Date 26: Disneyland

“I still can’t believe they expect you to eat a whole meal on those tiny little trays,” Dara muttered as they made their way off the plane and through the large LAX terminal.


“Mhm…” Jiyong tried to rub his eyes of their sleepiness. He slept through most of the flight but he still felt a heavy pull to his muscles and eyelids.


“You okay, Ji?” Dara slowed her brisk walk to take Jiyong’s face into her hands and look him over. “You look kind of pale?”


“Not as used to jet-setting as you are, I guess.” He shrugged and smiled, sneaking in a quick kiss before pinching her cheeks. “Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.”


“You sure?”


“Yup. Let’s go get our bags.”



They headed toward baggage claim and Jiyong whooped out when his mind registered who was standing there waiting for them.


“TAEYANG!!” He ran up to him and took him into a bear hug, grinning at the familiar sight of his sunglasses and beanie.


“Ji! Damn it’s been a while since I’ve seen you! Where you been, mang?”


“Hawaii.” He grinned as he looked over to where Dara was greeting her own guests. “Bom? Minzy?” He smiled at them and took them into hugs.


“Hey Jiyong, long time no see.” Bom squeezed his arm affectionately while Minzy nodded and smiled.


“Was this your surprise, D?” He slid his arm around her with a huge grin as she nodded at him.


“Like it?”


“LOVE IT.”


“Alright, enough with the PDA. Let’s get your bags,” Taeyang laughed and nodded toward the rotating baggage claim.





They hopped into a limo van a lot similar to the one they’d been on in Hawaii. Taeyang squeezed into the back seat beside Jiyong while Dara, Bom, and Minzy took the front.


“How long have you been waiting for us?” Jiyong asked as he playfully ruffled Dara’s hair from behind, physically and emotionally refreshed by the familiar feeling of having old friends around.


“An hour or two? That Bom is a real piece of work, let me tell you.” Taeyang muttered, nodding indignantly at Bom’s red hair.


“I can hear you.” She said back, shaking her head and laughing.


“Yeah… well I wanted you to.”


“Whatever.”


Dara laughed as the two bickered, eyeing Jiyong and winking. “You sure you’re not too tired? We could head back to the hotel and rest up for a while.”


“I’m totally fine, D. And I think everyone’s waited long enough for us.” He smiled at her and flicked her nose, laughing at how cute her face looked all scrunched up. “Where are we heading to anyway?”


“The happiest place on earth,” she winked before whirling around again.


“Where’s that?” Jiyong muttered to Taeyang, racking his brain.


“Disneyland, bro. You really need to read something other than medical journals.”


“Shut up.”




They reached Downtown Disneyland before they knew it, catching up and laughing in the car like they all were teenagers again. Bom and Taeyang seemed to love to argue with each other, and Jiyong and Dara couldn’t help but smile at the familiar flirtatious banter.


Jiyong stepped out of the car and grinned at the blasting music, bright colors, and rounded architecture that greeted them. He’d only gone once before – the day that ruined all rollercoasters for him. He wrapped his arms around Dara as they all made their way to the shuttle that would bring them into the park.


“Did you guys know that Jiyong’s a big baby on rollercoasters?” She turned around to ask Bom, Minzy, and Tae.


“Really?!” Bom and Minzy exclaimed, eyes crinkling up as they began to laugh. “A manly guy like him? Afraid of rollercoasters?”


“Yeah, I tried to get him onto one at Lotte World once. He almost cried,” Taeyang laughed as Jiyong sent him a death glare.


“Taeyang!”


“Just telling the truth, man.”


“Aw, my little-boy-afraid-of-big-rides,” Dara pinched his cheek and gave him a soft peck on the lips, eliciting ‘Ewwws!’ and ‘Boooos!’ from the three behind them.


Jiyong smirked and winked at her as they parted.


“So, Dara flew all of you out here?”


“We took my jet,” Bom smiled.


“Of course you have a jet. I should’ve guessed.”


“Wasn’t that great,” Taeyang shrugged, earning him a hard swat to the stomach.


