Dae Myung’s POV

No lights filtered in as we walked along the old, crooked hallway.

I felt her trembling against me, shaking out of fear. She hung onto the back of my shirt and followed me silently, like a scared kitty.

A desire to protect her from whatever may come our way inflamed my insides.

As the floor cracked under our footsteps, the silence and tension held our breaths hostage. The darkness prevented us from seeing more than five feet away.

“I want to leave, Dae Myung…” she whimpered in a whisper.

“I know. We’ll get out of here as soon as we find the exit.” I reassured her softly, reaching out for her hand.

She took it without hesitation and held onto it for dear life, trembling. I tightened my grip on her frail hand, sensing the same tug of selfishness I had felt during the fall at the roller coaster.

I hastened my steps and dragged her along with me. The wooden floor cracked in protests under us. Even though my heart beat faster with every crack I heard, I pressed on, wanting to get us out of this mess we had gotten into.

At the end of the hallway, a half-opened door welcomed us eerily. I stopped in front of it, eyeing the complete darkness with sceptical eyes. I felt fear slowly entangle me as I realized there could be anything in there.

For a moment, I almost gave up the idea of continuing, and the urge to go back assaulted me.

But as her fingers shifted nervously in my hand, I knew I couldn’t back away with her by my side. I had to be brave for her, to show her I was able to protect her.

“I’m going to run in there and search for the exit. No matter what, don’t let go of my hand, alright?” I told her in a soothing whisper.

I heard a faint “yes”. Her other hand reached out for mine, which was already holding the other one, and held it just as tightly. I felt her warmth seep into my hand, as if to convey that she was here with me. This act reassured me, and a surge of courage dissipated some of the fear tormenting me.

I inhaled deeply. The quicker we got out of here, the quicker we’ll be relieved. Fear was a horrible feeling that could literally freeze you in place, and I've always hated it. This place made both of us uncomfortable. My heart was pounding like crazy at assumptions of what could be dwelling in there.

But I knew I had to be the stronger one.

So I walked quickly into the room, pushing the door open with force. The floor creaked with a horrible screech, but I didn’t stop. Another similar hallway appeared, with yet again a half-opened door. I felt frustration slowly rise inside of me.

Are you serious?

I didn’t stop; I just continued walking and walking, ignoring my frantic heart and the fear strangling me. Sang Hee didn’t say anything and just followed me, but I knew she was scared to death. The urgency of getting out of here throbbed in my mind. As we continued walking closer towards the door, I saw light flickering at the end. We were almost there; my fear gave way to hope and impatience.

I hastened my step, lead by the slight ray of orange light and hope.

We’re almost there, Sang Hee. You’ll be fine.

The wall beside us exploded, sending bits of rotten wood in all directions. A defigurated and bandaged monster with one eerie, convulsing eye leaned towards us with a butcher knife as a hand. I heard a high-pitched shriek by my side. Her hand pulled me back, stating she had stopped in her steps.

What happened after passed in a blur.

It was as if all my impatience and frustration resurfaced all at once.

I sighed, frustrated, and landed a hard hit against the creature’s temple with my free hand, making it lose its balance; it teetered to the side, confused. I didn’t hesitate a second.

I ran for the orange light, dragging her firmly; I heard her yell once more. I turned around and saw that the monster had now regained its consciousness and followed us with that sharp-looking blade.

Fear appeared and joined itself in the frenzy of my messed up feelings. I ran for the light even faster. As we passed the door, I kicked it frantically to a close. I turned around and saw that the outside world welcomed us with a barricaded door. The loud thudding of the creature against the door was the only thing I could hear.

I quickly ran towards the door and opened it without reserve, without care. As soon as light kissed me, I abandoned myself at it and ran out, blinded by the one thing I wanted to indulge in forever.

After a few steps, exhaustion and confusion made me drop to my knees.

I still held her hand; I heard her sobs and whimpers. I looked in her direction. My eyes slowly grew accustomed to the light.

An image of her sitting on her knees, wiping away her tears with her other trembling hand softened my heart. I smiled in an endearing manner, pulled her by the hand and embraced her in a soothing, gentle hug.

A loud pop resounded. Surprised, we both looked up and around, wondering what this was. It was the haunted mansion employee with a used party popper in her hand; there were a few more hung by her belt. She had a wide smile and then clapped.

