Year Nine

“Thanks for agreeing to come with me,” Chanyeol smiled abashedly at Wei Lin. “None of my friends were interested.”

That was a blatant lie. Baekhyun had been particularly upset when Chanyeol had rejected his invite to the local Christmas fair a couple days back in lieu of going there with Wei Lin that weekend.

“So I was your last choice?” Wei Lin cocked a brow, teasingly.

Chanyeol’s eyes widened in panic. “No! No, that’s not what I —”

He stopped his rapid chatter when Wei Lin giggled loudly.

“Calm down, Chanyeol,” she casually touched his arm. “I’m just messing with you.”

Chanyeol smiled at her, distractedly. His arm seemed to tingle.

Wei Lin noticed his eyes dart to her hand, still resting on his arm and quickly pulled away with a soft blush.

“Let’s go?” she nodded towards the ticket counter instead.

“Two tickets please,” Wei Lin said, pulling out some bills from her wallet.

But Chanyeol beat her to it and placed the appropriate amount of money for the tickets on the table.

When Wei Lin made to protest, Chanyeol only smiled and slipped her ticket into her hand. “Don’t worry about it,” he muttered.

Wei Lin blushed but nodded hesitantly.

“So what do you want to do first?” Wei Lin asked as the two entered the fair grounds.

Her eyes darted to all the colorful lights and stalls, curiously.

Chanyeol watched carefully as her eyes lingered on a game stall a few steps away. With a wide grin, he pointed at the very same stall.

“Let’s go there first,” he spoke.

Wei Lin blinked then smiled wide, grabbing his hand excitedly and tugging him after her.

It was a shooting game and each player got 10 darts to pop 7 balloons. The prize was a giant teddy bear that Wei Lin eyed with longing.

Chanyeol puffed up with confidence. “This is easy,” he said. “I’ve been gaming for years, my aim is near perfect.”

Wei Lin didn’t look convinced but Chanyeol slapped some money onto the counter and accepted the tray of darts from the stall owner.

Wei Lin watched as Chanyeol squinted at the board to take aim, eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

The first dart missed the board completely, causing Wei Lin to press a fist against her lips to smother her giggles.

Chanyeol cleared his throat, embarrassed. “I was just t-testing out the dart,” he mumbled.

Chanyeol focused again, his tongue darting out to wet his lips. His throat felt dry, the pressure to impress Wei Lin pressing down on him.

Wei Lin’s eyes followed the movement of his tongue, her face flushing as she caught herself eying his lips.

Chanyeol threw the dart again and this one actually managed to pop one of the balloons.

“Yes!” Chanyeol pumped his fist. “Did you see that?” he turned to Wei Lin with a wide grin.

She laughed, amused by his excitement.

“Six more and you win the prize,” the stall owner reminded him, patting the giant teddy.

Chanyeol continued playing the game but when he was down to his last dart, he had only managed to pop four balloons.

Wei Lin patted his back consolingly even though she’d been the one who wanted the prize in the first place.

“That game is a scam,” he muttered, childishly. “It’s rigged.”

Wei Lin pursed her lips, holding back her giggles.

Wei Lin and Chanyeol visited more stalls and tried their luck at the games there. Unfortunately, Chanyeol failed at all of them causing him to pout and Wei Lin to laugh loudly.

When they started feeling hungry, Wei Lin led them to the rows of food stalls.

“Do you want cotton candy?” Chanyeol asked, eying the pink and blue treats.

Wei Lin hummed thoughtfully. “Let’s share a cotton candy and a bag of popcorn?”

Chanyeol grinned, “Call.”

They queued up and bought the snacks. Chanyeol insisted on holding the popcorn and the drinks they’d bought so Wei Lin held on to the cotton candy instead.

She tore some of the pink spun sugar off and popped it into , squealing softly like a kid. Chanyeol chuckled at her expression of delight.

“Good?” he asked, teasingly.

She grinned, tearing off another piece and holding it out for him. Chanyeol blinked before letting her feed him, heart thudding erratically.

The two found an unoccupied bench and sat down, talking about random things while they ate the popcorn and drank their sodas.

Chanyeol silently observed Wei Lin as she looked around.

The girl was distracted by some children and Chanyeol felt his breath catch at the soft smile on her face. The colorful lights strung up everywhere reflected in her eyes making her look ethereal and breathtaking.

And then she turned away and locked her beautiful brown eyes with Chanyeol’s own wide ones and he felt his heart swell with love and affection.

“Let’s go on that,” Wei Lin pointed to the Ferris Wheel.

It was set up in the middle of the fair grounds and was clearly the highlight if the long waiting queue was anything to go by.

Chanyeol grimaced slightly. “It’ll be a long time before it’s our turn,” he warned.

But the Chinese girl shot a pleading look at him and Chanyeol’s weak heart stuttered.

“Alright, let’s go,” he muttered, tugging her along to the end of the line.

It took them nearly 40 minutes before they were allowed to enter one of the little passenger cabins of the Ferris Wheel.

Wei Lin pressed her hands against the barred window, waiting excitedly for their cabin to rise all the way to the top.

Chanyeol had to admit that when they were finally at the maximum height, seeing the entire fair and even parts of the city lit up with street lights, the view made the nearly hour long wait entirely worthwhile.

“It’s so beautiful,” Wei Lin gasped, absentmindedly.

Chanyeol made a distracted sound of agreement.

He looked away from the view when he felt Wei Lin shiver slightly beside him.

“Are you cold?” he muttered, voice soft as if he were afraid of ruining this serene moment.

“Just a little,” Wei Lin admitted shyly, blowing warm air onto her hands.

Chanyeol hesitated for only a second before boldly grabbing onto one of her hands.

Wei Lin blinked, startled.

He tugged her closer, cupping her hand between his own and kneading it gently to warm it up.

Wei Lin’s surprised expression softened, her eyes averting shyly.

Chanyeol smiled, pulling her even closer and then putting her hand into his pocket.

Wei Lin didn’t look at him, her eyes determinedly focused on the fair lights. But Chanyeol noticed the slight dusting of red on her cheeks.

His own face burned red when Wei Lin shifted her hand slightly and intertwined their fingers, still buried within his pocket.

Chanyeol looked at Wei Lin sideways, his lips spread into a wide grin. One that didn’t leave his face the entire night.