“That wasn’t what you were saying when you were eating everything the kitchen crew had out!”


“Food was good. Jet was alright.”


“Shut up.”



They all laughed as they listened to the tour guide and traveled deeper into the larger-than-life fairtytale-esque world the shuttle took them into.


“Welcome to Disneyland, folks. We hope you have a great time.”


They made their way out of the shuttle and Dara hooked arms with Minzy and Bom as Taeyang and Jiyong followed behind them.


“So, how have you guys been?” Taeyang asked as the girls made their way over to the ticketing stand.


“Amazing, Tae. It’s probably been the best couple weeks of my life.”


“I’m glad, bro. You guys went through hell and back… you know.”


“I know,” Jiyong smiled as he watched Dara give a stern talk to the young man behind the counter who seemed to be drooling over Minzy. “But we’re good now. We’re perfect.”


“Wow, Ji... I’ve never seen you look at a girl like that.”


He grinned wider and shook his head. “She’s the one, man. I know it.”


“You know it? For sure?”


“Absolutely.”


“Wow,” Taeyang clapped him on the back with a raucous laugh. “I’m glad.”




They made their way into the park and Minzy quickly took out her DSLR camera.


“Pictures, everyone! We need pictures!” She ushered everyone toward the Mickey Mouse mosaic made up entirely of different colored flowers.


“KIMCHI!” Bom yelled as they all smiled wide for the camera. Minzy thanked the worker who snapped the picture for her, the second one to completely drool over her. Jiyong smirked as he watched the boy try to stutter through a conversation with her.


“Young Deuk, my name’s Young Deuk.” He introduced himself in English and flashed her a surprisingly charming smile, one that would have surely turned any other girl’s knees to jello. But Minzy only smiled back with a nod.


“Gong Minzy, nice to meet you. You’re Korean too?” She answered in perfect Engish, not missing a beat.


“Yeah.. Korean-American.”


“Cool,” she said as she brought the camera up and snapped a quick picture of him.


“What was that?” He asked with a laugh.


“Memories,” She smiled at him before turning and walking away. Everyone watched as he stared after, completely dazed.


Dara wasn’t the only one that had a knack at leaving guys stunned.


“Ready to go?” Bom asked Minzy with a smirk as she rejoined the group.


“What?” She blinked her eyes innocently as they made their way down Main Street.

They marveled at the bright buildings surrounding them, framing the towering castle ahead. It called back to an older time, one that seemed to straddle the line between imagination and reality. They searched through the shops, taking note of the things they’d buy later in the afternoon on the way out as souveneirs.


Dara found a nifty little machine with a figurine of a fortune teller inside, dressed up like a gypsy, the word Esmerelda painted in sparking letters.

She stuck in a quarter just as Jiyong came up behind her to ask what she was up to.


“Getting my fortune told by Esmerelda,” she leaned down to grab the piece of paper that had fallen out.


“What does it say?”


Jiyong watched as she read through it, a small smile pulling at her lips, until her face fell and she shook her head in disbelief.


“What is it, D?”


“It says…” She laughed slightly and Jiyong noticed the edges of her eyes glistening. “It says… you’ve gone through a rough time because of a previous romance, a time when your heart led you down the wrong path. But fear not, because you’ve found true love. The one you are here with today is the one that will be by your side forever.”


She grinned up at him and he took her into a hug. “Are you really crying right now? And you call me a big baby?” He wiped a stray tear or two off her cheek and laughed.


“It just surprised me, that’s all.”


“Well, she’s right. You know I’m here for the long run.” He grinned down at her before his eyes flicked behind her to the three watching with expressions feigning disgust.


“Come on, you two lovebirds! Let’s get going!” Youngbae yelled so loud a couple heads in the crowd turned toward them.


“Yeah! I wanna see Jiyong cry! Let’s go on some rollercoasters!” Bom shouted even louder and Jiyong groaned as Dara pulled him toward them with a laugh.




Dara squeezed Jiyong’s hand as they approached the Materhorn. Jiyong steeled himself as they got in line, a two hour wait, but one he was thankful they had.