“Congratulations on passing the haunted house, one of the scariest attractions in all of Seoul!” she said proudly.

As another couple rushed out from another door, she walked over to them, whistling and taking out another festivities popper. It was then that I noticed that there were a few more doors like the one we came out.

It’s almost as if our fear is being produced in a factory...

I diverted back my attention towards Sang Hee. She cried soft sobs and whimpers against me. I smiled gently and hugged her more tightly.

“Next time, let’s go for something less intense, okay?” I said, amused.

She nodded faintly. The sun was starting to set; everything was wrapped in a soft orange hue. I stayed there, my arms wrapped around her, waiting for her tears to stop overflowing from her usually lively eyes.

All the while, I rested my head on hers and closed my eyes, intoxicated by her scent. Feeling her against me, in my arms, warmed my thoughts with bliss and my heart swell with happiness.

I couldn’t say how long we stayed this way, but I enjoyed it.

Sang Hee’s POV

“I’m never going there again.” I stated as we left the gates of the haunted house.

My eyes stung from crying and my throat felt constricted. My hair fell in disorganized strands in front of my face and was tangled at many places; I tried to rearrange it. I was probably a mess now.

A mess with red, puffy eyes and twirled, uncombed hair.

Dae Myung laughed slightly. “Yeah, as if you weren’t the one who asked to go there.”

Okay, maybe I had asked to go there, but I didn’t expect it to be so scary…

“Y-Yeah well, at least I know not to go there now!” I said, pouting.

“Yeah, that’s the only good thing we learned from that.” he said, rolling his eyes with an amused look.

As we passed a food stand with cotton candy and slushie, I stopped for a moment and eyed the food. I heard Dae Myung stop as well. As I realized my stomach was empty ever since this morning, I suddenly craved for cotton candy, as it was the first thing in my sight.

I rushed towards the stand and immediately asked for a sky blue cotton candy, the same color as SHINee’s fanclub color. As the stand clerk handed it to me, I opened my purse and searched for my wallet until I heard some money jingle by my side and a “kamsahamnida” from the stand clerk being uttered.

I looked up and saw that Dae Myung had handed him money. He took the blue cotton candy and handed it to me. I just stared at him in disbelief.

“Yah, why’d you pay? You can’t pay!” I said with shock.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise. “And why can’t I?”

“Because you’re… Because you have to save money for your family! You should keep your money for the twins and your Umma.”

He laughed slightly. “Yah, I’m not that poor. I can manage to pay a simple cotton candy, you know.”

I felt a bit bad for having him pay, but maybe he was right. A cotton candy couldn’t be that big of a deal.

As he nudged it towards me, I took it with an embarrassed smile. As we started walking with no end in mind, he opened the plastic bag over the cotton candy and pulled it off. He then took a piece of fluttery blue cotton candy; it looked like azure spider web.

As he lead it towards my mouth, I couldn’t help but giggle a bit before opening up. I wondered if this was how it felt like to have an older brother feed you. If so, Dae Myung's a really good choice.

The candy melted in my mouth quickly, leaving a taste of pure sugar in my mouth. I didn’t hesitate anymore. I started taking a lot, bit by bit, and indulged myself in this sky-blue-colored haven.

Dae Myung did so as well; he probably was as hungry as I was. Knowing him though, he was probably trying to eat as less as possible. I felt slightly bad since he had paid, so I ate the most I could without starving before handing him the rest. He eyed it, surprised.

“You’re not hungry anymore?” he asked, confused.

“Nope, so go ahead and eat it!”

He shook his head. “You didn’t eat enough. Eat some more.”

“No, eat the rest. I don’t want it.”

“Aish, after I went through all the trouble of paying... Fine, give it.”

I handed him the rest with a slight smile. We continued wandering around the amusement park without any particular destination in mind. As we walked through the small park in the middle of Seoul Land, the lampposts suddenly lit up, shedding their light unto the road. It was then that I realized that the sun had already set down.

I felt a bit saddened that today, the first time I had ever been to Seoul Land, was almost already over. I wanted to stay here for one more day, to somehow sleep here and wake up surrounded by these colorful buildings. It just didn’t feel right to leave this place where I had experienced so many things.

We only had time for one last attraction. It had to be an important one, an attraction we couldn’t miss if we were to go to Seoul Land. It had to be special and unique; I wanted to make one last wonderful memory here.

