“I don’t want to go that ride,” Luhan whispered in my ear, clutching on my arm. I looked down at my crinkled blouse and glanced back up at Luhan’s face.

“You’re the one who wanted to come here and you don’t want to go on the rides?” I asked, slightly frustrated.

“Just not that one,” He mumbled pointing at the specific ride, the Ferris wheel.

“What about this one?” I asked, pointing at the rollercoaster at the end of the amusement park. Luhan turned to me with wide eyes and shook his head, his blonde hair flying around. I let out a sigh of frustration as I ran a hand through my hair.

“No, not that one either!”

“Yah! You’re wasting the ride pass I bought if you’re not going to go on the rides!” I yelled at him. A few people turned their heads to look at us as Luhan lowered his head.

 “I’m afraid of heights.” Luhan confessed, looking down at his sneakers.

“Are you serious?” I asked, stifling a laugh.

“It’s not funny.” He grumbled with a small pout.

“You’re an angel. You fly in the sky and you’re telling me you’re afraid of heights?”

“Well, why do you think I flew into you that night instead of landing properly?” Luhan replied, avoiding my eyes.  

“Oh my g-” Before I could even finish the phrase, Luhan gave me a stern look.

“Goodness,” I said flatly. “Happy? I didn’t use the Lord’s name in vain.” I added mockingly.

“Yes.” He mumbled, still staring at his shoes.

“Well if you’re not going on the rides then I’ll go on them by myself.” I told him, checking the time on my watch.

“I can go on the rides with you if you want.” Taken back by Yixing’s voice, I turned in a seat and looked at him.

“What?” I spluttered. I heard him the first time but I didn’t think he would say that.

“I said I can go on the ride with you if you want. It would be kinda lonely going on the rides alone.” He said as he passed us our burgers. Immediately, Luhan unwrapped his and began to devour his burger in huge bites.

At first, I didn’t know how to react but then I realised I didn’t want to come off rude and flat out reject Yixing. After all, Yixing was trying to be nice to me even though, I haven’t exactly been the nicest neighbour to him.

“Sure… I guess if you don’t mind.” I said with a small smile in my attempt to be friendlier. Tao always told me that I had a cold looking straight face.

“No! Wait! I want to go the rides too.” Luhan said, interrupting our conversation. Yixing and I turned to look at Luhan with the same worried look.

“I thought you didn’t want to go on the Ferris wheel because of your…” I paused momentarily. I didn’t want to upset Luhan for blurting out his greatest fear in front of another male. After all, Luhan many be an angel but he’s still a man.

 “M-maybe I’ll get over my fear of h-heights if I g-go on the rides.” Luhan replied with a slight stutter.

“That’s a great idea,” Yixing said, being all supportive and nice. “We can all just go on the Ferris wheel together then.” He added before taking a bite into his burger.

We talked for awhile after we finished eating our food since we didn’t want to vomit our guts out on the rides. I learnt that Yixing’s parents worked for the construction company, ZHY Group. I recognised the company; my father worked with them a few years back for a project in Beijing. He said his parents would drop his place tomorrow since they finished their business in Jeju and they were going to stay for a week.

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t envious of Yixing. The way he talked about his parents was filled with pure admiration and love. I couldn’t even think of my father without being flooded and overwhelmed with bitterness and resentment.

You know how teenagers go through that phase where they just can’t stand their parents? Then every now and then, that little ‘I hate you’ phrase will slip out of their mouths unintentionally. However despite this, you still love your parents no matter what because you’re supposed to love them unconditionally.

Well, I could never figure out if it was actually possible for me to actually hate my father because of that very reason – you could never really hate your mother or your father because of the love you have for them and the love they have for you. However, my father is a different case. People say that hate is strong word but my hate towards my father was much, much stronger than the word itself.

There was no love between us. I never felt the love and I’m sure he never did either. My parents never loved each other and I can vouch for that. My grandparents arranged my mother and father to get married in favour for their multi-million corporation. They didn’t have a choice. Their marriage wasn’t a union of love – a marriage of convenience. My mother was lucky. She managed to escape and now, she’s in a better place.

Suddenly, Yixing’s phone went off, snapping me back into reality and interrupting my train of thought. Reaching into his back pocket, he excused himself and walked off to answer the call, leaving me and Luhan behind.

“Are you really going to be okay?” I asked Luhan. His head snapped up at the sound of my voice, his eyes meeting mine before he quickly glanced away, gazing into the distance behind me. I could see the apprehension in his eyes as his eyes widened slightly as nodded his head in reply.

“Yeah. I’ll be fine…”

“You don’t have to. I’m not going to force you if you’re really scared.” I told him, not trying to insult him in anyway.

“I’m not scared.” He replied in soft voice.

“Luhan,” I sighed. “Your hands are shaking.” I said as I reached over and placed my hand over his in attempt to calm him down.

“N-no, they’re not!” He managed to stutter out as he tried to stop his hands from trembling.

I rolled my eyes at Luhan’s childishness but I stopped when I realised Luhan was squeezing my hand to the point I could feel my fingers cracking under his grip.

“You’re squeezing too hard,” I said as I tried to pry my hand out of Luhan’s death grip. A few moments passed before Luhan had let go of my hand before giving my hand one last squeeze.

“Sorry.” He mumbled, looking down at his sneakers.

“It’s fine. Just relax,” I replied, brushing it off.

When Yixing got back, he didn’t look very well. He seemed frustrated and the way his hair was sticking up in all kinds of directions confirmed my suspicions. It looked like he had ran his fingers through his hair a couple of times judging from the way how his brown hair looked so messy and he was frowning when he was making his way back to our table. I didn’t want to question him since I didn’t want to be nosey but Luhan had beaten me to it.