“Jiyong calls this the ‘rollercoaster that ruined them all’” Dara told the other three with a wink.


“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Minzy muttered as she strained her neck and seemed to spot something in the crowd.


“What are you look at?” Bom asked, looking the same direction.


“That guy… Young Deuk. I’m seeing him everywhere,” she gave a small wave just as Dara spotted Deuk smiling at her through the crowd.


“You think he’s following you?” Taeyang slid his arm around Minzy’s shoulder and waved at Deuk too, chuckling as they all watched his expression fall and head back to the McDonald’s stand he was manning.


“Taeyang! Don’t mess with him like that! He likes her,” Dara laughed as she pried Tae’s arms from around Minzy and gave him a hard swat.


“Just a little fun.”




Jiyong remained silent as they made their way to the front of the line, steeling himself for the physical and emotional rollercoaster to come. The last time he was here, he had to be dragged out of the coaster kicking and screaming. He only hoped that wouldn’t happen again.


“You’ll be fine, Jagi. I’m sure.” Dara gripped his shoulders as they made their way into the car.


And he was. After the initial gitters and shouts of “I can’t do this!” and “I’m going to die!” and “I don’t want death by yeti!!!”, the raucous laughter from Bom, Minzy, and Taeyang loosened him up and before he knew it, he was enjoying the ride just as much as he enjoyed the ones at Lotte World.


They stumbled off and headed straight for Tomorrow Land to grab some lunch.

They grabbed burgers, fries, and onion rings from the Buzz Lightyear cafe and headed toward a table far enough away from the musical going on at the small ampitheatre so they wouldn’t have to shout to hear each other.


“So how are things back home?” Jiyong asked as Dara stuffed an onion ring into his mouth.


“Same,” Bom eyed Dara slightly and Jiyong noticed a harsh glare exchange between the two.


“Chaerin says she misses you,” Taeyang said as he stole a couple French fries from Bom’s tray, earning him a chilling death glare before she stole herself an onion ring from his plate.


Minzy exploded in laughter and pointed at a churro stand not too far away from them, “There he is again.” She said and they all turned to find Young Deuk standing and smiling at her.


“That boy is sprung,” Youngbae said with a laugh as he waved and watched the boy’s cheeks go pink.


“He’s cute,” Minzy murmured as she got up and made her way over, despite her unnie’s shouts of disapproval.


“How are Chaerin and my parents?” Jiyong asked when they’d gotten their fill of the teenage flirt scene.


“Good, how they always are. Chaerin says she misses you a lot. Wish you would text more often.”







They made their way over to Space Mountain after their lunch and the hour and a half wait gave them long enough to digest and enjoy the spinning colors and rocket-like speed of the ride without worrying about losing their lunch.

After leaving the ride, they were surprised to find Minzy and Young Deuk standing outside waiting for them.


“His shift is over, so I asked him to hang out with us. I hope that’s okay.”


They all smiled at each other and nodded, Jiyong and Dara grinning at each other at the undercurrent of awkward tension now running between Taeyang and Bom.


They stopped by BUZZ LIGHTYEAR ASTRO BLASTERS and paired up – Ji and Dara, Bom and Taeyang, Minzy and Deuk – to battle against each other, the girls taking the win by at least ten thousand. They teased the boys as they bought the pictures from the picture stands before heading over to FrontierLand.


“I hear they have huge chicken legs here,” Bom said with sparkling eyes.


“She loves food almost more than I do,” Dara muttered to Jiyong as they made their way to a shop not far from the entrance of the park.


“I find that hard to believe, D.”


“You obviously don’t know her as well as you think you do,” she laughed as she looked through a couple bracelets on display. “Hey let’s get these. You can engrave your name on them.” She smiled up at him as she pointed toward two brown leather bracelets that ended in neat braids and a small clasp.


“What should we get engraved?”


“Our names?”


“Sure,” he smiled as the clerk came up and asked them what they’d like. It took about five minutes before the clerk called their names out again. Jiyong slung his bracelet around his wrist, ‘DARA’ emblazoned on its front while Dara clasped hers around, ‘JIYONG’ carved into hers.

