The sounds were deafening; the lights were dazzling. Wasn’t this supposed to be an amusement park, not a club? A bright red light shone straight in his face and he couldn’t help but attempt to shield his eyes. Said attempt going in vain, especially when the light not only began changing colors, but also started blinking.

“Minho”

He couldn’t pinpoint the whereabouts of the voice calling his name, neither could he recognize the owner of said voice as someone he knew.  It might have been because of the rising panic in his chest, or perhaps the enthusiastic, too loud for his liking, squeals of children running around. Still, his mind couldn’t process more than the loud, out of tact beats of his heart. 

“Minho”

If he was sure about one thing, it was that the voice was getting louder and clearer. I just have to breathe. The saying ‘easier said than done’ proved to be quite accurate, as Minho found out, when, no matter how many breaths he took, his heartbeat wasn’t slowing down, and the panic wasn’t going away.  It was the warm and familiar hand that held his, what forced him out of his panic state and brought him back to reality.

“MINHO!!”

Minho felt relief wash over him as he was finally able to recognize Taemin’s voice. Turning to look at him, he came face to face with his expectant look. Minho couldn’t remember if his boyfriend had been talking about something before he was overcome by panic. Judging by his pouting lips, he must have been talking the whole time and had just realized that Minho hadn’t heard a thing.

“Ah, sorry. Were you saying something?”

The other boy gave him a half-hearted smile and buried his face in the scarf wrapped around his neck, trying his best to ignore Minho’s searching eyes.  A second later he risked shooting a glance upwards, but as soon as his and Minho’s eyes met, he hid his face again. However, the older didn’t miss the sadness reflected in his eyes.

“We can leave if you want.”

To say that Minho was surprised, would be an understatement. This was their first official date, since going to the local café for hot chocolate, or to the store for strawberry flavored juice, obviously couldn’t count as a date, and Taemin, the one who initiated the whole thing, wanted to leave? Or more like he was the caring boyfriend he was supposed to be, unlike Minho, who only thought of himself and nothing of the other’s wishes. Swallowing back the rising bile, Minho forced a smile and looped his arm around Taemin’s shoulders, bringing him closer in a one-sided hug.

Feeling the other’s uneasiness, Taemin fought back the tears of disappointment, that were threatening to fall any time now, and looked up, putting on the brightest smile he could muster, hoping that Minho was too overwhelmed by the lights that he wouldn’t notice how fake it was.

“We can leave, if you want.”
“No.”

It seemed it was Taemin’s turn to be surprised as he didn’t expect Minho to object, especially not with a look, that pretty much ended the conversation there and then.

Their next destination was the ‘Prize Corner’, as the big wooden sign read, where Minho deemed appropriate to show how skilled he was with a gun. Twenty minutes later with almost half of his money spent, Minho was reloading his gun for the n^th time, aiming at the last standing bottle. Taemin, having stopped cheering him on long ago, was now sitting on the counter and was sharing some awkward smiles with the cashier* - a girl probably three years older at most, who at the exact moment was biting her upper lip hard enough to draw blood, in an attempt to not laugh straight in Minho’s face.

When the bullet passed its desired destination by no more than five millimeters, but still missed, Minho solemnly put the gun on the counter, shooting Taemin an apologetic, and visibly forced smile.

“Which one do you want?”

The girl had her back to them in order to put the gun back in its rightful place and to collect the remains of the two bottles Minho actually managed to hit, but still Taemin just knew that she had a big grin on her face.

“The white teddy bear. But we didn’t win, so…”
“Don’t sweat it.”

She went around the counter and took down the bear from where it was perched atop one of the many shelves, each one decorated with either blinking lights or other strange, circus-like ornaments. Passing the bear to Taemin, the girl turned to Minho, who had an unreadable look, but she guessed that he was really surprised by the turn of events.

“I saw how hard you tried to get it. And besides, I wouldn’t be surprised if you already paid for it.”