“Yixing, are you okay?” Luhan asked, his voice filled with concern.

“Oh,” The frown on Yixing’s face suddenly disappeared to be replaced with a smile (and his dimple). “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You don’t want to talk about it?” Luhan pressed.

Yixing shook his head with a chuckle. “It’s nothing. My mother’s just trying to mess with my love life again.”

“Love life?” Luhan echoed, absentmindedly.

“She’s been trying to get me to go on blind dates and stuff…” Yixing explained. Luhan’s eyes quickly flicked over to me as he gave me a look; I couldn’t quite decipher the meaning behind it.

“That …” I mumbled under my breath. I didn’t realise I was that loud until Yixing laughed.

“Yeah, big time. She’s been trying to get me to go but I don’t really want to force anything. If the right person comes along then so be it. I don’t want to actively go out and look for a girlfriend, you know?” Yixing joked.

“Yeah,” I said with a dry laugh.

That was probably one of the many reasons why I detested going to those prospective marriage meetings. Normally, when one goes on these meetings, it’s almost guaranteed that a marriage will fall through after the initial get-together.

The only reason I’ve managed to go to so many was because most of the rich, snobby, pretentious mothers of the men I have met have been betting with one another to see when I would finally give in and marry one of their sons.

But now, I’m sure after my little stunt with Joonmyun’s parents, most of the mothers have given up after hearing about my ‘condition’.

My father has been trying to take control over my life. I felt suffocated. I didn’t want to end up like my mother – she ended up marrying a man she never loved in order to please other people. She could have easily disobeyed or escape the hell she was entering but she was afraid… weak… pathetic…

For my own sake, I happened to have inherited my father’s stubbornness and tough attitude. I wasn’t going to let my father control my life.  I wasn’t going to be like my mother and repeat the same mistakes she made.

“Let’s go on the Ferris wheel,” Luhan said sheepishly, tugging at my arm. I gave him a small nod and hooked his arm through mine; he did the same to Yixing as well. The three of us walked over to the Ferris wheel.

The ride operator led us into a free carriage. Yixing got on first, followed by a hesitant Luhan and finally myself. Luhan sat right beside me while Yixing sat directly opposite me. Awkwardness filled the air within the small confines of the Ferris wheel carriage when Yixing’s leg brushed against my own. We both apologised at the same time, avoiding each other’s eyes.

To say that a Ferris wheel ride was an enjoyable experience when you had an acrophobic person clutching at your arm would be a big fat lie. The ride lasted for exactly five minutes and twenty seconds and yes, I counted. Five minutes and twenty seven seconds of Luhan hyperventilating by my side. He really shouldn’t have persisted with going on the ride because he was almost on the verge of tears. Every time, we told him not to look out the window of the carriage, he brushed us off saying it was good for him because he needed to get over his fear of heights.

It was bad enough that Luhan was practically having a mental breakdown but Yixing was also with us. It didn’t seem like he was annoyed instead, the awkwardness from the beginning lingered for the entire duration of the ride. Even though I was avoiding his gaze at all costs, I could feel his eyes on me. I felt so conscious about myself; it wasn’t like he was judging me but rather he was watching me closely, very closely to the point that I was really starting to doubt Luhan’s judgement.

“That was fun,” Luhan commented with a sigh as he threw himself onto the couch, stretching his legs across the entire length of the furniture.

 “I’m never going to an amusement park with you ever again. Even if you beg and grovel at my feet.” I scoffed as I took off my jacket. Unlocking my phone, I noticed that Tao had left me a few text messages regarding my father’s latest project and a message from Minhee.

I had no idea what came over me when I suddenly let out a bitter laugh – I surprised myself and Luhan too. He turned in my direction, his face filled with a mix of worry and confusion. That had the nerve to message me after what she did to me. I didn’t bother reading her message and instead I deleted it.

I wasn’t surprised when she left me another message but what surprised me was when my phone started ringing. For a few moments, I absentmindedly watched my phone ring.

“Aren’t you going to pick it up?” Luhan questioned, looking at my phone.

“No,” I said, glaring into the screen of my phone. Luhan got up from his lying position and latched his hand around my wrist and turned my phone to face the screen towards him.

“Who’s Minhee?” He asked, looking up at me. I let out an inward groan before ripping my wrist away from his hold.

“No one important.” I mumbled as I switched off my phone.

“You’re pissed again – that’s not good.” Luhan commented as he reached over and pressed his index finger against my forehead. The frown I had on moments ago disappeared under his touch. I reached up a hand in an attempt to slap his hand away from my face but instead, he caught my wrist. “You shouldn’t frown so often, you’ll develop wrinkles faster.” 

I snorted at his statement before rolling my eyes at him. “Gee, thanks for the concern.” 

The small smile on my face dropped when I realised Luhan’s hold on my wrist didn’t loosen.

“You should do that more often.” Luhan said in low voice as he stared into my eyes.

“Do what?”

“Smile.”

“Smile?” I asked, crossing my eyebrows.

“You look prettier when you smile.”

My heart started beating double time.

word count: 2.3k

a/n: hopefully, this chapter was interesting and you guys can pick up on some important details for the future. i plan on doing my own type of analysis once the story is finished. 

i'd just like to say a big thank you to everyone that has subscribed recently. i suddenly passed 30 subs and i know that might not seem like a lot but considering how slow i update, i really appreciate everyone who has taken the time to read my story. also, i'd like to thank whoever submitted this and also shout out to kamilafauzia who gave me the link for this c:

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