They rode Thunder Mountain, a rollercoaster seemingly carved into the side of a dusty red mountain, and waited impatiently for Indiana Jones.


As they made their way through the eerie underground walls before the ride, Dara’s stomach clenched in anticipation. It was definitely her favorite ride. They piled into jeep-like car and yelled at the top of their lungs with each dip, turn, twist, and backward jerk.


They stumbled out laughing and headed toward Splash Mountain after buying panchos to shield themselves. The harsh drop pulled at all their stomachs, making Bom’s eyes water, as they hurtled into a wall of water and exploded in shouts of surprise and glee.


They took a food break at a quiet restaurant near the river in New Orleans Square after the adrenaline of ride after ride finally wore off and left them all feeling a little exhausted.


“So tired… What time is it?” Bom muttered as she dipped into her mashed potatoes.


“Almost seven, when do the fireworks start?” Jiyong asked as he pulled Dara closer to him.


“Nine, I think.”


“We’ve got two hours to just chill.”


“Yes, please.” Dara and Taeyang said in unison.


They dug into their dinner – mashed potatoes, collared greens, and steak – and watched the sky grow dark and the lazy boats roam over the twinkling river. Dara sighed as she leaned into Jiyong, the mindless chatter of the world around them disappearing as she closed her eyes and reveled in his warmth as he told a story of some trouble he and Taeyang went through when they were in high school.


It was a perfect day, absolutely perfect. Not one hitch, not one moment of discontent… she wondered how he did it. How he was able to be so perfect and make her so happy. How each day with him brought such new warmth, pushed her farther away from her past and closer to a future she knew would be unimaginably… perfect.



“Hey, D. Did you fall asleep?” He asked her gently and she nodded, groaning slightly as he propped her up.


“C’mon. Fireworks are about to start.”


He wrapped his arms around her as he led the way toward the front of the Castle to the spot that would best show off the night show.


He embraced her from behind and nuzzled into her neck as the pops and flashes began, the fireworks blazing through the sky and framing the twinkling purple and white lights of the castle.


“Beautiful,” he breathed and she nodded against him.


“But I like yours better.”


“Do you?” He grinned and pulled her closer.


“Nothing will live up to that.”


“Not even Disneyland?”


“Doesn’t stand a chance.”


She turned her head towards his and almost gasped at the look in his eyes. There it was again, that deep emotion just pouring out. It always took her breath away.


He moved in closer for a kiss and it seared through her, in the most delicious way.


“I love you,” he whispered against her lips with a smile and she chuckled.


“I love you too. With all my heart.”




They headed down Main Street again after the show and with what little energy they had left, they picked through a few shops. After filling countless bags up with souveneirs, they headed toward the exit, waving small goodbyes to The Happiest Place on Earth.


The four waited in the car as they watched Minzy say goodbye to Deuk and all relentlessly after they witnessed him go in for a kiss, only to be rebuffed and given a hug instead.


“You played him dirty, Minzy. Could have at least given him a little smooch!” Taeyang lazily said as he leaned his head against the window, effectively wiped out from the day’s adventure.


“He was nice,” Minzy blushed and pulled her hoodie over her head and stuck her headphones in to avoid anything else her unnies and oppas had to say to her.


They reached the hotel before they knew it and all piled out of the limo van, groaning slightly at their sore muscles.


“You guys have your hotel keys?” Dara asked as they walked through the lobby.


They all nodded as they piled into the elevator. “Remember, 6AM tomorrow and don’t be late. The helicopters leave at 7AM sharp.”


“Seven?” Jiyong asked as they waved goodbye to Bom, Minzy, and Taeyang who were on the floor below them. "Helicopters?"


“Yup.”


“Where are we going?”


She grinned at him, her eyes twinkling as she pulled out another envelope. He took it from her just as the elevator opened and tore through it as they made their way to their room.


She paused by the door as he unfolded it and read it aloud.


“SeaWorld in San Diego.”

 

---written by dolcevittaa---

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A/N: Added in some pictures for any of you who haven't been to Disneyland ^^