions nagging at the back of her mind but Jungeun forces herself to be selective instead of intrusive.

"Wha—"

"Thank—"

They both speak up and pause at the same time, eyes timidly glancing at one another.

Jungeun chuckles to ease the atmosphere. "You first."

"I'm... sorry you had to see that. That wasn't my best moment..." Heejin says in a small voice.

Jungeun scrunches her face in confusion. "Pretty sure that's out of your control, no need to say sorry." She reassurres.

"I still feel bad." Heejin sighs.

"Please don't, I mean it." Jungeun shakes her head furiously. "Just..."

"Just?"

"... wondering what did you eat earlier? Did you really not drink?" Her eyebrows dancing as she utters the question.

"Swear I didn't drink."

"Or is it the bumper cars?"

"That... perhaps... to be fair I already felt nauseous since the carousel." Heejin grimaces. "And... I had like five rounds of cotton candy, a couple of energy bars, two diet soda and... four and a half corn dogs." She clears .

"You whaaaaat." Jungeun whips her head to see if Heejin was joking, only to meet with a serious looking Heejin. "I'm sorry but that's awfully a lot, you never came off as a... big eater. Although, the corn dogs were suspicious but still..."

"I have no regret..." Heejin whispers.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." She dismisses it. "Come on, I have one more ride on my list!" Heejin says as she leaves the bench.

"Wait, wha— what? You can't be serious, your tummy deserves a peaceful rest!"

"I promise this ride is peaceful!" Heejin is grinning so wide that Jungeun can not say no to her.

Heejin continues to be on her way with Jungeun hot on her trails. Jungeun wants to yell 'slow down' but the excitement bursting from Heejin is making it impossible for her, in fact it makes her feels like she is plotting a crime; a crime as a killjoy. So, she lets Heejin be while keeping her eyes on the girl so that she will not lose her in the crowd. The sight of a tall structure instantly fills up Jungeun's view right after and she needs not to take a second guess.

"My guess is right." Jungeun comments as she arrives next to Heejin.

"You knew?" Heejin glances at her, still very much beaming. Jungeun wonders how the girl recovers from earlier event that quick.

"Well... I guessed we at least gonna ride one of the two tonight — rollercoaster or ferris wheel. Since you called it peaceful, rollercoaster is eliminated." She smirks as she explains.

"Are you disappointed?" Heejin tilts her head to get a better view on Jungeun's face.

"What do you mean?"

"You probably wanna go on rollercoaster instead."

Jungeun grimaces. "No thanks, I rather stay on carousel all night long."

Heejin laughs out loud at that. She then checks the line and wastes no time grabbing onto Jungeun's wrist to pull her along. Jungeun is taken by surprise from that action but says nothing and just keeps her gaze on Heejin's hand resting on hers.

Heejin is indeed something else but Jungeun can not really figure her out; at least not yet.

"Is your tummy totally empty now? I don't want another round of unloading its content." Jungeun jokes and Heejin looks so ready to fight her.

"Hush." She narrows her eyes at Jungeun before smacking on her arm playfully. "Your eyes are shaking, are you nervous?" Her voice lulls into a teasing tone at the end.

That seems to hit on the bull's eye. "N— no." She looks away.

Heejin takes notice of that. "Yes, you do. Don't lie."

Jungeun drops her gaze. "I... kinda have acrophobia." She sniffles.

"... what's that? You afraid of acro...batics or something...?" Heejin looks genuinely confused.

"Huh, what? No!" Jungeun furrows her eyebrows. "That means fear of heights, you silly." She nudges the girl.

Heejin's mouth forms a perfect 'O' shape. "Sorry..." She laughs sheepishly. "Well, we shouldn't get on this then."

"We will. Don't worry, I'll be fine. I still can handle this one." Jungeun stops her.

"You really not gonna back down, don't you?"

"Nah, I won't."

"You're always overflowing with confidence and pride but I know..."

"Know what?"

"Deep deep down, you're an absolute softie." Heejin grins playfully.

"Hey!" Jungeun pretends to jump on the girl but Heejin is quick to send Jungeun back to her initial position.

As Jungeun stumbles backwards, her back unfortunately collides onto the person behind her and it startles them both. Jungeun instantly turns around to apologize.

"I'm so— rry." Her voice dies down dramatically as she finally recognizes the face.

"Jungeun."

"Haseul." Her ex-girlfriend that she used to love so dearly for three years is standing there right before her. Haseul looks different with her now bob hair, far brighter and free-spirited than what Jungeun remembers.

Haseul scans Jungeun's outfit. "You just done with work? I thought it's your off day..." She trails off.

Jungeun clears . "Uh... yeah. We rotate the schedules, I work in different shift now."

The other nods in acknowledgement. "Makes sense. It has been so long..." She smiles sweetly at Jungeun.