And suddenly, I spotted it, illuminating the night sky with its colorful show of lights and flickers. I tugged at Dae Myung’s arm and showed it to him. He immediately nodded.

The wonderful and classic ferris wheel.

Jonghyun’s POV

“The airplane will now start descending in direction of Seoul. Please return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts for the landing.”

Those words resounded, as if from faraway. My mind was still confined in the maze of sleep as I slowly shifted to the side. My hand slightly patted what was covering me as I tried to recognize it. As I felt the warmth and softness of the airplane blanket, I slowly started to remember where I was.

My eyelids drowsily opened themselves and a blurry vision of a seat in front of me formed itself. I sat myself up, half-asleep, and groggily rubbed my eyes.

I looked to my right and saw the land swallowed by pitch black darkness. Some city lights gleamed in the distance, giving some light on its surroundings.

“Slept well?” a familiar voice asked.

I drowsily turned to my right and recognized our dear leader, wearing his trademark smile with a book in his hands.

“Yeah, if you consider three hours of sleep only today enough.” I replied in an unenergetic tone.

“You’ll get plenty of sleep back in the dorm, so just bear with it until we get back home.” he said wisely in his leader tone.

“Alright, alright. Aren’t you tired though?”

“I’m the leader. I should give the example.”

I rolled my eyes with an amused smile. “Watch out, you might die out of lack of sleep by giving the example all the time.”

He laughed it off then turned his gaze to the open book in his hands. I shifted to the front slightly and looked further at the seats right beside us.

Taemin still had his blanket on, his eyes covered with a sleeping pad; he looked innocent, leaning his head on the side. Minho was seated right next to him with ear buds in his ear, eyes concentrated on the screen in front of him.

He must’ve noticed my shifting, as he slightly turned in my direction. As he saw that I was awake again, he smiled and mouthed the words “how was sleeping”.

I smiled back, the silent words “better than nothing” escaping my lips. He shook his head, his smile turning into an amused one. He stared back at the screen and I was forced to find a way to kill my boredom on my own.

After searching in my bag, I soon noticed my cellphone and took it out. I opened up the menu. My eyes landed on the text messages section. I immediately smiled as I realized that I could start texting my family again once we reach the ground.

As I browsed through the texts I had received, one in particular caught my attention.

It was the one I had gotten from Sang Hee right before I left for Tokyo two days ago.

I wondered if everything went well, if she was able to play well without her anxiety getting in the way. I had all this genuine hope that she would succeed compressed inside of me; she was one of the few people I truly wished the best for.

I stared outside the window; the city lights were getting clearer and brighter. We were almost back home.

Even though we often took flights between Japan and Korea now that we have debuted in the former, the few minutes right before landing on Korea’s land still seemed the longest. I couldn’t wait to be back home, to have a means to communicate with my family again.

The first time I took the plane as a member of SHINee, the anticipation, the joy and the realization that I had finally reached my dream had held my throat in an emotional grip. I remember the first year in SHINee was a blissful one, with plenty of pleasant surprises.

But somehow, as time passed, even I got used to this lifestyle. I had told myself many times when I was still a trainee to never take what I would have for granted.

After three years though, nothing seems too extraordinary now.

Except maybe for a few unexpected events…

Like meeting such a sweet and shy girl like Sang Hee to protect.

I smiled like an idiot, despite me.

Yeah, I’ll check out her performance immediately when we’ll get back home.

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Yay a new chapter! <3

Yes, it's Dae Myung again as the chapter picture! And yes, it's Lee Chi Hoon again LOL. I think I'll permanently make Dae Myung's image Lee Chi Hoon's. ~

I tried a new style for the chapter picture, inspired by some wonderful graphic desginers I saw on AFF. It turned out really well! I'm proud of myself. >w< I also realized that, along with my writing skills, my graphic editing skills are too! -happy- ~

Talking about graphics, I just got a new Story Poster! It's so gorgeous. ~ <3

Now enough about graphics LOL.

The start of the chapter hopefully didn't confuse you guys too much? ~ I tried a horror style, although I could never really manage that LOL. I hope I did well enough. >w<

I'm starting college Monday, so I won't be able to update as much as I did in the summer. ;~; -teary eyed- I'll try my best to update though! <33 So hang in there for me and read everytime I update, okay? :'3

Thank you guys so much for supporting! <3333 I can never really erase a grin for the rest of the day when I see new subscribers or comments kekeke~. <3