Instead of saying thank you, Minho bowed more than 90 degrees, and with the bear secured in Taemin’s embrace, they decided to visit one more place before the roller coaster. Minho was more relaxed, but he still needed a couple of extra minutes to mentally ready himself. Taemin suggested visiting the Haunted House, but another, more secluded tent, situated in the far off corner of the complex, caught Minho’s attention.

The tent wasn’t anything special. White in color, just like the acrobats’ tent, smaller and not as lively. Actually no sound could be heard from the inside. Still there was something pulling Minho, call it magic if you wish, but he just couldn’t succumb to his boyfriend’s wishes and leave in favor of seeing some obviously fake ghosts and zombies.

“I don’t think the tent is in use.  It might be a replacement for a storage room or something.”

The younger pulled at his arm, but Minho didn’t budge. He shook Taemin off and took two small and cautious steps forward. He was now standing at the entrance, but instead of trying to see if anyone was inside, he bent down and lifted something off the ground. It turned out to be a wooden sign, the same as the one the ‘Prize Corner’ had, only smaller. The sign read ‘Fortuneteller’ in simple, yet eye-catching handwriting painted with white paint. The ‘F’ was quite bigger than the other words, curved at the bottom; a tarot card neatly painted next to it, one corner overlapping the curve of the word. The other words were close written; the‘t’s and the ‘l’s were curved upwards interweaved into one another. The background was dark blue, covered with stars, which seemed to glow.

To say, the least Taemin was entranced by the beauty a single note could possess. He felt the urge to snatch the note and run away with it, but thought better, and decided that, if only the note was this captivating, the inside of the tent must be worth seeing. With that in mind, he grabbed Minho’s arm and eagerly dragged him inside.

If Taemin had expected to see a magically enhanced interior, with flying crystal balls, self-reading tarot cards and self-enlightening candles, or perhaps a starry sky, the same as the one painted on the card, he sure was disappointed. The inside was plain with only a single table in the middle. The candles must have been lit hours ago, as wax was already dripping on the floor. The only thing he found likeable was the faint smell of strawberries. He liked strawberries quite a lot.

“Come in, take a seat.”

Unlike Taemin, Minho hadn’t taken notice of the old lady sitting behind the table and let out the unmanliest scream he was capable of. (Taemin would forever savor the moment of being the manlier of the two for once.)

Taking Minho’s hand in his again (they had stopped holding hands at some point), Taemin slowly made his way towards the table. Only something was missing.

“Uhm…where should we sit?”

The old woman blinked twice and two chairs appeared in front of them. 10 points for magically appearing chairs, thought Taemin bitterly as he and his boyfriend sat down.

Still dying to see some real magic, Taemin expected a crystal ball to appear out of thin air, or maybe some special tarot or other cards (he didn’t have that much knowledge on mojo stuff) to fall in his lap. When no such thing occurred and the lady didn’t utter a single word, the younger took the matter in his hands.

“So where are the crystal balls, and the cards which tell the future?”

The teller send an incredulous look his way, before pulling a small bundle from under the table.  As she untied the knot swiftly with the nails of her thumb and index finger, Minho and Taemin both leaned forward, hoping to see some kind of magical dust. Unfortunately for them, the bundle contained nothing special – unless they considered rice magical.

Minho had long ago forgotten about his fear of roller coasters as other more serious problems were on his mind. Like kids, for example. Four kids. Four kids with Taemin. He had taken in too much information for one day. For one decade, actually, if the 18 year old had anything to say about it.

When he pulled away, the younger was blushing, but a smile adored his face. Minho bid him goodnight and left in hopes of catching the last train.

Taemin stood outside for what seemd like hours, slowly tracing his lips with his fingertips, his smile growing bigger and bigger until he was almost giggling like a hopeless school girl. Minho had tasted like strawberries. He loved strawberries. 

*I really have no idea how that person is called, even in my mother tongue. So if you know, please do tell. :)