It has been very long indeed. They broke up more than a year ago in what Jungeun would describe as one-sided parting. They never really met since then, keeping their paths away from each other. And it made moving on easier for Jungeun.

But with Haseul appearing in flesh like this, Jungeun's heart is not as calm any longer.

"Are you in line for the Ferris wheel...?" Haseul asks in confusion.

"Y— yeah."

"But you—"

"Hey, babe! Look what I got for you!" Haseul is cuts off by a newly arrived person and Jungeun loses her focus. "Oh hey, who's this?"

Haseul shifts her gaze towards Jungeun again. "This is... Jungeun. An..." There is a hint of hesitation behind her eyes. "An old friend."

"Ah, I see." The person smiles widely. "You not gonna introduce me?"

"I'm about to." Haseul laughs but for some reason Jungeun feels there is no need for an official introduction. The way the stranger clucthes onto Haseul's waist is more than enough to provide her with clues.

"This is Sooyoung. My..."

"Girlfriend! I'm her girlfriend, I don't know why she still acts like we aren't an item." Sooyoung offers Jungeun a handshake and despite her inner battle, Jungeun accepts it with an awkward smile. "Are you by yourself?"

Jungeun's head is swarms by multiple thoughts. "I... uh..."

"What's taking you so long, sweetheart?" Jungeun feels an arm looping itself around hers as she slowly registers Heejin standing close to her. "Oh, hi! Are they your friends?"

Jungeun meets Heejin's eyes briefly, she can not say that she is not confused but she plays along. "Yeah..."

"Hi, I'm Heejin." Heejin extends her hand towards Haseul. "Jungeun's girlfriend." Jungeun witnesses as Haseul's face falls at that.

"Oh." Haseul shakes her hand and withdraws just as fast.

"Hello, Heejin." Haseul's new girlfriend looks visibly oblivious. "You two look good together!"

"Thank you, we hear that a lot." Heejin answers without hesitation, her white pearls are on full display.

"It's a shame but we have to go now." Haseul suddenly announces.

Sooyoung blinks at Haseul. "I thought we tryna get on the Fer—"

"No, we really need to go." Haseul doesn't give her the chance to finish. "Nice to meet you again, Jungeun." Haseul drags her girlfriend away.

"See you two around!" Sooyoung waves her free hand at them.

Both Jungeun and Heejin stand in silence afterwards with Heejin still has her arm locks around Jungeun's loosely. They bypass the checkpoint and get onto one of the vacant cabins. Jungeun slumps into her seat as she lets out an audible sigh, Heejin makes herself comfortable on her opposite side.

"Damn, that hurts." Jungeun hangs her head low, elbows resting on her knee caps. "What you did back there... thanks."

"Don't mention it." Heejin gives a small smile although Jungeun can not see it.

Jungeun sighs again. "Pretty sure I'm over her but... I guess this is nothing compared to the pain when we first broke up."

"I can relate to that..." Heejin responds in a quiet voice.

"You experienced breakups too?" Jungeun looks up. "How long ago was that?"

Heejin stays silent as she glances on her wristwatch, presumably checking on the date. "The recent one is like... three hours ago."

Her answer catches Jungeun off guard. "Wha—" She sits up straight. "Wait. I'm— you mean— is that why you've been...?"

Heejin drops her gaze onto her lap. "... yeah..."

"I'm sorry to hear that..." Jungeun loses her voice. The signs were there, some kind of sadness behind Heejin's eyes but Jungeun could never guessed.

"It's okay." Heejin smiles but Jungeun knows it fills with nothing but bitterness. "After a fight, we didn't talk to each other for like two weeks. She texted me yesterday asking to meet here and I really thought we gonna make up." She closes her eyes. "So, I had everything planned. But when—" Heejin chokes on air. "When I arrived, she wasted no time to tell me she wanted to break it off like... she had been waiting for it all her life."

"." Jungeun mumbles.

"She is tired of me, it's just matter of time." Heejin looks out of the moving cabin, taking in the night scenery underneath them. "She left after that and I haven't cry since." One drop of tear escapes her right eye and the way it slides down so painfully slow is hard for Jungeun to watch.

"What are you still doing here then?" Jungeun asks gently.

"I don't know... my first thought was to binge eating which what I exactly did." Heejin sniffles before carving a smile.

"Ah..."

"And then I sort of decided to carry on with my plans, go on rides and all since I'm already here."

"Does your plan includes dragging a stranger around with you too?" Jungeun asks in hope to ease the tense.

"That's... nowhere near. You're like an improvisation." Heejin bites on her lip before looking away.

"I hope that I at least make a good improvisation." Jungeun grins.

"You make it a lot better." Heejin mutters.

"Come again?"

"Nothing." Heejin just shakes her head, eyes still shining under the minimal lightning.

They get off as the Ferris wheel comes to a complete stop and Jungeun is ready to call it a day but she doesn't really want to go. Weird how earlier she wanted nothing to do with the girl but now she can not bring herself to leave her side. She hates to admit it, but maybe she enjoys being around Heejin a little too much.

Huffing, she takes a few brief glances at the girl and braces up.

"Lemme drive you home." Jungeun offers casually.

"Hm?" Heejin has this 'that's a nice joke' kind of look on her face.

"I'm serious." Jungeun makes herself clear.

"I... don't know about that..." Heejin seals her lips.

"What? You don't trust me?"

"Maybe so..."

Jungeun scoffs. "You made me follow you around all night long and now suddenly you gonna admit you don't trust me?"

"That's different case." Heejin pulls her hair back.

Jungeun taps her pair of Converse on the ground as she thinks. "Take this." She pulls out her mobile phone and offers it to Heejin.

Heejin blinks in confusion. "What for?"

Jungeun unlocks it and dials a string of number. "It has 911 ready and if I ever try anything funny, like y'know the kind of funny that's not supposed to be funny, just tap on the call button."

Heejin stares at the girl with wide eyes.

"What do you say?"

She sees Jungeun's eagerness and sincerity from the way she expresses herself through her body language and words. "I mean um... okay..."

"Cool."

Jungeun guides Heejin to her old man's truck after that, apologizing about the modest ride along the way. Heejin is quick to dismiss that and takes her seat in the passenger side.

Save for Heejin telling Jungeun where to turn and such, there is a very minimal exchange between them as the truck moves on the road. Jungeun decides to give Heejin a room to breathe as the girl just had a very tough day.

"This one?" Jungeun slows down as she scans the house before putting the truck on idle.

"Yeah." Heejin nods. "Tha—"

"Wait there." Jungeun unbuckles herself before sprinting around the truck to get to Heejin's side. She holds open the door and offers Heejin a smile.

Heejin stares at the girl and recovers as she realizes she is staring a bit too long. "Thanks." Heejin hops off the truck. "Here."

Jungeun takes her mobile phone from Heejin and suddenly flips it around as if she was inspecting it. "This doesn't look like my phone."

"Eh?" Heejin almost knitted her eyebrows together. "That's totally yours."

"Mine..." Jungeun makes an incoherent noise. "... should have your number in it."

Heejin's jaw drops before she immediately covers her burning face with her hands. "Did you really just—" She laughs, unable to finish her question.

Jungeun rubs on her own warm ear. "Yeah, spare me the embarrassment please." She mutters loud enough to reach Heejin.

Heejin takes the mobile phone again although her laugh has yet to die down. She keeps on glancing at Jungeun as she keys in her number. Jungeun is balancing on her heels as she pretends to look at everywhere else.

She retrieves the device from Heejin and wastes no time to ring the number. "I promise it's the real one." Heejin chuckles as she pulls out her noisy phone. "See?" She holds it up right in front of Jungeun.

Jungeun laughs awkwardly. "Just checking."

"Now what...?"

"I... honestly, unexpectedly, had a good time earlier." Jungeun smiles sheepishly.

"Well, well, well, if I recall correctly you actually rejected my invitation." Heejin glares at the girl.

"Shush, you can't really blame me on that one."

"Hmm." Heejin makes a face.

"Um y'know... like we met in a very not ideal circumstance but I'm wondering if we... we..."

"We?"

Jungeun avoids from staring at Heejin's gorgeous face directly. "If we can... do this again sometime? Like an official... date?"

Jungeun is not entirely sure where that originates from, but from the brief period she spends with Heejin, she always has a good feeling about the girl. Jungeun honestly doesn't mind getting to know her a bit better and see where this could lead.

That, if Heejin is willing to participate.

"What if I don't want to?" Heejin quirks an eyebrow.

Jungeun turns timid. "I won't force you... I mean it's way too early for you isn't it?"

Heejin's lips form a thin line for a brief moment. "I think... life is too short to be worrying about what's too early or not." Heejin hides a small smile behind her dark hair. "I would love to."

"Are you serious?" Jungeun puts a hand on her nape, trying her best not to shout out ' yeah'. "Well— I— that's awesome. Very awesome." She then clears .

"Your ears are burning." Heejin points out.

"N— no, they are not." Jungeun cups them with her bony hands. "You should get inside, it's getting late."

"Yeah, I should." Heejin slowly reverts back towards her door.

"Rest well. Good night, Heejin."

"Good night too, cutie. Text me." Heejin blurts out before her confidence disappears.

Jungeun's eyes widen and so do her lips. She makes sure that Heejin gets inside safely before she buries her face into her palms and lets out a high-pitched scream.

"What the was that?!"

Maybe she spends too much time hating on her job and maybe she is going to fail that test tomorrow, but at least the corn dogs booth is not as cursed as she used to believe anymore.